OCTOPUS SALAD

THIS IS REALLY A SUMMER DISH but I like eating it all year round, even when the mercury dips to gelid. For me it is an entirely satisfying dish and I do mean in every way: octopus may seem to some as a gummy affair but it can be sweet and succulent and full of flavorful texture. I prefer baby octopus but the large ones will do. They can be grilled, broiled, boiled, and, in Sicily especially, made in tomato sauce and served with spaghetti or a similarly long noodle. My grandmother made this dish often and it was utterly delicious.

INSALATA DI POLPO

First of all, you need to buy fresh baby octopus or frozen (preferably from the Mediterranean). One could only get  Sicilian octopus from Italian fish markets or at an Italian specialty store which carried the frozen vacuum-packed product. For a long time, here in New York, it was very difficult, if not impossible, to find octopus in Chinatown. But recently, I have found them more often than not and of very high quality indeed! They're also cheaper in Chinatown than anywhere else in New York. $3.99 lb. is a far cry from $7.99 lb. at Fairway and even higher in other stores. It's worth going the distance if you live uptown as I do. Besides, as I have said before in previously blogs, if you've got the cash to spare you can make a killing with $60.00 in Chinatown as you can nowhere else in the city.

INSALATA DI POLPO

1 lb. baby octopus

Juice of one lemon plus fruit

3 bay leaves

Salt for water

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped fresh fennel stalks with fronds

1 onion (red or white) chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tomato, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 tsp. minced green chile (Jalapeño will do)

2 tsp. chopped ginger

1/8 tsp. salt

12 turns of a pepper mill

3 anchovy filets

Oil and vinegar to mix

Tiny pinch of sugar

1 tsp. fresh thyme

6 leaves fresh basil cut into chiffonade

1/2 chopped flat leaf parsley

3 oz. fresh tuna in oil (optional*)

Bring 8 quarts of water to a boil. Meanwhile, cut a lemon in two. Add the salt, the juice from the lemon and the lemon halves and the bay leaves to the water. Add the octopus and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to the simmer (you want a slow boil) and cover and cook for at least one hour. After an hour, you should have a deep red stock. Check the octopus for doneness by piercing with a paring knife. If it goes through easily, they are done. Remove the octopus from the water and place in a plastic container, let them come to room temperature, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (overnight is preferable). Remove the solids from the broth, and pour the broth in a plastic container(s) and freeze. The broth makes a very rich and tasty addition to seafood stock of any kind. 

To make the salad, prepare all ingredients above. Place everything in a large metal bowl. Cut off the heads of the octopus and slice. Tear off the tentacles from the center without breaking them. Add that to the salad. Add the tuna if using. Mix well and check for seasoning. Place the salad in a plastic container. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve according to your taste*.

You can transform this into an Insalata di Riso.

INSALATA DI RISO

2 cups Carnaroli rice

4 cups chicken stock

Bring the rice and the stock to a boil. Lower heat to the lowest simmer, cover and cook for 12 minutes.

To this add: 

1 cup frozen peas

Cover the pot again and continue to cook for another 8 minutes (20 minutes total cooking time for the rice). Turn the heat off and keep covered for another 5 minutes. 

This can be eaten just like it is with some parmesan cheese or when allowed to cool, can be added to the seafood salad and refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Buon appetito!

* You can be very creative here. One can make a seafood salad with myriad ingredients (shrimp, squid, etc.) and vegetables (artichoke hearts, olives, capers) but try not to be too creative. Less is always more in Italian cuisine.

BRANDADE WITH SALT COD, CAULIFLOWER AND TURNIPS

STICKING STRICTLY TO THE NO-CARB RULE, I decided to make a Brandade with the leftover cauliflower (see previous blog entry) and a turnip in place of potato. Brandade is traditionally eaten with bread as an appetizer, but for my purposes, I ate it with raw celery sticks as an entrée with a simple green salad. It was delicious!

BRANDADE

4 filets of salt cod

1/2 cauliflower (chopped coarsely)

1 turnip (peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice)

6 cloves garlic

1 sprig fresh thyme

12 turns of a pepper mill

grated nutmeg

1 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup olive oil

Rinse the salt cod in ice cold water and soak in more water and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, changing the water every 5 or 6 hours. 

Drain the cod and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the filets in thirds and place in a pot with the milk. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the fish and try to remove any bones that remain. Put the fish back into the pot with the milk, add the vegetables, the garlic and the spices. Bring to the boil again and turn the flame down to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375º

Remove thyme and discard. With a slotted spoon, remove all solids and place into the canister of a food processor. Process the solids until puréed. With the machine on, add a stream of the milk until it becomes thick and rich, but not runny (you may not have to use all the remaining milk). It should have the consistency of mashed potatoes. Continue processing and add the olive oil in a thin stream. It should be very thick, like a paste but smooth like a purée*.

Fold the mixture into a casserole dish, top with freshly grated Reggiano-Parmigiano and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the Brandade is bubbling and has shrunk somewhat from the sides of the dish.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve immediately. 

* This dish can be made ahead up to this point and poured into small gratin dishes or ramekins and frozen for future use. Just thaw before you grate the cheese on and bake. You can also bake this ahead of time and serve at room temperature or lukewarm. 

Bon Appetit!

ROAST CAULIFLOWER AND CHICKEN BREAST

THIS IS TRULY ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I have ever made. And it was gorgeous to look at, too!

ROAST CAULIFLOWER

I roast cauliflower often and it is definitely something that's on my diet. I decided to make this with chicken breasts. 

1 cauliflower (green leaves removed, base of head trimmed but leave the cauliflower intact)

2 chicken breasts (skin on)

1 tbs. curry (mild or hot - your choice)

1 tbs. tumeric

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

oil from one can of anchovies (reserve anchovies for another use)

more oil to blend spices.

Mix the oil and spices in a bowl that will fit the cauliflower   head snugly. Place the top of head into the oil and turn it around the bowl until the head is completely covered with the oil. 

Place the cauliflower in a pan lined with aluminum foil. Arrange the chicken breasts on either side of the cauliflower. Salt and pepper the skin of the breasts and roast for about 1-1/2 hours in a 350º oven. When the chicken and the cauliflower have turned a deep golden brown remove from oven and cover with foil and let rest for about 15 minutes. 

ROAST CHICKEN AND CAULIFLOWER

Cut the head of the cauliflower in quarters. Remove the skins from the breast and serve.

THE SOUTH BEACH RICOTTA CREAM!

I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT ONE CAN have their cake and eat it too. Or rather, their cream! Let me preface this by saying that ricotta cream is a Sicilian specialty and a Sicilian would never in their wildest dreams think of using a sugar substitute so I beg the pardon of all Sicilians I know and love for this greatest of transgressions.

The South Beach diet does allow one some guilty pleasures, but they are still to remain absolutely sugar free (at least for the first two weeks). The whole point of this exercise is to make it a way of eating and living. I have always had a sweet tooth, even though I haven't used sugar in my coffee in years. Of course, by sweets, I mean brownies, cookies, pies, cakes, and all the rest as well.

I decided to give this a try. I have written about ricotta before and make my own ricotta cheese quite frequently; it's like the tuna - once you make your own, the store bought stuff will never, ever be good enough again.

RICOTTA CHEESE

1/2 gallon milk (your choice but not skim - too much sugar)
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar

CURDS AND WHEY!

The picture above is dairy in the process of becoming cheese, and look what happened: Australia! Funny what shapes heat produces! I know people in Australia and thought of them immediately, but only momentarily. One must concentrate when making cheese.

Take a large tea towel or triple layers of cheesecloth and wet with water. Wring out the the towel or cheesecloth and place over a colander. Place the colander over a large bowl.

Mix the milk and the half and half in a large pot and pour in the vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes. Put on a moderately high flame and heat until the temperature reaches 180º. Remove from flame. Take a slotted spoon and skim the curds out of the pot and put into the colander with the tea towel. Put the pot of whey back on the stove and bring to a boil. Skim more curds away from the liquid. If you want, pour the contents of the pot over the cheese and allow it all to drain. The longer you let the cheese drain in the colander the denser - and better - the cheese will be. It should yield about 2 cups of ricotta cheese. Place in a plastic container and refrigerate.

RICOTTA CREAM

RICOTTA CREAM

1 cup ricotta cheese
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. coffee mixed with half and half
1 package artificial sweetener (Splenda, Equal, etc.)
2 tsp. powdered unsweetened cocoa

Mix the cheese and the egg with a whisk or an electric beater. Add the sweetener, the coffee, the vanilla and the almond extract. Mix well until very creamy. Fold in the nuts. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Spoon out some ricotta cream into a bowl and sprinkle on the cocoa powder and serve immediately, preferably with espresso.

Buon appetito!!!

TUNA CEVICHE AND CUCUMBER SALAD

YOU MAY REMEMBER that I made preserved tuna in oil the other day. Well, I froze a chunk of the stuff (fresh) and brought it out yesterday and made Ceviche to go with dinner last night. Along with that, I made a nifty salad with cucumbers, et. al, with sesame seeds and ginger. I am working this diet, let me tell you! 

CEVICHE

This is so simple, it's almost a joke. 

1/2 lb. fresh tuna (the pink sushi-quality tuna is best)

1 shallot (sliced)

1 tsp. chile peppers (jalapeño, habeñero, etc.), cut into fine dice - seeds removed

3 tbs. chopped scallion

2 plum tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped into medium dice

1 clove minced garlic

2 tsp. minced ginger

Juice of 1 lime

Salt to taste

Chopped cilantro*, parsley, or even tarragon

Avocado (optional)

Cut the tuna into bite size pieces. Put the tuna, and all of the vegetables in a stainless steel bowl and mix well. Add the lime juice, salt (if necessary), and parsley and cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to an hour, but you may make this ahead of time (up to 24 hours, if necessary, but no more).

The avocado can be cut into large dice and added to the Ceviche or you can arrange slices on a plate or small bowl and spoon on the Ceviche and serve. 

* I hate to admit it, but I'm not at all a fan of cilantro, so I use tarragon or parsley.

CUCUMBER SALAD

1 large cucumber
1 small red onion, sliced paper thin
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and quartered
a couple of handfuls of leafy greens (baby kale, spinach, arugula, etc.)
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

DRESSING

1 tbs. fresh ginger scraped or grated

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. canola oil

4 tsp. rice wine vinegar

salt and pepper

a very tiny pinch of Splenda

Mix vigorously with a whisk until completely emulsified. Taste for balance. Add more vinegar if it isn't tart enough.

Arrange the leafy greens at the bottom of a large salad bowl. Put the tomatoes on top of the greens, then the cucumbers and then the onions. Sprinkle the sesame seeds all over the top. Drizzle the dressing all over the salad and toss. Serve immediately.

Buon appetito!

SOUTH BEACH SAGA CONTINUES

I'VE BECOME QUITE DETERMINED to stick with the program here and lose weight. I can say that I haven't really missed the bread and the pasta, but the sugar thing has been a real challenge. One never truly realizes how insidious something is until you stop using it or eating it and experiencing first hand the powerful stranglehold it has over you. I must confess that I've cheated on the sugar thing (chocolate or a cookie here and there) but my intake has dropped dramatically considering what I was consuming over the holidays. 

The most important thing, though, is that I have indeed LOST weight: 8 pounds and counting!

ROASTED ASPARAGUS, BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND TOMATOES

I was telling someone the other night that the South Beach diet has forced me to be inventive with meals (breakfast especially) but it hasn't proved to be uninteresting. One morning, for instance, I had a hamburger (organic meat) and a poached egg with a sliced tomato. I stretched out a bunch of roasted Brussel sprouts, asparagus and cherry tomatoes into 3 meals, with lots of variation. Completely satisfying and filling, to boot. I've had a few omelets along the way (all cooked with olive oil) as well as a chicken soup with vegetables, a fantastic salad with lardons and more. All of it without any bread, pasta, rice or dessert. Yogurt with cinnamon and almonds isn't bad either. I should qualify the dessert thing by saying that one can eat a sweet but it must be made with artificial sweetener. Cheese is allowed as well, so I will probably make Ricotta tomorrow or the next day. Topped with unsweetened cocoa powder and nuts can be pretty tasty. I also discovered that they now make artificial powdered sugar (now that would be interesting to try - once!). 

ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

2 tbs. olive oil
2 lbs. Brussels Sprouts (washed but left untrimmed)
3 tsp. bacon (medium dice)
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Nutmeg (optional)

I leave the sprouts untrimmed because the root makes a terrific way to hold the sprout if you're going to dip them into something, bagna cauda for example. 

Preheat the oven at 350º (325º if using convection)

Heat the olive oil in a deep cast iron skillet and add the bacon. Sauté until the bacon begins to render some of its fat. 

Toss the Brussels sprouts in the pan with the bacon and oil, add the lemon juice and seasonings and place in the middle rack of the oven. Roast for about 45-60 minutes (depending on how crunchy or cooked you want them to be). Shake the pan every now and then to distribute the sprouts for an even roast.

Serve immediately or store in an air tight plastic container and refrigerate for later use.

ROASTED ASPARAGUS

I like flash roasting asparagus at a high temperature. They become very crisp - almost like French fries - but must be eaten immediately if prepared this way. 

Preheat oven to 425º (400º for convection).

2 lbs. Asparagus (ends cut off and stems trimmed)
2 tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper
Juice of one lemon

Line a large roasting pan with aluminum foil. Place the asparagus on the foil, drizzle the oil and lemon juice on them and roll the asparagus back and forth on the foil to grease them evenly. Salt and pepper and roast in he oven for 30-35 minutes. They should become very crisp. Serve immediately.

If you want to use roasted asparagus on an antipasto platter, roast them in the same manner but at 350º for about 45 minutes. They won't be as crisp but you can serve them immediately or store in the refrigerate and serve either at room temperature or reheated. You can dip these into a sauce as well. It's delightful finger food!

ROASTED CHERRY TOMATOES

2-3 boxes cherry tomatoes
2 tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 tsp. dried thyme

Preheat oven to 350º (325º if using convection).

Pour the oil into a large cast iron skillet or roasting pan. Add the salt and the thyme and then the tomatoes. Roll the tomatoes around in the pan, add about 12 turns of the pepper mill and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes or an hour. I like to roast these longer to let them get crunchy;  the natural sugars help to caramelize the skins, preserving a lot of succulent tomato juice inside each tomato.

POACHED EGGS WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES

POACHED EGGS

Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, crack 2 eggs (for one person) into a bowl and pour 1/4 cup of vinegar (plain distilled or cider will do nicely) into the bowl with the eggs and let rest while you're waiting for the water to boil. The vinegar will help the egg whites coagulate around the yolk.

When the water comes to the boil, gently pout the eggs and the vinegar into the pot. Gently stir from the bottom up to make sure the eggs don't stick to the bottom of the pan. You want to make the whites swirl around the yolk as you lift them up towards the surface. There will be a fair amount of egg white and foam that floats on the surface which you can ignore until it's time to take the eggs out of the water. Let the water boil for about 2-3 minutes before removing the eggs.

Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and cut away any extraneous egg white matter that hasn't become part of the poached egg. You should have a white pillow, similar to a ball of mozzarella, but encasing a beautiful semi-soft yolk. 

Serve immediately in the manner you like best.

PAN ROASTED RAZOR CLAMS

I WASN'T SURE that these would turn out well but they certainly did exceed my wildest expectations. I culled several cookbooks for a good recipe and found one in Michael White's Classico e Moderno Italian cookbook that piqued my interest. His recipe called for soppressata salami, corn and red chiles. Well, I didn't have corn or soppressata in the house, nor did I have any white wine but I had a lot of court bouillon from the tuna I preserved and I had a big chunk of duck prosciutto from the green market that was earmarked for a dish with sauerkraut but never made. A little improvising along the way and this is what I came up with. The flavors in this dish were so complex and mind-boggling that I will definitely make this again and again. This will make a wonderful appetizer for 4-6 people or you can serve them as an entrée for 2 or 3 people.

Pan Roasted Razor Clams

Scrub the razor clams under cold water (I use an old tooth brush which is the perfect size for this) and set aside.

To begin, you will need the following ingredients:

3 tbs. olive oil (enough to coat a large pan - see photograph)

4 tbs. duck prosciutto cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 shallot

3 tsp. freshly grated ginger

5 cloves of garlic smashed and minced

3 tbs. chopped scallions (green part only)

1 tsp. fennel seeds (pulverized)

3 tsp. fresh thyme

1 tsp. minced Jalapeño

1 dried Havañero chile (left whole)

3 tsp. sherry vinegar

1 cup fish broth

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Heat the oil just until it looks like it's going to smoke. Add the prosciutto and saute for about a minute, allowing some of the skin to render its fat. Add all other ingredients except the vinegar, tomatoes and the stock and sauté for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Add the vinegar and let reduce to a bear teaspoon. Add the fish stock and bring to the boil. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and cover the pan. Let cook for about 10 minutes.

Add the razor clams, cover the pan again and cook for about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Add the parsley and serve immediately.

Serve in large bowls. If you're like me, and can't have bread, you can eat it like soup, but if you can eat bread, soak up the bread with the broth. 

TUNA PRESERVED IN OIL

I SAID I WAS DIETING and as I said, I also hit Chinatown the other day and made major purchases from the Atlantic Ocean. (I think they're all from the Atlantic Ocean.)

I haven't gotten to making everything yet, but, I bought 3-1/2 pounds of Sushi grade tuna, a pound of baby octopus, a pound of medium-huge shrimp, a pack of razor clams (about 35 to be precise) and a whole flounder all for the tasty price tag of $58.00! The fish is always extremely fresh in Chinatown and the price certainly is right!

Periodically, I get the yen to make my own preserved tuna in oil and when the price of tuna hovers just below $8.00 a pound, it is the perfect time to invest in making a few jars of it. As I've said before, make this once and you'll never buy a can of tuna again. The jar pictured below is about a pound of tuna, which in a store would cost about $35.00. You do the math.

3-4 pounds tuna

8 cups water

2 tbs. sea salt

5 tsp. red or white wine vinegar

4 cups oil (I mix olive and canola oils for this but you can use any vegetable oil of your choice

Slice the tuna into steaks and put them in a pot with the water and the salt. Bring the water to a boil, add the vinegar and cook over moderately high heat for about 15 minutes. Remove the tuna with a slotted spoon and place on a flat roasting pan lined with parchment paper. Allow to cool. Cover with a damp towel and refrigerate for at least 10 hours or overnight.

Make sure you have enough sterilized canning jars to hold all the tuna you'll be preserving. Pull the tuna steaks apart into long  wedges. Any of the broken pieces should be place at the bottom of each jar to help anchor the longer strips. Arrange the strips vertically in the jar leaving about 1/2 inch clear at the top. Do this with all the jars until the tuna is completely used up. Fill each jar with the oil and let rest for at least 30 minutes to allow the tuna to absorb the oil. Add more oil at the end before you seal the tops, leaving some room in between the surface and the top of the twist off cover. 

Place all of the jars in a large stock pot which has been lined with a metal insert or a folded dish towel. Fill the pot with cold water and set over a high flame and bring to the boil. Cook for 60 minutes. Cooking time should be timed from the moment you turn on the stove. After an hour, turn off the stove and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes but letting the jars sit in the water until completely cooled is fine too.

Remove from water, dry the outsides of the jars and store in a cool, dark and dry place or in the refrigerator. If sealed properly, the tuna will last for approximately 1 year.

Buon appetito!

CAESAR SALAD

I'VE BEEN MAKING THIS CAESAR SALAD for 40 years. It's the salad they used to make in the old English Room in the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Of course, this was years and years before restaurants started adding the now ubiquitous chicken or shrimp, which I don't like at all and never use. It just isn't the classic salad with poultry or shellfish and somehow detracts rather than enhances the real flavors of the salad. However, I was in Chinatown the other day and bought a barbecued duck, which had been cut into pieces, and thought . . . "why not!" 

CAESAR SALAD WITH DUCK (AND ANCHOVY FILETS!)

All of the ingredients in this Caesar Salad are allowed on the South Beach diet, except the croutons, which as you will see from the photograph above, are omitted.

1 large head Romaine Lettuce
2 cloves minced garlic
A good pinch of salt
2-3 chopped anchovy filets
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
2 tsp. dry mustard
Several dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1 coddled egg
Juice of one lemon
Grated Parmesan cheese
8-10 whole anchovy filets
1/2 roast barbecued duck cut in pieces (bones and skin removed)

In a large wooden salad bowl, press the garlic and the salt together with a wooden spoon to make a paste and oil the entire surface of the salad bowl. Add the chopped anchovy and continue to do the same to incorporate both ingredients.

Once you've gotten a good paste, add the oil and vinegar, the dry mustard and the Worcestershire and mix thoroughly. Place the egg in a deep soup bowl, pour boiling hot water in it and allow to coddle for about a minute. Break the egg and mix the egg with the dressing. Add the lemon juice and stir vigorously. 

This dressing can sit in the bowl until you are ready to add the lettuce and toss before serving. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss. Add the duck (optional) and top with the anchovy filets and serve. A few turns of the pepper mill are always welcome!

Buon Appetito!

DETOXING WITH SOUTH BEACH

I DON'T KNOW if I mentioned it, but I gained almost 20 pounds over the holidays. This is what happens when you bake almost 800 cookies and are left to one's own devices and desires. Not only did my physician give me hell, but the thought of seeing that horrendous number on the scale a second time, sent me into a tailspin of guilt and self-loathing. Reading the South Beach Diet Cookbook didn't help either, considering I was focusing on the detriments of hypoglycemia!

So, let's start with my own version of V-8 Juice.

1 stalk chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped carrots

1/3 peeled cucumber

5 cloves garlic

2 tbs. fresh ginger

4 tbs. chopped scallion (green part only)

1 chopped shallot

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. minced jalapeno

1 12 oz. can Kirkland organic tomato sauce

1/2 cup cold chicken broth (no fat)

A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

A couple of dashes of Tabasco

3-4 cups water (to be added at the end)

Put all vegetables and citrus juices, jalapeno, garlic and ginger in a large electric blender. Blend on liquify until you have a smooth, thick paste. Add the tomato sauce and the chicken broth and blend. The juice should be very thick. Add the Worcestireshire and Tabasco and taste for seasoning. It shouldn't really need anything; especially not salt. Add a little water to thin it out if too thick. Refrigerate for about 4 hours or overnight. Add more water if necessary when it becomes too thick.

Flounder Baked in Parchment

FLOUNDER IN PARCHMENT

1 whole flounder, scraped of all gills and skin removed from one side.
3 tsp. fresh grated ginger
4 garlic cloves smashed
3 tbs. chopped scallions
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. Mirin
1 tsp. Japanese soy sauce (non GMO)
Juice of one lime
1 lime sliced very thin

Parchment paper
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Cut the parchment paper into a large enough piece that you will be able to fold and tent it when the fish is read to go into the oven.

Place the whole fish on the paper.

Mix all of the other marinating ingredients together in a small bowl. When ready to cook the fish, brush some of the marinade over the entire surface of the fish, pour on what it left and arrange the sliced limes down the center of the fish.

Tent the fish with the parchment and put into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Flounder, being a flat fish like sole has extra bones along the outer edges of the filet. You will have to remove these bones first and then cut down the center of the fish and with a spoon, slide the filet away from the bone.  Do this to the other side and then remove the spine and bone in one piece. Divide the fish into 2 portions on a plate and serve.

We had a watercress and broccoli sprout salad with cucumbers and roquefort cheese vinaigrette. Totally delightful, light and very delicious.

Tomorrow, home made jarred tuna in oil, razor clams and Caesar Salad with duck!

Buon appetito!

An appeal . . .

NEW HAMMERS, STRINGS, PIN BLOCK AND SOUNDBOARD!

As many of my readers may already know, I am in the middle of a major renovation of my 1928 Steinway. I ran out of money and have started a campaign on Indiegogo.com to raise the remainder of the funds needed to pay for the work done. Please refer to the link attached and please consider donating to this very worthy endeavor. Any amount, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated. If you can't give, but know anyone who might be interested in supporting this campaign, please send them the link and help to make this happen!

So, if you can, please do help me with this important project. A musician, after all, cannot live, or hope to pursue his goals, without an instrument on which to practice.  A full description of the project and its costs are disclosed in the link below. Thank you!

INDIEGOGO STEINWAY REBUILD APPEAL

PIZZA!

IF EVER THERE WAS A WEEK TO USE THE OVEN, this was it!  Single digit temperatures and high winds bring out the benevolence in bakers and the aromas of dough, yeast and oil certainly do make one hungry for substance! 

I should mention here that I have never been a big pizza maker, at least not of the type I made this week. In my family, we make sfinciuni, a deep dish pizza you would recognize as focaccia. Keeping in mind here that even though pizza is an extremely humble dish, it can take on numerous forms, the two most popular being the Neopolitan thin crust pizza with blistered crusts from a hot pizza oven and the Sicilian counterpart which employs much more flour, yeast and oil, rises for much less time, and is usually dressed with only tomato, oregano and sometimes anchovy or tuna, or whatever you may have in the house. This is not a dish that an Italian cook would plan, per se, but make spontaneously with whatever ingredients are in the house.

I've taken inspiration here from Jim Laehy's "My Pizza" book which I found in the library, and will be using his pizza dough recipe - a simple thing if one pays attention.

This dough rises for 18+/- hours before being used (notice how little yeast is required). Once formed into individual balls, it can be refrigerated, if necessary, for up to a week, but I wouldn't wait that long. A day or two tops.

Tomato and only Tomato!

3-3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. dry yeast
2 tsp. kosher salt
1-1/2 cups water
Extra flour for the board, your hands, etc.

Mix the flour, yeast and salt together and add the water and stir with a wooden spoon or mix with your hands until the dough comes together in one mass and all flour debris from the sides of the bowl adhere to the dough. Knead a little on a lightly floured work surface and form a ball and cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place for 18+/- hours. Dough will rise to at least twice in volume. This recipe will yield 4 pizzas.

While the dough is rising, you can prepare any combination of sauces or toppings for the pizzas.

Tomato

1 can peeled San Marzano tomatoes
3 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 clove garlic smashed
black pepper
red pepper flakes (optional)

Crush the tomatoes with your hands in a large stainless steel bowl. Add the oil, spices and the garlic. Mix well and store in the refrigerator until ready for use.

Fennel and Duck Prosciutto

Fennel and Duck Prosciutto with Mascarpone and Provolone

1 cup chopped Fennel stalks (with fronds)
4 tbs. Duck Prosciutto diced (you can use regular prosciutto)
2 tbs. mascarpone
1 tsp. heavy cream
3 tsp. grated Pecorino Romano
1 tbs. grated Aurecchio Provolone
Black Pepper

Potato

Potato and Shallots with Mascarpone

2 small red potatoes, sliced paper thin with a mandolin
1 shallot sliced paper thin
1 tsp crushed dried rosemary
2 tbs. duck fat
1 tbs. butter
2 tbs. mascarpone

Heat the duck fat and the oil in a cast iron skillet just large enough to hold the sliced potatoes in one layer.

When the oil is just about to smoke, layer the potatoes and fry over moderately high heat. Salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle on the shallots and rosemary. Do not disturb the potatoes during cooking. Cook for about 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Reserve the mascarpone and allow the potatoes to rest until you are ready to bake the pizzas.

When the dough has risen, take a pastry cutter or a large knife and divide the ball of dough into 4 equal balls. Working on a lightly floured surface, flatten each disc and knead with the heal of your palm and stretch out away from you on all four sides. Turn the dough back towards you and fold so all four corners come to the center. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and let rest. 

When you are ready to bake the pizzas preheat the oven to 500º. Place a rack with a ceramic pizza stone on it about 8 inches below the broiler and heat for 30 minutes. Turn the broiler on and continue to heat the stone for another 10 minutes or so. During the heating period, you can prepare the pizzas.

You can roll the pizza dough out on a floured work surface, or you can press and stretch with your fingers or you can stretch and pull with your knuckles as they do in pizzerias. All of these require a little technique and practice. Since there is not another rising period, it is important to work quickly.

Place a pizza on a floured peel and begin to create your pizza. 

For Tomato, spoon a little sauce around the pizza, leaving about an inch free around the borders. Drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle a little salt on and slide the pizza onto the stone with a back and forth jerking motion with the peel. Bake in the oven for 3 - 4 minutes. Pizza should be bubbling and the crust should be browned. Remove with the peel and serve immediately.

For the fennel and prosciutto: spread a little of the cream and cheese mixture on top of the dough. Add the fennel and the prosciutto, top with the grated cheeses. Place on the stone in the same fashion as directed above and bake for the same time period. More if you want a more molten cheesy top.

For the potato: Spoon out some of the mascarpone leaving an inch wide border around the crust. Slide the potato "pie" onto the pizza and bake for 3-5 minutes - or until the potatoes are golden brown and have curled a little.

Sfinciune (or Focaccia in Italian)

Sfinciune with Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions

Sfinciune is a Sicilian dish and is considered to be more a bread than a pizza. It can be made with literally any topping you like but is most often, as I said before, baked with whatever happens to be in the cupboard at the time. Of course, here on our side of the pond, it is very trendy to arrange your antipasto platter around this dish or that and "focaccia" is no exception. Be that as it may, let us remember that is it peasant food and I'm sure that many a grandmother, including my own, would be appalled to see expensive restaurants charging upwards of $25.00 for something that costs pennies to make.

Here is a basic recipe for the dough. The toppings above are acceptable but I would use oregano with the tomato and add anchovies to make it more Sicilian.

4 cups all purpose flour (more for kneading and dusting)
1 package dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. coarse salt
3 tbs. olive oil.

Sprinkle the yeast and the sugar into the warm water and let dissolve for about 10 minutes to let the culture bubble. Mix the salt with the flour and add the liquid and the olive oil. Mix with a wooden spoon or your hands. Everything should form a mass and all debris should fall away from the sides of the bowl. Transfer the ball to a lightly floured wooden board and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and place in a warm, dry place in the kitchen (the stove is usually the best place). Let rise until doubled in volume (about an hour). 

Place the dough in a lightly oiled rectangular baking dish and cover again and let rise for an hour. Make sure all the corners of the pan have been filled with the dough during the rise. Take your finger tip and make indentations in the dough. Brush with a little olive oil and continue with the topping of your choice. Bake in a 450º oven for 30-35 minutes or until the pizza has shrunk from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and let rest for a few minutes before cutting. Serve immediately.

Bon appetit!