Blog Posts by Chow Ciao

Fabio takes on hamburgers and hot dogs with spectacular results, and shows easy tips on how to set up your charcoal grill for awesome summer barbecues. Step up your game this grill season and turn up the heat with Fabio's awesome BBQ recipes! Featuring special guest, Dean McDermott.

Culinary tips:

• Simple foods don't have to be bland just because you're cooking on the grill. Seasoning and sauces add flavor to everything: add grilled, chopped veggies to hot dogs, or dress up burgers with a great barbecue sauce.
• Fabio's simple charcoal grilling tips will help you cook everything to perfection.
• • Stack your coals into a pyramid before lighting them. This maximizes the heat you'll get out of them. When they are burning white, spread the coals out to create more surface area to cook.
  • Don't overuse lighter fluid. The flames may look pretty, but you want hot, radiant coals, not a fireball, which will burn your food on the outside and leave it raw on

Read More »from Fabio's Burgers and Dogs

Fabio goes to the garden to take lasagna over the top for the ultimate Italian family meal. Batch cook this one and make enough to feed yourselves all summer. Also, need to know tips & tricks to help you avoid the 5 most common mistakes made when cooking lasagna!

Culinary tips:

-Most common mistake people use with dry noodles is to use them! For perfect lasagna, use fresh noodles in large sheets. Fresh noodles are growing in availability in American markets and can be found in your grocer's refrigerator section.

-Simple tip for perfectly moist lasagna? Grill your veggies first for great texture, more flavor, and less water. This is also a great way to transform leftover veggies!

-Since vegetables hold so much water, use a thick sauce to avoid an overabundance of moisture.

Fabio's Ultimate Veggie Lasagna

VEGETABLE LASAGNA

Recipe by Fabio Viviani

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 batch Fabio's fresh pasta dough, rolled into large sheets

1 pound fresh portabella mushrooms, cleaned with stems removed

1 ea. green bell

Read More »from Fabio's Ultimate Veggie Lasagna

For Mother's Day, Fabio whips up a fantastic Italian dinner to indulge the women in his life: his risotto with short ribs and red wine sauce. With a special appearance by Fabio's Mom.

Culinary tips:
-Risotto is easy when you add liquid in small amounts, reduce, then replenish with another small amount. Though it keeps you next to the pot, this method gives you the best texture and flavor and you don't have to stir all the time.
-Ask your butcher to cube your short ribs to minimize your work!
-Don't use water to make risotto. Instead, use flavorful liquids such as wine, broth, or stock. Your tongue will thank you.
-When making risotto, measurements are a guideline. The basic rule of thumb: add just enough liquid to cover the rice.

Fabio's Drunken Risotto with Short Ribs














DRUNKEN RICE WITH SHORT RIBS
Recipe by Fabio Viviani
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 lb. boneless beef short ribs, cut into 1/3 inch cubes
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup

Read More »from Mother's Day Menu: Easy Red Wine Risotto with Short Ribs

After completing a rigorous training session with the men of Los Angeles Task Force 94, Chef Fabio heads to the firehouse kitchen to share the secrets of his tasty prosciutto-filled manicotti. This delicious baked pasta is an easy way to make dinner for the whole family and then some. With special guests Firehouse 94 Task Force, LAFD.

Culinary tips:

PASTA 101: Do not overcook the pasta shells. Not only will they cook more in the oven, but if over-cooked, they will be very hard to fill.

No piping bag needed: roll filling into cigar-shaped tubes for easy assembly of your manicotti.

RICOTTA AND PROSCIUTTO MANICOTTI
Recipe by Fabio Viviani
Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 Lb. manicotti pasta
15-oz. container whole-milk ricotta cheese
½ c. mozzarella cheese
½ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus an additional ¼ cup
1 large egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
5 oz. prosciutto, chopped
1 1/2 c. Fabio’s Marinara sauce
fresh basil leaves

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and Read More »from Fabio's Easy Baked Pasta

If beef is what's for dinner, let Fabio show you how to create theultimate pepper steak. This elegant dishcomes together in less than 30 minutes, and is sure to impress. With special guest JOELLE CARTER, from“Justified” on FX.

-Bring steaks to room temperature and patdry of all surface moisture to ensure a perfectly crispy crust.

-While Fabio uses the traditional filetmignon in this recipe, you can easily substitute a New York Strip, ribeye, oreven sirloin.  Just make sure your steaksare thick!

-Use a cast-iron pan instead of non-stickfor proper browning of your steaks.

-If you fear the flambé, simply remove thepan from the heat when adding the cognac. Stir to incorporate and allow the flammable fumes to dissipate, thenreturn to heat to finish cooking.

Steak au Poivre

Recipe by FabioViviani

2 6-oz filet mignonsteaks, ¾”-1” thick

2 Tbsp. cracked black peppercorns

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

1 tablespoon light olive oil

½ cup beef stock

¼ cup cognac or brandy

½ tbsp. prepared Dijon mustard

4 tbsp. heavy

Read More »from Steak au Poivre

These super-easy, fast-baking cookies come together in less than 15 minutes.  

Culinary tips:

• Keep mixer on low.  Over-mixing these cookies will make them chewy.

• Using a cold egg is okay in this recipe, because the stand mixer will quickly bring it to room temperature!

• No leavening agent required.  The chocolate hazelnut spread and flour combined with one egg come together in the oven in 10 minutes.

5-Ingredient Cookies
Recipe by Fabio Viviani
Yield: 12-18 cookies, depending on scoop size

Ingredients:
1 cup chocolate hazelnut spread, like Nutella
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 egg
¾ cup flour
coarse sea salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F.
In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine Nutella, brown sugar, and egg.
Mix on low speed, until blended.
Slowly add the flour and mix just until a dough is formed.  Do NOT over-mix.
Scoop cookies onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.  Top each with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Cool cookies before removing from sheet tray.

MANGIA!

Like this Read More »from 5-Ingredient Chocolate Cookies

Brinner? Fabio’s honeyed ham steak & fried eggs with green beans is a fantastic, easy egg recipe that’s good enough for dinner if you can’t get around to it at brunch. Plus, Fabio’s simple test to check the freshness of eggs in your refrigerator, and a sure-fire way to tell when your eggs are finished, so you don’t over-cook them.

Culinary tips:

• The freshest eggs have very small pockets of air inside of them, so if you drop one in a bowl of water, it should sink to the bottom and lay on its side.  As the egg ages, more air enters the shell, and a less-fresh egg will sink, but stand straight up.  A rotten egg will have so much air inside, it will float to the surface.

• A perfectly cooked fried egg will easily detach from a non-stick pan.

• Finish your green beans in the same pan as the ham steak for added flavor.

EGGS FOR DINNER (Honeyed Ham and Fried Eggs)
Recipe by Fabio Viviani

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. fresh green beans
3 slices ¼” thick ham steak
1 tbsp. honey
1/2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil, Read More »from Fabio's Eggs for Dinner

From his Chicago restaurant, Fabio takes on one of America’s all time favorite comfort foods, deep dish pizza.

Culinary tips:

• DON’T SOG OUT A GREAT CRUST: Since the sauce goes on top, use drier cheeses like part-skim mozzarella or provolone to avoid a soupy slice.

• Make sure your tomato sauce is reduced so it’s thick and strongly seasoned to avoid a watery pizza.

• Turn up the heat: bake your pizza in a very hot oven for best texture and quicker results than you’d imagine!

• Doctor up your toppings to add more flavor: roasting peppers or caramelizing onions can take your pizza to the next level.

CHICAGO DEEP DISH PIZZA
Recipe by Fabio Viviani
Yield: 1 9-inch pizza

Ingredients:
1/2 batch of Fabio’s Pizza Dough (about 1 lb. of dough)

For the Sauce:
1 14.5-oz can crushed plum tomatoes
1 tbsp. fresh chopped garlic
1/8 tsp. fennel seeds
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. white sugar
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1tbsp. dry red wine
1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and Read More »from Chicago Deep Dish Pizza