Best French and Italian Food Recipe

{I am giving away one of my favorite healthy cookbooks, don't forget to enter the giveaway}

Ricotta Pancakes with Banana-Pecan Syrup - Featured on Foodgawker today. 

Well, it was pancake Sunday again, light and fluffy pancakes were the order of the day and I immediately thought of Ricotta Pancakes.  They are incredibly delicious, light and fluffy.  Mr. W loved them and so did Em.  Home run for a Sunday breakfast.  We enjoyed a late breakfast and could have eaten two plates of these delicious pancakes.  The banana-pecan syrup is a decadent addition that you can leave out if you are watching your calories.  We decided to splurge for this breakfast.  These pancakes are incredible with chocolate chips or just butter and syrup.  You can also make a divine apple cinnamon syrup topping for these pancakes, I am sure I will be sharing those from an upcoming pancake Sunday.

It is always a pleasure sitting down with my family to a meal we can all enjoy.  To hear Mr. W say he loved my "Fluffy Pancakes" after knowing that he despises ricotta cheese made my heart sing.  Em's chorus of "Mmmmmm"s lifts me to the clouds.  What a delightful breakfast as I ate my Ricotta Pancakes with 'my heart singing in the clouds'.  I hope you enjoy as much as I did!  Buon Appetito.

On a different note, Lynne at 365 Day of Baking honored me by asking if I would do my first guest post on her blog 365 Days of Baking.  She has a wonderful blog, and an honest scoring system.  She gives each dish a score in number of rolling pins.  I love this method.  Lets you know before you make the dish if it is worth the effort.  So in keeping with the theme of her blog, I decided that I wanted to make a baked dessert.  I made an incredible Chocolate Sformato with Amaretto Whipped Cream that I would love for your to check out.  I definitely give this 4 rolling pins and would make it again.


Recipe from The Cheese Lover's Cookbook and Guide.

Ricotta Pancakes with Banana-Pecan Syrup

Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts and saute for about 1 minute, or until fragrant.


Add the bananas and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the syrup and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until the syrup is hot and slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside in a warm place.


For the Ricotta Pancakes:
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt together in a sieve over a medium bowl. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer or whisk until stiff but not dry.


Beat the egg yolks, milk, and ricotta together in a large bowl until well blended and smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently with a large spoon. Stir a spoonful of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites with a rubber spatula.


Warm a serving platter in a 200 degree F oven.

Heat a nonstick flat griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Grease with butter or vegetable oil. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto the pan and cook for about 2 minutes, or until bubbles form on the surface, then flip the pancakes over using a large wide spatula.


Cook on the other side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer the pancakes to the warm platter.

Serve immediately or hold in the oven while you cook the rest of the pancakes. Serve the pancakes on heated plates topped with the syrup.


Click here for a printable version of this recipe - The Slow Roasted Italian.com

A classic Italian combination, meat and fruit.  Like prosciutto and figs or melon, sausage and grapes is a fabulous and unexpected medley of flavors and textures.  The wine and balsamic vinegar give this dish such a depth of flavor, it is a treat to your senses.

I have to say Mr. W is not a grape fan, short of grape flavored bubble gum that is.  However, he devoured this dish.  Half way through roasting time he showed up into the kitchen asking what smelled so good.  I assured him he would love it.  He absolutely did, 3 bites in and he was asking if there was more.  That is the test, and we passed with flying colors.

Ina Garten featured this recipe from Al Forno restaurant, where they have had this fabulous dish with fresh grapes, hot sausage and a balsamic reduction on the menu for 30 years.  I thought that it was a perfect rendition to try.  Served with mashed potatoes this is an incredibly complete meal.

Recipe adapted from Johanne Killeen from Al Forno Restaurant

Roasted Grapes and Sausage

I am so excited to have reached 100 Google Friend Connect Members on this blog.  It seems like I have only been blogging for a couple of weeks (the time has flown by) but it also seems like I have been doing this all my life!  What a fantastic time I am having.  I am learning so much and growing with every post.

My whole family is enjoying this experience.  My husband Mr. W has gotten involved, he created my fabulous logo (banner) for me and helped with many design decisions.  Em, my 18 month old daughter is very excited to try new things and give Ma Ma her opinion.  Although she calls me Donna.  I don't think I have mentioned that before.  Although she can say Ma Ma, she prefers to call me Donna.  Which is crazy, because my husband nick name for me is "Baby" I could count the number of times he has called me Donna, in the last 15 years on my fingers (10 or less).  I digress.  I hope you get  a chance to check out my ABOUT ME page.

I am sure you noticed that I lean toward Italian and Greek flavors, and occasionally low calorie options.  My favorite go to low calorie cookbooks are The Biggest Loser Cookbooks.  They are written by Chef Devin Alexander, whom I adore.  She is fantastic at finding the perfect ingredients to give every recipe incredible flavor, texture and flair.  I honestly am not a cookbook lover.  I generally cook what I know, recipes I have tried, things my family used to cook, or things I have eaten out.  I turn to online recipes for guidance and inspiration, but do not often use cookbooks.  I am working on that though, I am now excited to read cookbooks, so maybe that will inspire me to use them for cooking too.

The first cookbook that I have collected the entire series of has been The Biggest Loser Cookbooks.  They Started with The Biggest Loser Cookbook, The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook, The Biggest Loser Dessert Cookbook and The Biggest Loser Flavors of the World Cookbook.  I love all of these books, but my favorite is the Family Cookbook.  I have made so many of these incredible recipes and I have not found a flop yet.

Chicken Dijon Salad with Grapes and Apples  is a great recipe.  The flavor, texture and flair is all there.  I love this one!!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir-Fry  is amazing.  It completely satisfies my craving for sweet and sour and I don't feel guilty after eating it. 

These are just two recipes from this cookbook that I have posted.  I will be posting many more this month.  I am making the month of August the month of eating healthy.  This is the hottest month here in the desert, "The Valley of the Sun".  I heard that name barely beat out "The Land of Sweaty Butts and Dehydrated Carcasses".  I guess it was a tourism issue.  ; )   I really don't want to be sticking to my tight clothes in this heat.  

So, I thought for our 100 Follower celebration and my first giveaway, the perfect item would be The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook.  I am so excited about this.


Okay, so this is how you can enter to win the fabulous "The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook".

1)  Leave a comment on my blog, not Facebook or Twitter, stating what your favorite low calorie dish is.  Everyone gets this entry!!!

You can also earn 3 BONUS ENTRIES!!

BONUS ENTRY #1 - Click JOIN FRIEND CONNECT (on the right sidebar) and become a member of The Slow Roasted Italian, leave me a comment saying that you did this.

BONUS ENTRY #2 -  LIKE The Slow Roasted Italian on Facebook and leave me a comment stating that you did so.


BONUS ENTRY #3

You can earn another entry, by following The Slow Roasted Italian on Twitter, and leave me a comment stating that you did.  You can use this link to Tweet it http://bit.ly/mTIZBU

Good luck to all my readers!  I hope you are as excited as I am!  I will be having more giveaways soon!!!  So, check back every day.

Entries must be posted by August 11, 2011 by 11:59PM EST.  Comments for entries will only be accepted on this blog.  Facebook, Twitter and email comments will not be entered.  I will then use the Random Number Generator to pick a winner!  The winner will be posted on this blog, I will also make an effort to contact you through any email or blog linked.  If the prize is not claimed within 48 hours, I will pick a new winner.

GOOD LUCK!!!

I was looking for a fabulous breakfast to satisfy my cheese craving, I certainly found it with this Ricotta Frittata.  I served it over a my Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce and it was delicious.  Each piece only has about 175 calories, so I had two and called it a full meal.

This was a special treat for me, Mr. W and Em wouldn't eat this.  Em doesn't like eggs right now (a texture thing) and Mr.W doesn't care for 'fluffy cheese' although I don't think he would pick it out in this frittata.  The cheese melts into the eggs and they become this creamy and luscious combination, with nutty notes from the Parmesan cheese and incredible flavor from the onion, garlic and marjoram.  This is one you have to try!  Buon Appetito!!!

Recipe adapted from Mario Batali




Click here for a printable version of this recipe - The Slow Roasted Italian.com

It's no surprise that Em loves cookies.  What is surprising is that I have been buying her packaged garbage cookies.  She loves animal cookies and vanilla creme cookies.  So, I thought a good homemade cookie to make for her would be a simple shortbread, and decided to go with the Pecan Shortbread Cookie.

These are so easy to make and well worth the effort, the flavor is fantastic and they keep forever in the freezer.  Come to think of it, these are my mom's favorite cookies too.

Click here for Recipe»

I was looking for a flavorful chicken dish that required very little stove or oven time.  I found it!  This chicken was fabulous, it is spicy, moist and flavorful.  This is a light with about 300 calories per serving.  A great meal whether you are watching your calories or not!  Perfect meal to make during this record breaking hot summer.  10 minutes or less on the stove.  The rest is in the crock pot. 

When stirring it around 3 hours into the cooking the chicken became so moist that it started breaking apart, so I had the idea to shred it and let all those delicious juices be absorbed into the chicken.  It worked out perfectly and it was incredible.  I made a plate for Em and I.  However, Em was not in the mood for chicken apparently.  So, I ate hers too. It was that good!  Buon Appetito!

Click here for Recipe»

Munchkin has been incredibly picky about what she will eat lately.  At 18 months, I am hoping she will grow out of this soon.  But, I imagine it is the standard for kids.  I try to find something healthy that she likes and I have to say I hit the jackpot with peas.  It actually started when I made the Cheesy Farfalle with Turkey and Peas she picked the peas out of the dish and just ate them.

Click here for Recipe»