Pasticcio di Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi

Or... Macaroni and Cheese - Italian-style...

We had a bit of time to burn at Penn Station, so off to Hudson News I went to see what fabulous literary offerings were in the offering.

Big store.  Slim pickin's.  My eyes glazed over at the wall of political books.  Sorry, but if you need to read someone else's book to figure out who you're going to vote for in November... well...

This is a food blog, so other than the fact that you won't get any recipes for Mooseburgers here, I'll leave it at that...

Off in the magazine area, I picked up a copy of La Cucina Italiana.  It's an Italian cooking magazine I've picked up  a couple of times.  The recipes are usually pretty good, but the cooking instructions can often annoy me... (I hate when magazines over-explain things...)

ANYWAY...

I came across a recipe entitled Pasticcio di Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi.  In reading the recipe, it was pretty much how my mom used to make her macaroni and cheese back when I was a kid.  I'll copy their recipe and annotate where I changed things...

Bechamel sauce:

• 2 cups whole milk (I used skim)
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Freshly grated Nutmeg

Pasta:

• 2 1/2 ounces fontina cheese, cubed (about 1/2 cup) (I used provelone)
• 2 1/2 ounces asiago cheese, cubed (about 1/2 cup) (I used Port Salut)
• 3 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 pound short pasta, like penne (I used dried tortolini)
• 1 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Granna Padano cheese (I used a domestic parmesan)

Heat oven to 475°.  Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

For the bechamel:  In a medium saucepan, heat milk over medium-low heat; bring just to boil then remove from heat.  In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat.  Add flour; cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for two minutes.  Do not brown.  Remove from heat.  Add 2 tablespoons milk to flour mixture, stirring constantly until milk is incorporated.  Repeat until 1/2 cup of the milk has been incorporated.Add remaining milk 1/2 cup at a time, incorporating between additions, until all milk has been added.  Return to low heat and cook, stirring frequently, especially along corners of pan, until bechamel is the consistency of thick cream.  Stir in salt, season with nutmeg and remove from heat; cover to keep warm. (I made a simple white sauce with 3 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp flour, and 2 cups milk, added a pinch of salt and a bit of fresh nutmeg.  Took about 4 minutes.  I then added about a quarter of the cheese cubes, stirred, and then let it simmer on a very low heat while I did the other stuff.)

For The Pasta:  Combine fontina, asiago, and gorgonzola in a large bowl.  Cook pasta in boiling water untilo al dente.  Drain pasta, immediately add to bowl of cheese, add bechamel and toss together to combine well.  Transfer pasta to a baking dish, sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano and bake until bheated through, about 10 minutes.  Serve immediately.

It really came out great!

My mom's mac and cheese always started out with a white sauce and whatever odds and ends of cheese she had in the 'fridge.  And the pasta was always elbow macaroni.  This is the first time I've seen a recipe that even came close to hers.

It really was good!

by Tim Dineen

EuroPan Bakery NYC

Many moons ago, when we first started going to NYC, we used to always stop off at a bakery cafe in Times Square to plan our day.  One day, after walking up from Penn Station, we walked around the corner and there was a gaping hole where "our" cafe used to be.

It threw us for a loop, to say the least.  We survived, just as we have survived the remaking of Times Square into a Disney-Ride.  But I do miss a lot of what the old neighborhood had to offer - including some cheap (for NYC) places to eat.

So... here we are back up in NYC to see South Pacific at the Lincoln Center Theatre (an absolutely FABULOUS show!!!) and as we're walking up Columbus at 58th, there, on the corner - is The EuroPan!  I find out that there are several of them in the city - including one in Times Square not far from out original haunt.

We stopped in last night after the show for Panini's and dessert, and were back over this morning for coffee and strawberry cheese croissants.

What the heck - we're in New York.....

It was good to see an old friend, again, and even better to get some really good - and reasonably priced for New York - food.

by Tim Dineen

Chicken Delight

Back when I was a kid, there was a delivery-and-take-out place in San Francisco called "Chicken Delight."  Their slogan was "Don't cook tonight, call Chicken Delight."  It was just a few blocks from our home, and although my parents rarely (and I do mean rarely) bought take-out or delivery, I still remember their fried chicken.  It was pretty good stuff from a kid's point of view.

That little story has absolutely nothing to do with tonight's dinner, except the name.  The long-gone Chicken Delight had a menu similar to The Colonel's back when The Colonel was still running the show and definitely didn't have a breaded breast fillet with homemade pasta sauce and cheese.  Or ziti with garlic butter.  Or fresh broccoli.

I'd love to taste a bit of Chicken Delight today to see if it really was as good as my childhood tastebuds remember.  I have a feeling, though, that I'd change my mond...

by Tim Dineen

Baby Burgers with Happy Hal's Jalapeno Relish

I'm still cooking.  And it's even been pretty good stuff this past week.  I guess I've just been a bit lazy about getting the camera out.  (I mean, it's such a chore bringing it all the way from the office to the kitchen and then back again.  And then there's the whole issue of resizing it..)

But I digress...

Sunday, I made another tiella to take to a neighborhood party, Monday was grilled chicken salads, Tuesday Bool Kogi, Wednesday chicken and beef brochettes, and last night's mini-burgers.

The burgers were on little petite rolls with gorgonzola cheese and jalapeno relish.  Not just any jalapeno relish, though - Happy Hal's Jalapeno Relish!  It is most excellent!  We use it on all sorts of things, and just love it!  In fact, it shall be included in several Christmas baskets this year.  Yum!

Still cooking.  Still having fun.  Now...  if only the election were over...

by Tim Dineen

A Simple Chicken Sandwich

I love sandwiches.  They may (seriously) be my favorite food.  ANYTHING can go into a sandwich.  They are only limited by one's imagination - and the ingredients in one's home.

Tonight, it was chicken sandwiches on baguettes.  Grilled chicken breasts, sliced ham.  Mushrooms sauteed in butter and shredded quattro formaggio cheese.  Ranch dressing.  Fresh baguette.  Pure heaven.

I baked off some french fries and dinner was ready in 15 minutes.

I love sandwiches.....

by Tim Dineen

Fresh From The Garden

I have been really pleased with the quality of the little amount of vegetables we planted.  The tomatoes were spectaular.  The peppers unbelievable...

Tonight, dinner was planned around two items - a pepper and a crookneck squash.  The pepper was ours, the squash from our neighbor.  I was originally planning the Closing Ceremony Dinner, but my tastebuds were calling for a salad, so salad, it was.

I grilled the pepper and squash, grilled a bit of beef, hard cooked a couple of eggs, and dinner was ready in minutes.

We're thinking that next year we're going to expand our repertoire of garden vegetables to include a few more items.  If we moved a couple of rose bushes to the side yard, we could expand the vegetables a bit.  There is just nothing better than REAL vegetables fresh from the garden.

None of this grown for looks and no flavor/shipped halfway around the world stuff.  Good, honest, local stuff.

The older I get, the more I notice just how poor and flavorless the stuff we buy in the supermarket is.  And how much I miss those flavors of my youth.  Since the food industry isn't about to start growing real food any time soon, it's time for me to start doing it, myself.

Already, I very rarely will buy something out of season.  I just don't believe in eating fresh strawberries in January.  It's wrong.  I want my acorn squash in the fall and my watermelon in July.   I like cooking seasonally.  I like eating seasonally.

And I'm really looking forward to growing more of my own...

Okay...  Since I'm gonna grow my own food, I might as well make my own ice cream, too!  Hell - since a "half-gallon" is now 1.5 quarts - and the price has gone up for less product - it just makes sense.  Hell - no one's ever accused ME of being pigheaded or stubborn!  Uh-uh.  Not me.  Nope...

I used 2 cups cream (NOT ultra-pasturized, either!) and a cup of whole milk, 3/4 cup of sugar, and 2 tbsp vanilla.

It is soooooooo good!

by Tim Dineen

Miss Scarlet, in the Kitchen, with the Frying Pan

Miss Scarlet Snapper, that is...  Scarlet Snapper - close relative to Red and the rest of the snapper family - is found on the other side of the ocean around Indonesia and Thailand.

Tonight's dinner was sauteed snapper in a bit of olive oil, garlic, and lemon verbena while in the oven went potatoes, corn, and peppers fresh from the garden.  Dayum, it was yummy!

Victor deglazed the pan with some white wine, cooked it down, and then added a bit of butter to make a great sauce to top the fish.  The result was a rich, buttery firm-fleshed fish that had my stomach smiling.

The fresh-from-the-garden peppers were most excellent!  They just have soooooo much flavor!  It's like the tomatoes we've been growing.  You really know you're eating a tomato - it's not some almost-red orb that has been grown to withstand transworld shipping at the expense of any sort of flavor.

In the freezer right now is a big ol' browinie I baked in a springform pan, topped with homemade vanilla ice cream.  (Love that ice cream maker!!!)

I've sort of fallen off my Olympics kick, and tomorrow night is the closing ceremony.....  Should I do China or London in honor of 2012?!?  I wish Paris had won the 2012 Olympics - the food definitely would have been easier!  Oh well... decisions, decisions.....

by Tim Dineen

Summer Salads

There's nothing better than a salad for dinner.....

by Tim Dineen

Chicken Saltimbocca

Back in the '60's in San Francisco, there was an Italian restaurant on Green Street where I first tasted Veal Saltimbocca.  I would go there often with my now ex-sister-in-law and/or her family.  My brother was in the Navy at the time and Chris and I were almost inseperable friends back then.

I'll be damned if I can remember the name of the place after all these years, but I do remember just how wonderful that dish was.

So tonight's chicken saltimbocca wasn't quite those succulent rolls of veal, sage, and prosciutto from years past, but I have ta tell ya - it was pretty darned good!

This was a Thursday night dinner.  It wasn't company coming, it wasn't all fancy-schmancy, it was just dinner with a bit of an Olympic twist.

I pounded the breasts and layed out fresh sage leaves and prosciutto.  I took a small piece of Italian truffle cheese and rolled it into a piece of prosciutto, and then rolled the chicken around it.  I browned them in a bit of olive oil, and then into a hot oven for about 10 minutes.  I deglazed the pan with marsalla, and then whisked in a couple of pats of butter.

In the meantime, I made a simple white and wild rice pilaf, and there was a nice big bowl of fresh from the garden tomato salad in the 'fridge.

Plated everything, drizzled the pan sauce over the chicken, and dinner was served!

by Tim Dineen

Home Cookin'

My original plan for dinner tonight was back to Italy and a chicken saltimbocca.  When I got home and opened the 'fridge, I realized I should use up the hot dogs I bought last week.  So...  Instead of travelling to Europe tonight for the Olympics, we stayed home.  I always have canned baked beans in the shelf, and corn muffins would be the operfect accompaniment.  Dinner was decided.

I grilled the dogs while making the muffins.  I added a tablespoon of Happy Hal's Jalapenos to the batter just to spice 'em up a bit.  They came out perfect!  Dogs and beans went into the oven for about 30 minutes, and all was yummy.

Tomorrow, we'll probably be back in Europe somewhere...

by Tim Dineen

From Russia, With Love

It wasn't until I was nearly through making this that I realized that I probably should have gone to a country other than Russia...  Oh well...  the recipe is more Joe's of Westlake than it is Russian, anyway...  But I digress...

This is a pretty classic dish from the 1950's.  It's one my mom made fairly regularly, because it could be stretched to feed their six kids and whatever strays had ended up at the table that evening.

Beef Stroganoff

• 1 lb beef, cut into strips
• 2 tbsp oil
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup shallots, finely chopped
• 1 pound mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 tbsp brandy
• 3/4 cup crème fraîche or whipping cream
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dill

egg noodles
paprika

Brown beef and set aside.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium-high heat.

Add shallots and sauté about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté about 5-6 minutes until mushrooms are browned. Add beef broth, then brandy. Simmer about 10 minutes. Stir in crème fraîche and Dijon mustard. Add meat and any accumulated juices and heat through. Stir in chopped dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook noodles.  Drain.  Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Divide noodles among plates. Top with beef and sauce. Sprinkle with paprika.

It was good, it was hearty, it was filling!  I think tomorrow I shall have to think of a friendlier and less-aggressive country to visit.  There's over 200 at the Olympics.  I should be able to find one...

by Tim Dineen