BELLA BELLA CUCINA BISOUS

JILL'S ROASTED CHICKEN 

1 chicken, cut up or whole (skinless)
1 bag red potatoes (cut into quarters)
1 bag of celery (cut into pieces)
1 bag of carrots (cut up)
2 sliced onions
1 bottle low sodium kikkoman soy sauce
1 garlic powder
1 onion powder
1 cup water

Set oven to 450*, Place cut up chicken, potatoes,celery,carrots and onions in roasting pan, shake kikkoman, garlic powder and onion powder over all, pour in about 1/2 cup water to make juice while cooking.

Let cook approx. 30 min. checking every now and then to see progress and, make sure to stir the vegetables around until are are soft or to your liking in taste.

When chicken and vegetables are ready to come out you may add extra water to the pan to make extra juice.

I  learned this recipe at a very young age, but then again, what else is new :)  , I would watch my mom very carefully cut up the chicken, it would amaze me how she knew just where to cut each and every chicken part along the vein line.  It now amazes my children to watch me cut every chicken piece along the very same vein lines….Ahhhh Traditions, they truly are Priceless even if it’s about a chicken..   

STEAK PIZZAIOLA 

1/4  cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic (cut up or crushed)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 pkg. steak (any kind)
2 or 3 28 oz. cans of crushed tomato
1 lbs. pasta
1 grated Parmesan cheese (if desired)

In a large, deep skillet set over moderately high heat the olive oil until it’s hot. Add the garlic and saute, stirring, until golden.Turn heat down to medium, pour in crushed tomatoes carefully, add galic powder and onion powder, stir and leave on med. heat for about 15 minutes.

Add steak to the sauce allowing it to marinate and cook along in the sauce, turning occasionally until the meat is tender and to your desire of taste.

Scoop out a latel full of sauce on plate, add pasta and place piece of steak and sauce on top adding grated cheese for taste if desired.  

CASTIGLIONE'S TRADITIONAL 

ITALIAN SALADA

 Out of all the many dishes this is my favorite!! I love making this Salada and it has a very sentimental meaning behind it too!! If you think about it..Lettuce is much like FAMILY… The core is the backbone and is being wrapped around by the leaves,  which is much like arms, which in turn are always hugging.  If you were brought up in an Italian Family you know exactly what I mean… our handshakes or greetings were always Hugs and still are!!! It’s Good To Be Italian!!! La Bella Vita!!

When making this salad I love cutting the onions, vine ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and of course the lettuce.  Everyone has a way of  doing things, so, before taking the head of lettuce apart I hold it with the core at the bottom and smack it down on the kitchen counter loosening the core which is then put aside.  My way of cutting the lettuce is not chopping it, not grating it, but pulling it apart and twisting it, sometimes leaving it in clumps too, it’s all in the writs!!  Then of course adding all the delicious goodies that make this a “To Die For Salad”

Here’s where the sentimental part comes in….. the core of the lettuce is placed aside and secretly put in the middle of my Dad’s plate before we sit down to eat at the dinner table. When he was a little boy, his Mother would make the same salad ,she would give him the core before any of the other 8 children would see, he was and still is the favorite!! I guess being brought up in a big family does have some pretty great advantages….. even if it is the core of the lettuce!! Dolce’ Vita !!

 CHICKEN SOUP, 

GREAT JEWISH PENICILLIN

I remember when I was a little girl my Mom showing me how to hold the knife for cutting the celery and fresh carrots, while she skinned and cut up the whole chicken.... I watched her so intently thinking to myself.....how does she do that? Funny thing now is, my 2 children say the same thing to me,lol!

 CHABBAT SHALOM!

HOMEMADE GARLIC BREAD 

 1 16 oz. loaf of Italian or French bread
1 stick of butter (melted)
5 cloves of garlic (minced)
1/2 cup virgin oil
1/3 cup parsley flakes
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350′F.
Cut bread in half and place on baking pan , mix melted butter, parsley flakes  and minced garlic together and spread on both halves, drizzle olive oil and heat in oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown to your liking.

Remove pan and sprinkle cheese (if desired),return to oven and broil on high heat for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast. Watch very carefully while broiling. let cool a minute. Remove from pan, cut slice thickness to your liking . You may sprinkle cheese after broiling too and serve immediately.

 CHICKEN SALAD PITA WRAP

 2  cooked chicken breasts
1 scallion
mayonnaise
1 head or bag of lettuce / romaine
1 pkg. of pita bread
1 lemon (squeeze to your liking)
garlic powder (1/4 tsp.)
onion powder (1/4 tsp.)
virgin or canola oil
salt (to your liking)     
pepper (to your liking)

Cut chicken breasts into small pieces and place in mixing bowl, add mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, 1/2 tsp. of oil and mix until absorbed.

Spread mayonnaise on pita making sure to leave 1/4 of the bottom free of no mayo. place chicken salad in a thin line down the middle, add lettuce, take the bottom half of pita and flap it up while taking one side and start wrapping the pita so the other side meets.

Can also be put on a bed of lettuce.

This is actually my very own recipe…imagine that,lol….. I first started making this yummy dish when I was in high school and continued over the years!! I’ve made this salad on many occasions (wedding showers, baby showers, birthday party’s, anniversary celebrations etc.)  as an added salad with either pita slices or, along side my delicious Traditional Italian Salad to be placed right in the middle of…. talk about pleasing to the palate!! Mmmmmmmmmmmm, I can taste it now!!

EGG SALAD ON A BED OF LETTUCE

3 hard boiled eggs
1 scallion
1 head or bag of lettuce / romaine
mayonnaise (1/2 cup)
garlic powder (1/4)  
onion powder (1/4)
virgin or canola oil
red wine vinegar
salt (to your liking)
pepper (to your liking)

Cut eggs into quarters and place into mixing bowl, mash with fork so there are no big chunks of egg white, add mayonnaise, salt and pepper,  garlic powder, onion powder and cut scallion, mix with fork until all is absorbed.

Place lettuce on plate, drizzle oil & vinegar  on leaves, scoop the egg salad into the middle of the plate onto the lettuce.

Can also be put into a pita.

This delicious dish is one of everyone’s favorites, if you like hard boiled eggs of course…  This usually a summer lunch or mid day kinda thing, but I used to love listening to the crackle of the boiling water and waiting for timer to go off so the eggs could be placed under the cold water and then add the ice into the pot!! The best aprt was when the eggs were cooled off my Mom let me roll them on the counter top and crack them open, I’d love how the shells would jut fall right off so perfectly. When I cook this in my kitchen both my children tell each other who will be the “egg cracker”, lol!! 

CHICKEN CACCIATORE IN WINE 

 1 chicken (cut up)
2 onions  (sliced)
1 package of mushrooms (whole or cut)
4 cloves of fresh garlic (whole or sliced)
1 bottle of blush wine (approx. 2 cups)
1 bottle of red wine vinegar (1 cup)
garlic powder
onion powder

Place chicken cut ups in roasting pan, add onions, garlic cloves and mushrooms in and around, pour the wine and wine vinegar on top of chicken, shake garlic and onion powder all over.

Bake at 375′ for 45 minutes making sure to turn chicken about every 10 minutes.

May be served atop your choice of either pasta or rice.

I started helping my mom with this dish when I was a bit older, I guess because of the wine,lol….. I’d cut up the potatoes into wedges and my Mom would slice the onions,  everytime she would put a piece of bread in her mouth so the vapors from the onions would be absorbed as to not make her eyes tear, what a wonderful memory. I now have to do the same, but, I like to spread garlic butter on my piece of bread, at least I can enjoy the taste and really forget about the onion vapors!!

PASTA IN BUTTER & CHEESE 

This dish is one of my families favorites!! Any kind of pasta, usually a smaller one like elbows or rotini, boil in water, after draining , put pasta in the bowl with butter and allow it to melt, if for some reason the butter doesn't melt quickly you can always pop it in the micro. and then pour over pasta.

Add grated cheese on top and enjoy!! It's fun and very easy to make and tastes like you just ordered it from a fancy restarant!!

If you'd like a bit of spice add some ground red pepper.

LUSCIOUS RACK OF LAAAAAAAAMB

 Just imagine a beautiful rack of lamb smothered in rosemary and tyme along with a dash of garlic, onion powder and a bit of kikkoman sauce , mmmmmmm, tasts so yummy...... 

~ A MEMORY FROM MY CHILDHOOD ~

~When we would have a pasta dish, my Mom would always ask one of us girls to... "Go ask your Father what kind of pasta he'd like with the sauce", so, leaving the kitchen one of us would ask our Dad that almighty question..."Daddy, Mom wants to know what kind of pasta you want tonight?" with that said we would call out the pastas to him, and say..."Would you like rigatoni, angel hair, penne', spaghetti" Oh the list went on and on, He'd look up with his beautiful ice blue eyes and say....  "Oh, I don't know", well, with that said, back in the kitchen and into the pantry, picking up ALL the pasta boxes and holding them carefully, much like the leaning tower of Pisa, we would march back into my Dad, stand ever so still, and say..."Ok Daddy, which pasta do you feel like tonight?" he'd study the pasta boxes like they were wrapped presents waiting to be ripped open, point to the one of his liking and say.... "How about that one"? Our response.. " Oh Daddy yes, that's the perfect one, great choice"!!

By the way..... We still ask my Dad what kind of pasta he wants, some things never do change now do they... and that's a beautiful thing...

I love you Daddy ~