Category Archives: Sides

Sides, Vegetarian

Arugula with Garlic and Oil

May 1, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Arugula with Garlic and Oil

Here’s another easy recipe. This one’s for a side dish. Arugula with garlic and oil is just three ingredients plus salt and pepper. Precise measurements don’t matter much for this one. Arugula is also known as rocket and is similar to spinach and collard greens which you can also make this way.

Ingredients:

Arugula –as much as you like
2 sliced cloves of garlic – more if you like garlic
Olive oil – enough to coat the greens
Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer on a low flame for about 5 minutes to infuse the oil with garlic flavor. Don’t brown it. Add the arugula, a ½ cup of water, and toss it until it wilts.

Arugula with Garlic and Oil

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Baked Potatoes

December 13, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Baked Potatoes

I got another potato recipe from Tommy the bartender. This one is for baked potatoes. Everybody knows how to bake a potato, right? Well, according to Tommy, if you take a little more care and a few extra steps you can make a really exceptional baked potato.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. salt (more for serving)
4 russet potatoes
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Brine – 2 tablespoons salt dissolved in ½ cup of water.

Pre-heat the over to 400^o.

Put the potatoes in a bowl and toss to coat thoroughly with the brine.

Instead of poking holes in the skin, cut a long X across the top of the potato about ¼ in deep. Place the potatoes on a rack in a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour 45 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and cut the X a little deeper – about another ½ inch. Coat the skins with the oil and put the potatoes back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Break them open by pushing in the ends and serve them simply with salt and butter or any way you like.

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Fondant Potatoes

November 22, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Fondant Potatoes

I got this recipe from a bartender in an Irish pub in Manhattan. He was a chef in Ireland. He said some cooks add garlic and rosemary to the recipe but he preferred it “plain” and that’s the way I made it. Fondant potatoes go well with any kind of roast meat – beef, chicken, lamb, etc.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 russet potatoes
salt & black pepper
4 tbsps. vegetable oil
4 tbsps. butter
Rosemary sprigs (optional)
Garlic (optional)
1 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 450° F.

Cut the rounded ends off the potatoes so they’ll stand upright. Slice the skin off the sides with a sharp knife, leaving ridges. Then cut them in half leaving 2 cylinders about 2 inches high.

Soak in cold water for 5 minutes to remove some of the surface starch and dry them well. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in an oven proof skillet. Add the potatoes flat side down and cook until the bottoms are brown. Turn the potatoes to the other flat side and pour off the oil (careful – that oil is hot).

Bring the pan back to medium heat and add the butter. (If you’re using garlic and rosemary, add it now.) Leave it on the burner until the butter starts to brown. Pour in the chicken stock and place the pan in the oven. Roast until tender, about 30 minutes, let them cool a bit and serve.

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Biscuits and Gravy

November 1, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Biscuits and Gravy

I may be a native New Yorker but I’ve always loved Southern food. I got this recipe in the New York Daily News. Even if you don’t want the sausage gravy, it’s still a great biscuit recipe.

For the Biscuits –

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups flour
2 tbsps. baking powder
1 tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
4 ozs. butter
1 cup buttermilk
Melted butter

Pre-heat the oven to 425^o.

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Grate in the butter into the bowl and blend. Add the buttermilk and stir until it comes together like a rough dough. Sprinkle some flour on your counter and knead the dough by folding it in half a few times. No need to over do it.

Roll out the dough into a one-inch layer. Use a biscuit cutter (I use a glass) to cut 2 to 3 inch diameter biscuits. You should get about 12. Put the cut outs on a buttered baking sheet. Brush the tops of each with melted butter and bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

For the Gravy –

Ingredients:

2 tbsps. oil
1 lb. pork breakfast meat (or remove sausage casings)
4 tbsps. butter
½ cup flour
3 – 4 cups chicken broth or stock.
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and black pepper (easy on the salt if the broth is salty)

Brown the sausage meat in the oil in a frying pan. Remove the meat leaving the oil and some brown bits. At medium heat, add the butter and when it melts and stops foaming quickly stir in the flour. Don’t let it brown. This is a light-colored gravy.

Raise the heat and whisk in the chicken broth. When it thickens and becomes smooth, return the cooked sausage meat to the pan. Simmer for 20 minutes. Heat the cream, add it to the pan and mix. Taste for seasoning. Serve it hot, spooned over the split biscuits.

The biscuits are pretty good with butter and preserves too.

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Scallion Pancakes

September 13, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Scallion Pancakes

There’s not much to say about scallion pancakes. It’s just 4 ingredients, there’re pretty easy to make and the result is delicious.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped scallions
Vegetable oil for brushing & frying

Mix the flour and salt with one cup of hot water. Do it in a bowl or use a food processor. Knead it briefly on a floured surface. Cover it with Saran Wrap and let it rest for an hour.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a thin 8-10-inch round. Brush each round with oil and scatter with scallions. Roll up each round into a tight cylinder, then coil each cylinder around like a bun. Slightly flatten each bun, then roll each into a round pancake about 5-6 inches in diameter.

Heat oil in a pan on medium. Fry the pancakes, turning, until lightly browned – about a minute or so per side, adding more oil as needed.

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Zucchini Lasagna

August 9, 2019 robiulo 2 Comments

Zucchini Lasagna

No, it’s not really lasagna but that’s what my mother called it. I wasn’t too crazy about vegetables when I was a kid so she thought she’d make it sound more appetizing – zucchini lasagna.. I didn’t like it very much then but I love it now. It’s a good side dish, especially with pasta and not bad on a sandwich.

Pre-heat the oven to 350^o.

Slice the zucchini diagonally, season with salt and black pepper, and dredge in flour. Lightly fry it in the oil, drain on paper towels and let it cool.

Coat the bottom of a baking dish (we used a 12-inch oval) with some tomato sauce and add a layer of fried zucchini.Add some more sauce, dot it with ricotta and then a sprinkle of parmigiana.

Repeat for 2 more layers but for the top layer don’t put any ricotta – just sauce, parmigiana and sprinkle the breadcrumbs. Bake for 25 minutes. Finish under the broiler for 5 minutes, until the parmigiana and breadcrumbs form a crust.

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A Simple Italian Salad

April 12, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Ravello on the Amalfi Coast

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.

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.

Add the Romaine and arugula, toss and serve.

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Olives and Oranges

February 26, 2019 robiulo Leave a comment

Adapted from Diana Kochilas – My Greek Table

Olives and Oranges is a tasty and simple dish to prepare. It works as an hors d’oeuvre, appetizer, brochette or side dish.

Keep the peel on the orange and cut into wedges. Cut each wedge into small triangular slices, about 1/8-inch thick.

In a heavy flat skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the olives and orange wedges to the pan and stir and combine. Add the garlic. Continue to shake the pan back and forth to gently stir the contents for about 5 minutes, until the olives are warmed through, the garlic soft and shiny, and the orange slices slightly wilted.

Stir in the oregano, transfer to a bowl and serve warm.

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Goetta – a Cincinnati Breakfast

September 7, 2018 robiulo Leave a comment

Goetta – a Cincinnati Breakfast

If you’re from the Cincinnati area you’ll know what this is and if not, you should try it. Goetta (ged-da, silent o, pronounce like feta) is a hearty breakfast side made of oats and meat that’s fried and goes great with eggs. It’s of German origin and I can’t think of anything to compare it to, so taste it and form your own opinion. It may not be Italian but it’s certainly cucina povera in that it started out as a tasty way of preparing a hearty breakfast when there isn’t enough meat to go around.

A couple of points to remember: (1) you must use steel cut oats, not rolled or instant and (2) some people use ground beef with the pork sausage and others use ground pork, it’s up to you.

Add oats, salt, pepper, and bay leaf to the boiling water. Return to a boil, lower heat, stir and simmer until the oats are cooked and thick (1 to 1 ½ hours), stirring occasionally.

Fry the onion in oil until soft and transparent. Remove the sausage skins and discard. Add the sausage meat, chopped meat, and garlic, seasoning with salt and pepper. When it’s done, set aside the meat-onion mixture.

When the oats thicken, remove the bay leaf and add the meat-onion mixture and blend thoroughly. Cook for another ½ hour. If it’s thick enough for the spoon to stand up in, it’s done. If not, continue cooking. If it’s too dry, add a little water.

Let it cool a bit and then pour it into a greased baking pan. It doesn’t matter if the pan is too big too big. Spread it to about a ½ inch thick layer. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Turn the pan over and cut the goetta into serving sized pieces. I got 12 out of this recipe. Fry and serve as a side with eggs or anything else you’d like. You can freeze any left-over pieces but wrap them separately so they don’t stick together.

And it’s not just for breakfast.

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Potato Croquettes

August 24, 2018 robiulo Leave a comment

Potato Croquettes

This is the first time I’ve ever made potato croquettes. They were pretty tasty but it wasn’t easy. Mashing the potatoes was hard work and breading and frying the croquettes was time-consuming and sloppy. Maybe it gets better with practice but the next time I want potato croquettes, I think I’ll just go to a Sicilian-run pizzeria and buy them.

Boil the potatoes in their skins for 30 to 40 minutes. Drain them and let cool 15 minutes then peel. Mash the potatoes and let them come to room temperature uncovered so they dry out.

Add 2 eggs, the Parmigiano, 5 tbsps. flour and parsley. Taste and season with the salt and pepper. Use an ice cream scoop or a spoon and take some of the potato mixture and form it into a small canoe-shaped roll.

Roll the croquettes in the flour and shake off excess. Then dip the beaten egg. Drip off excess and then roll in the breadcrumbs. Let the breaded croquettes rest 20 minutes before frying.

Heat oil until a bit of the potato dropped into it sizzles. Fry the croquettes turning until they are evenly golden browned on all sides. This should make about 20 to 25 croquettes.

Drain and serve warm.

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Arugula with Garlic and Oil

Ingredients:

Arugula –as much as you like

2 sliced cloves of garlic – more if you like garlic

Olive oil – enough to coat the greens

Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer on a low flame for about 5 minutes to infuse the oil with garlic flavor. Don’t brown it. Add the arugula, a ½ cup of water, and toss it until it wilts.

Baked Potatoes

I got another potato recipe from Tommy the bartender. This one is for baked potatoes. Everybody knows how to bake a potato, right? Well, according to Tommy, if you take a little more care and a few extra steps you can make a really exceptional baked potato.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. salt (more for serving)

4 russet potatoes

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Brine – 2 tablespoons salt dissolved in ½ cup of water.

Pre-heat the over to 400o.

Put the potatoes in a bowl and toss to coat thoroughly with the brine.

Instead of poking holes in the skin, cut a long X across the top of the potato about ¼ in deep. Place the potatoes on a rack in a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour 45 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and cut the X a little deeper – about another ½ inch. Coat the skins with the oil and put the potatoes back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Break them open by pushing in the ends and serve them simply with salt and butter or any way you like.

Fondant Potatoes

I got this recipe from a bartender in an Irish pub in Manhattan. He was a chef in Ireland. He said some cooks add garlic and rosemary to the recipe but he preferred it “plain” and that’s the way I made it. Fondant potatoes go well with any kind of roast meat – beef, chicken, lamb, etc.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 russet potatoes

salt & black pepper

4 tbsps. vegetable oil

4 tbsps. butter

Rosemary sprigs (optional)

Garlic (optional)

1 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 450° F.

Cut the rounded ends off the potatoes so they’ll stand upright. Slice the skin off the sides with a sharp knife, leaving ridges. Then cut them in half leaving 2 cylinders about 2 inches high.

Soak in cold water for 5 minutes to remove some of the surface starch and dry them well. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in an oven proof skillet. Add the potatoes flat side down and cook until the bottoms are brown. Turn the potatoes to the other flat side and pour off the oil (careful – that oil is hot).

Bring the pan back to medium heat and add the butter. (If you’re using garlic and rosemary, add it now.) Leave it on the burner until the butter starts to brown. Pour in the chicken stock and place the pan in the oven. Roast until tender, about 30 minutes, let them cool a bit and serve.

Biscuits and Gravy

I may be a native New Yorker but I’ve always loved Southern food. I got this recipe in the New York Daily News. Even if you don’t want the sausage gravy, it’s still a great biscuit recipe.

For the Biscuits –

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups flour

2 tbsps. baking powder

1 tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt

4 ozs. butter

1 cup buttermilk

Melted butter

Pre-heat the oven to 425o.

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Grate in the butter into the bowl and blend. Add the buttermilk and stir until it comes together like a rough dough. Sprinkle some flour on your counter and knead the dough by folding it in half a few times. No need to over do it.

Roll out the dough into a one-inch layer. Use a biscuit cutter (I use a glass) to cut 2 to 3 inch diameter biscuits. You should get about 12. Put the cut outs on a buttered baking sheet. Brush the tops of each with melted butter and bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

For the Gravy –

Ingredients:

2 tbsps. oil

1 lb. pork breakfast meat (or remove sausage casings)

4 tbsps. butter

½ cup flour

3 – 4 cups chicken broth or stock.

½ cup heavy cream

Salt and black pepper (easy on the salt if the broth is salty)

Brown the sausage meat in the oil in a frying pan. Remove the meat leaving the oil and some brown bits. At medium heat, add the butter and when it melts and stops foaming quickly stir in the flour. Don’t let it brown. This is a light-colored gravy.

Raise the heat and whisk in the chicken broth. When it thickens and becomes smooth, return the cooked sausage meat to the pan. Simmer for 20 minutes. Heat the cream, add it to the pan and mix. Taste for seasoning. Serve it hot, spooned over the split biscuits.

Scallion Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 cup chopped scallions

Vegetable oil for brushing & frying

Mix the flour and salt with one cup of hot water. Do it in a bowl or use a food processor. Knead it briefly on a floured surface. Cover it with Saran Wrap and let it rest for an hour.

Heat oil in a pan on medium. Fry the pancakes, turning, until lightly browned – about a minute or so per side, adding more oil as needed.

Zucchini Lasagna

Pre-heat the oven to 350o.

Slice the zucchini diagonally, season with salt and black pepper, and dredge in flour. Lightly fry it in the oil, drain on paper towels and let it cool.

Coat the bottom of a baking dish (we used a 12-inch oval) with some tomato sauce and add a layer of fried zucchini.Add some more sauce, dot it with ricotta and then a sprinkle of parmigiana.

Repeat for 2 more layers but for the top layer don’t put any ricotta – just sauce, parmigiana and sprinkle the breadcrumbs. Bake for 25 minutes. Finish under the broiler for 5 minutes, until the parmigiana and breadcrumbs form a crust.

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.

Ingredients:

1 orange

Salt and black pepper

Olive oil

Red wine vinegar

Balsamic vinegar

Pre-heat the over to 400^o.

Pre-heat the oven to 425^o.

Pre-heat the oven to 350^o.