Mom’s Potatoes with Tomato Sauce

Name: Mom's Potatoes with Tomato Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 75 min
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (medium size); 1/3 cup oil (such as corn, canola, or olive); 1/2 green bell pepper; 1/2 medium onion; 1 cup tomato sauce (preferably homemade); 1 teaspoon salt (plus more, to taste); black pepper (freshly ground, to taste)

2 Comments

July 19, 2017

Pasta. Potatoes. Bread.

I crave carbohydrates. I can go about three to four days without eating pasta before I start to really crave it.

Funny, because we only had pasta about once or twice a week while I was growing up.

We did, however, have potatoes on many of the intervening days.

Sometimes we’d have gnocchi (little pasta dumplings made with potatoes and flour) or pierogi (pasta stuffed with potatoes)! Though there are many other pierogi fillings, potato and cheese was the preferred variation in our house.

Once, when I hadn’t been home from college for a while, I asked my mom to make either pierogi or baba (sometimes Anglicized to bubba) for me for dinner. She made both. There wasn’t a piece of meat in sight. She knew me all too well. Meanwhile, the two college friends who came home with me were aghast at the absence of meat…and vegetables for that matter!

Americans, by and large, are not protein deficient so the occasional meal without meat or another major protein source isn’t an issue.

My mom’s potatoes with tomato sauce were usually served alongside sausage. Typically, it would be hot Italian fennel sausage that was browned in a skillet then braised slowly with some water to tenderize it.

If we were having kielbasa, the second most common sausage in our house, my mom would make a version of these potatoes without the tomato sauce. She’d get the potatoes good and brown and then cover the pan for a bit to trap the moisture and tenderize the potatoes without making them mushy.

Since my mom made a big pot of slow-cooked Southern Italian sugo most every Sunday, there was a ready supply of homemade tomato sauce for these potatoes. In my house, unfortunately, I don’t make that kind of sauce often enough (though I plan on changing that) and it always seems like a luxury to use some of it for these potatoes as opposed to putting the sauce on pasta.

I have found, however, that my uncooked pizza sauce works well. In a pinch canned or bottled tomato puree is good too (or even one of those 8 ounce cans of tomato “sauce”). If using canned puree, add a pinch or two of oregano for flavor.

While Italian versions of potatoes cooked in tomato sauce usually end up being more “saucy,” this Italian-American version turns the tomato sauce into little more than a coating on the potatoes.

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Mom's Potatoes with Tomato Sauce

This variation on home-fried potatoes was common in our house. Cooking potatoes in tomato sauce is very Italian but this variation, which includes bell pepper and onion, and where the tomato sauce is basically cooked away, is more Italian-American. The tomato sauce could be leftover homemade pasta sauce (without meat) or pizza sauce. It can also be canned tomato puree. If using puree, I suggest adding a few pinches of dried oregano for flavor.

Course

Potatoes and Other Tubers, Sides

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes medium size
1/3 cup oil such as corn, canola, or olive
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 medium onion
1 cup tomato sauce preferably homemade
1 teaspoon salt plus more, to taste
black pepper freshly ground, to taste

Course

Potatoes and Other Tubers, Sides

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes medium size
1/3 cup oil such as corn, canola, or olive
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 medium onion
1 cup tomato sauce preferably homemade
1 teaspoon salt plus more, to taste
black pepper freshly ground, to taste

Instructions

Peel the potatoes. Cut them crosswise into ¼ inch thick slices.
Cut the bell pepper into 1/3 inch dice.
Dice the onion.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a 12 inch skillet.
When the oil is hot, add the potatoes. The potatoes should start sizzling immediately. Season the potatoes with 1 teaspoon of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Do not stir the potatoes just yet.
Allow the potatoes to brown on the bottom.
These are getting browner on the bottom but not ready to turn yet.
When the potatoes on the bottom have turned golden brown, use a spatula to flip and separate them.
When approximately 1/3 of the potatoes are browned, add the bell pepper.
Continue cooking, allowing the potatoes on the bottom to brown more before flipping and separating, until about ½ of the potatoes are browned and the bell pepper is just beginning to char.
Add the onion.
Continue cooking until the potatoes are nicely browned and the onion is golden. Adjust the heat as needed to prevent the potatoes and onions from burning, though a few dark spots won’t be a problem.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Add the tomato sauce to the potatoes. Mix well.
Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, but not mushy, stirring occasionally. Approximately 45-60 minutes more. The tomato sauce should have pretty much completely evaporated, leaving the potatoes coated in red.
The potatoes ready to serve.

Recipe Notes

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Equipment

Equipment Corner: Bread Machine

July 17, 2017 Gary Leave a comment

July 17, 2017

In several posts, I’ve mentioned how useful my bread machine is for mixing dough and baking bread for daily use based on the recipe I grew up eating.

When I mention this to friends, I frequently hear that they got rid of their bread machines because they didn’t work well or weren’t useful.

This perplexes me as I have found my bread machine to be a real asset in the kitchen. I am not one to buy small appliances without a lot of thought and research.

I demand much from the small appliances that I purchase. They have to 1) perform their task well, improving on, or at least maintaining, the quality of the food that I would turn out without the machine and 2) save time or add an appreciable level of convenience. I won’t settle for one or the other.

My Zojirushi BB-PAC20 meets both criteria.

On any given day, it takes me less than five minutes to measure and add the ingredients for a loaf of bread. From that point on, it is totally hands-off, allowing me to attend to other tasks. The machine has more than paid for itself in savings over the cost of buying good-quality bread at the market or bakery.

It also does a great job of mixing dough. I use this feature frequently for making pizza dough and focaccia. I have some recipes involving biga (an Italian starter that is made in advance of the actual bread making) that I am going to try to convert to the bread machine.

Older bread machines often had a square baking pan. The pan in my Zojirushi bread maker measures 8 3/4″ x 5″ x 5″ and makes what would nominally be called a two-pound loaf.

Like all bread machines, it leaves holes in the bottom of the loaf from the paddles. For home use, I don’t find this to be a problem. If I’m using the loaf for company, I save the slices that have a divot missing from the bottom for non-company use.

**Inside the Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Baking Pan**

If you’ve got a bread machine collecting dust, give it a try on the dough cycle, making either my pizza dough or focaccia. As always, post a comment if you have any questions or to let me know how it turns out.

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Recipes

Carne Adovada (Pork Braised in Red Chile Sauce)

4 Comments

July 14, 2017

I am a chile head.

I also like coaxing a tremendous amount of flavor out of a small number of ingredients (though I don’t shy away from recipes with long ingredient lists either!).

I am a big fan of dishes that can be made in advance and warmed up for serving. Carne Adovada actually tastes better if it is refrigerated for a day or two.

For all of these reasons, Carne Adovada is an ideal dish for me. It is, bar none, my favorite New Mexican dish.

However, it isn’t necessary to use hot or extra-hot red chile. If you’re not a fan of spicy foods, use mild or medium-hot chile. What is critical is that you use actual New Mexico dried red chile.

Although I rode in a car along route 66 in the 1960s to visit an uncle in Los Angeles, I never spent any appreciable time in New Mexico until August 1991. Just days into that week-long visit to Santa Fe, I had Carne Adovada at Maria’s Restaurant.

I was hooked!

I was also enchanted by Santa Fe, as was my husband. By late 1992 we put in an offer on our first house in Santa Fe. The offer was accepted and we closed in January 1993. Thus began our love affair with Santa Fe.

We moved to Santa Fe full time in 2012 but we spent considerable time in Santa Fe every year until then (about ten times per year including all major holidays).

I was never happy with any Carne Adovada recipe that I tried, and I tried plenty, until I stumbled on a recipe from Al Lucero, the former owner of Maria’s Restaurant, in the program book for Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta a number of years ago.

In times past, when a hog was butchered in the fall, some of the meat was preserved in red chile. This chile-infused meat was later braised to become Carne Adovada. I don’t know of anyone who cures pork this way any longer but many recipes for Carne Adovada call for marinating the pork overnight in the red chile. This would seem to be closer to the traditional method, though simply marinating the meat would not produce the additional flavor that would come from actually curing the pork in the chile. Some recipes, though a minority in my experience, call for the addition of vinegar to the marinade to try to achieve more of a “cured” or “fermented” flavor.

Al Lucero’s approach is different but definitely creates an extra layer of flavor. The pork cubes are roasted first then braised in red chile. Refrigerating the completed Carne Adovada for a day or two before serving improves the flavor even more.

What I especially like about Al’s method is that it does not introduce any non-traditional ingredients to the Carne Adovada. Until I can taste Carne Adovada made from pork that is actually cured in red chile, I’m sticking with my tweaked version of Al’s method.

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Carne Adovada (Braised Pork with Red Chile)

The purity of the chile flavor is key to Carne Adovada so I avoid putting in other seasonings such as onion and oregano that are sometimes called for. This recipe, based on a recipe of Al Lucero, the former owner of Maria’s Restaurant in Santa Fe, roasts the pork first for a depth of flavor not obtainable otherwise. Remove any large pieces of fat from the pork but thin layers of fat between the meat are needed to ensure moist and tender pork, so don’t remove it all. I frequently buy a bone-in pork shoulder (aka pork butt) and use the bone to make broth.

Course

Mains, Meats

Cuisine

American, New Mexican

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

5 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

Pork

5 pounds pork butt cut in 1 inch cubes
4 teaspoons garlic powder
5 teaspoons salt

Red Chile Sauce

8 ounces dried New Mexico chile pods weigh the chile pods after stems and seeds are removed
10 cloves garlic minced
5 1/2 teaspoons salt
7 1/2 cups water

Course

Mains, Meats

Cuisine

American, New Mexican

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

5 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

Pork

5 pounds pork butt cut in 1 inch cubes
4 teaspoons garlic powder
5 teaspoons salt

Red Chile Sauce

8 ounces dried New Mexico chile pods weigh the chile pods after stems and seeds are removed
10 cloves garlic minced
5 1/2 teaspoons salt
7 1/2 cups water

Instructions

Cut the pork into one inch cubes.
Toss the pork with the garlic powder, and salt.
Put the meat in a wide shallow baking/roasting pan that has a lid and roast at 450°F, uncovered, until well browned, turning every 20 minutes or so, approximately 90 minutes.
While the pork is roasting, make the red chile sauce using the proportions of ingredients called for above and following the directions in the Red Chile blog post. See the "Notes" section below for the link. There is some rendered fat in the pan. Do not discard the fat, it carries lots of flavor and improves the mouth feel of the sauce.
Beginning to brown.
Tossed after the top has browned.
Almost brown enough.
Browned and ready for the chile. Note that the liquid has all evaporated and created a brown fond in the pan. This gives extra flavor.
When pork is browned, add all the red chile sauce without draining any of the juices out of the pan.
Cook, covered, at 250°F for approximately 3-4 hours or until meat is very tender, stirring occasionally.
Remove the meat from the oven. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.
Reheat the carne adovada, covered, at 250°F for approximately 2 hours. If the sauce is not thick enough, reheat uncovered at a somewhat higher temperature until the sauce is thickened.
This plate contains carne adovada, red rice, frijoles (beans), and calabacitas) (zucchini, corn, and roasted green chile).

Recipe Notes

Here's where you can find the directions for making Red Chile Sauce.

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Recipes

Frittata con Cipolle (Frittata with Onions)

6 Comments

July 10, 2017

American chefs frequently do not understand Italian food. Many can produce technically excellent dishes that lack the Italian sensibility.

One common error is putting in too much. Too much of most anything into most anything. To be sure, there are many restaurants headed by American chefs that serve excellent Italian food but there are far more that just don’t get it.

The usual culprit is what Italians would call the First Course, Il Primo Piatto. This is soup, pasta or rice that is served as a separate course before the the Second Course, Il Secondo Piatto (usually meat, fish, or other protein), which is usually accompanied by side dishes, Contorni, in Italian.

Pasta “specials” are quite prone to this phenomenon. There are many otherwise excellent restaurants that think that if a little is good, more is better, when it comes to their pasta “specials.” Because I love pasta, if I’m at a restaurant that has a pasta special I always ask what it is. More often than not, I start yawning (well, not really) part way through the list of ingredients added to the pasta. After more than 2 or 3 main ingredients (not counting things like garlic, olive oil, and a few herbs) it’s too much. You don’t need shrimp, artichoke hearts, chopped tomato, diced onion, roasted peppers, capers, and olives. It’s simply too much. The distinctiveness of the ingredients is lost.

I’m ragging on pasta because that is the most common culprit at American restaurants featuring “Italian” food. Risotto and polenta are prone to the same phenomenon, however. The most common offense is that both of these dishes are turned into vehicles for butter, cream, and cheese. That is not what an Italian would do. In a typical Italian household, polenta is cornmeal, water and salt. That’s it. There’s not usually a pat of butter or a spoon of cheese in sight unless added at the table to the diner’s preference but even that is rare. The polenta is a foil for whatever is served with it. It is not meant to scream, “Look at me!” That doesn’t mean it isn’t supposed to, or doesn’t, taste good. It’s not intended to be so rich and filling that it tries to steal the spotlight or dampen one’s appetite for the rest of the meal.

Unlike polenta, which is meant to accompany other dishes, risotto is meant to stand on its own as a First Course before the Second Course. Risotto alla Milanese is the only exception. Traditionally Risotto alla Milanese accompanies a veal cutlet (in Milan, of course). No other risotto would be served with the second course in an Italian meal.

I realize that most of the time we do not eat a formal Italian meal, even in a restaurant. Most of us have either what would be the first course (pasta or risotto, usually) or the second course (meat or fish plus a side dish or two), preceded by some sort of antipasto (appetizer), which literally means “before the pasta.” Even so a risotto that is a fat “bomb” overly laden with butter, cream and/or cheese, might be American but it is simply not Italian in its sensibility.

Frequently, the issue is clouded even more but the addition of too many ingredients to the risotto. Look at the asparagus risotto from a few weeks ago. There are no competing flavors: a light broth to add some savoriness, a bit of Parmigiano Reggiano, and a dollop of butter. This is a classically Italian risotto.

I guess I’m really beating this one. I clearly have strong feelings about Italian food and what passes for Italian food in America. Think purity of flavor and simplicity of ingredients. If an ingredient doesn’t support the main ingredient it shouldn’t be added. I believe Italian food is the original “ingredient-driven” cuisine.

Ok, off my soap box an on to a recipe; one that is the essence of simplicity.

I’m going to guess that most of you have not had a frittata. It is a fluffy but firm egg dish, usually with some sort of vegetable included. Sometimes a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese is added but only if it supports the vegetable that is the star of the show.

Today’s frittata is onion. That’s it, onion. Plus a little olive oil and salt and pepper. The onion is cooked slowly until it caramelizes. The onion in this recipe was cooked for 50 minutes. You should plan on 45-50. It is mostly hands off, though you do need to stir every few minutes.

Once the eggs are added, they are cooked slowly. Unlike a French omelet where the eggs are barely set and there isn’t (supposed to be) a touch of brown, a frittata is intended to be firm, slightly brown, and puffed up and airy from the cooking style.

Although I have converted to making, almost exclusively, a classic Italian frittata, when I was in college I did it the way my Italian Grandmother did. She included a pinch of baking powder and a bit of flour. It was a little firmer than a classic frittata; more like a savory eggy cake.

That frittata, alternating with sandwiches of butter, onion and blue cheese on homemade bread (not on the same day), constitute my lunchtime memories from my junior year in college.

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Frittata con Cipolle (Frittata with Onions)

I recommend NOT finishing the frittata under the broiler as called for by a number of food writers. First, it isn’t traditional. Second, if the frittata doesn’t slide out of the pan easily so that it can be flipped, you won’t be able to get it out of the pan to serve it after putting it under the broiler. I like using a good quality, heavy-bottomed, non-stick pan though a well-seasoned cast iron pan would work too. It is easier to get the frittata out of the pan if it has sloping sides rather that sides that are completely vertical. You can caramelize the onions several hours in advance and then complete the frittata later.

Course

Breakfast and Brunch, Mains, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

1 1/2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

3 large onions
6 large eggs
1/3 cup olive oil plus more if needed
3/4 teaspoon salt divided
black pepper freshly ground, to taste

Course

Breakfast and Brunch, Mains, Vegetarian

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

1 1/2 hours

Servings

people

Ingredients

3 large onions
6 large eggs
1/3 cup olive oil plus more if needed
3/4 teaspoon salt divided
black pepper freshly ground, to taste

Instructions

Slice the onion in half from top to bottom then across into 1/8 inch thick half-rounds.
Warm the olive oil in a 12 inch heavy-bottomed sauté pan with sloping sides.
Add the sliced onion and ½ teaspoon of salt.
Cook over medium heat, stirring often until the onions are soft and caramelized. The onions should take on a uniform golden, then light brown, color. There should not be any dark brown or dry spots. This will take between 45 and 50 minutes. If it takes longer don’t worry. If it seems to happen in less time, the heat is probably too high.
This picture was taken 15 minutes after the onions were added.
This picture was taken 30 minutes after the onions were added.
This picture was taken 45 minutes after the onions were added.
This picture was taken 50 minutes after the onions were added. They are appropriately caramelized.
While the onions are cooking, beat the eggs with a fork. Do not use an egg whip. The idea is not to beat in air but to uniformly combine the whites and yolks. Season with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
When the onions are fully caramelized, be sure there is an even slick of oil in the bottom of the pan. If not, add a tablespoon or so more.
Turn the heat to medium high and evenly distribute the caramelized onions on the bottom of the sauté pan.
Pour the beaten eggs on top of the onions, being sure to distribute the eggs evenly. DO NOT STIR THE EGGS once they are added to the pan. Immediately cover the pan and turn the heat to low.
Cook until the eggs are just set in the middle and golden brown on the bottom, approximately 30 minutes. Move the pan around so that the heat is evenly distributed, including putting the pan off-center occasionally so there is heat directly on the edges of the pan, not just concentrated in the middle.
When the eggs are just set in the center, the frittata should release easily from the pan. Sometimes it is helpful to run a silicone spatula around the edge of the frittata to help it release.
Slide the frittata out of the pan and onto a large pizza pan.
Invert the pan over the frittata.
Grasp the sauté pan and pizza pan with both hands and flip them over in one quick motion.
Put the sauté pan, with the now-upside-down frittata, back on the heat, uncovered, for about 5 minutes until the bottom of the frittata is golden brown.
Slide the frittata onto a serving platter.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Pasta with Silky Zucchini Sauce

6 Comments

July 5, 2017

Pasta tossed with a sauce of some sort of vegetable cooked in olive oil is an Italian classic. My mother frequently used either eggplant or zucchini, cooked them until they became very soft, and then tossed them with pasta.

I have one very vivid memory of this dish and it goes back to the summer of 1992.

After my mother was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer in early summer 1992, she came to live with us. Until the last few days of her life in early January 1993, she took over our kitchen, a very comfortable role for her.

Over the years prior to her diagnosis, she had become friendly with our next door neighbor, Carla. During the last six months of her life she and Carla spent hours every day visiting and chatting. This was a wonderful arrangement as my husband, Frank, and I were working long hours. (It also led, through a number of interesting steps, to Frank and I becoming the god-parents for one of Carla and Billy’s children a few years later. But that’s a story for a different day.)

Frank had very long work hours a couple days per week. He rarely got home before 10 PM on those days. My mother and I would eat dinner earlier and then she would set aside his food.

But she did more than that.

When he got home, she always warmed up his dinner and then sat with him at the table while he ate. She never let him eat alone. Most likely, I was upstairs in bed. Since I got up earlier than Frank, I tried to be in bed by 10 PM to watch the news and go to sleep.

For some reason, the plate of pasta with zucchini sitting on the counter one evening to be warmed up for Frank’s dinner, knowing my mother would sit with him as he ate, is the mental image I have of this dish. I can’t make this without that image appearing in my mind. I think somehow that dish, made of very humble ingredients, came to represent the best of my mother’s nurturing characteristics.

She was a fierce advocate for her children. My sister and I both started school a year early because my mother thought we were intellectually ready (she was right) and she wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer from the school authorities.

Once, in second grade, my sister arrived home with the hem of her school uniform let down because one of the nuns thought it was too short. My mother promptly hemmed it, even shorter, and sent my sister to school the next day without ever saying a word. The hemline stayed put.

You didn’t mess with my mother where her children were concerned.

She continued cooking for us until less than a week before she died.

In those years we always gave a New Year’s Day party, a casual affair where people could come and relax and chat and eat. The Soviet Union was officially dissolved December 25, 1991. Most of 1992 saw the effects of the dissolution so the theme of our January 1, 1993 party was the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

For the party, my mother made 14 dozen stuffed cabbage rolls and 17 dozen potato pancakes!

She sat on the sofa throughout the entire party, chatting with everyone and being the life of the party. The next day she took a turn for the worse and on the morning of January 6th she died.

Some of my best memories involve food, most of which was cooked by family and friends who are no longer with us. Capturing and preserving those recipes is the way that I pay homage to them and to the culture and values they passed on to me.

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Pasta with Silky Zucchini Sauce

Zucchini are cooked to a silky softness to make a luscious sauce for pasta. Finishing the pasta in the pan with the zucchini and adding some pasta-cooking liquid, Parmesan cheese, and a couple of glugs of olive oil creates glossy sauce with a wonderful mouthfeel. When choosing zucchini, pick small ones, preferably not more than about six inches long. They should be firm and have glossy skin. It will take about 4 or 5 to yield four cups of sliced zucchini. Crushed red pepper is completely optional. If you have fresh basil you can omit the dry basil and toss in a tablespoon or so of basil chiffonade when you combine the pasta with the zucchini.

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 medium yellow onion
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste (optional)
4 cups zucchini sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
3 cloves garlic
1 pound dry pasta such as farfalle or shells
1/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup salt plus additional
black pepper freshly ground

Course

Pasta, Noodles, and Sauces

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

people

Ingredients

1 medium yellow onion
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste (optional)
4 cups zucchini sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
3 cloves garlic
1 pound dry pasta such as farfalle or shells
1/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup salt plus additional
black pepper freshly ground

Instructions

Dice the onion.
Peel the zucchini and slice approximately ¼ inch thick.
Mince the garlic.
In a large, heavy-bottomed sauté pan large enough to hold the pasta and sauce, sauté the onion and crushed red pepper, if using, over medium heat until the onion is golden and soft. Do not brown the onion.
Add the zucchini. Toss to coat with oil. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Sauté on medium to medium high heat, adjusting from time to time to avoid browning the zucchini.
Add the dry oregano and dry basil, if using, after about 20 minutes.
Continue to sauté, stirring often, until the zucchini is quite soft, but still intact. It can turn golden but should not brown. Taste and adjust salt and pepper while the zucchini is cooking.
Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes longer.
The dish can be prepared several hours in advance to this point. Simply take the sauté pan off the heat and cover it.
Bring three quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add 1/3 cup salt. Add the pasta and cook at a full boil until the pasta is almost al dente. It should still be just the tiniest bit hard in the center.
Reserve at least one cup of pasta-cooking liquid.
Drain the pasta and add it to the zucchini in the sauté pan. Add about ½ cup of reserved pasta-cooking liquid and fresh basil, if using, and cook over medium heat at a light boil until the pasta is al dente. Add more pasta-cooking water as needed. There should be some liquid in the pan when the pasta is finished.
Off the heat, stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add a bit more pasta-cooking liquid if needed to emulsify the cheese and olive oil to create a glossy sauce that just clings to the pasta.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Recipe Notes

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Ingredients

Figs!

July 2, 2017 Gary Leave a comment

July 2, 2017

We had a disaster with our greenhouse this past winter and we’re very thankful that our fig trees came back from near death!

Until this past winter we heated the greenhouse with a pellet stove which worked very well but which caused problems. We couldn’t be gone for more than 24 hours or the pellet stove would run out of fuel. Having someone tend the pellet stove always proved problematic for a number of different reasons.

Last fall, we installed a 65,000 BTU direct-vent gas furnace in the greenhouse. On the first really cold night, the temperature in the greenhouse plummeted to 11 degrees. As it turns out, a gas meter with a larger flow was needed to handle the extra load.

The situation was not rectified till early spring, however, so we lost pretty much everything in the greenhouse due to extended cold. Now, you might wonder why we waited until spring.

When installing a new meter, at least in Santa Fe, the gas company tests the gas line at high pressure. If any leaks are found gas service to the property is shut off until the leak can be isolated and fixed. We decided this was not a risk we wanted to take in the middle of winter so we simply turned off the furnace in the greenhouse for the season.

Miraculously, the dead-looking fig trees started sending up new shoots from their roots this spring. So, while we lost the large, established trees, we got some new ones in their place. And they’re actually making figs.

The original fig tree came with us from Chicago in 2012. Although it produced figs every year, they never ripened. Apparently it is too cold at night where we live for that to occur.

In 2015 we left the fig trees in the greenhouse all summer rather than taking them out when the weather got warm. We got ripe figs!

The fig trees now remain in the greenhouse year round. Here are two short video clips of my mother-in-law and father-in-law enjoying the first fig to ripen for us in Santa Fe in summer of 2015.

Recipes

Aunt Ann’s Pineapple Cream Cheese Pie

6 Comments

June 30, 2017

I grew up at a time, and in a town, where people just dropped in, unannounced, to visit family and friends.

Some evenings we’d stay home. Some evenings we’d go to town. This was pretty much every Monday and Thursday when the stores were open until 9:00 PM. And, mind you, we dressed to go to town! Other evenings we’d visit family and friends.

Around the age of 5 or 6, when we went to Aunt Ann’s, I’d play with food. Really. And not at the table. I don’t honestly know how this got started but Aunt Ann would spread out a vinyl tablecloth on the beige wall-to-wall carpet in her living room. (Remember, this was around 1960!) I would pull pots and pans and mixing bowls and other equipment (like box graters and spoons) out of her kitchen cabinets and haul my stash to the living room.

**Aunt Ann circa 1965 at Grandma and Grandpa’s house**

Then I’d raid the refrigerator for things like carrots, celery, and so forth.

I’d sit in the living room, on the tablecloth, grating vegetables and mixing things in the various pots and bowls.

My love of cooking has deep roots.

My love of peanut butter not so much.

For some reason, I despised peanut butter at that age. (I know, that’s almost un-American!) But just to keep things from being too quiet, Uncle Jano would sometimes walk towards me holding a jar of peanut butter and I would run like a vampire running from a wooden stake.

I don’t know what I thought was going to happen, but I had to escape from the peanut butter.

The ordeal usually ended with me face down on the sofa until Uncle Jano retreated…sometimes only to start again after I pulled my face out of the pillow.

Aunt Ann and Uncle Jano were great fun. But they were only Aunt Ann and Uncle Jano if you were related to them through Uncle Jano. If you were related to them through Aunt Ann, they were Aunt Honey and Uncle John.

**From left to right: Uncle Jano, my Grandfather, Uncle “Booty” and my Dad, circa 1965 on a Sunday at my Grandparent’s house**

Aunt Ann was a great cook. She was ethnically Russian and made lots of Russian and Eastern European food like mushroom soup, potato soup, kielbasa, chicken paprikash, pierogi, stuffed cabbage, and so forth.

She also made Italian food, which she learned from the wife of the local Mafia Boss who lived down the street. (I had a colorful childhood. What can I say?)

There were the occasional American dishes, like Rum Balls and Pineapple Cream Cheese Pie, too.

Years after those episodes of “cooking” on Aunt Ann’s living room floor, when I was in my teens and twenties, I was always on the lookout for pineapple cream cheese pie when we went to visit.

In an attempt to keep this manageable, I am not posting a recipe for pie crust just yet, but I will at a future date. If you have a favorite pie crust recipe, by all means, make your own. If not, buy prepared pie crust from the grocery store. But whatever you do, give this recipe a try if it appeals to you. It’s always a hit!

**This one is just for fun: Aunt Ann (far left), Aunt Margie (in the back), my mom (far right), my sister and my cousin “Rocky” circa 1950**

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Aunt Ann's Pineapple Cream Cheese Pie

If you don’t have a favorite pie crust recipe, or if you aren’t comfortable making pie crust, buy prepared pie crust. Be sure to purchase NINE INCH DEEP DISH pie crust, however. If you are making your own pie crust, you can use a standard nine inch pie pan, deep dish is not necessary. The cream cheese filling is easier to make in a food processor though an electric mixer works, too. If you are using a mixer, the cream cheese will be much easier to mix if it is at room temperature. This is not critical if you are using a food processor.

Course

Desserts and Sweets

Cuisine

American

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

pies

Ingredients

1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple packed in juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar divided
16 ounces cream cheese Philadelphia brand preferred
1/2 cup whole milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Course

Desserts and Sweets

Cuisine

American

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Servings

pies

Ingredients

1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple packed in juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar divided
16 ounces cream cheese Philadelphia brand preferred
1/2 cup whole milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Instructions

Chop the nuts and reserve.
If making your own crust, prepare and line two nine-inch pie pans. Refrigerate the crust-lined pans until the fillings are prepared.
In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the crushed pineapple, cornstarch, and 1/2 cup of sugar.
Stir until the lumps are gone. The mixture will become cloudy from the cornstarch but will become clear once cooked.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
Boil for approximately one minute, until thickened.
Take the pan off the heat and allow the pineapple mixture to cool slightly.
In a food processor or electric mixer, beat the cream cheese well.
Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix until the cream cheese is thoroughly combined, all the sugar is dissolved, and there are no lumps.
Divide the pineapple filling between the two pie-crust-lined pie pans.
Top each pie with half the cream cheese mixture.
Scatter the chopped nuts on the pies.
Bake at 350°F for approximately 60 to 65 minutes until the tops of the pies are just beginning to turn golden and the filling is set.
Cool to room temperature before serving. The pies will sink somewhat as they cool.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

Homemade Pizza

4 Comments

June 26, 2017

Before my bread machine it was my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Before my Kitchen Aid stand mixer it was my hands. I have always enjoyed making bread.

Junior year in college was when my bead making got started in earnest. That was the year that I lived in the International Residence Project at the University of Pennsylvania. I was notified of my acceptance into the Project, a College House arrangement that occupied two floors of a high-rise dorm, late in my sophomore year. Current and incoming residents of the Project met at a social event where I was introduced to the roommate to whom I had been assigned for the coming school year, Ray Hugh from Georgetown, Guyana.

Ray and I started hanging out together for the last part of sophomore year and found that we really hit it off. Since we were both staying in Philadelphia for the summer, and since students could not stay in undergraduate dorms during the summer, we did what most undergrads did during the summer. We sublet an apartment in Graduate Towers from graduate students who were not staying in Philadelphia for the summer but who, as graduate students, had year-long leases.

I had pretty regular hours working in a research lab for the summer but that left evenings and weekends free to explore cooking which Ray and I did together. It quickly became clear that the kitchen in our apartment in the International Residence Project, which we would begin occupying in September, was going to need an upgrade.

At my request, my father made a five-foot long kitchen counter with a laminate top. There was in integrated pull-out table that would seat two in the regular configuration but four when pulled out. That counter became the epicenter of our cooking universe. Set opposite the Pullman kitchen (three electric burners, an oven, an under-counter refrigerator, and an integrated sink) we had a very efficient kitchen set-up. A deep shelving unit that I made housed equipment and several stacks of plastic milk crates held ingredients for which there otherwise would have been no space.

I made bread on that counter every week, kneading it by hand.

I made bread the way my Italian grandmother did. Flour, water, salt, and yeast went into a big bowl. The yeast was not proofed. I mixed the ingredients by hand, adding more flour as needed. Periodically I would rub the inside of the bowl with lard. After enough flour had been added, I would put the dough on the counter and knead it for about ten minutes. The dough would always rise twice, getting punched down and kneaded lightly after each rise, before being put in bread pans for the third and final rise before being baked.

Decades later I got my first Kitchen Aid stand mixer and started using that to make bread. Good thing, too, because I was starting to have trouble with my joints from all the kneading necessary.

A few years ago I got my first bread machine, a Zojirushi BB-PAC20. While I have no doubt that bread baked in an oven is better I also have no doubt that we would not eat anywhere as much homemade bread if I had to do all the mixing, rising, shaping, and baking unaided.

With less than five minutes’ work spent measuring ingredients, I can push a button and have bread a few hours later. And I am completely at peace with the ingredients in my bread. No sugar. No high fructose corn syrup. No dough conditioners. No preservatives. Nothing but flour, water, salt, olive oil and yeast! The bread machine has more than paid for itself in savings.

I especially like the dough cycle. As noted in a previous blog post, I use the dough cycle to make the dough for my focaccia. A quick final rise after being shaped and the focaccia is ready for the oven. The dough cycle also makes pizza dough in a snap. I like to make it at least one day in advance and allow it to rise in the refrigerator. Two days in advance is even better.

I still pretty much use the same recipe for bread dough that I followed in college though I’ve swapped out the lard for olive oil and modified the directions to suit mechanization instead of hands. (Every now and then, I just get the urge to do it by hand, though!)

Usually I bake pizza in a wood-burning oven. Since wood-burning ovens are not very common, the pizza featured in this post was baked in a conventional oven. I don’t have a pizza stone since I don’t usually bake pizza in the oven. All the better though, since I know few people who have pizza stones. I simply went old school and used heavy aluminum pizza pans. I didn’t even use the convection feature!

**Our DoughPro wood-burning oven from Australia**

**Baking chamber above and fire chamber below**

Until a few years ago I always cooked my pizza sauce. Then I tried uncooked sauce as is often done in Naples and found that I really prefer it. It has a fresher taste and it is really easy to make. (Sorry mom!)

I usually use tomato puree because I like a smooth sauce but crushed tomatoes work well if you prefer a chunkier sauce. You can also just whizz a can of whole peeled tomatoes in the blender or food processor to whatever degree of chunkiness or smoothness you want.

Homemade Pizza

Make the dough at least one day before you plan to bake the pizzas. The dough will benefit from the slow rise in the refrigerator. Two days is even better. Be sure to put the balls of dough in containers that seal well to keep the dough from drying out and that are large enough to hold the dough after it rises. Remove the dough from the refrigerator the morning of the day you plan on making pizza. It will take 3-5 hours to warm up and rise. If you’re not ready to make pizza when the dough has doubled in bulk, just punch it down and allow it to rise again. The dough recipe makes enough for two 16 inch pizzas but the sauce is enough for four. Extra sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Since I make so much bread, I buy dry yeast in bulk. You can substitute one envelop of yeast for the two teaspoons of yeast called for in the recipe. For the sauce, use tomato puree if you prefer a smoother sauce and crushed tomatoes if you prefer a slightly chunkier sauce. In either case, really good tomatoes are called for. Buy genuine San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy, if possible. I find Cento to be a good brand and generally available in the markets in my area.

Course

Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

40 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes (for each)

Passive Time

24 hours

Servings

pizzas

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

545 g bread flour approximately 4½ cups
350 ml water approximately 1½ cups less one tablespoon
2 teaspoons salt
35 ml olive oil approximately 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
2 teaspoons active dry yeast or one envelope

Pizza Sauce

1 28 ounce can tomato puree or crushed tomatoes depending on preference for texture
3-5 cloves garlic minced (depending on size and personal preference)
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1-2 teaspoons salt depending on saltiness of the tomato product.

Assembly of Pizza

Course

Pizza, Flatbreads, and Savory Tarts

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

40 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes (for each)

Passive Time

24 hours

Servings

pizzas

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

545 g bread flour approximately 4½ cups
350 ml water approximately 1½ cups less one tablespoon
2 teaspoons salt
35 ml olive oil approximately 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
2 teaspoons active dry yeast or one envelope

Pizza Sauce

1 28 ounce can tomato puree or crushed tomatoes depending on preference for texture
3-5 cloves garlic minced (depending on size and personal preference)
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1-2 teaspoons salt depending on saltiness of the tomato product.

Assembly of Pizza

Instructions

Pizza Dough

One or two days before you plan to bake the pizza, prepare the dough.
You can use the dough cycle of a bread machine, the dough hook of a stand mixer, or you can make the dough by hand following the directions in the blog post.
If using a bread machine, follow the manufacturer’s directions for the dough cycle.
If using a stand mixer, put warm, not hot, water in the bowl of the mixer. Add four cups of flour, the yeast, and salt and begin to mix. Gradually pour in the olive oil. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a slightly tacky dough. Chances are you will need all of it. Allow the dough hook to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes.
If making the dough by mixer or hand, oil the dough and place in an oiled bowl. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, covered lightly with a kitchen towel.
After the dough has doubled, or when the bread machine has completed the dough cycle, remove the dough and punch it down.
Divide the dough in half and shape into two balls. Rub the surface of each ball with oil and put each one into a separate oiled bowl or LARGE plastic container.
Cover tightly using plastic wrap if needed.
Put the dough in the refrigerator until the morning of the day you plan to bake the pizza.
On baking day, remove the dough from the refrigerator in the morning and allow it to sit at room temperature until doubled in bulk. This will take 3-5 hours (or maybe a bit longer if your refrigerator is really cold). If you are not ready to bake the pizza, just punch the dough down again and let it rest. It is better to err on the side of taking it out of the refrigerator too early rather than too late!

Pizza Sauce

Mince the garlic.
Combine all the ingredients for the sauce.
Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to mellow.
Some brands of tomatoes can be a bit tart. Taste the sauce right before you use it and, if necessary, add up to ½ teaspoon of sugar but no more. (Some people consider this heresy but it is a common Italian technique to counter tomatoes that are too tart. Remember agricultural products vary and sometimes you need to use your judgment to correct a situation that is not addressed by the recipe.)

Assembly of Pizza

Shred the mozzarella on the tear-drop shaped holes of a box grater. Reserve.
Lightly dust a 16 inch round pizza pan with cornmeal.
Put the dough on a metal pastry "board" or a second pizza pan and gently stretch it by pressing on it and moving your hands apart. The dough will spring back. Each time it will stay stretched a little more. After six to eight stretching motions, allow the dough to rest for several minutes to permit the gluten to relax. This will make it easier to stretch. I usually allow two or three such rest periods.
Stretch dough into a 16” round.
Flip the dough over onto the cornmeal-dusted pizza pan. (OK, I don't have the skill to stretch the dough by tossing it in the air and putting it on the pan so this is my hack. If you can toss pizza dough in the air, please give me a lesson!)
Spread the sauce on dough to within one inch of the edge.
Add toppings of your choice, if desired.
Evenly sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
Bake the pizza at approximately 450°F until the edges are golden brown and the dough is fully cooked, approximately 12-15 minutes.

Recipe Notes

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Recipes

New Mexican Red Chile Sauce

7 Comments

June 21, 2017

I come by a love of spicy food honestly. I grew up in a family with a strong Southern Italian heritage and a love of spicy foods. There was usually one, if not two, types of hot salami in the fridge. My Uncle Joe Medile made the hot Italian sausage that we ate frequently and when my father said it wasn’t spicy enough, as he always did, the next batch was spicier still. My cousin Angie put up hot peppers (her recipe is coming in the autumn). Another Uncle ate sandwiches of fried hot peppers from his garden. I still have hot salami in my fridge, and I make sausage and jarred hot peppers and eat fried pepper sandwiches!

I could go on but you get the picture.

In college, I fell in with a crowd of friends from all around the world, quite a number of whom were into fiery foods; foods so hot that they made anything with a European sensibility (like Italian food) seem like child’s play.

It wasn’t surprising that when I first ate New Mexican food in 1991, I was hooked by Red Chile and Green Chile.

New Mexican chile (and it is spelled chile, with an “e” on the end) at the most basic is a sauce. Go into any New Mexican restaurant and order a burrito and the wait person, without missing a beat, will say “Red or Green?” unless you are in the know enough to have made your choice of chile part of the order in the first place. The sauce will be poured over the burrito before serving. If you are indecisive, you can have “Christmas” which will get you half red chile and half green chile.

New Mexican Chile has nothing in common with chili, whether it’s Tex-Mex, Cincinnati, or any other version. There is Green Chile Stew which contains pork (usually) and is served in a bowl like, well, a stew. But you won’t get Green Chile Stew if you ask for Green Chile. You’ll get a sauce.

I’ve collected lots of Red Chile recipes from friends; eaten Red Chile scores, if not hundreds of times in restaurants; and researched Red Chile in old cookbooks. I take a very traditional approach to what goes into my Red Chile, and it’s not much.

I think a traditional Red Chile should be made with ingredients that would have been available in the small, isolated farming communities in Northern New Mexico where the dish was perfected. When I see recipes that purport to taste traditional, if not be traditional, that contain things like raisins, chipotle in adobo, and Asian fish sauce, I sigh.

Mind you, those ingredients, and other equally incongruous ingredients (like frozen orange juice concentrate!), might make a tasty sauce but it would not be New Mexican Red Chile!

Red Chile should taste of chile with other ingredients used in small quantities to complement the chile. In my case those ingredients are garlic and salt. Period!

Before the advent of refrigeration, Red Chile, which is made from dried fully ripened, i.e. red, chile pods, was eaten most of the year. Green Chile, made from roasted, freshly harvested green chile pods, was eaten at harvest time.

Next month I’m going to post my favorite New Mexican recipe, Carne Adovada, slow-cooked pork cubes in an abundant amount of red chile sauce. The Red Chile in this post is an integral part of the process. If you want to give the Carne Adovada a try you might want to practice making Red Chile. If you’re at a loss for what to do with it, consider using it as a sauce on steak, chops or scrambled eggs. Pour it over mashed potatoes. Make burritos and smother them in red chile.

Before moving to New Mexico full time, we spent almost every holiday in Santa Fe. We always invited a large crowd of friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. Since we would leave Santa Fe to return to Chicago on the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving, leftovers became a problem. We quickly developed the tradition of having all of our Thanksgiving guests back for dinner on Friday which consisted of leftovers. The only new addition to the meal, though, was red chile which some of us, at least, used in place of gravy!

The uses for red chile are limited only by your imagination.

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New Mexican Red Chile Sauce

Commercially available red chile pods are categorized by heat level: mild, medium, hot, and extra hot. As with any agricultural product, there is some variability. Look for certified New Mexico grown chile. The town of Hatch in Southern New Mexico is probably the most well know chile-growing region but Chimayo in Northern New Mexico grows some pretty awesome chile, too. If you can’t find New Mexican chile in the markets near you, you can order it on line. I think that using whole pods rather than ground chile (chile molido…NOT to be confused with chili powder!!!) makes for a better texture. See the note at the bottom for a method using ground red chile. Remember, ground New Mexico Red Chile only contains chile pods, nothing else!!! Recipes for Red Chile usually start by specifying a particular number of chile pods. However, many of the pods in any batch of chile are broken. My solution was to weigh the pods, after removing seeds and stems, so that I no longer had to guess about how much broken up chile pod equals one whole pod.

Course

Savory Sauces and Marinades

Cuisine

American, New Mexican

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

40 minutes

Passive Time

20 minutes

Servings

cups

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces dried New Mexico red chile pods weighed after stems and seeds are removed
2 cloves largegarlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water

Course

Savory Sauces and Marinades

Cuisine

American, New Mexican

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

40 minutes

Passive Time

20 minutes

Servings

cups

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces dried New Mexico red chile pods weighed after stems and seeds are removed
2 cloves largegarlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water

Instructions

The starting point: whole dried chile pods.
Break off the stem of each chile pod and empty out the seeds and pith. You might have to break the pod in one or two places to get out the seeds. Try not to break it into small pieces, however.
The stems, seeds, and pith ready for the compost heap!
Weigh out 1 ½ ounces of chile pods after stem, seeds, and pith have been removed.
Put the chile in a bowl.
Cover the chiles with very hot tap water.
Steep the chiles in the hot water until softened, 15- 20 minutes.
Lift the chiles out of the water and into a colander, attempting to leave as many of the seeds behind as possible. Despite your best efforts, there will still be some!
Discard the water used to soften the chiles.
Put the softened chiles, garlic, and 1 ¼ cups of fresh water in a blender.
Puree until smooth, one to two minutes.
Pour the chile puree into a saucepan.
Use the remaining ¼ cup of water to rinse out the blender jar. Add this to the saucepan.
Add the salt to the chile puree.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered till thickened, about 20-30 minutes.
Adjust salt near the end of cooking.

Recipe Notes

Some cooks like to toast the chile pods in the oven. I have done this but I don’t believe it adds enough flavor to justify the extra work.

The water used to soak the chile can be bitter so I always discard it and use fresh water for making the sauce. The seeds and pith can also add a bitter note. You’ll never get rid of all the seeds but eliminate as many as possible.

**Chile Molido (Ground Chile or Chile Powder, not to be confused with Chili Powder!)**

If you want to use ground New Mexico red chile pods (chile molido) rather than whole pods, first puree the garlic with some of the water. Add the garlic puree to the ground chile. Add the remaining water a little at a time, stirring well, to avoid lumps. Add the salt and proceed with simmering as described above.

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