INTRUGLIO

HAVE YOU EVER WALKED into an Italian grocery store, I mean the small, little ones, family owned, smelling of the old world, reeking of olives and salami and hard pungent cheese? 

Well, this dish represents that scent, the succulent aroma of olive oil mixed with fruits of the vines and trees. What's more, it might be a little pricey to make because olives and sun-dried tomatoes and cheese have become rather dear not to mention the extra virgin olive oil, but it is so simple to make that it's crazy.   

Etymologically, Intruglio (pronounced een -TRUE-leeyo - The G is silent when preceding L followed by I or E) means slop, muddle, concoction. I found this recipe in Tessa Kiros' gorgeous and fabulous cookbook: Venezia - food and dreams (page 71). She states that Intruglio is of Tuscan origin.  But it's altogether possible that this mixture is made throughout Italy where olives and tomatoes live in ubiquity. In Calabrese the word intruglio means pigswill, which it definitely is not! It even has had connotations like "bad medicine" and "paint stripper" throughout the ages and can be dated back as far as the Romans. Being an olive-oriented society, I'm sure they made full use of oil and salt to preserve foods like this.

This "concoction" is basically made using:

1 cup of Kalamata olives 
1 cup of large green olives 
1 cup of any other kind of olive (red or green or black for variety of type and color; I recommend pitted olives)

Mix with a quarter pound of soft goat cheese and a half pound of Buffalo mozzarella. Since Buffalo mozzarella is so expensive I just use the little bocconcini which I flatten with the palm of my hand. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and add either some fresh oregano or some rosemary with some thyme, a dash of hot red pepper flakes and a couple turns of black pepper from a pepper mill. Also optional: a heaping tablespoon of capers and some anchovies.

Pour the mixture into a large glass airtight container (those which are used for preserving are ideal) and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil to cover the mixture completely. Refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 days or up to a week and then you can start using it. I have used very little of it in the past and must say that it grows in flavor with a little aging. I use some and then cover it with more olive oil which will help the mixture to stay completely perfect for at least a month.

At this point you can top it on bread or crostini as an antipasto or dress any pasta of your choice with it.

Boil any kind of macaroni or pasta (shells, butterflies, rigatoni, penne) and cook until ready according to the instructions on the box. Drain, put back in the pot with a little bit of olive oil some black pepper and add about three large spoonfuls of the intruglio and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately with some grated Parmesan cheese.

A slight variation: Preheat the oven to 375°.

1/2 pound salt cod soaked in water for several days with changes of water every eight hours. Take a large piece of parchment paper put the cod on the paper, place about three very large spoonfuls of the intruglio over the fish, wrap the fish with more parchment paper and seal all around it. Put on a large roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes. When the fish is ready open up the parchment poor everything onto the pasta and mash the fish into the pasta with a wooden spoon so it's well incorporated. Serve immediately but without cheese. 

Buon appetito!

JALOUSIE STUFFED WITH MINCEMEAT

This dessert is so delicious and rich - and labor intensive - that it is probably best served only on holidays or very special occasions in Winter.

I say this because it requires making the mincemeat (and ample time in a jar to really develop into a true tipsy jelly), making puff pastry at least a day ahead of time and then assembling the dessert and baking it to a buttery, divinely flakey pastry full of delicious sweet meats redolent of baking days of yore.

MINCEMEAT

Mincemeat was usually made with drippings, suet and tongue which was simmered for hours and hours until the meat almost disappeared. To that was added fruits, berries and alcohol (as a preservative). Don't forget, this was something that predated refrigeration by centuries so the use of alcohol - and salt, but not in this instance - was a prevalent additive to deter spoiling or rot.

4 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large chunks

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup currants

1/2 cup chopped candied cherries

1/4 cup candied citron

Grated peel from 1 orange

Grated peel from 1 Lemon

Juice from one Leman

Juice from one Orange

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Rum

Calvados (or Brandy)

1 cup chopped pecans

Put the apples in a food processor and pulse a few times until the apples are reduced to berry-sized shapes. Don't process too much.

Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a heavy cast iron pan (a Le Creuset Dutch oven is perfect for this) and add the apples. Sauté the apples for about 10 minutes and add the orange and lemon peel, the citrus juices, and 1/4 cup Rum. Let it boil and reduce. Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, and all other dry ingredients except the pecans. Stir until the mixture comes to the boil. Add 1/4 cup Calvados and bring to a boil again, turn down the heat and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more liquor if mincemeat dries out or begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. I mix 1/4 cup of the rum with 1/4 cup Calvados and use this mixture to moisten the mincemeat when needed.

After the mincemeat has cooked and reduced into a thick mass, add the pecans and place contents into sterilized jars leaving an inch of space at the top. Cover mixture with any leftover liquor, seal and let cool in a dark place in a cupboard or the refrigerator. This should keep for several months.

PUFF PASTRY

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup "00" flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1 tsp. salt

1 lb. unsalted butter

1/2 cup cold water

I've made this puff pastry several times now and it works every single time. 

Please the flours and the salt in a food processor and pulse for 3 seconds. Take one stick of butter and cut it into small dice. Add the butter to the food processor and pulse until the flour takes on the texture of meal and the butter has turned into little pellets. Add the water in a stream and process for 8-10 seconds or until the doug takes on a mass and clears itself from the wall of the canister. Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead into a ball. Dough will be very stick at first so dust your hands with flour. 

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, cut the rest of the butter into patties and place in a large stainless steel bowl. Using your fist, punch the butter down and rake it with your fingers (like a claw) until the butter takes the shape of the bowl in a nice flat dome. Refrigerate. 

When you're ready to start rolling out the pastry, Roll our the dough into a large circle measuring at least 16 inches in diameter. Place the butter sheet on top of the pastry dough and fold the outside edges of the dough over the butter, completely encasing the butter. Roll out the dough and fold it into thirds. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. When you're ready, roll out the dough into a 12x18 inch rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds and turn the dough 45º to the right. Roll out the dough, always starting from the center and rolling out and turning the dough so your rolling away from you. When you have another large rectangle, fold it into thirds again and refrigerate again for 30 minutes. Do this two more times exactly as before. Refrigerate. 

This can be refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for months. When you're ready to make the jalousie, removed the pastry from the fridge and cut the dough into two pieces. You can freeze one of the halves and save it for future use, Roll out the other piece of dough into a 12x16 inch rectangle. Cut the dough in half lengthwise. Place one of the sheets on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper moistened with drops of water. Place the mincemeat down the center leaving a good inch margin on all sides. Brush the sides with an egg wash made with 1 beaten egg and 1 tsp water. Take the other sheet of pastry and fold it in half. Take a pastry scraper and make slits on the folded side about a in ch and a half long. Take the long pastry sheet and place on top of the mincemeat and unfold. You should have a covered piece of dough with openings on top.that resemble Venetian blinds. Crimp the edges along all four sides of the Jalousie and bake in a preheated 425ª oven for 30 minutes, turn down the heat to 300º and bake for another 20 minutes, until flaky and golden brown. Et voila! The aromas coming out of the oven will make your kitchen, if not the entire house, smell like a veritable French pastry shop. Ice Cream Optional!

Bon appetit!

PAPPARDELLE CON PISELLE, PIGNOLI E CALVADOS

DENYING YOURSELF CARBS on a daily basis takes it toll, especially on the Sicilian palette. So, it was on one of those dark, rainy nights when a salad or fish just wouldn't cut it and discipline flew out the window. Whatever the case may be, this was a completely impromptu creation of mine and it worked; big time!

Cutting to the chase then, this is how it all works. And keeping truly to the 4 ingredient mantra . . . 

Olive Oil

1 onion, thinly chopped, lengthwise  

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup baby peas

1/4 cup Calvados

Chopped parsley 

8 oz. Pappardelle

Reggiano Parmiggiano

Put a big covered pot of water on high heat. Bring to the boil. Once the water comes to a boil, add a handful of Kosher salt and the pappardelle. Stir occasionally until it is cooked (about 8 minutes) While the pasta is cooking, heat a heavy cast iron skillet with olive oil and saute the garlic and onions until translucent. Flambé with calvados and let the alcohol burn off. Just before draining the pasta, pour a ladleful of pasta water into the pan, add the peas. Drain the pasta, turn off the heat and add the pasta. Toss until the pasta is well coated add the parsley and toss again. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and serve immediately.

Buon Appetito!

MORE FISH

LAST WEEK, a friend came down to New York from Boston to attend a performance of Tristan und Isolde with me at the Metropolitan Opera. Considering that the opera began at 6:30 and didn't end until close to midnight, I decided that we should eat a light lunch before we set off on our way to hear  Wagner's most erotic - and tragic - opera.


This friend, while not being totally picky about what she eats, does eat like a bird so I thought that fish was the most appropriate thing to make. We had it with roasted mini peppers and paper thin slices of fennel dressed in olive oil with salt and pepper. It was the perfect thing to eat: substantial and not too heavy. 

RED SNAPPER

As you can see from the new background of my blog, only the head remained!

I like a whole fish roasted in parchment with citrus and soy sauce and that's precisely what I did. It's extremely delicious, even with the bones to contend with, and oh so very easy to make.

To begin: tear off enough parchment paper to line a roasting pan big enough to fit the fish laying flat. Tear off another piece as well. Rinse the fish (I used Red Snapper, but Mullet or Sea Bass or Branzino, i.e., any fish fitting the bill with do), salt and pepper the inside and insert a couple slices of lime inside the fish with some diced ginger and cut up scallions. Place the fish on top of the first piece of parchment. Salt and pepper the fish, strew more ginger, scallions and limes on top of the fish.

Prepare a marinade by mixing the following ingredients:

3 tsp. Soy Sauce (preferable gluten-free from Japan)

1 tsp. Oyster Sauce

1 tsp. Mirin

1 tsp. Rice Wine

2 tsp. minced ginger

1 large clove minced garlic (optional)

1/2 tsp. hot chili paste (optional)

Baste the fish with the marinade and generously pour the rest all over the fish and the bottom of the parchment paper. Place the second piece of parchment paper over the fish and roll up the edges of the paper and then seal by turning the fish over. Place in the roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes in a 350º oven. Open up the paper when ready and slide the fish out onto a serving platter. The juices should follow the fish right into the dish. 

The only thing missing was some good rice to soak up the juices.

Sayonara!

FISH SURPRISE!

I THINK I MENTIONED THAT I WAS AT THE STRAND bookstore last week. While perusing the stacks, I found a fabulous cookbook (yes, another one!) by Patrick O'Connell, chef of The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia. Price? $4.00. And what treasures I found in this cookbook. This dish is inspired by one of the dishes found in the book.

His recipe calls for red mullet but I had used red snapper instead, and I improvised with the Gazpacho, so . . . Let me tell you, this was one of the most delicious meals I've made and it was incredibly simple; and completely clean food! No starch, no butter, no fuss. Simply delicious!

RED SNAPPER WITH GAZPACHO SALSA

I used the last of the Gazpacho that I made the other day, strained it in a china cap strainer and let it drain in a bowl while making the fish.

Take anywhere between 4 and 16 filets of red snapper, depending on how many people you're serving (I allow two pieces of fish for each person). Salt and pepper both sides. Heat a pan with some oil, fry each piece of fish, skin side down for about 4 minutes. Turn the fish over and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Take the strained juice and pour a little in each bowl, drizzle some olive oil around the juice and spoon a mound of salsa in the center. Arrange two pieces of the fish over the salsa and serve immediately. 

Bon appetit!

RIGATONI CON PESCE

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, I feel the urge to break my diet. The other night was one of those inevitable exceptions to the rule where the craving for carbohydrates outweighed the controlling effort on my part to shed pounds. So, after culling through the cabinets for something good to eat, the choice was either farfalle or rigatoni. As you can see from the photograph below, the rigatoni won.

RIGATONI CON PESCE

I love fish. I know a lot of people who don't and they simply don't know what they're missing. I had some leftover cod and red snapper, too, as well as some anchovies so it was obvious to me what had to be done. You can use sardines for this dish as well.

Serves 8 as a first course or 4 as a meal.

I put a big pot of water on the stove, turned the flame on high, covered the pot and moved on to other tasks: smashing garlic, mincing an onion, chopping up a few fennel stalks, measuring out a 1/2 teaspoon of hot red pepper flakes and a very tiny pinch of saffron as well, if you are so inclined.

Heat a pan, pour a generous amount of olive oil in it and sauté the garlic and onions until translucent. Add the red pepper flakes. While the onion mixture is cooking, chop up the fish, including the anchovies into small pieces and put it in the pan. Keep cooking for a while and add about 1/2 cup of Prosecco or white wine. Add the saffron at this point if using. It will melt into the wine base. Let it cook and reduce by at least halt. While the wine is reducing, take 8-10 very ripe plum tomatoes and after hulling them, chop coarsely. When the wine mixture has reduced, add the tomatoes. Once the sauce comes to the boil, lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Salt and pepper to taste, add a handful of chopped parsley and basil. Let cook until the tomato sauce become very thick. 

By this time, the water should be boiling. Add a handful of Kosher salt to the water and put the rigatoni in the water and stir. Keep stirring for a moment to make sure none of the pasta sticks to the bottom of the pot. Cover, but watch carefully for the water to start boiling again. Once it's boiling, remove the cover and stir again. Continue to monitoring and stirring the pasta, uncovered - cooking time, 8-9 minutes. 

The sauce should have thickened by now. When the pasta is done, drain the water and pasta in a colander and pour the drained pasta directly into the large sauce pot and mix well. Turn off the flame. Allow the pasta to rest a moment and then serve immediately in bowls. 

You can sprinkle dried, seasoned, or toasted bread crumbs on top if so desired. Never cheese with fish. Absolute no-no!

Bon appetito!

MORE VEAL

I'M SURE YOU SUSPECTED that I'd be writing again about Veal. Yesterday, when I wrote about demi-glace, if you remember, I mentioned using the leftover pieces of meat from the stock for another purpose. I added some fresh pieces of veal and made a stew with vegetables, leftover stock and demi-glace. I served it with beans and it was delicious.

VEAL STEW

Serves 8 in a pinch.

3 tbs. unsalted butter

3 strips bacon cut into medium dice

1 lb. stewing veal

3 tbs. flour or cornstarch

1 onion coarsely chopped

1 cup carrots cut in thick julienned strips

3 stalks chopped celery

2 lbs. leftover meats from freshly made stock (veal, beef, etc.)

3 cups hot veal stock (chicken if necessary)

1 cup demi-glace

Sauté the bacon with the butter until the bacon is crisp. Remove the bacon and sauté the veal pieces until the meat is partially cooked. Remove the veal, sauté the vegetables and add the veal and the bacon and continue to cook. Add the flour and cook until the flour is completely absorbed into the veal mixture. Add the leftover meats from the stock and then the heated stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover partially and cook for 3 hours. Add the demi-glace for the last hour of cooking, continuing to skim during the cooking.  

Serve with a starch of your choice (beans, boiled potatoes,  even polenta* or gnocchi.

* See December 10, 2013 entry for polenta with Osso Buco.

Bon appetito!