[80] Mushroom Stroganoff with Pasta

Cover of The Complete Book of Italian Cooking, edited by Anne Hildyard

This is the only recipe out of this book I’d ever made before this challenge. I’ve held onto these books (this one and the similar looking cookie cookbook) out of a deep affection for the people who gave them to me more than out of a feeling that they’re fantastic cookbooks.

You know what, though? They’re growing on me as cookbooks as well. The cookie book has had a few good ones and some poor ones. The previous recipe on this blog from here was stellar, and this stroganoff recipe was even better than I remembered it being.

So, so good.

I don’t tend to think of stroganoff as an Italian dish. If someone asked me to guess, I’d guess German. I don’t actually know that either one of those perceptions is in any way correct, but there you have it.… Continue reading →

The Complete Book of Italian Cooking

The Complete Book of Italian Cooking, edited by Anne Hildyard

Once upon a time, when I was very young, my parents left me in the care of a family friend, Kevin. I was, in fact, too young to remember the events in this story, so everything I’m relating to you is effectively second-hand. (For example, was my sister there too? I just don’t know.)

Kevin very kindly made me spaghetti for dinner that night. While I know better now, I apparently hadn’t yet learned some of the finer points of etiquette as regarding visiting another person’s home. So when he put the plate of spaghetti in front of me, my response was the appropriate and polite “Thank you; looks delicious!”, but rather, “Yuck!” My understanding is that I then insisted I didn’t like any spaghetti but what my mother made and refused to touch his.… Continue reading →

[38] Butter and Tomato Sauce

Cover of The Complete Book of Italian Cooking, edited by Anne Hildyard

Confession time: I picked this recipe after the tomatoes were already peeled and seeded.

I had been trying to find a recipe for a tomato sauce that used fresh tomatoes, preferably one that could easily be frozen or canned. Mostly, though, I’d been trying via a new website I’m a member of called “Eat Your Books”:http://www.eatyourbooks.com/ and not having any real luck.

Eat Your Books is pretty awesome in a lot of ways, but most of my cookbooks are not yet indexed on the site. So when I do a search, I end up with a lot of suggestions for recipes out of the two Bittman books I have. Of course, I love my two Bittman books, but I already look to them fairly often if I don’t know what to do.… Continue reading →