Tagliatelle alla Victor

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What a way to end a wild and crazy week - homemade Pasta alla Victor!

It's been a great week to be a Liberal, but life continues on and dinners have to be made. Part of our Gay Agenda is getting his Mom fed and her medications in her on schedule.

Victor bought me a pasta roller years ago and then proceeded to master the art of perfect pasta-making. I don't go near it - I don't think I could do it justice after the light as a cloud pasta Victor continually makes. Besides... I ain't no fool. The man is cooking me dinner - I'm ready fork in hand.

Making pasta isn't difficult, but it does take time and a feel for the dough that only comes through practice. As in bread-making, where I can just tell when it's right, Victor just knows when the pasta dough has reached the perfect consistency. It is an art, for sure.

A silken, edible art.

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Victor’s Pasta

  • 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • up to 1 teaspoon water, if necessary

Instructions

On a clean work surface, mound flour and form a well in the center. Add egg and egg yolk to the well. Using a fork, gently break up yolks and slowly incorporate flour from inside rim of well. Add drops of water, if necessary. 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 width-wise; 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, a scant 1/4 inch wide. 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.

The sauce was his sauce we made and jarred a few months ago, along with a few hot Italian sausages.

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Sauce made in small batches with real ingredients and no fillers, chemicals, or extraneous ingredients placed solely to trick the mind into thinking it's eating real food.

It is good.

The final plate was rich sauce with silken pasta and a just-spicy-enough sausage. I ate more than I should have and loved every bite.

Real good.


Tortellini and Cod

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I had it in my mind to make pasta when I got home, today. Victor had the same idea - except his idea was even better than mine!

Victor cooks a lot on Saturday. It's his day of domesticity - laundry, vacuuming, that sort of thing - and more often than not, a great dinner. I love it! It is great pulling into the driveway on my last day of work for the week and seeing Victor in the kitchen. Really great!

Tonight was no exception... I saw him through the window and I knew something good was afloat.

We had some Alaskan cod in the freezer and Victor simmered it in a jar of his homemade sauce. Simplicity. And totally delicious. Nice-sized chunks of cod gave the sauce a delicate hint of seafood and fresh pecorino romano and basil on top brought it right over the top. I hate to keep harping on it, but it really is so easy to cook decent meals at home on a regular basis. You just have to do it. And the more you do it the better you become and the better you become the easier it is... Really. It's like canning 14 quarts of sauce at one time... Yes, it takes a bit of time to do it, but the payoff is fresh sauce without crap in it.

I'm getting a bit nervous, though... I think we're down to only 2 quarts of sauce left. It was my hope that we could get through until our (in my dreams) bumper-crop of tomatoes was here and we could make a vat using fresh tomatoes. Methinks we may have to make a batch using the last of the San Marzano tomatoes downstairs in the very near future. Oh well. The things we have to suffer through...

Tomorrow is my day in the kitchen. I'm planning on making a vat of Peach Sriracha BBQ Sauce. I have the peaches, the onions, the red peppers, the tomatoes, and the sriracha... I've been kinda formulating a recipe in my head for the past few days. We'll see how it comes about tomorrow. It's supposed to rain for the next 36 or so hours, so making a few gallons of BBQ sauce sounds like a fun thing to do.

And in the meantime... my tummy is smiling and I am one happy and content guy...


Sunday Dinner

 

Spring has finally sprung.

Sunny, 80°, chirping birds, and a dog running through the sprinkler... It doesn't get much better. Except for dinner, that is.

Even though summer means tomatoes, the sunny skies meant a bit of a tomato salad. Victor got our tomato plants into the ground, today - along with 8 pepper plants - so... in a few months we'll be making these with our home-grown.

In the meantime, it's store-bought. I don't buy a lot of store-bought tomatoes. They're usually pretty flat-tasting. But now and again I'll find a couple that seem okay. I know... picky, picky, picky... What can I say?!?

These were actually okay. Combined with fresh mozzarella and basil, and dressed with our stash of Sicilian olive oil and aged balsamic, they passed muster.

For dinner, Victor made focaccia and baked ravioli.

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He doctored up a jar of his homemade sauce with a pound of ground beef and made a really meaty ragu. he took jumbo ravioli out of the freezer and placed them in the dish, covered them with sauce, and baked them for about 40 minutes.

Excellent!

And then the focaccia.

Victor makes a basic focaccia with a recipe he originally found in Better Homes and Gardens. He plays with it when he's of a mind, but the basic works just fine.

Better Homes and Gardens Dough

Ingredients

  • 2-3/4  to 3-1/4 cups  all-purpose flour
  • 1  pkg.  active dry yeast
  • 1/2  tsp.  salt
  • 1  cup  warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)
  • 2  Tbsp.  cooking oil or olive oil

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1-1/4 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt; add warm water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Lightly grease a large bowl; place dough in bowl and cover with a damp towel (make sure the towel does not touch the dough). Let dough rise in a warm place until double in size (30 minutes).

3.  Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 16×12-inch rectangle. Place in a greased 16x12x1-inch baking pan.  Let rise 20 minutes.

4. Top with toppings of choice and bake at 375° about 25 minutes.

He brushed it with some thinned sauce and baked it off. Simple perfection.


Gnocchi and a New Grill

 

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On Monday, I finally decided to get serious about fixing our gas grill. It was rusted through the bottom, burners were rusted, I needed to light it with matches... It was a mess. It had been a mess for a couple of years, but I just kept putting off fixing it. So... I went to the website and started pricing replacement parts.

As I was scanning through the list, I realized I needed way more parts than was practical. Time to get a new grill. I went on to Amazon Smile and yesterday our new grill was delivered. In a really big box. Assembly required.

Assembly doesn't bother me, but instructions without words - just pictures - are not my forte. They generally just don't make sense to me. Icons, in general, don't make sense to me. What can I say?!?

I had planned to put it together tomorrow, but I got to leave work early, today. I came home, baked a loaf of bread, and set out to conquer Mr Char-Broil.

Victor - very wisely - planned a dinner that did not require a grill. He knows me. Well.

I actually did pretty well. I only made one screw-up - misreading the two front panels for a brace I couldn't find necessitating some awkward screwing after the fact - but it was all done in 2 hours. No cursing, crying, temper-tantrums, or smashed fingers.

Meanwhile, Victor was in the kitchen making ricotta gnocchi.

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OMG! Talk about light-as-a-feather gnocchi! These may be his best one's yet - and every time he makes them they're great!

Ricotta Gnocchi

  • 2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Combine the ricotta, Parmesan, olive oil, eggs and 1 teaspoon salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour in 3 parts, stirring with a rubber spatula. It will be a loose dough.

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. 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 2 minutes.

Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

Our favorite sauce is anything Victor makes.  Fortunately, we have plenty in the house.

Fresh bread, homemade pasta, off work early on a beautiful Spring day, and a new grill.

Life definitely doesn't suck around here!

And tomorrow?!? Time to break that baby in!

Oh... and yes, that is a mosaic picture of San Francisco on our wall outside. It was made by my great Aunt Dolores in the early '60s. It's pretty cool.


Bucatini and 14 quarts of Sauce

 

Another Sunday... Another vat of sauce...

We used our last jar of sauce a few days ago, so Victor hit the kitchen early this morning to make another batch. 14 quarts lasted us from mid-December to early April, so the 14 quarts today should carry us into mid-Summer.

Having jars of your own homemade sauce on the shelf really is one of life's great pleasures. They make for some quick and easy dinners when I work late, and they're a great for those nights when I want to get a bit creative and Nonna isn't feeling adventurous.

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With a big pot and some mason jars, it's quite easy to make large batches of things. It saves on time and money in the long run - and you actually get to know what you're eating. It's major win-win.

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And it really is easy. Most of the time involved is unattended - letting things boil, simmer, or pressure-can. This is Victor's basic recipe - he uses a dozen 28oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes for a canning batch.

And what goes with homemade sauce? Homemade bread, of course! Victor made 2 loaves of bread yesterday while I was at work. He also made a banana-chocolate cake. He's been busy in the kitchen!

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The bread is classic James Beard.

French-Style Bread

Ingredients

  • 1½ packages active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 2 cups warm water (l00° to 115°, approximately)
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 5 to 6 cups all-purpose or hard-wheat flour
  • 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon egg white, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

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 two long, French bread-style loaves. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal but not buttered. Slash the tops of the loaves diagonally in two or three places, and brush with the egg 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 rapped.

We ate well, tonight. Of course, we eat well every night, but tonight was especially well!

And there's at least 13 more meals to come!

 

 

 


Spring Salads

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Springtime. Salad. Two wonderful words.

It was actually warm, today, after the rain. I came home to windows open and fresh air in the house. What a treat! Nonna was in her room with the heat blasting and covered in her electric throw., but the rest of the house was cool and comfortable. A treat, indeed!

Since I worked until 6 - past Nonna's dinner time - Victor fed her and he made us a leisurely dinner of teriyaki chicken salads. By the time mid-March hits, I'm really starting to crave greens. We still eat pretty seasonally, and fall and winter are casseroles and soups and the like. Spring and summer are salads and seasonal fruits and vegetables.

We're also having a bit of a weight-loss challenge at work and today was the first weigh-in. I didn't gain anything over the week but lost less than a full pound. Since I didn't really pay any attention to it until 2 days ago, I'll take it as a success. But this should help me get on track.

You'll note the hard-cooked eggs on the plate. They were Victor's second attempt at cooking eggs, today. Here's his story about the first batch:

I preformed a science experiment in my kitchen this morning. It’s simple and any of you can do it.

All I did was take six raw eggs and put them in a pot of water. I placed a lid on the pot and turned the burner up to high. Now – this is the important part.

I took a one hour conference call.

Here are the facts as I documented them:

  • Eggs in boiling water will be hard in approximately 4 or 5 minutes or less.
  • Boiling water evaporates.
  • Evaporated water turns to steam
  • Everything under the lid in the pot, the eggs and steam – begin to build up pressure.
  • After about 1 hour the pressure build up is so strong the eggs explode and the lid of the pot is sent flying about 6 feet across the room.
  • Exploding eggs rise straight in the air AND at about a 45 degree angle. This allows the exploding eggs to simultaneously cover the bottom the microwave/exhaust over the stove and the counter, backsplash and upper cabinets in a lovely coating of yellow and white flecks of exploded egg matter.

I’m not sure which laws of physics I proved (or broke) but I think steam and exploding eggs might make a good rocket propellant.

I tried to take photos but it just didn’t do it justice. (It’s been one of those weeks)

The kitchen was pristine when I arrived home and the salad was perfection.

What more can I say?!?


Zeppoles

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One of the fun things about being married to an Italian is the recipes with the funny names. One of the fun things about having friends who are Italian is even more recipes with funny names - and links to websites with even more.

Our friend Judy turned us on to a site called Everybody Loves Italian and Victor has been having a blast reliving a lot of the recipes of his youth. Victor laughs and says he has the only Italian mother who didn't cook. There's a reason, though... She was number 10 of 11 kids and her older sisters did it all. The cookies and whatnot came from Aunt Tessie or Aunt Emma. You don't reinvent the wheel in an Italian family. The one who knows how to make something the best is the one who makes it. And if that something happens to be a signature dish, you really don't make it when they're around for fear of possibly showing them up. A Big Mistake.

Whether Zeppoles were in the family repertoire is questionable, but Aunt Emma, especially, used to make several different sweet and savory fritter-type items, so these could be a variation on one of her themes. Or not. it doesn't really matter, though, because he just made them and they are fantastic! They evoked a childhood memory and that's what's important. Well... that, and the fact that they're freakin' delicious. They're also easy to make, so... No excuses. Head into the kitchen and make some, now!

This recipe is adapted from Everybody Loves Italian

Zeppoles

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • dash of salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup whole milk ricotta
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • zest and juice of 1 medium lemon
  • neutral oil for frying
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Heat oil 2" deep to 375° in a pan wide enough to fry several zeppole without crowding.

Mix two eggs into mixing bowl. Add all dry ingredients and follow with ricotta, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Quickly mix until combined. Batter will be thick.

Using a 1 tbsp scoop or spoon, carefully drop into the hot oil, being careful not to let them touch. Turn them for even browning and cook about 3 minutes or until cooked through.

Drain on paper towels.

When still warm but cool enough to handle. sieve powdered sugar over them and consume!

 

They really did come out great. Very light and airy, not very sweet, and with a nice lemon hint. We figure there are lots of things we can do with these, from cinnamon in the batter to different liqueurs.

Methinks we shall have some fun with these!

 

 


Lentil Soup

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When Providence hands you a ham bone, have Victor make Lentil Soup. Well... that's what I do. You, of course, need to find your own Victor to make your soup - or make it yourself.

I'm sorry... It's not that I don't share, it's just that timing and travel and all that can get in the way of things. You know how it is...

But we did have a most excellent ham bone and whilst I was working, Victor was simmering away...

I had frozen a loaf of the crusty bread I had made a few days ago just for this. And it was the perfect accompaniment.

Lentil Soup

  • 1 meaty ham bone
  • 4 quarts water
  • 3 cups lentils
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Tabasco
  • Salt and pepper

Chop and saute onion in soup pot.  When translucent, add water, bay leaves, and ham bone.  Bring to boil and then simmer, uncovered, about an hour or so.

Remove bone and let cool. Cut or pull meat from bone and set aside to add to soup.

Add lentils, carrots, and celery.  Cook about 20 minutes or until lentils and vegetables are tender. Add ham and simmer another 10 minutes, or so.

Add cayenne, Tabasco, and salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve with crusty bread and butter.

He used small lentils du puy but brown lentils will work just fine. Red or yellow lentils will fall apart, so, unless you want a stew, stick with a firmer lentil.

Leftovers are even better than the first time around...

 

 


New Year's Eve 2015

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While Victor and I were eating dinner tonight, we realized we were on our third official New Year's Eve host.

When we were young, it was "Guy Lombardo, live from the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria."  Those were definitely fun years. Pre-adolescent New Year's were exciting. Staying up until midnight was something we just never were allowed to do, and when you're a kid of 7 or 8, every new year was the start of something new. I remember thinking as a kid that in the year 2000 I would be the almost ancient age of 48. And here we are, about to usher in 2015. You do the math.

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Here's Guy bringing in 1977. I was living at Tahoe and have no idea what I did that New Year's Eve - but I'm reasonably certain it included being at work at 5am on New Year's Day at The Old Post Office in Carnelian Bay - probably ridiculously hung over - or still royally buzzed. I didn't start at the Hyatt until June of '77.

2015 really doesn't seem possible - and it's definitely not what we were told to expect. The promises of the past have not kept up with the reality of the present - and there are definitely days when I see no hope for the future. But... here we are, in spite of it all.

I have no idea when Guy Lombardo left New Year's and Dick Clark took the reins. From the mid-'70s through the '80s, I was in the hotel business - I was working. Most of the time it was a lot of fun - the Hyatt years, especially. The Hyatt Lake Tahoe days are a bit of a blur... I do remember the first year I was in management that some maroon threw a glass in the fireplace at the end of the casino. Within seconds, glasses were being tossed from everywhere - in the general direction of the fireplace. It was broken-glass-freaking-mess. The next year, the casino switched to plastic at 4pm - no glass or bottles at all.

The Hyatt in Cambridge saw us all in our tuxedos with a suite reserved for the managers overlooking the atrium. It was stocked with a full bar and hors d'oeuvres for days. We'd walk in and out of the parties, being a part of the festivities without having to be a part of the festivities. It was great fun. Our biggest challenge was making sure the employees didn't get too drunk.

There have been a few parties in the past 25 years, but after working so many of them, neither of us have had much of a desire to go out. We spent Christmas 1999 in San Francisco and then flew back east for NYE Y2K - on New Year's Eve. Victor's mom played the sympathy card stating "I won't be around for the next millennium..." [[Earth to Mom: NONE of us will be around for the next millennium!!]] We flew in a practically empty plane and landed at empty airports. It was the best flight, ever!

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14 months after this picture was taken, we were living here...

Nowadays, we have a simple dinner - tonight it was chicken parmesan - and follow Parisian New Year... The New Year strikes in Paris at 6pm eastern time. Therefore, if we stay up until 9pm, we're 3 hours into the new year. I really have no desire to try and stay awake for another ball-drop.

So... Happy New Year. And don't call. We'll be asleep!


Victor's Pasta Sauce

 

I am one happy guy, tonight - I have 14 quarts of homemade pasta sauce canned, labelled, and sitting on the shelf just waiting to be eaten!

A year or so ago we got a pressure canner to start making more things at home. Victor has made sauce a couple of times, but we've been out for weeks, now... I've been going through withdrawal. Having homemade sauce on the shelf is one of the most fabulous luxuries in life. Really. It's always delicious, dinner can be on the table in minutes, and we know when it was made and what went into it.

What a concept, eh?!?

He started out with a case of Cento San Marzano tomatoes, a few pounds of pork, garlic, onions, basil, cheese...

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All into the pot to simmer, slowly, for a few hours...

As soon as it reached its peak perfection, it went into jars...

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I picked up a different jar this time around. I still have a slew of mason jars downstairs, but thought it time for something different.

They went right into the canner...

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I really do like this so much better than doing the water bath - especially for quarts.  It also takes about half the time, start-to-finish.

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The jars sit on the counter and continue to boil inside for a good 20 minutes before finally starting to cool down. It's cool to watch.

But it's even more fun to eat!

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14 quarts and at least 2 other meals from one pot.

It's been a successful day in the kitchen!

Victor's Pasta Sauce

  • 2 – 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 – Sm can tomato paste
  • 1-2 cloves of garlic (or to taste if you like more) chopped fine
  • Olive oil
  • Dried Italian seasonings
  • Hot red pepper flakes (a tsp or more or less to taste)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Red wine (always cook with a decent wine, never “cooking” wine) about a cup or cup and a half
  • Meat – such as Italian sausage or some nice beef or pork ribs or pork chops

Ok…I ALWAYS make my sauce with meat, so start with a deep, heavy pot and add about 3-4 TBS of olive oil. On high heat, once the oil is hot, start frying the sausage or pork, Let the meat get good and caramelized although you don’t have to cook it all the way through because you’ll add it back to the sauce to finish. Once the meat is browned take it out of the pot, put it on a plate and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium and sauté the tomato paste for a couple of minutes until it begins to “melt”. Add the chopped garlic and sauté with the tomato paste for just a minute (no longer or it will burn). Then add about a cup of the red wine and deglaze the pan with it, scrapping up all the good bits that stuck to the bottom when cooking the meat.

When the wine reduces by about ½ start adding the canned tomatoes.  Add one can of hot water for every can of tomatoes you use.

Now start adding the dried Italian seasonings.  I eyeball it but I would guess a good 2 TBS is fine.  Add about another ½ cup of red wine, with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir everything into the sauce. It will be very thin at this point.

Add back the cooked meat. Now this is important….at the bottom of the plate you let the meat rest on will be some of the oil and juices that seeped out. Pour that back into the pot. It has a lot of flavor in it.

Bring the sauce back to a boil then turn the heat down low and let it simmer for at least 1 and a half hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes to keep it from burning. It should reduce by about a third or a little less and get thicker. The meat will absorb the sauce and get very tender.

When I make meatballs, I don’t fry them, I bake them on a sheet pan. When I do, I add them to the simmering sauce when they’re done so they also absorb the flavor.

I usually make the sauce early in the day and after it’s done, just let it sit on the stove until dinner then I re-heat it. This should make enough sauce for a couple of dinners or good sized lasagna.


Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

The benefit to working on a Sunday is dinner awaiting me when I get home. And tonight's dinner really was great - Italian Wedding Soup!

For those who may not know, Italian Wedding soup is a thin chicken broth soup with mini-meatballs and escarole. And an egg swirled in at the end.

Why is it called Italian Wedding Soup? No idea. One explanation has it as a mistranslation of "minestra maritata"which translates to "married soup" - meaning that meat and greens go well, together. Like most of the Italian food we eat in the USofA, it may have an origin in Italy, but it's an Italian-American original.

Victor has been making this as long as I've known him. Other than having to make a bazillion little meatballs, it's really a simple soup. And it really packs a wallop with flavor.

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Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 cup onion, minced
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1 large egg
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste

Soup

  • 3 qts chicken broth
  • 1 lb escarole, chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make meat balls: Mix all ingredients together and form into very small meat balls- about the size of a prize shooting marble. Place on a sheet pan off to the side.

Make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the meatballs and escarole and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the escarole is tender - about 10 minutes.

To add the egg: Whisk the eggs to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Slowly drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a large fork to form thin stands of egg.

Ladle into bowls and add additional grated cheese and a drizzle of good-quality olive oil.

It made enough for dinner tonight and lunch, tomorrow.

 

La vita è bella!


Fun Food with Old Friends

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We had dear friends stop by for an all-too-brief overnight visit.

The fun thing about overnight visits is being able to just sit and talk without having to look at a clock. Not that any of us really drink very much, but nor is there need for a designated driver. It's just sit back and relax.

I had to work, so Victor got the meal together. Bruschetta for starters with wine, and then tomato salad - with the last of the tomatoes from our garden - and lasagne.

Neither Ann nor Julie are large-portion eaters, so Victor actually scaled back his lasagne to a manageable size. A remarkable feat, considering how we usually do things.

We started off with a simple bruschetta.

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Toasted baguettes with roasted red pepper, basil, and shredded cheese started the evening - along with wine, of course.

And then we sat down to a tomato salad.

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Simple tomatoes with olive oil hand-carried from Sicily. Basil, salt, and pepper. You don't need anything else.

And then...  The Lasagne.

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The dish was layered with sauce, pasta, cheeses – mozzarella, provolone, asiago, parmesan, romano, and ricotta – pasta, sauce, sausage, more cheese more pasta, more sauce… Stunning in its simplicity, yet screaming with flavor. He does good lasagne.

Trying to keep with the small-portion mind-set, I did dessert crespelles. A crespelle is an Italian version of a crêpe. Made slightly different, yet, definitely the same concept. I decided to do an Italian take on a Crêpe Suzette - using an Arancello liqueur we brought back from Sicily.

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I made the crespelle, and then, into a skillet, I added a pat of butter and then a couple shots of the arancello. I cooked it down a bit then added the juice of two oranges, boiled that down, a bit, then about a quarter-cup of heavy cream and some thin strips of orange zest.

I placed each crespelle into the pan, covered it with the sauce and folded then into quarters. Onto the plate with a bit more sauce on top. It came out a bit like an orange creamsicle.

Early morning pumpkin rolls and they were in the car and on their way.

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Way too short of a visit - not even 18 hours - but we had a grand time, nonetheless.

And promises to have a longer visit really soon!