Sicilian Girl

Tweet There are four major groups of cauliflower and hundreds of varieties used around the world. Of these groups: Italian, Northwest European biennial, Northern European annual and Asian, the Italian is the ancestral form from which the others are derived. This recipe calls for the white variety you find most often in the market. Actually, [...]

Tweet   Capers are a small but distinctive ingredient in Sicilian cooking. The caper bush grows wild on the Italian Islands of Salina (Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily) and Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea and summer home of Giorgio Armani). It is native to the Mediterranean and some parts of Asia. The [...]

Tweet This recipe was created by a sous chef at the St. Louie Union Train Station, for the droves of Italian immigrants passing through in the late 1800′s. I came across it while reading Appetite for America. It is the story of Fred Harvey, a young immigrant who worked his way up from dishwasher to [...]

Tweet   I love how sweet cauliflower gets when it’s roasted. Quite a different taste from a flowerette on a crudite platter. I’m not a fan of this vegetable in it’s raw form. It’s like it’s not even the same vegetable, I don’t care how much dip you swirl it through. But when it’s cooked, [...]

Tweet     To most Americans, macaroni usually means the elbow type. Growing up we called ALL pasta macaroni. It wasn’t spaghetti and meatballs, it was just we’re going to mom’s on Sunday for macaroni. So don’t let the title of this dish confuse you. We never use a short macaroni, it’s either fettuccini or [...]

Tweet     A sformato is similar to a souffle but not as airy so you don’t have to worry about it falling. They almost always contain beaten eggs, and usually a white sauce. You can make it with vegetables, like mushrooms, spinach or zucchini. I’ve had them with pasta or rice as well. Traditionally, it [...]