A Sicilian Dinner : Parts 1 and 2

Tonight, I decided to go with the Sicilan option from the current menu: Sicilian Salad and Pasta "Timballo" with Fresh Ricotta. You may notice that there was a dessert included in the menu, but we were so full after dinner that I decided to save dessert for tomorrow night, and serve it after the leftovers from tonight's meal! Siciliy is a part of Italy, but it might as well be it's own country! Sicily was ruled by many different groups, including the Normans, Arabs, Spanish and French, so their cuisine has influences from many of these conquerors.

The Sicilian Salad is actually something most Sicilians would not think to eat, as they prefer eating their vegetables cooked, but the author of Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys
felt that the mixture of ingredients tasted to him like Sicily itself, and thus, the name of this salad. Thinly sliced fennel and radish, along with scallions, lettuce and arugula is dressed with some lemon juice, smashed garlic and olive oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Before serving, the salad is tossed with orange rounds and torn mint leaves. It is a very refreshing salad, and even my 4-year old niece was asking for more salad with oranges in it! I'm glad we've got leftovers for tomorrow night!

A "timballo" is a classic Sicilian dish, usually made on special occasions. The recipe I used is a very simplified version, as the original is covered with breadcrumbs or pastry and has the image of a birthday cake after it is unmolded. This was a much looser take on the traditional "timballo" but it was delicious. I made some homemade tomato sauce with garlic cloves, yellow onion and fresh tomatoes that I peeled, seeded and chopped. That's a time consuming task but it's worth it for the taste of tomatoes in their prime. To peel a tomato, you want to boil it in water for 2-3 minutes, and then dunk it in ice water, allowing it to cool. The skin will peel away easily from the meat of the tomato. This hint was not included in the recipe, so I'm glad I had that little trick up my sleeve. It makes things much easier!

I decided to add some proscuitto ribbons to my sauce, for a bit more substance. This is a vegetarian dish, as it is written in the book, but I wanted to alter it a little bit to include meat, and proscuitto seemed like a logical solution. Once my sauce was done, I boiled some "calamari rings." The recipe calls for anelli pasta, which are rings but much thinner. The "calamari rings" pasta that I used were thicker, and multi-colored (and flavored - red being tomato, I think, and green being spinach). Once the pasta was cooked, it was to be tossed with some olive oil, salt, pepper and red chili flakes. Half of the tomato sauce is spooned on to the bottom of a baking pan and mixed gently with half a pound of ricotta. I used part-skim ricotta since I was using a large amount of it. The pasta is poured on top and then topped with the rest of the tomato sauce. Spoonfuls of ricotta blot the top of the baking pan, and then Pecorino cheese is sprinkled on top. After 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven, it's ready to serve, so I sprinkled some basil on top and plated each dish. The "timballo" is very hearty and really tasty! Even though five of us were eating dinner, there's still enough left over for dinner tomorrow night, including the Fried Puffs with Honey (Sfince).

So stay tuned for Part 3 of this menu, which will conclude tomorrow evening. It sounds pretty incredible and I'm looking forward to trying them after what I already know is a delicious meal!

Fennel Bulbs and Artichokes

The plan was to make Fennel Risotto with Ricotta and Dried Chili, from Jamie Oliver's, Jamie's Italy, for dinner. The other night, I had to run to Whole Foods, and as I've been known to do, I wandered over to the artichokes...and had to buy more of them. I'm obsessed, I tell ya, obsessed! But, really, I just figured they'd go so perfectly with this specific risotto...and I was right!

I've talked about risotto many times in the past, so I won't regale you with more instructions on making it, but what I like about Jamie Oliver's books is that he takes a basic recipe, only explains it once, and then elaborates upon it in subsequent recipes. So, the recipe I chose had, as an "ingredient," the plain risotto recipe. Cool, right?

I gathered my mise en place for both the plain risotto, as well as the elaboration, and voila!

While I started the soffrito for the basic risotto recipe, I also sauteed some garlic and fennel until they were both soft and sweet. That took about 20 minutes, but it's great to just throw them in a pan, cover them, and forget about it.

Once the risotto was halfway done, I added the fennel mixture to the pot and continued to cook it until it was perfectly done! At that point, I removed it from the heat, added butter, crushed chili pepper, lemon zest, ricotta and parmesan and allowed it all to meld together for a few minutes. I seasoned the risotto with lemon juice, salt and pepper, tasting a few times to assure the correct flavors, and then it was time to plate!

The artichoke was a perfect pairing for this risotto, because it added a meaty quality that was absent from the risotto. It was also a very healthy side dish to an otherwise heavy meal...it balanced so well. Without each other, I would have been left wanting more...but together, it was the perfect meal!

My 100th Post!

At first, I thought I needed to wait until something spectacularly culinary happened to me before writing this post. After some more pondering, I decided that each of my posts was inspired by something special, and so why should this one be any different. But Blogger was under construction...thus my 2-day absence from the blogosphere. For that, dear readers, I am sorry! I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support, your comments and your readership. Everytime I check my stats, I'm astounded at the collection of countries that are showing up there. I've spread across the world, and that is so cool! When I started this blog, I wasn't sure where it would go, or what I would find, but I now know that I truly enjoy writing, I love cooking more every day, and I want to keep doing this for a long time. So, I'm here to stay, guys and dolls, so get comfy, and read on for yet another culinary adventure.

I decided to dedicate my 100th post to the readers by cooking a reader's suggestion from my current menu. Laurie had requested a Portuguese dish, but wasn't sure of the name of it. She mentioned that it had shrimp, pasta and lots of tomatoes...and so I did a little research, and came up with what I think is a good representation of her request. I ended up with Emeril's Portuguese Shrimp and Pasta. This recipe called for quite the process so I set to work in the kitchen, gathering my mise en place.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined

2 teaspoons Essence

1/4 chorizo, thinly sliced (I used turkey pepperoni because I was out of chorizo)

1/4 cup minced shallots

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded, and finely chopped tomatoes (I didn't peel them)

1 cup dry white wine

3 cups Fennel Tomato Broth (ingredients to follow)

1/2 pound kale, blanced and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 pound homemade, or dry pasta, cooked al dente

1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

1/4 cup piri piri (ingredients to follow

Fennel Tomato Broth:

1 quart shrimp or seafood stock

2 cups roughly chopped tomatoes

1/2 bulb fennel, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Piri Piri:

1 cup olive oil

2 fresh poblano peppers, stemmed and seeded

3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon thinly sliced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh kale

Yes, that was a lot of prep, I agree! Now, the first thing you've all probably noticed and questioned is that there's boxed pasta on my counter. I know, and you know, that I usually shun boxed pasta in exchange for fresh. However, I had to buy and open a box of thick spaghetti to put noodles in the Spring Minestrone that I made a few weeks ago. Rather than wasting the almost full box of spaghetti, I decided to save myself a little bit of time and use it for this recipe. I'm very happy that I did because the rest of this meal was quite labor intensive, and if I had made pasta on top of it, I'd still be in the kitchen!

First things first, get your Tomato Fennel Broth on the stove since it needs to simmer for about an hour. I'm not sure I actually let mine simmer that long, because I was pretty hungry and impatient tonight, but I just left it to cook the whole time I was preparing everything else. Place the seafood stock, chopped tomatoes, sliced fennel, tomato paste and fennel seeds in a saucepan and bring it all to a boil...and then reduce it to a simmer for about an hour. Once it's done, you'll need to strain it through a fine mesh sieve...according to the instructions. However, I didn't do this. Originally, it was an accident, but it was a good one, because I've always preferred a chunky sauce!

Next, I made my piri piri, since it was able to be set aside once completed. I gathered the olive oil, poblano peppers, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt and kale. I put everything but the kale into a smaller saucepan and brought it to a boil, and allowed it to cook for the next 15 minutes.

At this point, I poured the mixture into a small food processor and blended it with the fresh kale. The Piri Piri was then set aside to wait for plating.

Okay, and now, on to the main event! In a large pot, I added a few tablespoons of olive oil and my jumbo shrimp, which I had dusted in the Emeril's essence.

Look how big those shrimp are! Gorgeous! After about a minute of tossing those around, I removed them from the pot and added the chorizo (I used turkey pepperoni - not the same, at all, but still a little bite, and...it was in my fridge!)

Once the chorizo (or turkey pepperoni) had cooked and heated through for about 5 minutes, I added the garlic and shallots and allowed those to cook for another minute.

After the minute or so is up, add the diced tomatoes to the mix and turn the heat to high.

Once the sizzle has died down a bit, pour in your white wine and deglaze the pan, allowing the wine to almost completely evaporate.

Next, pour in your Tomato Fennel Broth. I, by accident, poured it in without first straining it, but that was actually a nice mistake to have made. I enjoyed the large chunks of fennel and tomato in my sauce. If you prefer a soupier consistency, remember to strain the broth before adding it to the main pot. At this point, also throw in that blanched, chopped kale. Leave this to cook for about 7 or 8 minutes, allowing it to reduce by half.

Add the salt and the butter and kind of swirl it around until it all melts into the liquid.

Once the butter has been incorporated, add the shrimp, pasta and chopped parsley, and allow to cook for another minute or two. Be sure that the shrimp are cooked through.

It's finally time to plate. Get some nice shallow pasta bowls and scoop some pasta into each one. Top with a few of the jumbo shrimp and a few ladlefuls of sauce, chorizo and tomatoes. Drizzle the piri piri on top for a little kick!

Bom Apetite! (Portuguese for Bon appetit!)

Another call for requests: The current menu only has one more thing to make, so I'm getting ready to make a new list. If anyone has requests, comment on the post, or send me an email and I'll be sure to incorporate it into an upcoming menu!

Thanks again, readers - I'm really enjoying this, and I hope you are too! Happy 100th post to all of us!

Holy Ingredients, Aquaman!

Well, tonight I decided to make the Seafood Risotto since I picked up some mussels, clams and shrimp at Whole Foods yesterday. This recipe was extremely prep-heavy so this one was a bit time-consuming, I have to say. Although, I think it was worth it, because this was a really refreshing meal! There were so many ingredients, and a lot of twists and turns, so I'm going to summarize here. If you are interested in a more in depth list, with measurements, shoot me an email and I will send it along. Since I've made risotto before, I won't bore you with a step-by-step here!



For this version of the risotto, the recipe called for either making a homemade seafood stock, or using a store-bought one. I bought one, but went the extra mile and simmered it with all the fixings that would have gone into the homemade one, without any of the seafood. I added 3 squished tomatoes, a bay leaf, a parsley sprig and some chopped carrots. I strained the mixture before I started scooping it into the risotto.



Meanwhile, I heated up some oil and butter in a large pan and added chopped celery, onion and garlic (a soffritto, the Italian version of a mire poix) and to that I added chopped fennel, fennel seeds, chili powder and some saffron. From now on, the more I stir the mixture, the more yellow in tint it will become, and that's because of the saffron. While it's red in color, it turns anything you add it to a bright, fresh yellow color.



Once the soffritto was softened, I added the Arborio rice and allowed it to fry a little bit, until the granules had a nice translucent outer coating.



Now, I'm going to skip a bit here - because you know how to make risotto already! It takes patience, many ladles of stock (seafood, in this case) and lots of stirring! But once the risotto was about done, I added a handful of parmesan and seasoned it up with some salt and pepper. The recipe actually calls for leaving the parmesan out (Italians don't think that seafood and cheese mix), but the nutty, salty flavor of the cheese is better than any salt...so I added a little anyway...but definitely not as much as a normal risotto recipe would call for. Once it was all stirred together, I threw in my mussels, clams and shrimp and covered the pot to allow the shellfish to steam.



As the shellfish started to open and the shrimp were turning pink, I added some globs of butter to finish off the risotto and stirred it all up to heat everything through. I also took some of the mussels out of their shells and stirred it directly into the risotto. This eliminated the mess of a bunch of shells at the dinner table, but also got the mussel juice mixed into the risotto adding a bit more briny flavor to the mix...something I love! I also poured some lemon juice and olive oil on top to add to that freshness.



Once plated, I garnished with fennel fronds and some chopped parsley. This was a delicious, comforting meal for a rainy Monday night! The mussels and shrimp were cooked to perfection...but the clams could have used a few more minutes. Next time, I'll throw the clams in first, and follow with the rest as they seem to need a few less minutes to steam.

Everyone Makes Mistakes!

So...tonight's dinner did not go as planned. All I can really say is that sometimes we all make mistakes, and not every meal will come out perfectly. I should have known that this wasn't going to go well when my mise en place took way longer than expected...but I plowed forward, nonetheless. The plan was to make Lia's Pork Tenderloin with an Artichoke Tart, from Top Chef's Quickfire cookbook. How she did this in an hour, I can't be sure!

Yikes! That's some mise en place!

Because this quickfire challenge's purpose was to use a store-bought frozen pie crust, the recipe also called for a store-bought frozen pie crust, which I allowed to thaw. The instructions asked me to use a pie weight while baking the unstuffed crust, but as I've said in past posts, I'm no baker...so I googled what I could use as a pie weight. The website I found said rice...but I didn't even think about putting something in the lining of my crust before adding the rice! Because of this mishap, my crust CRUMBLED when I tried to pour the rice out! :( (I'm adding a pie weight to my Amazon shopping cart tonight!)

I pieced the larger pieces of the crumbled crust back together in the pan, and poured the artichoke mixture in anyway, but it was a mess! Look what happened!!!

Can I have a do-over!?

The fennel and pear salad came out well, and the Meyer Lemon reduction sauce that went over the pork tenderloin was syrupy and tartly delicious. My pork tenderloin didn't cook completely in the time the recipe called for, so I left it in a little longer, and I ended up with some very juicy, perfectly cooked slices of pork in the end.

All in all, dinner was tasty, but it looked pretty messy, and I think it could have been MUCH better. Too bad I didn't think to thaw both of the crusts I had purchased...I could have started over if I had...but as it was, I made the best of a bad situation, and it all goes down the same way, right? Normally, after I complete a recipe to my satisfaction, it gets a check mark so that I know it's a keeper...but this one hasn't earned its check mark yet...I'll have to give it another go in the near future. I need a few weeks to get over this attempt first! :)