How America’s Abundance Gave Way To Italian American Cuisine | Close To Home
You’ve heard of spaghetti and meatballs and fettuccine alfredo, but have you ever wondered how those dishes came to be? In this episode of Close To Home, Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast sits down with Emilio and Josephine Polito of Tony’s Beechhurst Deli to talk about the evolution of Italian American food and how Italian immigrants adapted their Old-World recipes to include New-World ingredients and cultural values.
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Stuffed chicken manicotti ????
#mukbang #dinner #cooking
Stuffed chicken manicotti
Ingredients:
- Manicotti or jumbo shells
- red/green bell pepper
- 1/2 yellow and 1/2 purple onion
- spinach
- heavy whipping cream
- any shredded cheese of your choice. 2-3 different options are good. I used (Muenster, pepper jack and Monterrey )
- minced garlic
- cracked black pepper
- Italian seasoning
- garlic and onion powder
- Tony’s
- optional (cream cheese)
The Sopranos - Ralph Cifaretto - How to make/finish Spaghetti noodles - Joe Pantoliano
Ralph Ralphie Cifaretto, played by Joe Pantoliano, is not present in Season 1 or 2, as he spends a prolonged period of time in Miami. Ralph first appears as a soldier in the Aprile Crew in the second episode of season 3, Proshai, Livushka. He is characterized as an excellent earner but also unstable and prone to violence.
Ralph was born in the late-1950s and grew up in New Jersey along with associates Tony, Silvio, and Jackie Aprile Sr. He did not move up in the ranks nearly as fast as his peers; he credits this to not going along with the robbing of Feech La Manna's card game, which led to Tony, Silvio, and Jackie, Sr. getting made and respected. At one point, Ralph mentions he wanted to be an architect, but had to drop out of the eleventh grade after his mother's death to raise his brothers and sisters. Ralph was sent down to Florida to watch over the family's interests in Miami, where he developed an addiction to cocaine, which he would later blame for his violent outbursts.
He returned to New Jersey in mid-2000, following the disappearance of Richie Aprile. As a high-ranking soldier, he tried to take over the crew despite Tony's reluctance to make him captain, and often referred to it as my crew. Upon his return from Miami, he (as Junior says) really whipped the Aprile Crew into shape. Tony viewed Ralph as obnoxious and insubordinate, so he passed Ralph over for promotion and made Gigi Cestone captain. After Cestone dies of a heart attack, Tony reluctantly installs Ralph as captain of the Aprile Crew.
In the episode University, Ralph is involved with a 20-year-old stripper named Tracee, who becomes pregnant. At the Bing, Tracee insults Ralph in front of his friends. He follows her outside, where they argue, she spits at him, and he beats her to death. Tony sees Ralph is lying and strikes him repeatedly. Ralph defends himself by shouting, I'm a made guy! Tony justifies his actions by saying that Ralph disrespected the Bing.
Ralph purchases a race horse from Hesh Rabkin named Pie-O-My. The horse is a winner and makes Ralph and Tony a lot of money. While Ralph only cares about the horse as a means to make money, Tony becomes emotionally attached, even paying for a veterinarian and staying with her when she gets sick.
When his son Justin is accidentally shot in the chest with an arrow, Ralph is devastated and turns to Father Intintola for guidance. After Pie-O-My dies in a stable fire, Tony confronts Ralph over the suspicious timing of the fire with the $200,000 insurance pay out which was also his son's required medical expenses. Ralph denies the accusation and rebukes Tony for being emotionally attached to the horse. A fight ensues in which Tony beats and chokes Ralph to death. Tony and Chris dismember Ralph's body, bury some pieces at a farm and sink the rest in a flooded quarry.