Chiacchiere by Patricia Turo

Chiacchiere (chiacchiere in Italian means to chatter or gossip). and are also called cenci. They are called this because they make so much noise when you eat them. They are light and wonderful for a summer party.

Crispy Eggplant Croquettes by Daniel Brock

nice crispy eggplant croquetts

Cold Angel Hair Pasta in Truffle Oil with Abalone and Caviar by Blackswan

Foodies, here’s another Christmas recipe to serve up a gastronomic meal. Combining all the extravagant ingredients, the chilled pasta is drenched in a fragrant Truffle Oil, teasing the palates of your guests even before they arrive on the table.

Sweet Apple Crepes by Kelsey Martin

German Meatballs and Sauerkraut by Salad Foodie

I have never thought to serve meatballs on sauerkraut until I tasted this. Wow, forget about meatballs and spaghetti ~ this is delish! Perfect for anytime, and especially for Octoberfest. To serve several guests, I made the meatballs, cooked them and refrigerated a day ahead. About an hour before serving time, I spooned the…

Frittelle veneziane by Shawnna and Davide Busetti

Carnevale (aka Mardi Gras) season is an enormous tourist attraction in Venice. It is a time for festivities which include the amazingly beautiful Venetian masks, but also a whole host of foods that are part of the tradition. Fritoe or frittelle alla Veneziana are similar to a doughnut or fritter. The recipe makes a lot, so it's a…

Zeppole by Frank Fariello

Zeppole are so easy to make—after all, they are basically just fried pizza dough balls—it is almost embarrassing to post about it, but since it was one of my favorite snack foods that Angelina made, it deserves pride of place on this blog. And, in any event, who doesn't like fried dough?

Arangini.....or Rice Balls....or Werewolf balls....I'm not sure by Michael Swiney

The German Goddess and I were discussing food one day, as happens a few times a week. On day I was making something that she couldn't pronounce and she just deadpanned "Dracula's Balls?" Ummm.....Noooo, but that's what we'll call it from now on. K?…

Panizas or chickpea fritters by Guest of winter

Panizas are typical from the Cádiz province in Andalusia, where the Sherry wines come from. They are made from chickpea flour, boiled in water, made into a dough thicker than potato mash, then sliced in small pieces and fried. They look suspiciously similar to Provençal panisses, and I heard there is a very similar thing in the south…

Carnival flowers by Guest of winter

Typical Carnival cookies, made with a mold and deep fried, light and crispy and not oily at all.

Baccala' e ceci by Frank Fariello

Everyone knows that Friday is fish day for Catholics (even for some lapsed Catholics like myself). A traditional Friday dish in Rome is baccala' e ceci, salted cod fish with chick peas. (I love fried baccala', and there was a well-known place on via dei Giubbonari, close to our apartment, called Filetti di Baccala' that I loved to go…

Mozzarella in carrozza by Frank Fariello

What could be more primordially satisfying than the combination of bread and cheese? Well, frying them together makes them even more satisfying. And if you add a bit of anchovy to the mix well, you're in heaven! Mozzarella in carrozza, literally "mozzarella cheese in a carriage", is one of the rustic glories of Neapolitan cuisine.…

Frittata ai carciofi (Artichoke Frittata) by Frank Fariello

The frittata is one of those categories of dishes, like risotto, where the main ingredient, in this case egg, can act as a foil to an almost infinite variety of flavors, be it meat, fish or vegetable. So by learning a single technique, you open up a whole new culinary galaxy. One of my favorite frittate, especially this time of year,…

Authentic Italian Rice Balls (Arancini) by ChaCha Can Cook

This recipe comes from Evelyn Cipriano who was a wonderful cook. She was very "Old School" Italian, and even made mozzarella cheese from scratch. The better the ingredients you use, the better the results. I made an "amped-up" version by adding sandwich pepperoni, procuito, provolone, & salami with Angus ground round. Fabulous!…

Chocolate and Eggplant Cake (Torta di Melanzane al Cioccolato) by Evelyn Scott

A delicious and different way to use all those eggplants we soon will have from either our own, or from our friends gardens.