Sausage and Chicken with Vinegar Peppers

March 19, 2021 robiulo 2 Comments

Sausage and Chicken with Vinegar Peppers

I wish this dish had an interesting name. If I said, “Ma, what’s for dinner.” She’d say, “Sausage and chicken with vinegar peppers,” so that’s what I call it.

Ingredients:

Olive oil for frying
½ lb. Italian sausage (about 3) cut into pieces
½ lb. skinless/boneless chicken thighs (about 3) cut into pieces
2 Idaho potatoes cut into half inch half moons
1 onion cut into wedges
1 cup of sliced vinegar peppers (sweet or hot)
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup liquid from the pepper jar
½ teaspoon thyme
Salt and black pepper to taste.

Bring chicken and sausage to room temperature and season the chicken with salt and black pepper. Fry the meat in olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until browned. Don’t crowd the pan or the meat with steam instead of brown. Remove and set aside. Fry the potatoes using more oil if necessary. Season, remove from the pan when almost done and set aside.

Fry meat and potatoes in batches so they brown and don’t steam.

Fry the onions and when they start to brown, add the peppers. Add a half cup of water and deglaze the pan. Return the potatoes and then the sausage and chicken on top. Pour in the vinegar and pepper liquid, sprinkle on the thyme and cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.

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Seafood, Vegetarian

Barramundi

March 10, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Barramundi

Barramundi is a flakey white fish with a thin easily editable skin. It’s a new-to-the-market type of sea bass from the South Pacific and our imports come mainly from Australia.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter
1 minced clove of garlic
Salt & black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp. olive oil
Barramundi fillet

Melt the butter in a small pan on medium heat. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Sauté for a few minutes and then add the lemon juice. Stir, remove from heat and set aside. (This combination of ingredients works for lots of different types of fish. )

Blot the fillet dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Cook the filet skin side down for 3 minutes to crisp the skin.. Turn it over and cook the other side for 2 minutes.

Place the fish in a serving dish, pour the sauce over it and serve.

Regina Biscotti

March 2, 2021 robiulo 5 Comments

Regina Biscotti

Biscotti and coffee are one of my favorite breakfasts. And Reginas are my favorite biscotti. Their name means Queen’s Cookies. This was my Aunt Vicky’s recipe except for the lemon zest. That was my idea.

Ingredients:

9 oz. all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp. salt
4 oz. olive oil
3 eggs (separate yolks & whites)
1 tbsp. honey
2 oz. milk
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1 cup sesame seeds

Start by mixing the flour, sugar, salt, and oil in a bowl. Add the beaten egg yolks, honey, milk, and zest and mix with your hands until dough forms. You can do this part with a food processor. Roll it into a ball, wrap with Saran, and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until they start to darken. Immediately remove them from the hot pan and put aside on a plate.

Beat the 3 egg whites and 3 tablespoons of water in a bowl.

Cut the dough ball into 4 sections and roll each section into a 1-inch-wide log. Cut the log into 1 to 1 ½ inch sections. You should get 5 or 6 pieces from each log.

Dip each piece in the egg white–water mixture. Roll them in the sesame seeds, covering all sides. Arrange them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned.

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Seafood, Vegetarian

Shrimp Étouffée

February 26, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Shrimp Étouffée

Different families have different Étouffée recipes. I got this one from a friend with a Louisiana connection. Ideally, it would have been made with crawfish but they’re not so easy to get on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Shrimp is a good substitute.

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons butter
2 cups Cajun trinity
3 minced garlic cloves
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp. Panola or Tobassco hot sauce or to taste
2 tbsp. Cajun spice mix
Salt and black pepper
1 lb. shrimp, cleaned and shelled
2 scallions, green part chopped

Heat the butter in a large pan and add the trinity. Cook until it’s softens and then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the flour, mix and cook for a few minutes then add the tomato paste. Stir and cook for a minute.

Stir in the stock and 1 cup of water. Cook on medium until reduced by half. Now add the hot sauce, bay leaf, Cajun spice mix, salt, and black pepper. Raise heat and continue cooking until the sauce thickens.

Add the shrimp, reduce heat, and stir and coat with the sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the shrimp turn pink. Sprinkle the scallions on top and serve with rice.

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Pasta, Vegetarian

Sautéed Tomato Sauce

February 16, 2021 robiulo 2 Comments

Sautéed Tomato Sauce

When most people think of tomato sauce they think ‘simmering.’ For this recipe you start by sautéing the tomatoes. This gives them a rich hearty flavor and it’s ready to eat in about a half an hour.

Ingredients:

½ cup olive oil divided
Salt, black, and red pepper
10 – 12 plum tomatoes
2 minced garlic cloves
¼ cup chopped basil
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 lb. short pasta (ziti, penne, rotelle, etc.)

Start a pot of salted water for the pasta.

Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a large frying pan and season it with salt, black and red pepper. Cut the stem end off the tomatoes, cut them in half lengthwise and place then cut side down in the pan. Cook on medium-high heat until they begin to soften and color. Depending on their ripeness and thickness they might take 8 – 12 minutes.

Season the top side and then turn them and cook for another 8 – 12 minutes. Start cooking the pasta in the boiling water.

The tomatoes should be soft now so add the minced garlic, basil, and parsley and the remaining ¼ cup of oil.

Add some of the pasta water to the sauce, blend and deglaze the pan. A ½ cup might be enough but add more if needed to get a saucy consistency.

When the pasta is almost al dente add it to the sauce and mix to finish cooking. Serve with grated Parmigiana.

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Drinks

Chartreuse

February 9, 2021 robiulo 2 Comments

Chartreuse is a liqueur with a history. The New York Times just did an article on it.

An Elixir from the French Alps, Frozen in Time

Only two monks know the full recipe for Chartreuse, and even in the pandemic they stuck to their Middle Ages motto: “The cross is steady while the world turns.”

By Marion Renault

GRENOBLE, France — When the world went into lockdowns this year, the monks of Chartreuse simply added another tick to their 900-year record of self-imposed isolation . . .

For the complete article click here.

Chartreuse comes in two strengths. Green – 110 proof and Yellow – 86 proof.

I like it straight . . .

. . . or with some Cognac floated on top.

More of Chartreuses’ history at their website.

“The Order of Chartreuse was more than 500 years old when, in 1605, at a Chartreuse monastery in Vauvert, a small suburb of Paris, the monks received a gift from Duc Francois Hannibal d’ Estrées, Marshal of King’s Henri IV artillery . . . “

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Desserts, Drinks

Pomegranates

February 5, 2021 robiulo 2 Comments

Pomegranates

A friend unexpectedly stopped by for dinner. I took him shopping with me to get something to cook when he noticed pomegranates at the grocery store. He mentioned that he’d seen them before but never tried one.

I said, “What? How could you live in New York and never have had a pomegranate? Let’s get a couple and I’ll show you how good they are.”

How to cut and remove the seeds –

Cut the skin around the top and remove it.

Make 5 shallow cuts along the sides and pull apart into sections.

Break up the seeds into a bowl.

Fill the bowl with water so the membrane floats and can be removed.

Ready to eat.

Pomegranate Juice –

On the street in Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi Coast.

Put the seeds in a blender with 2 or 3 tablespoons of water and blend for a few minutes.

Strain the mixture, squeezing the seeds in a sieve.

Ready to drink.

Pomegranate Liqueur –

After we’d made my Aunt Lena’s Coffee Sport and it turned out so well, Bridget and I got adventurous and decided to try making pomegranate liqueur. I went to the nearest Korean grocer. In NY, Korean grocer means general merchandise and very fresh and varied fruit and vegetables. I picked out 12 pomegranates and went to the cashier. As I started to unload them from the basket to the counter, a couple got on line behind me.

When they saw what I was buying the woman asked, “What could you possibly do with all of those pomegranates?”

Her husband looked embarrassed and so did she. “I apologize. Those words just fell out of my mouth.”

“There’s no need to apologize. And since you asked, my wife and I make some old Italian cordial recipes and this is for one we one we made up.”

The cashier who knew I shopped there regularly said, “These are very expensive. And you’re buying so many.”

“Maybe but that will turn into a bottle of something that will be worth it.”

The woman who apologized asked, “Why can’t you just use bottled pomegranate juice?”

Maybe I looked a little indignant when I said, “Bottled juice just won’t be a good as fresh. We squeeze the juice, strain, then simmer it until it’s thickened a bit. Then we mix it with simple syrup and grain alcohol, and it’s done. That’s it, a simple cordial and ready to drink.”

Here’s the recipe for Pomegranate Liqueur as well as Coffee Sport.

The Myth of Persephone

Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds

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Soup

Buffalo, Beans and Greens Soup

January 29, 2021 robiulo 2 Comments

Buffalo, Beans and Greens Soup

A friend recently drove cross-country from Portland to New York. She told me about a diner she stopped at in Wyoming expecting to order a burger deluxe or a BLT. Her waitress suggested their specialty, something they called Buffalo, Beans and Greens, Soup. She tried it and liked it enough to get the recipe. If you can’t get buffalo/bison, it would work with ground beef too. You can substitute spinach or mustard greens for the collards.

Ingredients:

Olive oil for browning
Salt and black pepper
1 diced parsnip
1 diced carrot
1 diced onion
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 minced garlic cloves
½ tsp. red pepper flakes (or to taste)
Salt and Pepper to taste
12 oz. ground buffalo
1 qt. chicken stock
1 – 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch collard greens
½ cup chopped parsley

Heat some oil, salt and black pepper in a pot, brown the meat and remove it. Add the onion, carrot and parsnip to the pot and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. While that’s cooking, wash the collards, discard the thicker stems and chop the leaves into bite sized pieces.

When the vegetables are done add the tomato paste, garlic, and red pepper. Mix thoroughly and then return the browned meat to the pot.

Add the stock and beans and simmer for 25 minutes. If you want a thicker soup, mash some of the beans and vegetables with the back of a spoon. If you want it thinner, add some stock or water

Check for seasoning and add the greens and cover. Cook for 10-15 minutes until greens are soft.

The greens will fill the pot when you first put them in, but they’ll wilt in a few minutes.Just before serving stir in the chopped parsley. Serve with hot sauce.

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Miscellaneous

Pompeii Food Stand

January 20, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

The ruins of Pompeii with Vesuvius in the background.

New discoveries are still being made at Pompeii. There was an article in Colossal about a Pompeii food stand that was recently uncovered.

Archaeologists Have Uncovered an Impeccably Preserved Food Stand in Pompeii

by GRACE EBERT

“Mallard to go, anyone? Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient thermopolium—aka the Roman equivalent of a street food vendor—at the Regio V site in Pompeii. The well-preserved stand is decorated with multiple frescoes featuring a nereid (nymphs of Greek mythology) riding a sea horse, tall jars with two-handles that commonly were used for storage, and some of the formerly available fare, like mallards and chickens. A rendering of a muscular dog adorns another side of the stand with the insult, “Nicia cineadecacator,” scribed nearby. Various food-based remnants were found, as well, including duck bones, fava beans, wine, and a paella-style dish of pork, goat, bird, fish, and snail, alongside cooking dishes, flasks, and storage vessels.”

For the full article click here.

I was in Pompeii last year. This is a picture I took of a wine shop.

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Poultry

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken and Chickpeas

January 15, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken and Chickpeas

After everything is chopped and cut, just put it in the slow cooker and forget it for a few hours.

Ingredients:

2 – 16 oz. cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed
1 – 15 oz. can of plumb or cherry tomatoes drained
1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium red onion chopped
½ cup golden raisins
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. sweet paprika
½ tsp. cayenne (optional)
4 or 5 boneless/skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 in. pieces
2 tbsp. creamy peanut butter

Place ingredients 1 to 5 into the slow cooker. Mix ingredients 6 to 10 in a bowl, pour into slow cooker and mix well. Place chicken in an even layer on top.

Turn slow cooker on low, cover and cook for 6 hours. Add the peanut butter, mix well and serve with rice or couscous.

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