Let's keep this thread going. We enjoy Lidia's Family Table/ Italian-American shows. She featured an easy recipe using chicken breasts, capers, red wine vinegar. She said it could be made using pork chops. This appealed to hubby so he made it for dinner one nite this week, using boneless pork chops. It's a delicious sauce. Skillet Chicken Breasts Aglio e Olio source: Lidia's Italy 6 chicken breast halves, skinless and boneless, about 2 pounds (we used boneless pork chops) 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed 1/2 cup flour, for dredging the chicken 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 8 garlic cloves, sliced 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 3 tablespoons capers, drained 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 cup vegetable broth 3 tablespoons Italian parsley, freshly chopped 1 tablespoon bread crumbs Trim the chicken breast halves of all bits fat, skin or connective tissue with a paring knife. Do not cut off the tenders-the small loose flap of muscle on the underside of each half-but flatten them firmly against the larger piece, to form a neat oval. Sprinkle both sides of the breasts with salt, using about 1/2 teaspoon in all. Spread the flour on a piece wax paper and press and toss each breast to coat lightly on all surfaces; shake off excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and all the butter in the pan over medium heat. When the butter is almost completely melted, lay the breasts in the pan, with space between them. Let them cook in place, without moving them, until they're sizzling. After 2 minutes or so, lift the first breast you put in the pan and check the underside. You want it to be lightly tinged with brown (not merely pale, but not brown all over either). Cook longer if needed, and then turn all the breasts over when they've just begun to color. Quickly scatter all the garlic slices into the spaces between the chicken, turn the heat up slightly, shake the pan and stir the slices around in the hot fat so they separate. After a minute or a bit more, when the garlic has begun to sizzle, sprinkle the red pepper flakes in a hot spot; toast for a minute; then spill the capers in several hot spots around the pan. Give the skillet a few good shakes to distribute the seasonings and run the hot juices all around the breasts. Raise the heat another notch: when everything's sizzling hard, pour the red wine vinegar into the open spaces and shake the pan to spread it. Let the vinegar sizzle and reduce for a 1/2 minute or so, then pour in the broth. Cook at full blast now, quickly bringing the liquid to a boil. As it cooks, drizzle the remaining two tablespoons of oil all around the pan and sprinkle on another 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let the sauce bubble and reduce for a couple of minutes, shaking the skillet frequently, then sprinkle the bread crumbs into the sauce (not on the chicken) and stir and shake to mix it in. Within a minute or two, the crumbs will thicken the sauce visibly; cook, shaking the skillet, until it has the consistency you like. Turn off the heat, scatter the parsley over everything-and shake the skillet again. Serve immediately.

Always make mine on the fly. A good splash of vinegar, a shake of italian herbs, and a drizzle of olive oil. I have three vinegars that I'm playing with... basalmic, rice, and "salad". I pay no attention to price... I go with what tastes good to me. I'm using walmart brand basalmic because I like it... under $2 a bottle. Heinz "salad" vinegar is a current favorite because it is strong sour bite... which I like. Playing with the rice vinegar because I like to play. Plain white regular vinegar works fine. I have Filippo Berio brand olive oil for no reason other then it was on the store shelf when I was buying. About ate up the expensive stuff in a painted bottle my sister bought me. Don't tell anyone but I also have a bottle of store brand evoo. Herbs I have fun with. Currently using up some "Bouquet Garni" from Penzeys. I have rosemary that I grew myself and salad is a prime place to use it fresh. Often I use the $1 jars of cheap generic "italian spices"... I don't feel so bad throwing them out when the flavor fades. When in the mood I give a shake of sesame seeds... probably not official italian. Certainly a good sprinkle of black pepper for me and some salt. Most of the time I go with baby spinach for greens. Just ate a whole 2lb bag of iceberg salad mix last week because it was on sale. The little bits of carrot were plenty of sweetness to me. Cheese depends on my mood. Fresh grated is nice because the long strings catch in the fork tines while you are eating. I don't measure... what could go wrong? Most of the time I go easy on the oil because I don't need the calories. When I'm hungry more oil makes it more filling. No sugar... I save my sugar and grease cravings for doughnuts.... like the raspberry bismark I'm craving right now. : ) lyra

Try it Mike! I'm terrible at candy, but if I obey my thermometer and use the mixer it is doable. The mixer makes it dangerously easy. I'm still more likely to make an easy toffee because it's very fast. Unfortunately (for me), the ingredients are always on hand... Almond Toffee 1C butter 1 1/4 C sugar 3/4 to 1C coarsly chopped blanched almonds (I've never blanched anything in my life...and I usually use pecans because I like 'em best) 6 oz. chocolate chips (optional if you're out of chips, heaven forbid--I sort of prefer it without chocolate but use it on half for the others) Melt butter over low heat in heavy 3-qt. saucepan, then add nuts and sugar. Turn heat to high, stir rapidly until color changes to light caramel, about 5 minutes. Almonds will start to pop and mixture will have a compact appearance but be fluid enough to pour. Pour into a slightly warm ungreased 13x9x2" pan, spreading as thinly and evenly as possible, to about 3/8" thickness (may not fill pan completely). Scatter chips over candy, let them melt, then spread around. When cool, invert pan and tap it to release toffee. Break it up with a hammer or chef's knife. Eat. Note: About 1/4 C nuts can be chopped extra fine and sprinkled over the melted chocolate. It makes it a little dressier and less messy to eat. (Also from Homemade Candy, Farm Journal, Ed. Nell B. Nichols, 1970.) Doughnuts though. I love doughnuts. I know myself well enough to not even try to make them. What if they were not difficult? I cannot resist fresh doughnuts. They may be the perfect food.

Hi folks, this event is coming up in a week and a half. I've been mulling over all the suggestions. Question: do you think I could unmold panna cotta from a muffin tin? I may have up to a dozen women attending. I liked the tea cup idea, but don't think I could keep a dozen tea cups in my fridg with everything else for a day or so, plus with the other things I plan on making, I thought what would fit in a muffin tin would be a nice size - any suggestions appreciated as I have never made it. Was planning on trying tishtoshnm's recipe suggestion. Thinking of including a "nod" to Valentine's Day with the offerings. At least one person is allergic to nuts, a couple have celiac, and one has diverticulitis and can't have seeds. This is what I have come up with to make and serve so everyone can have "most" things: heart shaped Linzer cookies with seedless raspberry jam (I have a cookie recipe to make them without nuts), walnut fudge, panna cotta (was thinking of drizzling a glaze of melted seedless raspberry jam on it?) and berries on the side with a plate of cheese, regular and gluten free crackers, figs and dates (how about mascarpone cheese since it's Italian?). Spumante was mentioned in the book, so I was thinking of getting that. I remember a tv commercial growing up for "Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante" - of course no more alcohol commercials these days lol!