Mio Compleanno Italiano

Yesterday for my birthday I wanted to cook a big, traditional Italian dinner with my dad. So we started where anyone who wants to cook an Italian dinner should start, an authentic Italian market, E. 48th Street Market. There we bought home-made angel hair pasta, Lady Fingers, mascarpone cheese, freshly baked bread, and polenta. We also stopped at a farmer's market for fresh tomatoes and a new cafe called Crema for some strong expresso. Besides the expresso, I decided to try a machiatto, and boy was it a departure from Starbuck's caramel machiatto. Very bitter! But it's growing on me. Finally, we went to The Fresh Market to pick up the rest of our ingredients. For most of the recipes we followed the Summer Kitchen Notes of Frances Mayes from her book, Under the Tuscan Sun (my new favorite book!).

The menu:

ANTIPASTI
Bruschetta with Red Peppers & Onions Melted with Balsamic Vinegar

PRIMI PIATI
Angel Hair Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic, Olive Oil, and Parmesan

SECONDI
Basil and Lemon Chicken
Polenta Parmigiana with Marinara

DOLCI
Tarimisu

I've never been so intimate with the insides of a chicken before!

Before: The chicken was seasoned with lemon juice, scallions, basil, and lemon pepper.

After

From the top, clockwise: Angel hair pasta; polenta parmigiana with marinara; bruschetta with mozzerella, peppers, & onions; lemon, basil chicken.

Tarimisu sprinkled with cocoa powder!

Overall, the dinner was a great success - we had full, content stomachs all around! It was my best birthday yet and I will always cherish the memories of my dad and I cooking this special meal together!