FRIENDSHIPS AND RECIPES

IT WOULD BE  A TERRIBLE THING indeed if one didn't acknowledge their friends. Friends who share recipes and dishes are friends indeed. 

I am a carnivore, but in today's day and age, meat isn't the only thing going on. Recently, a friend of mine, also a very good cook and baker in his own right, brought me something that I had never eaten before. A meatless chopped liver! I am here to say that it is one of the most delicious things I've eaten in a very long time; to the point that, the other night, I couldn't stop eating the stuff. Then, I spoke about it to a couple of other people who have done the same thing - always for Passover, by the way - but in a variety of ways. 

One way is with canned peas, another way is with lentils, but the basic ingredients are really so simple that it's silly.

4 hard boiled eggs
1 cup walnuts
1 large onion, sauteed and caramelized in oil of your choice
1 can green peas (or 1 cup cooked lentils)

Prepare all ingredients and put them in a food processor and zap them into a paste, just like chopped liver and place them in a container. It is always best the next day but we all have our own devices and desires.

Bon appetit!

CODFISH FILETS WITH CREAMED CORN AND LEEKS

AS PROMISED, I am returning to a form of sanity once more, after a trying and tedious move into much smaller quarters. A real New York City Studio Apartment in Chelsea but facing the West Village, with southern exposure no less! Who could ask for more? The deal maker was the fabulous up-to-date kitchen and the washer and dryer in the apartment. Once the piano is turned around and my 700+ books are on shelves instead of under the piano, I shall be in business.

One night a few weeks ago, after one of my jaunts to the fish mongers of Chinatown, I ventured into the oven, pulled out a great little roasting pan, lined it with foil, brushed it with oil and plopped an entire cod filet on top of that. More oil brushing ensued with a mashed up lemon, having been previously preserved with salt, spices and saffron and then thrown under the broiler. That was dinner one night (served with rice and arugula). The next night, I made my favorite dish of all time: creamed corn and leeks with some very hot Thai chiles. Topped onto reheated rice and then the fish placed above that and this is what you get!

Pan and Plate

RICE

1 cup Sushi Rice

2 cups chicken broth

Bring rice and liquid to a boil. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid, reduce heat to the lowest flame setting and cook for 20 minutes. Let stand for another 10.

Corn and Leeks

1 leek, trimmed, cleaned and thoroughly inspected for any sand. I like slicing the leek from the top down the middle about half way down and rinsing the entire leek under cold water until all vestiges of sand are removed.

1 cup corn (frozen or cut from an ear or two of freshly cooked corn.

Butter and Oil to heat the bottom of the pan
1/2-1 cup heavy cream
Salt and Pepper
Nutmeg
1-3 Thai chiles

Take the chiles and put in the pan and heat them over high heat to release oils and flavor. Add the oil and butter to the pan and add the leeks and saute until translucent. Add the corn, seasonings and then the cream and cook over high heat until the cream thickens and bubbles. Lower the heat to the simmer and cook until the cream becomes a thick sauce. Correct seasoning, if necessary, and check on the nutmeg flavoring. I prefer more but that is my own personal taste.

Cod

1 whole filet fresh Codfish
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 preserved lemon wedge, plus juice, smashed
Salt and Pepper

Turn on the broiler and have a rack at the highest level possible just below the broiler. Line a medium sized shallow roasting pan with foil and brush it will EVOO and some lemon juice from the jar of preserved lemons. Add about 8 turns of freshly ground pepper to the fish (I don't salt because the lemons are preserved in salt). Put under the broiler (about 4-5 minutes on each side. If you like, you can "butcher" the fish into medallions which are easier to turn than an entire filet.

Once everything is ready, you can start building your plate. Et voilà! 

Codfish with Creamed Corn and Leeks

Buon appetito!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASTER BACH

TODAY WE CELEBRATE the 330th birthday of 

Johann Sebastian Bach. As musicians, we have so much for which to be thankful. To any keyboard player (organ, piano, harpsichord, et. sl.), his music laid the foundation for all keyboard music that followed. So tonight, Mu Phi Epsilon celebrates his life and music at Tenri Cultural Institute, 43a West 13th Street, New York City at 7:30 p.m.

Or click here for a chuckle!  MPENYCAC BLOG

I'm back, as you can see. More on food next week: Creamed corn and leeks with rice and broiled cod. Vegetable soup (the last vestige of winter), Pasta (of course) cooked several ways, including Gnocchi di Ricotta and a few other masterpieces up my sleeve. But in the meantime: Happy Birthday Johann!

BRAISED STUFFED ESCAROLE

I AM ALWAYS apologizing for my sporadic writing habits but things have simply slipped away from me these days. It's not that I haven't wanted to write but a host of issues prevail (still!), including the ubiquitous horror of moving (happening soon). More on that when it happens!

In any event, I first want to talk about a fantastic cookbook I found in the New York Public Library one day (I often cull through the shelves there to find little gems of knowledge). The cookbook is named Bocca, after the eponymous restaurant in London run by a young chef named Jacob Kenedy. His cookbook is by far, one of the most fascinatingly interesting cookbooks I have read in a long time. It is comprehensive in scope and doesn't shy away from the derring-do of an innovator. He remains classic in many ways, but his manner and style are truly refreshing. It isn't fussy; it's real. His chapter on gelati alone is worth the price of the book (I bought mine on Amazon for $20.00 - RETAIL: $35.00). In fact, I must apologize once more for not acknowledging him in my gelato blog as most of the basics were gotten from his book. 

But today, I want to talk about the hearty escarole. Escarole is a rather bitter green and is related to the endive family - chicory in particular - which explains its dense texture. Even though it is terrific in a salad, it is much better when cooked. My grandmother used to make escarole soup with chicken broth, garlic and basil. It was delicious. Stuffing it with raisins, pine nuts, garlic and anchovies, however, brings it to a completely new level. One night, when I had leftover meatballs, I chopped those up and put them into the stuffing mixture as well. They sort of melted into this fantastic texture and one couldn't really tell it was a meatball at all. I'm sure that one could improvise and put some cheese into the mix as well but I wouldn't stray too far afield of the 3-4 ingredient rule in Italian cooking. Troppo fantasia as they would say in Rome!

Serves Four

1 head escarole (the largest you can find)

4 cloves garlic (smashed and minced)

1 can anchovies (I drizzle the oil from the can all over the inner leaves)

4 heaping tbs. pine nuts

1/2 cup raisins

Extra virgin olive oil

2 cups chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Plenty of butcher's twine

Take one large head of Escarole and open it up completely on a large table or work surface (in my experience, rinsing the outer leaves under the faucet should suffice, but if you want, open the head without letting any leaves break off and immerse it in a sink full of cold water).

Spread out the leaves as flat as you can and sprinkle on the raisins, garlic and pine nuts. Strew the anchovy filets around the center of the escarole and work your way out about half way drizzling the oil as you go.

Close the escarole with your hands to make a large bulb. Take the twine and tie the tip of the escarole closed and while holding the tip, tie the twine tightly around the top and start to tie the bulb until you have twine encircling the entire escarole. Change directions and take the twine and tie lengthwise twice and tie the ends to enclose the entire head.

Heat a medium-sized round or oval metal casserole dish with cover or a Dutch oven Le Creuset is best for this) and pour enough of the olive to cover the bottom. Lightly salt and pepper the escarole and sauté the escarole all over until it is bright green and the outer edges have begun to wilt. Strew any of the leftover raisins and anchovy into the pot.

Pour about one cup chicken stock into the pot, bring to the boil and then lower the heat to a bare simmer and cover. Cook on a very low flame for about 2 hours, adding more liquid, if necessary. There will be rather a lot of shrinkage. When the  escarole is ready, remove from pot, remove all twine and cut into quarters. Serve immediately.

Buon appetito!

TROUT ALLA GRAVLAX

RECENTLY, two friends were in a pickle about cooking fish they'd bought for dinner only to find out that they had to leave town. Not wanting to let it go to waste, I was the recipient of their largesse — a whole trout, filleted, from Citarella! 

It was already a late Friday night when I received such a benevolent gift and I couldn't just pop into the kitchen and start frying up fish, so I decided to relish the moment that was to come a few days later after letting the filets take in the vapors of salt, sugar and spices. It wasn't a conventional Gravlax considering the fact that I hadn't any dill in the house; however, I did have parsley and thyme, and rosemary and tarragon and red and green peppercorns. This is what resulted!

TROUT GRAVLAX

It may surprise you to know that Gravlax is extremely easy to prepare. All you really need is a few ingredients: super fresh fish — salmon being the originally intended fish for this particular dish (the Scandinavians prepare this over and over again to the point of national pride as the salt acts as a natural preservative) — and patience! It is best to prepare this at least 3 days before you intend to eat it (I like to wait about 5 but even 2 will do in a pinch if you're pressed for time). Food of  the Vikings!

For this recipe you'll need one whole trout, filleted and bones removed with a pincer.

3 tbs. Kosher salt
2 tbs. Sugar
1 tbs. chopped parsley
1 tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1 tbs. chopped fresh tarragon
1 tbs. chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp. whole red peppercorns freshly ground in a mortar and pestle
1 tsp. whole green peppercorns freshly ground in a mortar and pestle
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 shallot slice paper thin
1/2 lemon sliced paper thin

Mix the sugar and salt together and place in a small bowl and reserve. Chop all the herbs and mix them together and put that in a separate bowl and reserve. Mix the ground peppercorns, grate the ginger and slice the shallot and lemon, and reserve those as well. 

TROUT FILETS READY FOR ACTION

As you can see from the photograph above, the trout glistens. You will need a medium sized rimmed roasting pan which will fit the fish snugly. Line the pan with a layer of aluminum foil and then a layer of plastic wrap. Lay the fish on top. Blend the salt and sugar together and cover the trout with the salt and sprinkle all over both filets to create an even layer. Cover the salt layer with the herbs, peppercorns and ginger as shown in the photograph below.

Cover the filets with the shallot and then top with the sliced lemons.

Cover the fish with the plastic wrap, and then enclose the fish with the outside border of foil and close tightly. Place in the refrigerator and put a heavy bottomed pot filled with a can or two of tomatoes or vegetable on top of the fish to weigh it down and let the fish stand for at least 2-3 days. As I said, 5 is really the best.

When ready to serve remove the fish from the foil wrapping and place on a cutting board, Remove the lemon slices, scrape most of the herb mixture away from the fish and slice paper thin slices with a very sharp fish knife (a long fish slicing knife is best). 

Serve with toasts or black bread or rye crisps or if you like, alone like sashimi.

This makes a fabulous hors d'oeuvre or first course to a sumptuous meal.

Bon appetit!

GELATO

I KNOW that summer is over and I have procrastinated to the nth degree, but here it is, my many takes on gelato, granita, and ice cream.

I've been experimenting over the summer and trying to perfect the actual process, not to mention the texture of all things frozen. The key, I think, is having a lot of patience and an extremely good, frozen element in your ice cream machine. 

CHERRY VANILLA, PISTACHIO AND GIANDUJA

First of all, let me be clear: these are basically eggless custards which, I suppose, contradicts what an actual custard is. All recipes are based on a basic formula: the combination of milk and cream with sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin.

The basic recipe for a gelato bianco is:

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

3 tsp. light corn syrup or 2 tsp. honey

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup powdered skim milk

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin (bloomed in cold water)

Heat the milk with the cream and the corn syrup to a simmer. Mix the sugar and the powdered skim milk and add that to the liquid until it is dissolved. Add the gelatin and mix well. Remove from heat and allow to cool before placing in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours (preferably over night). 

You now have a white gelato base from which you can make endless variations of gelati.

To make Pistachio gelato, you must make pistachio paste. No substitute will do here. You can buy paste or flavorings for many fruit ices and sorbets at Italian specialty stores, such as Buon Italia in Chelsea Market here in New York or online. Many of these flavorings come in rather hefty quantities and are rather dear to the pocket so, if you have the wherewithal, go for it. However, if you want to really enjoy the experience, and with a little bit of knowledge, it is possible to make these at home. To make pistachio marmalade is rather simple:

1 cup shelled pistachios

Pour boiling water onto the pistachios and let sit for about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain and place on a clean, dry dish towel and rub them around until the skins come off. Place the "green" nuts in in a spice blender or a nut grinder (Cuisinart has a great one) and grind with 1/2 cup confectioners sugar for about 1 minute. You should have a very green paste. 

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

Bring the water and sugar to a boil. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the pistachio paste and cook, stirring constantly until the liquid becomes very thick. 

Your big decision here is now to make gelato with nutty pistachio or just pistachio syrup. I prefer to press the nuts through a sieve and use only the green syrup and then reserve the nuts left behind to dip the edges of cannoli.

The same process can be employed for making nocciola (hazelnut) gelato but without the sugar and the water. Simply toast the nuts, place them on a dry towel and roll them around to remove the skins. Grind the nuts with 1 cup confectioner's sugar until you have a dense, buttery paste. Add that to the gelato bianco and proceed with the ice cream making process. 

To make Gianduja gelato, simply melt 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (70% cacao, please) with a stick of butter and add the nut paste, allow to cool and refrigerate and proceed with the recipe.

To make Stracciatella, the same process of melting chocolate is employed but instead of the butter melt the chocolate in a double boiler with 1 tbs. unflavored vegetable oil and allow to cool somewhat before gently pouring the chocolate in a steady stream into the gelato just before it is finished in the machine. Instead of chocolate chips, little frozen flecks of chocolate with form. You can make a variation of this by taking about 12 mint leaves and blanching them in boiling water and then puréeing them and adding the purée to the gelato bianco to add color and mint flavoring.

Pictured above, you will see that there is also cherry vanilla. Macerate freshly pitted cherries with sugar and 1 tbs. vanilla and add to the gelato after it has reached the frozen state in your ice cream making machine and freeze. 

LEMON, PINEAPPLE, MANGO WITH GINGER AND ESPRESSO SORBETS

To make sorbet: all one need to do is substitute the dairy for a simple syrup made from sugar and water, gelatin and any other flavoring agent (fruit, citrus, cocoa powder, etc.).

1 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

Blend the sugar and water and bring it to the boil and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Take any fruit of your choice, such as strawberries, raspberries, mango, melon, etc., and puree the fruit in a blender. Add the simple syrup along with

2 tsp. light corn syrup

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin dissolved in cold water (bloomed)

Place in the refrigerator for at least 5-6 hours, preferably overnight. When the mixture is completely cold, proceed according to the instructions on your ice cream maker.

LEMON SORBETTO

To make any type of citrus ice or sorbet:

Beat one egg white until soft peaks begin to form. Add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until semi-stiff peaks form. Add the simple syrup as well as:

the juice from 5 lemons

grated lemon zest from one lemon

Mix well and refrigerate overnight. The egg whites will form a great deal of froth at the surface of the bowl which will incorporate itself into the sorbet as it freezes in the ice cream making process.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless. Use a little imagination when making gelato. Be creative and add surprising elements into the recipes. For instance, I've added ginger and lime in many of the fruit ices, especially the mango and melon sorbets. I also like to add lime juice for added depth, especially in watermelon granita. Espresso granitas or even a non-dairy espresso gelato with egg yolks is possible, but beware: a little of this goes an extremely long way and if you have trouble sleeping after drinking coffee, this variety of gelato will take you over the edge.

Buon appetito!!!

Pomodori

THERE I WAS, walking up Broadway after being at the local fruit cart (eggplant for $1.00), West Side Market for some stuff, including lots of meat, the library, and then the Columbia Green Market. After examining many of the stalls, I came upon one which was offering very ripe tomatoes for $1.00 a pound. I decided to buy 10 pounds and he gave me two complete boxes (probably 20-25 pounds worth) for $10.00!!! Lesson to be learned here: go to the Green Market late in the day! 

So, what does one do with 25 pounds of tomatoes? These tomatoes in particular were screaming to be cooked and preserved and that's exactly what I did. 

POMODORI!!

The labor becomes somewhat intensive here. To begin one must score each tomato - a criss-cross motion on each tomato will do. Place about 1/2 dozen in boiling water until the skin begins to peel away naturally. Remove the tomatoes from the pot and place in cold water until they are cool enough to touch and peel away the skins of each tomato and place the tomatoes in a large bowl. Continue the same process until all the tomatoes have been peeled. 

PEELED POMODORI

Take one white onion and one red onion and chop coarsely. Chop 5 or 6 cloves of garlic and saute the onions and garlic in olive oil in a very large pot. 

CONSERVA

You will notice that the bowl full of tomatoes will have accumulated a rather large amount of juice. Pour all of the tomatoes and the juice into the pot with the onion and garlic and bring the contents to a boil. Add about 1 tbs. kosher salt and 14 turns of a black pepper grinder and 2 tbs. chopped fresh thyme. After the tomatoes have come to a boil, turn the flame down to a simmer and add 15-20 leaves of fresh basil. Cook at the simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally for about 5-6 hours. 

I let the sauce cool and then pour the contents into sterilized jars and preserve them. You should have enough tomato sauce to last you until Christmas!

CONSERVA DI POMODORO

BUON APPETITO!