Sometimes all that really matters is comfort food. That’s just the way of things – you find yourself preparing a straight forward, nothing fancy recipe that fills the tummy, warms the heart and rings the carbohydrate bell about as close to the top as it gets.

Spagetti and meatballs has filled this roll for americans long before Mama Corleone served them to a tired Don after a hard day of importing Olive Oil – extra virgin of course!

This post is linked to a famous meatball recipes from Rao’s restaurant in New York City.  Rao’s is renowned for its jukebox, its quirky decor, its unmatched hospitality and most of all, the spectacular Neapolitan cuisine. This recipe is about as close as many of us will get to eating there, since the restaurant has a total of only 10 seats with one seating per night!

Enjoy the meatballs with your favorite red sauce and be sure to un-ring the Carb bell just a bit by serving them over our zero carb zero calorie Shirataki Spagetti pasta. Ready! Set! Mangia!

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This salad has bold flavors, history, cunning subtlety and seductive harmonies, all presented in apparentsimplicity.  As we show it to you today, we know that tomorrow this recipe will have your family and guest lost in dreams of what is yet to come as they savor it’s many dimensions.

Buffalo Mozzarella & Fava Bean Salad
 
3 cups fava beans, shelled and blanched
(Remove the beans from the pod and blanch in boiling salted water for about 25 seconds. Drain and refresh in ice water.)
1 cup mint leaves, coarsely chopped or torn
1 cup basil leaves, coarsely chopped or torn
1/2 medium-sized red onion, thinly sliced

8 small tomatoes halved
2 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp Basil Infused Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Fleur de Sel and black pepper to taste
150 g prosciutto, thinly sliced
1/2 to 1 lb buffalo mozzarella   

For Finishing:

Bariani Extra-virgin Olive Oil ; Saba drizzle and Italian Herb Gourmet Cheese Wafer Crisp
For the fava bean salad, toss all ingredients (except prosciutto, mozzarella, and Crisp Wafers) together before serving and season to taste. Leave it to come up to room temperature.
Slice mozzarella. To assemble the dish, scoop a pile of fava bean salad onto each plate, dress with the prosciutto, mozzarella and tomatoes halves and top with Cheese Wafer Crisp. Drizzle with Bariani olive oil and ground fresh pepper if you like.

Buffalo mozzarella is an artisan ingredient. Be sure to work this recipe through with other high-quality mozzarella, avoiding cheaper versions with higher moisture contents. Serves 6.

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Properly cooked risotto is rich and creamy but the price for that rich creamy texture can involve repetitive stress injury for the purist or the uninitiated.  Riso Bello has an offering that puts an end to all the stirring and pouring.

Their line of instant Risottos have all the character and integrity you would expect from a preparation that was worried over, whipped and stirred to a faretheewell – but in fact was completed in just 12 minutes leaving the busy cook to move on to the the main course without a second thought.

We are especially fond of the Sundried Tomato version (also called Risotto Pronto) it is produced from the finest ingredients and provides the opportunity for a truly traditional Italian risotto within reach of just about every one. Simply simmer ready risotto in water for only 12 minutes stirring twice to enjoy a rich creamy dish. This ready Risotto is produced by Riso Bello, Robbio, Italy. Riso Bello has the largest share of the Italian market for quality risottos. Riso Bello has developed this product in it’s own R&D Laboratories. Does not contain any colorants, preservatives, MSG or hydrogenated vegetable fat thereby resulting in a highly natural product.

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One of the eternal questions of dieting is “to sandwich or not to sandwich”  or more exactly “to bread or not to bread”. Even whole grain bread can add a whole lot of carbs and calories to lunch or dinner.

Well here is one tasty solution that will put the bread question to its long overdue bed.

Our kitchens prepared a bread with so few carbs and calories even the most devoted dieter will be left with nothing to fret about.  All it takes is this bread along with our tapenades, your favorite prosciutto and a bit of shaved Parmesan and you have a delli sandwich worthy of the most charming Roman Trattoria.

Black Forest Prosciutto on Flax Meal Bread

2 Slices of Flax Meal Bread

1 teaspoon Garlic Sauvignon Blanc Mayo

1 teaspoon Black Olive Tapenade

1 teaspoon Sundried Tomato Tapenade

2 slices Black Forest Prosciutto

2 -3 Thin slices of parmesan cheese (use a wire cheese cutter)

4 large basil leaves fresh

Sprinkle Blue Sapphire Salt from Persia

recipie continued

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Wow! We just added this line of no carb no calorie pasta noodles and they are selling at an amazing clip. Little did we know of the pent up demand for penne and all the other shirataki noodles our importer has to offer.

The real lesson for us is that we are a nation of pasta lovers and it is so maddening that one of our favorite foods adds so many carbs and calories to our maxed-out diets. There is nothing more craze producing than to find ourselves facing a never ending pasta bowel for dinner and an over the top scale before breakfast.

These noodles are an answer we never saw coming – no carbs, no calories just pure soluble vegetable fiber – one of the best things we can add to our diet. Is this foodie heaven or what?

We created dishes in both Asian and Italian cuisines and could not be more impressed with the ease of preparation and the satisfying texture and flavor of these noodles. They absorb flavor from whatever surrounds them, making them the perfect complement to any talented cook’s skill and creativity – go ahead – really love pasta again!

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We continue to be impressed with our new line of Shiritaki Noodles. These noodles are flexible, high in fiber and, while not flavorful in themselves, they easily absorb the flavors which surround them, adding both texture and body to soups, sauces, salads or stir fry.

They are incredibly easy to use either hot or cold, they can be heated briefly for pasta or cooked for hours in a soup or stew without losing their shape or firmness.

All of this versatility comes with no cost in calories or carbohydrates – these noodles provide the greatest percentage of soluble fiber of any food on the planet without adding a single calorie or carbohydrate.  They are pure fiber – no fat, no sugar, no starch, no protein, only fiber and water.

We’ve used them in several recipes already and will continue to share them as we know more about the possibilities this enticingly interesting product has to offer.

Here is our latest offering:

Shiritaki Angel-hair Noodle and Snow Pea Vegetable Salad

The Dressing:

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon z-sweet

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons Sherry

1 tablespoon cava vinegar

1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh gingerroot

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil

For Salad:

1 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 package shirataki angel-hair noodles

1 1/2 pounds Napa cabbage (about 1/2 medium head)

1/4 pound snow peas, julienne

1 large red bell pepper julienne

2 cups finely shredded carrot (about 3)

4 scallions, sliced thin

1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted golden

For the rest of the recipe please follow this link

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Shirataki Fettuccuni

Fettuccine Pasta Shirataki Noodles

Fettuccine Pasta Shirataki Noodles ….
• are naturally water soluble fiber with no fat, sugar, starch, or protein.
• contain zero net carbohydrates and zero calories.
• wheat and gluten free.
• pure Vegetable and can be stored in the room temperature for about one year.
• Don’t need refrigeration
• JAS (Japan Agricultural Standard) Certified Organic are translucent and gelatinous, with no flavor of their own – they easily absorb the dominant flavors of any soup or dish. They’re instant and come in a variety of styles and shapes – you can simply toss salsa with Konjac instant pasta for a quick meal.

What are these noodles?
Konjac glucomannan (KGM) is a water-soluble dietary fiber derived from the root of the Konjac plant. Konjac foods, also called Shirataki Nooldes, in Japan, made from Konjac Glucomannan, are traditional Chinese foods with a history spanning over two thousand years more

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Rosemary and Balsamic Marinade for London Broil 

This is a recipe that will guarantee your grilling efforts will be remembered thru many a long Winters day.  Grilling is the primal  ritual where tribes of all stripe and rank join the Shaman Chef in celebrating a meal.

This Marinade evokes history, romance and flavor in a culinary chant worthy of the summers peak. Enjoy!

1 cup Mussini Classic Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Baraini extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped rosemary
One 3-pound London Broil steak, about 4 inches thick
2 teaspoons Sel Gris Sea Salt
2 teaspoons coarsely ground pepper

Recipe Continued

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The Bitten Word: Italian Parsley and Raw Beet Salad.

Beets taste amazing, but these root vegetables are so dense and hearty that you have to roast them in the oven for a long time to make them palatable. (It’s the same reason you don’t serve raw potatoes.) more

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