Ostia Ripiena di Maria Lauriola

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

This is a recipe given to me by the sister of a dear friend who shared his family with us on a trip to Monte Sant'Angelo in Puglia. We were amazed at the generoisty of this family. Not only did they make dinner for us, but cleared their calander to give us a tour of the entire peninsula the following day and another dinner. They will forever be in our hearts. Ostia is the Italian work for host, referring to a communion wafer and piena means full or filled. The very thin wafers are not sold here, but I found a suitable substitute in a local Mexican market.


2 pounds whole almonds
300 gr honey
100 gr sugar
cinnamon to taste

Heat the almonds and honey until the honey thickens then add the sugar until the sugar melts. Add the cinnamon to taste and take the pot off the heat. Take the ostia and lay on a flat surface, then fill with the almond mixture, place the 2nd ostia on top and flatten with a heavy object like an iron.

Reinventing the Wheel - Ceasar Salad Dressing

Every time we want Cesar salad at our home I log on to the Internet and go searching for the "original Cesar Salad Dressing" and have never found the same recipe twice. Tonight I finally caved in and made up my own recipe using traditional ingredients. I like a thick dressing and accidentally discovered the secret to making one.


Ingredients:
1C extra virgin olive oil
2 extra large egg yolks
2T lemon juice
1t Worcestershire sauce
1t flaked salt
2t Dijon mustard
4 cloves garlic
1 small tin anchovies
1C finely grated parmigiano
cracked pepper to taste

Directions:


Every time I've followed a published recipe all the ingredients get processed together and the dressing is less thick than I would prefer. This time I started with just the egg yolk and oil and whipped it up in the food processor until it became very thick and creamy. Remove the mixture from the processor and set aside. Then add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, chopped garlic and half of the anchovies drained and chopped into the processor. Process these until smooth, then fold in the other mixture, add the parmigiano and stir until you have incorporated all the ingredients. Chop the other anchovies and fold in, then toss onto chopped Romaine lettuce, sprinkle with course ground or cracked black peppercorns and mix.

Chinese Tacos

Neither Chinese nor tacos, this recipe was inspired by Chinese stir fry and many of the vegetables and condiments common to that style of cooking. Frozen onion pancakes sub for a tortilla, as a vehicle for getting the vegetables into one's mouth sans fork. It's my only vegan recipe and that was quite by accident. Quick to prepare, this makes for a satisfying snack or a small meal.


Ingredients:
1 small yellow onion
1/2C bean sprouts
1/2C snow peas
1/2C shitaki mushroom caps
1/2C oyster mushrooms
2T toasted sesame oil
1T olive or canola oil
1T black bean sauce
1 package frozen onion pancakes
3 green onions
cilantro
hoisin sauce

Directions:
Slice the onion lengthwise, roughly chop the beansprouts, diagonally cut the snow peas, and thinly slice the mushrooms. In a wok or chef's saute pan heat the sesame oil and stir fry these 3 ingredients adding them one at a time in the order in which they are given (onions take longer to cook). If there is not enough oil, add the canola or olive oil at this time. As they start to soften, add the black bean sauce and stir to incorporate.

Thinly slice the green onion and rough chop the cilantro, then set them aside. Place an onion pancake into a frying pan on medium high heat and cook on both sides, flipping it over, until both sides are crispy and brown. When done either set aside in the oven on a very low temperature to accumulate a few, or start making the tacos by spreading a small amount of hoisin sauce on one half of a pancake, then layering in the sauteed filling and topping with a garnish of green onions and cilantro. Fold in half and eat with your hands.

Pesto Pinwheels

You discover a box of frozen puff pastry in your freezer that needs to be used (the exact reason not having been established) and dessert is already planned, what do you do? Make a quick appetizer with pesto. Luckily when I make pesto from scratch, I most often freeze a few jars with the leftovers so it is most always available. A commercial brand of pesto would not be as flavorful.

Ingredients:
fresh homemade basil pesto
grated Romano cheese
puff pastry

Directions:

Thaw the puff pastry and set your oven to 375 degrees. Spread the pesto over the pastry, leaving a small border so you can seal the pastry to itself, and so the pesto will not fall out of the roll you are about to make. Add a generous amount of grated Romano cheese (twice what is in the photo) and tightly roll the pastry into a tube, sealing the end by pinching the end onto the roll. Slice the pastry roll into pieces that are a little less than an inch wide and place each disk on its side upon a baking sheet that has been layered with parchment paper (or buttered). Bake until puffed and lightly browned.

Pork & Potato Green Curry

Trying to cook dinner for a Vegan friend was a challenge, but I adapted this recipe by cooking the pork separately and adding it to the curry after plating the portion that would work for my friend, namely the vegetable portion. In this particular try the potatoes were overcooked, so my timing was a bit off, as are the photographs. The taste was still good while the texture suffered.

Ingredients:

1 small pork loin(8-12 oz)

1 medium yellow onion

4 small to medium Yukon Gold potatoes

1C petite green beans

2T green curry paste

1 can lite coconut milk

3T olive oil (sub whatever you like)

1/2C chopped basil

Directions:

Thickly slice the onion and saute 1/3 of it in 2T of the oil over a medium heat until barely translucent, then add the sliced pork loin and saute until cooked through. Omit this step for a vegan or vegetarian dish. Set aside and start sauteing the vegetables in a clean pan.

Saute the remaining onion in the remaining 1T of oil, then add the green beans, saute a bit more and add the potatoes. After a few minutes, add the coconut milk. The white clumps in the photo are the fat solids from the coconut milk, and they melted into the curry without a hitch. Add the green chili paste and if 2T aren't hot enough adjust the amount. Cover the pan for 5 minutes and turn the heat down to simmer. Test the texture of the potatoes and when they have cooked, add the chopped basil. I served this with white polenta that had been cooked with green onions, toasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds, but jasmine rice or basmati would work just as well. The polenta recipe is located in the appetizer recipe for polenta cup construction.

The Apricot Almond "Darty"

Many new recipes are developed by adapting a tried and true recipe into something better by using different ingredients. That is how this one was created. I used Nana's walnut date bar as a starting point and switched out the dates and walnuts for toasted almonds and apricots.
Ingredients:

4 eggs
2C sugar
1 1/2C flour
1t baking powder
1/2t salt
1T almond extract
1C chopped dried Turkish apricots
1C chopped dried Blenheim apricots
2C slivered toasted almonds

Directions:

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt, then set aside. Beat eggs and gradually add in the sugar, then the almond extract, until you have a light fluffy mixture. Add in the apricots, mixing slowly. Continue mixing while adding small amounts of the flour mixture until it is all completely incorporated.

Toast the almonds on a sheet pan in the oven at 400 degrees fro about 5 minutes, let cool and add them into the batter by hand, so as not to break them into smaller pieces. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Prepare a jellyroll pan by placing a liner of parchment paper into it, then place your batter down the middle of the pan and spread it evenly to all 4 corners of the pan. This is a very sticky batter, so you'll need to put some muscle into it! Grease another sheet of parchment paper with butter and place it on top of the batter before placing it into the oven. I can then smooth and even out the batter by running my hands over the top sheet of parchment paper. This keeps the top from becoming hard, so it can hold the powdered sugar better. Bake the batter for 30 minutes and test to see if it is done by putting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out wet you need to cook it longer. I often turn up the heat to 350 degrees if it is not cooked at that point and bake another 10 minutes. After you take the sheet pan out of the oven, remove the top layer of parchment paper and let the cookies cool a bit before cutting them into bars. Cut them into squares. While still warm, roll them in powdered sugar.

This becomes a very chewy and rich cookie that I used, combined with a lavender shortbread for a friend's wedding. After placing the cookie in the center of a piece of cellophane, I lowered it into a 2 1/4" X 2 1/4" favor box, placed the chocolate covered shortbread on top, then wrapped with netting and ribbon that worked with the bride's color scheme. The reason these cookies came about at all was that the shortbread looked small for the box. Adding the Darty did the trick in filling up the box. I measured the bars before cutting to 2" so they would not be too large for the boxes and the cellophane aided in keeping both cookies from shifting around.

Herb Stuffed Game Hen

When it comes to roasting chicken or game hens, I usually opt for a non-edible stuffing that works to moisten and flavor the bird instead of being eaten as a side dish. We eat enough starches as it is so eliminating breading or rice in this instance seems like a healthier option.

Ingredients:

4 game hens

1 large onion

16 sprigs fresh thyme

12 large sage leaves

12 sprigs of French or English lavender flowers

extra virgin olive oil

rosemary salt

Directions:

Defrost and wash the hens, then pat dry and set aside. Skin and quarter the onion and add a quarter of it into each bird cavity. Wash the herbs and add 4 sprigs of thyme to each hen, then 3 sage leaves to each and 3 lavender flowers to each. Set the birds on a rack inside a roasting pan and drizzle olive oil on each game hen. Sprinkle with the poultry with the rosemary salt and rub it into the skin all over the hen. Now roast in a preheated 375 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until the skins cook to a crispy golden brown. The onion steams during the roasting and infuses it's flavors into the flesh of the bird. The herbs do the same thing and lavender was a nice change of pace for me.

Porcini Risotto

This has to be my favorite risotto as I keep going back to it again and again. While the recipe is a classic taught to me by Fr. Luciano Lodolini, the proportions are my contribution.


Ingredients:

2C arborio or carnaroli rice
one medium yellow onion
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1/2C extra virgin olive oil
3/4C dry white wine (Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio)
6C chicken stock
1C freshly grated parmigiano or grana padano cheese
white or black truffle oil (optional)

Directions:



Heat the chicken stock. Cut the onion into a fine dice and set aside. Crumple the dried porcini into small pieces and set aside. In a 6 quart saute pan, heat the olive oil and saute the onion, add the rice and saute until the rice has a white opaque look to it. Add the porcini, stir, then add the wine.

Preparation Notes:

The first photo ( click to enlarge) is good at showing the opaque quality you are looking for after you have sauteed the rice sufficiently. The second is a good indicator that the rice is absorbing the wine and stock. If you ever wondered when you should add more stock, it is when the starch is forming streaks on the bottom of the pan. If you prefer your risotto very al dente, you may wish to test it before adding the last of the chicken stock.


After the wine is fully absorbed, add a ladle or two of the hot chicken stock. Stir, let it absorb and add another ladle. Continue until all the stock is absorbed.


Take the pan off the heat and add the grated cheese. Plate and serve. I often use more that one cup of cheese and am not a stickler on measuring it. If you look at the cheese photo and see the cubes of cheese in it, 3 of those are a good amount.


Drizzle a small amount of truffle oil over the top for an added layer of flavor.

Porcini Arancini

Walk into any authentic Southern Italian restaurant and you'll find arancini on the menu. It's the Italian equivalent of fried rice, directly developed by the cucina povera culture out of necessity. Nothing is allowed to go to waste and this is an excellent use for leftover risotto that is best served when first made and not as a reheated item. Since porcini risotto is a staple in our home, I was bound to eventually make arancini, but with an American twist. I have incorporated Japanese panko (very crispy bread crumbs). As is customary in the classic cucina povera style, I use what is available to me and already stocked in my pantry.


Ingredients:
leftover porcini risotto
flour
2 extra large eggs
panko
Romano cheese
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Using a small ice cream scoop, take small amounts of the risotto and form a 1" rice ball by rolling the rice between your hands. I use the small ice cream scoop to make this an easier process because it helps to compress the rice. Roll each rice ball into the flour to coat. Heat about 1" of the olive oil in a frying pan and place the pan over a medium low heat.

Next you'll need to place the eggs in a bowl and whisk them together for an egg wash. Depending on the amount of rice, you will need to determine the amount of panko that you will need. Let's say you think half a cup will cover what you have. Place the panko and half as much (1/4 cup) freshly grated Romano cheese into a shallow bowl and mix thoroughly. Now take the flour covered rice balls and coat them with the egg, then roll them in the panko/cheese mixture until they are completely covered and place them into the frying pan after the oil has heated .

After each side fries to a golden brown color, turn the arancini to brown more of the surface until they have been completely browned. Since the rice is already fully cooked, the object is to crisp up and heat the arancini. Drain on a paper towel or paper napkin, in this case, and serve. Room temperature is fine for these appetizers, so they do not need to be piping hot, just warm.

Pappardelle with Porcini Butter Sauce

The very first time I discovered this classic pasta dish was during a quick lunch in La Spezia Italy on the Ligurian coastline. We were on our way to Borgo Val di Taro (Borgotaro), a big time porcini gathering area, and needed to make a train connection with a 2 hour layover. A small restaurant a few doors down from the station seemed the perfect place to kill the time. As we walked into the pale pink dining room I was hoping the food would be better than the decor, but knew that I was bound to get a decent meal at a traditional trattoria. As is our custom when traveling, we followed our noses to find this little gem of a restaurant and the pasta was a revelation to my palate. A second trip and a second helping were necessary to perfect this recipe, but we didn't see it as a hardship.


Ingredients:
1 pound pappardelle
1/2 cube unsalted butter
1T extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 pound of fresh porcini mushrooms
1/4C freshly grated parmigiano
fresh Italian parsley (optional)

Directions:

Start a pot of water boiling. After brushing off the porcini to clean it, slice it into very thin slices and set aside. In a saute pan add the butter and olive oil and melt them slowly over a low heat. Peel the garlic cloves and smash slightly with the side of a broad knife. If the water is boiling start the pappardelle cooking. When the butter has melted, add the garlic, increase the heat to medium low, and saute to impart the garlic flavor into the butter. Remove the garlic and add the sliced porcini, stirring constantly until the porcini have released their fluid and are limp. Your aim is to get a custard like mouth feel from the porcini.

Drain the pasta and add to the saute pan, mixing it into the butter sauce. When the liquid from the pasta had reabsorbed into the pasta, add the freshly grated Parimgiano and stir until it incorporates well into the pasta. Plate and serve. You may add freshly chopped parsley for a more colorful presentation.

Lavender Shortbread Fingers

It's no secret that I love the Sciabica infused olive oils, so when I saw that they were selling a lavender oil for cosmetic purposes and it had no additives, I challenged myself to come up with a few culinary uses for it. I mentioned the great selling point to one of the family members at Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market and he gave me a bottle free of charge. So far the Sciabica family likes the first recipe. I plan on trying it in a creme brulee as well as an ice cream, marinade, and even a salad dressing.

Ingredients:

1C unsalted butter
Sciabica Lavender Extra virgin Olive oil
2 1/4C flour
1/4C almond meal
1/4C sugar
4 oz white chocolate (Guittard is the brand I used)

Directions:

Bring the butter to room temperature and spritz in 6 drops of the lavender oil, then add the sugar (i used raw sugar) and cream them all together. Add the almond meal and flour and mix them together with a fork or pastry blender.

The mixture will look very powdery at first but will ultimately look crumbly and get to the classic texture needed for shortbreads. You can test to see if it's blended enough by squeezing some in your hands. If it holds together it is ready to place in your baking pan.

Butter a 9"x9" baking pan and scoop the mixture into it, then tamp down with a fork to spread the mixture evenly across the pan, making sure the sides are as thick as the center for even baking.

Next, smooth out the top surface (I use a wide spatula) and when you are through, place the pan into a 325 degree preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until it is a pale golden color. When the shortbread is fully baked, take it from the oven and score the top into the classic rectangular "finger" shape and allow it to cool to room temperature. I also use the spatula to help to evenly score the shortbread.

Cut the chocolate and heat in the microwave on medium in 30 second bursts. Stir in between bursts and when it had melted completely, add 6 more drops of the Sciabica olive oil. Blend it into the chocolate. I filled a pastry bag with the melted chocolate and added squiggles to the top of each shortbread finger. Since there were a few unmelted pieces of chocolate, it plugged up the nozzle and the oddly shaped squiggle were produced. Next time I will make sure that the chocolate is fully melted. There is a floral note to this shortbread but it does not dominate the butter. I prefer the clean look that comes from using oil instead of dried lavender.

Lasagne Verdi Bolognese

More than labor intensive, making Lasagne Verdi Bolognese is a labor of love. I consider it the centerpiece of Emilian cuisine and it is worth every effort you will make to produce it. Making the sauce two days ahead is a blessing, but rolling out the pasta and making the bechamel is essential on the day you assemble it. If you choose to assemble the lasagne the day before you serve it, be sure to take it out of the refrigerator a few hours ahead of baking, so it can be baked at room temperature. It ensures that the center will be as perfectly cooked as the edges of the lasagne.

Ingredients:

The primary ingredients for this rich pasta dish are spinach pasta, Bolognese meat sauce and a bechamel sauce. Both the Bolognese and pasta recipes are listed separately on the blog as they are original recipes of mine. I use a standard bechamel sauce that follows.

Melt 2T of unsalted butter over low heat in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, stir in 2T of all purpose flour and make a light rue. You want to cook the raw flour taste out of the flour but not brown it.

As soon as the flour has been cooked, add 2 1/2 cups of whole milk and whisk the mixture over a medium to medium high heat until it thickens. The traditional method is to cook it until it has the appearance of heavy cream, but I prefer to cook mine a bit longer until it thickens more, and it will. Grate nutmeg with a micro plane into the sauce, about 4-5 passes across the grater should be enough. Now, take a deep breath and enjoy the aroma. Pour the bechamel into a container and cover with plastic wrap over the surface of the sauce to prevent it from forming a "skin". Set aside.

Mix equal portions of the bechamel and Bolognese sauce together, reserving at least half a cup of the bechamel for the top layer of the lasagne. You could layer the sauces separately, but mixing the two makes for an easier job, although if the bechamel were in a squirt bottle, that would also work to make an easier application of one sauce upon the other. I may give that a try another time.

Layering the pasta sheets upon parchment paper or between cotton dish towels prior to making this dish will keep them from sticking to one another. Bring a large pot of water to a full boil and slip 3 sheets of pasta at one time into the water. When they appear lighter in color and float to the top of the water they are cooked. Drain and place them on a cotton dish towel, then pat dry and place the first layer into your buttered baking pan. Next place a thin layer of the sauce over the pasta.

After you have spread out the meat sauce, your next step is to lightly sprinkle freshly grated parmigiano cheese over the sauce layer. Now place another layer of cooked pasta on top and start the next course of sauce and cheese. Keep layering this way until you have at least 7-9 layers of pasta built up in the baking dish. Your last layer of pasta should go on top and should be covered by the plain bechamel, then sprinkled with parmigiano.

If you are cooking the lasagne the same day, cover it with tin foil and place in a 400 degree preheated oven for about half an hour. Take the tin foil off and bake another 5 minutes until the top browns slightly. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and plating.

If you are making this the day ahead of your meal, place in the refrigerator overnight and take it out 2 hours ahead of baking to bring it to room temperature.

Spinach Pasta

A very workable, flexible, pasta dough is a good thing to know how to make and this one worked beautifully for sheets of lasagne. I departed from the traditional Bolognese recipe and came up with my own pasta dough.

Ingredients:
1C semolina flour
1C all purpose flour
2T cooked spinach
1T olive oil
3 eggs

Directions:

Mix the two flours together on your working surface and make a large well in the center. Add finely chopped cooked spinach to the center, then add a tablespoon of olive oil, and finally add the raw eggs. With a fork, start mixing the ingredients in the center of the flour.

Next, start incorporating the flour in the center into the egg spinach mixture. When it thickens up, take your hands and scoop all the flour towards the center and mix the ingredients with your hands. It's a sticky, messy process and for that reason, I failed to stop and take photos of it.

Once the dough is close to forming one cohesive ball, start kneading it until it becomes smooth and elastic. This should take 5-8 minutes. Let it rest for 20 minutes, then knead again and divide into smaller pieces for use in a pasta machine.

Bolognese Meat Sauce

This is a very rich tasting meat sauce that I have developed after reading countless Bolognese sauce recipes. Biba Caggiano has been my greatest influence even though her books contain quite a few different recipes for this sauce. I like to add chicken livers for the depth of flavor they bring to the sauce, but I know for a fact that Biba does not care for them...I asked her one night at her restaurant in Sacramento.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground veal
1/2 lb ground chuck
1/4 lb ground pork
4 oz prosciutto
1/4 lb chicken livers
1 medium yellow onion
3 medium celery stalks
2 medium carrots
3T triple concentrated tomato paste
1 1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1C hot water
1C Cabernet Sauvignon
3/4C whole milk
3T extra virgin olive oil
3T unsalted butter
3C porcini broth (3C water, 2 porcini bouillon)
water drained from the porcini

Directions:

First thing to do is prep your vegetables. Melt the butter in the olive oil using a heavy bottomed stock pot over medium heat. When the butter is frothing add the minced onions, celery and carrots to saute for 5 -7 minutes. I didn't bother mincing, but pulsed them in a food processor until they were finely chopped. With a recipe that has so many ingredients it's nice to not have to mince everything by hand, although I do enjoy doing that most of the time.

Now that the sofrito has cooked down, add minced prosciutto and continue sauteing over a medium heat until the mixture is looking well cooked. While you are waiting for the prosciutto to cook, add 1 cup of hot water to the dry porcini that have been placed into a bowl and set aside.

Add the veal, chuck and ground pork to one half of the pot and saute over high heat until you have broken down the meat into very fine pieces, then mix with the vegetables and saute longer until you start to get caramelization on the pot. Next add the chicken livers and saute them in an open space in the pot until they firm up. There should be enough fat to do this, if not add olive oil.

Remove the cooked liver from the pot and mince it, then return to the pot and stir all the meat until it browns a bit. Next comes the wine. I used Cabernet since it is a medium bodied red and it was on hand, but many recipes use a dry white or Chianti. Because this recipe is Bolognese a Sangiovese from Emilia Romagna would be perfect. Cook the meat until the wine absorbs completely. While you wait, squeeze the porcini dry, until most of the liquid remains in the bowl, and mince the mushrooms. Drain the leftover liquid in either a small strainer or through a cheesecloth to remove sand or dirt.

Now caramelize the tomato paste in the pot and mix with all the meat. If you cannot find the triple concentrated tomato paste in a tube, use a very small can of domestic tomato paste.

Add the minced porcini to the meat mixture once the wine has completely reduced, then saute for a few minutes. The next step is to add the drained porcini water (about half a cup), 3 cups of water and 2 porcini bouillon cubes. Turn up the heat and when the sauce is boiling, turn down the sauce to a simmer, cover the pot partially to allow the steam to escape and reduce the sauce. In the absence of porcini bouillon you can substitute chicken broth.

This can take up to 2 hours, so check every 20 minutes and stir. After this process, add the milk and continue to heat for another 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce completes its final reduction. You should have a nutty brown sauce that is perfect for making Lasagne Verdi Bolognese. To use this as a sauce for pasta, I would most likely add more tomato paste or even a can of sauce.

Pesto Pot Pie

Had I known how easy a pot pie could be to construct, I would have been making them for many years. As it is, I feel compelled to try many variations on this recipe and already have my next recipe in mind. It will be a Thai Green Curry with the crust made of a basil or coconut flaky pastry dough. I can't wait to experiment.


Ingredients:
2 carrots
2 ribs celery
1dz small cippolini or boiling onions
3 medium rose potatoes
1 chicken breast
bechamel sauce
3T fresh pesto
frozen puff pastry

Directions:

Wash all the vegetables and peel the carrots and potatoes. Cut the celery, carrots and potatoes into 3/4" -1" dice and set aside. Steam the onions and carrots together, then remove the onions as they soften a bit, remove and peel the onions, then set aside in a large bowl. Add the celery to the steamer and continue steaming until both the carrots and celery are still stiff, but not crunchy. Remove them from the steamer and set aside with the onions. Steam the potatoes until they release some starch but are very undercooked, then set them aside with the other vegetables.

Steam the chicken for about 5-8 minutes until it is pale pink inside, but not fully cooked. Cut the chicken into very chunky pieces and mix with the vegetables. My biggest problem with pot pies is that there is usually too much sauce and not enough filling, especially the meat or poultry. This recipe fixes that problem, once and for all. No skimping in my kitchen! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

For this recipe I took my standard bechamel sauce and made it a little thicker by using 3T butter, 2T flour, and 1 3/4C milk, making the traditional rue from the flour and butter, then adding the milk and whisking until the sauce thickened considerably. I added a cup of grated parmigiano cheese and then added 3T thick pesto sauce that I made with basil, olive oil, garlic and toasted pine nuts. Add the vegetable chicken mixture to the sauce and blend well, then spoon it into 5 -6 ramekins. Cut out an equal number of rounds of puff pastry and place over the ramekins. Press the sides of the pastry against the ramekin walls with a fork, then make a frilly border by rolling leftover pastry into a rope and placing it around the sides of the ramekin.

Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry puffs and becomes a golden brown color. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Polpette...Special Meat

When we were on our honeymoon in Venice, we walked into La Bomba, a cichetti bar off the Strada Nova, and started ordering small plates of food to eat while we sampled the local wine. The original owners spoke a little English, so we asked what some of the items were. Meatballs were available so we ordered them. We pointed at them and asked what the Italian name was and the owner said "polpette", then added his own English translation for us "special meat". To this day, 20 years later, we still laugh when we see meatballs and say aloud "special meat". I couldn't remember Nana's recipe when I bought the meat to make these, but she used only ground chuck. I have yet to tweak this recipe to perfection, but since these are going into a sauce, they'll do. La Bomba is under new ownership now, by the former chef and his wife who is fluent in English. Although they still serve polpette, special meat is no longer on the menu.




Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground chuck
1/2 lb ground veal
1/4 lb ground pork
1 cloves garlic
1/3 bunch parsley
2C fresh bread crumbs
1C Romano Cheese
1 egg
olive oil
water

Directions:

Take the breadcrumbs and add water, then squeeze out the water and place the wet crumbs into a bowl. Break the meat up and place it into the same bowl, then set aside. Mince the parsley and garlic and add to the bowl of other ingredients.


Now grate the cheese and place it into the bowl along with a large raw egg. Mix loosely with a fork, then mix with your hands until you get a good homogeneous, well blended mixture.

Shape small amounts into meatballs the size of walnuts, and fry over a medium heat in a pan covered with 1/4" of olive oil. Turn and brown each meatball on all sides. They may stick a little, so jiggle them loose with a fork. I don't know why they are called meat balls, because the minute you start frying them, they flatten out. I suppose meat "pyramids" is out of the question, but that's what I ended up with when I didn't finesse the meat around the pan. Your object is to lightly brown the meatballs as they become part of the spaghetti sauce and cook for 20 minutes in the sauce.

My idea for this group of meatballs is to add them along with the braciole and some hot Italian sausages to make what the Napolitani Americans call a "Sunday Sauce". The sauce that simmers on Sunday mornings while the family is at mass and the nonna is watching the pot.

Braciole...Easier Done Than Said

A friend requested that I make braciole for him last year, and I complied with a recipe that was but a vague memory to me. Our cousin Frances served this to us when I was about 14 years old and I loved it. What I remembered was that it was beef pounded very thin, then layered with bread crumbs, Romano cheese, parsley, and minced garlic. It was rolled and secured with a toothpick then cooked in her tomato sauce. It must have been a long simmer because the meat was tender...each mouthful was pure enchantment.



Ingredients:
1 beef round tip roast
1 1/2 cup fresh ciabatta crumbs
1C freshly grated Romano cheese
1/2C minced parsley (1/3 bunch)
1/2 large garlic bulb
1/4C extra virgin olive oil
black pepper (optional)
1 pot meatless tomato sauce

Directions:

Roasts are hard to come by in weights under 5 pounds, so use only half the roast for this recipe, about 2 - 2 1/2 pounds. Slice the roast across the grain into 1/4" slices. Pound them with a meat tenderizer until they are thinner, but take care not to tear them. Small pieces that may tear off may be used to patch other tears in the center portion of each piece. After you have finished tenderizing the meat, refrigerate it while you start to mix the filling.

Traditionally a rustic bread without crust would be used, but I decided on a rosemary ciabatta for this recipe, since it was the smallest loaf I could find. A less course grained bread with a softer crumb might work better. Remove the crust from the bread and pulse the inner portions in a food processor. Measure out 1 1/2 cups and set aside. Grate about 1 cup of Romano cheese. I use a medium grate, not fine, so the proportion will be off if you use a finely grated cheese. Mix the bread crumbs and cheese together and set aside. Now mince the parsley and stir it into the bread mixture.

Mince the garlic and also add it to the filling mixture. Use enough olive oil to moisten the mixture. Some people drizzle the olive oil over the filling once it has been spread on the meat, but this seems much easier to me and helps the filling hold together.

As you place the first slice of meat on the work surface, decide whether you want larger or small braciole, then cut the meat accordingly. After making 3 larger pieces, I opted for smaller braciole and cut all the sliced beef in half. Place a generous layer of the filling on the meat after adding pepper to it, if you choose to add pepper. I tried it, but am not sure it makes much difference. Keep the filling in the center and roll the meat around it, securing the meat with a toothpick. Securing

the meat on the sides, as displayed in the photo above proved to be impractical.

Place a frying pan over a medium high heat and add some olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan by 1/4". Place the rolled meat into the pan to brown, turning frequently to brown all sides. Since they will be components of a rich meat sauce, browning will add depth to the flavor of the sauce. After doing the entire batch, I decided that 2 toothpicks down the center that also secure the sides are enough, and they make the braciole easier to brown. Add the braciole to your simmering tomato sauce and cook for several hours until the meat becomes tender. Remember to remove the tooth picks before serving. They make a nice meat course to go with pasta.

Seven Ways From "Sunday Sauce"

This is a knock off, pure and simple. We have no family history with this sauce, but since I make meatballs, and braciole I knew I had to make this Napolitani classic brought to America by these Southern Italian immigrants who filled their neighborhoods with this traditional pasta sauce on Sundays when the families would gather several generations around the table for dinner.


Ingredients:
18 meatballs
18 small braciole
3 Italian sausages (sweet or hot depending on preference)
1 large yellow onion
2T extra virgin olive oil
5 large sage leaves (or 8 medium)
3 large cloves garlic
1 large can 6 and 1 crushed tomatoes
water


When I make braciole or meatballs I usually freeze half the batch to make this an easy effort otherwise this recipe could take the better part of one day. It starts out like every other pasta sauce made with a tomato base, by sauteing diced onion, adding in minced garlic and sage and sauteing them too until they release their fragrance. Add the sausage either cut into quarters or ground and saute until slightly browned. This might be easier to do in a separate pan.

After sauteing the onion and herbs, add the whole can of sauce and then fill the empty can with water and add that into the mix. Stir and add the braciole and bring to a slight boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for an hour to 2 hours, until the sauce starts to thicken. In the interim, let the meatballs thaw and as soon as the sauce thickens add the meatballs and cook for another 20 minutes until they are heated through. While you wait, bring your pasta water to a boil and cook the pasta, drain and mix it in a large bown with some of the sauce and grated Romano cheese, then a few pieces of the braciole and meatballs can be added on top of the plated pasta.

Pink Oyster Mushroom Pasta

It's been a long time since I was smitten by an ingredient, but these unusual, pink, oyster mushrooms really got to me. Not even certain that the color would last during cooking, I grabbed a box and ran with it; after all it was only a $3 experiment and who could resist with Valentine's Day just around the corner? This is what I came up with.


Ingredients:
1/2 cube of unsalted butter
2T flour
1 1/4C milk
1C freshly grated Parmigiano
1 1/2C pink oyster mushrooms
1lb Tacconi pasta (or lasagne*, or pappardelle)
chopped parsley

Directions:

Make a classic bechamel sauce with butter, flour and milk, melting the butter first, adding the flour, letting it "cook" in the butter and then adding milk. After it thickens, set it aside.

I used half the butter in this bechamel (1/4 cube). Sprinkle on a few grates of fresh nutmeg if you wish, although I did not do that, it seems like it would make a fine addition.

After separating the mushroom stems from on another and cutting off the tough bottoms, saute the mushrooms over low heat in the remaining butter. The color does fade so the mushrooms need only to be heated to soften them up. Add them to the bechamel.

Simmer the mushrooms in the bechamel sauce and add the grated cheese. Stir until the cheese melts completely. Drain the cooked pasta and place it in the pan with the sauce to incorporate it completely and even distribute the sauce and mushrooms with the pasta. Plate the pasta and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley to add a contrast to the delicate color of the mushrooms. As you can see, they do retain a pale pink color.

*Lasagne pasta in the U.S. with the fluted edges may be as close to Tacconi as you can find here, so break them into 4 or 5 pieces (you may have better luck parboiling them, then cutting so they don't split). Any wide flat pasta will work.

Puttanesca Plus

Have you ever wondered what to do with leftover marinated artichoke hearts? Well, wonder no more; they work well in a classic Puttanesca sauce for pasta. Half a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts were just what I needed to develop this recipe. As long as I was changing the classic, adding green olives seemed alright as a further addition, but use Cerignola for a less acidic option.


Ingredients:
12 oil cured black olives
12 Cerignola green olives
1T capers (salted, not brined)
2 cloves garlic3T
extra virgin olive oil
4 anchovy fillets
1/2 small jar of marinated artichoke hearts
1 14 oz. can of stewed tomatoes
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 lb. pasta (fettuccine)
freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1 sprig of fresh thyme

Directions:

Pit and chop the olives, wash and drain the capers, then chop and add the olives and capers to the olive oil in a wide pan (large and deep enough to also hold a pound of cooked pasta). Saute over a medium heat for a minute, then add the minced garlic and thyme and saute for another minute.

Add the anchovies and saute until they break down in the olive oil. Rough chop the artichoke hearts and add to the pan, mixing all ingredients. Add the chopped canned tomatoes and sauce and lower the heat.

Allow the sauce to simmer while you boil the fettuccine to an al dente stage. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Cook down the sauce to allow it to absorb into the pasta and when it has, plate and serve with the grated Romano cheese.

Foraged Wild Mussels Asian Style

This is the recipe that inspired my Asian Style Clam recipe. Friends gathered again this year to forage for mussels and this particular recipe was light, refreshing and very good with bread to soak up the sake based braising liquid. If it were made at home, I'd toast and butter the Pugliese bread, place it at the bottom of a bowl and cover it with the steamed mussels and the resulting broth.

Ingredients:
3 dozen mussels
1C sake
1T toasted sesame oil (I use black sesame oil)
2T minced fresh garlic
2T fresh minced ginger
1/4C chopped cilantro

Directions:


This one is simple. Find a rocky beach in California, at low tide, in any month that has an "R" in it. Buy a fishing license, bring a small prying tool and place it at the base of a mussel, and loosen it up a bit, then twist it off the rocks. For my preference, mussels the length of your forefinger are the perfect size for eating. After you have gathered the legal limit, either take them home, or if you have friends willing to go to the beach with you, carrying with them a Coleman stove and fresh water, prepare this on the beach.

Mix the marinade ingredients together and pour over the cleaned and debearded mussels. Heat them in a wide deep pan over medium high to high heat, and serve when they open up.

Thai Green Curry Mussels

Other people have been the inspiration for my favorite mussel recipes. All translate well to either clams or mussels and one of these days I'll also try them with scallops and perhaps even shrimp, but I'm getting ahead of myself. This recipe was directly related to a mussel foraging trip with friends who were bringing along a Thai friend of theirs. To make that stranger to our little group feel welcomed, I used classic Thai ingredients for this recipe. The woman never showed up, but this recipe is a keeper.

Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk
3T Thai green curry (commercial brand)
zest of 1 lemon
juice of half a lemon
1t Sciabica habanero oil
2 chopped shallots
chiffinade of fresh basil
3dz. mussels

Directions:

If you're preparing this dish as I did, at the beach, gather your wild mussels, wash and debeard them and pour on the ingredients that you mixed together prior to going to the beach. As the sauce starts to heat up, add the basil. I merely cut it with scissors over the pan. Friends have made this so easy by lugging in Coleman stoves, fresh water, pans, you name it. All I had to bring were the ingredients. When the mussels open, they're ready.

If preparing at home, mix all the ingredients but basil, and pour over the cleaned and debearded mussels in a wok or 6 quart stockpot that is on a medium high heat. Cover with a lid for 3 minutes and check to see if it is boiling. If it is steaming, add the basil for another minute and cover the pot. As soon as the mussels open, plate and serve. I like to serve it with buttered rustic bread or ciabatta.

Never Too Late for Chili

In all my years of cooking, I have never made chili from scratch. Tonight's the night and after looking at a friend's chili recipe and several on the Internet, this is my official version. Inspiration? I wanted to cook a meal for a friend who loves cornbread and what goes better with cornbread than chili? Luckily, I refrigerated chile powder I had purchased in New Mexico so this is really going to have flavor.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 lbs chuck roast, shoulder cut
extra virgin olive oil
2 lg yellow onions
3 cloves of garlic
1 3" sprig of fresh oregano
1 14 oz. can of chicken broth
1 14 oz. can of water
1 14.5 oz can of stewed chopped tomatoes
1/4C New Mexico mild chile powder *
1T Hatch hot green chile powder*
1T cumin
1T pasilla chile powder
1t garlic powder
1t onion powder
salt to taste
1/4C corn meal

Garnishes:
heavy sour cream
grated cheddar cheese
chopped chives or diced red onion

Directions:

Meat is king in the realm of chili and most of the cuts used for it are on the tough side so cooking should be long and slow. A typical chuck roast has some silver skin you may wish to cut around, so by all means do, then dice the meat into 1/2" cubes. Many traditional chili recipes use coarsely ground chuck, an easier method than this. I like the chunkier texture and the feeling I get that this is not just another hamburger recipe. Cover the bottom of your stock pot with a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil and start to brown the cubed chuck in small batches over a medium high heat, so you do not lower the temperature of the oil by a significant amount. If you overcrowd the pot, the meat will not brown and your chili will not have the depth of flavor that will make it rich in taste.

Remove the meat from the pan, lower the heat to medium and start caramelizing the onions, then mince the garlic cloves and the sprig of oregano. Add them to the pan and saute a minute or two. Do not brown the garlic or you will introduce a bitter taste into your chili.

Replace the meat into the pan and stir the onions and meat together, then introduce the chicken broth and water into the mix. Bring this to a boil and add the can of chopped tomatoes. Why did I use chicken broth instead of beef...I just like it better, it adds another depth to the flavor and it introduces salt into the chili without overdoing it. Now that the chili is boiling, cover the pot and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer the chili for an hour stirring occasionally to make sure it is not sticking to the pot. When you start the simmering phase, make certain the meat is entirely covered with liquid, even if you have to add more to the pot.

After one hour, check the tenderness of the meat. If it's very tough, add more liquid and cook longer, otherwise, add in the spices and cook for another 20 minutes. I didn't introduce the spices earlier because several of the recipes I looked at indicated that the chile powders should not be cooked for longer than 20 or so minutes. Since this was my first chili, I wasn't going to take any chances.Add the cornmeal for the last 10 minutes to thicken the chili. I used a course grained polenta that was on hand, and ran it through the coffee grinder to achieve a fine powder; no need to go out and buy masa. Stir the chili constantly after introducing the cornmeal.

* Notes:
This chili was very hot and guests were kind enough not to complain although their eyes were watering from the heat. I served it with sour cream and cheese which are supposed to cut the heat, along with buttered hominy, since any fat including butter will also ease the "burn" in one's mouth. Until I make this recipe again, and am able to revise it, I would recommend that the chile powders with the asterisk be cut back considerably (at least half) and that the chile be tested for heat to see if more is required. I suspect that since I never bothered to taste the New Mexico chile, that it may not have been mild as the package indicated. Always taste chile powder to determine the heat level.

Easy Cornbread

This recipe is being posted as a public service. It is not now, nor has it ever been, my recipe (although I do make one significant change to it). To my knowledge and recollection, it is the closest recipe to the one on the Bisquick box, in the mid to late 20th century. It is almost impossible to find on the Internet as "the original Bisquick cornbread recipe" so I'm hoping to save you the trouble of looking for it. It has been my favorite cornbread recipe since childhood.

Ingredients:
1 1/4C Bisquick (original recipe - yellow box)
3/4C corn meal
1/4C sugar
2/3C whole milk
1 large egg
1/4C melted butter (I sub extra virgin olive oil)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, then grease a 9"x9" pan or a small cast iron skillet (8" diameter). Add all the ingredients together and mix into a thick batter. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick; when the toothpick comes out dry after being poked into the center of the cornbread, it is ready.

Marinated Cracked Crab

So easy, I can do this one with my eyes closed. No measurements in this recipe, just a simple equation of 2/3 oil to 1/3 vinegar. Nana and Papa used to serve this during crab season and always added minced garlic, but upon request, I have eliminated it from our normal version at home. Still, I sneak it in for myself on occasion, or use a garlic flavored olive oil as a final drizzle before serving.


Ingredients:
2 cooked and cleaned Dungeness crabs
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar
2/3C chopped parsley (half a bunch)
3 cloves minced garlic (optional)

Ingredients for the Salad Dressing:
1/2C mayonnaise
2-3T Perel blood orange vinegar (enough to thin the mayo)

Directions:

After scrubbing the cooked crab, break it apart by pulling off the legs, then opening the body and pulling out the tamale (you can freeze this for later use), gills and other non edible parts. I usually break the edible body parts into 2 pieces for smaller crabs and 4 pieces for larger crabs. Crack the legs with a meat tenderizing tool or any other heavy tool you may choose like a hammer. Place the crab into a bowl and drizzle on the extra virgin olive oil, then half as much vinegar, and add chopped parsley. Give it a good stir, covering all parts of the crab with the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour, stirring the contents every 15 minutes. Easier still, place everything into a zip lock bag and turn the bag as often as you would like. If you're going to use garlic, add it finely minced when you add the parsley.

Half the fun of eating marinated crab is the shelling, so wear an apron or bib and dig right in. Sometimes we eat as we go, but on this occasion, we piled the crab meat on our plates and dressed it with the mayonnaise dressing. I particularly like the Perel flavored vinegars, but a champagne vinegar would work as well and a squirt of lemon would give it the citrus flavor, although I'd probably use real blood orange juice. This dressing is also good as a dip for "eat-as-you-go" crab.