A little while ago I got my hands on The Classic Italian Cook Book by Marcella Hazan. Totally by accident, without knowing who she is. I love the book. It's well written, has great recipes, and generally jives with the way I think about cooking. I've been reading reviews on Amazon.com of her other books and they are raving. One reviewer called Marcella Hazan the Julia Child of Italian cooking. I've got to agree.

I was totally laughing out loud reading the part about the Italian dressing. Quote, "For Italians, salad dressing is not an element separate from the salad ... Dressing is a process rather than an object", and later, "to make a good salad you need four persons: a judicious one with the salt, a prodigal one with the oil, a stingy one with the vinegar, and a patient one to mix it".

If you remember, it is exactly my own approach, independently discovered, in making my house salad. No wonder I love the book.

Another thing I liked was that she suggests cooking green beans in the moist heat and does not suggest grilling them. I have already discovered on my own that grilling green beans is not a good idea: they become chewy and stringy. The best way to cook green beans is boiling, steaming, microwaving, or stir frying. Not grilling or pan frying.

My resident food critic has given me a gift. She found this Classic Italian Cook Book at Half Price Books for just one dollar! So far it's been a good read.

I have never heard of the guy, but taking an Argentine grilling class tonight I could not resist the sales pitch and I bought the book anyway. Apparently, Argentine grilling style (or at least this guy's grilling style) is to throw it on the grill and forget it. It's OK to have open flames. It's OK (actually preferable) to burn the outside of the steak and have it charcoaled on you. That's how they like it.

The book is gorgeously illustrated. Well, let me read it. I was planning on building the fire pit in the backyard anyway. Let me try a few recipes from the book and I'll tell you how I like it.