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Auntie Helen’s Lentil Salad

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May 18, 2018

Auntie Helen had a way with lentils.

In addition to making lentil salad for summer cook-outs, she taught me that cooked lentils, topped with homemade tomato sauce, make a great main (or side) dish for a cold winter’s day.

Auntie Helen liked her scotch.  On the rocks.  And she was not shy about quantity.

Auntie Louise liked gin.  Also on the rocks.  Also not shy about quantity.

It was mostly under their tutelage that I went from drinking Bourbon Manhattans (Old Grand Dad at the time) to Bourbon, also on the rocks.  This was somewhere around the age of 19.

Auntie Helen in 1976

I soon made the jump from Old Grand Dad to Jack Daniels, which remained my tipple of choice for decades.  Now I’ve branched out to a wide array of bourbons but always on the rocks and in respectable quantities.

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Auntie Helen and Auntie Louise were born, shortly after the turn of the 20th century, in a palazzo in Rome, now part of the American Embassy.  After their parents lost everything for the second time (there was talk that the first time it happened, they were bailed out by one of the Stroganoffs) the family emigrated from Italy to America.  Their father, a Count in Italy, worked delivering bread in Trenton, NJ.

Auntie Helen and Auntie Louise both became schoolteachers.  Neither married.  They lived together their entire lives.

They had a sweet little house on Yardley Road, just steps from the Yardley town line, in Morrisville, New Jersey.  I spent many weekends at their house, a little over an hour from where I lived in Philadelphia.

Auntie Helen did the cooking.  Auntie Louise made drinks and helped to clean up.

Auntie Louise in 1976

Though they came from a background that was more privileged than most immigrants of the time, they had little by the time the family got to the United States.  They did what many immigrants did, they assimilated and became almost “hyper” American.  I never heard either of them speak a word of Italian.  And, while Auntie Helen cooked an array of Roman specialties, she also cooked a lot of American food, including Impossible Pies, more the savory ones than the sweet ones; homemade Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (the only thing she cooked that I didn’t like); and cheese and egg strata for brunch (with lots of bacon on the side!).

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I recently found a series of Impossible Pie recipes that Auntie Helen wrote out for me.  I can’t promise that I’ll make each of them, but I will post the recipes, in her own handwriting.  If nothing else, they’ll be a bit of a time capsule.

Meanwhile, please enjoy my take on Auntie Helen’s lentil salad.

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 Auntie Helen's Lentil Salad
Auntie Helen’s lentil salad was more of a general concept that a definitive recipe. Feel free to add other ingredients to this, like a handful of chopped black oil-cured olives, some sliced scallions, or a sprinkling of dry oregano. You can replace some of the olive oil with the oil from a can of anchovies or add a teaspoon of anchovy paste if you’d like. It will add an umami touch without tasting fishy.
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Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 8 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 8 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 0
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Instructions
  1. Wash and pick over the lentils but do not soak them.
  2. Drain the lentils.
  3. Combine the lentils and water.
  4. Bring the lentils to a boil and gently boil until just tender, 10-15 minutes, or maybe a little more based on your elevation.
  5. Drain the lentils.
  6. Mix the hot lentils with the diced onion, oil, and rosemary. Stir well.
  7. Bury the bruised garlic clove in lentils.
  10. Loosely cover the lentils and cool at room temperature.
  11. When the lentils are cool, they can be refrigerated for up to three days before proceeding.
  12. To finish the lentil salad, remove the garlic clove and discard.
  13. Dice the roasted red pepper.
  14. Add the diced roasted red pepper, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix well and chill thoroughly.
  15. Remove the lentil salad from the refrigerator approximately one hour before serving.
  16. Adjust salt and pepper before serving. Add more olive oil if the lentils seem dry.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Penne with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

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May 14, 2018

I apologize!

In my inaugural messages, I clearly stated that I would publish traditional recipes, many (though not all) of them Italian, but with the emphasis on traditional.

I get really stoked by the idea of preserving traditional recipes in written form (even if it’s a bunch of zeroes and ones on a cloud server somewhere)!

I also truly appreciate new and innovative dishes…especially cakes, for some reason.  But my very strong preference if I’m going to work on perfecting and publishing a recipe is to focus on traditional recipes.  (I’m happy to eat good food of any type, traditional or not, that someone wants to serve me, however.)

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My editorial calendar for this blog, including what I’ve published and what I currently have planned to publish, numbers 212 recipes.  The number keeps growing.  Most of these recipes are ones I listed (off the top of my head, so to speak) when I was planning the launch of the blog in late 2016.  The list came from simply thinking about my favorite recipes.  As I trawl through my recipe archive periodically, looking for recipes for particular events, or even just dinner, I usually come upon at least a few more recipes that get added to the list.

Two hotel pans hold a double batch, 4 pounds of penne, for a summer dinner party for the family from Tuscany

Windows says I have 4133 recipes saved in my recipe directory.  That does not count the hundreds of hand-written ones that I’ve not scanned in yet.

But I have to admit, not EVERYTHING I make is traditional.  I have this killer salmon recipe that I got from the New York Times that is now a regular on our table.  Almost any vegetable recipe by David Tanis is a winner in my book, well really ANY recipe by David Tanis, but he has a way with vegetables.  He has many make-ahead-and-heat-up-in-the-oven options that remove a lot of last minute work when putting dinner on the table, whether it be for 2 or 20!

In my defense, these are recipes that I think will become classics in a few decades just as many of the recipes that I started cooking 45 years ago in college have become classics for me.  I think if a recipe still tastes good after half a century it can be considered a classic…which is getting pretty close to traditional.

This is just a portion of the antipasto for the dinner for our Tuscan relatives

Think about all the things you ate 50 years ago that you don’t make any more, like fried bologna simmered in ketchup!  That actually is something that my very traditional mother put on the table in the 1960s!  Granted, it was a main course (and I use the term lightly) that could be whipped up in under half an hour after a day’s work.  The truth is, I actually liked it at the time.

I differentiate the fried bologna category of foods that I don’t make any more from the fried salami category of foods that I still love but that just have fallen off my rotation.  Have you ever had a sandwich of pan-fried salami?  If not, give it a try.  (Thinly slice the salami.  Make a cut from the middle to one edge, like the first cut of a pie, to reduce puckering.  Cook in a skillet over medium heat till lightly browned on each side.  No oil needed.  Pile on bread.  Enjoy…dripping fat and all!)

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So why the apologia?

Today’s recipe isn’t traditional.  I developed it about four years ago for dinner for a large group of people.  It was such a hit, that I kept making it.  I even made it last summer for a dinner party for the family from Tuscany!  So, while it’s not really traditional (which I take to mean something with a cultural history, something that individuals from a particular culture and location make or made on a regular basis), it has a very traditional FLAVOR.

I made this penne for my father-in-law’s birthday party this past January. Everyone had clean plates!

In my mind it’s not a REAL (i.e. traditional) dish because I made it up.  On the other hand, the flavor profile makes it fit into an established canon of northern Italian food.  Italians would recognize it as Italian food, just not traditional Italian food.

Because it isn’t traditional, I hadn’t planned on publishing it.  I got a number of requests for the recipe after I mentioned it in one of my emails and decided that I should reconsider my initial decision.  There aren’t many photographs but the steps are not really complicated.  I know you can do it without all the usual photos.

Who knows, maybe in another 45 years it’ll become a classic!

Print Recipe
 Penne with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce
This takes some time to put together but once it’s assembled you can spend time with your guests while it cooks. The sauce has a luxurious amount of butter, about twice what would typically be used based on the amount of flour. This improves the flavor and mouth-feel of the sauce. Because I originally created this dish for an event in Alamogordo, New Mexico, I topped it with pistachios which are grown there. Chopped walnuts or whole pine nuts could be substituted. If you want to prepare the dish in advance, be sure to cool the pasta in a bowl of ice water. Mix the cooled pasta with cold white sauce and the other ingredients. Pour into a baking dish, cover tightly, and refrigerate. Allow the covered dish to sit at room temperature 60-90 minutes before baking.
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Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 2 hours
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Balsamella (White Sauce)
Final Assembly
Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 2 hours
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Balsamella (White Sauce)
Final Assembly
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
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Instructions
Balsamella (White Sauce)
  1. Put the garlic in a single layer in a small oven-proof dish with a tight-fitting lid. Alternatively, put the garlic on a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
  2. Sprinkle the garlic with olive oil.
  3. Put the lid on the dish, or fold up and seal the aluminum foil.
  4. Roast the garlic at 300°F until soft and golden brown, approximately 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. Put the garlic and any olive oil you can scrape out of the dish into a blender jar.
  6. Add 1 cup of the milk.
  7. Puree the garlic and milk. Reserve.
  8. Warm the remaining milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
  9. Melt the butter in another heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir the flour into the butter.
  10. Cook for a few minutes on medium heat but do not allow flour to color.
  11. Stir in the warm milk, one ladleful at a time, incorporating well after each addition to avoid lumps.
  12. After about half the warm milk has been incorporated, add the pureed garlic mixture.
  13. Use some of the warm milk to rinse out the blender jar and add it to the pot. Stir well.
  14. Add the remaining milk to the pot along with the bay leaves, rosemary sprigs, and lemon zest.
  15. Bring to a boil over medium high heat stirring (nearly) constantly and cook until the sauce reaches the thickness of heavy cream, approximately 5 minutes.
  16. Strain the white sauce through a fine-mesh sieve.
  17. If not using the sauce immediately, cover it with plastic wrap, putting the plastic directly on the surface to prevent the formation of a skin, and refrigerate. [If you are going to prepare the casserole in advance, make sure the balsamella is cold before combining with the other ingredients.]
Final Assembly
  1. Put the frozen peas in a large sieve. Rinse with cool water to thaw the peas. Allow the peas to drain and completely thaw while proceeding with the recipe.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat.
  3. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the diced mushroom caps. Toss well.
  4. When the mushrooms have absorbed the oil, add 1 teaspoon of fine salt. Mix well.
  5. Turn the heat to medium low until the mushrooms begin to sweat.
  6. Turn the heat to high and continue sautéing until the liquid evaporates.
  7. Continue to cook until the mushroom pieces are browned in places.
  8. Season with black pepper. Add ham and cook 2-3 minutes.
  9. Remove from the heat and reserve.
  10. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta.
  11. Boil until the pasta is partially cooked. It should still be a little crunchy on the inside.
  12. If you are going to cook the casserole immediately, drain the pasta but do not rinse. If you are going to assemble the casserole in advance, drain the pasta and chill it in a bowl of ice water. When cold, drain well.
  13. Combine pasta, peas, mushroom and ham mixture, and balsamella. Mix well.
  14. Pour into a large buttered casserole. For this quantity, I use a full-size steam-table tray, also called a “hotel pan.”
  15. Put a sheet of parchment on top then cover the pan tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. You can skip the parchment if you are going to cook the casserole immediately. Food should not stay in extended contact with aluminum, hence the parchment paper if the dish is being assembled in advance.
  16. Either refrigerate or bake at 350°F until bubbly. Baking time will depend on whether the ingredients are hot or previously refrigerated and brought to room temperature, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
  17. Remove the foil and parchment. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese and nuts.
  18. Place under the broiler, or on the top rack of an oven heated to 500°F, until the top is golden brown.
  19. Allow the casserole to rest at least 15 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews and Snow Peas

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May 9, 2018

This is the year of the Dog.

It may be old news, but Lunar New Year was Friday, February 16, 2018.  We celebrated with close friends and a dinner menu with an extensive array of Asian dishes.  There are many traditional dishes for Lunar New Year depending on the country.  I chose to do a pan-Asian menu rather than focus on strictly traditional recipes from a single country.

Kifune Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Photo by Avishek Kumar)

We were in Palm Springs for Lunar New Year.  The plan was to escape winter weather in Santa Fe which, as it turned out, was not very wintery after all, unlike what the East Coast experienced.

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Sourcing Asian ingredients has become a real issue for me now that I don’t live in a major city.  The only Asian grocery store in Santa Fe, Talin Market, closed a few months ago though the original location is still open in Albuquerque.

Palm Springs only has two Asian markets that I can find.  Both are Filipino-owned and, although they stock an array of Asian goods, they really focus on Filipino foods.

Honen-in Temple, Kyoto, Japan (Photo by Avishek Kumar)

Amazon came to the rescue.  While I’d rather stand in the aisles of an Asian market reading and comparing packages of honest-to-goodness product, Amazon was a lifesaver.

There were eight of us for the Lunar New Year dinner.

The kitchen in our Palm Springs house is small, approximately 9 feet by 11 feet.  Turning out a multi-course meal requires a lot of planning and organization.   I divided the main part of the meal into four courses.  Each course included a complementary array of foods and different cooking methods.

We started with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.  We ended with a simple, non-traditional dessert of gelato and fortune cookies, which I purchased.  I assumed nobody was going to be too into dessert after all the other food.

Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Photo by Avishek Kumar)

Here’s the menu:

Hors d ’Oeuvres
Vegetable Dumplings with Soy-Vinegar Dipping Sauce
Steamed Edamame with Coarse Salt

First Course
Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews and Snow Peas
Eggplant Hunan Style
Cambodian Fish with Bean Thread

Second Course
Korean Bulgogi
Indonesian Sweet Corn Patties
Szechuan Garlic Noodles

Third Course
Hot and Sour Soup

Fourth Course
Chinese Roast Pork
Japanese Carrot Salad
Mapo Tofu
Caramelized Tomatoes with Ginger and Vinegar

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I recently published my recipe for Chinese Roast Pork.  Hot and Sour Soup is coming up in a couple of weeks.  Today, however, we’re focusing on a Cantonese classic, Stir-Fried Chicken with Nuts and Vegetables, specifically cashews and snow peas.

This is a recipe that I started making during junior year in college.  It got tweaked a lot over that year.  By then I was comfortable with the end product and didn’t really do much with it… until this year.

I didn’t really change the recipe, though.  I changed the pan!

Shrine in Gion District, Kyoto, Japan (Photo by Avishek Kumar)

You’ve probably figured out that I’m prone to excess where kitchen equipment comes in.  I have four woks:  two carbon steel ones that date back to college and two that are a decade or so younger, one aluminum and one carbon steel.  Both of these are larger than the ones from my college days.

I always cook my stir-fries in a wok but this particular dish is always a problem due to the “velvet” coating on the chicken.  The coating always sticks to the wok.  I suspect I could eliminate that problem by using enough oil to deep fry the chicken but that wasn’t supposed to be the way to cook it.  So, I always just accepted the “sticking-chicken” problem.

Until now.

I used a large, non-stick skillet.

It worked like a charm!!!

I don’t think I’ll give up my woks any time soon but for this particular dish, non-stick is definitely the way to go.

Afterthought:  This recipe calls for MSG, though, of course, you can leave it out if you wish.  If you’re at all interested in the hype about the health effects of MSG, I suggest you read this article.

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 Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews and Snow Peas
Walnuts and either broccoli or green beans can be used instead of cashews and snow peas. The chicken can be marinated several hours in advance and refrigerated, tightly covered. If you wish, you can reduce or eliminate the MSG.
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Course Mains, Poultry
Cuisine Chinese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
people as part of a Chinese meal
Ingredients
Velvet Chicken
Sauce
Assembly
Course Mains, Poultry
Cuisine Chinese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
people as part of a Chinese meal
Ingredients
Velvet Chicken
Sauce
Assembly
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Instructions
Velvet Chicken
  1. Cut the chicken into ½ inch cubes.
  2. Put the chicken in a non-reactive dish.
  3. Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, five spice powder and MSG. Mix well then let stand 20 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle the chicken with cornstarch and 4 teaspoons of oil. Mix well and let stand 20 minutes.
  6. Fold the egg white into the chicken. Let stand 30 minutes. If not using immediately, the chicken can be refrigerated, covered, for several hours at this point.
Sauce
  1. Combine all sauce ingredients, stir well and reserve.
Assembly
  1. Deep fry the nuts until golden. Once they start to color, they will cook rapidly. Careful attention is required to avoid burning them.
  2. When golden, remove the nuts from the oil and spread them on a paper towel to drain.
  3. Cut the tips off the snow peas.
  4. Using a large non-stick skillet, stir-fry the snow peas in 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat for about 30 seconds, until bright green. (You can use some of the oil used to fry the nuts if you wish.)
  5. Transfer the cooked snow peas to a plate to cool.
  6. In the same non-stick skillet, stir-fry the garlic and ginger over high heat, until fragrant, approximately 30 seconds, adding a few tablespoons more oil if needed.
  7. Add the chicken and stir-fry over high heat until just cooked through, approximately 2-3 minutes.
  8. Stir the sauce mixture to combine and add it to the chicken.
  9. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened, stirring constantly, approximately 1 minute.
  10. Stir in the cooked cashews and snow peas.
  11. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
  12. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Aunt Margie’s Pasta è Ceci (Pasta and Chickpeas)

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May 4, 2018

Beans and Macaroni. Pasta è Fagioli.  Even Pasta Fazool to quote Dean Martin.

It’s a classic combination and there are as many variations as there are cooks!  (Google returned 6,300,000 entries for “beans and macaroni,” 588,000 for “pasta è fagioli,” and 57,900 for “pasta fazool!”)

This is my interpretation of Aunt Margie’s, which she made with chickpeas.

At Aunt Margie’s 90th birthday party in September 2010.  From left to right, Aunt Margie’s grandson, Jim, me, Aunt Margie, my cousin Donna (Aunt Margie’s daughter)

It couldn’t be more different from my mother’s which was made with baby lima beans.

Aunt Margie’s was made with water and oil.  My mother’s had tomato sauce.

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Aunt Margie’s was quite soupy.  My mother’s was just slightly “saucy.”

They grew up in the same house and learned to cook from the same mother.  I wish I had thought to ask either of them where their respective recipes came from and why they were so different.

My cousin Donna and I in the lobby of the Hilton Plaza in Miami Beach, 1970

One thing that both versions had in common, though, is that they were frequently served on Fridays, which our families observed as meatless back then.  (When Fridays were no longer meatless, my father joked that it was because the Vatican sold its fisheries.)

But Friday or no, pasta è fagioli, or, in this case, more specifically pasta è ceci (ceci means chickpeas), is consummate comfort food.  Admittedly, pasta è fagioli does not need to be meatless but it very often is.  (Actually, I made a non-meatless version earlier this week with guanciale, cured pork jowl.)

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Aunt Margie and Uncle Joe were like second parents to me.  I spent many (most?) summer days at Aunt Margie’s, getting there in the morning and staying until dinnertime or later.  My cousin, Donna, is nine months younger than I am.  Her neighbor Ricky Slivosky is nine months younger than she is.  The three of us hung out pretty much all summer.  That made Aunt Margie’s house the logical choice.

Aunt Margie got a little too much sun while we were staying at the Beau Rivage Resort in Miami Beach, 1971

Our families often vacationed together.  Florida was a favorite destination.  Once every 5 years Uncle Joe had 13 weeks of vacation (ahh, the glory days of American steel manufacturing…and collective bargaining).  Those years were likely to include a trip to California.

Aunt Margie really didn’t like vacations.  Several times I witnessed what I believe was an annual ritual.  Uncle Joe would be loading the suitcases in the trunk of the car and Aunt Margie would be standing beside him still trying to convince him to cancel the vacation.  Aunt Margie never won.

Beau Rivage Resort, Bal Harbour, Florida

Those vacations were always by car; two days to Florida and four days to California.  Aunt Margie ate the same lunch every day of every trip: bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches on white toast, hold the mayo.  Only after we reached our destination did she resume a “regular” diet!

We always had fun and even Aunt Margie seemed to enjoy herself (a minor episode of seasickness, notwithstanding).

Aunt Margie getting seasick on the boat trip from Miami to the Bahamas, 1970

My father didn’t always go on vacation with us due to his work schedule.  He made it on the 1970 trip to Florida, which included several days in the Bahamas which we reached by boat from Miami.  The only food memory I have of that trip is going to an Italian restaurant in Freeport where the garlic bread was so garlicky that it was bitter.  The food itself must have been pretty good as we went back again.  Unfortunately, the garlic bread was just as bad the second time around.

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 Aunt Margie's Pasta è Ceci (Pasta and Chickpeas)
Aunt Margie’s Pasta è Ceci was more soupy than my mother’s Pasta è Fagioli. It had no tomato sauce. This is my interpretation. I have made the liquid a little thicker by emulsifying the cheese and oil at the end. Aunt Margie never used wine. That is my addition. To prepare dry chickpeas, combine 1 pound of dry chickpeas, 7 cups of water, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 bruised garlic cloves, one bay leaf, ½ teaspoon whole black pepper, and a piece of Parmesan cheese rind. Cook in the Instant Pot for 15 minutes or simmer, partially covered, adding more water if needed, till tender but not mushy. If not using the Instant Pot, add the salt after about 15 minutes of simmering. Measure out 3 ½ cups of cooked chickpeas. Reserve the remainder for another use. Use the cooking liquid as described below. Aunt Margie's pasta è ceci was usually so soupy that it was served in bowls. Feel free to make yours as loose as you would like.
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Rating: 5
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Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Measure out three cups of chickpea-cooking liquid or use the liquid from canned chickpeas adding water to make three cups.
  2. Combine chickpea liquid, white wine, diced onion, oregano and black pepper in a Dutch oven large enough to hold the cooked pasta comfortably. Bring to a boil and simmer approximately 20 minutes, until the onion is tender.
  3. Meanwhile, brown the garlic in 1/3 cup of olive oil over gentle heat.
  5. When the garlic is brown, remove it and reserve the oil.
  6. Cook the pasta in two quarts of heavily salted, boiling water until the pasta retains just a little crunch at the very center.
  7. Reserve at least two cups of the pasta-cooking water.
  8. Pour some of the remaining pasta-cooking water into the serving bowl to warm it while proceeding with the recipe.
  9. Drain the pasta and immediately add it to the seasoned chickpea-cooking liquid along with the chickpeas.
  10. Add the garlic-infused oil and salt and black pepper to taste.
  11. Simmer gently, covered, until the pasta is just al dente. Add some of the reserved pasta-cooking water as needed.
  12. When the pasta is al dente, add more of the reserved pasta-cooking water, if necessary, to make a slightly soupy mixture.
  13. Remove from the heat.
  14. Stir in the Romano cheese and 1/4 cup of olive oil to create a glossy sauce.
  15. Add a bit more of the pasta-cooking water if needed to thin the sauce as the combination of cheese and olive oil will create an emulsion that will thicken the sauce.
  16. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
  17. Serve immediately with additional freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Bertha’s Salsa

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April 16, 2018

Bertha was born and raised in Duran, New Mexico.  She was one of 15 children.

If her family lived in Duran now they would constitute 50% of the population of 33 people (35 according to some reports).

With a few dozen residents, Duran doesn’t qualify as an actual ghost town but many of its buildings are abandoned.

One of many abandoned buildings in Duran. This was a general store and hotel adjacent to the railroad tracks.

Duran popped up in the very early 1900’s thanks to the railroad, a common occurrence in New Mexico.  Twenty years later the railroad moved it operations (repair shops, etc.) south to Carrizozo, dealing Duran, population 300 at its peak, a blow.

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In the 1930’s US 54 came right through Duran.  The highway traffic revived the town a bit.  In the early 1960’s however, I-25 opened about 60 miles away.  Traffic on US 54 dropped precipitously and Duran entered a downward spiral.

A sign without a purpose

Bertha has been our housekeeper in Alamogordo for the last five years.  As you may know, my husband is the Medical Director for Behavioral Health at the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo.

He’s in Alamogordo during the week and back home in Santa Fe on the weekends.

The fastest way from Santa Fe to Alamogordo involves US 54, so Frank and I know Duran well.  It’s almost the halfway point of the trip.

Another abandoned building

Bertha loves to cook.  She periodically leaves goodies in the fridge in Alamogordo.  This salsa appears frequently.  It’s an interesting recipe using canned tomatoes and garlic powder.  The canned tomatoes mean that it’s a year-round treat which does not require the red-ripe tomatoes of late summer.

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I’m not sure why the garlic powder instead of fresh garlic but there are several dishes that I make that turn out better with garlic powder than with fresh garlic (like my mother’s roast turkey and chicken).  So, I didn’t play with Bertha’s recipe.

And yet another

Just whizz everything in the food processor and refrigerate for several hours for the flavors to blend and you’ve got an amazing salsa with almost no work.

The fire department is still in operation

Frank is leaving Alamogordo at the end of June.  We’re going to miss Bertha, her husband Miguel, and the surprise treats that occasionally appear in our refrigerator!

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 Bertha's Salsa
Since this salsa doesn’t use fresh tomatoes it can be made year-round. Despite the use of canned tomatoes and garlic powder it tastes bright and fresh.
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Course Appetizers and Nibbles
Cuisine Mexican-American
Prep Time 5 minutes
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Course Appetizers and Nibbles
Cuisine Mexican-American
Prep Time 5 minutes
Passive Time 2 hours
Servings
cups
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Cut the tops off the jalapenos.
  3. Put the jalapenos in a food processor and chop finely.
  4. Add the tomatoes and pulse until chunky.
  6. Remove from the food processor and add cilantro, salt, and garlic powder. Mix well.
  8. Add a bit of lemon or lime juice to perk up the flavor. The amount will depend on the tomatoes.
  9. Adjust salt and garlic powder.
  10. Refrigerate several hours to allow the flavors to blend.
Recipe Notes

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Anise Twists (Italian Anise Sweet Bread)

12 Comments

March 27, 2018

I really don’t know what to call these little breads any longer.

Growing up we always called them Biscotti.  The Italian word biscotti, which is plural for biscotto, can be translated as cookies or biscuits.  However, in the United States, the word biscotti is now completely identified with a particular type of pastry; those slices of sweet bread that are toasted until crisp (or crisp on the outside and soft on the inside depending on style).

We called those Anise Toasts when I was growing up since they were always flavored with anise in our house.  That was how we differentiated these softer anise-flavored sweet breads from the chewier, and toasted, anise-flavored pastries.

I found this lard at the supermarket. It is not hydrogenated and has just a few reasonable preservatives unlike the hydrogenated lard sold in those blue boxes

I believe that the word biscotto is derived from the words that mean twice (bis) cooked (cotto) making it an apt label for those toasted things.  Despite that, however, it really is used to refer generically to a cookie.

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The Italian word torta is translated as cake or pie or tart depending on the context.  Sometimes that context can be provided only by more description.  For example, the Italian word limon is used for both a lemon and a lime.  To refer to a lime, you could say limon verde (green lemon) if it was not otherwise clear from the context that you meant a lime vs. a lemon.  (This would be critical, for example, when providing directions for making a Margarita!)  I think limon verde could also be used to refer to an unripe lemon but that’s getting a bit esoteric and, honestly, above my meager grasp of Italian.

But it points out the difficulties with translating seemingly simple concepts, like biscotti!

Palm Oil is a solid vegetable shortening that is not hydrogenated

I’m posting this recipe now because my mother always made these at Easter, but their appearance was not limited to that one holiday.  Sometimes, for Easter, the dough would be baked in a big braided circular loaf with colored eggs tucked into the braids.  Honestly, though, that was usually done by a friend of my mother’s, Mille Verbano, rather than by my mother who almost always made small ones as I now do.

Sometimes this is called Easter Bread but, truly, there are different types of Easter bread all over Italy so that term only works within a very specific socio-cultural context.  Although we never called this Easter bread in our house, if a relative did so, I would know immediately what he/she meant.

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I’m not a “dunker” but my mother and her sisters, Aunt Mamie (Mary, really, but as a toddler I said Mamie and that name stuck and became what everyone called her) and Aunt Margie loved to dunk bready things in coffee in the morning.  If you’re a dunker, these biscotti are perfect.

Coconut oil is a vegetable fat that is solid at cool room temperature

Some of you may remember my soapbox post about hydrogenated fats as a replacement for the lard often called for in traditional Italian pastries.  In deference to those of you who do not want to render your own lard (which I suspect is most of you), I was prepared to test this recipe with several non-hydrogenated vegetable fats, palm oil and refined coconut oil.  While shopping for other ingredients in Palm Springs I stumbled upon lard…pure, simple lard…not the hydrogenated lard that now dominates supermarket shelves.  I just had to try it.  I’ve not seen Farmer John lard in supermarkets in Santa Fe but I am hopeful that this signals a resurgence of the availability of unadulterated and chemically unaltered lard for baking.

I promise to test out future recipes with the non-hydrogenated vegetable fats, though!

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

 

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 Anise Twists (Italian Anise Sweet Bread)
Shiny aluminum sheet pans work best. Dark pans will cause the bottoms of the breads to get too dark before they are cooked through. For reference, the pictures below show me making half a batch of Anise Twists, not the full recipe given below.
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Course Sweet Breads
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 1 1/2 hours
Passive Time 4 hours
Servings
dozen little breads, approximately
Ingredients
Course Sweet Breads
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 1 1/2 hours
Passive Time 4 hours
Servings
dozen little breads, approximately
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Melt the lard over gentle heat and allow to cool until lukewarm but still liquid.
  2. Dissolve one teaspoon of the sugar in the warm water, not more than 110°F.
  3. Add the yeast and allow it to proof.
  4. Meanwhile, combine flour, remaining sugar, anise seeds and salt.
  6. Form a well in the center and add 6 eggs and the melted and cooled lard.
  7. Using a circular motion, begin to mix the flour into the liquids in the well.
  9. Add the proofed yeast.
  10. Continue incorporating flour until it is all mixed in.
  11. Add a touch more flour or water, if needed, to create a supple, non-sticky dough.
  12. Knead for approximately 10 minutes.
  13. Place the dough in a bowl. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to double in bulk.
  15. Punch the dough down. Cover and allow to double again.
  16. Cut off small pieces of dough and roll into thin ropes, not much thicker than a pencil.
  18. The dough will have a tendency to shrink back. Roll it out. Let it shrink back a bit. Wait a few minutes for the gluten to relax. Roll it out again. Let it shrink back a bit. Repeat until the dough is the proper thickness. I find it helpful to roll 3 or 4 pieces of dough at a time. It makes the process more efficient.
  19. Cut the dough into lengths. For the straight pieces, the lengths should be approximately 7 inches. For the circular pieces the lengths should be approximately 12 inches.
  20. Fold the lengths of dough in half and twist few times.
  21. Put on ungreased sheet pans, either straight or in circles.
  23. Brush each with beaten egg. Sprinkle with additional anise seeds.
  26. Invert another sheet pan on top. Allow the bread to rise an hour.
  27. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
  28. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Recipe Notes

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Philadelphia-Style Tomato Pie

2 Comments

March 14, 2018

Like many psychiatry residents, I used to moonlight to make extra money.

The money was good and the work was usually not difficult.  Many moonlighting jobs required being on-premises overnight.  Most of the time, this usually just involved sleeping but, again, not always.

One of my easier moonlighting jobs was at a private psychiatric hospital in the Philadelphia suburbs.  I had to do the histories, physicals, and psychiatric evaluations on the newly admitted patients and then be available for any issues that came up during my shift.  Usually I got to sleep all night.

This was in stark contrast to one of my other moonlighting jobs at the crisis service that covered a swath of northeast Philadelphia.  The patients were more acute and admissions unplanned.  Sleep was elusive.

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One morning as I was finishing up some work on one of the units at the private psychiatric hospital I spied a pizza box in the staff lounge, clearly intended for anyone who wanted to have some.

I opened the box and was presented with my first tomato pie, basically a focaccia topped with a prodigious amount of a jam-like tomato sauce.  There was no cheese and there were no toppings.

I had never heard of tomato pie like this.  Sometimes the term tomato pie was applied to a run-of-the mill pizza, usually by my Uncle Joe, but this was a whole different creation.

Not only was it naked, except for the tomato sauce, the sauce was very dense (almost like tomato paste) and thickly applied to the dough.

Good quality tomato puree is essential for this sauce. I prefer imported Italian tomato puree, called passato (or passata) (both are correct) di pomodoro

Growing up, a regular mid-morning Sunday snack (after church and before our major meal of the day around 1:00 or so) was a bowl of my mother’s long-simmered tomato sauce that was almost always bubbling away on the stove on Sunday mornings and a stack of bread to dip into it.   Italian bread was preferred but I’d make do with American “slice” bread if need be…often six slices…to hold me over until mealtime.

Tomato pie was heaven-made for someone like me.  It was bread and sauce in an easy-to-eat package.  No bowl or dipping required.

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It’s pretty astounding to realize that I had lived in Philadelphia for about 11 years before encountering my first tomato pie.  I don’t really understand why.  Two of the bastions of Philadelphia tomato pie are on Ninth Street, an area that I started going to my freshman year in college.

This article provides some interesting background on Philly-style Tomato Pie.

I’m a big fan of making dough for pizza and focaccia in my bread machine.  If you don’t have a bread machine, use a mixer with a dough hook.  Failing that, some elbow grease and a smooth kitchen counter will do the trick.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

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 Philadelphia-Style Tomato Pie
Tomato Pie is a thick crust pizza dough topped with copious amounts of very thick tomato sauce. No cheese is put on the pie before baking. Some folks sprinkle grated Pecorino on the finished pie. It is usually served at room temperature. If the garlic taste in the sauce is too strong for you, the garlic can be sautéed in a small amount of olive oil before mixing into the tomato puree mixture. It is best to make the sauce a day in advance and refrigerate it. If you don’t have a bread machine, mix the dough in a mixer with a dough hook for about 10 minutes after the dough comes together. You can also mix it by hand which will give you a bit of an upper-body workout.
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Rating: 5
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Course Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts, Vegetarian
Cuisine Italian-American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Passive Time 24 hours
Servings
pieces
Ingredients
Sauce
Dough
Assembly
Course Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts, Vegetarian
Cuisine Italian-American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Passive Time 24 hours
Servings
pieces
Ingredients
Sauce
Dough
Assembly
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Instructions
Sauce
  1. Grate the garlic on a Microplane grater or crush to a paste.
  2. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce.
  6. Cover the sauce and refrigerate overnight.
  7. Before using, taste and adjust seasoning.
Dough
  1. Prepare the dough using the dough cycle of the bread machine.
  2. At the end of the cycle put the dough into an oiled bowl or covered container and allow to rise until doubled.
Assembly
  1. Oil a half-sheet pan (13" x 18") with a few tablespoons of olive oil.
  2. Stretch dough into the pan.
  4. The dough will spring back. Stretch it out then allow it to rest a few minutes. Stretch more, then allow it to rest a few minutes. With resting in between stretches, the gluten will relax and the dough won't spring back.
  5. Cover the pan. I invert another half-sheet pan on top.
  6. Allow to rise until doubled, approximately 30 minutes.
  7. Spread all of the sauce on top.
  11. Bake at 350°F until crust is browned and sauce is thick, approximately 35-45 minutes.
  12. Cool in the pan.
  13. Cut into squares and serve at room temperature.
  14. Sprinkle with grated Pecorino cheese, if desired, once cool.
Recipe Notes

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Frittata di Spaghetti (Frittata with Spaghetti)

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March 9, 2018

Although I typically heat up left over pasta and have it for lunch, it definitely pales in comparison to the freshly made dish.

In the pre-microwave days of my youth, leftover pasta was heated gently in a sauté pan with a little bit of water added.  Now, the microwave makes quick work of the same task.

If you have leftover pasta, though, consider turning it into a frittata.  I think it constitutes an entirely new dish, and not leftovers, because it’s being turned into something totally different.

A slice of frittata with a few Calabrian oil-cured peppers on the side

We eat so much pasta in our house that if we turned the leftovers into frittate (the plural of frittata) our dinners would alternate between pasta and frittata almost every day of the week!  That’s why some of the leftover pasta is simply heated up for lunch.

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A frittata is often referred to as an Italian omelet.  But an omelet it most definitely is not.  It is cooked using a different technique with a different intended outcome.

Calling a frittata an Italian omelet is like calling everything made from ground beef a hamburger.  (OK, off my soapbox for now.)

You can use most any combination of pasta and sauce for a frittata but you don’t want there to be lots of extra sauce or it will be difficult to get the eggs to set.

Most often, I’ll use a long thin pasta, like spaghetti or spaghettini with either a tomato sauce or anchovies and garlic.  They both work well.  That said, I’ve made frittate from a wide array of leftover types of pasta.  Shape is no object!

If you happen to know somebody who raises chickens or if you have access to freshly laid eggs at a farm stand or farmers’ market this is an excellent use for them.  There’s little that stands between you and the eggs, so using really good, fresh eggs is noticeable.

Crushed red pepper is a good alternative to Calabrian oil-cured peppers, but definitely not as flavorful

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m losing the battle to raise chickens at our house.

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A frittata is cooked slowly in a sauté pan until the eggs set and turn golden brown on the bottom.  I prefer to do this with the pan covered as it aids in setting the top of the eggs, too.

Once the bottom is set, there are two methods to finish the frittata.  One is to put the frittata under the broiler or in the oven.  The good folks at Wikipedia think this is the only way to do it.  In fact, I would suggest that most Italians do not do that.  They simply flip the frittata over.  (OK, I was back on the soapbox for a moment there.)

If you’re going to finish the frittata by flipping, however, you need to be sure that the top of the frittata is not runny.  It should be just barely set.

In case you missed it, I previously published a recipe for an onion frittata.  Although it uses a large quantity of onions, they cook down into sweet, golden deliciousness before the eggs are added.

And…before we leave the subject of leftovers…leftover frittata makes a great filling for a sandwich, especially with a few oil-cured Calabrian peppers!

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

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 Frittata di Spaghetti (Spaghetti Frittata)
This is a wonderful Italian way to use leftover pasta by turning it into something completely different. The proportions are approximate and will depend on how much pasta is leftover. The pictures show this being made with about half a pound (uncooked weight) of spaghettini with anchovy and garlic (see the Notes section below for a link to the recipe) but it works equally well with most pastas and sauces, including tomato sauce. Use 8 eggs if you have a larger amount of leftover pasta or if you need to stretch the dish to feed more. Use either onion or garlic as the aromatic. Which you choose will depend on which better compliments the pasta. In this case, because the sauce had a lot of garlic, I chose onion to add a bit of a sweet note. If using a tomato sauce, I would have chosen garlic. Whether or not to use Parmesan cheese follows the same logic. Italians feel that cheese rarely goes with fish, like the anchovies in this sauce, so I didn’t use it.
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Course Breakfast and Brunch, Mains, Vegetarian
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Breakfast and Brunch, Mains, Vegetarian
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a 12 inch (preferably non-stick) sauté pan.
  2. Add the onion or garlic and sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft and caramelized or the garlic is fragrant.
  3. Add the pasta and sauce and heat gently.
  4. Toss the pasta a few times to be sure it heats evenly.
  5. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with salt and pepper to taste.
  7. When the pasta is heated through, spread it evenly on the bottom of the pan.
  8. If you cannot clearly see enough of a slick of oil on the bottom of the pan to protect the eggs from sticking, add a bit more. (Some sauces sop up the oil more than others.)
  9. Pour the eggs over the pasta, being careful to distribute them evenly.
  10. If using cheese, sprinkle it over the top of the eggs.
  11. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low.
  12. Keep the eggs covered the whole time and move the pan around on the stove, even putting it off-center much of the time, to be sure the heat is evenly distributed around the bottom of the pan.
  13. Cook until the top of the eggs is just set. That is, there is no runny egg left. This will take approximately 25-30 minutes.
  14. When the eggs are set, slide them out of the pan onto a cookie sheet or pizza pan.
  17. Put the sauté pan upside down on the eggs and then flip the whole set-up over.
  19. Return the eggs to the heat, uncovered, for approximately 5 minutes to lightly brown the bottom.
  20. Slide on to a serving platter and cut in wedges to serve.
Recipe Notes

This is where you can find my recipe for Spaghettini with Anchovy and Garlic.

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Stracciatella (Italian Egg Drop Soup)

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March 5, 2018

The name of this Italian soup, Stracciatella, comes from the Italian verb meaning “to shred,” a reference to the strands of egg in the soup.

I learned to make this from Auntie Helen d’Aquili when I was in college.

Auntie Helen and I in 1976. Can you believe my hair!!!

It’s really simple to make but, like so many Italian dishes, it relies on few ingredients that must be of high quality.  In this case the broth is absolutely paramount as is high-quality Italian imported Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

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I have a few friends in Santa Fe who raise chickens and I am occasionally gifted with freshly laid eggs but good supermarket eggs are usually what I use.

I’ll let you in on a little domestic struggle, however.  I want to raise chickens.  My husband doesn’t.  So far, he’s winning the struggle but I haven’t given up.  His excuses are pretty lame as far as I’m concerned.  The most common one is that chickens will attract coyote.

HELLO!  We live in the forest.  We are surrounded by coyote and other wildlife.  Just an hour ago, while sitting at my desk getting ready to write this blog, a big deer walked through the paved area in front of our house gnawing down our landscaping like it was a salad bar.

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Most summer nights we hear the coyote yipping as go hunting.  They are mere yards from our house.  I don’t think a few chickens will bring them any closer than the already abundant rabbits currently do.  We just need to build a coyote-proof chicken enclosure.  There’s a great how-to right here (Frank! Frank, are you listening?).

Frank seems pretty happy in this selfie we took on Kauai. Chickens roam everywhere on Kauai. I think that is part of Frank’s happiness though he has yet to admit it.

Homemade broth is essential.  Chicken or beef broth are both standard choices, though Auntie Helen used beef.  You can make an excellent beef broth as part of the process of making Marisa’s Mystical Meatballs.  In fact, this soup would make an excellent first course followed by the meatballs and accompanied by a vegetable or two and some rice.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

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 Stracciatella (Italian Egg Drop Soup)
This classic Italian soup requires top-notch broth and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Homemade broth is essential. See the Notes section, below, for a link to my blog post that contains instructions on making a wonderfully flavorful beef broth.
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Course Soups and Stews
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Soups and Stews
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Grate the cheese.
  2. Grate the nutmeg.
  3. Beat the eggs, cheese and nutmeg together.
  6. Beat 1/2 cup of cold broth into the egg mixture.
  7. Bring the remaining broth to a boil.
  8. Stir the boiling broth with a whisk while slowly adding the egg mixture.
  9. Bring to a simmer and remove from heat.
  10. Adjust salt and pepper.
  11. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes

You can find a recipe for beef broth in my post on Marisa's Mystical Meatballs.

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Sri Lankan Zucchini and Peppers

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February 28, 2018

As a freshman in college who made tentative forays into non-Western European cuisines, I was transformed into a person who couldn’t find a cuisine he wouldn’t try, and didn’t like, by the end of sophomore year.

Junior year was really an intensive study in cooking.  It’s the year I became a respectable Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese, and West Indian cook.  There were many other cuisines that I dabbled in but those four formed the basis of what I cooked during the year.  By then I considered myself a good Italian cook but my repertory and skill level have expanded significantly since then.

Starting junior year, and for many years thereafter, Reggie and Nanacy Rajapakse taught me much of what I know of Sri Lankan food.  Several cookbooks by Charmaine Solomon, as well as the [Ceylon] Daily News Cookery Book, provided much additional guidance.  Several trips to Sri Lanka with Nanacy, many years later, confirmed to me that I had captured the taste of Sri Lankan food.

In 2005, I accompanied Nanacy Rajapakse to her nephew’s wedding. The groom (with flower on his lapel) and his family approach the wedding venue.

I understand that Sri Lankan food may be a stretch for some of my readers but I really want to introduce you to it.  As a starting point, I’ve selected a vegetable dish that pairs really well with a wide range of cuisines, Zucchini and Peppers with Fennel Seed and Cinnamon.

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I actually made this a few weeks ago at an otherwise all-Italian meal.  It paired really well.  The dinner guests, all of whom were Italian, didn’t think for a moment that it wasn’t Italian!

The wedding ceremony

It’s an example of a style of cooking vegetables in Sri Lanka called tempering.  The vegetables are cut into relatively small pieces.  Aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger, etc.), depending on the dish, are first sautéed.  The vegetables and seasonings are added and everything is cooked relatively quickly, 10 minutes or so depending on the vegetable.

Most Sri Lankans are ethnically Sinhalese.  The next largest group are Tamils, followed by individuals of Arab descent (called Moors locally).  Typically, Sinhalese are Buddhist, Tamils are Hindu, and Moors are Muslim.  There is a smattering of others ethnic groups and religions.

A reception for the newlyweds, several days after the wedding. Nanacy is on the right and her sister Thilaka is on the left

Hindus and Buddhists in South Asia, are nominally vegetarian.  Muslims typically don’t eat pork.  This recipe, which is ethnically Sinhalese, includes bacon which 92% of the Island’s population theoretically would typically refrain from eating.  But they don’t!

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In fact, I found no shortage of meat (and meat-eaters) on my trips to Sri Lanka.  Even the most ubiquitous of condiments, pol sambola, contains flakes of dried fish which would typically be avoided by both Buddhists and Hindus.  Clearly there is some sort of “accommodation” that the Sri Lankans have made around the idea of being vegetarian because the local cuisine contains a lot of (very wonderful) meat and fish dishes.

On the other hand, it’s also an easy place to be vegetarian.  One of my trips to Sri Lanka coincided with one of my periods of vegetarianism (which I ultimately gave up for cultural and health reasons).  There was an array of vegetarian options available at every meal.

A view of the Indian Ocean not far from Thilaka’s house south of Colombo

The most difficult time came when neighbors of Nanacy’s sister Thilaka, with whom we were staying, invited me over for a lunch of “curry and rice” which, although it sounds innocent enough, means you’re in for a delightful meal and lots and lots of food.  On the other hand “short eats” refers to snack food.

The neighbors had gone all out!  There was a huge array of dishes, each more wonderful than the last.  It truly was the best food I ate in Sri Lanka.  I tried to just eat the vegetarian options but it was clear that my hosts were distraught, though they would never have said anything to me.

Thilaka tempering vegetables for dinner

I decided that the appropriate response to their generosity was to eat everything.  My hosts quickly became delighted (as did my taste buds)!  Only years later did I come to understand that in Sri Lanka (and many Theravada Buddhist countries of South East Asia) Buddhist monks are obliged to accept all food offered to them, even meat, unless they suspect the animal was slaughtered specifically for them.

Since I was most certainly not a monk, I’m sure they couldn’t understand why I was only eating the vegetarian dishes rather than everything that was offered to me.  In the end, it was a happy accommodation for everyone involved.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

 

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 Sri Lankan Zucchini and Peppers
I learned to make this from Nanacy Rajapakse who is from Sri Lanka. Nanacy made it with bacon, and, while very good with bacon, it is also wonderful without. As a variation, cabbage, cut into ½ inch wide strips, can be substituted for the zucchini. Feel free to adjust the quantity of spices to your taste. Curry leaves can be difficult to obtain outside of large metropolitan areas with large South Asian or Southeast Asian populations. There is no substitute. If not available, just omit the curry leaves as I often do.
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Course Sides, Vegetables
Cuisine Sri Lankan
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Sides, Vegetables
Cuisine Sri Lankan
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
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Rating: 0
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Instructions
  1. Peel and thinly slice the zucchini.
  3. Core and seed the peppers and cut into thin strips.
  4. Thinly slice the onion.
  5. Dice the bacon.
  6. Crush the fennel and cinnamon in mortar. Reserve.
  7. In a large sauté pan, fry the bacon until crisp.
  8. Remove and reserve the cooked bacon.
  9. Fry the onion in the rendered bacon fat until golden.
  10. When the onion is nearly done, add the crushed fennel seed and cinnamon along with the curry leaves, if using.
  11. Cook a few minutes longer to bloom the spices.
  12. Add the zucchini and peppers.
  13. Stir fry over high heat until the vegetables are pliable but still crunchy.
  14. Season with salt and pepper while cooking, tasting from time to time to adjust the seasoning. The dish is best with a bit of a bite from black pepper.
  15. Stir the cooked bacon into the vegetables after they have cooked.
Recipe Notes

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