Category Archives: ITALIAN CUISINE

PUTTANESCA

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I first had Puttanesca (Spaghetti alla puttanesca  – literally “whore’s spaghetti” in Italian) many years ago at our good friend Gaspare Tranis’ Italian restaurant. I was immediately smitten. And truthfully I don’t remember where I found this recipe or if I just played around with ingredients until I stumbled on to the taste I wanted. All I care about now is that Puttanesca is quick and easy to prepare, consists of ingredients I almost always have on hand (being the consummate replacement shopper that I am), and Mr. C. and I both truly love it. And it’s meatless! Oh I know, you could legitimately argue that Puttanesca isn’t technically meatless because of the salty little fish Mr. C. and I so dearly love. But for those of us who are trying to reduce the amount of meat (beef, lamb, pig products) in our diet, Puttanesca is in essence “meatless”. And I know what you’re thinking. Puttanesca being meatless is kind of like saying someone is just a little bit pregnant. They either are, or they aren’t! But for me, enjoying a dish that is darned close to meatless is good enough. And not being even the slightest bit pregnant is even better!!

  • ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • ¼ tsp. dried red pepper flakes, or more to taste
  • 2-oz. can anchovy fillets (or 10-12 fillets)
  • 32-oz. tomato sauce
  • 18-20 kalamata olives, sliced
  • 2 T. drained capers
  • 12-oz. spaghetti, linguine, or penne pasta, cooked al dente
  • ¼ c. chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a medium covered saucepan, heat olive oil and add onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Sauté until garlic is just starting to brown. Add the anchovy fillets and stir them around until they are all mushed up. Add the tomato sauce, cover the pan, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in the olives and capers. Remove from heat and add pasta. Cover and let sit for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving. Pass Parmesan cheese separately.

Side Dish Suggestions: a simple green salad and Focaccia or baguette slices

Wine Pairing: a rich Merlot, a bold Cabernet Sauvignon (Puttanesca can stand it), or a chewy Lemberger

FOCACCIA

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Focaccia is a flat Italian yeast bread that is easy to make and absolutely delicious. And even if you’ve been baking bread for as long as I have, I’m sure you will love the ease with which this bread goes together.  First of all, there are only 6 ingredients in the dough! What’s not to love about that? And none of those 6 ingredients is exotic, expensive, or hard to find. (I’ll get to the fleur de sel part a little later. For now, let’s just bask in the relative inexpensive merits of the recipe thus far!) In addition to being very easy to prepare, a rustic appearance is almost mandatory. In other words, no presentation points are awarded for straight lines, in fact demerits are given if the bread looks too perfect!  But the best reason to bake Focaccia is still its’ lovely flavor and the fact that this soft thin bread is exceptionally versatile. Obviously Focaccia is great served as part of an Italian dinner. But straight out of the oven, sliced in fairly small pieces, Focaccia is also a fabulous appetizer. Serve it with a small bowl of dunking oil (extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chopped garlic and parsley, kosher salt, and pepper) and your guests will be very happy with you. But in my opinion Focaccia is at its best when used to sop up recalcitrant sauces that take little walk-abouts on your plate.  (Some people are fussy about different foods “touching”, and this bread is a life saver in that regard.)  Focaccia is also delicious dunked in thick soups and stews and as a mop for those last little bits left on the sides of your bowl or on your plate.  (It is ever so much more socially acceptable to use a piece of bread as a mop than say licking your bowl or plate or using your finger. I’ve seen both done, believe me. Remember those 4 kids I mentioned earlier in my blog?) And speaking of earlier, I did mention I would talk about fleur de sel.

According to Wikipedia, fleur de sel (flower of salt) is a hand-harvested sea salt collected by scraping only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans. Traditional French fleur de sel is collected off the coast of Brittany, most notably in the town of Guerande. Due to its relative scarcity and its labor-intensive production, fleur de sel is one of the more expensive salts. Although I love to use fleur de sel on this bread, it is definitely not necessary. Kosher salt and a less precocious sea salt are perfectly acceptable substitutes. Just remember not to use too much. There is already ample salt in the bread dough itself.

  • 1 1/3 c. warm water
  • 1 T. or 1 pkg. active dry yeast
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil, divided + more for pouring over the dough
  • 3 1/2 c. flour
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
  • fleur de sel, large crystal sea salt, or kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper

Pour water into a mixing bowl, sprinkle with yeast, and stir in sugar, salt, and ¼ cup of the olive oil. Let rest (proof) for 5 minutes. Add 3 cups flour and knead for 4-5 minutes adding flour as needed to make a smooth and soft dough. Round dough up in the bowl, pour a little olive oil over the top, and turn dough with your hands (the best tool in your kitchen, by the way) until the entire surface is coated. Cover with a tea towel and let rest for an hour. Pour about a tablespoon of the remaining olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on the greased baking sheet. Pat dough out until it is about ½-inch thick. (Remember, it should not be a perfect rectangle.)  Poke holes all over the surface. Slather enough of the remaining olive oil over the dough to completely cover the surface. Sprinkle with chopped garlic, rosemary, salt of choice, and a couple of grinds of black pepper (not too much).  Let rest for about 30 minutes. Bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let bread stay in pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Try adding kalamata olives, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, or Italian seasoning to the dough for a nice flavor surprise. (Add along with the flour.) Serve Focaccia warm or at room temperature.

 

BABA AU RHUM

One never knows what might just come from a simple question asked by your husband while he is completing a cross word puzzle. One morning  Mr. C. was doing his daily New York Times cross word puzzle (he does them every morning in the time it takes me to drink my Americano) and the clue was Baba au _ _ _ _ (fill in the blanks). Well he came up with rhum, but neither one of us had any idea what it meant. I happened to be near my computer so I did a search. Well the first thing that came up was Ina Garten’s recipe for “Baba au Rhum”. I read the recipe and told Mr. C. about my discovery. The recipe sounded so good, I just had to give it a try (with my own spin, of course). So, since it was a couple of weeks before Christmas, and I needed a dessert for both Christmas Eve and Christmas day, I thought a double recipe of Baba au Rhum would be perfect.  I don’t believe “perfect” adequately describes this dessert. It is possibly the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. Everyone else loved it too. It has now become number 1 on the “Extended Family Holiday Sacred Side Dishes and Desserts List”. I’m fairly certain that if I don’t make this fabulous dessert again next Christmas, and every year thereafter, I might meet the “hereafter” sooner than nature and the Gods of such things had originally planned for me! Just sayin’…….

  • 1/3 c. dried currents
  • 1 T. + 2/3 c. dark rum
  • 5 T. butter, divided, room temperature
  • 1/2 c. milk
  • 1 T. active dry yeast (1 pkg.)
  • 2 T. + 1 c. sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 2/3 c. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • ½ tsp. + 2 tsp. vanilla
  •  3/4 c. apricot preserves
  • 1 T. water
  • 2 c. heavy cream
  • 3-4 T. powdered sugar

Combine the currants and rum in a small bowl and set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and brush a Bundt pan, tube pan, or kugelhopf mold with the melted butter. Be sure every surface is coated with the butter. Warm the milk and pour it into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You don’t want the milk to kill your poor little yeasty beasties, so not too warm.) Stir in the yeast and 2 tablespoons sugar and allow to sit (proof) for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, flour, salt, and remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Beat the mixture for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow dough to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. After the dough has doubled, stir in the currants. Spoon the very sticky dough into the prepared pan, smooth the top, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise for another 50 minutes to an hour. Place the Baba in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then gently encourage the Baba to release from it’s pan and land gracefully on a serving plate. (Saying “good Baba” whilst releasing Baba from its baking pan always helps, by-the-way!) Meanwhile, while the Baba is baking, prepare the rum syrup that will be poured over the cake when it is out of the oven. Place the remaining 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cups of water in a small saucepan. Simmer until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 2/3 cup dark rum and the ½ teaspoon vanilla. Set syrup aside until the cake is out of the oven and on its final resting place. While the cake is still hot, gently and slowly pour or spoon as much of the rum syrup onto the cake as it will absorb. (Don’t be surprised if it sucks up almost all of the liquid. It will be a thirsty little Baba, make no mistake.) You will know when it has had its fill (so to speak), when standing puddles of liquid start appearing on the cake plate. At this point heat the apricot preserves with the 1 tablespoon of water and brush the mixture over every little nook and cranny of the Baba. Let cool completely before serving. When you are ready to serve, whip the heavy cream to hard peaks (not too long or you will end up with butter), add the powdered sugar, and the remaining 2 teaspoons of vanilla and continue whipping just until all ingredients combined.  Serve slices of Baba with a dollop of whipped cream on each piece.

At this point, I think it might be a good idea for me to recommend that before you serve this amazing dessert, you take the time for just one more tiny little preparation. In order for you to be ready to humbly and graciously acknowledge all the glowing compliments you will receive from your guests, you should mentally prepare what I lovingly refer to as an “acceptance” speech. Nothing over the top you realize, just  a conception of how you are going to graciously accept the many compliments you are inevitably going to receive. You might consider, for example, a modest nod to your superior baking skills, perhaps an antidote about how clever you were to find the recipe, an honest statement about how horribly hard this recipe is to prepare, and perhaps close with an endearing comment about how happy it makes you to be able to serve this incredible dessert to those you hold so dear. Like I said, a humble and gracious acknowledgement, nothing over the top!

 

 

DUCK RAGÙ WITH FETTUCCINE

I love duck. To me it is the quintessential poultry. It is extremely delicious and unlike other poultry, it is almost always moist due to its high fat content. (Duck breast meat has about 15 g of fat, while turkey and chicken breast meat contain about 9 g each.)  Don’t get me wrong, I love chicken and turkey too, even an occasional rabbit (sorry all you Bugs Bunny lovers out there). But if my mouth is screaming for a rich poultry experience, it is to the lowly ducky I will go for my fix.  And even though duck meat is more caloric than say chicken, most people tend to eat considerably less of it, again because it is so rich. So therefore, in my considered opinion, do not shy away from duck meat.  If you happen to hear a package of duck breasts calling your name from the frozen food case at your local grocery store, respond by grabbing yourself a four pack. Then, clasping the package firmly in your hands, run (don’t walk) to the nearest check-out stand! Let those babies defrost and try this ragù recipe on for size. You will probably want to include me in your will after you have taken a bite or two, but please don’t. I value my status as a kept woman way too much to have any money of my own!

  • 2 boneless Muskovy or Moulard duck breasts
  • ½ medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • ½ c. dry red wine
  • 2 c. chicken stock
  • 14.5-oz. can chopped tomatoes in juice, San Marzano tomatoes, if possible
  • ½ lb. fettuccine, cooked al dente
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 T. chopped fresh parsley

Trim off a small amount of the skin from around the duck breast. (You want some skin to remain, but not too much.) Slice just through the top of the skin at about ¼-inch intervals in a crisscross pattern. (This will allow the fat to render off while you are cooking the duck.) Pat the duck dry and lightly season with salt and pepper. Pre-heat a non-stick skillet to medium low and gently lay the duck breasts on the hot skillet skin side down. No fat required. Fry until the skins are a deep brown color, about 6-8 minutes. Turn the breasts and cook for about 2 more minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Meanwhile add the onion, garlic, and rosemary to the duck fat. Cook slowly over low heat for about 6 minutes or until the onion is softened and golden brown. Add the wine, bring to a boil and cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated. Return the duck to the skillet, skin side up, along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and gently simmer for 1 hour. Transfer the duck to a cutting board. Remove the sauce from the heat and purée with an immersion blender. Return the pan to the heat and simmer until the sauce has thickened a bit. Meanwhile, dice the duck (skin and all) into pieces a bit smaller than a sugar cube.  Add the duck back to the sauce and taste before you season with salt and pepper. (Always taste before you add final seasonings. The sauce may not need any more salt or pepper.) Add the pasta to the sauce and serve immediately garnished with fresh parsley.

Side dish suggestion: a simple green salad and crusty baguette slices

Wine pairing: This ragù can stand up to a hearty Cabernet Sauvignon or a chewy Merlot. Either would be wonderful.