Buon Appetito!

Buon Appetito!

Welcome to A Tasteful Experience! I am Italian and FOOD is what I talk about! We will explore Italian food, cooking, nutrition and recipes. The world seems to be a wonderful and safe place when you’re at the table with family and friends. Thank you for joining me at my table. I hope you will join the conversation.

A Tasteful Experience is a unique food service offering catering, personal chef services and private cooking classes. The service is unique in that small parties and groups are the preference. Personalized meals, parties or cooking classes at your home is our specialty. Business meetings for breakfast, lunch or dinner are available.

Care and personal attention are put into every item prepared for you. I use organic products whenever possible and all products are always natural and preservative free.

Focus is on nutrition as well as taste. I cook and bake a wide range of items but our inspiration definitely comes from Italy.

Enough of me, let’s talk food! Yesterday I harvested some cabbage, nothing fancy just plain green cabbage. I already had some cannellini beans prepared so I decided to go Tuscan and have the beans with a roasted pork loin and braised. Savoy cabbage is probably the cabbage of choice in western Tuscany where this recipe originates but home grown, young green cabbage is tender and delicious. Here’s a really easy recipe for you to try.

CABBAGE IN WHITE WINE

1 ½ to 2 lb cabbage, cleaned and thinly sliced (discard the hard stalks)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Oz pancetta, chopped (I was out of pancetta, so I used a few slices of soppresatta

to flavor my oil)

¾ Teaspoon anise seed

½ Cup dry white wine

Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat oil in large heavy pan, add pancetta and cook until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add cabbage, stir well and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, pepper and anise seed, stir and add the wine. Cover and cook over low heat until very tender (about 20 minutes). Check occasionally and make sure the pan doesn’t dry out.

A perfect accompaniment to beef or pork. Buon Appetito!