Pomodori e Vino ~Chicken Diavola

Marcella says "In Rome they call this the devil's chicken because of the diabolical quantitiy of the crushed black peppercorns that are used."
I just call it delightful!
Grilled Chicken alla Diavola ~ Roman Style is a wonderful way to grill a chicken. Marcella goes into detail about getting a whole chicken and having it flattened to cook it on the grill. I was in a bit of a 'workin' full time, cook it in a hurry' bind (y'all never find yourself in that situation do you?) I used chicken breasts... and they were great! The chicken is well coated with coarsly ground black peppercorn and then marinated for 2 hours in a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice. The freshness of the lemons and the bite of the pepper makes this a recipe I will do again and again! I can only imagine this aroma with grilled salmon or pork chops.
Remember to follow us along daily on Facebook or on the Pomodori e Vino Blog~ there's more to come!

Ciao y'all~
Sandi

Blues~

We woke up to a beautiful morning with a chill in the air. Maybe fall is actually here!
If I had a bike like this I'd think about riding it to work...

But... I'll just drive the convertible instead!

Don't forget to check in at Smiling Sally for more blues.
y'all enjoy~
Sandi

Photohunt ~Natural

This week's photohunt is 'Natural'
There is nothing like our 'natural' sand dunes at the gulf.Especially if we can keep BP's oil off of our dunes.

Happy Hunting y'all~
Sandi

Friday's Favorite ~Linky Party~

I have a very different kind of favorite today...

First the photo of my map spread out with a glass of wine and some bread. Lost in Venice~ That memory is favorite enough... but now I get to have the picture on my Capitol One credit card. So everytime I charge something, I can think of the miles I'm earning.

Co-pay at the dermatologist~~~ air miles
Crown at the dentist~~~air miles
Groceries at the Pig~~~air miles

What is making you smile today?
Y'all join in~

Sandi

Pomodori e Vino ~ Chicken with Rosemary and Wine

Hallelujah!
We are through the fishy squid section. Now we get to move on to bigger and better things... Like Chicken! Remember to follow us along daily on Facebook or on the Pomodori e Vino Blog ... because this section is going to be great.

There are some beautiful roasted chicken recipes in The Essentials of Italian cooking. Simple ingredients that can make an old bird fabulous. (remember that ladies... in cooking and in fashion)

This recipe includes a cut up chicken (skin on), sprigs of fresh rosemary, cloves of garlic, butter and oil. Pan fry the chicken in the butter and oil until the skin is crispy. Add garlic and herbs, 1/2 cup of white wine, and generous salt and pepper.Allow the chicken to cook in it's broth until done. Serve it with some good bread to sop up the juices... You'll thank me later!

(for the recipe and the fashion advise)
Ciao y'all,
Sandi

Novel Food from a blue can

I am making this in to a double-linky post. First, it is Blue Monday~ so I am linking up with SmilingSally. I know you'll recognise the blue in this post.
It is also time for Novel Food at Champaign Taste. For several years now we have joined in to post a recipe that is inspired by a novel.


This year, I am going back to our roots... With a recipe from 'Fried Green Tomatoes @ the WhistleStop Cafe'. If you haven't read the book lately... it is perfect for that first fall weekend. My recipe from the novel is Buttermilk Biscuits~ just like Sipsey would make. They just wouldn't be the same with out a little Crisco.
In the BLUE can!

Sipsey's Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp soda
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup buttermilk
Sift dry ingredients together. add Crisco and blend well until like a fine meal. Add buttermilk and mix. Roll out thin and cut into desired sized biscuit. Bake in a greased pan at 450 until golden brown.

We are looking forward to Fannie Flagg's visit this fall.
~ she's got a new book coming out soon! Y'all enjoy!
Sandi

Photohunt ~school

Photohunt this week is 'school'.

I love these pictures of little school children in London.

Don't they remind you of Madeline?

Happy Hunting y'all~
Sandi

Friday's Favorite ~It's a Linky Party

It's party time!I loved these paper lanterns at a poolside party over Labor Day. Today it a Linky Party!

What is your favorite this friday?
Y'all join in the party~

Sandi

Pomodori e Vino ~ the great Squid adventure

Y'all know, I have said before that the most exciting thing about Pomodori e Vino is the challenge. This week the challenge was quite an adventure. It is my week to make Fried Calamari~ no problem! We Southerners are good at frying things!
The true challenge was to find a fresh squid in Birmingham. When Jan and I were cooking up our Bottarga in Venice... I wish we had bought some of these babies at the Rialto Fish Market and fried them up right then and there.

'Allora'~ I was on a search. My first stop was Snapper Grabber's in Vestavia~ the best place for fresh seafood in this area. (one word of advise... don't go on monday because they are closed) I ended up at Whole Foods... and paid a whole paycheck for a bag of frozen squid. The best part about these squid are that they are already cleaned!

This vision played in my mind as I was prepping my little squids for frying~ If you can't see it... it's a you tube video of the Pescheria from Venice Travel Blog.

The sights and sounds are perfect~ the smells are undefinable!

The process of frying the calamari rings is very simple. Pat the rings dry, lightly coat with flour and shake off the excess. Fry in vegetable oil without crowding, drain and sprinkle with salt.

Once again, Marcella has provided us with the taste of fresh Italian cooking: one that swells with memories of the Pescheria in Venice.
Priceless!
Ciao y'all~
Sandi

Pomodori e Vino ~ Snapper with Fennel

I thought for a minute I was going to be told to 'pack my knives', or that I was 'chopped', at the very least that my 'show is canceled' , 'Auf Wiedersehen'...

~I missed my recipe/week for Pomodori e Vino~

Crisis!

I don't know if it was the lumpectomy I'd had (all's well) or the excitement over planning a wedding. I just over looked it! So I'm sneaking this one in a little late.

Marcella's recipe for Sauteed Snapper with Finocchio is wonderful. Once again, showing that fresh ingredients, are the key to Italian cooking. I found a beautiful wild caught red snapper at Whole Foods, luckily already filleted. (I had to look that one up... it doesn't seem like that should be the past tense of fillet)

This recipe is as simple as it can get...fresh fennel, sliced and cooked in olive oil and water. Reduce the liquid away, and then cook the snapper in the same pan.

Beautiful!

Ciao y'all,

Sandi

Blue Dreams~

It's Blue Monday~
While everyone is headed to start another work week,I am thinking about what I will do when our Florida Lottery ticket comes in.

I can just imagine welcoming every sunrise right on this porch over looking the beautiful Gulf.

Smiling Sally can join me!
Don't be blue y'all~
Sandi

Photohunt ~Anniversary

Today's photohunt is 'Anniversary'The anniversary of September 11th...

Is there a better photo than a flag?

or several flags?

Collected over the years...

We are proud flag wavin' Americans!

We will never forget!
Happy Hunting y'all~
Sandi

Friday's Favorite ♥Linky Party♥

It's Friday!
I love showing off my Favorites.
This week it is a McMichael family fav
Celery Stuffing
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
12 oz low fat cottage cheese
1/4 cup light mayo
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
Mix all ingredients until well blended. Refrigerate in an air tight container. Serve with celery How simple is that? ~and perfect for football munchies.
Now that's a friday's favorite :-)
What is your favorite today?
Y'all join in~

Sandi

Bread Pudding with the Special Sauce

Since we were at the beach last week, I have been on the search for a bread pudding recipe that is similar to the one served at The Fish House in Pensacola. I have posted their recipe for Shrimp and Grits Ya-Ya. AmaZing! If it says anything... their web site is GoodGrits.com.

We had a great meal while sitting out on the deck... but the dessert had me thinking. I needed to find a recipe for their Bread Pudding~ with that special sauce. I was like a contestant on Top Chef trying to identify the flavors. I think this will be close.
French Bread Pudding

1 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
5 Eggs, beaten
1 Cups Cream
1 Cups Milk
Dash of Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
10 to 20 slices (inch to inch and a half thick)
Fresh or Stale French Bread
Preheat oven to 350°. In the large bowl of mixer cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, cream, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix well.
Place bread slices to cover bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan or similar size casserole that is a bit deeper. Pour egg mixture slowly over bread, push down slices until thoroughly soaked. Set the pan into a larger baking pan with water to reach halfway up the sides of the pudding casserole. Bake for 45 minutes, until custard still soft, not firm

Maple Bourbon Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup bourbon

Melt butter and sugar over low heat, until just melted... not browned. Whisk in syrup and bourbon and bring to a low simmer to reduce the alcohol.

You can see we were having a good time.

Good Friends, Good Food... naming our grandchildren. It doesn't get much better than that.

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi

Blue at the beach?

The perfect place for a Blue Monday~Happy Labor-less Day... where ever you are!

Don't forget to visit Smiling Sally and see how everyone else is celebrating Monday!

Don't be blue y'all~
Sandi

Photohunt ~HOT

This week's photohunt is 'HOT'

When I took this picture in the London Tube... I knew there would be a reason for it.
Hot!
Happy Hunting y'all~
Sandi

Friday's Favorites

I♥ Friday!
It is time to show off our Favorites.

Y'all don't think any less of me.

I am ready for a fun labor day weekend at the beach!

Now share your ♥'s for a special long weekend~

Sandi

Cooking Light ~ Fall Favorites

Our Virtual Supper this month is a fantastic festival of fall favorites. Y'all know that we all go to Cooking Light.com to find our recipes and then plan to sit down to supper on the first wednesday of the month.
I have a special treat this month. Although September in some parts of the country is Fall~ in Alabama we are still in Summer! It is hot enough that I didn't want to turn on the stove and heat up the kitchen. So instead of a pecan pie, I decided to bring some Pecan Pie Ice Cream. (click on the link for the recipe)

We have plenty of experience with my ice cream machine (Bill would say about 30pounds worth). I have posted more than 20 Ice Cream Recipes over the past several years. So in making this cooking light recipe, I did have to pull out my 'Perfect Scoops' cookbook to layer the pecan pie filling. This recipe wasn't very clear...
To have the perfect layers of pecan filling and ice cream, you will first make the filling and chill in the fridge. Then make the ice cream custard style and freeze that in an ice cream freezer.
Then you will layer the pie filling, and a layer of ice cream, repeating until the container is full. When you scoop out the perfect ball of ice cream, it will have ripples of pecan pie filling in it. The perfect garnish, of course, is a star cut from a pie crust (which I never got around to doing!).
The bowl says ice cream... the mouth says pecan pie a la mode!

Now let's see what everyone else has brought for our festival of fall favorites!
Shelby is bringing Butternut Squash Blue Cheese Gratin (I'm interested to try this one!)
Jamie has made Beef Daube Provencal
Val is bringing a salad of Frisée, Baby Spinach, and Golden Beets
Patsy is bringing Roasted Cauliflower with Browned Butter
Don't forget, that y'all are welcome to join in our virtual supper!


Y'all enjoy~
Sandi