Artichokes

I brought home a couple of really nice artichokes, today. I am a big fan of artichokes. They were a special treat back when I was a kid. Mom would always steam them and we'd have mayonnaise to dip the leaves in. No fancy aoili or anything - just plain ol' Best Foods.

Victor asked me what I had planned for them and I casually said that I hadn't thought of it. He asked if I wanted them stuffed, and I immediately said YES!! He then looked at me and said I was just played, wasn't I?!? I smiled and replied, Yep!

I really was hoping he'd stuff them - and having him think it was his idea was perfect.

Stuffed Artichokes

  • bread crumbs
  • garlic powder
  • crushed red pepper flakes
  • Italian seasoning
  • parmesan cheese
  • S&P

Mix crumbs with seasonings and cheese. Trim tops of artichokes.

Pull leaves apart and stuff the artichokes with the breading mixture.

Place in a deep pot and drizzle with olive oil. Add a cup of chicken stock (or veg stock or water) to pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until they're soft - about 45 minutes, depending upon size.

Baste now and again with the broth, adding more, as necessary.

They really were perfect! I grilled a couple of hamburger steaks  - I mixed the leftover bread crumbs into the meat because - why not?!?

Boiled potatoes, smashed and fried, completed the plate.

A simple meal that filled us without bloating us - which is good. There's Cherry Crumb Pie for dessert!

 


The Weekend Food Fest

It doesn't get much better than having dear friends over for the weekend - especially when said friends are as enthusiastic about food as we are about cooking it. Definitely a friendship made in heaven!

Ann and Julie drove down from Rochester, taking a couple of days and meandering through Lancaster and the environs... Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, Blue Ball... all the places with names that can get junior high school kids - or senior citizens - all in a twitter with double entendres.

Maturity is so overrated...

They arrived for dinner and the food-fest began!

Prosecco, of course, because... Prosecco. And a simple seafood dinner. Haddock with an Italian Salsa Verde, Potatoes and Savoy Cabbage, and Roasted Rainbow Carrots - and homemade bread, of course...

I picked up the haddock at Reading Terminal Market. I set it on lemon slices in a pan, added a bit of white wine, and put it in a 375°F oven for about 10 minutes.

It was topped with a fresh herb sauce:

Salsa Verde

  • 1 cup parsley
  • 6 sprigs thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 8 leaves basil
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 anchovy fillets
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper, to taste - if desired
  • 1 cup olive oil

Place everything but olive oil into food processor and process until reasonably smooth. Slowly add olive oil.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and/or pepper, if desired.

It is really refreshing! Lots and lots of flavor going on.

The potatoes were cooked and mashed with savoy cabbage. This was Victor's idea. He generally dislikes cabbage, so when he suggested it, I ran with it! I love cabbage and just don't seem to get it often enough.

It was not unlike a Colcannon, but with an olive oil twist.

Mashed Potatoes with Savoy Cabbage

  • 2 lbs russet potatoes
  • 1/4 head savoy cabbage
  • butter
  • olive oil
  • S&P

Peel and cube the potatoes. Chop the cabbage. Place both in a pot and cover with salted water.

Boil until the potatoes are tender. Drain.

Return to pan and mash with butter and a healthy drizzle of olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper and top with chives, if desired.

Really simple and they played well with the fish.

Another thing that played well was little rainbow carrots. Roasted in the oven with olive oil and thyme sprigs, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Really simple. Nothing overpowered anything. The flavors all spoke for themselves.

And a loaf of bread. Also simple.

Dessert was Panna Cotta topped with Blackberries in Sweet Marsala.

I didn't get a picture of it because I served it just as Lawrence Welk was starting. Lawrence Welk, you say?!? Yes... Lawrence Welk. We've had a long-standing tradition of watching Lawrence with Ann and Julie - us in Pennsylvania and them in New York. Texts flying back and forth with "My gawd, can you believe what she's wearing?"or "Rose must have been on drugs to come up with that outfit." It is a total hoot to watch a totally campy show with friends long-distance. I highly recommend it.

This is the most basic of recipes - and easier than easy to prepare.

Panna Cotta

  • 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
  • 2 tbsp cold water
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Soften gelatin in the 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan. Heat to dissolve. remove from heat.

Bring heavy cream, half & half, and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in gelatin and vanilla. Mix well.

Pour into 6 6oz ramekins. Chill until completely set.

To unmold:

Dip ramekin in hot water for a few seconds. Run a sharp knofe around the ramekin and unmold onto a small plate.

Top with your favorite topping.

Blackberry Marsala Sauce

  • 8 oz blackberries
  • 1/2 cup sweet Marsala

Rinse berries. Pour Marsala on top, and mash a few of the berries. Let macerate an hour. Spoon over panna cotta.

More fun, laughter, and Pistachio Liqueur, it was time to call it a night.

We started off Sunday with Brunch - a fritatta. It's simple to make. Mushrooms, leeks, eggs, asparagus, herbes d'Provence... It was served with Blackberries in Prosecco - because we had leftover blackberries and leftover prosecco. It's great when things work out like that. We also had roasted potatoes with thyme and fresh squeezed blood orange juice with seltzer. Yum.

Of course, I forgot to photograph all of that when it was being served. Oh well. here's what was left.

We sat around talking and laughing and all the tomfoolery that friends seem to do, when I noticed it was getting into the middle of the afternoon, so I headed off into the kitchen and whipped up a loaf of bread and a torta di mele - an  Italian Apple Torte - while the kids were all occupied.

The bread is straight James Beard. I have been making it for years and years. It is a one-rise-into-a-cold-oven loaf. It never disappoints.

James Beard French-Style Bread

  • 1 pk active dry yeast
  • 1  tbsp  sugar
  • 1 cup  warm water
  • 1 tbsp  salt
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tbsp  Yellow cornmeal
  • 1 egg white mixed with 1 tbsp cold water

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough.

Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary.

Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk..1 1/2-2 hrs.

Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into a long, French bread-style loaf. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal, but NOT buttered.

Slash the tops of the loaf diagonally in two or three places with a single edge razor blade or sharp knife, brush the loaves with the egg white wash.

Place in a COLD oven, set the temperature at 400° and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the tops are tapped.

I use the microwave as my proofing box, nowadays. I boil a 2 cup measure with water, place it in the corner, add the bowl of dough and close the door. It drives Victor crazy because inevitably he wants or needs to nuke something, but the concept works great.

And then dessert... a Torta di Mele.

This is another simple dessert - but it looks impressive as hell.

Torta di Mele

  • 4 apples - I used an assortment
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 7 tbsp butter
  • 2/3 sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/8 cup Calvados
  • 1 lemon - zest
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • salt

Heat the oven to 390°F.

Cream sugar with butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolk. Add Lemon zest. Add milk and Calvados.

Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.

Peel and core apples. Slice half into wedges and chop half.

Stir the chopped apples into the batter.

Spread into a 10" springform pan that has been buttered and floured.

Arrange apple wedges around torta.

Bake about 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

I vacated the kitchen and Victor came in to make a baked pasta. Pasta with sausages, ricotta, five cheeses, and homemade sauce... Be still my beating heart. It was delicious. Even Nonna licked her plate clean.

There is something so comforting about ooey-gooey-cheesy pasta that is only made better when shared with friends. Then again, I think Italian food, in general, evokes family and friendship. There's just something about it that makes you want to eat, laugh, share, and talk for hours upon hours.

We never left the house. We simply moved from kitchen to living room to kitchen to living room.

So invite friends over for the weekend and just sit around and cook and eat. I highly recommend it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Homemade Pasta and 2017 in Review

If the only thing that happened in 2017 was political, I'd simply kill myself and get it over with. Having that man become President has been painful. Watching the travesties coming out of Congress have been worse - and that's saying a lot. Just when you knew they couldn't possibly get any lower - they did. And they blatantly continue to lower the bar of decency to levels unseen since Caligula.

Yeah... politically, it's been a rough year.

But if you pull politics out of the equation - and I really do have to now and again to keep my sanity - some really fun things happened this year!

Victor retired! How sweet that has been for him. I'm there in six months - can't wait! We spent close to two glorious weeks with siblings and spouses in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, and saw another sister and her two daughters in New York City for her birthday. We saw Bette Midler in Hello Dolly. And I wrote 131 Blog posts.

Food was a highlight in 2017 - and every other year since Year One. I foresee it being in the center of 2018, as well - especially since I'll be able to shop anywhere I want whenever I want, and make things when I want and not try to just squeeze something in half-assed because I have to be somewhere in an hour. Retirement is going to really see me in the kitchen! I see a lot more canning and creative label-making. The pepper sauce was an eye-opener for me, as was the Pistachio Liqueur. I need to make more of this stuff!

Retirement was good for Victor in the culinary end of things, too. He's been able to spend more time creating and it's been great having dinner waiting for me when I get home.

Today, he created homemade pasta in a crab sauce while I baked bread and a Lemon Polenta Cake. I first made this cake in December 2010 and then waited 3 1/2 years to make it again - stating I wasn't going to wait 3 1/2 years to make it, again. I waited 3 1/2 years to make it, again. That, of course, merely proves that there are so many good things to make, there's no sense constantly repeating yourself!

We start with the Tagliatelle... Homemade pasta is where Victor really shines. It's just unbelievably good.

Tagliatele

  • 2 cups flour (we use Tipo "00")
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 tbsp cold water
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

On a clean work surface, mound flour and form a well in the center. Add eggs and oil to the well. Using a fork, gently break up yolks and slowly incorporate flour from inside rim of well. Continue until liquid is absorbed, then knead for 10 minutes. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 3 pieces. Cover 2 pieces with plastic wrap. Flatten remaining dough piece so that it will fit through the rollers of a pasta machine.

Set rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting, then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times, folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.

Roll pasta through machine, decreasing the setting, one notch at a time (do not fold or turn pasta), until pasta sheet is scant 1/16 inch thick.

Cut sheet in half widthwise; dust both sides of sheets with flour. Layer sheets between floured pieces of parchment or wax paper. Cover with paper and repeat with remaining dough.

With the short end of 1 pasta sheet facing you, loosely fold up sheet, folding sheet over two or three times from short ends toward the center. With a large chefs knife, cut folded sheet into ribbons.

Unroll strips and lightly dust with flour; spread on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pasta sheets.

To cook the tagliatelle, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain pasta, transfer to a large serving bowl and toss with sauce.

It was flippin' awesome! The sauce was sauteed pancetta, garlic, a bit of tomato paste, white wine, crab, crushed red pepper, parmesan cheese, and oregano - with fresh basil and more cheese on top. It was a wing-it recipe of the highest caliber. Just flippin' awesome!

Then we have the bread. It's a take on my most favorite Pugliese from Carol Field.

I made three smaller loaves - one round and two baguettes. It's a crusty bread with a slightly sour crumb. As I said, it's a favorite. I always make half this recipe - and it still makes a lot of bread!

Pane Pugliese

  • 1 packet dry yeast (or 1/2 package fresh yeast)
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 3 cups water; room temp
  • 1 cup biga
  • 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp salt

Proof the yeast in the warm water. Add 1 1/2 c water and the biga, mix till blended. Add flour and salt, mix till dough comes together and pulls off the sides of the bowl. Knead 3-5 minutes in a mixer, longer by hand. Dough will be very soft and elastic. Let rise about 3 hours, shape into 2 small round loaves or 1 big flattish one. If you have baking stones, place loaves on baking peel or on baking sheets sprinkled corn meal. Let rise about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 450°, and 10 minutes before baking flour the loaf tops and dimple them with your fingers. Bake 50-60 minutes for big loaves, 30-35 minutes for small. Tap the loaves to test for doneness (hollow=done) and cool on a rack.

Biga

  • 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (or 1/10 package fresh yeast)
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 1/4 cup water (room temperature)
  • 3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Stir the yeast into the warm water and let stand until creamy – about 10 minutes.  Stir in the remaining water and then the flour, one cup at a time.

Mix with the paddle attachment on the mixer at the lowest speed about 2 minutes.

Remove to a slightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at cool room temperature for 6 to 24 hours.  The starter will triple in volume and still be wet and sticky when ready.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

This bread makes great sandwiches, excellent toast, and sops up sauce just like a good bread should.

Finishing the meal - and the year - is Lemon Polenta Cake. Making something three times in 7 years isn't bad, for me.

Lemon Polenta Cake

adapted from Nigella Lawson

Cake:

  • 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter
  • 1 cup superfine sugar
  • 2 cups almond meal
  • 3/4 cup fine polenta or cornmeal
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 eggs
  • Zest 2 lemons (save the juice for the syrup)

Syrup:

  • Juice 2 lemons
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the pan with parchment paper and grease lightly with butter.

Beat the butter and sugar till light.

Mix together the nut meal, polenta and baking powder, and add a bit to the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.

Beat in the lemon zest and spread the mixture into the pan and bake for about 35 minutes. A cake tester should come out clean and the edges of the cake will have begun to shrink away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in its pan.

For the syrup:

Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in a small saucepan. Prick the top of the cake all over with a cake tester and pour the warm syrup over the cake. Leave to cool in the pan before placing it on a cake plate.

Moist, lemony, great texture... The question is... will I wait another 3 1/2 years before making it, again?!?

Probably.

2017 is drawing to a close and 2018 is a mere few hours away. And since the weather outside is not conducive to frolicking, we'll be indoors.

While I worked more New Years Eve's than I had off in my younger years, I did get to First Night in Boston a couple of times. A flask of Brandy helped to keep the chill to a minimum back in those days. Spending New Years Day 1973 in the Gulf of Tonkin drinking homemade apple wine during an unrep and getting caught. The Hyatt Lake Tahoe NYE 1978 and glasses being thrown through the casino in the general direction of the huge lobby fireplace... Getting guilted into flying to Philadelphia from San Francisco on Y2K - in an empty plane - because Victor's mother "won't be here for the next millennium."

And on and on and on...

I'm liking the quiet ones now, but I'm not ruling anything out... we shall see what tomorrow brings.

Here's to a great year for all of us and especially at the ballot box on Tuesday, November 6th. Vote these bastards out of office before there are no tomorrows left for any of us.

 

 

 

 


Creamy Soup and Crusty Rolls

Victor made a great batch of soup, yesterday, whilst I was at work. One of those perfect surprises after a long shift. We had broccoli and cauliflower in the 'fridge that was needing some attention, so he threw it in a pot and made it all hot.

More or less.

Soup making is a bit more involved than that - but not by much. It's a quick and easy way to use up odds and ends in the 'fridge or cupboards that just won't make it, otherwise. Just about anything can go into the pot - and around here, it usually does.

His creamy soups - butternut squash, broccoli, cauliflower, et al - are all dairy-free. He gets the creaminess from pureeing a can of beans along with whatever vegetables he's added to the pot. And he's a blender blender. I use the immersion blender. He breaks out the Real McCoy.

No amounts, since it's a clean-out-the-refrigerator soup. Use what you have, add or delete as you see fit.

And while I did say it's dairy free, he will often stir in a pat of butter at the end just because...

Creamy Broccoli Soup

  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Canned Butter Beans
  • Chicken Broth
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Cayenne Pepper

Saute onion and garlic. Add broccoli and cauliflower, broth, and beans. Bring to a boil and then simmer until veggies are pretty much over-cooked.

Cool, and then blend via your favorite blending method. Be really careful if you use a blender. I've had to clean a few ceilings in my time.

Check for seasoning and add salt, pepper, and a bit of heat - cayenne works well.

Stir in a pat or two of butter, if desired.

It really was good - and there's enough for lunch, tomorrow!

Also really good were French Rolls via Martha Stewart.

Bread in it's most basic form, is nothing more than flour, water, salt, and yeast. But how those four simple items are put together can be as varied as varied can be.

These small rolls are a case in point.

These start their journey into gastronomic delight with an overnight starter. Flour, water, and a pinch of yeast, in a bowl, covered, on the counter overnight. The following day, more water, flour, yeast, and salt are added. Several risings, foldings, shapings and the final baking take place over a few hours. It's mostly unattended time.

Martha's Recipe.

The dough is wet and sticky, but follow Martha's advice and do not add more flour. You need patience and a bit of technique but the end result is a crusty - really crusty - shell with a tender interior. A perfect French bread.

I used half of the recipe for rolls. These would be perfect as sandwich rolls with hard salami and mustard - the sandwich of my youth!

I'm going to make a baguette with the other half, tomorrow.

Another great meal...


Butternut Squash Soup & Flatbread

When is a pizza not a pizza? Why, when it's a flatbread, of course!

It seems that flatbread is the new pizza - at least by restaurant definition. Pizza has traditions assigned to it - and the negative dietary connotations. Flatbread, on the other hand, can evoke anything the chef desires. With a minimum of good-quality toppings, they can outshine their pizza parlour cousins while commanding dinnerhouse prices. Not to mention appearing more nutritionally sound.

I made pizza for years. Hand-spun rounds of cheesy, saucy perfection. And while I'm sure most of you will be surprised, I was quite opinionated on what should be allowed on a pizza. I'd never in a million years put seafood other than anchovies on a pizza - but Victor had lobster on a flatbread last week that was out-of-this world fantastic. Ham and pineapple was - and is - a sacrilege. But on a flatbread?!? Eh... why not?!?

It seems that I can continue to be opinionated and still allow for new thoughts and ideas. What a concept.

I use my old standby pizza dough recipe - it's pretty much the recipe I was was making at Pirro's back in the '60s scaled back for home use. I have a La Cucina Italiana recipe that calls for a 2-day cold rise that is really good, but this one is fairly classic and works in no time.

Pizza Dough

  • 1 tsp yeast
  • 1 cup barely-warm water
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Mix yeast with water and let proof a  few minutes.  Add flour and salt and (preferably) knead for five or six minutes with a mixer using a dough hook.  Slowly add olive oil while machine is running, mixing well and incorporating everything.  You should end up with a soft, smooth, and  elastic dough.  If mixing by hand, add oil with water and knead about 10 minutes.

Roll into a ball and place in a well-oiled bowl.  Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise until double in size – about an hour and a half.

Form into two balls and allow to rise, again.

Form the proofed dough into nice, round pizzas (I still hand-spin them but use whatever method works best for you.)

Top with your favorite sauce and topping and bake in a 450° oven until done.

While I generally like a 2-rise dough, you can form into balls and go for one rise, form, top, and bake - as I did with the flatbread, below.

I spread the dough with homemade Fig and Caramelized Onion Jam and then topped that with prosciutto and a sprinkling of cheese. Into a 450°F oven with a pizza stone for 20 minutes.

And then there was soup...

Butternut squash soup may be one of my all-time favorites. Victor makes such a great version that I don't even bother, anymore. I really do love a man who can cook!

The soup really is simple - but it packs a wallop of flavor. It was especially true with this batch because we knew Nonna wasn't going to be here for dinner - Victor added a couple of hot peppers from the garden.

Butternut Squash Soup

  • 1 butternut squash - peeled and cubed
  • 2 qts chicken broth
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 2 hot peppers
  • 1 can cannellini beans, drained
  • S&P
  • garlic powder

Saute onion and peppers in a pat of butter. Add squash, broth, beans, garlic powder, and S&P, to taste. Simmer until squash is falling apart-tender.

Puree with an immersion blender until completely smooth.

Serve with sour cream and a drizzle of good-quality olive oil.

The beans add a creaminess to the soup without having to add cream. You can also make it with olive oil and water or vegetable broth to make it completely vegan.

No matter how you do it, it's going to come out great!


The Trip to Bountiful

Our trip to bountiful is walking outside. The garden is going crazy!

It is so much fun walking outside and picking dinner. The challenge will be properly utilizing everything.

We had a hard time last year keeping up with one eggplant - so this year we planted two. We're brilliant. What can I say?!? I have a few ideas for roasting and canning above and beyond Little Gram's Eggplant - my favorite caponata.

Peppers, galore. Like the tomatoes, they've been taking their time, but when they hit, they're gonna hit. And speaking of hit, the whole garden took a hit last night. We had a thunderstorm come through that beat the hell out of everything. The tomato plants are huge and really overladen with green tomatoes - we're going to see 50 pounds of tomatoes ripen at once - and we spent quite a bit of time this morning re-caging, staking, and tying them back up. We have four or five different varieties out there - and a cherry tomato that came up from last year. We had decided no cherries this year because we just can't use them fast enough, but Mother Nature had a different idea, so I'm going to see about roasting and canning them.

We brought some in that had broken off and thought we'd just paper bag them and see how they come out. Waste not, want not...

I pulled a few beets - there are golden and tiger stripes - and learned a lesson in seed planting along the way. I did not thin them and have a few little clusters of beets that probably won't mature into nice-sized bulbs. But... as long as they taste okay... I'll deal this year. Next year I'll pay more attention and be more diligent.

Our biggest boatload of produce ready right this minute is green beans. We have two bush bean plants and two purple bean plants - and the green beans are really going crazy. We picked about 2 pounds of beans - with a ton more coming in. The purple's are not quite as proliferant, yet, but I have a few for dinner, tonight.

I remember years ago we saw purple beans at a farmer's market in Oakland, CA and paid a fortune for them because they were so unique. We took them home, dropped them into boiling water to blanch, and watched them turn green right before our eyes. I was bummed. All that money and they looked and tasted like green beans. Live and learn.

I did a quick blanch, trim, and then vacuum-packed them for later use.

We have four 8oz bags of fresh beans in the freezer - with more to follow.

Our Food Saver has paid for itself many times over. I really do like being able buy in bulk and freeze things.

With more stuff coming in, tonight's going to be a bit of a clean-out-the-refrigerator ragout of sorts.

With shrimp.

And a loaf of fresh bread.

I know there are bazillions of people out there with bigger and better gardens - and who actually know what they're doing - but we're having fun in our dotage. And that's all that really matters.

 

 

 

 


Sunday Pasta

The first eggplant came off the vine, today! It was smallish - it could have grown  few more days - but it's mid-July. We're ready to start partaking!

There are two eggplant plants out there. We're going to be up to our eyeballs in eggplant, pretty soon but this is one recipe that just can't be beat - and with just a couple of tweaks here and there, it can go from appetizer to entree in nothing flat.

The recipe is Little Gram's. It's her mom's version of a caponata and it really is good. Today, Victor left out the mint and added a chopped hot Italian pepper. Little tweaks...

Little Gram lived for 105 years - and at 93, finally started writing down her recipes. The whole recipe collection is here on the website. They're a lot of fun. One thing to remember is the recipes evolved over time and ingredients weren't measured. Make them, play with them, and enjoy them.

Although this originally was an appetizer, tonight, it was a sauce for pasta.

Eggplant Appetizer

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium eggplant
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 3/4 cups halved or chopped green olives
  • 3 cups thinned Italian tomato sauce
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 6 tablespoons vinegar
  • 1/4 chopped Locatelli cheese
  • 2 tablespoons capers
  • fresh basil and mint

Cut eggplant in strips the size of French fries. Salt and let stand about an a hour. Dry on a paper towel. Deep fry in hot oil. Keep oil as hot as possible without burning. Add eggplant one at a time and keep adding one at a time to keep the oil at the same temperature. Fry each one until tender and cooked. Drain on paper towels.

To Make Sauce:

Parboil celery for ten minutes. Add olives and cook another five minutes. Drain all water out of the pot. Add the thinned tomato sauce and boil for ten minutes. Add vinegar and sugar. Cook for three minutes. Add cheese. Make it come to a boil and then turn off heat and allow to cool.

Pour sauce over fried eggplants. Garnish with fresh Basil and mint that have been sliced into very thin strips.

No matter how you do it - it will be great! And if you happen to have a loaf of fresh-baked bread... really go for it!


Mafaldine and Semelle

We just had a quiet dinner at home. Nonna is off with her eldest son, so it was time to break out the long noodles and bake some bread.

Nonna's no longer a fan of noodles - spaghetti, linguine, pappardelle - so we don't have them as often as we used to. Tonight, we broke out the last of the meter-long mafaldine and baked little rolls from Florence. We're such rebels.

Victor made a sauce by blending a jar of his homemade sauce with a jar of the eggplant I canned last summer. He mixed in some freshly grated cheese and we had total perfection. Simply topped with fresh basil and more freshly-grated cheese. We served it on the dishes we bought in Florence and it was the perfect touch. It's amazing how things really can taste differently based on what they're served on. It's one of the reasons we have so many different styles of plates - and never use paper no matter how large the crowd. If you're going to take the time to make it - serve it right!

The rolls were a take on a recipe from Carol Field's The Italian Baker. I bought this book 30 years ago and it's still my favorite bread book. I just found out that Carol Field died last month - she was only 76... She will definitely live on in our house.

I wanted to make rolls instead of a loaf of bread, and thought the Semele rolls would be fun. I had some biga in the 'fridge that needed using up - biga is an Italian starter - so I played with her recipe to incorporate it and still make 10 rolls. If you don't use a biga, increase the flour to about 3 1/2 cups. And use all-purpose instead of the Italian "00".

Semelle are little rolls from Florence. I went through the pictures we took of Florence and didn't see any in the places where we ate, but ... we didn't eat everywhere or go to every bakery. The rolls are really good!

Semelle

Adapted from The Italian Baker by Carol Field

  • 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active 
dry yeast
  • 1 1/4 cups warm water
  • 2 cups "00" flour
  • 1 cup biga
  • 2 tsp salt
  • Olive oil for brushing

Stir the yeast into the water and let stand until creamy. Add the flour and biga. Mix until the dough is solid and elastic - 6-8 minutes.

First Rise.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Shaping and Second Rise.

Cut the dough into ten equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Brush a little oil over each and let rest 10 minutes under a towel.

With the edge of your hand, make a deep indentation down the center of each ball - be sure to press down firmly.

Place the rolls, cleft side down, on floured parchment paper. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Baking.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Just before baking, turn each roll over and reemphasize the cleft. Place the rolls - cleft side up - on a baking sheet dusted with corn meal.

Bake 15 to 18 minutes, spraying the rolls three times with water in the first 10 minutes.

The whole batch of dough weighed 30 ounces, so it was easy to make 10 rolls of 3 ounces each.

They had a great chewy crust and a really light interior. I think without the indentation, these would make a great hamburger bun.

These are super easy to make - I know I'll be making more...

 

 


Preparing for a Blizzard

The weather forecasting for tonight and tomorrow has run the gamut - from a huge storm to no big deal to a big storm to ::drum roll, please:: a blizzard. Yes, a blizzard. Middle of March, anywhere from 12" to 2 feet of snow, falling 3" to 4" per hour for several hours... sleet... gale-force winds... white-out conditions... the whole shebang. While I haven't officially called out from work for tomorrow, odds are I will be homebound. A blizzard.

Naturally, one needs to properly prepare for these things. Today, Victor made Gnocchi. I baked Bread and made Peach Rice Pudding. I mean... in the worst of times one must maintain a sense of decorum, right?!? What would the neighbors think if we were forced to eat boxed macaroni and cheese?!? [note to neighbors: we don't have any boxed macaroni and cheese in the house...]

But I digress... Read down for the recipes.

I did my Monday grocery shopping early to avoid the panic-buying throngs, but the shelves at the local Acme were already looking a bit bare at 9am. There were a few folks in the store with huge overflowing carts of food. I figure the worst case scenario of 2 feet of snow would mean - maybe - 36 hours in the house from the start of the storm until the end and roads were cleared enough to venture out. Five meals. Some of these folks were buying for the apocalypse.

Five meals. At any given moment we have food in the house for a week. The only reason I went shopping at all was to get strudel bites and mini corn muffins for Nonna. They are her morning ritual. I really could have just made them, but I also wanted to get gas for the car in case we lost power and needed a charging station for electronics. I need to be able to read my Kindle... And if we did lose power and the temperature in the house dropped, I guess we could park Nonna in a warm car for a while... On the other hand, I did buy a big box of Duraflame logs as insurance against the power going out...

But back to food.

Victor started things off with gnocchi. He pretty much just created the recipe as he went - potato, flour, ricotta, and egg.

Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi

  • 2 cups riced potato
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups "00" flour, plus more for dusting

Combine the potato, ricotta, eggs and 1 teaspoon salt in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add the flour, mixing well.

Bring the dough together in a ball and cut off one-quarter of it. Dust the work surface with all-purpose flour to prevent sticking, and roll the cut-off piece of dough into a long rope about 5/8 inch in diameter. Cut the rope into 5/8-inch pieces. Roll the pieces off the times of a fork or off a gnocchi board. Dust some parchment paper with flour and place the gnocchi on it to prevent sticking. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Cook the gnocchi in boiling water for about 2 minutes.

Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

We had them with homemade meatballs and Victor's homemade sauce. Totally awesome, Delish.

That was half of the batch on the tray. I froze another tray for another day.


The bread was a loaf of James Beard's French-Style Bread. It's one of the most simple, basic breads around. been making it for years. Always good.

James Beard’s French-Style Bread

Ingredients

  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 cup warm water (100° to 115°, approximately)
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 egg, mixed with water
  • sesame seeds
  • 3 tbsp cornmeal

Directions

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into a long, French bread-style loaf. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal but not buttered. Brush loaf with egg wash and then liberally sprinkle with sesame seeds. Slash the tops of the loaf diagonally in three or four places. Place in a cold oven, set the temperature at 400° and bake 35 minutes or until well browned and hollow sounding when the top is rapped.


And then we have dessert... Peach Rice Pudding.

I picked up a bag of frozen peaches at the store, thinking I might make a peach upside down cake.  I got home and thought Peach Pudding. I mentioned it to Victor and then said, or maybe rice peach pudding - and that was that.

Peach Rice Pudding

  • 1 cup rice
  • 4 cups milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • pinch salt
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp peach extract
  • 1 lb peaches, chopped

Cook rice and set aside.

Mix sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add eggs and mix. Slowly add milk and mix well, making sure there are no lumps. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in cooked rice. Continue stirring and cook about 5 minutes or until thickened.

Stir in peaches, and then add vanilla, peach extract, and butter.

Place in bowl with plastic wrap on top to keep skin form forming.

Refrigerate completely.

We have enough rice pudding to last a week, plenty of bread for sandwiches or toast - or breadcrumbs - and pasta and a dozen jars of sauce downstairs.

We're set, Mother Nature! Bring it on!


Sunday in the Kitchen

We've been out of Victor's pasta sauce for a couple of weeks. Since the garden tomatoes haven't even been planted, yet, it was time to get the canned tomatoes in gear. We can't go long without pasta sauce in the house - and I'll be damned if I'll buy the stuff.

We have this one down to a science. 14 28-oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes - along with a bottle of wine, tomato paste, and some water - will yield 14 quarts of sauce - with enough left over for dinner.

We have a great system, too. Victor makes the sauce, I jar it. Neither of us has to do much work, this way. I did help with the opening of the cans, though. No electric can opener in this house. It's manual, baby! I think the only electric can opener we've ever had was an under cabinet opener in our house in San Leandro. I don't recall using it, much, but, we're not usually opening a lot of cans...

Victor's sauce is not vegetarian. He always cooks off some pork; ribs, chops, or whatever is around. I picked up a small pork loin for this batch.

It cooks up really nice and is shreddable when it's done. It's part of the dinner we have - it doesn't go into the jars.

After simmering nicely, it's time to fill the jars.

Sauce is hot, jars are hot, pressure canner is getting hot...

It takes 15 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure to get perfection.

Playing tag-team in the kitchen really does make this effortless. Most of the time is simmering or unattended pressure-cooking. We watched movies, I baked a loaf of bread, played a few games of Scrabble... It's nothing overwhelming. And the payoff is fantastic.

I cooked up a package of mafaldine since Nonna wasn't here - she doesn't like any sort of long pasta - and topped it with lots of freshly-grated piave I picked up at Downtown Cheese at Reading Terminal Market. Piave is a DOP Italian cheese produced in the Dolomites. Good stuff.

And since we were going to have fresh sauce with pasta on our plates from Florence, we needed a loaf of bread. I reworked a recipe from a while ago and made a really good cheese bread.

Crusty on the outside and really light on the inside.

The original recipe called for pecorino, but I used up the last of a few cheeses we had in the 'fridge.

Pecorino Cheese Bread

  • 1 pkg active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded pecorino cheese
  • 1 egg mixed with water
  • sesame seeds

Mix yeast with water to proof. In a stand mixer, add half the flour and the sour cream and begin to mix. Slowly add the grated cheese and the rest of the flour, mixing until it all holds together. Continue mixing for about 10 minutes or until a firm, smooth dough is made.

Form into a ball, rub a bowl with oil, coat dough, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled.

 

Punch down, turn out to counter, and let rest about 15 minutes. Form into a loaf and place on a baking peel liberally coated with corn meal. Cover, and let rise until doubled.

 

Preheat oven with baking stone to 375ºF (190°C).

When dough has risen, brush with an egg mixed with water. Sprinkle liberally with sesame seeds and make two cuts into the loaf with a sharp knife.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until nicely browned and hollow-sounding when tapped.

Cool on wire rack.

All in all, it was a relaxing day with lots accomplished. Not bad, at all.


Canning Little Grandma's Eggplant Appetizer

Mother Nature is smiling down on us because one eggplant plant is producing eggplant for the world! It's just unbelievable. It's going bonkers. Talk about a perfect location.

We've been giving them to neighbors as fast as we can, but yesterday Victor went out and there were 7 that were immediately ready to eat.  Two went to neighbors and five came inside for canning.

08-28-16-eggplant-1

I made and canned a caponata at the beginning of the season but this time we decided to go with Little Grandma's Eggplant Appetizer. Little Gram wrote in 1993 - when she was a mere 93 -

My family loves this. When I make it, they eat it like candy. Well, it is sweet! I find that eggplants are better in the summer, even though you can get them all year round. This is another recipe I have been making for many years. I got it from my mother who brought it over from Sicily. She and my father worked for a nobleman when they lived there. Ma used to cook for the man and his family. That's probably where she got many recipes. This dish is really a type of Caponota that many Italian families make.

We have made this many, many times - it's a great caponata - but this is the first time we've made this much of it at once.

Victor started out by peeling and cutting all of those eggplants. He actually did all the work. I just did the canning part.

08-28-16-eggplant-2

Then it was into olive oil, for frying.

08-28-16-eggplant-3

Meanwhile, the celery and then olives were parboiled.

08-28-16-eggplant-4

08-28-16-eggplant-5

Finally, everything came together...

08-28-16-eggplant-6

And into jars for processing.

I was able to can 8 pints of eggplant. I sent 7 down to the basement and kept one for dinner, tonight. I'm thinking chicken and cooking up some of the polenta I picked up at the Italian Market two weeks ago. Simple, but oh, so good!

This is going to be great at Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Little Grandma's Eggplant Appetizer

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium eggplant
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 3/4 cups halved or chopped green olives
  • 3 cups thinned Italian tomato sauce
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 6 tablespoons vinegar
  • 1/4 chopped Locatelli cheese
  • 2 tablespoons capers
  • fresh basil and mint

Cut eggplant in strips the size of French fries. Salt and let stand about an a hour. Dry on a paper towel. Deep fry in hot oil. Keep oil as hot as possible without burning. Add eggplant one at a time and keep adding one at a time to keep the oil at the same temperature. Fry each one until tender and cooked. Drain on paper towels.

To Make Sauce:

Parboil celery for ten minutes. Add olives and cook another five minutes. Drain all water out of the pot. Add the thinned tomato sauce and boil for ten minutes. Add vinegar and sugar. Cook for three minutes. Add cheese. Make it come to a boil and then turn off heat and allow to cool.

Pour sauce over fried eggplants. Garnish with fresh Basil and mint that have been sliced into very thin strips.

 


Garden Bounty

We did a bit of tag-teaming in the kitchen, today.  We picked a bit of produce from the yard and had to think of ways to use it. I've had friends for years that have had CSA shares and have spoken about getting massive amounts of something in their boxes and being at a loss as to what to do.

We didn't exactly have massive amounts of anything - yet - but three eggplants is a lot for me.

07-25-16-produce

And there are more where those came from!

I have wanted to do a stuffed eggplant since the day we planted them, and tonight I got my wish. The other two became caponata.

07-25-16-caponata

5 pints went downstairs to join the if Trump gets elected we're screwed hoard. And one went into the 'fridge for snacking.

While I was stuffing eggplant and making caponata, Victor was making a baked pasta using the crookneck squash - another vegetable that is taking over out there. Thank goodness these are things we like!

07-25-16-baked-shells

The recipes all come from Lidia.

Baked Zucchini and Shells

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 1 pound crookneck squash, sliced
  • One 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
  • 1 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
  • 3/4 pound sheels
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 8 ounces shredded Fontina
  • 1 cup grated Grana Padano

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for pasta. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

2. Add the onion, and cook until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the squash, and cook until it begins to soften, another 5 minutes. Add the salt, then the crushed tomatoes with 1 cup water. Bring the sauce to a boil, and simmer just until it thickens, about 8 to 10 minutes, but don't let the squash begin to fall apart. Then toss in the chopped basil.

3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente, a few minutes shy of the package directions. Drain the pasta, and toss it in the skillet with the tomato sauce and basil.

4. Butter a 9-x-13-inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, toss together the two cheeses. Spread half the pasta and sauce in the baking dish, and top with half the cheese. Layer the remaining pasta and sauce, then the remaining cheese.

5. Bake, uncovered, until browned and bubbly, about 20 minutes.

And the Caponata:

Sicilian Caponata

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs eggplant
  • 2-1/2 tsp salt
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 medium onions, peeled cut in 1-1/2 inch chunks
  • 2 cups celery, trimmed cut in 1-inch chunks
  • 1 cup cerignola or other large green brine-cured olives, pitted and cut in ½-inch pieces
  • 1 pound fresh plum tomatoes
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup small capers, drained
  • 10 large fresh basil leaves

Directions

Trim the eggplants and slice them (skin on) into chunks about 2-inches long and 1-inch thick. Toss the chunks with 2 teaspoons of salt and drain in a colander for 30 minutes to an hour. Rinse and pat them dry with paper towels.

Meanwhile pour the red wine vinegar and ½ cup water into the small pan, stir in the sugar and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half and syrupy, then remove from the heat.

Slice the onions into 1-1/2 pieces—you should have about 4 cups. Trim the celery stalks (and peel them if they’re tough and stringy) then chop in 1-inch chunks. Slice the plum tomatoes lengthwise into 1-inch thick wedges; scrape out the seeds and put the wedges in a sieve to drain off the juices. Roughly chop the pitted olives into ½-inch pieces.

To fry the eggplant, pour the cup of vegetable oil into the skillet and set over medium heat. Spread all the eggplant chunks in the hot oil and fry for 10 to 15 minutes, tossing and stirring frequently, until the eggplant is soft and cooked through and nicely browned on all sides. Turn off the heat, lift the chunks out of the oil with a slotted spoon and spread them on paper towels to drain. Discard the frying oil and wipe out the skillet.

Pour ¼ cup of the olive oil in the skillet and set it over medium heat. Stir in the onion and celery chunks, season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, tossing often, until they’ve wilted and lightly colored, 8 minutes or so. Toss in the olives and the capers, heat quickly until sizzling, then scatter in the tomatoes wedges and fold them in with the other vegetables. Season with another ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until the tomatoes are hot and softened but still holding their shape, about 5 minutes.

Spread the eggplant chunks on top of the onions and tomatoes, still over medium heat, and turn them in gently with a big spoon or spatula. When everything is sizzling, pour the vinegar syrup all over and stir it in. Cook a bit longer, then drizzle another couple tablespoons of olive oil over and stir in.

Cook the vegetables together for about 10 minutes, then turn off the heat. Tear the basil leaves into shreds and stir them into the caponata. Taste and adjust the seasonings; let cool to room temperature and serve.

And the stuffed eggplant.

Melanzane Ripiene alla Pugliese

Ingredients:

  • 6 small or 2 medium/large eggplants (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
  • 2 ripe medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 cup grated Grana Padano
  • 1 cup grated Itallian Fontina
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Halve the eggplants lengthwise. Scoop out any seeds, then scoop out the flesh, leaving a 1/2 inch shell. Cut the eggplant flesh into small cubes. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season the inside of the eggplant shells with 1 teaspoon of salt., then brown them, cut side down, in the oil, about 2 minutes. Remove and place in an oiled baking dish, cut side up.

In the same skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the eggplant flesh and garlic. Once the eggplant has begun to wilt, add the tomatoes and crushed red pepper and cook until the eggplant is tender but the tomatoes retain their shape, about 5 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, stir in half the cheeses, parsley, and mint. Stuff the filling into the eggplant shells and sprinkle with the additional cheese. Cover with foil, and bake until the eggplant shells are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until the top is browned, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

I used one good-sized eggplant and just adjusted the filling ingredients. I also used one of the peppers from the garden in place of the red pepper flakes.

It was a great dinner and we have caponata downstairs for treats this winter - if they last that long!