My Uncle Denis' birthday was earlier this week. My mother’s only brother, Denis was a fixture in the Broadway Market for the last ten or so years that it was open. My grandmother basically stopped working in the store in the mid ‘90s, after her doctor told her she needed to rest a little more and not spend so much time on her feet. She took this as a prescription to not wait on customers unless absolutely necessary; both she and my grandfather were in their 80s at this point, and I think maybe she also lobbied to close the store around this time. My grandfather would hear nothing of it, and so he soldiered on with Denis shouldering most of the burden of the day to day operations. I don’t think Denis was particularly upset when the store finally closed in 2004, as he never really shared my grandfather’s love of the business and the interaction with the customers. Still, he faithfully worked every day, allowing my grandfather to keep the Broadway Market open much longer than he could have on his own.
The main recipe I’m sharing this week - crab spaghetti - isn’t particularly timely, since the best season for Dungeness crab is generally thought to be from November through June. Still, I saw crabs in the supermarket just the other day, and when I think of Denis and food, this is the first thing that comes to mind. We never had crab spaghetti for his birthday celebration, but I bet he would have chosen it if he could. I told the story of this messy meal in an earlier article; it was the second meal served to my father when he and my mother were dating. The crab is stewed in tomato sauce and served in the shell, and the generally accepted way to eat it is with one’s hands – you slurp off the sauce, break the shells with your teeth (or a nutcracker if you’re dainty) and then suck the sweet meat out of the shells. The shells get tossed into bowls on the table, and you move on to the next piece. Piles of napkins are a must, and when we were kids, there were plastic bibs, too – the disposable ones like you sometimes get at barbecue joints now.
Denis had an entirely different method of eating crab. He slurped the sauce off like everyone else, but then picked the meat out with the end of a leg, making a small mound of it on his plate. He’d clean his allotted portion (my Aunt Helen always counted legs, claws and stomachs and told everyone how much they were allowed to have) and ended up with a large mound of crab to which he’d add some reserved tomato sauce. At this point, the rest of us were just finishing up, wiping our hands, eating a little salad if we had room. Denis would then eat his crab slowly, with a fork, gloating while we looked on jealously. I tried to emulate his method a few times, but I lacked the patience, just like everyone else. Now that I’m older, I realize that the crab must have been completely cold by the time he was ready to eat, but that didn’t stop him. He always took full advantage, oohing and aahing and smacking his lips, hamming it up to the extreme.
The second recipe this week – Polenta Pie – is an easy, shortbread-like dessert that has always been one of my father’s specialties. Unlike Denis’ crab, this must be eaten warm; if it cools too much, it’s harder on your teeth than the crab shells!
The Recipe:
Crab Spaghetti
Serves 6
Like spaghetti and meatballs, this combination of pasta and accompanying protein needs only crusty bread and a nice salad to make a complete meal. If you’re celebrating a birthday or other occasion, start off with an appetizer of prosciutto and melon; cut a cantaloupe or other melon of your choice into large bite-sized chunks, wrap each chunk with a half slice of prosciutto and secure it with a toothpick (my grandmother always used the cute frilly ones.) The combination of salty and sweet is a great starter, and it’s not so rich as to compete with the crab.
Total prep and cooking time: about two hours – 30 minutes less if you have a fishmonger that will clean the crab for you!
Ingredients:
3 28 oz. cans whole plum tomatoes
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 Dungeness crabs, cleaned and broken into pieces (see below)
¼ C. olive oil
5-8 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1 ½ lbs. dried spaghetti or Fusilli Lunghi (long and curly spaghetti – very fun!)
Heat a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat, add the tomatoes and sugar, breaking the tomatoes up into large chunks with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil, the reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
Wash and clean your crab, if you weren’t able to buy it already cleaned. Rinse the crab under cold running water, then remove the back (top) shell by holding the base of the crab with one hand and pulling on the shell with the other. Rinse out the mushy yellow stuff and pull out the gills – finger sized pieces that look like latex gloves – and the intestine, which runs down the back. Pull off the legs and claws where they meet the body, then cut the body into quarters with a cleaver or large knife.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a very large dutch oven or heavy stock pot and sauté the garlic for three or four minutes, stirring frequently to avoid browning. Add the cut up crab pieces and stir or toss to coat with the garlic and oil, add several grinds of black pepper and a healthy sprinkle of salt, cook for ten minutes. Add the cooked tomatoes to this pot, stir to incorporate, then reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for about an hour, stirring occasionally – be gentle so that you don’t knock too much meat out of the quartered crab bodies.
Prepare pasta according to the package directions. Remove the crab from the sauce and place in a large serving bowl – covered if possible to retain the heat. Taste the sauce and correct seasoning as necessary with salt and pepper. Reserve 3-4 cups of sauce to serve at the table and toss the pasta with the remaining sauce. (Add a few tablespoons of butter if you’re feeling decadent – butter improves all sauces, in my opinion!) Serve and enjoy! If you feel the need to garnish, add a nice sprinkling of Italian parsley, but whatever you do, don’t serve Parmesan or Romano cheese with the spaghetti – it totally overpowers the flavors and makes it, well, weird!
The Recipe:
Pasticcino di Polenta – Polenta Pie
Serves 6-8
Experience has shown that the coarse cornmeal used for polenta is a little too rough for this dessert – regular cornmeal from a box is a better choice. Serve warm – we always had it plain, but fresh berries would be a nice accompaniment to dress things up a bit.
Total prep and baking time: 30 minutes, plus an additional 15 minutes to cool
Ingredients:
½ C. butter
½ C. granulated sugar
½ C. yellow cornmeal
1 C. flour
Preheat the oven to 400.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over a very low heat, stirring constantly to prevent browning. Add the remaining ingredients in the order listed, stirring briskly with a wooden spoon until the mixture is evenly grainy and well blended. Place in a lightly buttered, 8-inch pie tin. Smooth the top and press down firmly with the back of the spoon. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Turn out on a plate or wooden board and let stand 5 minutes. Cut into small wedges and serve warm.
Mangia, mangia, fatte grande!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Nonna's Kitchen 12 - Cool Recipes for Hot Evenings
As I sit at the desk writing this week, the air conditioning repairman is traipsing in and out the back door, rooting around in the crawl space and working to tune up our air conditioner for the summer here at the gallery. Coincidentally, this week’s recipes are things we used to eat in the hot July and August months when nobody wanted to be inside. We’re so spoiled now – the gallery is a constant 72 degrees, and my house is in the trees and stays naturally cool all summer long. The Broadway Market? Not so much. It was and is an old building, built around the turn of the last century; the heat in the winter came from the gas heater in the back of the store (which allowed us to have roast chestnuts all winter long) and was barely adequate. The air conditioning was two open doors and several box fans. Even at that, the house and the store were always hot. The house my grandparents lived in was attached to the back of the store, and its only redeeming feature in the summer was the back yard. My grandfather converted what was a concrete parking space into a sheltered patio with café tables like you see outside trattorias in the summer; there was even a Cinzano umbrella for several years, lending that “just so” Italian touch. Big old box elder trees provided ample shade, and we ate Sunday dinner outside more often than not for most of the summer.
Nonna still cooked almost every night during the summer; the back door was right next to the stove, so she simply left it open and worked her magic in the heat. But there were times, especially on Sunday, when Nonno cooked. I have vivid memories of him out in his giardino (garden – what he called the back yard), grilling chicken attired in a ribbed white tank top that is universally known by a very non-PC name. I’m giving three recipes this week, one for his sublime barbecued chicken, the second for his bean salad, and the third for Ricotta pie – baked by my mother – his favorite dessert in the summer. More often than not, after we all finished our dessert and espresso Nonno polished off the remainder of the pie while watching the nightly news, so if you didn’t get enough right away, you were out of luck! When you serve the pie, be certain to cut yourself a sizeable slab first, just in case…
The Recipe:
Nonno’s Barbecued Chicken
Serves 8-10
The longer this chicken marinates, the better and more intense the flavor will be. Nonno always started it in the morning and let it marinate for several hours before cooking. Ingredients are very approximate – Nonno measured even less often than I do, so use this as a framework and taste as you go. He also used button mushrooms from a can, because it’s what they had in the store, but fresh ones are so much better now that they’re readily available, so I’ve substituted.
Total prep and cooking time: 15-20 minutes to prepare the marinade, 30 minutes active cooking time plus an additional 45-60 minutes additional cooking.
Ingredients:
2 roasting chickens, cut into pieces,
or 4 lbs. chicken breasts and thighs (bone in/skin on makes for better flavor)
1 bottle dry red wine (something you’d drink)
½ C. olive oil
6-10 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed or roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. (about as much as fits into your palm) dried rosemary
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
additional wine and/or chicken stock for braising (optional)
1 small bunch Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
1 lb. small Crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and cut in halves or quarters
Mix the wine, olive oil, garlic and Worcestershire sauce in a large glass bowl or baking dish big enough to hold all of the chicken. Crush the rosemary between your palms to release the essential oils, add this and several healthy grinds of pepper to the liquid. Taste, and then add additional salt, Worcestershire, pepper and garlic to taste. Add the chicken pieces, stir to coat and marinate (in the refrigerator, of course) for at least 4 hours, rotating the pieces occasionally so all are equally soaked. You will be reusing the marinade to braise the chicken, so reserve it when you remove the chicken pieces for barbecuing.
Prepare a charcoal barbecue to provide high heat for searing the chicken. Wipe the grill with olive oil and then cook the chicken pieces over direct flame until nicely marked – about 4 minutes per side, depending on the heat. Remove the chicken from the barbecue and place into a large covered roasting pan (a turkey roasting pan is ideal, so long as it fits inside your barbecue). Stir the coals, spreading them out to the edges of the barbecue to reduce the heat level significantly, pour the marinade over the top of the chicken and cook, covered, with the barbecue lid on, until desired doneness is reached, roughly 30-45 minutes. Check occasionally and add more wine, or maybe a little stock, if the pan starts to dry out; this shouldn’t happen if your roasting pan is tightly covered and your barbecue heat is low enough. About 20 minutes before serving, put the mushrooms in the pan, stirring to incorporate. Mix the parsley in just before serving.
The Recipe:
Nonno’s Bean Salad
Serves 6-8 as a side dish
In true Nonno fashion, this salad was slightly different every time he made it. The thing that makes it special is the dressing, pink and sweet from the ketchup. Start slowly with the olive oil and vinegar, tasting often until you like the flavor and consistency of the dressing. This is much better than the jarred stuff alone. Feel free to add fresh green beans or other vegetables to your liking.
Total prep time: 20 minutes, plus additional time for chilling
Ingredients:
1 large jar of prepared 3 Bean Salad, well drained
2 additional 15 oz. cans of beans – your choice of cannellini, kidney or garbanzo – drained and rinsed
3 ribs of celery, diced
1 medium onion (I prefer red ones) quartered and thinly sliced
½ C. mayonnaise
¼ C. ketchup
2 tsp. sugar
1-3 Tbsp olive oil
1-3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 small bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Place the bean salad, beans, onion and celery into a large serving bowl, mix well to incorporate. Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup and sugar in a small bowl and then start adding the vinegar a splash at a time until the desired level of tartness is reached. Add olive oil until the consistency reaches that of heavy cream, then pour over the salad and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste, then chill for several hours. Just before serving, add the parsley and mix well.
The Recipe:
Ricotta Pie
Serves 6-8
My mother’s adaptation of a classic dessert. In typical Italian fashion, this pie is rich and dense, and not too sweet. Traditional recipes include the addition of raisins, candied orange peel and pine nuts, but my mother always omitted them. Best served chilled; fresh berries would be a nice accompaniment, if you wish.
Total prep and cooking time: about 2 hours
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 C. flour
½ C. shortening (my mother uses lard)
¼ C. ice water
1 tsp. sugar
zest of one lemon, finely grated
Mix all ingredients in a bowl or food processor until well incorporated, roll into a ball and chill at least 30 minutes before rolling. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then prepare the crust; reserve ¼ of the pastry, then roll the remaining ¾ to form a bottom crust for a large, deep pie plate or springform pan, finishing the edges however you wish. Return crust and reserved pastry to refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
For the filling:
5 C. (about 2 ½ lbs.) Ricotta cheese (full fat is best, of course!)
1 Tbsp. flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of one orange, finely grated
confectioners’ sugar for serving
Place all of the ingredients into the work bowl of a food processor or stand mixer and mix until creamy. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust, smooth out and then roll the remaining pastry out and cut into strips to form a lattice top for the pie. Bake 60-90 minutes, or until the top is slightly golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out completely clean. Some cracks may form in the surface of the filling – this is just fine. Chill for several hours, then dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve in small wedges.
Mangia, mangia, fatte grande!
Nonna still cooked almost every night during the summer; the back door was right next to the stove, so she simply left it open and worked her magic in the heat. But there were times, especially on Sunday, when Nonno cooked. I have vivid memories of him out in his giardino (garden – what he called the back yard), grilling chicken attired in a ribbed white tank top that is universally known by a very non-PC name. I’m giving three recipes this week, one for his sublime barbecued chicken, the second for his bean salad, and the third for Ricotta pie – baked by my mother – his favorite dessert in the summer. More often than not, after we all finished our dessert and espresso Nonno polished off the remainder of the pie while watching the nightly news, so if you didn’t get enough right away, you were out of luck! When you serve the pie, be certain to cut yourself a sizeable slab first, just in case…
The Recipe:
Nonno’s Barbecued Chicken
Serves 8-10
The longer this chicken marinates, the better and more intense the flavor will be. Nonno always started it in the morning and let it marinate for several hours before cooking. Ingredients are very approximate – Nonno measured even less often than I do, so use this as a framework and taste as you go. He also used button mushrooms from a can, because it’s what they had in the store, but fresh ones are so much better now that they’re readily available, so I’ve substituted.
Total prep and cooking time: 15-20 minutes to prepare the marinade, 30 minutes active cooking time plus an additional 45-60 minutes additional cooking.
Ingredients:
2 roasting chickens, cut into pieces,
or 4 lbs. chicken breasts and thighs (bone in/skin on makes for better flavor)
1 bottle dry red wine (something you’d drink)
½ C. olive oil
6-10 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed or roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. (about as much as fits into your palm) dried rosemary
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
additional wine and/or chicken stock for braising (optional)
1 small bunch Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
1 lb. small Crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and cut in halves or quarters
Mix the wine, olive oil, garlic and Worcestershire sauce in a large glass bowl or baking dish big enough to hold all of the chicken. Crush the rosemary between your palms to release the essential oils, add this and several healthy grinds of pepper to the liquid. Taste, and then add additional salt, Worcestershire, pepper and garlic to taste. Add the chicken pieces, stir to coat and marinate (in the refrigerator, of course) for at least 4 hours, rotating the pieces occasionally so all are equally soaked. You will be reusing the marinade to braise the chicken, so reserve it when you remove the chicken pieces for barbecuing.
Prepare a charcoal barbecue to provide high heat for searing the chicken. Wipe the grill with olive oil and then cook the chicken pieces over direct flame until nicely marked – about 4 minutes per side, depending on the heat. Remove the chicken from the barbecue and place into a large covered roasting pan (a turkey roasting pan is ideal, so long as it fits inside your barbecue). Stir the coals, spreading them out to the edges of the barbecue to reduce the heat level significantly, pour the marinade over the top of the chicken and cook, covered, with the barbecue lid on, until desired doneness is reached, roughly 30-45 minutes. Check occasionally and add more wine, or maybe a little stock, if the pan starts to dry out; this shouldn’t happen if your roasting pan is tightly covered and your barbecue heat is low enough. About 20 minutes before serving, put the mushrooms in the pan, stirring to incorporate. Mix the parsley in just before serving.
The Recipe:
Nonno’s Bean Salad
Serves 6-8 as a side dish
In true Nonno fashion, this salad was slightly different every time he made it. The thing that makes it special is the dressing, pink and sweet from the ketchup. Start slowly with the olive oil and vinegar, tasting often until you like the flavor and consistency of the dressing. This is much better than the jarred stuff alone. Feel free to add fresh green beans or other vegetables to your liking.
Total prep time: 20 minutes, plus additional time for chilling
Ingredients:
1 large jar of prepared 3 Bean Salad, well drained
2 additional 15 oz. cans of beans – your choice of cannellini, kidney or garbanzo – drained and rinsed
3 ribs of celery, diced
1 medium onion (I prefer red ones) quartered and thinly sliced
½ C. mayonnaise
¼ C. ketchup
2 tsp. sugar
1-3 Tbsp olive oil
1-3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 small bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Place the bean salad, beans, onion and celery into a large serving bowl, mix well to incorporate. Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup and sugar in a small bowl and then start adding the vinegar a splash at a time until the desired level of tartness is reached. Add olive oil until the consistency reaches that of heavy cream, then pour over the salad and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste, then chill for several hours. Just before serving, add the parsley and mix well.
The Recipe:
Ricotta Pie
Serves 6-8
My mother’s adaptation of a classic dessert. In typical Italian fashion, this pie is rich and dense, and not too sweet. Traditional recipes include the addition of raisins, candied orange peel and pine nuts, but my mother always omitted them. Best served chilled; fresh berries would be a nice accompaniment, if you wish.
Total prep and cooking time: about 2 hours
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 C. flour
½ C. shortening (my mother uses lard)
¼ C. ice water
1 tsp. sugar
zest of one lemon, finely grated
Mix all ingredients in a bowl or food processor until well incorporated, roll into a ball and chill at least 30 minutes before rolling. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then prepare the crust; reserve ¼ of the pastry, then roll the remaining ¾ to form a bottom crust for a large, deep pie plate or springform pan, finishing the edges however you wish. Return crust and reserved pastry to refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
For the filling:
5 C. (about 2 ½ lbs.) Ricotta cheese (full fat is best, of course!)
1 Tbsp. flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of one orange, finely grated
confectioners’ sugar for serving
Place all of the ingredients into the work bowl of a food processor or stand mixer and mix until creamy. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust, smooth out and then roll the remaining pastry out and cut into strips to form a lattice top for the pie. Bake 60-90 minutes, or until the top is slightly golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out completely clean. Some cracks may form in the surface of the filling – this is just fine. Chill for several hours, then dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve in small wedges.
Mangia, mangia, fatte grande!
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