Viva Italia!

In about a week-and-a-half, I will be in lovely Italy for two weeks! I'm not going to try to cover the whole country; rather, I'll focus on a few specific cities/villages so that I can truly experience life as an (adopted) Italian, not a tourist.

We're starting out at a country house in Chianti, which will be our home base in Tuscany. We'll hit Florence, Siena and San Gimignano during day trips while in Chianti, then head up to Venice for the second leg of our journey. We'll be cooking at our country house with an Italian cook, exploring the wineries in the region and eating our way through lots of restaurants and cafes.

If you have any favorites, please leave them in the comments area! And thank you in advance!

Big Butt Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

OK, these aren't really called "Big Butt Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars," but they should be. Because if you eat more than one, ever, you will probably grow a big butt. Or big thighs. Or just big everything.

For co-worker Alex's birthday, he didn't want anything specific (I always bake the dessert of choice for the birthday gal or guy in our office), and told me he'd eat anything I baked. I first saw these peanut butter and jelly bars on "Barefoot Contessa," and was amazed at how rich and fatty and good it all looked. I would never make these for myself, because I'm not really a dense dessert kind of gal; I prefer lemon cakes, sorbets, Pinkberry and the like, so this was the ideal dessert to take to work so that I could try a bit, and let my coworkers devour the rest.

I have to say that the sliver I had was good: super rich, creamy, sweet with a tad bit of saltiness. This dessert bar isn't for the faint of heart - it's almost TOO rich and thick and heavy and dense. But if you like that sort of thing, and like peanut butter and jelly, this treat is for you. Me, I'll stick with my lemon tarts and Pinkberry, thank you.

Brown Bag Lunch My Way

Grilled salmon with romesco sauce and sauteed green beans and red and yellow bell peppers. I make everything on Sundays, then pack it up into Tupperware containers for the week. It's easy and worth the extra time on the weekends.

The Sweet Taste of Summer

Is there anything as good as a ripe, sweet, garden-fresh tomato? These juicy fruits were grown in my parents' garden, and every bite is bursting with summer. A little sea salt, pepper and a fork is all you need with these luscious beauties.

Goodbye summer! :(

Hot in the City

Is it super hot lately, or is it just me? Of course it's not just me! It's been approximately 102-104 degrees here in Pasadena/Los Angeles for the last few days, and I'm telling ya if it wasn't for my central a/c, I think I would have gone completely batty by now.

So when I was putting together my Saturday evening dinner party menu, I knew I had to think CLEAN. FRESH. EASY. No one wants to eat a bunch of complicated, heavy and/or creamy food in this kind of weather. You want something that's simple and basic, but with all the right flavors and textures.

I chose an Italian-slash-Mediterranean menu that was as easy as pie (why do they say "easy as pie?" I've made plenty of pies and they are not so easy to make). For an appetizer, I made Giada's White Bean Dip but opted for crudite instead of pita chips. The dip was so easy and full of garlic-y flavor, and it paired really well with the sliced carrots and cucumbers. The best part? No cooking involved. Simply put all the ingredients into a food processor and whirl.

For dinner, I followed with a plate of roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh burrata, which I bought at a new Italian deli called Porta Via. I topped it with some fantastic, cold-pressed olive oil that I also purchased there, as well as some basil that I'd chiffonade. Again, hardly any cooking; I simply brushed the tomatoes with olive oil, sprinkled some sea salt on them then put them in a 425 degree oven for 8 minutes, or just until the skin starts to split.

Instead of a traditional salad, I went with Alton Brown's Grilled Romaine (can you tell I watch a lot of Food Network?). Simply cut a romaine heart into two, brush the cut side with olive oil, and press into finely grated Parmesan cheese. Then put cheese side down on a grill pan for one minute, or until the cheese forms a nice crust. Top it with red wine vinegar granita, which is nothing more than frozen red wine vinegar that you flake with a fork. Beautiful, simple and delicious.

For the main course, I made a roasted boneless leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary. The night before, I rubbed in some coarse sea salt and minced rosemary into the meat. Then I mixed crushed garlic to some plain, non-fat yogurt, and covered the meat with the mixture. Let it sit overnight, wipe off the yogurt and roast for about an hour (mine was 3lbs after deboning). We like our meat rare, so it was just right for us, but you can roast it longer if the red flesh scares you. :)

Unfortunately I completely spaced on taking a picture of the dessert, which was a white peach and blueberry crumble with low-fat, frozen yogurt. Instead of butter in the crumble part, I used walnut oil as the binder, and it came out just great. Toss oats, flaked almonds, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour, a touch of honey and walnut oil in a bowl then top your fruit with it. Bake for 45 minutes at 325, and before you know it you've got a fantastic, easy and healthy fruit crumble.

Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal, and I was able to have a great time since the prep and cooking took so little time. Everything went well with the weather - nothing too saucy or heavy - just good, clean food.