Espresso Shot

warm up the glaze again, stirring or whisking to regain the smooth, liquid consistency. If you like a thicker glaze on your cookie (like I do), try “painting” a second or even a third layer of glaze on the cookie after the first layer hardens. Enjoy!

Baci di Romeo 

(Romeo’s Kisses) 

Rich chocolate ganache seals the kiss of two delicious, almond-flavor cookies. 

Makes about 2¹?2 dozen sandwiches

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

? teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

? teaspoon baking powder

? cup ground, toasted almonds[1]

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, almond extract, egg, milk, and salt; mix until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder, and ground almonds. Mix just until blended (don’t overmix at this stage). Chill dough for 30 minutes (makes it easier to handle). Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough into 1-inch balls. Roll them in sugar, place on lined or greased baking sheet, and flatten balls with bottom of a glass. Bake 10-12 minutes (watch your oven!). If cookies overbake, they will be dry.

Chocolate Ganache “Kiss”

? cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons butter

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

or chopped bittersweet chocolate

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat the cream, sugar, and butter in saucepan. Stir until butter melts and liquid simmers, but do not let mixture boil! Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate (in a glass or metal bowl). Waiting two minutes, whisk well until smooth, and whisk in vanilla. Let ganache cool for a half hour in fridge, no more! Next drop (or pipe with pastry bag) about a teaspoonful on the flat side of one cookie and gently sandwich together with a second cookie’s flat side. Press lightly to seal the kiss! Repeat until all cookies are kissing. (Optional use: while still warm, ganache can be used as a glaze for a cake.) If ganache harden too much, reheat. Makes about 2 cups.

Bellini 

Like Nunzio’s Lover’s Spring, this classic cocktail was created in Italy. It was invented in 1943, at Harry’s Bar in Venice, during an exhibition of art by the fifteenth-century Venetian painter, Giovanni Bellini.

According to the man who created the drink, Giuseppe Cipriani, the cocktail’s color matched the hue of a toga in one of Bellini’s masterpieces, so he named the drink after the artist.

The Bellini is traditionally made with pureed white peaches, but in America (due to the limited availability of the white variety) yellow peaches are often substituted. Sometimes a touch of cherry or raspberry juice is added to blush the drink into an especially vibrant color.

Prosecco is the sparkling wine of choice when making this cocktail. Other sparkling wines can certainly be substituted, but the heavier flavor of French champagne doesn’t pair as well with the light, fruity taste of the peach.

1 part well-pureed peaches (remove skins)[2]

2 parts chilled sparkling wine or champagne (Prosecco is best)

Peel the peach and puree it in a blender. Pour the puree into a pitcher (or a single glass), add the well-chilled Prosecco (or champagne), and stir well. Serve in chilled champagne flute.

Machu Picchu’s Paella 

This hearty and tasty dish is brimming with Spanish flavors. To give it the Peruvian flair, follow the example of Machu Picchu’s chef and exchange the rice in this recipe for quinoa. The paella name, by the way, comes from the paella pan in which it is prepared and served (large, flat, and shallow like a frying pan). It’s traditionally cooked with a variety of meats and shellfish, but this is a versatile enough recipe for you to experiment. You can add fresh seared chorizo instead of dry, or try substituting different types of seafoods and meats to make it your own!

Serves 8

1 large Spanish onion

1 large yellow onion

1 large green pepper

1 large red pepper

6 ounces hot, dry chorizo (Spanish sausage)

5-7 cloves fresh garlic

? cup scallions

1 large red tomato

12-15 clams

1 pound mussels

8 ounces green peas

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts or 1 pound chicken tenders

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

12-15 large shrimp

1 /3 cup extra virgin olive oil

4-5 cups (at least 32 ounces) chicken stock, more as needed

1 pound white rice[3]

2 teaspoons crushed Spanish saffron  

Dice the Spanish and yellow onions, the green and red peppers, and the chorizo. Mince the garlic and thinly slice the scallions. Peel and slice the tomato. Clean the clams. Clean and debeard the mussels. Cook the green peas. Cut chicken breasts into strips and season with salt and pepper. Peel and devein the shrimp, but keep the shells.

In a large pot, saute the shrimp shells in ¹?3 of the olive oil, until they turn pink. Add the stock and saffron, and simmer for thirty minutes. Strain out the shells and set aside the hot liquid.

Add another third of the olive oil and heat to medium-high. Saute the chicken, browning on all sides, then remove.