Salisbury Steak

No more frozen dinner Salisbury steak! I assure you, if you like Salisbury steak, you will love this homemade version. Serve it over mashed potatoes with a side of peas for the perfect comfort dish.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup milk

1 lb ground beef

1 egg

1/2 cup onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 TBS ketchup

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Olive oil

Gravy ingredients:

2 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

2 cups beef broth

1 TBS Worcestershire sauce

1 TBS ketchup

1 tsp mustard

Onion powder, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine the meat ingredients in a bowl and mix with clean hands. Form into 4 rectangular patties.

Heat olive oil in a pan and cook the patties to rare to medium-rare. Finish cooking in the gravy.

Make gravy by adding all ingredients to the same skillet you used to cook the patties, so you can use the yummy bits and pieces left behind to add flavor.

Once the gravy is combined and simmering, add the patties back in and simmer until the meat is cooked through.

Home-Cooked Mac N’ Cheese

Yes, this is the 3rd homemade macaroni and cheese recipe on this website, but I refuse to delete any of them because they are all delicious. Each one is different in its own way. This one adds a kick of spice with peppers.

Picture of my daughter with San Francisco in the background.

Ingredients:

3 TBS butter

3 TBS flour

3 cups milk (warmed)

5 ounces cheddar cheese (shredded)

5 ounces gouda cheese (shredded)

5 ounces American cheese (diced) – get this item from the deli, not the packaged stuff that tastes like plastic.

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange)

1 diced jalapeño pepper with seeds

Diced ham is desired

1 lb pasta of your choice (you want a short noodle like macaroni or fusilli)

Directions:

Get some water boiling and start cooking the pasta while you make the cheese sauce.

Combine butter and flour until it is a paste, add spices.

Add warmed milk and stir with a whisk until smooth and creamy.

Add cheeses one at a time, allowing each to melt before adding the next.

Add diced peppers.

Drain the cooked pasta, combine it with the cheese, and add diced ham if using.

Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Caprese

Hey friends! I am going through Scott’s recipe book and putting them on this site so I can access them while traveling, and you can enjoy them too. The picture above is of the beautiful sunflowers Scott grows every year.

This recipe is simple, yet delicious.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (double this recipe if you have more mouths to feed)

1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, sliced

1/8 cup white wine

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2 slices mozzarella cheese

Parmigiano Reggiano, shredded

Fresh basil leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on both sides; set aside.

Add garlic and sauté until fragrant; be careful not to burn it. Add tomatoes, wine, basil, salt, and pepper to taste, and cook for 3 minutes.

Return the chicken to the pan with the tomatoes and cook on low for 10 minutes.

Place mozzarella on top of the chicken pieces and continue cooking on low until the cheese melts.

Garnish with basil and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Patate Gratinate (Potatoes au Gratin)

This Italian version of potatoes au gratin is the best scalloped potato dish I have tried. I bought a mandolin to try it out, and now I have a potato dish everyone in the house enjoys. I can’t take credit for the recipe because it is in Scott’s recipe book, so he deserves all the credit for this dish.

The picture above is the Pantheon during our trip to Italy in 2024.

Picture above of

Ingredients:

4-5 sliced potatoes

5 TBS butter

4 cups whole milk

1/4 cup flour

Pinch of oregano and nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmigiano Reggiano

Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Slice the potatoes and place them in cold water to keep them from turning brown.

Prepare your cheese by grating.

Prepare the béchamel sauce by melting the butter, whisking in the flour, and adding the milk until it thickens. Season with oregano, nutmeg, and pepper. Add grated Parmigiano and taste to see if it needs salt.

Layer the dish by starting with a layer of béchamel sauce in a 9×13 baking dish, then adding a layer of potato, béchamel sauce, Parmigiano, and mozzarella; repeat layers until the pan is full, ending with béchamel sauce and cheeses.

Cover with tin foil for the first 20 minutes, then finish uncovered until the potatoes are tender and the top is slightly browned; about 50-60 minutes.

Dawn’s Home Made Tortillas

This recipe is from my best friend Dawn. She sent it to me in 2001, and I am finally getting it on my recipe blog. You can use whole wheat flour if you would prefer a whole wheat tortilla. The picture above is Dawn and her mom in the 90s.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

Directions:

In a bowl, place the flour, shortening, and salt. Mix together with a fork until crumbly. Add the warm water and mix until the dough is smooth, then knead by hand until combined.

Cover the dough and bowl with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

Separate the dough into chunks, depending on the tortilla size you want, and form into small balls. If you have a tortilla press, use it to flatten the dough balls. If not, use a dinner plate: place a ball of dough on the plate and flatten it, starting in the center and working outward in a circular motion. Make them as thick or as thin as you want.

Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat and cook the tortilla on both sides until cooked through.

Eggplant Parmigiano

We found this recipe on one of the nonna recipe sites we frequent. The batter of this eggplant recipe makes it unique and delicious; the mint is a must. For the vegetarian version, omit the mortadella. The picture above is from our Italy 2026 trip to the Roman Colosseum.

Ingredients:

Sauce;

Extra-virgin olive oil

Small onion, diced

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

Fresh basil

Salt to taste

Eggplant batter;

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh mint, minced

1 tsp salt

2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 1/2 cups water

2 eggs, beaten

12 oz mozzarella, fresh, cubed

12 slices mortadella

Combination of peanut oil and olive oil to sauté eggplants

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

Heat olive oil in a pan; add onion and cook until tender; add tomato, basil, and salt to taste. Simmer for 20 minutes or more.

In a bowl, mix the flour, parmigiana, garlic, salt, eggs, and water.

Peel eggplant and slice lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick.

Dip the eggplant slices in the batter and sauté on both sides until golden brown; set aside.

In a deep dish, coat the bottom with some tomato sauce mixture. Layer with eggplant, a thin layer of sauce, Parmigiano cheese and mozzarella, and mortadella, then repeat for 4-7 layers, depending on how much you are making.

If you’re finishing with mozzarella, wrap in tin foil for baking, then remove it 10 minutes before taking it out of the oven.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes; let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Pork Chops alla Pizzaiola

This is another recipe from Scott’s recipe book. He made it in Italy with chicken, and it was delicious, so you can choose the protein. Serve with risotto, vegetable rice pilaf, or potatoes. We took the picture above on our Italy 2026 trip in Pisa.

Ingredients:

Bone-in pork chops (or chicken if you prefer)

Mozzarella, sliced

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, sliced thin

1/2 cup of white wine

1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes with passata

Oregano, Italian parsley, thyme, and rosemary to taste (fresh or dried)

Salt and pepper to taste

Red pepper flakes to taste

Fresh basil

Directions:

Salt and pepper your protein and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat, then add the protein and brown on both sides. Remove and set aside.

Add the onion to the skillet and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add wine and cook off the alcohol for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and spices, then simmer for about 10 minutes or longer.

Add protein back to the skillet. Place sliced mozzarella on top of the protein, cover the pan, and cook for 30 minutes, until the protein is done and the cheese has melted.

Garnish with fresh basil and enjoy.

The $250 Chocolate Chip Cookie

Merry Christmas friends! You may have heard this story. This recipe has circulated for years, claiming a Neiman-Marcus Cafe customer asked for it and was charged $250, so she made it public. Whether it is true or not, this cookie is really delicious. I didn’t add chopped nuts to mine, but you can if you want. The picture above is Lucca, Italy, at Christmas.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups oatmeal, blended (measure 2/12 cups of oatmeal and blend in a blender or food processor until a fine powder).

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

12 oz chocolate chips

4 oz Hershey bar, grated

1 1/2 cups chopped nuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.

Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add chocolate chips, a Hershey bar, and nuts (optional).

Roll into balls and place them two inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 11 minutes.

Lasagna in Un Altro Modo

Scott and I spent a month in Italy this year. We rented a cozy place in our favorite town, Lucca, in Tuscany. He made this amazing lasagna. Even the pasta was made from scratch.

The secret to this dish is the Lucchese Spice. He found it in Lucca, and the ingredients are mysterious, but we guess it has nutmeg, cumin, and cinnamon.

Ragu:

Ingredients:

½ cup each of celery, onion, and carrot, diced      

½ lb. ground pork or sausage

 ½ lb. ground beef

28 oz. tomato Sauce (puree, whole, or crushed)

28 0z. water

½ cup red or white wine

Salt & pepper

Lucchese spice (see description above)

Oregano

Extra virgin olive oil

You’ll need a Dutch oven or pot big enough to hold 60 oz.

You’ll also need lasagna noodles, store-bought or homemade, your choice.

Directions:      

  1. Add Celery, Onion, and carrot to the pot over medium heat in about 2 Tbsp of olive oil with some salt to help the veggies sweat. Cook until soft.
  2. Add Pork and keep breaking it up until it’s fine and cooked through. Don’t skip this process; patience is key. I usually cook it over medium-low heat and keep breaking it up until I like the meat’s consistency. Add some olive oil if it looks like it’s drying out.
  3. Repeat the same as #2 with the beef.
  4. Once the meat is finely broken up, add ½ Cup red (bolder flavor) or white wine; I prefer white. Cook until the alcohol smell is gone. 
  5. Add 28 oz. tomato sauce; fill the can with water to extract the leftover sauce, then add it to the pot.
  6. Add Spices to your desired taste, but about ½ teaspoon Lucchese should be enough; you can always add more as the sauce simmers.
  7. Simmer Sauce for at least 4 hours; I find the best sauce simmers for at least six hours. Add water if the sauce looks too thick.

Besciamella:

Ingredients:

The simple equation for besciamella is 1 part flour to 1 part butter to 10 parts milk, and you can adjust as needed.

5 tablespoons butter (70g)

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour (70g)

4 and 1/4 cups whole milk (1 liter)

1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Parmigiano Cheese

Salt (optional) and pepper, to taste

Directions:

 I like to do this about 30 minutes before I assemble the Lasagna.

  1. Melt butter in a saucepan.
  2. In a separate pan, warm the milk; do not boil.
  3. Once melted, add the flour and stir until fully combined (no lumps). It should have the viscosity of Elmer’s glue.
  4. On medium-high heat, add the milk and whisk vigorously until it begins to thicken like pudding.
  5. Add the nutmeg and pepper and mix well.
  6. Grate some parmigiano into sauce, amount depends on you.

Layering:

Directions:

  1. Place a light layer of sauce or besciamella on the bottom of the casserole dish.
  2. Place a layer of noodles, overlapping.
  3. Add ragu to cover the noodles, but don’t make it thick.
  4. Add besciamella and spread it out with ragu. It ain’t gonna look pretty but will mix well.
  5.  Grate a coating layer of parmigiano over layer.
  6. Repeat until you reach the top or run out of ingredients.
  7. The top should be a layer of besciamella, or just another mixture of the ragu and besciamella. At this point you might have a lot of one or the other left over. No need to make more. And of course, you’ll want to add more grated Parmigiana on top.

Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 35-45 minutes.