Polpette alla Calabrese

Polpette alla Calabrese

My grandmother Nicolina was from Salerno but her husband was Calabrese so this is how she made meatballs.

Polpette alla Calabrese

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb. mix of ground pork, veal and beef chuck
  • 1 clove of garlic finely minced
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup of plain breadcrumbs
  • 1/3 cup of grated Parmigiana cheese
  • 2 tbs. of olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper
  • A handful of chopped Italian parsley
  • 5 tbsp. tomato sauce

Polpette alla Calabrese

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. It’s easier to mix the 3 meats first and then add the other ingredients. You can really only do it with your hands. Shape the mix into small balls (I use an ice cream scoop to get them the same size) and let them rest for 15 – 20 minutes.  Polpette alla CalabreseFry them in a good amount of olive oil over medium heat in a heavy pan. Keep rolling them to brown on all sides. Drain and serve with tomato sauce. They’re very good plain too.Polpette alla Calabrese

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A Simple Italian Salad

Ravello on the Amalfi Coast

 

A Simple Italian Salad.

A Simple Italian Salad

Try to stick to these simple ingredients. Don’t be tempted to add so-called “Italian” seasoning or garlic. This is a fresh tasting salad, and either of those would muddy the flavors.

A Simple Italian Salad.

Ingredients:
  • 1 orange
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Arugula
Start by peeling and sectioning the orange. Use a blood orange if you can get one. Cut each section into 2 or 3 pieces. It’s easier if you use a scissor. Place the sections in the salad bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the oil and the 2 kinds of vinegar. A good ratio is 2 parts oil and 1 part vinegar. Use a mix of ½ red wine vinegar and ½ balsamic. Let the oranges macerate for 20-30 minutes to flavor the dressing.

A Simple Italian Salad.

Add the Romaine and arugula, toss and serve.

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Wild Chickens

wild chickens

Wild Chickens

The Italian Farmer Returning Chickens to the Wild

His chestnut forest is home to thousands of hens.
by Vittoria Traverso
Chickens as we know them are a human invention. The most common chicken species, Gallus gallus domesticus, owes its existence to the domestication of four species of wild jungle fowls, a group of colorful birds that once roamed the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. As early as 10,000 years ago, people began to keep these jungle-roaming creatures for everything from egg-laying to bird-fighting. Today, poultry is the second most common type of meat around the world after pork. But most contemporary chickens no longer enjoy the freedom of their distant cousins . . .

Wild Chickens

The complete article – here

wild chickens

 

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Michele’s Breaded Deep Fried Gamberetto

Michele’s Breaded Deep Fried Gamberetto

Michele was the chef at my Uncle Charlie’s restaurant, The Fisherman’s Wharf. This was one of my favorites.

Michele’s Breaded Deep Fried Gamberetto


Michele’s Breaded Deep Fried Gamberetto

Michele’s Breaded Deep Fried Gamberetto

Michele’s Breaded Deep Fried Gamberetto

Rinse the shrimp and blot them dry. Season with salt and pepper. Beat the egg with about two tablespoons of the milk. Dip the shrimp into the egg wash and drip off any excess. Coat with the breadcrumbs and place on a rack for 30 minutes.

Michele’s Breaded Deep Fried Gamberetto

Heat the oil to 375o. If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a few breadcrumbs in the oil, and if it sizzles, it’s hot enough. Deep fry until golden.

Micheles Breaded Deep Fried Gamberetto

Serve with lemon wedges and Heinz Chili Sauce on the side.

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USDA Watercolors

USDA Watercolors

From Gastro Obscura

Between 1886 and 1942, the USDA’s Division of Pomology commissioned thousands of watercolor paintings. These beautiful illustrations helped establish a national register of plants and fruits that documented new varieties and issue research findings to growers and breeders throughout the country.

USDA Watercolors

Why the USDA Hired Artists to Paint Thousands of Fruits

by ROHINI CHAKI
As a child in the mid-19th century, Deborah Griscom Passmore would clamber onto the wide stone windowsill of her ancestral home in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and paint watercolors of flowers and fruit using the juices from her subjects. Little did she know that one day she would be leading the project to create one of the most beautiful botanical archives in existence. . .

Complete article and pictures hereUSDA Watercolors

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Red Wine Pasta

Decanter on Amazon

Red Wine Pasta

This one is adapted from David Tanis, New York Times – City Kitchen. Don’t use a very expensive wine for this but one at least good enough to drink. You can use Chianti, Merlot or Pinot Noir.
Red Wine Pasta
Red Wine Pasta
Put on a pot of salted water to boil. Add a cup of the wine and lower the heat.

Red Wine Pasta

Sauté the pancetta in the oil. Remove it when it browns. Then add the onion, salt and pepper. Fry the onion until its softened. Add the garlic and tomato paste – stir and coat the onion. Then the bay leaf and the rest of the bottle of wine. Raise the heat and let it reduce – about 10 minutes.
Red Wine Pasta
Bring the pasta water back to a boil and cook the pasta until almost done. Reserve a cup of pasta water and drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir as it absorbs it. Add some pasta water if the sauce is too thick.
Stir in the browned pancetta, the butter, parsley and Parmigiana. Check for seasoning. Serve with more grated Parmigiana.

Red Wine Pasta

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Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins and Onions

 

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins, and Onions

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins, and Onions  – An interesting combination of flavors – with kind of a sweet and sour finish.

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins, and Onions
Boil the onions in salted water for about 5 minutes. Remove and place them in a bowl. Fry the pancetta in a pot until it browns. Remove and place it in a separate bowl.   
Add the boiled onions to same pot with the pancetta fat and cook until they begin to brown. Add garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Transfer onions and garlic to bowl with pancetta.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add the chicken to pot starting skin side down and cook, turning, until browned. Transfer to bowl with onions.

Pour off the fat from pot and return to medium-high heat. Add both vinegars to the pot and bring to a boil and deglaze. Add broth, raisins, bay leaves, browned chicken thighs, pancetta, onions, and garlic to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until chicken is fork-tender, 25 – 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken and onions to a platter.  Continue cooking the sauce for another few minutes so it reduces. Spoon the sauce over chicken and onions and serve with pasta or rice.

Chicken with Vinegar, Raisins, and Onions

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Happy Saint Joseph’s Day – 2019

Happy Saint Joseph’s Day – 2019

HAPPY SAINT JOSEPH'S DAY - 2019
Sfingi and Zeppole
HAPPY SAINT JOSEPH'S DAY - 2019
Pasta con Sarde
Saint Joseph is highly regarded by Italians and we celebrate his feast day on March 19th. Like a lot of other Italian celebrations, his feast day centers on food. A standard is the Saint Joseph’s pastry – zeppole and sfingi – made by Italian bakeries in March. Another is Pasta con Sarde, with a sauce made from saffron, fennel and fresh sardines. 

HAPPY SAINT JOSEPH'S DAY - 2019

 

Food for Saint Joseph’s Day – 

In New Orleans –

A Saint Joseph’s Altar – 

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Saint Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick's Day
There’s a popular sit-com called The Big Bang Theory. One of the characters, Raj, can’t talk to a woman unless he’s had a drink. His drink of choice, of all things, is a Grasshopper. I’ve heard of them but never had one, so I thought I’d try it.
It’s a simple three-ingredient cocktail –

Saint Patrick's Day

You put all the ingredients together, shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. You get a pretty green drink that I suppose is the same color as a grasshopper. It’s a pretty cocktail for Saint Patrick’s Day.

Saint Patrick's Day

It’s great for a sit-com but I’ll probably never have one again. It tasted just like a Peppermint Patty.

Saint Patrick's Day

FYI – If you replace the crème de menthe with brandy, you have a Brandy Alexander (much better).

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Kristina’s Filet with Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Kristina’s Filet with Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Kristina's Filet with Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Kristina’s Filet with Seasoned Breadcrumbs – My daughter came up with this one. It was so good we added it to our Christmas Eve seafood menu.
Ingredients:

Kristina's Filet with Seasoned Breadcrumbs

  1. 1 chopped garlic clove
  2. 2 tbsp olive oil
  3. ½ cup plain fine bread crumbs
  4. 1 tbsp lemon zest
  5. 1 tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley

    Kristina's Filet with Seasoned Breadcrumbs
  1. Salt and black pepper
  2. 2 large filets – grey or dover sole, or flounder
Kristina's Filet with Seasoned Breadcrumbs
Mix the first 5 ingredients. Blot the filets dry, season with salt and black pepper and place in an oiled roasting pan. Cook in 350o oven for 12 minutes. Remove and cover with the breadcrumbs and a drizzle of olive oil.
Return to oven for 5 minutes and then under broiler for 3 minutes – just enough to brown the crumbs.Kristina's Filet with Seasoned Breadcrumbs

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Reveries and Recipes