Basilicata Home Fries

Basilacata Home Fries

Basilicata Home Fries

My father’s family came from Laurenzana, a small town in the hills of Basilicata.Basilicata Home Fries Ingredients

Cut the potatoes into 1 inch pieces. Boil in salted water until slightly soft and drain. Fry green pepper in a hot dry pan until it starts to brown. Remove the pepper. Sweat the onions in oil with salt and black pepper then add the potatoes. Sprinkle liberally with powdered red pepper and fry, chopping with spatula until done with brown edges. Return the green peppers.

Basilacata Home Fries a

Basilacata Home Fries b

Basilacata Home Fries c

Left over, this is a good start for Potato and Egg Frittata.

 

Cocktails – some new ones

The Fall Classic Cocktail

We got this recipe from the bartender who invented it for the Sept. 2011 Landmark Feast at the American Museum of Natural History.

Fall Classic

Fall Classic Cocktail

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass. Add a sprinkle of Angostura.

*cider thyme syrup – 2 cups cider, 1 cup sugar and a few sprigs of thyme. Boil slowly until clear and let it cool. Remove thyme and it’s done.


Bull Shot

Not as dainty as a Mimosa but a very good brunch drink.

Bull Shot

Pour all ingredients over ice in a 10 oz glass, stir and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Zubrowka


Philly Special

Philly tended bar in a place on Stanton Street between the Bowery and Forsyth in the 1960s when it was still the Lower East Side (pre-gentrification). This was his creation.Philly Special

Pour both over ice – simple!

Philly Special


Vodka on the Rocks

A Russian friend gave me this one. Sounds simple but there’s more to it than you might think.

Vodka on the Rocksod

Vodka on the Rocks

Cut a cucumber into thick slices and freeze them solid. Put them into a rocks glass as you would ice, and cover with Vodka.

1st – melting ice doesn’t dilute your drink.

2nd – there’s a fresh aroma of cucumbers with every sip


Caipirinha

A Brazilian friend taught me how to make Caipirinhas. We went to buy limes and I asked how many should I get. She said, “How many Caipirnhas do you want?” So that’s one lime per drink.

caipirinha

Lime – Sugar – Cachaca

Cut the 2 ends of a lime so that you have a barrel shape. Cut that into 4 rings and stack them. Cut that stack into quarters so you now have 16 small wedges of lime.

Put the lime into a heavy duty rocks glass and crush with 2 tea spoons of sugar.

Add ice and fill glass with Cachaca and stir. Some bartenders add a splash of 7-Up.

 

Tomato Beef Sauce

Tomato Beef Sauce

I know some people don’t get Italians referring to tomato sauce as Sunday gravy. In this case it’s justified because there’s so much beef flavor in it.

beef bones

The key to this one is using the right cuts of beef. It has to have lots of collagen, that is, connective tissue which is water soluble and breaks down in slow, moist cooking. I’m using short ribs and ox tail – collagen, bones and marrow. With that as the flavor base you can add, sausage, meatballs, etc.

cooked beef bones

Some tomato sauces can be a simple as the 4 ingredient marinara sauce included in my Eggplant Parmagiana  post. This one is more complex.

beef tom sauce ingr

Season the room temperature meat with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in a pot with olive oil. Remove meat and sauté the onion. Deglaze the pot with the liquid released by the onion.

saute onion

Add the tomato paste and mix with the onion. Add the crushed tomatoes, wine, beef stock and stir. Add the sachet and return the browned meat with its juices. Simmer on medium heat, partially covered for one hour.

Sachet Ingredients
Sachet Ingredients

This is enough sauce for one pound of pasta. Since this is meat sauce and not seafood, serve with grated cheese.

 

 

Eggs Two Ways

Eggs Two Ways – I hope you weren’t expecting scrambled and fried.

Eggs in Purgatory

Eggs in Purgatory

This one is fairly simple.  Start with left-over tomato sauce, the thicker the better. Pre-heat the over to 400 degrees. Heat the sauce in a frying pan large enough to hold as many eggs as you want to cook.  Use the back of a spoon to make indentations in the sauce and break the eggs into the indentations.  10-12 minutes in the oven and it’s done. Sprinkle a little cheese and serve.

20150831_150915


Potato and Egg Frittata

RECIPESd 9-25-14

A classic meatless Friday lunch. It’s good with a little ketchup.

Potato

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet on medium-high and add the thickly sliced potatoes, salt and black pepper. After they cook for about 8-10 minutes add the onion. After the onion softens, with the edge of a metal spatula, chop and blend the potatoes and onions making an even mixture. Cook until the potatoes are tender and what you have looks like home fries.

In the meantime beat the eggs with the milk, parsley and salt and black pepper. Add the egg mixture to the pan, mix thoroughly with the potatoes and onions then spread it out to an even layer. Lower the heat and allow it to set for about 5 minutes. The top of the mixture will still be wet so place the pan under the broiler for a few minutes, watching closely so it doesn’t burn. Remove it when the top is lightly browned.

The omelet can be served in the pan, hot or at room temperature. Slice as you would a pie.