The Cook, the Kitchen, My Mom, & a Camera.

Welcome to our kitchen!
It isn't gleaming with brushed steel, and there are no turnip-peelers or sub-zeroes, but it is nonetheless the birthplace of some truly gorgeous plates of food. My mother (La Cuoca) was born half an hour outside of Venice, Italy. She has little patience for what commonly passes for "Italian food" here in the U.S. This blog will definitely be touching upon some common misconceptions in that arena. Ours isn't an exclusively Italian kitchen, though, and we love to use the local produce of South Florida as often as we can. We've international tastes, having traveled so much as a family. There will be a few recipe secrets and delicious advice given out here, but this is no Julie/Julia project; we mean to educate, entice, and entertain!

That's where I come in: as La Cuoca's daughter, I'm the Sous-Chef, photographer, and online record-keeper. Having said that, it's important to point out that, while the blog was my idea, mamma is most definitely in charge (we spent half the day thinking up a title, and the other half finding a profile photo she could live with. Artists!*).

To start, something simple.

You can scorch-roast some fresh bell peppers on your gas stove burners (after lining them with foil), but in all honesty, you get very similar results by setting them on a lined cookie sheet, and sticking them under your oven broiler, set to high:

See how nicely they roast? Don't let anyone tell you it tastes different--it's the exact same process.

Here I am, attempting to both peel the still-piping roasted peppers, and achieve 3rd-degree burns, at which I'm succeeding beautifully.

Meanwhile, La Cuoca is sautéeing some toothsome baby eggplants in a sweet-and-sour red wine vinegar reduction:

Eventually, she will insist that I wait until the food is off the stove and properly plated before I snap these shots, but until that spatula comes flying at my head, I'll look forward to the steam on my HP camera lens. I hope you all will, too! BUON APPETITO!

Next: Simple tomato sauce, made from fresh tomatoes.

* Mamma isn't just a Michelangelo in the kitchen--she's also a bona fide fine artist. You can browse her online gallery and purchase exclusive pieces at www.GianpaolaStinger.com.