CUCCIDATI

Sicilian Filled Christmas Cookies 

Cuccidati

When I was a very little boy, I remember living under the kitchen table while my mother, my grandmother, all my aunts, and countless cousins as well as other Sicilian women known only to me as zia this or zia that, would spend a month of Sundays baking Christmas cookies.  My father and uncles would invariably filter in, one by one, to taste a morsel of this, a crumb of that in between quarters of the various football teams, but first and foremost, the Green Bay Packers. Because my grandmother’s birthday fell on Christmas Day, this holiday in particular required planning on a grand scale and sweets played a large part in the unfolding culinary drama. The recipe that follows represents the very epicenter of the vast repertoire and relentless dedication to baking that was cultivated and handed down generation to generation. It is where I found my roots as a cook and baker.

Makes at least 400-500 cookies.

Cookie dough:

6   sticks chilled unsalted butter

3   cups sugar

4   tsp. baking powder

18 eggs

1   tsp. salt

2   tsp. vanilla

1   tsp. almond extract

16 cups flour

In a very large stand mixer with a paddle attachment (Kitchenaid is best if you have one), cream the butter and the sugar until creamy; add all other ingredients except the flour and mix until completely blended. It should be a pale yellow color.

Change the blade to a dough hook. Add the flour a little at a time. I'd start out with a half a cup to ensure you don't get flour all over the place and then start adding more and more until it takes on the consistency of dough. You'll need a lot of flour!

Regarding flour: all it takes until the consistency is right for rolling and filling the dough. My Mother's recipe asserts with great confidence: "about 18 cups!!!"

Filling:

4     boxes pitted Dates

4     pkgs. Figs

1     lb. Raisins

1     lb. Walnuts

1/2  lb. Pecans

The zest of two oranges (you can use the juice as well - no seeds)

The zest of two lemons (no juice)....you can use a grater to get the zest if you don't mind scraping your hands up....see below

4     jars mincemeat

Optional: 

1     jar apricot jelly or orange marmalade

Rum, cognac, grand marnier, cointreau (whichever you prefer) to taste. The last time I made them (Christmas 2010) I used about a cup of Rum and Grand Marnier mixed together. 

The recipe calls for a food grinder which is very labor intensive. Even with a Cuisinart, it's a lot of work as you will find out! A Kitchenaid or other large mixmaster is also preferred for making the dough. 

Place the dates in a food processor with the standard metal blade. Process until completely ground up. Remove dates and put into a very large bowl. Process each of the fruit and nut ingredients separately until ground up and put into the large bowl with each of the items. You can peel the lemon and the oranges and process them together in the food processor if you prefer; it's a lot less work. Mix well with your hands. It will be very, very sticky. Start adding the rum or whatever you want to flavor it with but i would stick to rum, brandy or Grand Marnier. You don't want it to be runny, though, so go slowly with the booze, letting each amount you add be totally absorbed into the mixture before adding more, but you should aim for a round taste; sweet, succulent with just the subtlest hint of alcohol. You want a dense mass of dark paste. 

Preheat oven to 400º F

Roll out dough on floured board and cut with the rim of a small glass or round cookie cutter. Fill each circle of dough with a small amount of filling and fold over to make a crescent (half moon). Press down with finger tips to seal (a beaten egg or an egg with some milk is optional to brush the rim of the dough for a better seal), then take a fork and press the prongs into the dough to make a slight impression for decorative purposes. This also helps the dough bake with more color and texture thus making a better tasting cookie. Continue doing this until all the dough is used or you've given up, whichever comes first! Fortitude, determination and endurance are key here because this is the worst part of the job, filling the cookies. 

You will need as many floured cookie sheets as possible (you can bake several sheets at a time but you should monitor the progress and turn the sheets if necessary to prevent over/under baking or burning. You want an even golden toasted color. I would start out timing at 8 minutes and then check the cookies for brownness, evenness, etc. And then bake for 2-4 more minutes. Some ovens are hotter than others which means the timing may have to be adjusted. Rule of thumb here: less cooked is better than over cooked as the filling will dry out. Place cookies on a floured cookie sheet and bake for 10 -15 minutes. Let cool completely.

At this point, your entire kitchen will be a sea of cookies and there probably won't be an available surface for anything else. Make sure you reserve a lot of space for the cookies to cool (preferably overnight). The kitchen table or the dining room table with all the leaves in place covered with a good oilskin tablecloth works very well for this. 

Make the glaze immediately before you are about to decorate the cookies. 

Glaze:

2 lbs. Powdered Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

Milk (mix in enough to get the right consistency. You won't need a lot but you should definitely use a sieve to filter in the sugar with the milk. Do this slowly to make sure the sugar dissolves otherwise you're going to have lumpy glaze. I'd do it with a fork in a large metal bowl

Several packages or containers of colored confectioner's sprinkles or non pareils: red, pink, green, blue, silver, gold (preferable in "dust" form) plus little silver and gold "seed pearls" (expensive but worth it). You can find these at baking specialty stores or on line. They are expensive but the cookies look so fantastic - and beautiful - with them I wouldn't do them without. It's totally optional though.

When cookies are cooled and laid out on large flat surface, take a pastry brush or several if more than one person will be doing this (you can use a very small paint brush that you can get at a hardware store. Paint brushes must be new and never have been in contact with paint of any kind.) Dip into glaze and brush a light coat of glaze on each cookie, a person should be right behind you with the sprinkles, sprinkling each cookie so that it all adheres to the glaze before it dries and hardens. 

The finished, glazed and decorated confections must dry for at least four hours, preferably overnight before you start putting them in air tight containers. Best to keep a window ajar as cold air helps them to dry. These cookies freeze extremely well. 500 cookies can last a long time if you're not entertaining on a large scale. They make wonderful little house gifts to friends and family over the holidays.

You will have leftover filling. Freeze it for next year!

Have fun!

Un Timballo di Pasta con Pesce di Raspo

This recipe is an adaptation from one of the most gorgeous cookbooks in my collection called Venezia food & dreams. by Tessa Kiros.  

Timballo of Monkfish in Bechamel
and Passato di Pomodoro

A Timballo is an ancient musical instrument resembling a drum, i.e., a timpani. Therefore, the shape of the Timballo is used here to signify a culinary drum. Sometimes the drum is formed with very long ziti shaped noodles with large holes in the center, but can also be formed with sheets of pasta which line the borders of a rather large oven-proof bowl or souffle dish or even a casserole dish with a cover. However, lining the casserole is probably the last step of the process in making this very imaginative and beautiful dish. 

This dish calls for the marriage of fish, Bechamel and a passato di pomodoro which is then mixed with a variety of different shaped pastas which are then placed inside the lining of the casserole. It can, however, be made with any variety of ingredients, including tomatoes, eggplant, or any other assortment of vegetables. In some recipes, especially in the South and in Sicily, the lining of the timballo is made with very thin slices of eggplant that are dusted with semolina to create a crust after baking.

For my timballo, you will need enough freshly rolled out pasta to encase a large casserole dish with pasta dough (about 5 large, long sheets).

Pasta Dough

3 cups flour

2 eggs

6 egg yolks

1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Passato di Pomodoro

1/2 lb. Monkfish, cut into medallions

3 lbs. fresh tomatoes (a mixture of fresh Heirlooms, San Marzano and Plum Tomatoes) coarsely chopped in a mini food processor or with a large chef's knife

EVOO

1/4 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 cloves smashed garlic

1 cup dry white wine

8-10 fronds Saffron soaked in 3 tbsp. white wine

4-6 whole sprigs of fresh thyme

3-4 tsp. tomato paste (if necessary)

salt and pepper to taste

Bechamel Sauce

4 Tbsp. Unsallted Butter

4 Tbsp. Flour

3 cups whole Milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Nutmeg

1/2 cup Gruyere

1 cup freshly grated Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano or a mixture of both

8-10 slices of soft Blue Cheese or Gorgonzola

1/2 lb. Penne or any other macaroni made from Farro

3/4 lb. Wide noodled pasta with crinkly edges, resembling Pappardelle

Mix the flour and all other ingredients for the pasta in a food processor until a ball forms and rolls around the canister of the food processor. Remove from container, put in a metal or ceramic bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. This can then be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated overnight or saved until you are ready to build the Timballo.

A slice of Timballo

Sauté the onions and garlic in the melted butter and olive oil. Add the tomatoes and cook on high heat, stirring frequently to ensure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Add the thyme, the saffron soaked in wine and the white wine and cook until everything liquifies. Add the monkfish and cook at moderately high heat and reduce to simmer. You may need to add the tomato paste and some water to thicken the sauce. Let simmer until the sauce reduces to a very thick paste. Take the entire contents of the passato, including the monkfish and process into a paste in a food processor.

In a medium sized pot, warm milk to the simmer (do not let it come to the boil). While the milk is heating, melt the butter in a larger sized pot, add the flour and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon and allow to incorporate into a smooth paste. Cook over moderate heat until the roux thickens and begins to take on the color and aroma of nuts. By this time, the milk should be almost at the boil. Remove from heat and pour all of it into the roux. Keep on the fire and whisk vigorously until well incorporated and let boil for 5 or 6 seconds. The sauce will be very thick. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a few gratings of nutmeg and then add the cheese. The sauce will thicken and take on a very cheesy and glossy consistency. Incorporate the fish mixture with the Bechamel and set aside but keep warm.

Take a large pot of water, bring it to the boil. Salt the water and add both dry pastas and cook for about 10 minutes. You want it very al dente. It should be by no means cooked when you drain the pasta. Transfer the pasta back to the pot and add some butter to lightly coat the noodles and add all except 1 cup of the Bechamel sauce to the pasta. 

Assembling the Timballo

Roll out the sheets of the pasta. Lightly grease the casserole dish with Olive Oil. Place half of the reserved Bechamel sauce on the bottom of the casserole. Line the entire casserole with the sheets of pasta, which should be hanging well over the edges of the dish. Make sure that all of the inner surface is covered with pasta dough. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the casserole. Cover that layer with a layer of hanging pasta. Pour more Bechamel on top of the pasta, pout the rest of the pasta on top of that and continue to close the entire casserole with the left over hanging layers of pasta until you have a tightly sealed "drum". If there is any Bechamel sauce left, pour that on top and let rest for at least one hour. 

After the Timballo has rested, place it securely on a large sheet pan and cover it with a plate and place weights on the Timballo. Let sit for another 30 minutes. 

Timballo Unmolded

Set the oven temperature to 400º F and bake for at least one hour. I prefer to bake it immediately, always making sure that it doesn't dry out by pouring tablespoons of milk on top of the Timballo while it is baking. You can also cover it loosely with aluminum to make sure the top doesn't burn. You want the Timballo to set and seal because you will eventually invert it onto a platter and remove the casserole dish. Like many dishes involving baking, letting it rest overnight and reheating almost makes it taste better. I assure you, this will not disappoint and all the work will have been worth the effort.

Make this for a special occasion and people will kiss your feet for years to come.

Is Whole Foods really worth it?  

From my experience last Monday, I would have to chime in a resounding NO!

I was in Chelsea, having just come from the doctor where I had a pneumonia vaccine and gave blood. I thought: "why not buy a really juicy, fabulous steak and make it for dinner with mushrooms and a salad?" I should interject here that before I even got to the meat department, I pushed my mini cart through the vegetables (scrawny asparagus $4.99 lb.) and fruits (apples $2.49-4.59 lb.). I finally chose some very tasty looking cremini mushrooms that didn't cost an arm and a leg and chanced upon some hydroponic organic watercress. Even the price for that was right ($2.49 for a 6 oz. bunch with the roots intact). So menu planned, I strolled over to the butcher where I saw the sorriest looking beef I have ever seen. Not only that, I'm sure the hired help behind the counter didn't have a clue as to what a veal shank was or a short rib, let alone a rib eye steak. There wasn't one cut that looked positively fabulous, and definitely nothing that yelled out to me "Eat me!" Everything was at least $22.00 lb (thinking to myself "what is this? Eataly?") so the cuts obviously have to be portioned "affordable". 

I suppose I should preface this next part with the story of a former friend, who always insisted on buying Italian sausage from Whole Foods and which, invariably, and I mean always, didn't taste Italian at all. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I sprang for the Italian sausage with the parsley and garlic. Big mistake. 6 links, 2 lbs. and $12.00 later, I'm asking myself, "why am I doing this?" I felt raped. I'll get to how it tasted in a moment, but indulge me if you will while I continue my shopping saga.

I saw this fabulous organic chicken (4.5 lb. for about $10.00). I decided to get that and then I saw a delicious looking orange cranberry pound cake. It was even marked Kosher. Someone should shoot the Rabbi, because it was the driest, mangiest pound cake I have ever eaten. A pound of flour, a pound of sugar, a pound of butter. How can you go wrong? And it was $5.00! Entenmann's would have been - and is - better. Hang organic!

The one thing I liked about this whole experience was that I didn't have to wait in line for a register (lost our customer base have we? At 4:30 on a Monday, Fairway is packed with people; not so, our local Whole Foods.). I did, on the way there, though, notice that all the men in the store (this is Chelsea after all) were skinny and wearing Prada and product, while most of the women were on the plump side who hovered near the baked goods and the cheeses and the salad bar. Odd demographic. So here we are at the register. I buy a "green" shopping bag and the dolt behind the register immediately takes everything out of the paper shopping bag and starts to fill the one I just bought. I asked him to wrap the chicken in a paper bag and he puts it in a tightly fit bread bag. So all right, he doesn't want to give me a shopping bag, fine. What wasn't fine was the fact that he took the chicken and plopped it in the bag on top of the watercress, which was completely crushed by the time I got home. 

The sausage was definitely THE WORST sausage I have ever had (overpowering garlic aftertaste) and am now convinced that it wasn't my former friend's cooking but the lousy sausage. Or could it be both? Hmmmm .... in any event, I had to throw the sausage out; it was just a very expensive mistake.

It seems to me that a success story like Whole Foods would teach their staff how to pack a shopping bag, the balance of different weights and proportions, delicate food stuffs, heavy meats, etc. (everyone knows that you put sugar and flour, canned good, jars, etc., on the bottom, for instance!), and it certainly would behoove them to teach those teenagers behind the butcher counter a thing or two about cuts of beef, lamb, veal, pork and sausage. A smile every now and then wouldn't hurt either. And at these prices, it's almost absurd that  they're stingy with paper bags. And saying that they're ecologically sound is a total farce if you consider all the track lighting. This isn't rocket science! Any moron could figure out what their electric bills must be like.

The chicken as it turns out, made a delightful chicken soup (one of the breasts I gave to the dog). That and the 24 oz. package of imported pasta I bought were the best value. However, $50.00 later, I would have to say that I'll continue to shop at Fairway and at the Green Markets of New York City while Whole Foods can take their image-altering lighting and exorbitant prices and continue catering to the trendsetting ready-to-eaters and the salad bar sponge babies who are being bilked in their own organically invented world.