Comments on: Holiday/Christmas Food Traditions?

By: sra

sra — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:55:57 +0000

I wish I could have been one of your parents’ family – I love the sound of all the dishes you’ve mentioned and tho’ I’m not too keen on pasta with seafood sauce, I would have loved to try them too.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Happy Holidays to you both!

By: melissa

melissa — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:58:26 +0000

nice. i bet those have peas and meat in them as well, which is also traditional and great, but i tend to squish the peas…8-) they are easy, but at least you got some.

see you in a week!!!!

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:09:19 +0000

thanks, meliss! so funny you mentioned the rice balls (arancini in italian) b/c we ended up buying some from our local italian shop in brooklyn. yes, i totally farted out on cooking another thing – but your recipe seems so easy!! Thanks so much for it! CAN”T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!

By: melissa

melissa — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:53:17 +0000

you can not have a traditional italian christmas without rice balls. this recipe is from my neighbor growing up. mary benechhi, off the boat italian, she was the head chef at alitalia first class and i spent all of my christmas eve’s as a child at her house. i actually just made a batch yesterday because the holiday season just is not the same without them. enjoy!!

This recipe is for about 50 balls – you can cut it if you need to

* 10 cups CAROLINA rice – cooked & COOLED COMPLETELY
* 1 tub grated Parmesan Cheese
* 2 lbs grated Mozzarella
* 1 dozen eggs
* 1 bunch fresh parsley (washed & chopped fine)
* 4 or 5 nice size cloves of garlic (chopped fine)
* seasoned bread crumbs
* Canola or Vegetable Oil to fry

Cook & cool rice. Add cheeses, garlic, parsley and eggs. Combine thoroughly and form balls. Roll in bread crumbs & deep fry until golden & they will “pop up”

i actually baked mine instead of dealing with all the frying. they tasted fine, of course deep frying adds a little something something, but i just filled up the pan half way with oil cooked at 350 and flipped them half way thru.