Eggplant Parmigiana da Lilly

Hi Everyone, and Happy Holidays.  Today I'm going to give you a recipe for my grandmother's eggplant parmigiana.  This dish is very special as it is not the usual eggplant baked with mozzarella cheese, but more of an appetizer served at room temperature.  I can remember my great aunts visiting Grandma and asking, "Lilly, do have any of your eggplant?" She was famous for it.  She kept it in a jar in the fridge and it was never around for long.  She was the only one in her family to make it and I've never had it anywhere else.  When I started making it for my own family, my step-son was so taken he made it for a school project ( he got an A ) and has incorporated it into his own repertoire.  It's now become a Thanksgiving tradition in my family as my daughter-in-law requests it.   A word of caution:  you must be a garlic lover for this one, and you won't stop eating it until it's all gone.  It's a bit labor intensive, but definitely worth the work!      

Eggplant Parmigiana da Lilly:

For this recipe you will need one large or two medium eggplants, a marinara sauce, 5 cloves of garlic chopped finely, grated parmigiana cheese and breadcrumbs. 

Slice the eggplant into thin rounds and fry in hot olive oil until golden on both sides and set aside.  Make sure your oil is very hot when you begin frying.  For the marinara sauce, saute three sliced cloves of garlic in a tablespoon or so of olive oil until golden then add a medium sized can of pureed tomatoes, a tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley, salt, pepper and a little sugar to taste and let simmer for about ten minutes.  DO NOT add any onions.  Now you are ready to put the dish together.

In a chafing dish or bowl, line the bottom with a layer of eggplant , then spread on a tablespoon or two of the sauce, sprinkle on some of the chopped garlic, then about a teaspoon of cheese, half teaspoon of breadcrumbs and salt lightly.  Then begin again with another layer of eggplant, sauce, garlic etc. layer upon layer, until you've used all of your eggplant.  Cover and put it in the refrigerator for TWO days.  This is crucial!    Everything must meld together in oder for the dish to become what it is.  Don't be alarmed at the amount of oil in the dish, it's all good. Remove from the fridge and serve at room temperature with a good italian or french bread. Mmmmmmm....... this is so good, my mouth is watering!  Warning:  if you make a sandwich of this for lunch and bring it to work, don't let your co-workers taste it 'cause you might not get it back! 

Enjoy xo

I almost forgot, any left over sauce is a good sauce for pasta.

A Harvest Supper

Hi Everyone, it's harvest time, and I'm enjoying some savory suppers using fresh ingredients from the garden.  Tonight I'm preparing a pasta dish using fresh pasta, romano beans, fresh tomatoes, and fried eggplant.  The combination of the beans and tomatoes makes the sauce particularly luscious and the fried eggplant adds a nice textural quality to the dish.

To make the pasta:

I cup semolina flour

salt (about 1/4 tsp.)

2 eggs

Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle in which to put the eggs.  Sprinkle with salt and stir the flour into the eggs, pulling more flour in from the sides of the bowl until the flour and eggs are blended into a dough.  Dust the dough with flour and set it on a board so that you can roll it out.  Roll it out as thinly as you can, as you would for a pie, only thinner.  I usually only roll out half the dough at a time.  When you have it rolled out sufficiently, roll it up to form a tube and slice it into strips.  I cut the dough into strips about 1/4 inch wide. Unravel the pasta and sprinkle with a little flour so that it doesn't stick.  I cup of flour makes enough pasta for four people.  Extra dough can be frozen.  

Romano beans and tomato sauce:

Gather two handfuls of beans, wash and cut them in half.  Make a sauce by sauteing a couple of cloves of garlic in olive oil and salt until browned, adding the beans, a little water, some chopped parsley, and a couple of ripe tomatoes.  Salt again, and let everything cook down, about 10 t0 15 minutes.   

Cook the pasta al dente.  This pasta will cook quickly and float to the top of the pot.  

Pour the sauce over the pasta and top with fried eggplant slices (recipe from Feb. 16) and grated parmigiano cheese.  This dish is great with a nice chianti.  Mmmmmmmm, so satisfying.

Enjoy!  xo 

Zeppole/sfinge

Hi Everyone!  I was on my way to my favorite cafe in Little Italy last week when I was taken by surprise by the Feast San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples.  Walking by the stalls of frying sausages and peppers really made me wish I still ate red meat.  There were booths with traditional nougat candy, platters of sliced tomatoes with garlic, broccoli rabe and what I consider the ultimate feast food, zeppole.  The first time I ate zeppole I was at a small Italian feast in my neighborhood in the Bronx.  I was about 5 0r 6 years old.  My family called this type of zeppole, sfinge, from the Sicilian dialect which has some roots in Arabic.   I was fascinated by the huge kettle of boiling oil into which the cook was placing pieces of  raw pizza dough.  The dough was turned in the oil until golden on all sides then removed and put into a brown paper bag and sprinkled heavily with powdered sugar.  When my mother handed me one, I could tell it was going to be a treat but, as I bit into it, I fell in love!  It was pure heaven!  Oh, the wonder of fried dough!  Here's how to make your own sfinge, just like at a festa!

Zeppole/sfinge

Heat up some peanut or canola oil in a pot until boiling.  Buy or make enough pizza dough for one large pizza.  Don't try to make the dough wholesome or whole wheat, this is junk food here.

Pull off small pieces of dough and brown on all sides.  The dough should puff up and cook quickly.  Remove cooked dough and put out onto platters with paper towels on them to absorb the oil, and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar.  Mmmmmm, a great treat!

I will get back with more garden fresh recipes as the picture implies, but I couldn't resist the delicious memory.  Enjoy!

Fresh Tomatoes and Pasta

Hi Everyone, this has been a hot summer and unlike last summer, an excellent one for tomatoes. I wanted to prepare a meal using fresh slicing tomatoes, as the flavor of a good ripe tomato can stand on it's own, but make it a little more hearty.  I decided to slice and dress the tomatoes and add cooked pasta.  The result was just what I was looking for!  The dish was full of the fresh, rich flavor of summer and heartier than a tomato salad.  Of course, the quality and ripeness of the tomatoes, are what makes this dish.

I hope you've had a chance to eat some Romano green beans this summer.  Boy, they are good!

Fresh Tomatoes and Pasta:

The amount of tomatoes needed will vary due to size etc.  Cut the tomatoes and mix with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, a couple or three or four cloves of finely minced garlic, salt, chopped parsley, and a few basil leaves.  Cook your pasta al dente, I used Barilla's whole wheat linguine,  and add to the tomatoes.  You may want to add more olive oil and salt or sprinkle on some parmigiano cheese.  Mmmmmmm, so good.  Enjoy!  Xo

Romano Green Beans

Hi Everyone, today I want to talk about the Romano green bean which is an Italian flat bean.  It is grown like any green bean, either pole or bush.  If you are a gardener, it's not too late to add this delicious variety to you garden.  Romano beans are extraordinary enough to include even if you are already growing green beans.  If you don't have a garden, look out for them this summer, as you only find them in markets during the summer months.  Remember that they are flat. What sets this bean apart is it's succulent and rich texture. Most green beans are crisp and juicy, while the Romano has a meaty quality.  I love them sauteed with olive oil and garlic. They are great over pasta.  A nice hearty pasta dish is sauteed beans with fresh or canned tomatoes, some fresh basil, finished with parmigiano cheese on top.   They're also good sauteed, then cooled and served with a little vinegar or lemon juice as a salad.  I know that once you try them you'll love them!

Romano Beans and Tomato Sauce:

Crush a couple of cloves of garlic and saute in olive oil and salt until golden.  Add about 1/2 lb of clean romano green beans either whole or cut to a size that you prefer, and a little water and let cook slowly.  When the beans have softened, add some fresh or canned tomatoes, a few fresh basil leaves, salt, and cook until the beans are soft the tomatoes have cooked down.  Pour over some pasta that has been cooked al dente and add some grated parmigiano cheese on top.  Mmmmmm, so good!  Enjoy xo.

Pearl Oyster Bar

Hi Everyone,  I was in NYC last week and ate at one of my favorite restaurants, the seafood restaurant, Pearl Oyster Bar.  The restaurant is famous for it's lobster roll, which chef Rebecca Charles has recreated from her memories of childhood summers spent in Maine.  I've never had one, but I can tell you that what I do have is always exquisite!  I always start off with oysters on the half shell.  Here the oysters never disappoint.  Last week the oysters were Chinquoteagues which are from coastal Virginia.  Normally I don't care for oysters form the south or west coast.  I find them too big and not briny, however Chinquoteagues are more like northeastern oysters, small, briny and crisp, just like seawater.  While eating them I began to muse as I do when the oysters are good, that a good oyster is the perfect food!  Then on to fried oysters which are battered and seasoned to perfection.  I also ordered another favorite of mine, salt encrusted shrimp.  In this dish the large, succulent shrimp are cooked in their shell, coated in a crisp, salty mixture.  Fabulous!  That night the vegetable was asparagus, which being in season was perfect!  I recommend sitting at the bar where you can exchange pleasant conversation with the other patrons who are as delighted with their meal as you are with yours.  Wine, beer and champagne are served by a knowledgeable and helpful waitstaff.   People start lining up to get in when the doors open at 6, and if you go later, you can expect a long wait, but is well worth it. Pearl Oyster Bar is located on Cornelia Street in the West Village.   Mmmmmmm, oysters.....xo         

Baby Bok Choi with Oyster Mushrooms

Hi Everyone,  today I have a recipe for baby bok choi sauteed with garlic and oyster mushrooms.  I am fortunate in that I have dried whole lime leaves in my cupboard and the addition of a few of these, used like bay leaves, really brightens up the flavor of this dish, and many others.  They may be purchased at an Asian food market.  However, the dish will still be tasty if you are unable to include them. 

Baby Bok Choi with Oyster Mushrooms:

Slice up a couple of cloves of garlic and saute in a pan with olive oil and salt.  when the garlic begins to turn golden, add about 1/4 lb sliced fresh oyster mushrooms and saute together. Make sure that you have enough oil in the pan.  After about a minute add the cleaned bok choi, salt and 2 or 3 lime leaves.  I like the really small ones (bok choi) because you can cook them whole. Lower the flame and let them cook slowly.  They don't need much time at all so keep your eye on them.  You don't want them to get mushy, just soften nicely.   When done, remove the lime leaves.  A garnish of toasted sesame oil is also a nice addition.   Mmmmmm, so nice and fresh!  Enjoy, xo.

Soft Shell Crab

Hi Everyone, it's a great time of year!  Leaves are coming out, bulbs are blooming and life is renewed.  Last week at the fish market, I was reminded of another reason to be happy about spring; soft shell crab!   This wonderful delicacy is only available during April and May when the crab sheds it's old shell, so you can eat the whole juicy thing!  I prepare them in the same way that I like to cook seafood in general, that is, dredged in cornmeal or flour and salt and fried quickly in HOT oil.  If the oil is hot enough, the food is not in the oil for long and doesn't absorb a lot.  Make sure to have the person at the store clean them for you so they are not alive when you bring them home.  If you like more batter, the method is to dredge the item in flour, then dip in beaten egg and then run through bread crumbs.  The flour gives the egg something to cling to and the egg enables the bread crumbs to stick.  Either way make sure the oil is hot so the crab will be crisp on the outside and tender and juicy in the center.  I cook them about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.   Mmmmmm, they are so good because you are getting all of that wonderful crab flavor without having to work for it!  A definite win/win.  Enjoy xo 

La Bella Ferrara

Hi Everyone.  I recently went to my favorite Italian cafe in Little Italy in NYC for an espresso and cannolo.  La Bella Ferrara, NOT to be confused with Ferrara, the tourist attraction, has some of the best espresso this side of the Atlantic.  Franco, the seventy something, Sicilian owner of Bella Ferrara explained to me that one reason his coffee is so good is that he never turns off his espresso machine.  Franco is also very hands on.  He's owned the establishment for over forty years, and you can usually find him there greeting his customers.  On the weekends he sings and he was recently in an indie movie called, "Meatballs, Tomatoes and Mobsters".  One day we were talking about life as a proprietor of a New York City cafe, and he brought out a little wooden box from behind the counter.  The box was filled with little slips of paper.  Franco explained to me that these were papers upon which women had written their phone numbers, and secretly slipped to him while they were with other men in his cafe.  How many he followed up on, he did not say.  

His pastries are indeed the best in Little Italy and you can eat them in the cafe or buy them next door at La Bella Ferrara bakery.  There is outdoor seating and during nice weather it's a real treat to sip your espresso and watch the world go by.  You can also get pizza and Italian style sandwiches as well as wine and beer.  Once again, let me make it clear,  do not confuse La Bella Ferrara which is on Mulberry Street between Canal and Hester with Ferrara on Grand Street.  Ferrara is a famous tourist attraction and is a disappointment.  For the real deal, head over to La Bella Ferrara, and enjoy!  Xo  

This is a picture of the Sicilian town Colesano, where my grandmother was born.

Fritata in Italy

Hi Everyone, some years ago my daughter spent a full school year in Florence for her junior year of college.  I visited her there during christmas break.  I find international flights quite hard on the system.  Between what is supposed to pass for food, and that I'm too excited to sleep on the plane ( and they wake you for "breakfast" at what your body knows is 1 o'clock in the morning ) I usually arrive in rather shaky condition.  This was indeed the case when I made it to my daughter's apartment.   Her apartment was situated across the square from the huge indoor market which contained every food item one could desire.  There were meats, breads, chocolates, olives, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, fish, and all of excellent quality.  During my stay, it was a great treat to shop there and procure the ingredients for our next meal.  For the day of my arrival, my daughter had bought some finger-thin, impossibly fresh zucchini and planned to cook a fritata for my breakfast!   She sliced the zucchini, which raw, had a deliciously nutty flavor.  She sauteed the zucchini and onions and added to the pan some freshly beaten eggs.  She let the eggs cook without mixing or flipping, added salt, and covered the pan to let everything cook through.  A little pamigiano on top and we were good to go.  What a restorative meal!  Fresh vegetables and eggs cooked together with love and the promise of two food-filled weeks in Firenze! 

Below, I have another recipe for zucchini.  Zucchini is best when picked very small as it is more flavorful when young and tender.

Sauteed Zucchini:

Slice about six small, slender zucchini for 2 people.  Crush a few cloves of garlic and put in a pot with olive oil and salt.  Add the zucchini, cover, and turn the flame to medium low heat.   Let the zucchini cook and check it periodically.  When some has browned, you may stir it gently.  The zucchini will brown and soften.  Do not let it cook 'til it's mush!  When done, sprinkle salt and a little bread crumbs on top.  Mmmmmmm, I'm cooking this tonight.  Enjoy.  Xo

PS  This zucchini is also good over linguine.

Adventures in NYC

Hi Everyone, I just back back from a few days in NYC.  I had gotten tickets to the live taping of the "Wendy Williams Show" for my daughter and me.  Now,  that I enjoy the "Wendy Williams Show" had been my "secret pleasure" but I'm letting the secret out because it was so much fun!  All the people working on the show ( including Wendy ) were friendly, positive and upbeat.  The deejay kept the dance music thumpin' and we had a little dance party before the show started, complete with disco balls ( which reminded me that I still have to get one )!  The following evening, we went to Broadway and saw "West Side Story".  Seeing the professionals dance Jerome Robbins brilliant choreography, was really quite a thrill for me and the tragic love story never disappoints ( I realize that I harbor a faint hope that things will turn out differently for Tony and Maria and Chino won't find them! ). 

I decided to cap off all of this entertainment with brunch at one of my favorite places on the Lower East Side.  'inoteca is a cozy little authentically Italian  ( as opposed to Italian-american ) bistro serving tasty, fresh food.  Their cafe americano is always strong, rich and smooth, one of my favorite cups.  They have a "to die for" warm scone filled with Nutella cream, and a Truffled Egg Toast, which is a thick piece of toast with an egg poached in a hole in the center with truffle oil, a truly brilliant combination!   For a while now, my favorite item on the menu has been the Basil Pesto and Egg Panino.  Yesterday's panino was the best ever!  The eggs were exactly the way I like them, lightly scrambled and buttery with the basil pesto flavoring the eggs just enough, not overpowering them.  The bread had just the right amount of of crispiness on the outside.  I was in breakfast heaven for the whole time it took me to eat!  It was a perfect way to end a few days in the greatest city in the world!   Xo

Lentil Soup

Hi Everyone, I think it's time for soup.  When I was four years old my grandmother taught me how to cook lentil soup.  I remember being in her kitchen, standing on a chair next to the stove with her beside me.  I did what she was doing in my very own little pot.  Later that day my cousin Roseanne and her mother, my great aunt Isabel came to Grandma's house.  I idolized my cousin Roseanne who was four years older than I.  She made me laugh uncontrollably and got us into mischief which always got her into trouble because she was older.  Well, that afternoon I gave Roseanne some of my lentil soup and she turned to her mother and said, "this is better than yours" whereupon Aunt Isabel slapped her!  Well, I know that my Italian family thinks food is very important, but this was going too far!  So be careful with this recipe, it's been known to make people violently jealous.

Lentil Soup:

Saute a couple of cloves of crushed garlic, a medium onion, 2 or 3 chopped celery stalks, and salt in olive oil.  When the onions and celery soften, add about 2/3 of a cup of lentils and about a quart of water and salt.  Let it come to a boil the reduce the heat and let it simmer.    While the soup is simmering, add two sliced carrots and about 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley and about 1/2 cup of a green of your choice.  Escarole is good as is spinach, swiss chard, kale etc. Let the soup cook for about an hour.  It's ready when there are no more individual lentils and the lentils are all blended.  At this point my grandmother would add some pasta and let it cook in the soup.  She used linguine.  Shells are good too.  If you add pasta only use a little as too much will eat up all of your soup.  Some grated parmigiano cheese sprinkled on top of your bowl finishes it off nicely.  Of course, as with most soups, it is even better the next day.   Mmmmmmmmmm, soup.  Enjoy!  Xo

Sauteed Sweet Italian Peppers

Hi Everyone,  today I'm cooking peppers with garlic and onions.  Make sure to use Italian peppers which are not hot, and longer and lighter green than Bell peppers.  5 to 6 are good for 2 people.  

Sauteed Sweet Italian Peppers:

Wash the peppers and cut off the tops and remove the seeds.  Slice the peppers lengthwise and rinse away the remaining seeds.  Brown a couple of cloves of crushed garlic in olive oil and salt and stir in a sliced medium sized onion.  Add the peppers to the pan, salt, cover and lower the flame. Let the peppers cook, stirring occasionally until the peppers are very soft and melding with the onions.   The onions will begin to caramelize.  This should take around 1/2 hour.   This is a great vegetable dish as is, but you can scramble in a couple of eggs at the end of the the cooking time, and the peppers and eggs will make an excellent sandwich on some good Italian bread.  I always associate pepper and egg sandwiches with going to the beach, since my grandmother made them for that occasion.  Grandma claimed that the sea air gave one an appetite, as did the mountains and many other things.  I think it just may have been her cooking.  Mmmmmmmm, enjoy!  Xo   

Still Life with Fish and Greens

Hi Everyone, a couple of people have asked me to include photos of the food, so I took this picture of what I cooked last night.  It's escarole sauteed in the usual manner with cannellini beans added toward the end of the cooking time, and fried grey sole.  I highly recommend grey sole over lemon sole or sole.  It has the same delicateness of sole but is more flavorful with a hint of that iodine flavor that you find in shrimp.  Remember to fry the fish in hot oil, the fish must sizzle when you put it in the pan, and coat it lightly with flour.  The flour keeps in the juices and adds a nice texture to the outside.  

The fish was succulent and made a great combination with the escarole.  Mmmmmmm, enjoy your food!  xo 

Fried Eggplant

Hi Everyone,  tonight I'm having tofu slabs and broccoli rabe and I've given you those recipes.  However, I'm in the mood to dress it up a little and so I'm going to cook some eggplant.  This is a very simple, but tasty way to round out the meal.  Eggplant cooked this way is also good over pasta.  I bought a small, slender eggplant which is an "Italian eggplant".  It's a good variety to use for one or two people.

Fried Eggplant:

Slice the eggplant into thin rounds.  You want to fry the eggplant in very hot olive oil.  If the oil is not hot enough the eggplant will absorb the oil.  Fill the pan with a good layer of oil.  When hot enough, put in the slices and let them cook until golden on one side, then turn and let them cook until golden brown on the other.  At some point you may have to add more oil to the pan.  Take them from the pan and put them on a paper towel to drain.  After a few minutes transfer them to a plate and salt them and sprinkle with parmigiano cheese and coarse black pepper.   Mmmmmmm, really good and I'm oh, so hungry.  Enjoy!  xo

Pasta con Sarde

Hi Everyone,  tonight I'll be cooking a truly authentic Sicilian dish.  Pasta con sarde or spaghetti with sardine sauce was a special dish in my grandmother's kitchen.  She would cook it when it was requested, and I was usually the one doing the requesting.  I always loved the blending of the very different flavors of fennel, capers, and raisins with the fishiness of the sardines.   Grandma would always say how truly Sicilian the dish was.  When my daughter and I were in Sicily, I was delighted to see pasta con sarde on almost all the menus and even more delighted when the dish tasted just like Grandma's!   Sauteed escarole is a nice accompaniment to this meal.

Pasta con Sarde:

Start by making a basic tomato sauce, that is, brown a couple of cloves of garlic in olive oil and salt, then add a couple of sliced ripe plum tomatoes when in season or slice up three canned San Marzano whole tomatoes and some of the canned juice.  As it is cooking add some fresh chopped parsley and about a teaspoon of sugar.  This is a quick and delicious marinara sauce for pasta.  To this sauce I'm going to add a can of sardines packed in OLIVE OIL, not anything else.  Mash the sardines into the sauce and as the sauce is simmering, add a tablespoon of ground fennel powder, 2 tablespoons of capers, and a small handful of raisins.  The raisins are a great counterbalance to the other flavors and an integral part of the dish. Let the sauce simmer for 1/2 an hour. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water.  I prefer linguine to spaghetti but that is a matter of choice, just make sure it's al dente.  Drain the pasta, and ladle the sauce on top.  As with all fish and pasta combinations, grated cheese does not appear on the table.  This is a really fresh and savory sauce for fish lovers.  Mmmmmmmm, I can't wait!  xo

Stuffed Artichokes

Hurray!  Artichokes are back!  There was a dry spell there for a little while and I couldn't find any, but artichokes are back in the markets.  A stuffed artichoke always makes dinner a little more special.  I remember my grandmother sitting at the kitchen table cutting up lots of garlic for the chokes.  She usually cooked about 1/2 dozen.  My recipe is for a single choke.

When picking out artichokes, you want the globe variety, like the one in the picture of this blog. The leaves should be tightly closed and the choke should squeak when you squeeze it.

Stuffed Artichokes:

For the stuffing, combine a couple of tablespoons of bread crumbs ( I prefer the plain so that you can add your own flavorings ), salt, a couple of tablespoons of grated parmigiano cheese, 1 clove chopped garlic, 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley.  To prepare the artichoke, cut off the stem and cut off the tip of the stem and discard it.  Keep the rest of the stem to cook with the artichoke as it tastes like the heart.  Rinse the choke under warm running water opening the leaves gently.  Be careful not to prick your fingers on the sharp points on the leaves.  After rinsing, turn the choke upside down to drain out the water.  Begin stuffing the choke with the bread crumb mixture, spooning a little of the mixture in between the leaves.  When the choke is stuffed sit it in a pot with the stem.  Pour a little olive oil ( about 2 teaspoons ) over the top of the choke and put enough water in the pot to reach the bottom layer of the artichoke leaves. Cover the pot and let the water come to the boil, then put the flame low and let the pot simmer for about 45 minutes.  The artichoke is ready when you can pull off a leaf easily.   Eat the artichoke leaf by leaf pulling off the top tender part of the leaf between you teeth.  You have the combination of the artichoke and the savory, spicy stuffing.  When you get down the the bottom, pluck out the fuzzy stuff from the heart, and enjoy that fine delicacy.  Mmmmmmmm, artichokes are a great eating experience!  Enjoy.

Sea Scallops

Hi Everyone.  The linguine and clam sauce was very good, briny and garlicky, just the way I like it.  I realized that I failed to mention that you should buy little neck clams for sauce as opposed to cherrystones which are bigger and tougher.  I polished off the meal with a slice of candied orange, dipped in dark chocolate.  Citrus and chocolate is such a good combination, which reminds once again of Italy.  The Amalfi Coast is famous for it's lemons.  There are lemon trees everywhere on the terraced land.  Lemon soap, lemon themed ceramics and limoncello, which is a lemon liqueur made from the peels of lemons, abound.  In the bakeries and chocolate shops, where you can drink some of the best espresso,  you will find candied lemon peels dipped in dark chocolate.   The lemon peels are extraordinary because they are so fresh and juicy!  My daughter and I made sure that we had a steady supply of these treats.

Tonight I'm going to have sauteed sea scallops.  As with any fish or seafood, freshness is what's paramount.  Having a reputable market from which to purchase your seafood is probably your best guarantee.  I have eaten sea scallops raw, right from the shell, and I have to say that is my favorite way to eat them, however, it's not always possible.  The raw scallop is soft, with a creamy texture and delicate flavor.  

I'm also going to have the brussels sprouts and mescalum greens salad for which I have already given the recipes.

Sauteed Sea Scallops:

Fish and seafood should never be overcooked.  For myself, I usually use 1/2 lb. of sea scallops.  Slice a couple of cloves of garlic lengthwise and put in a pan with olive oil and salt.  Just before the garlic begins to brown, put the scallops into the pan and cook over a medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes on one side, and turn and cook 2 to 3 minutes on the other.  Toward the end of the cooking, I like to add some fresh chopped parsley.  Some other good ideas for scallops is to add some tamari or soy sauce to the pan while cooking and/or some toasted sesame oil.  Fresh, grated ginger is also very good.  Mmmmmmmmmm, so good!  Enjoy xo 

Clam Sauce

Hi Everyone.  Well, it's definitely going to be a good evening because I'm going to have linguine and clam sauce, one of my favorites!  When thinking about clam sauce, I am transported back to Atrani on the Amalfi Coast where the little fish market across from our apartment, sold me the best filet of fish that I ever tasted!  The woman in the market also sold very small, smooth clams which she kept in a small tub filled with sea water.  I'd never seen this type of clam before nor clams that behaved like these.  They were "frisky", skipping around in the water and spitting water out of their shells.  I bought some and since they were so small, had some doubt as to how flavorful they would be.  I prepared them the way I usually do and, well, they knocked us out.  The sauce was full of the fine flavor of the sea, again, the best we ever had!   My daughter and I still marvel at those little clams.

Linguine and Clam Sauce:

When buying clams in the shell, make sure that the shells are closed.  NEVER buy clams with open shells.  Do not wrap the clams in a closed plastic bag when transporting them.  They have to breath, they are alive.  Clean them off with cool water, wiping off the outside of the shell.  In a pan, brown a couple of cloves of smashed garlic in olive oil and salt.  Add the cleaned clams in their shells to the garlic and olive oil and reduce the flame to low.  As the clams warm, they will begin to open their shells and the juice will prevent the garlic from burning and provide you with your sauce.  DO NOT add water. The clams won't necessarily ALL open at the same time, but keep the faith, they will all open.  Before they all open, add some fresh chopped parsley.   When all the shells are open, your sauce is ready.  Some people like to add wine to the clam juice while the clams are cooking, but I think it takes away from the flavor of the clam.   Cook the linguine in lightly salted water that has come to the boil and stir the pasta so that all the strands are separated.  Cook the linguine al dente, do not overcook.   Pour the sauce over the cooked linguine and arrange the clams in their shells attractively on the plate.  I use 1/2 dozen clams for myself and 12 to 18 for two. 

I'm going to have sauteed escarole with the clams sauce which is a nice combination.  Mmmmmmmm, this is going to be good!  Enjoy.

xo

Salad Dressing

Hi Everyone.  Tonight I'm going to be preparing a meal of fried tofu and brussels sprouts for which I already gave the recipes.  However, I am including a salad of mescalun greens and so I will give you my recipe for the dressing.

Lemon/Garlic Salad Dressing:

In a salad bowl, pour in some olive oil,  (about 2 tablespoons), salt, juice of 1/2 lemon and 2 cloves of garlic (pressed).  Put in the greens and mix around with you hands.  I like to put olives, caperberries, and pieces of goat cheese in my salads.  Sliced avocado is also very nice.  Cracked black peppercorns make a nice finish.

Substituting tamari or soy sauce for the lemon juice also makes a tasty dressing.  Enjoy!

xo 

Family Dinner

Hello.  Happy February!  January is over and tomorrow is Groundhog Day, so things are definitely moving in the right direction! 

My daughter-in-law is a wonderful cook specializing in Southeast Asian, specifically Laotian food, so it was with great pleasure that I sat at the table with my son and his family this weekend.  Phet prepared an amazing dinner consisting of foods that she grew up eating.  There was a traditional spicy salad consisting of fresh, raw, green beans, Thai chiles, garlic, fish sauce and shrimp paste which she pounded together with a mortar and pestle to release and marry the flavors.  The result was a salad tasting so fresh, spicy and bright, that I could not get enough of it.   She fried catfish to a golden perfection that was flavored with a little sesame oil and salt and pepper.  Nice and simple, and so good!   There was a stir-fry of shrimp, eggplant. mushrooms and squash cooked with most of the previously mentioned spices with the addition of dried lime leaves.  The dish was succulent and the eggplant and shrimp together made a particularly luscious combination both in taste and texture.  Accompanying all of this food was the traditional sticky rice, which has a light nutty flavor and sticks together nicely in the hand and can be used like bread ( but better ) to pick up the juices on your plate.  It was a truly memorable meal, delighting the senses and nourishing deeply, made all the more special by the wonderful company.  The spicy heat of the meal was the perfect antidote to the 0 degree temperature outdoors!

I'll be cooking again, so I'll have more recipes tomorrow.

xo  

Breakfast

Hi Everyone, as I am not cooking dinner this evening, this is a good time to talk about breakfast.  I eat the same, big, hearty breakfast every day and I LOVE it.  I wouldn't want to eat the same thing for dinner every night !!, but for breakfast, it works.  At breakfast,  I eat carbs. This meal fills me up and keeps me from thinking about eating for several hours, and after I eat it I always say yummmmmm.  Really.

Brown Rice, Hulled Barley, Lentils, and Eggs:

The brown rice, barley and lentils are all cooked in the same pot at the same time.  I use a little more rice than barley, both grains totaling a little more than half cup.  Add to the grains a small handful of lentils.  I put in a piece of kombu seaweed,  mainly because I love it.  However, I heard a report on the radio that stated that scientists were studying seaweed because they discovered  that seaweed in the ocean is impervious to bacteria.  Where there was bacteria harming the ocean environment, the seaweed was untouched.  The bacteria could not stay on the surface of the seaweed.  How this translates to humans is unclear, but I like the sound of it. If you don't want to eat the kombu, you can discard it and still get the nutrients from it being cooked in with the grains.  Put the grains, lentils and kombu in a pot with double the amount of water to grains + 1/4 cup.  Let that come to a boil and then cook slowly over a low flame.  When all the water is gone, the grains are done.  I heat them in a minute amount of olive oil adding some tamari or soy sauce for flavor.  I've been using Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  I also like some mesculum greens, undressed for breakfast, with just some salt and pepper, and wasabi on the grains and eggs.  Lately, I've been having the eggs soft boiled about 6 minutes.  To soft boil eggs, bring water to a boil and gently put in the eggs and let them cook to your liking.  3 minutes will give you a rather loose white and yolk.  5 to 6 minutes, a firm white and medium yolk.  10 minutes will give you a hard boiled egg.

You can cook the grains the night before while preparing dinner so you'll save time in the morning.  mmmmmmm, enjoy this savory and filling meal!

Delicious Memories

Hi Everyone, while thinking of tonight's meal, some delicious moments in Italy came to mind. Last January, my daughter, a good friend, and I had the good fortune to spend some time on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.  There is a small fish market across the street from the apartment in which we were staying.  The fish market is supplied daily by the local fishermen who fish the waters off the Amalfi Coast.  I learned that you had to go the the market rather early in the morning, because by noon, most of the fish was sold out.  The first day I went to the market I bought a large piece of filet.  Neither the name nor the look of the fish was familiar.  It was rather thick with a light pink color.  That night, when the three of us sat down to eat, we discovered the best piece of fried fish that we'd ever tasted!  We still speak of that meal to this day!  Indeed, there are many such culinary experiences to be had in Italy.  So tonight it's:

Fried Filet of Fish and Swiss Chard with Cannellini Beans

Tonight I'm going to use filet of cod, but this works just as well with sole, flounder, scrod etc. as long as it's fresh.  Dredge the filet in salted flour.  The flour keeps in the juices while giving a crisp outside.  Cover your pan with oil ( corn, peanut ) and heat.  Place the fish in the HOT oil and lower the flame to a medium heat.  Cook the filet for about 3 minutes on one side, and turn and cook another 3 minutes on the other.  The thickness of the filet will determine how long to fry the fish.  Sole or flounder will take less time than a ticker fish like cod.

Wash and tear the swiss chard.  Brown a couple of cloves of garlic in olive oil and salt.  Add the chard, a little water and salt.  As the chard is cooking add the beans and enough water to make the chard soupy.  I use canned beans for this and I like Progresso or Goya.  This dish only needs to cook for about ten minutes, however I find it tastes better if it's allowed to rest for another 10 minutes or so before serving.  mmmmmmm, I'm definitely hungry!  Enjoy!  

   

In Transit

Hi,  I'm not posting any recipes today as I'll be traveling and I don't know yet what I'm having for dinner.  However, I urge you to try the mushrooms from last night.  They were REALLY GOOD!!!

Ciao for now.

xo Christine   

No Carbs?

Hi.  You may have noticed that I haven't included carbs in my dinners.  I eat carbs at my morning meal and I will go into more detail about this at a later date.  For dinner, I generally like to eat lots of vegetables and protein.  While cooking, I like to snack on cheese ( no crackers ), olives and wine.  I'm fond of Bucheron, a french goat cheese and several types of olives.  An olive I've discovered recently is Castlevetrano, a green, buttery, sicilian olive.

Tonight I'll be eating fried tofu again along with: 

 

Lacinato Kale with Leek and Sauteed Mushrooms 

Wash and tear the kale.  Smash a couple of cloves of garlic and put in a pan with some olive oil and salt.  You may be noticing a pattern here.  Clean and slice a medium to large leek.  Brown the garlic, add the leek slices, stir, cover and cook over a low flame for a few minutes until the leek begin to soften.  Add the kale and salt.  No water.  Cover and cook over a low flame until the kale is soft.

You can use any type of mushroom.  I usually use cremini.  Clean by wiping rather than washing and cut the mushroom into quarters.  Brown garlic in olive oil and salt as you did for the kale, and put in the mushrooms.  Add a little more salt, cover and cook over a low flame.  Stir occasionally and when the mushrooms begin to release their water add some fresh, chopped parsley ( about 1/4 cup ).  Cook a few minutes more and stir.  Close the flame and sprinkle the mushrooms with parmigiano cheese. mmmmmmm....enjoy!  

Time for Dinner!

Growing up, dinner time was always a high point of the day, something to look forward to and savour.  That Grandma and my mother were good cooks, no doubt helped a lot.  Everyone sat down at the table together and the tv was off.  I still look forward to dinner time every day.

Tonight it's: Escarole, Brussels Sprouts and Fried Tofu Slabs

I'm going to saute the escarole.  Wash it and tear into smaller pieces.  Smash a couple of cloves of garlic with the flat edge of the knife and the palm of the hand.  Put the garlic and some olive oil( about 2 tablespoons) and salt into the pan.  Put the washed escarole on top, salt it, cover and cook over a low flame.  The escarole will take about 20 minutes to cook, but it must be checked from time to time.  When the escarole cooks down, the garlic begins to caramelize and so the escarole needs to be turned.  When it's done, the escarole will be nice and soft.

Wash and cut the sprouts in half.  Smash a couple of cloves of garlic and put into a pot with some olive oil and salt.  Brown the garlic and oil and add the spouts and a little water, ( about 1/4 cup ), salt, cover and cook over a low flame.  The sprouts are done when you can push a knife through  easily.  Do not over cook them.  It only takes a few minutes.  Be gentle.  They will be succulent. 

I don't bother cooking fried tofu in anything but a caste iron pan.  I've learned through experience that the tofu will be an oily mess if I use a regular fry pan.  So keeping that in mind...  Slice a cube of FIRM tofu into slabs about 1/4" thick.  Cover the bottom of the pan with cooking oil ( I use corn or peanut ) and place the slabs in the pan.  Cook over medium heat.  Do not turn the slabs until they turn easily and do not stick.  If they are sticking, wait and let them cook longer.  When ready, turn and let them cook on the other side.  They will be golden and crisp when done.  Close the flame and when the oil stops frying, sprinkle the slabs with tamari or soy sauce.  mmmmmmmmmm enjoy!

Hi Everyone!

I've decided to write this blog because I love to eat and my friends and relations enjoy my cooking.  My Sicilian-american grandmother taught me how to cook when I was a little girl.  As a young woman I became a vegetarian and got into macrobiotics which, to be brief, is a philosophy of eating and cooking based largely on what is fresh and local.  These days, I combine my Grandma's cooking with my own.  I do eat seafood, fish , dairy and occasionally a free-range bird. I'll be posting what I'm eating for dinner with the recipe for the meal.  

Whenever someone asked Grandma how she cooked something she always said, "First you take a pot."  So here we go!

Broccoli Rabe and Fried Oysters:

The rabe is best when it has a lot of flower clusters.  Wash it and tear it into smaller pieces. Tearing is a lot gentler than cutting or chopping.  Saute a couple of cloves of garlic in a tablespoon or so of olive oil and add salt.  I like to smash the garlic using a knife and the palm of my hand.  When the garlic is browned a little, add the greens, a little water, pinch of salt, cover and cook over a low flame for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

So much has been written about the oyster, the taste of the ocean!   I resolved to eat more oysters this year because I love them, and it's working out.

I eat 1/2 lb myself, and prefer larger plump ones for frying.  Dredge them in the flour of your choice.  Corn meal is good too.  The most important thing is getting the oil really hot.  Use corn or peanut oil.  Use enough to cover the bottom of your pan thoroughly.  A note about frying pans:  nothing beats a seasoned caste iron fry pan.  Your food will fry beautifully and NOT stick.

OK, back to the oysters.  Drop them into the very hot, but not smoking oil.  They should begin to brown after a few seconds.  When they look browned on one side turn them over.  If the oil is hot enough they will not stick.  They should cook about a minute on each side.  The should be crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle.  mmmmmmm, enjoy!!