Comfort Food to Healthy Eats
We just came through the holiday season, followed by a blizzard, so naturally, I've been in the kitchen a lot (with the exception of 2 weeks of kitchen re-demo) cooking comfort food. There's just something, well . . . comforting about eating hot and heavier foods when it's cloudy, cold, snowy and blustery. Besides that, my mom was with us the last week and she is a "meat and potatoes" type of eater, and I was trying to not totally make her eat outside her comfort zone.
Now that we have a break in the weather, it's time to return to that ever-recurring New Year's goal of losing ten pounds. So here's where I'm going with this - my focus for the next month is going to be on cooking healthier meals, ones loaded with fruits, vegetables, lean meat and healthy fats. I will of course, cook some dishes from the cookbook, but I'm going to be trying some new dishes as well. So if you have any favorite healthy meals, please let me know, and I'll give them a try.
One of the best things about traveling to Italy is the food. Pasta, Pizza, Cannolis. In our (extended) family, we are all big fans of Pasta Bolognese - homemade wide noodles covered in a rich meaty sauce, topped with fresh parmesan cheese.
During a recent trip to Milan and Sicily with Al, Matt, Ben, Josh, and our friends Drew and John, we sampled Bolognese many, many times. According to John, Drew has been clammering for some Bolognese for a while, and a few nights ago John granted his wish by making a big pot of it. Typically Bolognese Sauce (page 26-27) is made with a combination of ground beef, veal and pork, but John being John, improvised when he couldn’t find any veal, and used ground lamb instead.
Per John, “The Bolognese was perfect. I used 2% fat milk thinking it would lighten it up, but I don’t think anyone would be able to tell the difference. This is wonderful on a cool night, just probably cut your portions down a bit from the normal marinara/tomato sauce. Some garlic bread and a light green salad, and everyone’s happy!”
If you're have a little extra time, make your own Homemade Pasta as well (page 28-29). Check out my Italian wine recommendation (Il Poeta 2010 Barbera D'Alba) under In The Glass as a nice complement to Bolognese. 
For the last 10-15 years I have been primarily a big, bold cabernet drinker. In the last few years I have been continuing to try wines outside of my comfort zone. And when you try new things, sometimes you are pleasantly surprised, and yes, sometimes you're disappointed. Trying to maintain a sense of adventure, Al and I joined a few wine clubs, one of which (Laithwaites) sends us a variety of wine a few times a year. It's always fun to receive one of these cases as we never know quite what to expect. (If you don't know much about wine, this can be a great way to experiment and find ones you like).
I have recently found several Italian wines that I am really liking. Now I've always been a big fan of a Barolo (“The king of wines, the wine of kings”) and undisputedly the best Italian produced wine. It's produced in the Piedmont region and uses the Nebbiolo grape, which is notoriously difficult to grow. Maybe this explains why it's such a pricey wine.
Barbaresco is another wine from Piedmont, and then there's the third "B" from this region - the Barbera. This one deserves paying attention to. Renowned critic, Antonio Galloni, says “The best Barberas are simply stunning."
This Il Poeta is a lovely medium-bodied wine, has a minimal nose, a touch of fruit, and a lingering smoky taste. I recently served this with pork and found it to be a perfect complement. Around $20 per bottle, this one is an excellent find. I encourage you to try it! Salute!
After another round of shoveling, I whipped up some omelettes, fried some bacon and added a bit of fruit so we could pretend we were being healthy. This Omelette (page 10) was filled with sautéed red peppers and mayan onions, with my favorite ingredient - Boursin cheese. My fellow eaters elected gouda and/or cheddar cheese instead (Wow, what's up with that?). Bacon was maple applewood, all accented with fresh organic raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and cherries.
