Tastes Like Summer!

The groundhog came out of his hole on February 2nd and declared an early Spring.  Sure he did, we have had snow just about everyday since Ground Hog Day!  WHY do we put so much trust, in a furry little animal, that doesn't use any kind of weather predicting devices?  I am tired, tired, tired of this cold, frosty weather, do ya feel my pain? I need some sunshine, please!

So, after a long bout of a flu like sickness last week, I'm back in the kitchen.  I gotta keep moving, trying to keep warm.  I made an after dinner dessert last night, hopefully to remind me of the warmer weather that will soon be in our forecast.  I needed a little of my own sunshine, and to refresh me a little, I made a Strawberry Tiramisu with a hint of lemon, that I know will get me thinking of Summer, the hot sun, being outside without a parka on, or bundled up with gloves, a blanket, scarf, boots, a hat........you get the picture, uh huh.

Recipe below.

To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.

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A few of my ingredients.

 I used an 8 oz container of mascarpone cheese and 4 ounces of regular cream cheese.  Chopped a few strawberries for the cheese mixture.

 Made my own whipped cream, it's cheaper and you can flavor it anyway you like.  Used vanilla bean paste to flavor mine.

It only takes a few minutes, so be careful you don't want to churn it into butter by over mixing it.

 PERFECT!

 Gently fold half into the cream cheese mixture and reserve half for topping.

 Split the ladyfingers and layer in the bottom of a baking pan.  I used a palette knife to spread the cheese mixture it's much easier than a spatula.

 First layer of ladyfingers and cheese mixture.

I sliced up about 8 large strawberries to top the cheese mixture.  Another layer of ladyfingers, more cheese and any remaining strawberries.

 Used a pastry bag with a fitted tip and went all around the edges and in between all the berries, to top the whole tiramisu with whipped cream.  Garnished with a large sliced berry on top, as well as some grated lemon zest.

A slice of Summer, I feel better now!

 Strawberry Tiramisu

Ingredients

8 oz. container mascarpone cheese, room temp

4 ounces regular cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 cup chopped strawberries

2 - 3 oz packages ladyfingers

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

8 large strawberries, sliced (see note)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 large strawberry for garnish

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese and cream cheese until well combined.  Add the 3/4 cup of confectioner's sugar, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon of zest, blend.  Fold in the chopped strawberries, set aside.

Split the ladyfingers in half, and make one layer of them in the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking pan, set aside. Reserve the other ladyfingers to complete the tiramisu. 

In a medium mixing bowl, pour in the heavy cream, vanilla and 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar. Beat on high, until stiff peaks form, do not over beat, it will turn to butter, not good.  This should be light and fluffy with the consistency of whipped cream, not cream cheese. Reserve half of the whipped cream, put into a bowl and refrigerate. With a spatula, lightly fold the other half into the cheese mixture.

Layer half the cheese mixture over the ladyfingers, top with sliced strawberries.  Repeat with the remaining ladyfingers, cheese mixture and strawberries.  Right before serving put the whipped cream into a pastry bag and pipe onto the top of the tiramisu.  Top with the large strawberry and lemon zest to garnish. Makes 6 servings.

NOTE:  You could also use frozen berries, or frozen berries in syrup.  I used fresh berries for a fresher taste.

40th Surprise Birthday Party and Italian Pasta Night - 2015

Our Annual Italian Pasta Night dinner was held this past Saturday, it was also a combined 40th surprise birthday party for my oldest daughter.  And what a surprise it was, she made all the pasta!  It was a cucina pazzo (crazy kitchen) for a couple of days, but was so worth the time and effort to see 34 people sit down and enjoy a meal that was all homemade.  I had a lot of help from my daughters, nieces and my sister making all this food, without them I could never have done it on my own.

So here it is, Benvenuto! (Welcome), to our Italian Pasta Night Dinner/Birthday Party.

 We were very busy making braciole, meatballs and sauce.

 The birthday girl and my niece Kristin made the Lasagna noodles.

Here comes the 3 pans of lasagna, cheese and sauce.

 The appetizers - Two very large platters of anti pasta, mussels cooked in a white wine and garlic broth with tomatoes done on the grill, and homemade artisan pizzas on the grill. 

Homemade bruschetta, gotta have that on the appetizer table.

 Table set up for the drink bar.

 Next up were the salads - Panzanella, which got eaten before I could take a picture, and a deconstructed Caprese salad with balsamic glaze and a little olive oil.

 The sauces - red for lasagna, vodka and alfredo for the fettuccine - all homemade!

And the birthday girl concocted quite a few bottles of homemade Limoncello.  We also had a huge variety of Italian wines on hand to go with our meal.  Me on the other hand, stayed with the Italian Cream Soda's.  They were delicious by the way, like dessert in a glass, refreshing and not too sweet.

  So the theme I picked was white, blue and yellow for the party.  We couldn't really decorate for a surprise party, because my daughter was here the whole time making pasta and other food.  I tried to keep it simple with a little bit of a Tuscan feel. I used blue delphinium, baby's breath and fresh herbs from my garden for small vases of flowers to use on the tables.  I also had black lanterns, votive cups with white candles, and ran lemon leaves and lemons, all the way down the center of 7 tables that were covered with white tablecloths.  The picture frames have Italian sayings with the English meanings that I set up going down the tables.  Italian torrone candies were also scattered throughout the tables.  I used white china plates and paper lemon decorated napkins with my everyday flatware.

 This is a photo from one end of the table to the other.  Lots of mixed up chairs, but that is all I had to use, so my goal is to have all matching chairs by next year.  Fortunately for me the weather cooperated, it was a beautiful day and a lovely evening.

 San Pellegrino Sparkling Water, plain and flavored.  I also used plunger type canning bottles with chalkboard labels for lemon water.  For dessert I purchased blue, white and lemon decorated paper plates and used yellow plastic forks.

 Oh No, The Big 40!  On the dessert menu for the birthday girl - Italian Rum Birthday Cake.....

Ricotta Cookies, made by my niece Tara, they were so good there are none left!  There were seven dozen, you can't eat just one.....

 and of course a delicious Tiramisu, it was fantastico!

So there is our party, hope you enjoyed all the pictures.  It was such a fun night and everyone had a wonderful time.  There is nothing better than sitting down to a meal with family and friends.  I am already planning for next year!

Linguine With Fresh Clam Sauce

As I have noted in previous blogs, we eat a lot of pasta, we love it and make it so many ways.  The hubby and the kids enjoy Linguine and Clams, I am not a fan of clams, but I thought I could just eat the sauce and the pasta.  It's funny, I used to eat them when I was little, steamed and dipped in butter and thought they were so good, now I don't like the taste of them.  I bought a bag of fresh clams at Wegman's on Sunday and made my version of Linguine With Clam Sauce for the family.  This is how I made it -

The Clams - Cleaned and getting ready to be steamed.

One of my favorite store bought pastas.

Some white wine, lemon, lemon zest, garlic, fresh parsley, salt, pepper and butter.

Mixing up the good stuff!

Add more good flavor.

And the clammies!

Look at that sauce.....uumm uumm good!

Toss it all together and you have heaven in a bowl!

Don't forget the crusty bread, you don't want to leave any of the juice.

I served my pasta with a Greek salad made up of field greens, sliced tomato, feta cheese and Greek salad dressing.  A little wine for the cook, a white Merlot, very tasty.  Dinner was fabulous and this will definitely be on my pasta night dinner menu, coming up in June.  Buon Appetito!

Oh, and do not forget dessert.  What a better way to top off a great meal than Tiramisu Gelato, so good.

Linguine With Fresh Clams

Ingredients

1 box Barilla linguine

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, more if you like heat

4 big cloves garlic, minced

1 cup white wine, I use Pinot Gregio

50 littleneck clams, scrubbed

1/4 cup Italian parsley,chopped

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
1 lemon
Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese

Directions

Start a large pot of salted water on the stove and bring to a boil.  When it boils, add the pasta and cook to your liking. In another large steamer pot with a basket, fill 1/4 of the way with water.  Wash the dirt off the clams, then spread them out in the basket of the steamer pot.  Steam the clams on medium high heat until they open.  While the pasta and clams get going, in a heavy skillet on medium heat, add the olive oil and swirl to coat the pan.  Add the pepper flakes and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, be careful not to burn the garlic. Take pan off the burner, reduce heat to simmer, add the wine, return pan to the burner. When clams are steamed, remove about 40 of the clams from their shells (reserve 10 for garnishing the pasta) and chop them up (discard any unopened shells) add to the garlic wine sauce, cover and simmer for 5 -7 minutes.  Mix together the parsley, oregano, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl, set aside.  Drain the pasta, pour back into the pan and toss with the clam mixture, 2 small ladles of clam juice (from the steam pot, skim it off the top), the butter, parsley mixture and juice of a whole lemon.  Toss until the butter melts.  Serve in a large bowl and lay the reserved clams on top, sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve with grated Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese .  Makes 6 servings.