Tag: New Jersey

My Family Christmas Menu Suggestions

My Family Christmas Menu Suggestions

Some say that the most important meal this season is the Christmas Eve fish dinner. I’m doing the Neapolitan-inspired Feast of Seven Fishes, La Festa dei Sette Pesci. But you gotta eat after everyone is done opening all their presents Christmas day, right? When I’m 

Christmas Eve Feast of 7 Fish Recipe Roundup

Christmas Eve Feast of 7 Fish Recipe Roundup

I’ll be with family and friends for Christmas. Our Neapolitan family tradition is to prepare a 7-fish Christmas Eve dinner, La Festa dei Sette Pesci. Seven fish unless I’m with the Sicilian branch of the family, then it’s 13! I hope you will be with 

Turkey, Stuffing & Gravy the Italian-American Way

Turkey, Stuffing & Gravy the Italian-American Way

This year I’m making a roasted boneless turkey breast stuffed with spinach and prosciutto. But I’m thinking fondly of my whole succulent roasted turkey and stuffing. Did I make the wrong choice for my Thanksgiving table? Nope, I’ve gotten over my ambivalence. I’m sticking with the 

My Mother’s Day Tribute

My Mother’s Day Tribute

To all the Mom’s out there my best wishes for a wonderful Mother’s Day coming this Sunday. Here’s my video Mother’s Day salute to all of you. My Mom was a wonderful cook. I really can’t remember a bad meal, no, not even a mediocre 

Pasta Fazool, Pasta e Fagioli, Pasta & Beans

Pasta Fazool, Pasta e Fagioli, Pasta & Beans

Don’t miss the next recipe video: Subscribe now to my YouTube channel. I ate a lot of pasta and beans growing up in Jersey. My Mom made it often and I loved it. So when pasta fazool, as we called it back East, was a Viewer’s Choice 

Cannoli Siciliani: Crispy Tubes Filled with Sweet Creamy Ricotta

Cannoli Siciliani: Crispy Tubes Filled with Sweet Creamy Ricotta

Don’t miss the next recipe video: Subscribe now to my YouTube channel. Often at the end of a special meal growing up in Jersey Italian pastries would cap off the day’s celebration. I’d visit Ferrara’s Pastry on Bloomfield Avenue in Newark and buy a dozen and a 

Easter Roasted Spring Lamb

Easter Roasted Spring Lamb

Don’t miss the next recipe video: Subscribe now to my YouTube channel. This is the time of the year to enjoy baby milk-fed lamb or baby goat. The season lasts maybe 6 weeks running up to Easter. The prized animals are slaughtered before they are weaned and 

Cardi Fritti: Fried Cardoons

Cardi Fritti: Fried Cardoons

In the spring when I was a kid in Jersey I went foraging for cardoons with my Uncle Frank in the “wild” West Orange hills. He married Aunt Florence, my Mom’s sister, and they lived downstairs from us. Uncle Frank was born in Calabria and didn’t 

Stufato di Manzo: Italian Beef & Vegetable Stew

Stufato di Manzo: Italian Beef & Vegetable Stew

Beef stew was my favorite lunch when I trudged home from elementary school on a cold wet winter’s day. I liked to squash all of the tender ingredients together to form a shepherd’s pie mash-up on my plate that I scooped up with a spoon. 

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Don’t miss the next recipe video: Subscribe now to my YouTube channel. Growing up in northern Jersey when my Mom took out her small black cast iron pan Sunday morning we knew we were in for a treat. She was getting ready to make crespelle (crepes) for 

Bow Ties? Wandi? Cenci?–A Sweet Crackly Holiday Recipe

Bow Ties? Wandi? Cenci?–A Sweet Crackly Holiday Recipe

I love these delicate fried dough ribbons that show up on the table at the end of the meal this time of year. I have 2 problems with them though. I don’t know what to call them and once I start eating them I can’t 

Fat Macaroni with Ricotta and Tomato Sauce

Fat Macaroni with Ricotta and Tomato Sauce

Tomatoes overflow the farmers market. I bought fresh organic San Marzano tomatoes with this pasta dish in mind. I’m in the mood for rich and creamy so I’m mixing ricotta with the quick-cooked tomato sauce and serving it with giant dried pasta tubes. The classic 

Italian Grilled Cheese

Italian Grilled Cheese

Here’s an Italian twist on the wildly popular grilled cheese sandwich, mozzarella in carozza (mozzarella in a cart). My Dad made this Neapolitan treat when I was a kid and I still make it often. You have to construct the “cart” to carry the mozzarella. I 

Saltimbocca: So Good It Jumps in Your Mouth

Saltimbocca: So Good It Jumps in Your Mouth

I’m in New York City and meeting up with friends. On a brisk, sunny Saturday morning we’re off to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, the true NYC Little Italy. We’ll spend the day cooking together, eating and drinking in northern Jersey. But first we have 

Una Pizza Napoletana’s Mangieri Back in the News

Una Pizza Napoletana’s Mangieri Back in the News

I’ve been following Anthony Mangieri for years on both coasts. Actually I’ve been following his pizza. The guy had a reputation for making pizza Napoletano, pizza as made in Naples where it all started, my personal favorite. Some even said that Anthony’s pizza was better