Tagliatelle Fatta in Casa

Many people used to be intimidated by the mere thought of making fresh pasta, but with the advent of food processors, stand mixers and hand rolling machines - not to mention the pasta attachments and specialty machines for this purpose - the practice has become almost ubiquitous among home cooks. I've been making pasta dough since I was about 19 years old. My grandmother used to make it almost every day, along with fresh bread, but when she died her cooking skills in this arena died with her. I was basically self taught, but when I went to school in Bologna, I learned how to make pasta again from several of the little old ladies in my neighborhood, including my green grocer's wife around the corner from where I lived. Of course, everything was word of mouth and I would bring my latest success (or disaster) for approval and critique and with time, I got better and better. Mind you, as a student, this was well before thy day of owning a mixing machine of any kind so everything had to be done by hand, including rolling out the dough.

Tagliatelle Fatte in Casa

I know I've mentioned before that I have a vast number of cookbooks, but I want to mention that I have also tried recipes for pasta in the cookbooks of Marcella and Giuliano Hazan, Giuliano Bugialli, Lorenza dei Medici, and Lidia Bastianich and I just want to say that everyone has a basic recipe which is pretty much the same. However, we all tend to customize according to our own environment. This holds especially true when comparing how things taste and feel in Italy to other places around the world; just think about how espresso tastes there and here and you'll know exactly what I mean. Everything in Italy is about the environment (la terra) - and it is pretty much the same with pasta and everything else. It's about the flour, the eggs, the milk, the olive oil, any and all of the above.

I normally make pasta with a food processor and then crank the dough out on a hand rolling machine. For this particular recipe, I used my KitchenAid stand mixer with a dough hook and it really worked very well. No matter which manner you make the pasta dough, there is still a fair amount of, but not too much, kneading by hand required to make the dough elastic according to your own hands.

This recipe makes about 2-1/2 pounds of pasta

3 cups "00" flour

4 eggs

4 egg yolks

1 tsp. olive oil

Place all ingredients into the large metal bowl of your mixer (or into your food processor) and mix with the dough hook until the dough falls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a mass  (about 4-5 minutes). Place on a floured work surface and knead by hand for a few more minutes. Put in a large ceramic bowl and cover with a damp tea towel and let rest for at least 30 minutes. 

Prepare your pasta rolling machine securely onto your work surface (a wooden countertop is ideal) with the attached vise. When ready to roll the dough, take the dough and cut a piece with a pastry blade and flatten into a large disc. Set the roller at no. 1 and begin cranking the dough through the cylinders. Fold the dough and repeat the process several times until the dough becomes elastic but hardened like a piece of leather. Turn the cylinder setting to no. 2 and continue rolling in exactly the same way as you did with no. 1. I usually repeat the process several times with no. 2 before progressing to the third setting. Continue in this fashion, constantly pulling the dough from the long end to stretch the dough as it is rolled out, until you have a very long sheet (sfoglia) of pasta. I stop at the 8th setting. The dough should be very long in length,  the color of light straw and almost see through. At this point, you can cut it in half and let it dry temporarily on a floured surface or on a dry tea towel.* I usually let the pasta sheet dry for about 20-30 minutes before using the noodle attachment to make tagliatelle or taglionini (very narrow noodles). The drier the sheets, the better the noodles will be to make into nests.** If the dough is too "wet", the nests with stick together into a gloppy mass and then won't cook properly when placed into the boiling water. I always use at least a 2 gallons of water per pound of pasta when making noodles. Always put in a handful of Kosher salt into boiling water just before cooking the pasta. Fresh pasta cooks much faster than boxed or dried (about 4 minutes - tops). 

* If you are making lasagna, manicotti, or tortelli or ravioli you can let them dry a bit and then cut the sheets into smaller rectangles for this purpose. Layering the pasta sheets on towels will ensure that they won't dry too quickly. Fresh sheets curl up when drying so the weight of the towel will keep them flat. 

** I have found that nests dry better if they dry from below as well as from above. I therefore, have a special window screen that I use exclusively for this purpose. I put a towel on top of the screen and lay the nests on the towel and let them dry for about an hour or two. Turn them over periodically to ensure that they dry evenly. If you aren't going to use all of the noodles, you can refrigerate the noodles in a Ziploc bag and then freeze them. 

Cannoli

Everyone knows what cannoli are and most Sicilian families - and this IS a Sicilian delicacy -  have their own way of making them. Some cannoli are made with a very dramatic and decadent chocolate "crema" or a rich pistachio pastry cream thickened with corn starch. However, ours is the traditional cannoli made with ricotta, sweetened with lots of powdered sugar and candied fruits and citron. Chocolate chips or pieces of broken chocolate as well as other confections (candied orange and lemon peel, for instance; a variety of nuts, especially pistachios) may be used as well. I am including my mother's recipe for cannoli shells as well, but it isn't a crime if you buy the shells ready made*. I buy them because my kitchen is too small to deep fry anything at all, but if you're a purist, knock yourself out. It definitely can be done well - and better - at home if you have the time to dedicate to making shells. You will need stainless steel cannoli shells to form the cannoli (see photograph below).

Cannoli

THREE CUPS RICOTTA CHEESE

1/2 gallon WHOLE Milk

2 cups half and half

1 cup heavy cream (optional - I like it creamy)

1/4 cup white distilled vinegar

Use a stainless steel or heavy enameled pot (Le Creuset is ideal) large enough to hold all liquids. Once you stir in the vinegar, you will see the milk products start to separate. Place the pot over moderately high heat and bring to a simmer (just short of  the boiling point (180º F). Gently stir occasionally so the milk doesn't scald and stick to the bottom of the pan.. You don't want to disturb the curds. I use a rubber spatula instead of a wooden or metal spoon to get in the corners at the bottom of the pan. 

While the milk is heating, place a double sheet of cheesecloth or a tea towel under water and then squeeze out water and unfold over a colander. 

Large clumps of curd will form and float to the top of the pan. When the temperature reaches 180º, remove the pot from the heat. Place the colander in a large bowl and start removing the curds with a slotted spoon (do not pour all the contents of the pan into the colander). Once all the curds have been removed, and if the whey is still very cloudy, you can bring the liquid back to the boiling point to see if more curds will form. If so, place those in the colander as well.

Let the ricotta drain in the colander for at least one hour. You want a dense mass of ricotta cheese, so, the longer it drains, the denser the cheese will become. You can place the cheese in plastic storage containers and refrigerate for up to a week but it is best when at its freshest. 

16 CANNOLI SHELLS

1-3/4 cups flour
4 tsp. sugar
3 tsp.  cocoa
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tsp. lard or margarine (chilled and cut into cubes)
2 egg yolks
1/4-1/2 cup Marsala Wine or Sherry (enough to hold the dough together)

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Use a pastry blender or a fork to cut into the lard or margarine and mix until little dots form and the dough takes on the consistency of cornmeal (same process as pie dough, but without the ice water).

Whisk eggs and wine together and start adding liquid one tablespoon at a time until the dough  starts to stick together and looks lumpy. You may not need to use all of the liquid ingredients.

Knead dough on a floured surface until the dough takes on a satiny sheen and small bubbles appear in the dough. The bubbles mean that the wine has begun its fermentation process which will result in a crisp, light shell. Makes sure you knead the dough very well as larger holes holes in the dough will cause the shells to explode when they are inserted into the hot oil. Let the dough rest, covered, in a cool place for at least one hour.

Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a width of 1/16 of an inch and cut 3-inch circles with a cookie cutter or a large glass. Roll each circle into 3x5 inches ovals. and roll up with the stainless steel cannoli forms and seal with a little bit of water.

In a large, heavy-bottomed stainless steel pot of electric deep fryer, heat enough lard or oil (I use grape seed oil) to fill the pot to a depth of at least 3 inches. Heat to a temp-erature of 350º (use a frying or candy thermo-meter) and insert shells and fry 2 or 3 shells at a time until they are golden brown and crisp (1-1/2 minutes). Take shells and the forms out of the oil with tongs and shake the shells loose from the forms and let the shells cool completely on paper towels. Repeat process until you have made 16 shells.


FILLING

3 cups fresh ricotta
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2-2/3 cup mixed candied fruits, citron, candied orange peel, candied lemon peel
1/2 cup chocolate chips or broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate (optional)
5 tsp. ground pistachios (shelled and peeled) (also optional)

Cream the cheese, the sugar and the vanilla in a stand mixer or a food processor. Fold in the candied fruits and optional chocolate and nuts. Refrigerate until ready to use. (Will keep refrigerated up to 3 days.)

FILLING THE SHELLS

You can use a pastry bag or fill these by hand with a teaspoon. Either way, fill from the center out and repeat the process from the other end of the shell. You can decorate the outside of the holes with chopped pistachios or candied lemon or orange peel or a maraschino cherry (red or green). Dust the entire tray of cannoli with powdered sugar and serve. Cannoli should only be filled immediately before serving because the filling with make the shells soggy if made to sit longer than an hour.

* Cannoli shells may be purchased here in New York at:

Ferrara's Bakery, 195 Grand Street, New York, NY 10013,
Tel. 212 226 6150, www.ferraracafe.com
Bruno Ravioli, 282 First Ave., New York, NY 10010, Tel. 212 254 2156, www.brunoscatering.com;
Fairway Market, 2127 Broadway (@ 74th Street), and other locations, New York City, Tel. 212 595 1888, www.fairwaymarket.com;
Zabars, 2245 Broadway (@81st Street), New York, NY 10024, Tel. 212 787 2000; www.zabars.com.

Winnie Verona's Potato Chip Cookies (revised)

I've played in plenty of piano competitions in my day, but I have never, until now, entered a cooking/baking competition. Spurred on by a dear friend, I bit the bullet and entered the Kettle Brand Potato Chip cooking contest sponsored by Snooth.com using my mother's potato chip cookie recipe. Of course, I changed the recipe using Kettle Brand potato chips and tested them using their brand, just to make sure. In the process, however, I revised some of the directions as well as corrected the baking temperature and baking time. They were/are every bit as delicious as any I've made in the past. So, on that note, let the games begin.

Winnie's Potato Chip Cookies

This recipes makes about 130 cookies, but you can halve the recipe if you don't want to make that many cookies or use that much butter! I’ve given both amounts in the ingredients list.

1 lb. butter/1/2 lb. (4 sticks/2 sticks)

1 cup sugar/1/2 cup

3 1/2 cups flour/1 3/4 cup

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla.3/4 tsp

2 full cups/1 cup crushed KETTLE BRAND (sea salt) potato chips 

(a rolling pin works best for this, but you should make sure you have a full two 

cups of crushed potato chips)

Confectioners Sugar for sifting

Preheat oven to 375º 

Oven temperatures vary so you should definitely keep an eye on these. Rule of thumb, under baked is better than over baked.

Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale yellow. Add the vanilla and flour and mix well. Add the crushed potato chips and mix into the dough just until it is incorporated into the dough. Taking a teaspoonful at a time, drop balls onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Do not flatten but use the tines of a fork and press into the dough (like peanut butter cookies).

Bake for 8-9 minutes until lightly browned (check after 4 or 5 minutes and turn the sheet around if necessary).  I leave mine in just until they are lightly browned on the edges. They will still bake while cooling. Let cool on cookie sheet (the cookies will fall apart if you try to remove them before they're completely cooled).

Dust the cookies with powdered sugar and store in a plastic container or a metal tin lined in plastic wrap. The cookies keep in the refrigerator for two to three weeks (if they last that long!) and they freeze very well for up to one year.

Enjoy!

Fish Poached in White Wine and Tomatoes

This dish very simple to make, can be made in literally minutes and is absolutely delicious.

Any flat fish filet will do, such as flounder, sole, cod, sea bass, etc. Start with a couple of chopped shallots, a couple of heads of garlic and saute in olive oil. Add about 1/2 cup of white white or vermouth and reduce to a glaze. Add to that about 2 cups roasted cherry tomatoes and chopped parsley. Cook until the tomatoes start to break up. Season the filets of fish with salt and pepper and place directly on top of the tomatoes and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Using a slotted fish spatula, turn the filets over and cook for about 3 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Alternatively, this dish can also be made in the oven. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil, brush with olive oil, place fish in the roasting pan and drizzle olive oil over the filets, salt and pepper and strew roasted tomatoes and some parsley over the fish. Roast in the oven at 375º for 20 minutes. Check for doneness after 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Fudge

I said that fudge would be coming soon, so here goes:

Before making fudge at all, I sought recipes in Joy of Cooking and quite a few other chocolate cookbooks, and this recipe, by far, is the best one I've found. It is adapted from Nancy Baggett's The International Chocolate Cookbook; a treasure of  a book that I found on the clearance rack at a neighborhood bookstore for $1.98! 

I've tried making several types of fudge - with chocolate exclusively, with nuts, with brown and regular sugar - and my favorite and the one that seems to work the best (in the sense that it is dense and fudgy) is the recipe I've adopted with brown and regular sugars. I know that I will receive a healthy dose of opposition and cantankerous disapproval from one neighbor up the road for the consumption of sugar at all, but there are very few things which hearten the soul and enrich your head like chocolate in the form of fudge. These little bars are easier to make than my brownie recipe (I won't tell you - at least not now - how much sugar goes into those!) and just as good. 

This fudge recipe is somewhat laborious in the sense that there is a lot of stirring and waiting involved, but - OMG!!!! - the result is worth every effort.

Fudge with Pecans

Take a large piece of aluminum foil (shiny side down) and place it over the outside of the pan (9x13 is good) to shape it so you can line the inside of the pan. Set aside.

2-1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 pound chocolate cut into small pieces

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup heavy cream

1/8 tsp. salt

2-1/2 tbl. vanilla

2 cups coarsely chopped pecans (optional)

Mix both sugars and the salt over heat, add half of the cream and bring to the boil. Add the butter and the chocolate and bring to the boil again and stir until mixed. Gently pour in the remaining cream and continue to gently boil undisturbed for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, scrape any sugar residue down from the sides of the pan and let cool without stirring to about 115º. After it has cooled sufficiently, begin stirring vigorously with a metal spoon or spatula for about 10 minutes or so until the chocolate has lost its gloss and starts to thicken. (You can also place the pan in a bowl of ice water to hasten the cooling time.) At this point, add the nuts if you are using them and pour the fudge into the prepared pan lined with foil. Take an offset spatula and evenly spread out the fudge. Let cool. Place in refrigerator for a couple of hours until the fudge is hardened. Remove from the refrigerator and invert onto a marble slab or cutting board and remove foil. Take a sharp long knife and cut fudge into squares. Store in a plastic container in layers separated by wax paper and refrigerate.

Makes about 1-1/2 pounds of fudge or 2 pounds with nuts.

Snacks - Midnight and Other Hours

I'm sure everyone reading this can relate to late night pangs of hunger. Those churnings and yearnings for something that will sate, thrill and still let you sleep when it's time to meet the angels in your dreams.

The other night, I craved chocolate and ate some home made fudge (recipe to come soon) but while I did, I realized that I had hardly eaten anything except a 2-egg omelet with scallions and was ravenous. How do you cook for one person at 11:00 at night? When in doubt, eat rice! I say this very tongue in cheek but the other night that is exactly what I did and it was so very simple it was crazy. You can also use leftover rice (reheated) for this dish.

1/2 cup sushi rice (or 1 cup for 2 or 3 people)

1 1/4 cup water (2 cups)

I don't soak and rinse the rice as you would for sushi. Put rice in a saucepan with the water, bring to a boil and lower the heat to simmer and cover the pan. Let cook for 20 minutes or so. The rice should be creamy and sticky at the same time. Turn off the heat, let sit for about 5 minutes.

Make a sauce from:

1 tsp. soy sauce (I only use soy sauce made in
   Japan)
1 tbl. mirin
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 lime (juiced)
2 tbl. scallions (green and white parts
1/8-14 tsp Sambal* (hot red chili paste)
1 tsp. oyster sauce

Mix all ingredients and pour over the rice and eat immediately.

* Regarding the Sambal: you can use any hot chili sauce and the amount you use, of course, should be according to your palette for heat.

I've made this in larger quantities and have used more lime juice for a tarter tasting dish. It is truly delicious.

Roasted Eggplant Lasagna on the Stove

Some evenings, I've found myself not relishing the thought of cooking an elaborate meal (fancy that!) and this is where having roasted morsels in the fridge really comes in handy. The other evening, I took some eggplant and a jar of tomato conserva, a little olive oil and some Pecorino Romano and built a layered lasagna in a deep copper pan. I heated the oil and some tomato sauce and started layering the eggplant with sauce and cheese and covered it on moderate heat for about 20 minutes and had an instant meal. It was delicious. But it was divine the next day, as it most always the case with this kind of food.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 eggplants, sliced and roasted

1 jar passato di pomodoro (or you can use a can or crushed tomatoes)

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano

Freely pour enough olive oil in the pan to cover surface and heat under moderately high heat.. Add some of the tomato sauce and start building layers with eggplant, tomato and then cheese. Repeat this until you have used up all the eggplant and finish with the tomato and cheese. Adjust the heat so it does not boil or scorch the bottom of the pan. Cover and let cook for about 20 minutes, checking periodically to ensure that it isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Uncover and remove from stove. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or so before cutting into wedges. Serves 2 as a main course, or 4 as an appetizer. 

Gruesome Cooking and Passato di Pomodoro

I went to a play tonight at Barnard College. It was the play Thyestes by the Roman, Seneca, performed in Latin with subtitles projected on a screen behind the action. In many ways it reminded me of Titus Andronicus for the simple fact that the consumption of humans as food plays a large part in a plot centered on revenge and the destruction of a dynastic line - all   resulting as consequences of the sins of a father flowing down generation to generation. Whether it's in a pie or in a soup makes no difference to me. It was all pretty gruesome to many in the audience. But the play itself was terrific and it was all done quite tastefully. This was a four-night run - ALL of it sold out - performed by future Greek and Latin scholars whose Latin flowed mellifluously throughout the entire five-act play with Greek chorus and dancers and some pretty wild musical accompaniment! 

Anyway, what I really wanted to write about here was Passato di Pomodoro or Tomato Conserva. In plain English, home made and jarred tomato sauce to be used as a base for any variety of sauces for pasta, etc. 

Passato is best made in the late summer when tomatoes are definitely at their peak and in great abundance. However, you can always make a sauce in great quantities in the winter with boxes of cherry tomatoes or canned San Marzano plum tomatoes. It all gets passed through a food mill after the first cooking, only to go on the stove a second time to thicken and draw most of the moisture out of the sauce. The goal is a dense sauce with plenty of rich, tomato flavor.

The process can take two days so be prepared to set aside some time in order to achieve exactly what you want. 

Ball jars or even recycled jam jars can be used but must be sterilized with boiling water before filling them with your passato. 

Passato di Pomodoro

For Cherry Tomatoes*:

5 tbl. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

6 boxes cherry tomatoes (I prefer to use only red as the yellow and orange tomatoes are full of liquid which takes forever to evaporate, however, if you do use a combination of the three, the flavor is rather amazing).

8-10 basil leaves (cut in chiffonade)

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot (about 8 quarts)

Saute the onion and the garlic until translucent

Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and raise the heat to high. Cover for 5 minutes and let the tomatoes come to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to a simmer and cook down for about 45-60 minutes. You want a thick sauce.

* for San Marzano or canned peeled tomatoes, you'll need anywhere from 6-8 pounds. The same recipe above applies to both types of conserva.

Pass the tomatoes through a food mill with a fine holed blade. If you don't have the time or the fortitude to work at a food mill for a long while, a food processor - or a VitaMix or regular blender - is the next best thing. 

After you have passed the tomatoes through the mill, take some olive oil and heat in a pan and add 1/2 cup of finely chopped onions and 3 cloves minced garlic and repeat the saute process exactly as before. Add the passato and bring to the boil again and turn down to a simmer and cook for about an hour, stirring frequently and watching the heat to ensure nothing burns or sticks to the bottom of the pan. If you scorch the sauce it will be bitter and will taste pretty awful, which means you'll have to start all over again so beware!

At this point, you may add the basil chiffonade. After the sauce has cooked down at least 1/3 of what you originally started with, one half is preferable so it's thick, start filling your jars but leave about 1/2 inch at the top. Make sure the jars are clean and close them immediately after filling with the tomato. If you prefer, you may add a whole basil leaf to the jar before closing.

Place the jars in a large stockpot and immerse them with water. Put on the stove on high heat and bring to  boil. Turn the heat down to the simmer and let stand on the heat for about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and allow the entire pot to cool before you remove the jars. Dry the jars and store them in a cool dark place and use them according to your needs.

Angel Hair with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

I normally roast cherry tomatoes every week - about 6 boxes at a time - as they can be used for countless amounts of dishes. They are especially good with pasta but also good with other roasted vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, in meat dishes and stews, in farro cooked in the manner of risotto, or even in Insalata di Riso. The possibilities are endless.

Angel Hair with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

For this dish, which takes all of 15 minutes to make, not including the time it takes to roast the tomatoes, the use of bacon and anchovy with the texture of the semi-crunchy tomatoes results in a savory sauce of great depth and complexity. I call this Amatrice (bacon) meets the sea (anchovy)! Of course, for those of  you who are vegetarians and vegans, all you have to do is omit the bacon and the anchovy and you have an Arrabbiata sauce!

To roast the tomatoes:

Preheat over to 350ºF. I have a convection roast option on my oven so I do convection at 325º (it's the best!)

Pour about 4 tbl. olive oil in a heavy bottomed cast iron skillet.

Add 1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

4-6 boxes cherry tomatoes (red or a combination of red, orange, yellow - whatever you like or have in the house)

Roll the tomatoes around in the pan with your hand until they are well coated with the oil, salt and thyme.

Put pan in middle rack of the oven and roast for 35-45 minutes, or until the skin on the tomatoes begins to wrinkle and you can see visible signs of darkening of the skin. Take the pan out of the  oven, allow to cool and place in an airtight plastic storage container. At this point you can refrigerate or use immediately (or both depending on how many tomatoes you have). 

For the sauce:

6 tbl. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 thick strips of slab bacon, medium dice

1 small onion, minced

3-4 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife and coarsely chopped

5 anchovy fillets 

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

8-10 basil leaves (chiffonade or chopped coarsely)

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 tbl. chopped parsley

1/2 cup white wine

4 cups roasted cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste if necessary

1 lb. Angel Hair

Fill a large pot (2 gallon capacity is good) with water (about 3/4 full) and place on stove over high heat (covered)

While water is heating prepare the sauce. 

Pour olive oil in a heated cast iron skillet or any heavy bottomed pan. Add the bacon and saute until the bacon begins to render its fat. Add the onion and the garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become translucent. Add the anchovies, red pepper flakes and herbs. Continue to saute until all ingredients begin to form a mass. Add the white wine and let reduce to a few tablespoons of juice. Add the tomatoes and turn the heat up a bit and cook until the tomatoes begin to yield their juices and a sauce forms. Continue to simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes.

By the time you get to the point where you are going to add the tomatoes to the sauce, the water should be boiling. Add a heaping handful of salt (Kosher is preferable) to the water and add the pasta and stir until the noodles are completely immersed in water. Cover the pot to bring the water back to the boil as quickly as possible. You have to be careful to watch the pot lest the water and foam boils over. Once the water has come back to the boil, remove the cover and stir occasionally to ensure that the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom. 

Keep an eye on the tomatoes and stir occasionally to incorporate as much juice into a thick mass as possible (you definitely want reduction to take place here). Just before draining the pasta, take a ladleful or two of pasta water and add to the tomatoes. Turn the heat up a bit and boil the sauce for about 5 or 6 seconds before bringing the sauce back to the simmer. Add one last tablespoon or two of olive oil to the sauce for flavor.

When the pasta is done (Angel Hair cooks very quickly so timing is everything here), drain the pasta and add the pasta to the sauce. Take off of heat and mix thoroughly. This should be enough sauce to completely coat the noodles without inundating it in a sea of sauce.

Serves 4 as a main course or 6-8 as a first course. Dress the pasta when plated with Reggiano Parmiggiano, Pecorino Romano, or even toasted bread crumbs (recipe below) if you prefer.

Buon appetito!

Toasted Bread Crumbs

Bread crumbs (especially to Sicilians, as I have said before) are something very dear indeed. It is a sad day indeed when one is forced to buy the Progresso packaged stuff on the grocery shelves. If you can't make your own bread crumbs from old, stale bread (in a food processor), then buying a couple of bags of pane grattugiato in an Italian bakery (which are grated almost daily) will do in a pinch. There are several schools of thought on bread crumbs: flavored with herbs, toasted, plain, with cheese; as in all things Italian, there are endless possibilities given the right imagination. Using plain or toasted depends completely on your personal taste but traditionally, toasted bread crumbs go best on pasta, while plain or flavored are best for breading meat and vegetables, although, there isn't an Italian I know who doesn't flavor their bread crumbs when it comes to breading food. I found a recipe for bread crumbs with orange peel and fennel seed  which I use in addition to my mother's (and grandmother's) tried and true recipe so i will give you both!

First of all, you need good, stale bread. Dried to the bone as it were. I use ciabbata, semolina, baguettes, even leftover dry toast. If the baguette dries out (as it invariable does in my house), I keep it in the bag, let it dry out and after 3 or 4 days, take a hammer or a meat pounder to the bag and crush the loaf into bits and pieces and pour the contents into a food processor and process until very fine. I then store them in a metal container (an old cookie tin works perfectly). This is the plain version.

For toasted bread crumbs: take about 3 cups of bread crumbs and spread them out on a large baking sheet. Toast in the oven at 400º for 12 minutes. Turn oven off and let cool in the oven.

For flavored bread crumbs the possibilities are infinite.

My favorites are:

3 cups bread crumbs 

2 tbl. fennel seed finely crushed in a spice grinder (I have a coffee grinder which I use exclusively for grinding spices)

The rind of one large navel orange, dried over a period of a week and then ground in the spice grinder.

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix this combination and store in an airtight container and use when needed. This combination makes a fantastic and very delicious breading for veal or chicken. You also have the option of adding grated Grana or Reggiano for added flavor.

My mother's bread crumbs:

4 cups bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbl. dried thyme

2 tbl. dried oregano

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground fennel seed

Mix this combination and store in an airtight container and use when needed. The exception here is this: if you are using these crumbs to bread steak, chicken, veal or using in stuffing for a braciole or another dish, the addition of cheese is almost mandatory as well as other ingredients such as onions, celery, raisins or nuts, and even apples or dried fruits and sausage (for stuffing).

! 

Rack of Lamb with Herb and Garlic Crust

One rack of lamb

Approximately 4 tbl. chopped herbs

  Parsley

  Rosemary

  Mint

2 large cloves garlic, mashed and minced

1/8 tsp. Kosher salt

Black, Red and Green Peppercorns (crushed)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Insert a paring knife into fatty side of rack of lamb, making slits throughout

make a mash or paste of the herbs, pepper and garlic with the Olive Oil. Spread the paste all over the top of the rack, wrap it in cheesecloth and refrigerate at least overnight or a day or two before cooking.

When ready to cook, remove cheesecloth. Place a cast iron skillet on the stove on very high heat. You want the pan to be extremely hot and it should sizzle when you place the rack (fat side down) on the surface of the pan. Cook for about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the over to 425º F. After the rack has cooked on the stove and it is smoking, place in the oven and continue to cook for about 3-4 more minutes. Turn the rack over and allow to cook for another 15-20 minutes. The lamb should be medium rare at this point. Remove from oven and allow to rest with an aluminum foil tent over the meat. 

Slice the rack into 8 pieces and serve with vegetables of your choice.

Avocado and Yogurt

I bought a sack of avocados at Costco and couldn't believe how quickly they ripened. Luckily, since it was Easter, I was able to use them with yogurt as a dip for bread sticks and crackers. It's amazing how a little lime juice and hot sauce (Tabasco or Sriracha is perfect for this) plus a little mint or tarragon if you wish, turns this into an all time winner. 

2 ripe avocados

1 cup fat free yogurt (preferably Greek)

Juice from 1-2 limes

1/4 tsp Sriracha (more if you like it really spicy)

1/2 tsp chopped fresh mint or tarragon

Mash the avocados, add the yogurt and blend into a paste. Add lime juice, hot sauce and herbs. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve with bread or crackers or even raw vegetables.

I'm back!

After a hiatus of I don't know how long (December 2012?), I've returned, once again, to live among the living.

Yesterday, being Easter, I was back in the kitchen with a vengeance. I ate everything I have been forbidden to eat and will refrain now from eating any of the forbidden fruits until my birthday in September. Be that as it may, cooking and eating all the epicurean delights was a real treat. 

Here is my list of tender morsels!

We started out with three tiny hors d'ouevres:

Avocado and Yogurt dip with Sriracha and Lime Juice with Grissini
Goat Cheese with Fig Mostarda and Pecans
Baby Octopus Salad

Cold Pea Soup alla Vichyssoise in a small tea cup

Oysters on the Half Shell with Mignonette Sauce and Horseradish (freshly grated)

Lasagna with Passato di Pomodoro and Bechamel with 3 cheeses

Rack of Lamb with Herb and Pepper Crust
Asparagus with Orange Tarragon Vinaigrette
Carrots in Saffron Butter

Lemon Curd Tart with Raspberries and Meringue
Chocolate Sorbet

Coffee

Unfortunately,  I didn't take photographs of everything, but here is one of the dessert, which was quite something to behold! I'll be writing down the recipes for all of this soon. I just don't have the time today. Cheers!

Lemon Curd Tart with Raspberries and Meringue

Recipes:

This will take me some time to compile and write down in a coherent fashion, but watch for them all within the next few days, plus a few more things I did in preparation for Sunday's Easter dinner.

Let's begin with the octopus, shall we?

2 lbs. baby octopus
2 lemon slices
1/8 tsp. coriander seed
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/8 tsp. anise seed
1/2 tso. pepper corns
2 bay leaf

1 shallot (minced)
2 tbl. chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp. fresh thyme
large dash or 2 of red pepper flakes
12 leaves fresh basil cut in chiffonade
juice of 1 lemon
Vinegar
Extra Vigin Olive Oil

Place octopus and first 6 ingredients in a large pan and fill with enough water to cover octopus.
Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook slowly for about one hour.

Let cool completely.

Remove octopus and chop coarsely. Put the octopus , shallots, pepper flakes and herbs in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add lemon juice, EVOO and Vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss. Refrigerate until ready to use. Remove from fridge well eough ahead of time to let salad come to room temperature.