Sometimes, we have to wait for great things to come together. In this case, crushed together. Olives and citrus are a wonderful combination; a fractal relationship, if you will.

The smell first fills your nose with citrus sweetness. Fill a big spoon and every whiff is pleasing. On the first "tip" of the spoon the oil coats the lips and the tongue dips in. The aroma fills the void above the tongue and the lemony vapor snips at the sensors around your teeth.

When the lemon oil migrates to the back of the mouth and your tongue presses to the roof, there is a tingle and sometimes a poke at the back of the throat, like any good olive oil will. A touch of new oil burn.

The Sorrento lemon is a wonderful match with the Italian Olive oil from Umbria where the lemon is allowed to shine through.

You will love this oil because it can be gentle with your lettuce salad and join the heat with a wonderful fish. Blend with a long spaghetti, calamari and garlic and you will have a bite of heaven. This Sorrento Lemon Olive Oil is one of our all-time favorites and ranks as essential for your pantry!  

Shop now for Sorrento Lemon Olive Oil from Umbria!

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Sometimes it's time for cake! And it feels like it is right now!

When you serve this soft, succulent, easy to make, olive oil cake no one will be able to resist taking a second and even a third piece - especially if you use the best oil you can find and the freshest eggs!

Options for this simple olive oil cake recipe include using any citrus fruit in place of the orange like lime, lemon or grapefruit. Or combine two or three citrus to make a zesty treat!

See the Torta di olio d'oliva - Olive Oil Cake Recipe here!

Sometimes a simple creamy pasta on the shapely Bowtie pasta is all you need. Like getting dressed up without having to go out.

See the Bowtie Goat Cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano Recipe here!

Mark and Clark describe why this baked lobster mac and cheese is so amazing: "It is the rich, buttery flavor of lobster, married with the perfect creamy pasta and cheese. It just sounds so perfect, doesn't it."

See the Lobster Mac and Cheese Recipe here!

Polenta may not be exactly what you think it is. We often think of polenta as yellow corn (meal) that is coarsely ground or large-grained and used to make "cakes," with a firm result. There is a lighter, "straw"-colored polenta as well, most often served all'onda, "with wave," like mashed potatoes. A third "flour" made of buckwheat is used to make polenta, too.

History tells us that cereal grains are, in fact, the first "polenta" ingredient. As early as 300 BC, a mixture of cereal grains, such as the three farros (einkorn, emmer, spelt), barley, millet, and buckwheat were used to make a porridge (polenta) of farro.

Corn probably came to Northern Italy from the east via Turkey and China in the 1400s, with limited use. It was then imported from the Americas to northern Italy in the 1630s. Corn Polenta gained dominance quickly as it was more flavorful than the cereal grains, and it was inexpensive to grow.

From the north to the south, polenta is part of the food culture of Italy today.

When making polenta with corn or buckwheat, it is stirred with a softwood stick (a wooden spoon) in a copper-lined pot. Pour the polenta in a light rain into the boiling water, keeping it all suspended to avoid clumping.

This Maranello variety is a short stalk, high-yield corn that comes from the north in Gazza, Italy. Gazza is about 100 klicks to the south of Trentino and about 250 klicks to the west of Milano. This small company grows corn and produces corn products, including this bright yellow corn flour coarsely ground, and the Biancoperla (pearl white) corn flour, finely ground.

The Italian corn flour dish we know as polenta, in fact, has many more uses than the basic "porridge." Polenta is not just a base for which meat or fish is plopped on top; it is an integral ingredient sensation for the bite that it creates. The Silver Spoon has 14 recipes with polenta. Think of it as an ingredient that you have to cook before you use it.

Put extra polenta in a pan, chill, cut into "sticks," and bake to make fries.

You can use the corn flour to coat your favorite fried food in lieu of, or in combination with, white wheat flour. This corn flour is great to be used in pancakes, biscuits, and your own handmade pasta.

Shop now for Moretti Bramata Coarse Bianca White Corn Polenta!

If you love the taste of onion and mustard, then this is the grilled chicken for you. Easy to do and so tasty.

The creamy polenta creates a nice, creamy bed for the chicken, and is a wonderful way to both, use up leftover corn-on-the-cob and soak up the wonderfully mustardy juices of the chicken. If you use already cooked corn-on-the-cob, add the corn about 1 minute before the polenta is done.

See the Grilled Mustard Chicken with Fresh Corn Polenta Recipe here!

Moretti Bramata Coarse Yellow Polenta is a traditional Italian cornmeal that is coarsely ground to create a rustic texture. It is made from high-quality, non-GMO, stone-ground yellow corn and is commonly used in Italian cuisine to make various dishes such as polenta cakes, fries, and porridge.

This polenta is produced by the Moretti family, who have been milling corn since 1922. The corn is grown in the Po Valley, a region in northern Italy known for its fertile land, which produces some of the best corn in the country.

Moretti Bramata Coarse Yellow Polenta is versatile and can be cooked in many different ways. To prepare it, simply add the polenta to boiling water, stir continuously for about 40-45 minutes until it reaches a creamy consistency. You can then serve it as a side dish, topped with cheese, meat sauce, or vegetables.

This polenta is also gluten-free and contains no preservatives or artificial colors.

Shop now for Coarse Yellow Polenta!

A great alternative to French fries. Try dipping them into a tomato-based sauce—like a marinara sauce or a Classic Smoky Romesco Sauce—as an appetizer.

See the Fried Yellow Polenta Sticks Recipe here!

Romesco is a classic Spanish tomato-based sauce with smoky overtones which come from the Pimenton de la Vera smoked Spanish paprika, and the toasted ancho chilis. Makes a wonderful alternative to ketchup or marinara sauce when used as a dipping sauce with Fried Polenta Sticks. Or with prawns as an alternative to cocktail sauce.

See the Classic Smoky Romesco Sauce Recipe here!

This recipe comes from one of my essential cookbooks, "herbivoracious", by our friend Chef Michael Natkin. His recipes are not only tasty delicious, they are not frumpy or too fancy at all. Made like a dad with a family who understands time management!

See the Stuffed and Baked Polenta Recipe here!

What started as a friendship of frequent proximity grew over many, many years to an intimate bond between a nut and a seed.

They had met in school. One was sophisticated, refined, inside a hard shell. The other more free-flowing, willing to be a truffle one day and a hard candy the next.

They were friends, often together for events, parties, and most often from September to October when harvest was happening.

It was an accident really, for them to meld together; one after being solid for so long became more fluid, the other broken out of its shell. But meld they did, and what you see before you is an amazing combination of walnut and chocolate, perfect in nearly every way.

By taste, it is a flavor with a memory that is as strong as it is in the mind.

The first momentary dryness of the cocoa powder gives way to the silky smooth chocolate and then to the core, the French Black Walnut, which crumbles delightfully. This is truly a match made in heaven!

What a special treat!!
"I love chocolate and I love walnuts, especially when toasted so I thought I'd give these a try - so glad I did. They arrived a little melty (hot in Texas), but I put them in the frig and later in the day I sampled one of the best nut confections ever. The chocolate is not too sweet and with the crunchy walnuts, this is a perfect after dinner bite."
-- Kim

Shop now for Domaine de Bequignol Chocolate Covered Walnuts!

Finissima Pasticceria Brontese. This is Soft Almond and Candied Fruits Nougat with a wafer covering. (We know this because it says so on the packaging.)

To the nose, it smells like nougat...biting it is, of course, possible, though I must confess, I have never done that. Instead, I always cut with a knife. A sharp knife works well. A butter knife, like I am using tonight, works just as well.

Though, in this case, the nuts in this nougat are big and plentiful, so cutting through is more like a dodge, bend, and wiggle cut as you push your way through.

The reward is this bite of soft almonds and candied orange peel that is glued together with nougat. It is good! It is even better than that!

You could easily eat the whole bar in less than one episode of Parts Unknown, though the back of the throat will remind you that every bite has some serious sugar!

It's a wonderful treat where the nuts and the orange come together in harmony; the vehicle of the torrone is so, so, so much better than....

Shop now for Brontedolci Almond Torrone with Candied Orange!

Black & Green Olives are the fabulous imposters. They look like olives and taste like Wow! Roll one in over the bottom lip and close in. The first bite is chocolate and is quickly followed with a crunch of praline dead center. It's good! Hold back from following quickly with another, and you can enjoy the subtle sugary taste of the center with the chocolate exterior.

Shop now for Pecou Olive-like Black & Green Chocolate-Covered Praline!

Truly handmade dark chocolate biscuits from the land of the shortbread cookie. House of Edinburgh prides itself on doing things properly. The result is a cookie that is genuinely made by hand to ensure that the taste, texture, and appearance are far superior to mass-produced products. This is achieved by providing skilled bakers with only the very finest ingredients, especially the butter. They also bake to order, ensuring that we receive their orders as fresh as possible.

The result of all the family care really shines through in the House of Edinburgh shortbread, with luscious chocolate chips added for a little chocolate bite treat. Plus, the lovely tin doesn't hurt. Buy these dark chocolate biscuits for the perfect hostess gift.

Shop now for House of Edinburgh Dark Chocolate Shortbread Biscuits!

It's easy, it's home cooking. Use your instinct to adjust the cooking time for the beef and the results will be good. An English Beef Roast is also known as chuck arm roast, cross rib roast, chuck-eye roast, chuck shoulder, and pot roast.

See the English Roast Beef Recipe here!