Favorite Recipes

Chow Ciao New Show Premiere with Fabio Viviani

October 11, 2011
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There are very few people I love as much as my friend Master Chef Fabio Viviani.  Maybe it is because I feel at home every time I watch him cook or hear him talk and make up new words for the English language like I’m already supposed to know what it means… ! Really Fabio [...]

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7 Beauty Uses For Extra Virgin Olive Oil

April 10, 2011

I fell in love with extra virgin olive oil- All over again ! I go through gallons of it in my kitchen and just a few weeks ago i fell head over heels for a blood orange infused olive oil from Gourmet -Delights. It is made by crushing together fresh organic Moro blood oranges with [...]

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Shellfish Risotto Recipe

March 4, 2011
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I walked with my friend Rovana to the coffee shop this morning, enjoyed our morning exercise and then drove to the market to pick up some shellfish. I had plans for a seafood risotto for days, since I received this new Acquerello rice from Italy, aged for at least one year and then refined and [...]

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Meatball Soup Recipe or Cioarba de Perisoare

February 26, 2011
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I fell asleep with my window opened listening to the pouring rain and wrapped up in my fluffy blanket. It was a chilly rainy day just perfect for soup, a hearty vegetable and meatball soup from my childhood. My mom used to make it on Sundays and when we had company, everyone just loved this [...]

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Pappardelle with Ragu Alla Bolognese Recipe

January 30, 2011
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Bologna or Bologona la Grassa, the home to heavenly Lasagna, Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciuto di Parma. Its where good food has permanent residency and where Lasagne Al Forno and Ragu Alla Bolognese reign over the land. Every household in Bologna has it’s own variation of the classic slow simmered meat sauce and I figured that [...]

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Cooking Tips

January 22, 2011
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Ever wondered how to make clear ice cubes,  soften your hardened bag of brown sugar or how to get a silky creamy risotto every time ? Or can’t explain why your whipping cream won’t turn into whipped cream… ? Here are 35 essential cooking tips I believe every cook must know. These will help make [...]

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Rustic Pizza Dough Recipe

January 13, 2011
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With a name like Florentina you would probably be willing to bet that I live La Bella Vita Under The Tuscan Sun and I can toss a pizza like no-body’s business. The truth is I do live La Bella Vita but under the California Sun and I can’t toss a pizza for the life of [...]

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Blueberry and Ricotta Muffins Recipe

November 20, 2010
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” When I am in trouble, eating is the only thing that consoles me…. At the present moment I am eating muffins because I am unhappy. Besides, I am particularly fond of muffins ” -Oscar Wilde Browsing through this journal you probably figured out by now that I am not much of a baker. But [...]

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Eggs in Purgatory or Uova in Purgatorio

November 3, 2010
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Peasant food at its finest ! My favorite cuisine in the entire world, rustic peasant meals, made somewhere in the country side with the freshest ingredients picked just minutes before they made it into my skillet. No, it was not Le Cordon Bleu academy that introduced us to real cooking and techniques, it was the [...]

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Blood Orange Beef Stew with Butternut Squash

October 28, 2010
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Being a vegetarian for two weeks was not bad at all. It was quite nice actually, considering that chocolate was allowed every day. Yes, I had to make up for the lack of meat somehow and celery sticks were just not gonna do it. But that is all in the past now, and today was [...]

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