New Flavors- Nduja

Nwhat? Nduja? What in the heck is that? That was my first reaction when I was reading the menu at The Chef's restaurant for the first time. Nduja is an ingredient in several of the dishes on the menu- sandwiches and pizzas primarily. I had to whip out the Google on my phone and learn more right away. What did I find? A lot of information! 

Pronounced in-DOO-yah, nduja is a spreadable sausage, similar to pepperoni or salami, but quite a bit spicier. It's an Italian salume, originating in Calabria in southern Italy, where it is traditionally made from meat obtained from the head of a pig, except the jowls- those are reserved for guanciale, along with some other parts of the animal, maybe even tripe in some recipes. Roasted hot red peppers give the spread its familiar red color and heat. Here in Iowa, nduja is made by La Quercia in Norwalk and called "nduja Americana" as it is not produced in Italy. They use meat sourced from Duroc or Berkshire/Lancaster hogs from farmers in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Chefs are adding this intensely flavored sausage to all kinds of dishes and featuring it on charcuterie platters as well. You need a bold cheese to stand up to the big flavor of this spread.

Foodies are really getting into nduja too. Charcuterie is a hot trend all over, and hey, this belongs front and center with a good selection of cheeses. Plus, it's pork, and right now pork is King. It's also HOT and we all know heat, hot and spicy and killer peppers are big big big with foodies. 

The Chef is planning on adding a little nduja to his next pot of pasta sauce but I think for me, I prefer to enjoy it in it's natural form. Spread simply on toasted slices of baguette, unadorned. All I need is that and a few cheese slices for cleansing the palate in between bites. When I eat it, the first thing that hits is the pepperoni-like flavor. I'm a huge fan of pepperoni and this is like pepperoni on steroids. Then the spicy red pepper steps up and makes its introduction and it builds with each bite. Couple bites of nduja, bite of cheese, and it's so enjoyable with a glass of wine. I highly recommend you look for this flavor packed sausage and give it a try. It's another one of those unique flavors everyone should try.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Sheet Pan Dinners- No Recipe Cooking

The idea of the sheet pan dinner is taking social media by storm. Foodie bloggers are raving about them, Pinterest is positively bursting with pins featuring sheet pan creations, and a quick scroll on your Facebook feed, I'll bet anything you will see at least one or two posts about them. They are such a great idea- totally homemade fast food that isn't junky and fried. Besides saving time, they save on cleanup too- you use one sheet pan. Period. Maybe a bowl, a knife and a cutting board. No stacks of pots and pans to wash after dinner? Sign me up!

Today we're going to look at the sheet pan dinner phenomenon and get some great ideas together. A few weeks ago The Chef and I were coming home after a short trip to Colorado. We arrived home late in the evening, road weary and hungry. Now, every kind of fast food you can think of is within a three block radius of our house- hamburgers, tacos, fish, fried chicken, coneys. We could have taken the lazy way out and just hit the drive thru (believe me, we're not health nuts and we DO sometimes succumb to the temptation) but that's not what we were wanting. Even though we hadn't been home for several days we still had some food in the house, easily the makings for a quick and easy sheet pan dinner.

Grabbing my big stainless steel mixing bowl I grabbed a few ingredients- a kielbasa, a couple potatoes, an onion, a couple stalks of broccoli and a cauliflower that needed to be used up very soon. All I had to do was scrub the potatoes- I never peel unless I'm making mashed, chunk the onion and potatoes, cut up the broccoli and cauliflower- dump everything in the giant mixing bowl. Drizzle some olive oil over everything, added salt, pepper, some herbs and a couple big tablespoons of grainy mustard- tossed it all together to coat everything evenly and spread it out on a sheet pan. 

Into the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes and voila- dinner is served. So easy and minimal prep. This particular dish had a great kick from the mustard and the veggies had that lovely roasted thing going on that I love so much- the mix of texture, bits of char, still just enough crunch.

A few days later I was ready to do it again. Long days at work and nights I just didn't feel like dealing with cooking.....or dishes. This time I managed to scrounge up a pork tenderloin, a couple potatoes, a bunch of fresh asparagus, onion and a box of fresh mushrooms. I cut the pork into bite size cubes and tossed with olive oil and fresh herbs. It was delicious!!

Wanna know the best part? If you line that sheet pan with some heavy duty foil you don't even have to wash that! 

Need some ideas for your own super easy sheet pan dinner? For speed, always use a lean meat that you can cube into bite sized pieces. Chicken and pork work great. Sliced sausages are great too- stick with fully cooked sausage. There are some recipes around using bone-in chicken pieces but they don't cook in 30 minutes. Try one if you find one though! Any vegetable works great too. Sweet potatoes, regular potatoes- I love baby potatoes made this way. Carrots, beets, broccoli, just use your imagination.

A recent trip to Trader Joe's inspired yet another sheet pan dinner. They have such beautiful produce there I could not resist grabbing some haricots verts and rainbow baby carrots to make a fun and colorful weeknight dinner. 

Again, in the big mixing bowl I combined the beans, and the carrots, after cutting them in half lengthwise, about 4 cloves of chopped garlic, plenty of olive oil and seasonings, salt and pepper. 

In another small bowl I tossed the cubed pork tenderloin with olive oil, more chopped garlic and citrus barbeque meat rub. 

Spread the vegetables onto the sheet pan and add the meat to the top.

Again, into a 400 degree oven and about 30 minutes later- the carrots are perfectly tender, the beans still slightly crispy, the garlic sweetens and the pork was tender and juicy. So delicious.

I hope you give these ideas a try. You won't believe how easy it is to get a healthy and delicious dinner going with a minimum of fuss.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Foodie Field Trip- Graziano Brothers

Have I ever said how much I HATE shopping? The mall is so depressing to me. I never go there. The worst part of the holiday season- shopping. Back to school time- shopping. Mindlessly shuffling through the giant tomb of consumerism just sucks the soul out of me. 

Unless it's foodie shopping. Ohhhhhh ya. Then I am alllll about hitting the store. Not just the everyday grocery store. Foodie shopping. Gourmet groceries. Unusual produce and ingredients. Ethnic foods. Kitchen equipment. Spices and herbs. Oils and vinegars. Wines. Cookware. Knives. All the knives. Now you're talking to my heart, folks. My foodie friend Mary was in town for the weekend. We met for sushi on Friday evening and decided we better hit Graziano's in the morning so she can restock cooking supplies for her Missouri home, and I can stock up on a few things too. A few things- ha! Who are we kidding here?

So Friday night over dinner at Sakari Sushi Lounge and sake bombs Mary, our friend Angi and I munched on fabulous sushi rolls and discussed the upcoming Chocolate Affair in Hannibal. Angi and I are planning a road trip for the event- yay!! Girlie Foodie Field Trip!- and the discussion turned to Graziano's. For those of you who aren't familiar, Graziano Brothers is a landmark food store in Des Moines. Founded in 1912 by Louis and Frank Graziano, two brothers who had emigrated to Iowa from San Morello, Italy, and made their way to Des Moines. Louis opened the grocery store while Frank remained employed by the railroad company until the store was well on its feet. The grocery store sits just south of downtown Des Moines in an area that was once known as Little Italy and has supplied Des Moines with authentic Italian groceries, pastas, breads, homemade sausage, meatballs, imported deli meats and cheeses, bulk spices and herbs and some of the best olives on the planet for over 100 years.

The quaint store facade is suited perfectly for the old time feel of the store. Not a huge store, they have a small collection of shopping carts at the door. You'd think you wouldn't need one here, but if you know me...... ya, you do. The first items in the door are the bulk spices on the right, olive oils on the left. This is where Mary and I began our stock-up shopping. Graziano's house blended Italian seasoning is the best thing I have ever tasted. Herbs, garlic and bits of crushed red pepper are the perfect seasoning for any Italian dishes from pasta to pizza sauce. I grab the usual size bag for our house, it's priced at $3.25. I kid you not, there is a good 3 cups of seasoning in this bag, easily enough to last us a year or more. At home I transfer it to an airtight container to keep it fresh. I also grabbed a bag of crushed red pepper, again easily a year's supply, for $3.45. You just cannot get a better deal anywhere.

We love mushrooms at our house and in the same section of the store you will find beautiful dried mushrooms, like porcini, portobella, and woodear. I grabbed some porcini and woodear because, well, you just might need them, and at $2.75 and $1.15 respectively, I just can't say no. I also snuck a nice bag of sun dried tomatoes, soft and raisiny, not dried and crispy into my shopping cart. I am often searching the supermarket for sun dried tomatoes and most of the time find just the oil packed kind. That's not usually what I want for cooking and baking. Sun dried tomatoes that are packed by themselves like this are excellent in breadmaking.

Continuing down the aisle, Angi had lots of questions. Recommendations for a pasta sauce? Type of olive? Recipe ideas? For a first timer in the store she was suitably impressed by the variety and selection, especially when we got to the meat and cheese counter. Italian sausage was bought by all, and Angi grabbed some of the extra hot sausage. Mary tried a couple different imported salamis and cheeses that were new to her, Angi got several of the hot pepper cheeses and I went with the traditional famous Italian sausage and provolone cheese- sliced to order every time. It's hard to beat the Iowa classic Italian sausage sandwich especially with the best sausage hands down.

The pasta aisle was like an amusement park for food lovers. Every shape, every size. Every pasta you can possibly imagine in sizes from one pound packages to giant bags I'd guess to be 5 pounds or more. I grabbed some fusilli and some cavatelli as my mind had trouble focusing on just on or two types. I am not kidding when I say it's so easy for any self respecting foodie to go absolutely freakin bonkers in here. In the same aisle I was just as tempted by several different kinds of arborio rice and risotto mixes and seasonings. Bags of wandas tempted me, but I resisted. Italian cookies and candies also beckoned to me, but I was strong. After all, I did have a giant tub of Graziano's olives in the cart- a whole quart container for $4.75.

South Union bread is sold here, and the aroma of that freshly baked bread was so welcoming. Italian rolls, breads, focaccia, loaves, so so many options. I did not get out of that aisle without a focaccia in my cart. I can't wait to eat it.

At the front of the store there are several large frozen and refrigerated cases containing fresh mozzarella, Italian sodas and beverages, more sausages like salami and others, marinated peppers and......more olives. Different types of olives. Yes, again I fell victim to the lure of olives. This time I grabbed some castelvetrano olives. If you ever get a chance to try these you simply must. In the frozen case you can find prepacked Graziano's Italian sausage in one pound hunks, pasta sauces from some of the local Italian spots, and housemade meatballs- even miniature meatballs. I grabbed a pound- they will be awesome with the cavatelli! Here again, pasta is king with probably 20 or more varieties of handmade ravioli, lasagna, cavatelli, pastas, manicotti, and the whole reason for coming here in the first place- cannoli. Oh. Em. Gee. Creamy ricotta cheese, just the right amount of sweet, chopped pistachios, bits of bittersweet chocolate and that crunchy cannoli shell. You bet I got one!

Also at the front of the store is this amazing piece of history- this beautiful and old old old butcher block. How I'd love to sit around that table with an espresso or macchiato and talk about the old days with the many people who have labored over that surface, kneading bread, rolling pasta, cutting wandas, chopping, singing, feeding their family and sharing the love. It had to be a prominent part of someones home kitchen at one time. The top is worn with years of use- Mary and I wondered about the many generations of cooks who stood beside this table and thought about all the meals prepared by hand. Kind of gives me the shivers to think about all that table has seen over the decades.

I'm happy to say Mary and I got Angi off to a good start with some Italian marinara sauce, delicious olives, some giardinera she picked out, and her sausage and cheeses. I'm pretty sure she will be back. I KNOW Mary and I will! Now........ off to go cook something............

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Pumpkin Love and the Experimental Dinner- Cajun Style

It's almost Halloween. I didn't decorate this year. I didn't even look for any of my Dracula collection, or any jack o'lanterns or scary ghosts. I did, however, buy a pumpkin. Yep, I sure did. It's a pretty big one too. The Chef and I made a very rare trip to Walmart last weekend and they had a massive display of pumpkins outside the store entrance. Snagged me. Mouse in the trap, they snagged me. I batted my eyelashes at The Chef and made a pouty face and before I knew it he was loading my big bright pumpkin in the cart.

Since then it has been sitting on the kitchen island. He wants to carve it. I don't want to carve it just yet. I thought about setting it on our front step but I don't want to look outside one day and see my precious pumpkin smashed to smithereens in the street because some punk kids were bored and out prowling. I don't really want our feisty squirrels to start eating it just yet. I want to enjoy it for a while before the inevitable happens- mushy bottom, moldy interior, smelly mess heading for the trash. Of all the seasons, autumn is by far my favorite for a number of reasons. The flavors- spicy, rich, creamy- pumpkin flavored coffees and rich beefy stew, fragrant bowls of soup. The weather- crisp cool days, chilly nights, windy and rainy and drizzly grey skies. The holidays- Halloween of course, with all the ghosts and ghouls and goblins, haunted stories, trick or treating and candy, and Thanksgiving with all the wonderful foods, family, and time for giving thanks. The colors- all the browns and greens and golds and reds of fallen leaves, crops in the fields waiting to be harvested, bright pheasants strutting on the roadsides, and fields of orange pumpkins.

I really cannot explain why I am hanging on to this pumpkin so closely. Maybe I will give in and carve it, maybe I will cook it and eat it, or maybe I'll just sit and enjoy looking at it as long as I can.

On this brisk October night I was home by myself looking for something to inspire me for dinner. I had some odds and ends in the fridge and a package of Cajun chicken sausage I grabbed on impulse at the grocery store. If you haven't tried the different chicken sausages, you need to. I never knew chicken could make such a tasty link. Chicken of course takes to seasonings incredibly well and herbs and spices can create some fantastic sausages. I've tried chicken sausages with apples and warm spices and others seasoned like kielbasa and even Italian links. When I saw the Cajun sausages I figured I better give them a try as well. I always have rice on hand, and other pantry staples like onions, bell peppers, spices. Whipping up a Cajun-inspired dirty rice-style dish was a snap and perfect for a cold evening. An Experimental Dinner was on the table in a flash!

Earlier in the summer I made a Saturday trip to the Amish vegetable farm and snagged a case of tomatoes. Those red beauties found themselves roasting to charred perfection in a hot oven and then canned with the pressure canner for use all winter long. The roasted flavor is perfect in this dish. You can also use canned fire roasted tomatoes, and if you use the juice, adjust the water accordingly. You don't want the rice to cook to a mush.

Experimental Cajun Sausage and Rice

1 package Cajun sausage*

1 chicken breast**

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 large green pepper, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced 

2 cups fire roasted tomatoes, fresh or canned

2 teaspoons dried savory

Cajun seasoning to taste

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

sale and pepper

olive oil

* Use whatever Cajun sausage you like, Andouille, kielbasa, hot or mild. I used a Cajun chicken sausage. Choose a 12-16 oz package

**You can also use leftover cooked chicken- just cube it up and add when adding the water.

Slice the sausage into thin coins. Cut the chicken breast into bite size chunks.

In a large pot heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add the sausage slices and cook until beginning to caramelize and brown. Add the chicken, Cook and stir for a minute or two. Add the onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables begin to soften. Add the garlic. Cook one minute.

Sprinkle the savory and Cajun seasoning over and stir in. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the rice. Add the tomatoes and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Serve in bowls with hot sauce for sprinkling and sour cream if desired.

The best thing about these kinds of dishes is the versatility. You can adjust the heat to your family's taste- use a flavorful kielbasa instead of spicy Andouille and use a mild Cajun spice mix. Kick up the heat to blazing if you're a heat lover. It's an experiment so have fun with your food!

Eat The World- Paella

Living back in the city definitely has its benefits, like great big grocery stores with everything I could possibly want to cook, for one thing. Book stores, because there is always room for more cookbooks, right? Gourmet shops and spice stores with literally hundreds of spices. All this access to ingredients and inspiration is really helping to drive my Eat The World theme and getting me to cook, and eat, foods from cuisines I have never tried before, like Spanish cuisine. Sure, I have had tapas before, who hasn't? I really wanted to get into something traditional and paella is widely regarded as the national dish of Spain. Rice has been a staple food in Spain since the 15th century, and with beautiful coastal regions, it's just natural that the Spanish combined rice with seafood and other meats in this delicious one-pan dish that gets its name from the vessel it's cooked in.

I highly recommend slicing your leeks lengthwise and then

rinsing under running water to remove all the grit. They can

be quite sandy and gross inside.

Back in the 18th century a typical paella might consist of rice, chicken, snails, duck, rabbit, beans, tomatoes, artichokes, fresh herbs and of course, saffron. In coastal regions there was usually more seafood and less meat in the dish. Modern paella is usually made with chicken, shellfish, and often a sausage such as chorizo. Regardless of region, there is one constant in all paella- good olive oil. 

A mezzaluna makes quick work of mincing herbs and it's
a fun little gadget to have around.

When I finally decided to go with paella, I started researching recipes. Paella can easily be a hundred dollar dinner, if not more. Imported rices, imported olive oils, and pricier seafood can drive the price up in a flash. I wanted to find ingredients that fit not only into my budget, but into the average family's budget as well. I also thought that the techniques and equipment needed to prepare the dish should not be too "cheffy" and should be so that the home cook can easily prepare this dish. Substituting chicken for more pricier fish options was a no brainer, especially since many Spanish cooks also use chicken. Choosing shrimp was a fairly reasonably priced option for seafood and using kielbasa instead of chorizo kept some of the flavors familiar but not too far from the original. As for the traditional paella pan, from which the dish gets its name, I don't own one, but I do own a wok-like pan from IKEA that will work perfectly. The lid has been broken but I've used a pizza pan many times for bigger skillets, and it did the trick again this time as well. I also did not need to stock up on exotic spices. Most cooks have paprika on hand, right? Saffron was the only spice that not everyone has on hand, but small bottles are relatively affordable. I've had a bottle of saffron on the shelf for a while, waiting to find the right dish. This version of paella is quite modern and I FINALLY get to use that saffron I have been hanging on to. 

Looks like a "big pinch" to me! Saffron has a very unique
fragrance and brings a gorgeous color to your recipe.

Easy Paella

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound medium shrimp, cleaned

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 3 thighs, cut into chunks

salt and pepper

8 oz kielbasa, sliced
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 cups rice 

2 tablespoons butter

generous pinch of saffron

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

small bunch scallions, sliced

handful chopped fresh Italian parsley

lime wedges

In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium high heat. Cook the shrimp until pink and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more oil to the skillet if necessary. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet, cooking until browned on all sides. Remove from skillet. 

Add the sliced kielbasa. Cook and stir until browned. Add the leeks and cook for one minute. Add the garlic and paprika and return the chicken to the pan.

Take the skillet off the heat and add the wine; return to high heat and boil until almost evaporated. 

Add the rice, butter, saffron and chicken stock. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook about 30 minutes until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Stir the shrimp, peas and sliced scallions into the rice; sprinkle with parsley and serve with lime wedges and crusty bread.

Now that I have one paella under my belt, I plan to try several versions. Many of the recipes I've seen had ingredients such as lobster, claims, snails, duck, legumes such as butter beans and other similar beans and vegetables of all kinds. Maybe a vegetarian version? Marinated and seared tofu as a protein? Scallops? This is going to be fun!

Rockin' the Cajun- Making Gumbo

Funny thing happened in our little small town grocery store- they had andouille sausage. I don't know about you guys but andouille to me means Creole, and you don't get much more Creole than a good ol' gumbo. The classic New Orleans favorite has influences from French, Spanish, native tribes, and African cooking. Canary Islanders bring the hot and spicy flavors to Creole cooking. Gumbo has been around since the early 1800s, if not earlier. Many old cookbooks from around 1800 have versions of gumbo with different meats- seafood to waterfowl to alligator- and seafood, okra and all kinds of spices. File powder is an option ingredient, which surprised me. I thought that was a must have, and amazingly enough is not part of my bookshelf of spice collection.

I have a game plan worked out for this dish already. Brown the sausage ahead of time. Cook the chicken breast and cut it up, also ahead of time. Get that Holy Trinity sauteed and softened and ready to add to the roux. 

I like to prep as much as I can ahead of time. Vegetables all
chopped and waiting, meats cut up and ready to brown.

I don't have any okra, so we'll be skipping that. I'm not a big fan anyway. It's a little slimy for my taste. I don't think I could find it around here right now anyway. I'm going to wing it a little bit- borrow some bits and pieces from friends' advice and recipes and make my own version, so bear with me and let's make some gumbo!

You could also use kielbasa but andouille has a spicier bite

To make this spicy gumbo, you will need-

• 1 package (1 lb) boneless chicken breasts or thighs
• 1 lb andouille sausage
• salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning
• cooking oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
• pinch of cayenne pepper or dash or two of pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/2 pound shrimp
• hot cooked rice

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle with Cajun seasoning (I just use a store bought blend). Brown in a little cooking oil. Just brown the chicken well, and remove to a bowl. Cut the Andouille into slices or half slices. Brown in the Dutch oven until it gets a nice golden crust. Remove to bowl with chicken. 

Add a little more oil to pot, add onion, pepper and celery. Cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned. Add garlic. Cook and stir a couple more minutes. Melt the butter and add the flour. Cook and whisk until the roux is nice and brown, about 15 minutes.  

Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, pepper or pepper sauce and meat. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, until chicken is cooked through. Add the fresh herbs and shrimp. Cook until shrimp are cooked, just a few minutes. Serve over hot cooked rice in shallow bowls.

That cute little mound didn't last long- mix it up and eat!

I didn't waste time with the pretty, perfect bowl. I mixed it all together and hit it with a couple of dashes of Marie Sharp's Comatose Heat hot sauce, which is NOT for the faint of heart. The vegetables still had the teeniest bit of crunch to them- which I love- and the chicken was tender and perfect. The shrimp would have been better off saved for another dish. I honestly thought they were a little lost in there with all the big flavors. I would make it without shrimp the next time. The andouille was so so good- spicy but not overly so. 

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those dishes that improves when you reheat it- as the flavors have a chance to hang out in the pot for a while, kind of like chili. It's always better the next day. 

Restaurant Review: Date Night with The Chef and Riccelli's

"Honey, let's go for Italian tonight."

Normally at my house those words are met with a look of "You have GOT to be kidding me." After all, I live with my very own Italian chef. He can make me a fantastic Italian dinner without batting an eye. Tonight, however, his response was "Hey, let's go to Riccelli's." As you can imagine, I was delighted. Growing up on Des Moines' south side meant EVERYONE ate at Riccelli's. My first DATE ever was at Riccelli's. Too many people these days look to those national chain restaurants for a night out when the real deal is the longtime family owned and operated genuine Italian restaurant.

Riccelli's is truly a Des Moines institution. It would be hard to find someone who hasn't eaten there, nearly impossible to find someone who hasn't heard of it. They have been visited and reviewed by several food critics and been featured in countless Best of Des Moines listings over the years. Founded in 1964 by Lillian and Pete Riccelli, the restaurant has remained in the family ever since, in their original location on Indianola Avenue and today is led by Terry Riccelli, and supported by a staff that includes his brother, Frank, son Tanner, and mother Lillian- truly a family run empire.

Terry, Tanner and Frank Riccelli

We were very fortunate to be seated in the bar. The atmosphere is intimate and quiet, the lighting subdued. It was like being on that first date again! We were greeted immediately by our server and drinks and those world famous onion rings were on the table in a flash. We felt super special- we had two servers really, Tanner, and Devin who was just starting that night. You wouldn't have have known. Tanner has to be one heck of a trainer because those guys treated us like we were the only customers in the room (and we know we weren't). It's hard to find that work ethic in young adults these days but it's alive and well at Riccelli's. Joe asked Devin if Terry was available, and immediately as named were exchanged an uncle of Joe's appeared from a nearby table! It was great!

We were in no hurry to eat and dash out of there, and that was fine- we were not rushed by the staff at all. Friendly and attentive they genuinely cared about the customers in the dining room. Unlike the endless staff turnover of a chain restaurant, this is family, and a very tight-knit crew. The menu is quite extensive. Loaded with Italian favorites, a great selection of steaks and seafood, some of the best fried chicken I've ever eaten (can you tell I've been here a ton of times?) it was just plain HARD  to narrow it down to one choice! They even have Spaghetti Caruso, something you just don't see on menus anymore, and my childhood favorite. I smiled to myself thinking back on all those waitress all those years ago that tried to talk me OUT of ordering that because they didn't know I knew what it was.....But I knew I had to, so stuffed peppers it is for me, and an Italian sausage sandwich for my chef.

Riccelli's Famous onion rings

You know it's old school when one of your courses before the entree is a small bowl of spaghetti with Riccelli's famous red sauce. Salad with one of the best creamy parmesan dressings, freshly sliced bread, it was like childhood all over again.

Side of spaghetti, and salad with creamy parmesan dressing.

Now, backing up just a minute, Terry Riccelli is one of my chef's high school classmates. When Terry realized we were there, he invited my chef back to the kitchen for some chef chat, photo opps, and a look at how the kitchen operates. This was truly the highlight of the evening for my chef. He kept sneaking back there several times to get a few snaps of different dishes coming out of the kitchen with Terry's generous welcome. He was like a kid in the candy store.

Dueling chefs !! Joe on the left and Chef  Terry Riccelli on the right

Tanner shared stories with us about how the restaurant was founded, how his grandparents met and married and how he's grown up working first as a busser and now a server. We also heard hilarious stories of Terry's younger days, being so short the servers couldn't see him in the window of the pass through doors so he got stuck scrubbing pots and pans. How can you not laugh at that? You can really see the passion in these men as they talk about their experiences.

Terry, as a chef, is a MANIAC! My chef was astounded at how fast he worked, how well he managed the kitchen staff, dishes finishing on time and perfectly prepared for table after table. Folks, let me tell you, when we got there the parking lot was PACKED. That kitchen had to be crazy busy. Yet in spite of the crazy atmosphere Terry and his staff were more than happy to let Joe check it out.

Once our entrees arrived we tucked in to some of the BEST, real, authentic, homemade Italian food I have had in ages. The Chef's Italian sausage sandwich was made with Des Moines' famous Graziano's Italian sausage, their red sauce, cheese, peppers on a toasty crusty roll that was overloaded with deliciousness. What about the stuffed peppers? Well......let's just say I didn't talk too much while I was eating. The peppers were tender and flavorful, the meat filling fantastic. Smothered with more of that red sauce.......... I could eat that every day. 

Italian sausage sandwich

Stuffed peppers, smothered with the awesome red sauce.

The aftermath......empty plates!!!

One other thing about Riccelli's that really stands out is the decor. I have heard a lot of buzz about needing an update and blah blah blah. No way !! Pictures of celebrities from bygone eras line the walls, a baby grand piano in the bar- it's perfect and unique. I love that! 

The red entryway and white brick has a vintage appeal that is the polar opposite of the over-processed, pre-packaged chain restaurants and cannot  be duplicated. And with a portrait of the late Mr. Pete Riccelli overlooking everything.......you really get it. These Italian roots have grown very very deep.