Recipes, style ideas, and tips for living a beautiful life the Italian way. La Dolce Vita!
Nothing beats a skillet supper. All you need is one pan and a cast of complementary ingredients to make a complete meal. A colorful "confetti" of zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and corn round out this satisfying chicken supper (or lunch).
Read MoreShow me a fig, especially a green one, and in a memory’s wink, I am standing on a ladder plucking the fruit off Zia Pasqua’s tree. Let me bite into one, I am sitting under the tree on a sultry late summer day, my bare toes tapping the cool bluestone terrace, my lips slicked with glistening, rosy juice. Cue the bees...
Read MoreIt's one thing to enjoy melted cheese on top of a burger. It's a whole 'nother thing to stuff a burger with cheese and enjoy a burst of glorious, rich ooze with each bite. In this burger, mozzarella entertains with a blend of ground beef and sausage...
Read MoreEvery woman has that friend. The one we regard with wonderment – and gratitude. Three kids, loving husband, business owner (Fashion. Of Course. You can check it out here), football booster club president, great cook (who finds time to cook), thin, gorgeous, funny, thoughtful, always there for her friends. I'm guessing she doesn't wear Spanx. This girl has got it going on. And I love her for it.
So when Lynn, my Italian paisana, texted a culinary “Mayday" along with photos of her copious tomatoes (see image above), I sat up and read it...
Read MoreCiao'd while dealing with the head fog that descended after a weekend wedding.
LEMONY GRILLED CHICKEN WITH GARLIC AND HERBS
Chicken is a culinary chameleon that gladly takes on the flavors with which it is cooked. This is a bright and aromatic dish made even tastier with light char from the grill. Make sure you grill the lemons to serve alongside the chicken. Grilling releases the lemons’ juice and imparts slightly smoky flavor. Bottom line: Lemons that are just right for squeezing over the chicken.
Serves 4
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 3-4 lemons)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for grill
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
3 garlic cloves, smashed and pulled apart
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Dash (or more) crushed red pepper (optional)
1 chicken, about 3 ½ pounds, cut into 8 pieces
4 lemons, halved crosswise
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, and rosemary. Stir in the garlic cloves and lemon juice. Season with salt, pepper and the red pepper, if using.
Divide the marinade and the chicken between 2 large resealable bags. Shake the bags gently to coat the chicken with the marinade. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. The chicken can also be marinated overnight in the refrigerator.
Preheat a grill to medium and lightly oil the grates. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place, skin side up, on the grill. Cover the grill and cook the chicken for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken over, cover the grill and continue to cook until well browned and the juices run clear (until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 170°F), about 20 minutes more.
Transfer the chicken to a platter, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes. While the chicken rests, place the lemon halves on the grill, cut-side down, and cook until lightly charred, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve the chicken with the lemon halves.
This is the season when mothers mourn. Little ones start nursery school and bigger ones enter high school. The biggest of them take the exit ramp from as it was to as it will be. College.
Starting this week, mom bloggers will write about these rites of passage. Facebook posts will leak emotion. The rawest and sweetest words will come from the mothers whose college-bound children will be sleeping in their beds one night and gone from them the next.
It's a song sung in the round with variations on a theme. “It seems like only yesterday I was...
Read More