Friday Frittata
Victor is practicing for retirement. It's three weeks away. We're both psyched - although he's a tad more psyched than me. I have 14 months to go.
One of his retirement plans is to spend more time in the kitchen. I've always done more of the cooking because my schedule allowed it.
Because I do more cooking - and write the blog - I tend to get all the accolades and glory, but Victor is a fantastic cook - and baker. He's intuitive - he just knows what to do. He's definitely a better pasta-maker than I'll ever be, and it's his sauce I can every couple of months - not mine. I love walking in the door and seeing a new cake or dessert on the table, or a tray of focaccia - or just something simmering on the stove.
Tonight is a perfect example. A fritatta was in the making as I walked in. Simplicity at its finest - a couple of links of sausage, some oven-roasted potatoes, a few strips of bacon, onion, cheese, tomato slices - and eggs. Some herbs thrown in along with some salt and pepper. Dinner is served.
We're both enjoying the simplicity of foods, again. We've gone through periods of vastly-complex recipes building layer-upon-layer of flavors and textures - and still enjoy them - but the older we get, the more we are embracing a few good ingredients and letting them speak for themselves.
And this was one of them.
Enough for dinner and plenty for lunch tomorrow, as well. Even Nonna cleaned her plate.
Yes. I am really looking forward to retirement.
Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
It's so nice to be married to a man who can cook!
When I spoke with Victor at lunch, today, he said dinner was taken care of. As much as I love to cook, those are great words to hear - and since he's a great cook, it doesn't even matter what it is he does.
Tonight was a bit of a clean-out-the-refrigerator stuffed pork tenderloin. One of those things that will never be replicated because we'll most likely never have this particular combination of things lying about, again... It was delish!
He took bread crumbs, onion, bell pepper, carrots, celery, a bit of pancetta, hard cooked eggs, golden raisins, some homemade pasta sauce, garlic, and some S&P, and made a stuffing to die for.
He butterflied the tenderloin, pounded it to an even thickness, stuffed it, rolled it, tied it, and baked it off in a 350°F oven for about 30 minutes.
Parsley buttered potatoes and green beans finished off the plate.
Did I mention it was delish?!?
My stomach is smiling.
Gnocchi and Beets
For as long as I have known Victor, he has stated that he hates beets. Hates. Loathes. Despises. Doesn't like. Won't eat. You get the picture.
Naturally, I love them, but convincing Victor that they were good was not going to be an easy task. Then, again, I like a challenge once in a while.
I started off with golden beets and roasted them in the oven. He reluctantly tried them - and even more reluctantly said he didn't hate them.
I was on to something...
I tried them, again. He begrudgingly ate them - and liked them, again. This has happened more than a few times, now. Tonight, Victor cooked dinner and he cooked more golden beets - roasted in the oven with olive oil, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. Absolutely fabulously delicious.
He has come to the realization that he really likes beets - what he hates are pickled beets - those mushy things in a can that get put onto a salad. It's a good thing, because I have several different varieties of beet seeds that are getting planted in the garden this year!
Along with those beets, tonight, we had homemade gnocchi left over from last month when we were getting ready for the Blizzard of '17. He mixed it with pesto he had made late last summer from the basil in the garden. It's nice to be able to reach into the freezer and get real food.
Now I have to start working on cabbage...
Chicken and Dumplings
Victor decided to try his hand at a dish fairly foreign to his Italian heritage - Chicken and Dumplings.
This is something I remember well from my own childhood. My mom made drop dumplings all the time - and my grandmother made rolled dumplings that were like big, thick, pasta noodles. I can taste both of them right now...
But fast-forward 55 or so years, and here is Victor making his first attempt - and hopefully not his last. These were delicious!
I had cooked a whole chicken a couple of days ago, so the basics - broth and chicken - were in the 'fridge. It was the art of pulling it all together and making light as air dumplings that made it so extraordinary.
He did a lookup of ideas and found a Martha recipe that was promising. He adapted it to what he had already, but here's the Martha concept. Play with it.
Chicken and Dumplings
adapted from Martha Stewart
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 5 medium carrots, cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- S&P
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, or 3/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
- 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup cream
- 2 cups frozen peas
In a Dutch oven or heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat butter over medium. Add onion, carrots, and thyme. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
Add 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly; season with salt and pepper. Nestle chicken in pot; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup flour, dill, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. With a fork, gradually stir in 1/2 cup milk to form a moist and soft batter. It should be just a little thicker than pancake batter and should easily drop from the tip of a spoon. (Add additional 2 tablespoons milk if too thick.) Set aside.
Stir peas into pot. Drop batter in simmering liquid in 10 heaping tablespoonfuls, keeping them spaced apart (dumplings will swell as they cook). Cover, and simmer until chicken is tender and dumplings are firm, 20 minutes. Serve.
It was really, really good - even Nonna cleaned her plate - except for the peas. The dumplings really were light as feathers. Little clouds floating in a silken sauce. Outstanding!
It's a really great, comforting meal. Give it a try!
Banana Cake
I had brought home some great bananas a while back but with everything else in the house to eat, they just sat there, getting riper by the minute. Being my mother's son, I wasn't about to throw them out - so into the freezer they went. We used a couple of them for a banana bread but a couple more were still taking up room in our ever-crowded freezer. It's amazing how fast it can fill up - even as we use something from it almost daily.
Victor is practicing for retirement, so while I was at work, he pulled the last of them out for a banana cake!
He's an old pro at changing recipes around, so he took his favorite BH&G Yellow Cake and tweaked it for bananas. He then made a simple banana cream cheese frosting that is out of this world.
I do love cake. I love dessert, period. I'll pass up the buffet and head right over to the dessert table. They're all my favorite - but cake is up there with the most-favorite. And a homemade cake made by someone else sitting in the kitchen when you get home?!? Perfection.
Banana Cake
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup pureed banana
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and flour cake pans.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter until light. Slowly add sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add vanilla. Add flour and milk in three additions - starting and ending with flour.
Stir in bananas.
Spread into pans and bake about 20-30 minutes, depending upon pan size. Check with toothpick.
Cool and frost with Banana Cream Cheese Frosting
Banana Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 8oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup banana puree
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Mix butter and cream cheese together until light and well-mixed. Add banana puree and vanilla and mix well.
Slowly add powdered sugar and mix until you have a spreadable frosting, adding more powdered sugar, if necessary.
I think I'm really going to enjoy Victor's retirement.
Chicken Soup For What Ails Ya...
Feed a cold, feed a fever, I always say... And on Day Three of the Cold From Hell, chicken soup is really what the Doctor ordered.
I am not sure where this one came from. I felt fine all day Monday, went to bed, and woke up about midnight with a sinus headache and the runny nose from hell. Not wishing to be too graphic, but in the dark when I woke up, I thought I had a bloody nose, it was pouring out so fast. And it went down hill from there. The runny nose turned into the cough and sore throat. And the headache continued. It may have been my body just going into shock knowing who's being inaugurated tomorrow. If I catch a cold at all, it's usually in late fall... Delayed reaction from November 8th...
Miraculously on the eve of day three, I'm actually feeling better. Gallons of liquids, and gallons of chicken soup have been doing their magic - along with copious amounts of Robitussin Extreme. And Tabasco sauce. Lots and lots of Tabasco in my soup, along with a growing Resistance. Whatever it takes, right?!?
Victor had made a huge batch of Italian Wedding Soup on Sunday, so we started off with lots of Italian Jewish Penicillin and today he made a new batch to keep me going. So far, it seems to be working - I'm not nearly as congested, sneezy, snotty, or barking like a seal.
The soup is pretty basic - chicken, broth, celery, onion, garlic, carrots, and orzo. Great stuff.
So, trivia... Do you know where the adage feed a cold starve a fever came from?
It seems that once upon a time, people thought of the body like a furnace - adding food was like adding heat, so if you had a cold you stoked the fire and added heat - and if you had a fever, you were already hot so you took the heat source away to cool down.
This was before we knew about stem cells and stuff. Back in the Flat-Earth Society Days we're heading back into.
Stuffed Eggplant
That one little eggplant just keeps on giving. I pulled six more off the plant when we got back from California and there's probably another six that are ready, right now. Who knew one plant was going to be so prolific.
It's good that we like eggplant - and it's even better than Nonna has decided she likes it, again. She went through a period of a couple of years where she wouldn't touch it. Now she's asking Victor to make Eggplant Lasagne!
Go figure.
We have enough eggplant canned downstairs to last us through winter and I really am looking forward to a nice snowy day, baking some fresh bread, and having Victor make some homemade pasta.
Have I ever mentioned that we tend to eat well around here?
But future meals aside, we had eggplants here and now that needed cooking! And that's where Victor came through with Stuffed Eggplants. He had been thinking about this most of the week so I was pretty stoked to come home and see them ready to go into the oven. It's so nice being married to a man who can cook!
As with much of what we cook, there really wasn't a recipe, per se. It was more just following instinct and creating.
Stuffed Eggplants
- Eggplants
- Ground Beef
- Carnaroli Rice (Italian short-grained risotto-style rice)
- Carrots, diced
- Celery, diced
- Garlic
- Pasta Sauce (Victor's homemade)
- Bread Crumbs
- Pimentos
- Olives
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Shredded Cheese for topping
Cut eggplants in half and scoop out flesh. Finely chop. Saute the chopped eggplant with garlic, carrots, and celery until vegetables are soft. Add pasta sauce and rice and simmer until rice is tender.
Cook ground beef. Add to eggplant mixture along with the pimento, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir in some bread crumbs.
Stuff eggplants with filling and top with a few more bread crumbs and some shredded cheese.
Cover and bake in a 350°F oven about 45 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking another 15 or so minutes..
This really was outstanding. Easy to pull together and really versatile. If we made it, again, it would be similar, but different. Might or might not have pimentos, type of olives could change, fresh tomatoes might stand in for the sun-dried...
You get the idea. The basic concept is there - the minute details change according to what's in the larder. And since we keep a pretty well-stocked larder, anything is possible!
We seldom let the lack of a specific item keep us from making something. A little fun and creativity is a good thing.
The Philadelphia Story
We seem to be able to go months without leaving the house. Then, in a matter of days, we make up for it in spades.
For example...
Yesterday we headed into Philadelphia for a company party and an overnight stay in the city. We had a great time seeing old friends and having a fun dinner and dance. It's amazing how many people I've worked with in 15 years... How can little girls I used to tickle be heading off to college? Those little ones turning into almost grown-ups?!? And those are the folks I worked with. You should see how their kids have grown! It was a fun night, indeed. The stories. The stories. OMG The Stories. I really am fortunate to work with some fun people.
Since we just don't get into the city that often, Victor called some friends to meet us for brunch on Sunday. The stories. The stories. Part Two.
We were meeting up with everyone in South Philly, so we thought a trek through the Italian Market was in order before Brunch. Summer Sunday on 9th Street. It was 95°F at 9:30am with humidity you could cut with a knife. Fantes was closed so we headed up the street and landed in Claudio - a great store that's been around since the '50s. And air conditioned. Did I mention it was hot?
We didn't go nearly as crazy as we could have because we're taking off on Thursday for DC and Saturday for New Hampshire - that's part of the make it up in spades comment, above - but we did grab some things to get us through the first of the week and a few pantry items for when we get back - and before we head out to San Francisco in September.
Jet-setters. That's us.
The grocery bag ended up with polenta, a rotini pasta that is so big two noodles will probably be a complete meal. Cheeses, of course - pecorini romano and sharp provolone - stuffed peppers, jarred anchovies, cookies, 3 liters of Sicilian olive oil - I like Sicilian oil - and fresh anchovies made up most of the haul.
I really like fresh anchovies.
These are definitely not their salty canned cousins. Totally delicious.
We packed up our goodies and headed over to The Devil's Den for more stories and tomfoolery - and copious amounts of $3.00 Bloody Mary's.
There's something about a group of guys who have known each other for well over 40 years. You can't lie or embellish a story with friends this old because at least one - if not all - were there. And hearing the stories really did explain a lot.
A ridiculously good time was had by all and after 2 days of great food and even better conversation, we headed back to 'burbia.
Armed with eggplant and tomatoes from our garden and some select purchases from Claudio, Victor headed to the kitchen. Dinner tonight would be just the two of us - his sister had picked up Nonna and they were eating at his brother's. A bit of quiet after a loud night.
Stuffed eggplant was on the menu and a recipe was forming.
He halved one eggplant and scooped out the innards leaving a half-inch shell. He peeled and chopped the second smaller eggplant and it all went into a skillet with olive oil and some diced red onion.
From there, the creativity started. His original idea was to make a meat-based filling but the anchovies put a halt to that. Into the bowl went anchovies, cooked rice, cooked eggplant, garlic, a bit of his pasta sauce, bread crumbs, artichoke hearts, a couple of plum tomatoes, salt and pepper. Into the eggplant shells and then topped with freshly grated cheese. Then into a 350°F oven for about 40 minutes.
There's no actual precise recipe because this will never be recreated just like this. The stars and planets aligned and this was the result. A totally fabulous result. Take the basic idea and run with it - do what Victor did or play with it and make it your own. It's guaranteed to be good.
A fun-filled weekend is behind us and a fun-filled week is ahead of us.
Tomorrow we talk about bruschetta...
Happy Summer!
Eggplant Rollatini
The eggplants are coming in fast and furious. Every day there are more flowers and more fruit. It's the Summer of Eggplant! And what fun we are having!
Victor made an eggplant lasagne the other day that was beyond stellar. Layers of thinly-sliced eggplant floured and fried, layered with cheeses and sauce... Baked in the oven until perfect.
The most amazing thing about it, however, wasn't that it was outstandingly delicious, it was that Nonna loved it! Not only did she all but lick her plate, she requested it for lunch - twice! She has refused to eat eggplant for the almost 4 years she has lived here - and now she's clamoring for more. It's like a Christmas Miracle in August.
Tonight was an eggplant rollatini that was also beyond stellar. His idea was to just make a small side dish. I saw it and decided it was dinner - hell with the side dish idea!
That's one eggplant. I sliced it thin on my mandoline and Victor took it from there... There are no recipes for things like this. Like the lasagne a few nights ago, you just make it. That being said, here's an approximation of what he did.
Eggplant Rollatini
- 1 eggplant, thinly sliced
- flour
- eggs
- pesto
- ricotta
- grated parmesan
- garlic powder
- parsley
- salt & pepper
- tomato sauce
Dip thin slices of eggplant in flour and then egg. Fry until lightly browned on both sides.
Mix ricotta, parmesan, 1 egg, garlic powder, lots of chopped parsley, and a bit of S&P.
Spread cooked eggplant with pesto and then with ricotta. Roll up and place seam-side down in baking dish. Top with tomato sauce and bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes, or until heated through.
If you want to serve them as an appetizer, don't top them with the sauce - have it available on the side.
Totally stellar - no matter how you do it!
Fettuccine on the Fourth
While the rest of the country is out grilling and cooking hot dogs, we had homemade fettuccine and homemade pesto. We did our red, white, and blue stuff, yesterday. There's a real fine line between flag-waving and goose-stepping, in my not-so-humble opinion. We try and keep it to a minimum.
Homemade pasta and a sauce from items out of our own garden, on the other hand, are things we do try and do often. It's those left-leaning liberal priorities of ours. What can I say?!?
Speaking of left-leaning and liberal, we're getting our solar panels installed on the roof this coming Saturday. As if we weren't already the talk of the neighborhood. Pictures on Sunday!
But back to tonight's dinner...
Victor made his basic pasta dough - it's tried and true, no-fail every time.
Fresh Pasta
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
Spoon 2 3/4 cups of the flour into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Beat the eggs, olive oil and salt together in a small bowl until blended. With the motor running, pour the egg mixture into the processor. Process until it forms a rough and slightly sticky dough. If the mixture is too dry, drizzle in a very small amount of warm water and continue processing. Scrape the dough out of the work bowl onto a lightly floured counter.
Knead the dough with the heels of your hands until it is smooth, silky and elastic – 5 to 10 minutes of constant kneading.
Flour the work surface and your hands lightly any time the dough begins to stick while you’re kneading.
Roll the dough into a smooth ball and place in a small bowl. Cover and let the dough rest at least an hour before rolling and shaping.
The pesto is totally eyeball. It's fresh basil, pine nuts, freshly grated parmesan, fresh garlic cloves, olive oil... The secret is to blanch the basil before chopping. Dip into boiling water and then wring it out, completely. No bitterness!
The final dish also had cauliflower from our garden that I canned a few weeks ago.
A great way to celebrate our independence from packaged food!
Malloreddus and Meatballs
A gloriously-sunny day and homemade pasta for dinner. Who could ask for anything more?!?
The day started off by my putting together a potting bench we bought last fall. The weather wasn't conducive for keeping it outside over the winter, so the box went down into the basement. Today was the perfect day to bring it up.
It was pretty easy to put together - the hardest part was aligning all the pieces for the drawer. But in less than 30 minutes we had a bench. All it needs now is a coat of water-sealer and we're ready for planting!
My reward for being a handy husband was fresh malloreddus - a Sardinian pasta similar to a gnocchi. I think the first time Victor made this was from one of the La Cucina Italiana magazine's Pasta Issue. It's been in the repertoire for quite a few years, now. It's pretty awesome stuff.
It's heavier than the gnocchi he makes but it has a great bite and a great flavor - for being of such simple ingredients.
Malloreddus
- Sea Salt
- 1 ¼ cups semolina flour
- ¾ cup tipa "00" flour or all-purpose flour
- Extra virgin olive oil
Gnocchi board or a table fork
Dissolve 1 tsp salt in ¾ cup warm water. In a large bowl whisk together semolina and all purpose flour; mound and form a well in the center.
Add water mixture and 2 tsp olive oil to the well. Using your hand or a fork, slowly incorporate flour from inside the rim of the well. Continue until liquid is absorbed, then knead in bowl until dough forms a complete mass (dough will be slightly sticky).
Transfer dough to a well floured work surface and knead, dusting with a bit more flour as needed just to keep dough from sticking to your hands, for 5 minutes. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
Break off about 1/8 of the dough; tightly rewrap remaining dough. Roll dough into ½ inch cylinder, and cut into ¼ inch thick pieces. Pressing with your thumb, roll each piece on a gnocchi board (or down the back of a fork) to give it the characteristic ridges, and put on a floured baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
To cook fresh Malloreddus, bring a large pot of salted water to a bill. Add pasta and cook until tender, about 6 minutes after water returns to a boil. Drain, transfer to a large serving bowl and immediately toss with sauce and serve.
Of course, both our semolina and our flour come from Italy - and the olive oil is from a friend in Sicily. Hell - even the salt is Mediterranean. The pasta sauce is homemade as are the meatballs...
One of these days I'm going to be accused of being a food snob. Your results may vary.
But it is Spring and that also means bringing out my most-favorite wind chimes. My sister, Arlene, gave these to me for Christmas years ago and I love them. I've put them back together several times and have water-sealed them many times, as well. They still have lots of life left in them!
The windows in the background are our office and it's great to listen to them while working...
So... time to relax and think about dessert... I made lemon almond semolina cupcakes last night... ::burp::
Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
It's so nice to be married to a man who knows how to cook!
I took a pork tenderloin out of the freezer last night with plans to cook it for dinner, tonight, when I got home from work. However, when I got home, I found a beautiful stuffed pork tenderloin just needing to go into the oven! All I had to do was peel a couple of sweet potatoes and dinner was ready - definitely my idea of Saturday night cooking!
Victor stuffed the tenderloin with breadcrumbs, sun-dried tomatoes, celery, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, onion, green peppers, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. I baked it - along with the sweet potatoes - for about 40 minutes at 375°F (190°C).
The pork was fork-tender and the stuffing bursting with flavor with just the right amount of crunch and chew. I completely cleaned my plate and Nonna was close to licking hers clean, as well. You know it's a successful dinner when the finished plates look like they just came out of the cupboard.
My original plan was to cook the tenderloin with apples and onions since we have apples that need using up. It looks like I'm going to be making an apple cake tomorrow, instead. The biggest question now is which apple cake will I make? I have a recipe of my mom's that I haven't made in years - and it doesn't require peeling the apples... decisions, decisions...
Life is rough around here...