In Which I Am Again Carried Away By Grand Ambitions

My "quiet, restful weekend" has somehow morphed into "I am going to make a full-on dinner out of the cookbook I got for Giftmas from sweh". I've been mostly plotzing about everything I don't have, which is stupid considering I went to the store this morning. Helpful hint: if you're going to be cooking from an Italian cookbook, don't forget the fucking basil.

Will post menu later, if it does not crash down in flames.

La Cena Italiano

(I wonder if I said that right.)

Menu est:

Tonno sott'Olio Mantecato
Tuna-spread appetizer. A big hit. And so it should be, with that much butter.

Penne col Sugo di Pomodoro all'Aceto Balsamico
Pasta with tomatoes & balsamic. This worked well, though I'm not entirely sure I did it right--it calls for whole (peeled) plum tomatoes, and they pretty much maintained integrity; the recipe does not specify if they're supposed to or not. dariodevil confirms that he remembers some dishes like that, but that doesn't mean THIS is supposed to be like that. Anyway, it tasted good.

Lombata di Maiale al Forno
Pork loin roasted with juniper and rosemary. The flavor was good, but it got dried out because I ran overtime on everything else.

Patate e Cipolle alla Pizzaiola
Baked potatoes & onions with tomatoes and oregano. This...did not quite work. It was really close, but not quite. It may be because there is supposed to be 1.5 lbs. spud to 1 lb. onion, and I ran out of room in the baking dish; so about a third of the onions were left out. I thought this would be preferable for audiovile's delicate digestion, but no. Wasn't bad, let me note, it's just that the flavors didn't reach that happy blending place.

Insalata di Rinforzo col Cavolfiore
Cauliflower salad with red pepper, olives, and anchovies. FAIL. This was the last thing I got ready, and I was already over time, and the roast was drying, and and and ... *plotz* I forgot the anchovies completely; and the olives we had I could not manage to pit without destroying them utterly (and they were green instead of black anyways). So it was cooked cauliflower and some red pepper tossed in olive oil and vinegar and a few capers. Not exciting. It was generally agreed that it would probably be quite good with, y'know, the actual recipe followed.

Fragole all'Aceto Balsamico
Good ole strawberries with balsamic. We're about to eat them as we watch Goodfellas.

I am really, really glad I did not try to make gnocchi, as I'd originally intended. Head asplodey.