Proud Italian Cook

Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July!

July 4, 2013 by Marie 9 Comments

No recipes today, just relaxing and sipping sangria, enjoying the beautiful weather here in Chicago, and wishing winter never comes back!
Many grills will be fired up and good smells will be in the air, some of the things we enjoy grilling are, steak kabobs. It’s not summer without a kabob of some sort!

Of course ribs are a given. We make no claims here to be rib masters, we just cook them low and slow then slather on some really good bbq sauce.
The hubby makes his famous beer brats. Sweet onions, butter and beer flavor perfectly grilled brats! A nice side for all this would be my red, white and blue potato salad.

After a heavy meal a nice light dessert goes well like my cherry studded ricotta tart, I promise I will get this recipe on the blog soon, it’s that good!
Have a great day and enjoy the fireworks!

9 Comments Filed Under: Party Foods, Summer Tagged: bbq ribs, beer brats, Fourth of July, sangria, steak kabobs

Olive Crusted Cod in Foil

June 27, 2013 by Marie 13 Comments

Next time you’re making fish consider wrapping and cooking it in foil. You can either bake it in the oven or stick it on the grill, which ever way you choose you’ll love how these foil packets lock in all the moisture and flavor of the fish, and clean up is a breeze!
I bought a beautiful fresh filet of Alaskan cod the other day from Whole Foods, I’ve always been a fan of cod I love the texture, the mild flavor and those big moist flakes. I’ve made cod this way, and this way before but this time I wanted to try something a little different.

After a little Google research I got my inspiration from a Jacques Pepin recipe. I was sold when I read that the assertive ingredients used in this crust is just right for flaky and mild flavored cod. I made mine slightly altered but the basic ingredients are the same, briny olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic, parsley and scallions rough chopped and drizzled with olive oil.
I placed my olive crusted fish on top of a layer of zucchini ribbons then drizzled the whole thing with a lemon and olive oil dressing that I whisked together. Extreme flavor!

It was a hot day and I didn’t want to turn on my oven so I decided to make individual foil packets for the grill, something I do often anyway. Easy cleanup and it takes less then 15 minutes to cook!
Just look at all that flavorful juice! Here is my version for the grill.

Olive Crusted Cod in Foil

Ingredients

1lb of fresh cod
¾ cup of mixed olives, kalamata, nicoise, and green
½ cup of sundried tomatoes, dried or drained of oil
2 small garlic cloves
3 scallions
¾ cup of parsley
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil
zucchini ribbons, optional

Instructions

Rough chop the olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic,scallions and parsley in a food processor.
Use heavy duty foil and cut it large enough to be able to enclose fish without leakage.
Drizzle bottom of foil with olive oil, place zucchini ribbons first and then fish.
Spread olive mixture all over the top of the filet.
Whisk together the juice of 1 lemon and olive oil and drizzle that on top of the olive crusted fish.
Crimp foil to enclose fish.
Place on hot grill at 400 degrees for around 15 minutes.

13 Comments Filed Under: Fish, Summer Tagged: cod, foil packets, grilling fish, olive crusted fish

Caprese Style Portobellos

June 19, 2013 by Marie 49 Comments

I love the large portobello mushroom caps because basically you can stuff them with almost anything you want resulting in a beautiful meal that you created in no time. You don’t need a bunch of ingredients to make them and you feel totally satisfied after you’ve eaten them.
We often eat these as a main course during the week along with a nice big salad but if you want to make them as a delicious side dish next to grilled chops or a steak, I’m here to tell you they go perfectly together!

What’s not to like? All the flavors of a caprese salad plopped into a large portobello cap! It’s good, it’s really good.

One of the reasons this tastes so good is that you cut and prepare your cherry tomatoes ahead of time letting them sit in a bowl for a few minutes with your olive oil, fresh basil, salt and pepper, letting all the flavors meld together. I also like to scrape out the gills, it gives you more room for all the toppings, and of course good tomatoes are the key!

And lastly, and I wouldn’t say this unless I meant it, but if you really want to take the whole flavor experience over the top, finish it off some balsamic glaze!

Caprese Style Portobellos

Ingredients

large portobello mushroom caps, gills removed
cherry tomatoes, halved
shredded or fresh mozzarella ( although I've tried both I prefer the dryer shredded version for this because of the moisture factor seeping out)
fresh basil
olive oil

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.
Brush the caps and rims with olive oil on each mushroom.
Slice cherry or grape tomatoes in half, place in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, add chopped basil, salt and pepper. Let it sit for a few minutes to let the flavors meld.
Place your cheese on the bottom of the mushroom cap, spoon on the tomato basil mixture and bake until cheese melts and mushrooms are cooked but not overcooked.