iTunes is back, better than ever!
You can now view our show
in a higher resolution within your iTunes Player, download the
video files to your PC/Mac or your Apple TV, and
eventually store them into your iPod...so you can
show them to your Grandma next time you go visit!
Here is the only catch: the video files will need to
be converted before you can actualy synch them to an
iPod or iPhone (ctrl+click or mouse right button).
Also, as you might have noticed (or we hope that
eventually you will), we are finally featuring
original music thoughout the show, thanks to the
great help and inspiration of Terry Radigan and
Joshua Camp in New York and Pat Buchanan in
Nashville. Many of our viewers have been requesting
information about the music we feature in our videos,
and also asked about what we listen at home while
cooking or entertaining...stay tuned, as a few
surprise posts will be coming soon.
For the moment,
enjoy Under The Tuscan Gun on a bigger screen...now
you can!
Debi and Gabriele
A Salad by the Pool
Today, mid summer, still, hot...nothing better than a light lunch by the pool.
Enjoy this super fast recipe, and let us introduce you to a very special wine.
Buon Appetito
Midnight Spaghetti; What a Date!
since our social life is these days somewhat limited (read: got two kids and we’re exhausted), we decided last night to improvise a romantic date in our own house.
We put the kids to sleep, we chilled for a bit, and then we got all dolled up, cracked the wine open and...well, it was a blast.
Even if the dish we
prepared is somewhat synonymous of “hot italian
summer nights wearing shorts and flip flops on the
porch”, it was refreshing to find an excuse to get
elegant and celebrate.
Please join us for a midnight
Spaghetti all’ Amatriciana.
The Florentine
This summer, if you
intend to visit Tuscany and florence, be sure to look
for this free magazine, or check their website, you
will find tips and calendar events that will help you
navigate the city with ease.
This month Debi and I are featured on The Florentine
pages...just a few questions about how we met, and
what’s going on with our lives.
The Tuscan Gun goes AppleTV
As of now, our show is sindacated on all the major video platforms available: youtube, revver, howcast, blip tv etc...
In the past year, it seems that many of us have been upgrading our video systems; almost everybody now has a widescreen TV in their home, and a few of us developed some kind of maniacal obsession toward “TV on Demand”...the affordable empowerment of picking and choosing, downloading and trashing.
Therefore, in a couple of
weeks from now, our Podcast on the iTunes store will
be Apple TV ready: the
downloadable file will become noticeably bigger,
and the resolution on your computer or TV will be
doubled! The only somewhat disappointing note is
that from now on, subscribers that wish to
transfer our cooking show on their iPod or iPhones
will have to convert the file within iTunes. We
also decided to reconvert all our episodes and
post them in Hi-Res, reorganized by season, with
new graphics and a couple of special treats we are
working on....so, please be patient as our
episodes won’t be available on iTunes for a few
days, we will come back stronger then ever!
The Show won’t be affected by this “summer cleanup”,
and our episodes will still be posted regularly on
the website!
We hope you all are well, we’ll be back with a new
recipe next week.
Take care
Debi and Gabriele
Our First Salad !
what's best for lunch than a light salad and a glass of Pinot Grigio.
We opened a bottle of
Lumina from Ruffino,
and wished we were at the beach!
Enjoy this new fresh recipe,
Have a good week end!
Debi and Gabriele
Risotto and White Wine for a glorious lunch!
after visiting one of our big time favorite restaurants in town, Giorgio Baldi, we decided to replicate the memorable risotto that we were served.
So, please come in and
enjoy our new menu entry:
Risotto alla Giorgio, with Peppers and Seafood.
Buon Appetito!
What about the Italian Brakfast?
I assume this couple is currently vacationing in Italy:
Subject: breakfast???
Message: I need some tuscan lovin breakfast. my husband and I have been eating pasta for like 2 weeks now!!!! don't people in Italy eat breakfast food??!!! I want to see some
and eat some, and cook some
too thanks, you guys are
AMAZING!!! and I love when you two
bicker!!!
First of all, thanks for the compliments, always appreciated.
Second...
AHAHAHAHAH,
you are very funny!!!!!
Here is the thing,
From birth to 13 years old your breakfast is milk...from 4/5 you can have Nesquick in it.
When you turn 14 years old, since you start high-school...well, you are allowed to start with coffee....
Eventually in high school you will start smoking. Read More...
Want to have lunch?
Today we cooked
Orecchiette with Sausage, Radicchio and Walnuts,
and a Roasted Peppers and Cheese appetizer.
Earth Day, The Human Footprint...and Me.
the day that we hope and expect more people to care...just this one day, more than any other.
We mark it on the
calendar, Youtube has a custom logo, Madonna has
another magazine cover, my kids have a project at
school...
What about tomorrow? What about Yesterday? What about
each single day of our life?
I apologize for the very personal space I am taking
today on this blog, but...
in this exact moment, instead of a burst of energy,
wishful thoughts and good attitude, well, I sit down
and feel such a small creature of Nature.
I do remember when I was a kid, and the weather was
different, I remember the fluctuation of seasons,the
changing colors, the muffled sounds of life when
everything was covered with snow, right before spring
"used to come"...
We all feel the same way, to a degree...maybe people
with kids care just a bit more; if we do not act for
our sake, well, at least let's try to think about our
children!
I
grew up in the country, and to a degree, I saw
it dying...day by day, succumbing to industrial
farming, not being able to perform under such
pressure.
It made me sad, and made me feel helpless...I was
young.
Now it's different. I am a husband and a father, I am
older and just a bit wiser...well, at least wise
enough to realize that now, finally and for real, I
am running short of time.
And even if I have been conscious about these issues
for many years now, something happened last Sunday
that shook me very hard: I came across this Article on the New York
Times Sunday Magazine.
Nothing really new, to any of us that are informed
about the health condition of our planet...but for
the very first time, I asked myself: "What am I
waiting for?"
It is not anymore a
matter of switching light bulbs around the house or
start timing my showers. Things are getting more
serious and more complicated by the day.
As of now, we consume 10 calories of fossil fuel to
produce 1 calorie of organic vegetables, our (the
world) need of meat is responsible for a massive
carbon footprint that will lead one day to a dead
end, we are still highly dependable on oil...I do
expect vegetables from life, I will never stop eating
meat, and like everybody else I will keep on driving
my car and heating my house.
If two and a half years of diapers for each one of my
kids equals to 5 cut trees, I am responsible for 10
trees in the past four years (plus about 1.400 Lbs of
plastic and about 2.000 pints of crude oil) ...only
in diapers...what about all the rest? What about the
toilet paper they will need for the rest of their
lives?
The catch here is that We Can Not Stop. We do need
energy, we do need to live and survive, and keep on
moving forward, we need to keep on cutting trees,
pollute and produce an incredible amount of garbage.
These days, unfortunately, there is basically only
one choice left. Try to be responsible for yourself,
Do Not Depend. And this is very sad, because not all
of us have to opportunity to choose this way of life.
Let me explain,
I decided that my Earth Day resolution is to go back
to my land and live by the most natural principles I
know.
Today, early this morning everything got finally very
clear...not easy, just clear.
Today I decided that I will ask my wife to leave Los
Angeles and all the associated glitter, and trade it
all in for a life in Tuscany, with a vegetable
garden, a few animals, the olive threes....and some
good work to do, finally fix our house. We will trade
our two cars for one small car, a goat and a cow!
You might have read before in these pages about our
little pink house in Tuscany, and "our dream" of
moving there...well, for me the dreaming is over as
of now, it is time to roll up my sleeves, pack my
family and ship our lives on the hills of Florence.
My children need to know.
They need to grow in respect of our earth, our first
and final resource. I have been privileged and lucky
enough to have a visionary grandfather, that invested
everything he had in land and olive trees...
Now all that is available for me and my family. It
will require years of sweat and hard work, a lot of
sacrifice on everybody's part.
But really, when the mud will finally hit the fan,
where do I want my family to be?
Me, I want to make sure they have a solid roof over
their head, fresh food daily and "energy" available
throughout the year...no matter what war or what
president....
I want solar panels in the field below my house, I
want to recycle the rain water every season, I want
to grow plants and fruit trees, get a few cows and a
pony for my kids.
I will offer public education in Florence, a Roman
Amphitheater around the corner from our house, and
the opportunity to grow learning a few survival
tricks that, trust me on this one, we'll all need to
put to good use one day!
And now I am going to tell my wife,
wish me good luck.
Gabriele
Testing the Aero Garden
it turned out to be an interesting project and a very long testing experiment (about 11 weeks)...for the whole family.
The Aerogarden has been see on TV and in various specialized stores around the country, and I am sure that many of you had for a moment the thought: "Mmmmhhh, interesting. Shall I give it a try?".
"No, you should not!", this is our opinion.
Technology in the house and in our everyday life, we all have to admit, brings these days peace of mind and some convenience. There are many utensils, tools and gadgets that we would not live without, especially when it comes to the Kitchen. This one, well, yes...we can live without this one.
Do not get fooled by what
you're shown on the tube at night...what you see in
the advertised pictures is absolutely impossible to
achieve.
Look at the pictures below, can you try guessing
which one is mine and which one is the advertised
one?
We also would like to
reassure you...
yes, more food episodes are coming.
Evelina (our oldest daughter) has been enjoying
her Spring Break, and we've had our hands full
around here, for the past two weeks.
Next episode then, for sure, will be a recipe!
For the moment, we hope you enjoy this little clip.
Debi and Gabriele
New Coffee Episode Online!
We are very happy today
there are not so many dishes to clean...
Just one, one and only, very very important thing. It
does not matter which kind of appliance you use to
make your coffee, never, ever, use soap to wash your
coffee machines!!!
Debi and Gabriele
Recycle! How to turn your left over risotto into a new delicious treat.
Debi is behind the camera, Gabriele at the stove, it's the evening...
The kids are in the bath tub, screaming/singing in the background, the counter is full of daily crap,
from the mail to the drying baby bottles....
Come in to learn how to turn your leftover risotto into delicious warm Croquettes.
In Florence we call this
dish "Arancini di Riso" (Little Rice-Oranges),
because its shape and color....it is a great
appetizer, or a warm dish for a wine tasting.
Enjoy!
More Risotto!!!
Ah, you realized how easy it is, and now you want more?!?
Well,
there you go!
Today we will tickle your palat with a vegetarian risotto: Arickokes and Butternut Squash.
If you did not have
problems dealing with the Sausage and Asparagus
Risotto that we cooked a while ago, this one should
not pose any threats!
Also, we planned ahead a bonus episode that will be
posted early next week. We will recycle some risotto
leftovers into delicious Arancini di Riso, the
Italian fancy way of calling Rice Croquettes!
Go wash your hands, turn on the music, fill up a
glass,
and let's make dinner!
A recipe from the Medici Harbor
and one of Italy's oldest harbors.
This new recipe requires a bit of a strategic attitude when in front of the stove...
It has a long prep time, you need a bunch of different pots, and pans, and Pyrex.
The stove will get fish-oil splashed and your kitchen will smell...if not your whole house!
So,
pull out a couple of good CDs from your shelf (yes
please CDs, mp3s sound like crap) and turn the stereo
on,
wash your hands, fill up a glass with some good
wine...
Have Fun.
Chocke the Priest! Learn how to make your Strozza Preti.
Learn how to make your own Priest Chocker, eat responsibly!!!
Come in to enjoy The Show and to access
the
Recipe. Buon Appetito.
Debi and Gabriele
An Intimate Visit to Tuscany....
Matteo and Maria Novella have and extreme sensibility, a sharp eye, but most and foremost, they love "our" land...and you can feel it every-time you look at their pictures.
Looking at their shots
makes me feel home...they have the same power that
food has...comfort and peace...
my history, the smells and the colors I know...
Debi and Gabriele, again between the stove and the camera! Brand New Episode Online!
since Deb and I shot our last episode before Xmas.
Time flew by, we went to Italy and came back, introduced a few guests...Rosanna, Aunt Laura.
We realized all of a
sudden that this was going to be our Valentine's
episode...but we already picked up our recipe for the
day: Pasta e Fagioli.
"Ugh, a bean soup for Valentines'?" we thought,
almost ready to improvise something different...
Then, all considered. The love is in the act of
cooking, not necessarily just in the dish you decided
to prepare.
So, if you feel
like handling the beans tonight....there you
go, have fun!
Featured in this episode a great red Wine and a
superb Olive Oil from the hills of Chianti, courtesy
of the Ruffino estate.
left: Ruffino "Il Ducale", 2003 - right: Laudemio
"Sante Dame" 2006
What is Eaten in One Week in the World
We Are Back!!!
we are back in Los Angeles.
Our trip has been a once in a lifetime experience:
Deb, Me and the Girls finally took possession and lived in the house that my grand father promised me over thirty years ago.
I gave my family a Tuscan Home, surrounded by Olive and Cypress trees, we had breakfast staring at Deers and Boars (yes damn it, boars!)
roaming in our garden, our fireplace worked twenty four seven for over two weeks, and we had a well deserved meat and wine Holiday.
We came back to an
overwhelming response to our People
Magazine piece...
The website have been slowing down a bit for this
reason, things are happening faster than we expected
and we are already working
on a new version of the site, optimized for this
amount of traffic, and also a mobile mini-blog, so
you can carry us everywhere...how lucky are you.
We have over seven hours of footage that we will
start editing for some new upcoming episodes to be
posted starting in a bit more than a week.
Welcome Back to Under The Tuscan Gun!!!
Gabriele and Debi
The Tuscan Gun on People Magazine
The Tuscan Gun is coming
to life.
Debi and I hosted a lunch this past Sunday in our
home in Los Angeles. A few celebrity guess attended,
a lot of food was cooked and eaten, a lot of Chianti
bottles were opened and finished. It was truly a
happy celebration.
The piece will come out the 2nd or 3rd week on
January, and one of my best kept secret recipes will
be revealed: Pappa al Pomodoro. This Tuscan Peasant
Soup made of stale bread and tomatoes is one of those
dishes that look very easy on paper, but then you go
to the restaurant and you are always served something
different; usually it comes to you in form of tomato
soup with a slice of bread...with some garlic, if
you're lucky...how sad!
This is why, as soon as the article will come out,
Debi and I will cook this dish and post it as the
first episode of our second season.
