I never knew Italian food could be so fantastic until our latest “blog dinner”. I always thought that Italian food was just salad and pasta. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to East Side Mario’s a time or two, but I have only ever ordered a salad or a menu item which is in the English language only (that way I know what I am ordering). Since we were going to be cooking out of a book called “Everyday Italian", we had no choice but to pick some recipes that were truly Italian…right down to the name of the dishes.
Unfortunately, Stuart and Andrea had a prior commitment during the evening of our dinner, so we invited a friend as our very first “guest judge”! Terrel, our guest judge, was very surprised to be asked to a three course meal where he did not have to bring anything and where he didn’t have to pay, but was then encouraged to critic the meal! As it turned out, Audie and Bob where outside setting up the kids’ outdoor play center when Terrel arrived for the evening…needless to say, payment for the dinner was help with construction. J
The Book:
Everyday Italian:
The Author:
Giada De Laurentiis
The Menu:
Fried Polenta – Page 122
Vodka Penne – Page 57
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta – Page 205
Chicken Piccata – Page 153
Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream – Page 223
The Undertaking:
I had never heard of Polenta before I read the fried polenta recipe. I did a little research and found that Polenta is popular all over the world! All it is, is boiled cornmeal. I read that it is similar to grits, which of course is popular in the southern States, only the grain that is boiled is different. I learnt that sometimes Polenta is even eaten topped with a drizzle of maple syrup. Yum! Can you guess what I will be doing the next time I make Polenta?
To help save time, on the night of our dinner, we decided to start some of our dishes (polenta and marinara sauce) the night before. The polenta kept nicely in the fridge and was cold and firm when we were all set to fry it up for our appetizer. The marinara sauce was really easy to make…it just required an hour of simmering and lots of prep work, this is why we thought it would be better off done the night before.
We started off our “blog dinner” night by frying up the Polenta. As many of you probably already know, when frying food, you must make sure that your oil is HOT, HOT, HOT! When I was frying up my first batch of polenta, my oil was not hot enough and they all stuck to the bottom of the pan. As a result, they soaked up the oil and got really greasy. The worst part of all, was that they didn’t hold their shape and ended up not looking very pretty at all (there are no pictures of the first batch)!
The vodka sauce was easy to make, and because it was made using the marinara sauce, it took no time at all. Good thing it was so easy to make, because the Brussels Sprouts were a little time consuming to make since they required a lot of prep work…clean the sprouts, blanch the sprouts, put the sprouts in ice water, sauté the pancetta (which is salt cured pork belly)…not hard work, just time consuming.
The Chicken Piccata was super easy to make as well and smelled amazing while it was cooking. However, I noticed after looking up the word piccata that we prepared it incorrectly, but I blame the recipe as we don’t think that it explained clearly how we were to prepare the chicken. In my research online I found in the Italian language the word is only used in reference to preparing food. It means sliced meat, sautéed and served in a sauce containing butter, lemon and spices. I also read that in preparing Chicken Piccata, the chicken breast is usually butterflied or sliced along its width and flattened with a tenderizer. In the book, the recipe calls for the chicken to be “halved crosswise”. Helen and I discussed what we thought “halved crosswise” meant and decided not to slice the chicken breasts at all. Perhaps I should have done my research prior to preparing the food! Hee hee!
During my web surfing, I found the recipe for the Chicken Piccata from Giada’s "Everyday Italian" cookbook online here. I noticed that the wording for preparing the chicken is different online from the directions in the cookbook.
We chose the desert of Fruit Salad
The Judgment:
Fried Polenta:
“The polenta had pleasant textures and flavor. It was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The marinara was an excellent full flavored sauce.” – Amber’s Man
“The polenta was crisp, buttery, creamy and yummy. The marinara had a rich tomato-y taste. The two were a nice combination. Sweet.” – Helen’s Bob
“I enjoyed the crisp outside and creamy inside of the polenta. The Marinara sauce was slightly sweet – no bitterness – very tasty compliment to the polenta.” – Guest Judge Terrel
“Best part of the dinner.” – Pre-Teen Parker
“Creamy center but greasy. Marinara was delicious.” – Helen
“The polenta had an interesting texture, kind of like a tater tot or something. I LOVED the marinara sauce it was better than store bought! It will be made over and over again in my household. Yum, Yum, Yummy!” - Amber
The Fried Polenta got an average score of 3.75 out of 5.
Vodka Penne:
“I did not enjoy the sauce. It’s hard to describe. It tasted like tomato sauce but different.” – Amber’s Man
“The vodka sauce had a rich, tart taste and a creamy texture…could not taste the vodka.” – Helen’s Bob
“Nice creamy tomato sauce, but there was no vodka flavor.” – Guest Judge Terrel
“I don’t know why…I just didn’t like it.” – Pre-Teen Parker
“Delicious, creamy, tasty!” - Helen
“Love it! I couldn’t taste the vodka, but it was really tasty all the same.” - Amber
The Vodka Penne got an average score of 3.3 out of 5.
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta:
“Excellent. Lightly flavored, but I LOVE brussels sprouts!” – Amber’s Man
“Least favorite vegetable EVER.” – Helen’s Bob (who loathes vegetables. He took 3 brussels sprouts and ate one.)
“The brussels sprouts were tasty but you had to make sure to add the juice [from the bottom of the pan] to taste the garlic and oil.” – Guest Judge Terrel
“I don’t like them.” – Pre-Teen Parker
“Simple taste. They taste much better when eaten with the broth/juice from the bottom of the pan.” – Helen
“I love, really love brussels sprouts. These ones weren’t anything too exciting though. They didn’t taste much different than ones that we have had sautéed with bacon.” - Amber
The Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta got an average score of 2.7 out of 5.
Chicken Piccata:
“Tangy, juicy, good!!” – Amber’s Man
“The chicken was moist. Sauce had a nice lemon flavor. It was tender and delicious.” – Helen’s Bob
“Juicy, succulent chicken and the caper sauce has a very unique lemony flavor.” – Guest Judge Terrel
“Too sour. I don’t like the round things.” – Pre-Teen Parker
“Super good. Lemony juicy flavor” – Helen
“LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the chicken piccata! The capers and the lemon go so well together. I love the huge caper taste! It was my favorite dish of the night!” - Amber
The Chicken Piccata got an average score of 3.7 out of 5.
Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream:
“Tastes as good as it looks. You won’t be disappointed.” – Amber’s Man
“The canola cream was superb. The fruit salad had lots of flavor.” – Helen’s Bob
“The creamy cannoli sauce makes the fruit flavors balanced. No overpowering fruit flavors.” – Guest Judge Terrel
“Second favorite dish of the night…but I don’t like the texture of the almonds on top of the cannoli cream.” – Pre-Teen Parker
“Delicious.” – Helen
“Mmmmmmmmmm! I’m so excited that I have a cannoli cream recipe! I’ve had the desire to try cannoli cream for so long!” - Amber
The Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream got an average score of 4.7 out of 5.
The Kids Vote:
Fried Polenta:
“I liked the sauce and the sticks.” – Jaxon
Jaxon and Seth enjoyed the Polenta…but my kids did not eat it. Carter had fallen and cut his lip earlier on in the evening so I assume that it was why he didn’t eat the appetizer.
Vodka Penne:
“I like the noodles.” – Emmersyn (but then she didn’t eat them very well.)
All of the kids enjoyed the penne. Seth and Carter kept asking for more. I think that they had 3 or 4 helpings each!
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta:
“No, but I like the bacon.” – Emmersyn (when asked if she liked the brussels sprouts.)
Chicken Piccata:
“I took a bite of everything, and I like it all!” – Jaxon
As Emmersyn will tell anyone who is eating dinner with her that she is a meat eater…and she really is. She loves to eat all types of meat, it is usually her favorite part of any meal and the night of our dinner was no different. She finished up the chicken right away and asked for seconds. The boys enjoyed it as well but they enjoyed the pasta the most.
Fruit Salad with Cannoli Cream:
“Strawberries, juice, sauce and the nuts were 89 out of 5, mom. It’s so good I want to eat them everyday!” – Emmersyn
“More ice cream, Mommy. Yummy!” – Carter
“Strawberries!” – Seth
All of the kids loved the fruit salad and cannoli cream. Each one of them were asking for more. We really need to start doubling the deserts so that everyone can have seconds for desert!
“Joke” of the Night:
Helen: “What’s the timer going off for?”
Amber: “It’s the timer for the polenta. It needs to be turned.”
3 minutes later…
Helen: “What’s the timer going off for?”
Amber: “It’s the timer for the polenta. It needs to be turned again.”
Another 3 minutes later…
Helen: “What’s the timer going off for?”
Amber: “It’s for the timer for the polenta.”
Helen: “Right! Sorry about that…I’ll try to remember that for next time.”
3 minutes later again…
Helen: “What’s the timer going off for?”
Amber: “It’s the timer for the polenta, Helen. It needs to be turned again!”
