My last supper in Rome was a sad occassion. Italy was the penultimate stop on our trip and it would be a delicious yet meloncoly farewell. Spaghetti and clams tossed in olive oil and butter with garlic, chilli and garnished with chopped parsley. Sigh.
Every red-blooded male derives a certain amount of pleasure from devouring the flesh of a dead bovine; I am no exception. Florence has a big reputation for doing a great steak and I can vouch for that personally. Whilst training from Bologna to Florence we met a nice bloke, who makes a living selling antique watches, and he recommended us a good restaurant for steak. Unfortunately it was closed for August, like most of Italy, but the owner of a neighbouring cafe was able to direct us to the next best kept secret in well-trodden Florence.
Whilst dining at Ro’ Cocco’s in Bologna I took the liberty of creating my own pizza, in collaberation with the the helpful kitchen staff. This pizza is simply tomato puree, fresh porcini mushrooms, parma ham and mozzarella cooked, of course, in a wood fired pizza oven. After one bite I dubbed it Pizza San Paolo, because it’s so lush it’s worthy sainthood.
This going to sound a bit strong, but I believe I have cracked the code on serving the best chicken fillet. If you can get past the sketchy photo, courtesy of my web cam, you might just stand a chance of learning how to prepare a chicken fillet that will rival that of many a top restaurant. Best of all, you don’t require any fancy or obscure ingredients, in fact you probably have everything you need already, with the exception of just one thing…
This is not a pasta dish, this is a coup! I was recently watching a video podcast from Jamie Oliver’s web site, it featured an Italian friend of his making pasta. As I watched I realised that making pasta is just too easy not to do, so I decided it was time to try; what a revelation! Let’s just say that fresh, home-made pasta is going on the weekly menu.
Sort of. Despite the mirky opening line this is a delicious meal you should really try. I’m hesitant to define a beef fajita by this recipe when my total experience of such cuisine is limited to TGI Friday’s, nonetheless, this both resembles a TGIF fajita in form, and flavour, and was a perfect way to celebrate the fortuitous discovery of some quality beef steak.
It’s cold, you’re hungry; it’s soup time! Field mushrooms are widely available throughout Ukraine, fresh, dried or frozen. So here’s one for your next wintery soup craving.
I was inspired to begin making pizzas again, despite the absence of a pizza oven. Presented with only a large rectangular baking tray I decided I would create a slab of pizza. This recipe is good for feeding, and filling, the troops or providing convenient lunch time left-overs. Yum yum.
Breaking the drought of posts that has been the scourge of this modest blog; I’m starting the year of with a great anytime pasta dish. The convenient aspect to this dish is that most of the ingredients live happily in your cupboard or fridge until you’re ready to use them, no mad rush to the shops required here.
This is a fantastically simple and completely yummy pasta dish I serendipitously developed the other night when faced with nothing but 2 tomatoes, pasta and some pork for the evening meal. As usual it’s not ‘what’ but ‘how’ that makes it special.