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Beautiful Broccoli Sformato

You never forget your first sformato. We were in that little trattoria on the north shore of Green Lake, absorbed by an inner glow that transcended the gusts of rain throwing themselves against our window. Inside the restaurant with its fabulous smells, all was candlelit and cozy.

Our waiter’s humor and his rounded Balkan […]

Fire Roasted Tomatoes

I’d love to tell you that the tomatoes here at Chez Bullhog were wonderful this year, but it just ain’t so. For a true tomato connoisseur, this is one tough admission.

Homegrown tomatoes here at Chez Bullhog

Oh, we put the plants in the sunniest spot in the garden and by turns coddled […]

Mushroom Lovers’ Bruschetta

My little Scottish grandmother looked at me through the lenses of her silver-rimmed glasses. ‘You do what?’ Her voice was shrill. We were talking about hunting wild mushrooms. Obviously, she did not approve.

Trawling the shops on New Hope’s main street some time later, we ended up in a slick store that sold cheeses […]

Antipasto Peppers with Italian Tuna

My Italian was not at all up to this. ‘Lo sportello automatico non pagare il denaro,’ I said to the beautifully tailored man across the desk from me – as close as I could get with my tourist phrase books to ‘the bank machine ate my money.’ I felt perspiration rise on the back of […]

Cozze Ripieni (Ligurian Stuffed Mussels)

Our green door with its dodgy lock opened onto a path with cobbles worn smooth by bathers going down to the sea. Mornings, we made the hike down to claim our Ligurian beachfront with colored towels and plastic buckets. Later, when the air had cooled, we made our way up the path to join the […]

Italian Tuna and the Antipasto Plate

Somewhere between the former hospital of San Lorenzo and the Porta Nuova we began to wilt. The sun blazed. The children whined. The paintings we’d been to see had been uninspiring. And as usual, we’d gotten a late start so we were out during the mezzojourno – that time of day when all self-respecting Italians […]

Crostini Three Ways: Red Pepper, Olive, and Chicken with Capers

Picture the setting: a big old castellated building thick with stonework southeast of Siena, surrounded by the Italian equivalent of a county park. Three women of ascending age have carved a restaurant out of two rooms on the ground floor, accessible through ancient doors near the car park. We Bullhogs have come here to dine.

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Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

My petite Scottish grandmother looked at me critically through the lenses of her silver-rimmed glasses. ‘You do what?’ Her voice was shrill. We were talking about hunting wild mushrooms.

Trawling the shops on New Hope’s main street some time later, we ended up in a slick store that sold cheeses and specialty foods. I […]

The Antipasto Plate: Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Smoked Paprika Tuna

In a Ligurian delicatessen, with the Mediterranean sun streaming in from the nearby Golfo dei Poeti, one of the festive goodies on the shelves close to a big display counter was bright red peppers stuffed with tuna paste and preserved in olive oil. They were presented in whimsical bottles of assorted shapes and sizes, all […]

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Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.

Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan. Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem, suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.