Entries from October 2007
Now, this recipe I did not get from Mom. This one came from the back of a soup can - College Inn Light & Fat Free Chicken Broth to be exact. I still have the label.
The only break from the recipe I make is with the spinach. I use frozen spinach, which is not as easy, but allows me to keep the spinach on hand whenever I need it.
When it’s time to add the spinach, I just throw the frozen square in the middle of the skillet and flip it occasionally to melt the spinach down. This will take quite a while - probably about 15 minutes - but when the spinach is all broken up, it will taste exactly the same.
Actually, I’m not sure of that since I’ve never made it with real spinach. I should probably try that.
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: chicken broth, spinach
Ingredients
- 2 cans of chicken stock (or 4 cups using bouillon cubes)
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 3/4 TSP dried oregano leaves
- 2 cups orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
- 1 lb. boneless chicken breast, diced
- 3 cups packaged, washed, torn spinach leaves
- crumbled feta cheese
Directions
In a large skillet, heat stock, onion and oregano to a boil. Add orzo and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add chicken and cook 6 minutes longer (covered) or until chicken and pasta are cooked. Stir in spinach and heat just until spinach wilts. Remove from heat and top with cheese.
Read my observations.
Categories: Recipes
Tagged: chicken, feta, greek, orzo, spinach
A friend took me to PrimoHoagies the other day, and it definitely took me by surprise.
First of all, it’s right down the street and doesn’t look like much from the outside.
Second, the menu is suspiciously like this small chain called Planet Hoagie that I used to frequent when my job was in the Philly burbs.
I don’t know which chain is stealing from which, but they both have the goods. As much as I love the sliced-on-premises meats and cheeses, the bread is what puts these hoagies over the top. It’s a nice, seeded Italian loaf from South Philly that’s just tough enough to make you chew, and just soft enough to give under pressure.
I had my old favorite, The Soprano: roasted turkey, sharp provolone and roasted red peppers. So good.
Categories: To Go
Tagged: Hoagies, primo, sandwich, south philly, the soprano
OK, first thing’s first: this is not just tomato sauce with meat in it. Every time I see a crappy, low-rent Italian restaurant try pass off their regular marinara with some hamburger in it as “pasta bolognese,” I want to vomit. Fortunately, I restrain myself.
This, again, is another one of my mom’s recipes, passed down through the generations. Actually, I have no idea if she got this from a cookbook, but I like to think it was the generations thing.
I know you’re probably tired of hearing this, but I use ground turkey in my sauce to appease the little lady. Yeah, it’s not as rich or flavorful as veal, but I’m all about saving the baby cows. Come on, you know they’re cute! Remember when Bill Crystal played midwife to that calf in City Slickers? Just hang on to that memory and you’ll enjoy the turkey a lot more.
Anyway, I also use baby carrots because I’m lazy and they come pre-peeled. I find that filling up my 3-cup pulse grinder with them just about equals two full carrots.
As far as which pasta to use, this sauce goes best with the long noodles. I use fettucine or linguini, but the more traditional shape is tagliatelle. You can also use the smaller shapes, as long as they pick up the sauce - something like shells would do.
Top it off with a little Parmesan, and you’ve got a classic!
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: bolognese sauce, Italian, meat sauce, pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground veal (or beef, pork or turkey)
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 medium-sized onion
- 2 carrots peeled
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup dry Vermouth
- 1 small can (4.9 oz.) tomato sauce
- salt & pepper
Directions
In a large, coverable saucepan, saute meat in olive oil until barely brown. Remove from pan.
Grind carrots, onion and garlic together in Cuisinart until finely minced. Saute in juices from pan until somewhat cooked.
Add meat back into pan and stir mixture together. Add bay leaf, tomato sauce, Vermouth and salt & pepper. Mix together and cover pan.
Cook mixture very slowly, stirring occasionally, until carrots and onions become very soft and “dissolve” into the sauce. This should take 15 minutes to a half hour.
Read my observations.
Categories: Recipes
Tagged: bolognese sauce, meat sauce, pasta
If there’s one thing you should always have on hand in mass quantities, it’s olive oil. Of course, I’m bias because many of Mom’s recipes start with this fruit of the gods, but, trust me, it’s essential.
I know one TV personality who has popularized the acronym EVOO. As much as I like her, the word is like poison to my ears. It’s four freakin’ syllables and sounds like a DNA sequence. Can’t we just call it oil?
Anyway, when I’m out of olive oil, I don’t mess around. I go to Costco, get a gallon (like I did today) and use it to refill a smaller dispenser. Believe me, you don’t ever want to run out of olive oil. That’s just a bad scene.
Oh, and if your excuse for not having olive oil is that the pan is non-stick and doesn’t need it, then you’re technically right; but you’re no fun.
Categories: Products
Tagged: costco, olive oil
I’m not a big steak eater. That probably goes without saying, considering my wife has shunned anything that doesn’t fly or swim.
However, when we go out to eat, I usually take a good long look at the beef and pork dishes. I don’t always order them, but it’s usually the only time I get to eat the stuff so I at least consider them.
Such was the case at one of our favorite local BYOBs (Is that sign big enough, or what?), Caffe Casta Diva the other night. We had been to this Italian place a number of times and have never been disappointed by the food. The restaurant may not be the total package that Melagrano is, but I have never had a bad meal there.
This one was the best. A New York strip steak grilled to perfection, sitting in a balsamic vinegar (25 years old) and red wine reduction, with fresh string beans and potatoes. I literally ate everything on the plate. There was barely an ounce of fat on the steak and I almost mistakened it for the Filet Mignon which was the special that night. I’ve never seen or tasted a steak that competed with the Filet until that night.
There was only one problem - no leftovers.
Categories: Philadelphia · Restaurants
Tagged: byob, Caffe Casta Diva, steak
OK, not such a great picture, but you probably get the idea.
Pasta Ceci (pronounced “chay gee”) is really one of the most simple, yet comforting dishes in my arsenal. Instead of mashed potatoes or mac & cheese, this is my family’s go-to comfort food.
My mom always told me that this was a kind of peasant’s sauce. The story goes that in Italy, all of the leftover pasta shapes accumulated during the week are cooked together and tossed with the ceci for a nice, simple meal, or a warm-up for another main dish. I almost always use a full pound of pasta for my dishes, meaning that I don’t have the fun menagerie of shapes that is traditionally required. Instead, I usually use shells, farfalle or campanelle. Again, this is probably not a good recipe for long noodles.
Without the chickpeas, this can also be considered a basic Italian pasta sauce. Some of the old-school folks will simply saute the garlic in the oil, toss with pasta and throw a little bit of Parmesan over it.
I always need at least that one other ingredient (try broccoli, mushrooms or other things) to keep my taste buds happy.
Categories: Recipes - Observations
Tagged: ceci, chickpeas, pasta, peasant
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 medium-sized onion
- 1 - 2 cloves garlic
- salt & pepper
- grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
In a basic saucepan, heat olive oil. Cut onion into quarters and then slice width-wise to produce strips. Saute the onion in the oil. After softening for a few minutes, add sliced garlic. Saute onion and garlic until fully wilted.
Add chickpeas with fluid to saucepan. Mix together and let simmer until beans are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer until done.
Mix sauce with just-drained pasta. Serve with sprinkle of fresh, grated Parmesan and ground pepper.
Read my observations.
Categories: Recipes
Tagged: ceci, chickpeas, garlic, parmesan, pasta
This is what happens when you get a little overconfident.
It was my second time making a pizza at home. I had the pizza stone in the oven heating up at 500 degrees. I was preparing my dough on the pizza peel (that big wooden board used to slide pizzas in and out of the oven), when things started going wrong.
I was trying out whole wheat dough and I used a little flour to help make it manageable. Stupidly, I did not re-flour the peel before I started topping the pie. I did my usual ritual - a little olive oil, some sauce, fresh mozzarella, a few mushrooms, salt, pepper and a sprinkle of parm - and was ready to throw it in when, whoops … the pizza would not move.
Of course, I panicked. I removed the stone from the oven delicately and placed it on my stove. I tried to flour underneath the pizza by lifting it up like a carpet and chucking some flour underneath. After a lot of back and forth, I managed to push the pizza onto the stone where it immediately began to cook.
Did I mention that it had mutated from a very loose circle to a unbalanced, amoeba-like shape?
After 5 minutes, I looked in on the pie, only to find a gurgling, cheesy mess. I couldn’t tell where the pizza stopped and where the stone began. I panicked again (sense a theme here?) and got the pie out of the oven only to find that it wasn’t cooked. It only looked nice and brown because, duh, it was whole wheat dough.
After slicing it up, I had to throw the slices back onto the stone. When all was said and done, we had a decent-tasting, but odd-looking pizza and a pizza stone that looked like it had barely escaped the Anbar province.
Lesson: when eight thousand pizza people tell you to use cornmeal on the bottom of the dough, listen to them.
Categories: Problems
Tagged: cornmeal, pizza stone, Problems
Now, this recipe I did not get from Mom. This one came from the back of a soup can - College Inn Light & Fat Free Chicken Broth to be exact. I still have the label.
