zucchini blossoms stuffed with cheese and fried in olive oil

we visited the food market in florence.....taking in the beautiful sights...fruits, veggies, cheeses, meat, fish, fresh pasta  all of it insanely gorgeous with no yucky smells.  we went into the city for the day by bus...so we were limited to what we could carry around.  yes like idiots we bought a melon...but damn it was worth it....one awesome melon.  we saw the zucchini blossoms and knew we had to try to get them back to the village to stuff and fry.  the lovely older woman that ran the fruit shop spoke quickly in italian...we knew enough not to touch anything...we pointed and gestured with our hands how many we wanted.  she carefully selected them and wrapped them safely for us......lots of grazie, grazie

beautiful blossoms

recipe after the jump

September in Tuscany

my happy place

we survived the hurricane in the northeast and got power back just in time to jump in the car and head to the airport  for a fortnight of sun, wine and pasta in Italia. (forgetting all the misery of broken trees and dangling wires)  the weather was incredible....like summer!  sunny and warm everyday ....the sweet aroma of ripe figs and grapes waiting for the harvest.
lazy.... long mornings of sleeping in, sipping coffee and lounging by the pool....a quick shower then off to the city or a wonderful hill town for some exploring (just as the Giotto tour buses head out of town)  and enjoy a wonderful dinner.  Have been back home for a full week but if I close my eyes I can still smell those figs and conjure up the feeling of that sunshine...hear the squeaky tractor and the rooster that has no idea what time it is............

Join the adventure after the jump:

new orleans barbecue shrimp

one year, a good friend of mine had a summer barbecue and made a phenomenal spicy lime shrimp recipe (from gourmet magazine) on the barbecue. it was the first time brit had ever had shrimp - and she must have eaten about three dozen of them. we tried a few summers later to duplicate the recipe from memory. the results were disastrous (so much lime juice it was kind of ceviche.....) and i haven't made cooked shrimp since.

but after recalling this story and laughing, brit remembers this amazing shrimp she had on a trip to new orleans - and we decide to give it another go. we stop at the local fish market and pick up a bag of 30 per pound shrimp. we get them home and search for the right recipe. new orleans barbecue shrimp, peel and eat, with creole seasoning, and pounds and pounds of butter sounds like right one. first - how to prepare the shrimp. we consult thomas keller, but still end up having to watch "de-veining shrimp for dummies" on youtube in order to be sure we get it right. after that project is complete (gross out) - we start making the sauce for the shrimp, and realize we have to make our own creole seasoning. (note to readers: do not inhale!)

this is a fantastic recipe! will make it again for sure!

more after the jump

the best rigatoni and meatballs ever

i have a morning ritual...my husband brings me a cup of coffee in bed, monday thru friday...i scoot up against the headboard and turn on the tv and watch molto mario every morning....the crazy operatic voice screeches as the music plays...mario inspires me every day.  i don't write any of it down .... picking up ideas and techniques.  one saturday morning, flipping through the channels tyler florence is traveling to italy for meatball inspiration....his first stop is a gorgeous house outside of naples where an italian grandma demonstrates her secret meatballs.....i watch the entire segment.....mesmerized (i know i am a nerd).....i make a mental note to put this recipe on my list....i don't watch the rest of the show...i don't care what tyler does in his ultimate version.  i am making the italian lady's recipe......so i get some really nice fresh ground pork and beef at the butcher and do some searching to find that recipe polpette napoletane.....(note: the food network picture of the meatballs looks like some kind of asian deep fried thing....ignore it) this is the first time making it so i follow every step with every ingredient i can find....i can not get buffalo mozzarella so as mario says get the best of what you can get locally so i buy some fresh mozzarella made in new haven.  

yep chunks of fresh mozzarella inside! ahhh

recipe after the jump

peach blueberry cobbler

it's high summer .....i love it...the weather has been great in new england ....the local produce at the markets is lovely.  lars has a friend at work that has sent us tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, spinach, peppers and basil.....thank you sue!!!!  last saturday i picked up locally grown corn, musk melons, blueberries, peaches...all yummy! early in blueberry season i loves the blueberry buckle but as soon as the peaches are ripe its all about the combo cobbler.....peaches and blueberries just scream cobbler to me. i cut this recipe out of a Real Simple issue 3 years ago...i made minimal modifications ( mainly replacing half the blueberries with peaches)..this is easy and it is delicious warm with hagen dazs vanilla ice cream and a spritz of whipped cream.

 blueberries and peaches from scotts

my recipe after the jump

pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw and barbecue sauce

i love pulled pork sandwiches!  tilly's brother herbie introduced me to these sandwiches at an early age.  we  might be  yankees but we have cousins in virginia...and every time herbie visited them he had to go to bill's barbecue in richmond and load up.  he would buy enough to fill a cooler and bring it all home in quart containers.  then back in tilly's kitchen he would assemble those sandwiches.  it had to be a soft hamburger type roll...then the pulled pork...then some barbecue sauce (he would also add hot sauce) and then a dollop of coleslaw....then dive in.....needless to say it was gone as soon as he got it home.  i decided to try to make the pulled pork sandwich with the cole slaw and the barbecue sauce...all homemade.  now i don't have a fancy smoker...unlike herbie...who got a little crazy and tried to build a cinder block oven in tilly's back yard.

tilly, buddy (my grandfather) and herbie, they all look so cute

i started by having a talk with the butcher...he got me set up with a 2.5 pound pork butt with the bone in.  i decided to do some research...this is actually my second try on this....i did not like the dry rub i used last time....one by michael chiarello....was too spicy for my taste.  in the end mostl of my recipes here are adapted from bobby flay.

a slider size version yummiliscious

recipe after the jump

visiting the Farmer's Market at Ashlawn Farm, Lyme CT

i woke up early on saturday morning and decided to visit the farmer's market at ashlawn farm in lyme.  it was a beautiful clear sunny hot day and the market was busy!  i parked my car in the hay field with about 40 other cars already there.  the air was buzzing with people catching up with one another, kids, dogs and beautiful scenery.  it almost felt like an old time market day (only with air-conditioned cars and lattes), kind of like the markets you still see in italy. (and they have air conditioned cars and espresso)  what a nice way to start a summer weekend.

things are just getting started on saturday morning at ashlawn in lyme ct

more after the jump