Coming this weekend: The Mamma Meets the Cucina!

A new and exciting feature on Cucina Domenico’s blog is almost here!

Join Una Mamma Italiana and Cucina Domenico as they share (and compare!) their stories, recipes and traditions of the Italian-American lifestyle. You’ll feel like the guest at every Sunday dinner as you witness the humorous culinary banter from this East coast – West coast duo. They may be 2500 miles apart, but they share the same Italian passion (and pride) in their own family recipes.

What kind of canned tomatoes are the best? Homemade roasted peppers or jarred? Who’s gravy is better (yeah, they’re going there!!) It’s up to all of you! Don’t miss the fun – The Mamma Meets the Cucina appears on both the Una Mamma Italiana and Cucina Domenico blogs. Get to know each blogger in their very first “about the authors” post this weekend! CIAO!

Breaking News….Meet the Mamma!

Cucina Domenico is proud to announce that I will be teaming up with my good friend and fellow blogger, Una Mamma Italiana, for a brand new collaborative blog series on Italian culture and traditions, and the wonderful recipes that accompany them. Our new series, The Mamma Meets the Cucina, will be coming your way very soon via both of our blog sites!

I came across Tiffany Longo’s blog, Una Mamma Italiana, a few years back through the popular Italian culture website, italiansrus.com. It was Tiffany’s blog that influenced me to start posting my own recipes and memories of family traditions. We have since become good online friends, and I am very excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with TIffany.

We are both very excited to share with you our posts, which will be coming your way very soon! In the meantime, be sure to enjoy her latest post, Italian Connections. Also, be sure to check out her wonderful blog, www.unamammaitaliana.blogspot.com.

Ciao!

ITALIAN CONNECTIONS
by Tiffany Longo

It’s kind of like magic — the way that any two people, from opposite sides of the world – that have NEVER met before – can somehow meet and feel as though they’ve known each other their entire lives. No, I’m not talking about soul mates or true love. I’m talking about a real, live paisano!

You see, Italians simply have this established connection by sharing the same culture. It’s as if you have known each other for years prior, but you really only met a few minutes ago. How can this be, you ask? Consider for a moment the defining characteristics an Italian person’s life – good food, a loud family, cousins everywhere….

Sound familiar? If you’re Italian, it does. Forget match.com, simply being Italian already ensures your compatibility on the spot! For instance, I have Italian friends who have childhood memories so similar to mine, it’s as if we grew up in the same household! Yet, in reality we lived in different states. This is the beauty of meeting a fellow Italian. You can find a true friend in a matter of minutes.

Many paisani I meet can relate to the smell of gravy when you walk into Nonna’s after Sunday mass. Others remember their firm but loving grandfather yelling for his sausage and peppers to be ready – for breakfast, no less! That’s another thing – we never ate cereal for breakfast when visiting with family. It was fresh, homemade bread, toasted with butter and a few slices of salami or prosciutto on the side. Cereal was for schooldays and med-e-gones – that’s it!

Then there were Grandma’s two kitchens. This, too, my Italian friends could remember in their families. One was in the basement, where Grandma jarred huge batches of marinara sauce for the cellar shelves. The upstairs kitchen was for the family’s daily meals.

Most Italians can also relate to everything having a plastic cover or a doily on it – the kitchen table, the couch – all of it. And every bedroom had at least four rosaries hanging on the bedpost, right by the handmade blanket crocheted by none other than Nonna herself. Then there was the mudroom – full of jugs of Grandpa’s favorite red wine, which he would pay us quarters to try!

Recounting these memories with any Italian I meet gives us a sudden bond. It is almost like we understand each other, which is a relief in most relationships these days. Italians don’t have to worry about agreeing n the important things, because it’s all understood within our culture. Money, religion, politics – the three things you NEVER want to discuss with a newly found friend (or lately, with anyone at all) – are already agreed upon based on your cultural values. When I learned this, I came to one of the most frightening, yet important conclusions of my life.

I always thought marrying an Italian man was the worst thing any woman can do. I now firmly rescind my opinion, and agree that marrying a fellow Italian (man or woman) is one of the smartest things any one could do. You don’t have to argue about family gatherings, what to eat, or how you’re going to raise the kids. It is all innate; it’s in our Italian blood. That is why Italians get along so well with other Italians, and we tend to form these little mafia-like cliques. It’s inevitable when you just have that ‘connection.’

And so, the memories that I have from my childhood are not mine alone. They belong to so many Italians out there who grew up in this beautiful culture. Our ancestors took their way of life from Italy to America and kept it going. As a result, we Italian-Americans are left with a unique cultural blend. It is one in which American ideals allowed our Italian values to be realized. And that is something kind of like – magic!

NEW – Top This: Olive Salad

Marinated toppings and salads/spreads are a big thing in my house. When it comes to sandwiches, burgers, scrambled eggs or any other dish that would go well with a condiment, my wife and I are usually reaching for a jar of roasted red peppers, hot cherry peppers or bruschetta topping instead of ketchup, mustard and relish. There’s something about the combination of fresh vegetables mixed with olive oil, herbs and the tang of vinegar to really add a nice punch to a dish.

Roasted red peppers are, of course, the standby. They’re fairly easy to make, and nothing beats the taste and texture of home made. Whether you’re roasting your own or buying them jarred, they work well with just about anything, from pasta salad to a topping on a veal chop. For as good and versatile as they are, the most recent go-to jarred pepper in our house is Mancini’s Fried Peppers with Sweet Onion. Unlike roasted reds, they’re a little less on the tang and just a bit more on the heat. We’ve been buying these two jars at a time as of late!

One of my big late summer/early fall traditions as of late is marinating and jarring eggplant. It’s my way of keeping some old world traditions alive for my kids to enjoy and appreciate. Based on the response that I received from my post last year, it’s got me thinking that maybe I should make a few more jars this year…just in time for holiday gifts! To read more about my jarring process and serving suggestions, click here for the link to my marinated eggplant article.

Another great topping that we often use is bruschetta topping (made with chopped plum tomatoes, onions, fresh herbs, garlic and olive oil – think of it as Italian salsa). The traditional way to serve it is as a topping on a piece of toasted French or Italian bread rubbed with fresh garlic. However, the flavors and ingredients work so well together that I’ll often use it as a topping on white pizza, chicken or mixed with pasta.

Olives are, of course, a great appetizer side. They work well in salads, antipasto, as ingredients to main dishes, or on their own. They’re also an endless source of entertainment for my kids. Seriously, who hasn’t put olives on their fingers when they were young?!?! Although they only come in two colors – black (fully ripe) and green (unripe) – there’s a wide variety of pepared olives to choose from: traditional black and green (in small, medium or large), manzanilla (Spanish green olives, often stuffed with pimientos), kalamata (Greek black olives, brine cured), and gaeta (Italian black olives, salt cured and soaked in oil) just to name a few. My daughter, Julianna, has been eating green olives stuffed with gorgonzola cheese since she was 1-1/2, and her younger sister Ava is following suit right behind her!

This week, I’m going to combine the best of both worlds and make an olive salad/spread. I’m using three types of olives (medium black, medium green and kalamata), mixing it with some fresh garlic, oregano and basil (fresh or dried will work), crushed red pepper, vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and a little bit of grated parmesan cheese for an extra kick. Serves well as a bruschetta-style topping, mixed with pasta, or on your favorite pizza or sandwich.

Now, if you’re not a big fan of olives to begin with, this dish probably won’t change your mind on them. But if you are an olive lover, give this dish a try. I’m sure you’ll like it. And have fun with it…add your own favorite variety of olive, or try spicing it up by adding some peppers!

Ciao!

OLIVE SALAD

1 cup medium black olives, pitted
1 cup medium green olives, pitted (with or without pimientos)
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted
3 tspns red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, smashed*
1 tspn fresh oregano, chopped (or 2 tspns dried oregano)
1 tspn fresh basil, chopped (or 2 tspns dried basil)
1/4 tspn red pepper flakes
1 tblspn grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (you can add more olive oil to desired amount)

Place all ingredients in a food processor, adding olive oil last. Pulse to chop until desired texture (I recommend chopped instead of smooth texture).
Place in a jar or bowl, cover and let refrigerate for at least an hour prior to serving.

*To smash garlic, place clove(s) on a chopping board, lay the flat side of a chef’s knife on the clove (sharp side facing away from you) then strike the knife with the heel of your palm, crushing the clove beneath the knife. The papery skin will slip right off the crushed cloves which can then be minced very fine or used in the recipe as it is. Not only does smashing garlic simplify the peeling and chopping process, it also releases the flavors of the garlic.