ITALIAN FOODIES

At long last I have returned, my wireless still isn't working so I'm sitting on the stairs in the hall connected with my life saving yellow cable! We (me and my buddies at BT) still don't know what happened as it transpired that there was no cable fault after all that so now we are going to try a new modem at a cost to myself of course and see what happens!!! Anyway at least I have access, I wish I had better news on the dishwasher situation , I'm sure you're all mad interested to know, it's still not working, you wouldn't believe how much  I miss it, two words people  - BABIES BOTTLES !!! I'm literally chained to the sink, a sight Bruno loves to see for a change:)

It was a sad week in the Italian Foodie household as the best programme ever to grace our screens came to an end. We have been big " Soprano" addicts from the first episode and rarely missed one. Ivonne spoke about the final episode on her blog which finished a while back in Canada and I was terrified reading it that someone might give away the ending but they didn't. Like everyone else the ending took us by surprise, the build up was great I had butterflies in my stomach (ADDICT), myself and Bru were getting all excited - will Tony die?, O my god what's going to happen to Meadow? and then NOTHING???? We must have sat there for at least 2 minutes in silence with our mouths open and then we both went "WHAT THE FXXX?????? All that we could do was crack open a couple more bottles of Peroni and sit there and try and figure out "DID TONY GET SHOT OR WHAT????  Nothing left but "Lost" now which drives me crazy every time I watch it but I still never miss an episode!!

I was a bit lazy on the cooking front last week without my blog, my menu planning went out the window but don't panic I'm back on the straight and narrow or else Bru will just move back in with his mother:). She's actually off to Italy today for 5 weeks so no big Sunday lunch or dinner Wednesday and sometimes even Friday. I know, I know but she's just the best cook and you would take advantage too if you had a personal chef who loves nothing more than cooking for the family. Since I started the blog she's pulling out all the stops as I'm always asking her questions and have started to take more of an interest in everything she makes. It was pasta with lobster last Wednesday with lobster salad and an antipasto of parmesan and sliced mushrooms with a lemon and oil dressing, on Sunday it was home-made pasta with tomato sauce followed by roast rack of lamb with roast potatoes - DELICIOUS!!! Now you see why I will miss her!!

This rustic recipe is from last month's Taste Italia and is very easy to prepare with simple and clean flavours.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• chicken pieces - I used organic drumsticks and thighs -4 of each
• 1 lemon sliced
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 whole garlic - skin left on, press down on cloves with a knife to release the flavour.
• olive oil
• dry white wine
• plain flour
• sea salt and black pepper

WHAT TO DO:

 - season your chicken pieces and dip into some flour and shake off the excess.

 - heat some olive oil in a pan and cook your chicken pieces until golden brown.

 - add your herbs, lemon slices and garlic, cook for a couple of mins on a high heat and then turn down, cover and leave to cook for 20-30 mins until chicken is cooked.

 - remove your chicken and add a good splash of white wine and let the alcohol burn off and simmer for a couple of mins until liquid becomes a sauce consistency.

- serve with some patate arrosto and asparagus with parmesan(next post) on the side.

BUON APPETITO!!