Wild mussels in spicy tomato sauce

"You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces. Just good food from fresh ingredients" ~Julia Child

There was a time when I thought cooking fish or any kind of seafood for that matter was some complicated business, unless it came in a form of frozen fish fingers. That was quite a while ago though. The more I cooked and the more I learned about food, the more comfortable I became with ingredients that came from water. As long as you keep it simple and limit yourself to a number of ingredients, it is nothing but easy and satisfying. With one remark here to make it sound a bit more complicated - as long as you don't overcook it! So a few very simple rules - find a reliable fishmonger and learn to trust your sense of smell and very few simple tricks. Mussels are very easy to prepare. They only need to swim in a bit of sauce, which in my case usually tends to involve a glass of wine and a few other simple ingredients, such as garlic, herbs, tomatoes, salt and pepper. 

Spinach fettuccine with black olives, capers, tomatoes and goat cheese

"The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later, you are hungry again. " - George Miller

Once upon a time, a few months ago to be exact, I went on a business trip to Mykonos, Greece. Yeah, I know it sounds like business! Gorgeous island with beautiful beaches, friendly people and amazing food. Since I was there with a lot of other people, we had pre-booked dinners at different restaurants. Another upside to this short story - having a colleague, from Greece, who is proud to be Greek and is always going an extra mile to make other people fall in love with the country - well he was the one, who organized everything. He knows food and definitely knows how to showcase the best of what the country has to offer. Referring to him, Greeks treat food as love. 

Egg fettuccine with shrimp, fresh tomatoes, spinach and garlic

Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables.  They probably get jet-lagged, just like people.  ~Elizabeth Berry

I am on vacation now with friends - visiting Mediterranean coast in Spain. And there are no such things as jet-lagged vegetables! They are simply grown here - always fresh and actually tasting like the real ones - just how they are supposed to be! To some people it may look funny, but when buying my tomatoes I love to smell them! To me that's how a perfect dish is born - starting with getting quality ingredients. Unfortunately today the weather wasn't treating us too well - a bit chilly and raining.

Lunch time asked for something light, but warm and comforting - like pasta with fresh local ingredients - tomatoes, spinach and of course seafood. With such a large selection it took me a while at the fishmonger's. There you can find almost anything your heart desires! Needless to say, I am looking at the Mediterranean sea as I am writing this - the source where most of that seafood came from. The rest came from the Atlantic ocean, which is also close by… 

Panini - in a waffle pan

"Waffles are just awesome bread". - John Green

So come to think of this quote - a panini pressed in a waffle maker should be an awesome one as well? 

My kitchen is way too small to fit my pursuit of culinary experiments - I try to work with what is there and surprisingly enough have employed creativity in finding space to accommodate more utensils, equipment and plates. Maybe paninis in a waffle maker don't top someone else's creativity with that, but I am working on it.

In the Italian mood - Cherry tomato, bocconcini and basil bruschetta

"In Italy, they add work and life on to food and wine"

The dietitians claim that the best food for the eyes and the stomach are those that incorporate different bright colors. So since in the Italian mood today - toasted bread for the yellowish effect, tomatoes for the bright read, arugula and basil for the sharp green and bocconcini... white... Well - for the balance of it all. 

Bocconcini are the small versions of the big mozzarella balls. If none are found in the store, use the regular mozzarella - bocconcini are perfect for the smaller sized bruschettas.

Risotto with porcini

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." Virginia Wofl

A while ago making risotto seemed like a big deal until I tried it the very first time, following the general rules of cooking risotto. It turns out to be a simple, subtle and very satisfying dish. My favorite is with mushrooms - usually porcini or chanterelles - and sometimes I go with the seafood.

And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE mushroom picking. Finding porcini is like the best treat or like finding real treasure on a treasure hunt. Here are some shots from this year's mushroom picking - just look at those beauties... Mmm... 

Grilled pepper salad

"A number of rare or newly experienced foods have been claimed to be aphrodisiacs. At one time this quality was even ascribed to the tomato. Reflect on that when you are next preparing the family salad." Jane Grigson

Grilled pepper salad, in other words - something similar to the Italian Classic - Insalata Caprese. The difference - peppers instead of tomatoes. For quite a long time I couldn't capture what was so special about the peppers until I got into grilling them in all ways possible. My favorite - grilling whole peppers over charcoal. Simply throw the peppers on the grill, turning them until charred. 

Pappa al Pomodoro

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard

Olive Oil and Orange Cake, Inspired by Mario Batali

“A man is not an orange. You can't eat the fruit and throw the peel away”. Arthur Miller

First of all, to give heads-up - the photo is "borrowed" for the time being - just to give an idea how my cake looked like prior I poured the glaze on - then it looked like it was sitting in a puddle of the glaze that was spreading all over the table and dripping on the floor. I know what I had done wrong, but now from the beginning...

A few weekends ago we were planning to visit some friends living in the neighborhood and I promised them I will bake a cake, having this particular one in mind. I had made it many times before and it has turned out absolutely lovely! This time I had the glaze (that I had learned from Martha Stewart) in mind and was very eager to try that one on my cake.

Potato gnocchi with tomato - garlic sauce... Inspired by - an empty fridge!

“Vegetarians are cool. All I eat are vegetarians - except for the occasional mountain lion steak.”  Ted Nugent

"For cool vegetarians" and those, who love the genius of the simplicity in Italian cuisine! And... Referring to the quote in the title - the only vegetarians I eat are those that swim in water.

This is a huge bowl  - enough to feed 4 very hungry or 6 semi hungry people. And in our case - with a few extra bites for two labs.

The dish was made a few weekends ago. Honestly - the inspiration came from being lazy to go to the store for groceries on a dark and foggy Saturday night. My justification was that with limited ingredients the brain is forced to be more creative. The result proved it right. Another reason to go for gnocchi - it is comforting and filling and if done right - doesn't give the feeling of heaviness.

Potato gnocchi with creamy chanterelle sauce

Gnocchi (English pronunciation: /ˈnɒki/, /ˈnjɒki/; Italian: [ˈɲɔkki], singular gnocco)

Easily got addicted to watching the Top Chef series. I feel hungry for anything new I can get my hands on to learn more about food, cooking it, tasting it and pairing it with wine. And yet I must admit to having some blond gene... I honestly thought "gnocchi" is pronounced different - imagine reading this in english "gnochi"... So imagine my surprise when watching Top Chef, already in the first season I kept on hearing about it and was puzzled how come I don't know what it was untill I saw how the actual "gnocchi" look like... Once again - very blond... And would have remained as such if my boyfriend didn't spell it for me so I could google it... Had them a number of times, made them myself and yet - such a simple discovery! Unbelievable...

Mushroom and fennel risotto... Inspired by empty stomach and love for risotto!

"Rice is born in water and must die in wine." Italian proverb

Today is October 22nd, Saturday. It is sunny yet chilly and hard enough to believe that at this time of year I was still able to find mushrooms in the forest. After a long late breakfast with Zucchini - ricotta fritters, a long walk in the forest with my Mom and dogs was the perfect choice. Besides mushrooms, we also brought back some wild thyme and oregano that I used in making the risotto. 

Eggplant stuffed with dried porcini risotto oven baked with parmigiano reggiano crust...

Wikipedia: Risotto is a class of Italian dishes of rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency

I absolutely love risotto! Especially with mushrooms - let it be chanterelles, porcini or any other kind of good mushroom. Top that with hand picked mushrooms in the forest by yourself - makes it so much tastier and exciting!

Mushroom picking in itself is already an adventure. Spending all of my summers by the forest while growing up kind of got it in my blood. When the mushroom season begins, I just have to spend time walking in the forest with the dogs and helping myself to all the treasure that can be found there. Last year was amazing for all kinds of mushrooms and I still have quite a stock of dried porcini and chanterelles. Well, correction - the stock is quickly reducing since I have been making quite a bit of mushroom risotto lately and also have used a part of it for the creamy pumpkin soup.