REFLECTIONS ON A GOLDEN PLATE

Following the golden rule "if you don't love it, don't do it", I've always had fun in the kitchen. Sometimes it may be a great deal of work but it's always enjoyable and extremely satisfying to see people eat your food; it's as if they are eating a part of me. So, the build up to Easter can often be  fraught with great expectation. One fasts, attends church (often) and in addition to that, there are the dietary restrictions to consider (no meat being the rule). That said deciding what to eat and what you can't eat, on which day, must be met with imagination.

I decided to make Tagliatelle al Tónno on Good Friday. Considering it was truly the only meal of the day, it was appropriate that there was a bit of substance. That and a great salad of hearts of romaine lettuce, apples, avocados and blue cheese, it made a great meal to break the fast.

Tagliatelle al Tónno

It is not difficult to make fresh pasta; you just have to know  what you're doing. I've been making pasta in a food processor and a hand cranked pasta machine for years now and it's always worked just fine. However, recently I've found that using a stand mixer with a dough hook is a gentler way of kneading the dough and a far better mode of producing la  Sfolgia. Literally translated, it means "sheet", which when rolled ultra thin becomes transparent, just like a sheet billowing in the wind. You should be able to see your hand through the pasta sheet. There is a well in the center of the  flour in which the egg mixture is added and the dough hook mixes in a circular fashion incorporating all of the flour, little by little, until it results in a large mass (no dry bits of flour  should remain on the bottom or sides of the bowl). The flour and the egg are thus cajoled into binding together whereas the food processor violently shocks the ingredients into submission. Much better for the dough, just like Julia's chicken!

I made my "sfolgia" with "00" flour and I think it was the best noodle I ever produced. It had texture and depth and it wasn't wilted or limp, which often can be the case with fresh pasta. And it stretched to a good 15 inches by the time we were at no. 9 on the roller. Paper thin slices through which I could see my hand.

La Sfolgia

3 cups "00" flour

Pinch of Kosher salt

4 eggs

1 tbs. Olive Oil

Put the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer with the salt. Mix the eggs with the olive oil. Make a small well in the center of the flour pour the egg mixture into that and lower your dough hook into the well. Start out at a slow speed and gradually turn the motor to a higher speed but not too fast. Let this mix for about 2-3 minutes or longer, until everything comes together in one mass. When you have reached the point where all of the dough is collected into one ball, remove from the mixer and cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Tagliatelle

While the pasta is resting, you can make the sauce.

Tomato Sauce with Tuna

Olive oil

Optional: a pinch of red pepper flakes

Collectively called Soffrito

  1 medium onion, minced

  1 stalk celery minced

  1 small carrot, minced

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme

16 fresh basil leaves cut into chiffonade

1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1/2 lb. fresh tuna in oil

(Please refer to my blog entry of January 12, 2014 for the recipe for Tuna in Oil)

2 28 oz. cans peeled plum tomatoes in juice (preferably San Marzano) placed in a large mixing bowl and broken up with your hands

Fresh flat leaf parsley coarsely chopped

Salt and Pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed cast iron or stainless steel saucepan until it ripples and is about to smoke (you can add the pepper flakes at this stage if using). Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook them until the onions become translucent. Add the thyme and the tuna and blend into the soffrito. Breaking up the tuna as you stir is okay. Immediately add the tomatoes, bring to a boil and turn down the heat to a simmer. Add half the basil salt and pepper to taste and cover. Simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. When getting ready to serve, add the rest of the basil and the parsley and mix with the sauce.

For specific instructions on rolling out the dough and making noodles see my entry dated November 2, 2012 ("What I did during Hurricane Sandy Part II").

Fill a large pot with water. I use a stock pot; the more water the better. Put on high heat and cover and bring the water to the boil. When the water boils add about 4 tbs. Kosher salt (and handful is good). Add the pasta and cook for about 4 minutes. Since you will have quite a bit of sauce, it's best to prepare a large serving bowl by putting some of the sauce in the bowl with a ladleful of the pasta cooking water. Mix thoroughly and after draining the pasta in a colander, add the pasta and toss. Serve immediately with more sauce. Sorry: it's fish. No cheese!

Buon Appetito!

ROAST PORK SHOULDER WITH ONIONS AND MUSHROOMS AND RED WINE

I'VE MADE THIS RECIPE a little differently each time but this recipe sticks pretty close to the original (from Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock) with a few changes here and there to add a little spice.

Roast Pork Shoulder with the Crackling

1 whole shoulder of pork
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1-1/2 tsp. dried thyme
5 cloves garlic
10-12 bay leaves

2 onions sliced very thin

1 bottle red wine or port
2 tbs. unsalted butter
1 shallot minced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
A couple of grates of nutmeg
1/2 cup heavy cream

Sometimes you do things on the spur of the moment, and even though you don't have all the ingredients, there is enough of "other" ingredients to well make up for the deficiency. In this case, the recipe called for brining the pork which I didn't do. I didn't have the red wine or the port but I had white wine and I had balsamic vinegar so I used that instead. I wasn't thrilled with the outcome of the sauce at the end and as you will see I add a few things to liven up the overall roundness of the flavor, which truly did work here.

Preheat the oven to 325º.

First of all, rinse the pork under cold water and pat dry thoroughly. Do not score the fat; you want to keep it intact. Mix the salt, pepper and the thyme together. Make pockets with a sharp paring knife and insert some of the herb mixture into each pocket and then insert the slivers of garlic and bay leaf. Sprinkle on the rest of the herb mixture on top of the pork. (You can prepare the roast the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight.)

Place the onions on the bottom of a heavy bottomed roasting pan which will fit the pork snugly. Place the pork on top of the onions. 

I used 2 cups white wine and 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and poured this on the bottom of the pan. 

Cover the entire roast with parchment paper and cover that with a double or even triple layer of aluminum foil, ensuring that the entire pot is completely covered and sealed.

Place in the oven and cook for 4 1/2-5 hours.

When you're getting close to the 4 1/2 hour mark, melt the butter and add the shallots and the mushrooms and the nutmeg. Cook until golden and all liquid has evaporated. Turn off heat and reserve.

Once the pork is done, remove the pork from the pan and place on a warm platter. Let rest for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, strain the liquid - there will be a lot - from the roasting pan through a fine sieve into a sauce pan and press as much liquid out of the onions as possible.** Place the sauce on a moderately high flame and cook and reduce by at least half. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes. 

Turn the oven up to 425º.

While the sauce is reducing, try to remove the entire layer of fat from the top of the roast in one piece. Place on a roasting pan and place in the 425º oven for about 15 minutes to make crackling. Once the crackling is crisp, remove from the oven and let it cool somewhat before cutting into squares.

To finish the sauce: 

Try to skim as much fat from the stock as possible with a paper towel. Add about 3 tsp. applesauce and make a roux from a little of the sauce and 2 tbs. dried Coleman's mustard. Add this to the sauce and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the cream and cook for another 5 minutes at a low simmer. Do not let the cream boil.

Cut the crackling into squares and arrange on top of the roast. Serve with the sauce on the side with boiled potatoes and carrots or any vegetable of your choosing.

Bon appetit!

** Not one to waste anything in the kitchen, I add the remaining onions to chicken or beef stock for instant onion soup. It's delicious!

FENNEL AND CUCUMBER WITH ROQUEFORT

I LOVE FENNEL and the addition of cucumbers with Roquefort makes a splendid salad for any occasion. If one wanted a truly green green salad, one could even add an avocado with some tarragon to make it akin to Green Goddess. 

Fennel and Cucumbers with Roquefort

The first rule with fennel salad is this: no vinegar; it really doesn't need it. It's very simple: a little olive oil, a little salt and pepper and that's it. The addition of cucumbers and cheese or avocado shouldn't really change the equation.

1 fennel bulb (outer leaves trimmed and peeled)
1 seedless cucumber
3-4 tbs. crumbled Roquefort 

Using a mandolin with the hand guard, slice the fennel very thinly. You can cut the slices in half after you've used the mandolin or if the fennel bulb is very large, cut it in two pieces before slicing. 

Peel the cucumber, and cut into 2 inch sections and divide each section into 4 strips and cut the strips in half (you want chunks or rather large dice).

Add the cucumber to the fennel in a non-reactive stainless steel bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle oil on and toss. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  

Buon appetito!

TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT!

Now that I've banished the butter and buried the bread and allow pasta in the door only infrequently, I've developed a completely different sense of eating. I think sticking to all four food groups is a good idea but the whole point of this exercise is to Eat Less Food (the ELF diet! Hat tip to my friend Leonard for that wonderful coinage!).

If you're going to eat nothing but vegetables, roasting is a way to go because you can roast enough to last you for about a week and make each meal with a little variety. The picture above is a very good demonstration on how one can become quite creative while making the food interesting and delicious too. 

You will see that there is a bed of watercress and on top of that I've arranged some roast chicken, bocconcini, roasted cherry tomatoes, raw fennel salad with olive oil (NEVER with vinegar), roasted golden beets and in the center some caponata bordered with Carciofi alla Romana.

You might be wondering why it's been such a long time since I last wrote so, without going into too much detail, my kidneys and gout and a few other complications (like kidney stones and a few visits to the ER) have impeded my activities quite a bit. 

I want to just interject here that since I started my diet in January, I have successfully lost 27 pounds! 

It has been my great disappointment to discover that all websites dealing with gout only speak about what you can't eat. Gout is caused by high levels of uric acid. The general fallacy is that gout stems from a highly rich diet which, while somewhat true, doesn't nearly address the bigger picture at hand. Gout is caused by foods which contain high levels of purine which in turn cause levels of uric acid to rise dramatically and cause an enormous amount of pain to those who suffer from it. Foods like peas, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms; offal, red meat, game, rich shellfish, such as lobster, mussels and scallops, should be avoided at all costs. I'm still investigating and the jury is still out on squid and octopus; oysters, thank God, are okay! 

The kidney diet isn't much better. Gout and uric acid play a big part in the cause of kidney stones and the simple answer to it all is to drink an enormous amount of water every day. It helps to flush away anything that may help to form kidney stones. These are just basic descriptions from a lay person to my general readers. The exact science can be found on almost any medical website, including gout.com, the Mayo Clinic's website and cookbooks, and an excellent website for kidney disease called litholink.com (they have a list of acceptable foods, some of which come in conflict with the gout diet verboten list, so you must choose your weapons and battles carefully). 

But I don't want to talk about diets here as much as I want to talk about what one can actually eat within restrictions; especially for those of us who suffer from either or both of these ailments. Here is my take on it as I've experienced it during this very interesting period of trial.

Almost any roasted or raw vegetable will do, except those mentioned above, including:

Artichokes (preferably raw)
Arugula
Avocados
Beets
Broccoli (roasted and dipped in yogurt with lime juice and a dash of Sriracha is quite exceptional as a snack)
Cabbage (any)

Carrots

Celery

Celery Root 
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Fennel

Garlic
Ginger
Kale (!!!)
Leeks
Lettuce, Lettuce and more Lettuce (raw or grilled)

Onions

Potatoes (boiled)
Scallions
Shallots
Sweet Potatoes
Reconstituted seaweed in broth or cooked with rice noodles or rice (again NO soy sauce or mirin or any Asian condiment)
Tomatoes

Turnips
Watercress (raw)

Zucchini

Fresh herbs, including and especially Parsley

 . . . the list is quite endless as you can see and I've only touched the surface . . . aren't we fortunate?! I haven't seen any mention either for or against bell peppers but I've eaten them and have had no adverse side effects so, unless otherwise contradicted, I'd say eat away. 

Meat: beef is definitely taboo (but I've cheated once or twice with lamb and have had no adverse effects), but small amounts of very lean pork once a week, or white meat chicken and/or turkey are perfectly acceptable. I'd steer clear of any processed food, especially deli food or anything containing high levels of sodium. And because of the intensely high sodium content, Asian food is positively and absolutely verboten! Sashimi is okay but no soy sauce, no roe, no fatty fish, no shellfish, thank you very much!

Fish: cod and salmon are out. Raw tuna is okay or if you make your own packed in oil as I do, use only a very little amount of  salt. Sole, turbot, flounder, are okay. Mackerel is not. As you can see from previous entries herein, I have made Brandade with salt cod but I soak the fish for 5 or 6 days with refreshed water at least twice a day which effectively removes pretty much all of the salt. It doesn't take away any of the texture or flavor, trust me. And because it's cooked in milk, there is an added richness that makes this an extraordinarily delicious repast, especially when cooked and processed with potatoes, celery root, and turnips (my own little invention over all potato), plus the added olive oil into the mix. I eat it with celery sticks (always following the no bread rule).

Salt is definitely the enemy with this diet. 2400 mgs a day (that's about 1 1/2 tablespoons) is all that is allowed. You can flavor food just as well with tabasco, cayenne, lemon or lime juice and other natural herbs. Like sex, salt isn't all that it's cracked up to be and like sugar, it will kill you.

In January, I gave up carbs and sugar and I mean completely for 2 weeks straight. The carbs were a cinch, but the sugar; it was almost as bad as stopping smoking! I lost about 10 pounds during those two weeks, though, which certainly was encouraging. I went back to fresh fruit gradually, always sticking to apples and pears to start and then gradually progressing to bananas, grapes, and cherries (raw are extremely good for gout). The list for fresh fruits is also quite extensive (including pineapples, strawberries, blueberries watermelon, papaya, oranges, grapefruits, lemons and more).

You can eat rice but only white or black. Quinoa, and Millet are very, very good, and high in protein and vitamins. The kidney diet calls for white bread and not whole grains or whole wheat which is in direct conflict with the sugar thing in carbohydrates. I'd just forget bread entirely and call it a day. The same with any high carbohydrate cereal. I loathe the stuff, but oatmeal is probably the one and only cereal worth eating.

Dairy products are okay as long as you drink 2% and eat 2% yogurt (100% skim has more sugar than half and half!). Try to avoid animal fats like butter. Eggs are okay as well: poached or an omelet cooked in olive oil are best. You can eat cheese occasionally - I like the part skim mozzarella sticks as a snack and I do like yogurt in the morning with a grapefruit. But you can eat mozzarella, ricotta, cheddar, gouda, roquefort, and the like (all part skim) in small quantities and you can eat nuts and seeds galore. And as far as oils are concerned, olive oil is pretty much the way to go. I've recently tried avocado oil and it is delicious and doesn't burn like olive oil or other oils. It won't smoke or burn up to 500º! I don't deep fry so I don't think I have to worry.

I was at the doctor the other day and found out that I have very, very low levels of something called citrate. Eating lemons or making lemonade and drinking it every day will raise the citrate levels and help to prevent kidney stones, but getting medication for this is probably more efficacious and easier to swallow than a liter of lemonade everyday.  It's also very important to remember that if you are instructed to maintain a water regimen of 3 liters or more a day, you should also be drinking Gatorade or the like to replace the electrolytes lost through drinking so much water.

Please, to those of you reading this, if you have corrections or suggestions, please write in the comment section so the audience at large (and I) can read any other important facts regarding gout, kidney disease, and of course, eating less food. I hate to say it, but, the rule of thumb in this household is this: if it's advertised on television, DON'T EAT IT!

And finally, I wish I could write down all the recipes I've made over the past 3 months but the majority are already included in this blog. Just search if you're looking for something special. Everything in the picture above is on this blog, except the bocconcini which is from an Italian specialty store. They're not time consuming if you know your was around the kitchen. 

More to come soon, I promise! Oh yes, you can eat chocolate but only 65% cocoa or higher. No sugar!!!! And on that note:

Bon appetit!

GREEN BEANS TWO WAYS

I KNOW THAT THEY'RE REALLY NOT in season but . . . I'm going to write about them anyway and I'm going to write down two recipes for plain old green beans which, if you're not crazy about them now, will change your mind about this vegetable forever. It's really quite simple. One of these recipes I got from a friend next door and the other from a friend far away. You can make these in less than 20 minutes.

1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed

salt

olive oil

Boil a big pot of water. Add 1 tbs. salt when the water reaches the boiling point. Add the beans and cook for about 7 or 8 minutes. You don't want them to be completely cooked. Drain the beans, put them back in the pot and set over a moderately high flame. Add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil and saute them until they start to crinkle and brown a little. Add salt. Toss and remove from flame. Serve immediately.

Green Bean French Fries

These are especially good as a snack but must be eaten piping hot. Just as with French Fries, they wilt and lose their deliciousness the more they cool off.

Preheat oven to 400º

1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed

olive oil

salt

1 rectangular roasting pan lined with parchment paper. Add enough olive oil to make a thin film over entire surface (3 tbs. or so). Add 1 tbs. Kosher salt and place the beans in a parallel position on the pan so you can roll them around the oil and the salt.

Place in the oven and roast for about 20 minutes or until they are crunchy, crisp and slightly browned and shriveled. Serve immediately. 

Bon appetito!

THE DIET CONTINUES APACE

AS I SAID, I'D BE BACK VERY SOON AND here I am. I haven't written in a while and I apologize to my readers who watch me more closely than others. I received a query yesterday asking me why I hadn't written anything. Well, the fact is, I've been too busy with other events in my life (my piano rebuilding, which is completed, health obligations, etc., etc.). There is always something and to put it bluntly, I just wasn't inspired to write and you wouldn't want that, would you? An uninspired, contrived blog on the thing most of us love to do: eat?! Boring! You may recall that the very same thing occurred exactly at this time last year. In that particular case, though, I wasn't dieting.

Speaking of which, I should interject here that I have lost 18 pounds since January 9th and am committed to losing yet another 10-12 pounds just to satisfy my own sense of self-determination. The weather here in New York hasn't helped in the area of exercise, neither for me or my dog. It's been a record year for snow - 55.6 inches and counting - and it continues to snow at this very moment. Be that as it may, snow or not, I succeeded in banishing carbohydrates and sugar for the first two weeks (well, startlingly, starch I succeeded rather easily, but there was just a little cheating on the sugar). In any event, I lost my first 9 pounds in the first two weeks and since January, I can attest to not having had any sugar whatsoever except the occasional piece of chocolate and an apple or pear hear and there. I have, to date, eaten pasta on only 4 occasions and I've eaten perhaps 6 slices of bread since I began this regime. I must admit that when I did eat bread, I had a strangely uncomfortable feeling in my stomach; an awkward heaviness if you will. I didn't like it at all. That said, I'm going to extol the glories of quinoa and seeds and nuts and vegetables in the next few entries as well as a few other things I've discovered along the way. One can have their cake and eat it too, and all without processed sugar!

First, let's start with the very best of addictive snacks: my own version of trail mix.

NUTS AND SEEDS

1 cup unsalted raw cashews

1 cup pepitas

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup wasabi-coated dried peas

a handful of dark or golden raisins

1/2 dozen dried chopped apricots

Mix together and store in an air-tight container or a large jar. As you can see, 4+ cups is quite a lot and for less than $12.00, it's rather inexpensive when you think this will last you at least 3-4 weeks. Compare prices for the prepackaged stuff at $3.99 for 2 or 3 oz.! And there is absolutely no cooking involved. All you do is mix!

Eat at your leisure when you're peckish or carry in a zip lock bag for a light snack in-between meals. They make for very good - and silent - grazing at the opera!

DELICIOUS LEFTOVERS!

THE GOLDEN RULE IN ANY SICILIAN FAMILY is to never waste food. Traditions die hard and growing up, there were many an evening that my mother would whip up something as if from nothing. So, when you've got some of this and some of that, add a little prosciutto and a side dish, what you've got is a nice bite to eat! It certainly can satisfy one's hunger. Pictured below is a plate of duck prosciutto with roasted vegetables and a dish of octopus and risotto. I meant to post this ages ago but somehow got sidetracked. I have a few things left up my sleeve though and I will be back with more blog entries very soon.
Bon appetito!

ANTIPASTO PLATTER

INSALATA DI RISO E POLPO

What you see is a small plate of roasted vegetables and duck prosciutto and a very small portion of rise salad with octopus.