Introducing....

The newest and cutest member of the Our Italian Kitchen family, Ella!

I have been completely MIA this past year. But I have a very cute excuse! 

We are the proud parents to a sweet little girl. She was born a week and a half ago. 

She's the best little blessing we've ever had.

After a stressful pregnancy and a painful labor (all the negative stuff), we have the cuddliest, sweetest, most adorable little girl.

We love you Ella Bella!!!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Taco seasoning is one of those things most people always have in their kitchen. It usually comes stored in individual one time use packets from the store. But if you ever turn over the packet and check the ingredient list, you'd notice that most ingredients are already in your cabinet. So why not make your own taco seasoning seasoning? You can personalize your seasoning, dependent on your heat tolerance and personal taste too. Since this is my recipe, I've added some Italian elements and adjusted it to my taste preference.

3 tbsp paprika

3 tbsp chili powder

3 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp dried oregano leaves

1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 1/2 tsp crushed pepperoncino flakes
1 1/2 tsp salt

Makes about 6-7 servings

1. These directions are very simple. Pour all the measured spices into a large bowl and stir together to mix well.

2. Store in an air tight container and use in place of the store bought taco seasoning on your favorite foods. Approximately 2 tbsp of this seasoning is equal to one packet of taco seasoning.

Source: I first saw this idea on With a Cherry on Top and also used Alton Brown's Taco Potion #19 for inspiration. I tweaked both of these and ended up with this recipe.

Also Featured on Homemaker Mondays and Made by You Mondays

Hello, 2011! I resolve to....

As a new year comes and an old one goes, it's time to look forward to what will be in 2011. The age-old tradition of making resolutions coincides with the changing of years. In fitting with this tradition, I'd like to make a New Year's resolution to try to cook/bake new things in the kitchen. This year I will be turning 25, a quarter of a century old! And for my resolution/bucket list of 2011, I will be making a 25 by 25 Bucketlist Challenge. Time to get started on building my cooking repertoire.

1. Creative Homemade Pasta (ravioli, tortellini, trottole)
2. Sfogliatelle and Lobster Tails
3. Cannoli
4. Rustic Semolina Bread
5. Chocolate Torte
6. How to properly temper chocolate
7. Homemade chewy caramels
8. Spumoni Ice Cream (at request of Hubby)
9. Biscuits
10. Cinnamon Rolls
11. 3 Tier decorated cake
12. Soft Pretzels
13. Potato Gnocchi
14. Sweet and Sour Chicken
15. Bagels
16. Napoleons
17. S'Mores Milkshake
18. Tiramisu Cheesecake
19. Herbed Butter
20. Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes
21. Rissoto and Polenta dishes
22. Panna Cotta and Zabaglione
23. Tartufo (attempted once and failed :( must try again)
24. Doughnuts (Fried and Baked)
25. Crostada


Other Goals for 2011:
1. Own a home
2. Continue working with decorating cookies, cakes, etc
3. Spend time with family and friends
4. Improve photography
5. Learn to sew and knit
6. Travel More


These cooking and baking goals are hopefully going to be accomplished by my 25th birthday! If not, at least during my 25th year... Here's to much learning and new challenges in the new year!

Here's a free printable year calendar for 2011 to help organize you in the upcoming year. Courtesy of Julia's Poppies Design

Top 10 in 2010

2010 is already over?! I can't believe how fast it felt. With this year coming to a close, I like to look back on all that has already past. My hubby and I are on our second year of being happily married (almost 2 full years!), two best friends of mine married their sweethearts, one of very best friends had a beautiful baby girl, many fun nights with my family, holidays together, and lots of fun. All these wonderful events, remind me of something that happened in the kitchen, because that is where much living happens and hope that next year will bring even more wonderful events! Here's to a blessed year filled with much joy! Thank you to all those who have read my ramblings and recipes! A very Happy and Healthy New Year in 2011!


Here are my Top Ten Posts in 2010 :

10. Red, White, and Blue Berries

9. Pizzagaina

8. Baby Shower Onesie Cookies



7. Mamma's Meatballs



6. Cheerleader Cookie Favors

5. Anna's Pasta alla Pesto Trapanese

4. Colorful Swirl Cookies

3. Banana Raisin Bread

2. Bracciole

1. Fig Newtons

Also featured on:
http://www.designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Fried Zucchini Blossoms

Zucchini blossoms tend to get overlooked in the the average kitchen, but we are fans of these tasty flowers, especially when they are stuffed and fried. Really, what isn't good when it's stuffed and fried? These are no exception! This recipe is adapted from Kevin Kohler, Chef of Cafe Panache.

15 Zucchini blossoms, male flowers
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
3 tbsp grated Pecorino Romano
2 tbsp mascarpone cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup of panko bread crumbs
oil for frying

1. In a small bowl combine the cheeses, salt, and pepper. Spoon into a pastry bag.

2. Open the flowers, wipe clean with a damp paper towel, and remove the stamens.

3. Now the tricky part! Open your flowers wide, but be very gentle. These flowers are quite fragile and if you rip it, the cheese will come out when frying.

4. Pipe cheese mixture into flowers and then twist tops and secure with toothpick.

5. Place flour, eggs, and panko in three separate shallow bowls. Beat the eggs with a fork.

6. Dip each blossom in the flour first(be sure to tap off the excess), eggs, and then panko.

7. You can refrigerate them now to make flowers firm or you can start frying.

8. Heat enough oil to fry in to about 375 degrees. Fry about 20 seconds per side.


9. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with tomato sauce and we added some grilled bread drizzled with olive oil.

Sugared Flowers

A foodie, I am.

A baker, I am trying hard to be.

A wedding cake decorator, I am not but certainly wish to be.

But can I decorate a cake with these sugared flowers? Well, that is much simpler and more achievable for me. Do I hope to make some fantastic, fancy, fondant covered cakes some day? Oh YES! I will someday and hopefully it is soon, but for now, I stick with what I know.

All you need to sugar flowers is: well, the obvious, flowers (be sure they are edible flowers), egg whites, vanilla, and caster (superfine) sugar. If you don't have caster sugar, you can put granulated sugar in a food processor to acquire the smaller granules.

1. First, combine one or two egg whites with a 1 tsp of vanilla, depending on how many flowers you want to decorate you may want to double this batch. I sugared about ten flowers using these amounts.

2.Wipe your flowers with a damp paper towel to be sure they clean.

3. Brush each petal gently with egg white mixture.

4. Then sprinkle with caster sugar until welly covered.

5. Let sit for a minute or two then brush/shake off excess sugar.

6. Allow the flowers to dry for an hour or two, preferably longer.

Then decorate a cake, cupcakes, anything you like! See it's that easy!

Exotic Fruit Sighting

My grandparents and aunts were eating the strangest fruit I'd ever seen and they called it "figurina". Well it is actually a prickly pear. My grandpa said it used to have spikes on it, but now they must cut it off before selling. But it is interesting looking and very vividly colored on the inside.



I was not brave enough to try it but my husband described it as hard-seeded watermelon like fruit. He said it was like a hybrid between a watermelon and raspberry. I was wondering if anyone else was familar with them? My family seems to love them, but they are hard to find. If anyone has recipes or ways to serve them, please share!