Normally, I spend a fair amount of time experimenting in my kitchen and garden. Creating recipes of my own or reading others and then expanding and making them my own. However, I have recently been fortunate enough to become involved with a group of collaborators who each choose a cookbook from their bookshelf. Maybe one they love. Maybe one they have never used before and it’s been collecting dust. Regardless, with that one cookbook, three recipes are chosen and we cook throughout the month, sharing the results every Tuesday.
As for me, I had just recently inherited a number of cookbooks. You see, my grandpa was a fabulous chef. His father, his brothers and he ran a restaurant for some time called “Sam and Sons.” His father has immigrated from Sicily so the Italian blood runs deep. This was evident in the cooking that my grandpa did as the head chef at the restaurant for the 5-10 years that they owned it.
But back to the cookbooks. My grandpa passed away in August 2020, and one of the things we were able to do was go through his cookbooks to take a piece of him with us. As a sourdough baker, I totally took all the books on bread. I found one on Charcuterie boards. But the one I felt especially drawn to was The Talisman Italian Cookbook by Ada Boni. A book I later learned is no longer in print and is considered THE Italian cookbook.
The Talisman: My one Cookbook, Three Recipes Book
This is the book I chose for my first in the one cookbook, three recipes collaboration. It was so fun that I wanted to share my adventure with all of you. Note that the book has very simple instructions with zero pictures. You have to decide by ingredients rather than images, which is new for me.
When cooking, I tried to follow the recipe to a T. No going rogue and adding extra spices. I did have a substitution or two, but that was only because I didn’t have the exact ingredient on hand. You can jump to each recipe by clicking the images below!
Biscotta Al Pignoli
Chicken Cacciatora
Potato Soup Italian Style
Recipe One: Biscotta Al Pignoli (Biscuits with Pine Nuts)
I am a baker at heart so of course I scanned the cookie recipes first. I wanted something simple with ingredients I generally have on hand, so I went with the Biscotta Al Pignoli. It was a little unique as I had to incorporate the sugar and eggs using a double boiler, something that I have never done baking cookies. They turned out very reminiscent of meringue cookies, light and crisp. The recipe read:
Your Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon grated lemon rind
- 2 ¼ cups pastry flour
- 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
Place sugar and eggs in top of a double boiler over hot but not boiling water, and beat until egg mixture is lukewarm. Remove from over the water and continue beating until foaming and cool. Add lemon rind and flour slowly and blend in gently.
Drop by teaspoonfuls on buttered and floured baking sheet, leaving a space of 1 inch between them. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and pine nuts. Let stand 10 minutes and bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for 15 minutes (I recommend cooking for 10 and then checking them. My first batch was a little overdone). This recipe makes about 40 cookies.
Recipe Two: Chicken Cacciatora
I am not going to lie, I needed to cook my second recipe and didn’t have any picked out yet. I grabbed my cookbook on the way to our grocery store and started scanning. What was special about this one? I was drawn to the simplicity of the chicken cacciatora recipe and the fact that I had all the ingredients besides the marsala wine.
I was tempted to add other spices and things, but again, stuck with the recipe as written. And OH MY GOODNESS. I was in awe of how amazing this dish was. It was the kind of food that makes you eat with your eyes closed, savoring every bite. It was cooked in my Lodge Cast Iron Skillet, which is one of my favorite kitchen tools. I served the chicken and sauce alongside some lightly seasoned polenta, which I had never cooked before either.
Simply put, this is out of this world good. A MUST try.
Your Ingredients
- 4 pound spring chicken, cut into pieces (I used 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs)
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fat
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped fine
- ¼ cup chopped carrot
- 3 sprigs parsley
- 1 basil or bay leaf
- 4 cups tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Dash pepper
- ¼ cup Marsala, sherry, or white wine (I did Marsala)
Dredge chicken in flour, sprinkle with salt, and brown in fat until golden on all sides. Place in a covered dish in a warm place. Brown onion, garlic, carrot, parsley and bay leaf or basil in fat left in frying pan.
Strain tomatoes (when strained you should have 2 cups pulp). Add tomato pulp to browned vegetables in frying pan, add 1 teaspoon salt and dash of pepper and bring to a boil. Add chicken and wine and simmer for 30 minutes, or until chicken is tender. Serves four.
As a side to the chicken cacciatora, I made four servings of polenta. It got cooked according to the directions on the back of the package, using chicken stock as my liquid.
Again, out of this world good. A must try!
Recipe Three: Potato Soup Italian Style
I love soups as much (if not more) as I love baking sweet treats. So when I saw that The Talisman had a whole chapter dedicated to soups, I knew that had to be where I drew from for my third recipe. Again, I searched for a recipe that had ingredients that I mostly had on hand. (It’s my favorite way to cook!) My family loves potato soup, so when I found Potato Soup Italian Style, I thought, “this is it!”
It was unique to me because I generally wouldn’t through potatoes and tomato sauce in the same recipe. I also thought it was interesting that the potatoes got boiled skins on, and then peeled and pushed through a sieve. But after some research, I learned that this is the way all the best chefs make mashed potatoes. I pushed mine through a metal strainer like this.
My family enjoyed this soup more than I thought they would. Again, I stuck to the original recipe, not adding any extra spices or seasoning, although I wanted to. Definitely something they would like me to make again!
Your Ingredients:
- 4 large potatoes (about 2 pounds)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- ½ clove garlic
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups warm water
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Boil potatoes until thoroughly cooked, peel and put through a sieve. While potatoes are cooking, melt butter in soup pan, add onion, celery, parsley, garlic, and carrot and brown gently. Remove garlic, add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, warm water and strained potatoes and simmer 15 minutes. Serve with Parmesan cheese. Serves 4.
That’s it. That was my adventure as I explored using one cookbook, three recipes. I loved thinking that my grandpa was with me as I cooked from his book, sitting at his old dining room table. It was a special experience, for sure.
Looking for each of the recipes from One Cookbook, Three recipes?
You can find them below with a link or two to my favorite kitchen gear I used to create these delicious Italian Recipes.
Biscotta Al Pignoli
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon grated lemon rind
- 2 ¼ cups pastry flour
- 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Place sugar and eggs in top of a double boiler over hot but not boiling water, and beat until egg mixture is lukewarm. Remove from over the water and continue beating until foaming and cool.
- Add lemon rind and flour slowly and blend in gently.
- Drop by teaspoonfuls on buttered and floured baking sheet, leaving a space of 1 inch between them.
- Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and pine nuts. Let stand 10 minutes.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Chicken Cacciatora
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 pound spring chicken cut into pieces (I used 6 bonelss skinless chicken thighs)
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fat
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1 clove of garlic chopped fine
- ¼ cup chopped carrot
- 3 sprigs parsley
- 1 basil or bay leaf
- 4 cups tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Dash pepper
- ¼ cup Marsala sherry, or white wine (I did Marsala)
Instructions
- Dredge chicken in flour, sprinkle with salt and brown in fat until golden on all sides.
- Place in covered dish in a warm place.
- Brown onion, garlic, carrot, parsley and bay leaf or basil in fat left in frying pan.
- Strain tomatoes (when strained you should have 2 cups pulp). Add tomato pulp to browned vegetables in frying pan, add 1 teaspoon salt and dash of pepper and bring to a boil.
- Add chicken and wine and simmer for 30 minutes, or until chicken is tender.
Notes
Potato Soup Italian Style
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes about 2 pounds
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- ½ clove garlic
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups warm water
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Boil potatoes (skin on) until thoroughly cooked. Allow to cool slightly and then peel and put through sieve (a metal strainer works great).
- While potatoes are cooking, melt butter in soup pan, add onion, celery, parsley, garlic and carrot and brown gently. Remove garlic, add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, warm water and strained potatoes and simmer 15 minutes.
- Serve with Parmesan cheese.
