tip: cutting onions

We all know about slicing onions through the pain. The burning sensation. Constantly wiping away the uncontrollable tears streaming down your cheeks with your arm. Squinting and continuing to slice with one eye barely open, hoping to get the job done as quickly as possible so you can run to the sink and rinse the burn out of your eyes.

Well, I can't scientifically prove if they actually help but when I need to cut a lot of onions, I pull out my shop goggles. I look ridiculous but I think the sulfuric gas that's created and released by the onion being cut doesn't get in my eyes. Take that, Mr. Burny Onionman! 

aimo e nadia's spaghettoni with spring onion and hot pepper

Last year, Mr. Mari and I went to Milan and Marrakech with his sister and her husband. What an amazing trip! One of the standout dishes of our trip was a very simple and elegant pasta dish from il Luogo di Nadia e Aimo. It seemed to have only spring onions and hot red pepper as ingredients - very deceptively simple. When we returned to the States, we all set out to recreate the dish. We got close but no cigar. One and a half years later...

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shaved asparagus salad

Last spring, we ate at Eataly's La Pizza & La Pasta restaurant. This shaved asparagus salad is as close to their dish as I can approximate without having stepped in their kitchen. The recipe uses a mandoline so mind your fingertips!

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tip: cuisinart tip #1 - working with flour

I don't know if it's because my Cuisinart is about 20 years old or if it's just made this way but anytime I pulse flour, a Saturn ring of flour shoots out from the crack where the lid and bowl meet. To prevent the inevitable, I always take damp paper towels and press them around the seam where the two parts meet. 

dahlias for the dinner table

A 6-inch spray of color for the table. Just lob off the flower at its base and find a bowl that the flower can fill. Easy peasy. I'd say this can be done with any large flower but this dahlia's sunburst looked awesome and powerful.

For a larger arrangement, similarly lob a couple off and add a few unopened flowers at the ends. 

father's day pie

Happy Father's Day. Hope you like strawberry rhubarb pie. 

chicken paprikash

I bought a 5-pound chicken at the farmers market. Of course after it was purchased, I realized I was a little tired of eating roasted chicken. So, I deboned the sucker and made chicken paprikash.

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roasted beet salad

I don't know why I was scared to cook beets. But once I did, I realized how easy they were to make! Cook them a day before serving, let them marinate overnight - and shazam! Flavorful, colorful and oh so simple.

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