Our friend Debra joins us once again – this time to talk about her family’s delicious Christmas Eve recipe. Debra writes inspiring and magical posts as My Italian Garden on her personal Facebook page.  Deb and I first met at a local watering hole and it wasn’t until the last 5 minutes of our conversation that she mentioned she writes posts as ‘My Italian Garden’ on FB. A friendship made in heaven – My Italian Garden meets Our Italian Table!

Continue reading Debra’s My Italian Garden: Planked Mustard Pepper Salmon at Our Italian Table.

The menu is ready and all the fish has been ordered over here on the East Coast! My Food Blogger’s Feast is ready to roll….a huge GRAZIE MILLE to my foodie friends for providing your most loved recipes! I will be posting recipes and photos over the next few days and do not hesitate to drop me a note if you need a recipe in advance….more to come!!

Buon Natale!!

Michele

La Vigilia di Natale 2013

Antipasti

Cappon Magro (Italian Seafood Salad) – Our Italian Table

Gamberi Oreganati (Shrimp with Bread Crumbs) – Come Follow Me to Italy

Polpette di Baccala (Baccala Meatballs) – AJ and Gigi (The Godkids!)

Pecorino Toscano Staginato with Chestnut Honey

Orange Salad with Anchovies and Black Olives

Artichoke and Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

Tuna-Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers

Primi 

Saffron-Tomato Mussels over Capellini – Deb’s Recipe a Day

Crab and Ricotta Cannelloni with Lobster Tomato Cream Sauce – Our Italian Table

Secondi

Planked Mustard Pepper Salmon – Debra’s My Italian Garden

Involtini di Pesce Spada (Swordfish Rolls) – Ciao Chow Linda

Lemon-Zested Broccolini with White Anchovies and Garlic Confit

Salad of Butter Lettuce and Radicchio with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Dolci

Frozen Orange Cream Torte with Dark Chocolate Crust and Spiced Cranberries

 EXTRA FISH Permitted!

Continue reading Michele’s Feast of the Seven(+) Fishes – Food Blogger Style at Our Italian Table.

On December 24th, Italian-Americans gather for the Feast of the Seven Fishes. This special feast is unknown to many native Italians although serving a boatload of fish on La Vigilia di Natale (the Christmas vigil) is not. In an article in Edible Manhattan, the author discusses that Carol Field wrote in ‘Celebrating Italy: The Tastes and Traditions of Italy as Revealed Through Its Feasts, Festivals and Sumptuous Foods’ that the tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve started when the Church imposed the rule of ‘mangiare de magro’, (basically – feast of ‘no’ meat) which would allow the body to purify and get it ready for big feasts.

Continue reading A Food Blogger’s Feast of the Seven(+) Fishes!! at Our Italian Table.