BRUSCHETTA WITH WHITE BEANS & SUNDRIED TOMATOES

After making this dish you must drizzle olive oil on it, it just adds much more flavor to this yummy appetizer. The first time I made them I had to make another round, Cris & I just devoured them.

                                                     serves 4

1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil, more for drizzling
1 rustic baguette
blue cheese for spreading
1 can of cannelloni beans
3-4 sundried tomatoes, marinated in oil, chopped
couple of pinches of red pepper flakes
pinch of each, salt & pepper
parmesan cheese, shaved

Drain some of the liquid from the beans.

Put onions & garlic in a small pot, sauté until soft. Then add beans and remaining liquid, bring to a boil. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, stir occasionally and then add salt, both peppers & sundried tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes. Spread the blue cheese over toasted slices of bread. Spoon beans over bread, top with parmesan cheese and fresh basil, if you wish. Oh….don’t forget the olive oil!!! 

BREAKFAST SANDWICH

On Sunday mornings, Cris and I always make a good hardy breakfast. You can call it our bonding ritual but also we are not use to the 1 cookie and espresso, like these Italians are. We are Canadians! Hope you dig this!

2 eggs
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, sliced
3-4 slices of pancetta or bacon
1 large rustic bun
salt, sage, rosemary & pepper to taste
4 slices of  Gouda cheese

Trim the fat off the pancetta. Fry the fat to collect the oil. Remove fat, drain some of the oil. Add the  mushrooms, onions, salt, pepper & herbs to the skillet and fry in the remaining oil. Once cooked, put aside & fry the pancetta.  Drain excess oil and put pancetta aside.

Slice the rustic bread & fry in some of the remaining oil, until one side is crispy. Move the bread to one end of the pan making a sandwich with the mushrooms, pancetta and cheese with the “raw” side of the bread on the outside. Cook the eggs, sunny side up in the other half of the skillet (don’t worry if some of the egg runs under the bread). Once the eggs are ready (make sure the egg yolks remain runny, this is quintessential!), flip the sandwich to fry the other side  and add the eggs to the top layer.

BABY SWISS CHARD & MUSHROOMS

This is a great side dish, we eat this often here in Naples & it is one of our Italian favorites. You can omit mushrooms. You can also put pine nuts or sesame seeds on top, but Italians love their food simple.

                                                                   serves 2

2 garlic cloves, left whole                          
1 onion, sliced (optional)
1 bunch of Swiss chard (baby preferred) 
8-10 mushrooms, sliced, (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste (optional)
1/2 cup water

In a skillet, on medium heat, add oil, garlic, onions and sauté, until onions are soft, then add mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are almost done add the Swiss chard & water, cover with a lid. Cook until softened. If there is too much liquid, just drain some of it. Serve warm. 

CARAMEL SAUCE

This is a tasty topping. It goes well with sliced apples, pie’s, ice cream & inside of a nutella sandwich!

2 tbsp raw sugar                          Makes 1/2 cup
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp salted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a small pot add butter & all sugars, on high heat, bring to a boil. Make sure you stir constantly for about 2 minutes or until all sugars have melted well. Add the cream & boil for 2 minutes. Place caramel in a small bowl and stir in vanilla. Refrigerate at least 2 hrs. Lasts 1 week in fridge.

BEAN’S CHAI

I enjoy drinking this in the cold mornings, here in Naples, where the houses are colder than the outside! This helps warm up my bones!

Per cup
milk
1 tea bag
cinnamon
cardamom seeds or ground
sugar (optional)

Place all in a pot and heat up. Strain and enjoy!

WHISKEY CHICKEN WING SAUCE

I found a recipe, only to realize I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I managed to come up with my own sauce.

8oz ketchup                                         coats 10 wings
1tbsp horseradish
1/2 cup whiskey
4 tbsp barbeque sauce
tabasco sauce (as much as you want)
worcestershire sauce ( few taps)
pepper flakes (optional)

Put all ingredients in a pot, on simmer, and stir occasionally until hot. You can fry or baked wings.  If wings are baked cook them halfway & add some sauce, place them back in oven for remaining time. Place cooked wings in a bowl and add sauce, then toss. You can use the Blue Cheese Dip Recipe for these wings!  

STUFFED MUSHROOM CAPS

The 1st time I made these, I wasn’t impressed, the mushroom caps tasted raw, so the next time I made them, I sautéed the caps, played around with the ingredients & voila, they turned out scrumptious!  If you are not a fan of blue cheese (we love it!), you can try Asiago cheese or some other that has a strong flavor.

1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 chopped onion
2-3 tbsp ricotta cheese
1tsp breadcrumbs (optional)
blue cheese crumbled (as much as you want)
parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
salt & pepper to taste
12-15 mushrooms, mince stems
2 tbsp butter

In a frying pan, add minced garlic, onion & mushroom stems, add butter, sauté until onions are soft. Set aside and cool in a small bowl. In same frying pan, put mushroom caps on high heat so the caps won’t let out water. Stir often, until bottom of caps are golden, flip to the other side only for about 1 min, remove and put on greased pan. Put remaining ingredients in onion mixture and stir well until creamy. Fill caps and sprinkle with more breadcrumbs on top. Bake at 350 C, for 20 mins, then broil until golden brown.  

BLUE CHEESE DIP

 

1 shallot, minced                               serves 4
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp mayo
blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup yoghurt
salt & pepper to taste

Add all ingredients, in a small bowl. Play around with the recipe to achieve required taste. Put in fridge for a couple of hours. Great with wings!

RICOTTA GNOCCHI

My 1st recipe is RICOTTA GNOCCHI, my mother makes this many times during the year. a very comforting dish. You can frozen spinach, if you wish. as for the sauce , you can use a basic homemade tomato sauce, meat sauce or a béchamel sauce with grumbled blue cheese on top.

500gr. ricotta 
1 egg 
1 3/4 cup flour
salt to taste

Drain water from the cheese. In a medium bowl add ricotta and mash with a fork. Add egg and salt, keep mixing. Then slowly add flour until consistency is not too sticky and knead on a floured table. Take a piece of dough & roll into a medium size bread stick. With a knife cut 1inch pieces of the dough. Flour a fork and start to roll each piece of dough at the end of the fork. You need to make marking from the fork and a little dip from your index finger. Add gnocchi onto a kitchen towel.

Boil water and salt, add gnocchi carefully, once the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, drain and add sauce.

MY STORY

After 8 months, here in Naples Italy, I've decided to write a food blog on my ventures in my small Italian kitchen. My journey in Italy, has been interesting to say the least. At the moment I don't care to get into my new Italian life but i will write this......I've never really cooked before coming to Italy, and having my partner enjoy my cooking (well most of the time), is gratifying! One day my mother spoke to Cris and asked him, in her  Italian-English accent…..”how was the cook doing”, his responses was…..”I’m not dead yet!” It makes me laugh ever time I replay it in my head!

Ok so here I am, not really sure where this blog will take me, but what else do I have to do here in Naples, except for cooking, cleaning, enjoying a nice cappuccino and a warm croissant filled with Nutella at the local cafe bar! With this blog, I’m going with the wind. Goodness I love that song “She’s Like The Wind”, even more I LOVE the movie “Dirty Dancing”. See what I mean, going with it!

The recipes I enjoy were given to me from family and friends as well as new ones I’ve concocted. I hope you will relish in these and perhaps come up with a new recipe, with your own twist!