To my mind, risotto is not a dish unto itself but a palate awaiting whatever flavors and textures a cook cares to bring it. This unusual combination, loosely based on a recipe from the UK’s Good Food Channel, highlights the way that ingredients meld in a risotto yielding unexpected harmony. Do not be afraid of the anchovies. In this dish they are not even identifiable as fish but rather bring a touch of umami that enhances the whole. In place of radish greens you can use any spicy leaves such as arugula or mustard greens. And you can use any flavorful stock you have on hand—I used duck stock. Yes, I know, as does anyone who watches Chopped on the Food Network: Italians never use cheese and fish in the same dish. Well, I’m not Italian.
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Ingredients |
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3 cups |
750 milliliters |
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Olive oil |
1 tablespoon |
15 milliliters |
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Onion, 1 medium, chopped |
4 ounces |
100 grams |
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Garlic, 3 cloves, minced |
½ ounce |
16 grams |
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Dry vermouth or white wine |
¼ cup |
75 milliliters |
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Anchovies in oil, about five |
1 ounce |
28 grams |
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Arborio rice |
1 cup |
270 grams |
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Radish greens, coarsely chopped |
1 cup |
50 grams |
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Butter |
1 tablespoon |
15 grams |
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Parmesan, grated |
¼ cup |
30 grams |
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Salt and freshly ground pepper |
to taste |
to taste |
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Truffle oil (optional) |
a few drops |
a few drops |
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Caper, rinsed and drained |
1 tablespoon |
15 milliliters |
Bring the stock to a boil then reduce heat and maintain at a simmer while preparing the risotto.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft and translucent but not browned, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Add the anchovies to the pan and cook for a minute then add the rice. Stir to coat the grains with oil and fry for about 2 minutes or until they lose their chalky appearance. Add the vermouth and deglaze the bottom of the pan.
Ladle in about one quarter cup of stock and stir until the rice has nearly absorbed it. Add more stock a couple ounces at a time, stirring until nearly absorbed before the next addition. After having added about two cups of the stock begin checking the rice for doneness after each addition. It is done when the grains have lost their crunch but still retain a bit of “tooth.”
When the rice is nearly done, add the greens and cook for a couple minutes, stirring, until wilted. Fold in the butter and Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and black pepper then stir in the truffle oil if using. Stir in the capers and serve immediately.
The origins of this popular Italian-American dish are somewhat hazy. Some claim that it is an adaptation of the eggplant preparation known as Parmiciana di Milinciani in Sicily or Parmiciana di Melanzane in Campania, the region around Naples. Meaning literally Shutters of Eggplant the name refers to the way the slices of eggplant are overlapped. The alternate name, Melanzane Parmigiana, literally Eggplant in the Style of Parma, a city in the north of Italy, is said to be so called because it incorporates Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The problem with this explanation is that the breading and pan frying of chicken or veal cutlets is more typical of the Alpine regions than of southern Italy, the Austrian Wienerschnitzel being a good example. Meat preparation similar to schnitzel is typical of Bologna, the capital of the region that includes Parma, so it seems likely that Chicken Parmigiania really refers to a Bolognese dish. This version, which I adapted from FoodNetwork.com, is a hybrid of the two with the chicken cutlets being prepared in the Bolognese style but finished with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese in the Neapolitan manner. I think it is appropriate to call it authentically American.
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Ingredients |
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Olive oil |
as needed, see Method |
as needed, see Method |
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Onion, chopped (1 small) |
4 ounces |
125 grams |
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Garlic cloves, chopped |
2 |
2 |
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Bay leaves |
2 |
2 |
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Black olives, pitted and chopped (about eight) |
1 ounce |
30 grams |
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Canned diced tomatoes (1 can) |
28 ounces |
794 grams |
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Dry red wine |
½ cup |
125 milliliters |
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Basil leaves, dried |
1 teaspoon |
5 milliliters |
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Thyme leaves, dried |
1 teaspoon |
5 milliliters |
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Oregano leaves, dried |
1 teaspoon |
5 milliliters |
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Salt and pepper |
to taste |
to taste |
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Sugar |
½ teaspoon |
2½ milliliters |
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Chicken breast, boneless and skinless |
12 ounces |
340 grams |
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Flour |
¼ cup |
30 grams |
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Eggs |
1 large |
1 large |
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Water |
½ cup |
125 milliliters |
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Dried bread crumbs |
½ cup |
60 grams |
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Mozzarella, shredded |
4 ounces |
115 grams |
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Parmesan, grated |
2 tablespoons |
30 milliliters |
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Extra virgin olive oil |
as needed, see Method |
as needed, see Method |
Film a saucepan with olive oil and place over medium heat. Sweat the onions, garlic, and bay leaves until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the olives, tomatoes, and herbs then season with salt pepper, and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
Preheat oven to 35F (180°C). Place the chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap and, with a meat mallet, pound to an even ½-inch (1 cm) thickness. Put the flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Beat the egg and water until frothy and pour into a shallow bowl. Finally spread the bread crumbs onto a plate.
Pour ⅛ inch (3 mm) of olive oil into a skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly dredge the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, coat with the bread crumbs. Place in the hot skillet and fry for about 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty.
Ladle a thin layer of tomato sauce into a lightly oiled baking dish and arrange the chicken onto top. Cover with more of the tomato sauce, the mozzarella, and the parmesan. Drizzle with a bit of the extra virgin olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is browned and bubbly. Serve hot over pasta or polenta.
Every culture, I suspect, has some version of pot beans flavored with greens and perhaps a bit of meat. I adapted this version, very loosely, from one posted at the Web site Back Road Journal. It is one of many for Minestra di Scarola e Fagioli or Zuppa di Scarola e Faglioli, a cannellini bean and escarole soup from the Campania region of Italy around Naples. Since I had neither cannellini beans nor escarole I used dried kidney beans and some mustard greens from Sunny Hill Farms. For flavoring I added some homemade bacon and a hot pepper from my garden. You could, of course, use canned beans, store-bought bacon, and any greens that strike your fancy.
Note: the mustard greens I had were quite mild so I added some mustard seed. Taste yours and decide whether or not to follow suit. Some mustard greens can be quite spicy.
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Ingredients |
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8 ounces |
250 grams |
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Water |
4 cups |
1 liter |
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Mustard greens, 6 to 8 leaves |
2 ounces |
60 grams |
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Olive oil |
1 tablespoon |
15 ml |
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Bacon or pancetta, finely diced |
2 ounces |
60 grams |
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Mustard seed (optional) |
½ teaspoon |
2½ ml |
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Onion, thinly sliced (1 small) |
3 ounces |
95 grams |
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Garlic, sliced |
4 cloves |
4 cloves |
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Hot pepper, fresh or dried (optional) |
to taste |
to taste |
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Dry vermouth |
2 tablespoons |
30 ml |
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Chicken stock as needed |
about 1 cup |
about 250 ml |
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Oregano leaves |
1 tablespoon |
15 ml |
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Bay leaf |
1 |
1 |
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Pecorino Romano or Parmesan |
1 ounce (⅓ cup) |
30 grams |
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Extra virgin olive oil to serve |
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Rinse the beans and pick out any small stones or other debris. Place in pressure cooker with the water and cook at high pressure (15 psi, 103 kPa) for 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then open according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Remove the tough lower stems from the mustard greens and cut them into ½-inch (1 cm) strips. Rinse thoroughly and dry.
In a Dutch oven or other large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté the bacon or pancetta until it is crispy and has rendered its fat. Remove, leaving behind as much fat as possible, and set aside.
Lower the heat to medium and sauté the onion, garlic, and mustard seeds if using. When the onions are soft softened but not colored add the mustard leaves and sauté until wilted and bright green.
Deglaze the pot with the vermouth then add the beans and their cooking liquid. Add chicken stock to just cover the beans. Stir in the bacon, oregano, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered, stirring from time to time. Most of the liquid should have evaporated. Be careful that the beans do not burn. Stir in the cheese and serve immediately with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
A couple of weeks ago, on September 5, I published blog post on the benefits of cooking by weight rather than by volume. By coincidence, the New York Times published a similar article just over a week later that included recommendations of inexpensive digital kitchen scales. I assume that by now you, my loyal readers, have seen the light and rushed out to procure such a scale. (Mine is a Slater that I bought for under $30 several years ago. I have seen it online for as little as $16.) Now I would like to demonstrate the further benefit of adopting the metric system in your cooking. (You will not be alone if you make the switch, every country except the US, Liberia, and Myanmar uses the metric system. Ironically, the metric system has been legal for trade in the US since 1866.) Many cookbooks today list both English and metric units. The digital scale you bought can be converted by the press of a button and nearly all measuring cups sold in the US are calibrated in both systems. To convert this recipe from the traditional one in the cookbook that came with my KitchenAid® mixer I simply measured ingredients out the usual way but weighed them before addition. You can also find a useful tool for converting units online at traditionaloven.com.
Yield: one 14-inch pizza crust, enough to serve four
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in the mixer bowl, if using the mixer, or in a large bowl otherwise. Measure out 350 grams of the flour. Add about ¼ of it to the bowl along with the olive oil and salt. Stir with a large spoon to combine.
If using the mixer fit the dough hook and start to knead on the recommended speed setting (2 on a KitchenAid®). Add the flour a bit at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If making by hand, stir the flour in a bit at a time until you can no longer stir the dough, then turn it out onto a floured counter and knead well between additions of flour. Continue until most of the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes. Form into to a ball.
Warm a large glass or ceramic bowl with hot water and dry thoroughly. Pour a bit of olive oil into in it and add the dough, turning to coat it evenly with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm, draft-free place to proof until doubled in bulk, about one hour.
If using a peel, place your pizza stone in the oven. Preheat to 450°F (230°C). Lightly coat a pizza pan or a peel with cornmeal. On a floured counter, stretch or roll (or toss if you are brave) the dough into the desired size pizza crust. Place in the pan or on the peel. Top with your favorite sauce and toppings. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until brown and crispy.
What we commonly refer to a simply pesto is more properly called pesto alla Genovese, after the Ligurian port of Genoa where it is said to have originated. As with most traditional preparations each cook has a unique version that is purportedly the only authentic one. I make no such claim; I just offer than my particularly garlicky pesto is very good and worthy of a try.
Yield about 1 cup
Put the peeled garlic into a food processor and chop finely. Add the basil leaves and pulse to mince. Turn on the food processor and pour the olive oil in slowly until a paste forms. Scrape down the sides and pulse. Add the parmesan, pignoli, and salt. Pulse to combine then taste and correct salt if needed.
Notes:
1) If you do not have pignoli or prefer not to use them, walnuts or almonds are good substitutes, or you can just leave them out altogether.
2) Since you can make pesto for a small fraction of what it cost to buy, make a lot and freeze it. Lightly oil an ice cube tray, freeze the pesto in it, then store the cubes in a plastic freezer bag.
The combination of scallions and beef is rather common in some South Asian cuisine but in the West scallions rarely have a starring role. Here I have sought to give these lovely little onions their chance to shine by using only a bit of beef as a flavoring. The rich homemade brown stock obviates the need for much further seasoning beyond salt and pepper. I finish the South Asian twist by serving the rice with Indian-inspired cucumbers in yoghurt.
Put the beef into a small bowl and add the Thai seasoning sauce or soy sauce. Stir to combine and set aside.
Line a strainer with cheesecloth, set over a bowl, and add the yoghurt. Peel, seed, and shred the cucumber then place it in a colander and sprinkle generously with salt. (Don’t worry; you will be rinsing it off later.) Let both sit for at least a half hour to give up their moisture. Rinse the cucumber well, squeeze out the extra water with your hands or a towel. Put the yoghurt into a bowl and add the cucumber, curry powder, garam masala, and cinnamon. Mix well to combine. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator.
Finely chop the white parts of the scallions and separately cut the green parts crosswise into ½‑inch thick pieces. Bring the stock to a simmer. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan set over medium-high heat and brown the meat well. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Adjust the oil in the pan and sauté the onion until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the rice and fry, stirring constantly, until chalky, about 3 minutes. Stir 1 cup of the stock into the rice. Reduce the heat until the rice is simmering gently. Stir constantly until the liquid is nearly absorbed. Continue to add stock, 2 ounces at a time, stirring until nearly absorbed. After you have added 2 cups of stock taste the rice. It should offer just a bit of resistance to the tooth. If it is too hard continue to add stock until it is done. If it is ready fold in the beef and the scallion greens then another 2 ounces of stocks. Stir of a minute to warm the meat through and just wilt the scallions. Mix in the butter if using. Serve hot with a large dollop of the cucumber sauce.
The secret to great eggplant parmesan is a great tomato sauce. And a great tomato sauce starts with a great trito, the Italian version of the French mire poix or the Spanish soffritto. Because I was making a meatless sauce I elaborated the trito somewhat to intensify the flavors—and to use up some odds and ends. This recipe calls for canned tomatoes because fresh local Romas are not yet available but if you can get fresh by all means use them. There will be lots of extra sauce for other Italian dished. Freeze whatever you will not use within a couple of days.
Trim the ends off of the eggplant and square two opposite sides. Cut into slices about ⅜ to ½ inch thick. Wrap and set it aside.
Coarsely chop the side pieces you cut from the eggplant, onions, carrot, celery, garlic, and pepper. Put into a food processor, in batches if need be, and reduce to a mince.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat then add the minced vegetables. Stir in ½ teaspoon of salt. Cover and sweat gently for 10 minutes or until soft but not colored. Add the herbs, recover, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine, water, and bay leaf, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for an hour.
Fish out the bay leaf and discard. Using a stick blender puree the sauce thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If you do not have a stick blender, let the sauce cool a bit, then puree in batches in the food processor.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Brush the eggplant slices lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. (Be sparing with the oil because eggplant is a like a sponge and can easily become greasy.) Heat a grill pan or skillet over medium high heat and, working in batches, brown the eggplant nicely on each side adding a bit of olive oil to the pan as needed. Set aside.
Cover the bottom of an 8” x 10” x 2” metal or ceramic baking dish with a thin layer of the sauce and sprinkle with a bit of parmesan cheese. Layer the eggplant overlapping the slices. Cover with more sauce, parmesan cheese, and the shredded. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes or until just bubbling. Turn on the broiler and finish until nicely browned. Allow to set for at least five minutes before serving.
Fortunately by the time temperatures rise into the upper 90s in July fresh local produce has started to fill the farmers’ markets and to emerge from the garden. Add some cannellini beans and you have a wonderful cool salad perfect for dinner on a steamy evening. I made the beans from dried in my pressure cooker but canned ones would be fine too. And you could use zucchini in place of the summer squash. While romaine lettuce is traditional, I used red leaf because that is what was available fresh at the market. Enjoy with a cool glass of white wine.
Rinse the beans and pick over for any small stones or discolored beans. Put in the pressure cooker with 4 cups of water. Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes or as directed in the instructions that came with your unit. When done, drain and set aside.
Combine ¼ cup of olive oil with the lemon juice and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Gently stir into the still-warm beans and set aside to cool. The beans are best at room temperature.
Trim the ends off of the squash and slice lengthwise between ⅛ and ¼ inch thick. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill to very hot. Cook the squash for a couple minutes, turning to create nice grill marks, until just softened. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Mix a bit of olive oil and wine vinegar in a bowl and lightly dress the lettuce leaves. Slice the tomato ¼-inch thick.
Arrange the lettuce leaves, squash, and tomato on individual plates or on a serving platter in a pleasing patter. Add the beans to the center of the dish. Garnish with the chopped scallions and dust with the parmesan cheese. Serve at room temperature.
The Internet is a wonderful resource for cooks but it is not without its pitfalls. Search for a classic dish and you will find dozens of recipes most using different ingredients and techniques. But read through enough of these and usually a pattern will emerge. Take this classic fish dish from the Tuscan port of Livorno. Some recipes have you fry the fish, some do not; some bake the dish, others not; some have potatoes, some not. What is consistent, however, is that all contain tomatoes, olives, and capers. Some recipes use the tomatoes chopped up while others use a tomato sauce. I chose the latter because I happened to have some marinara sauce in the refrigerator. Another feature of the dish is that it usually contains a fair bit of olive oil. While some call for the oil to be poured over the fish I opted to blanch potatoes in it to reduce the baking time and minimize the chance that the fish would dry out. Caution: do not be tempted to top this dish with Parmesan; Italians never use cheese with fish.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Heat the oil in a large skillet until a potato slice dropped into it immediately sizzles. Add the potatoes one slice at a time in one layer. Fry for about 3 or 4 minutes, turning once, until they are lightly browned but not crisp. Remove to a colander to drain and cool. Repeat until all the potatoes are done.
Put the onions into the hot oil and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and squeeze out as much oil as you can. Set aside.
When they are cool enough to handle, arrange half of the potato slices on the bottom of a small baking dish, overlapping them. Spread the onions over the potatoes. Place the fish in a single layer over the onions and distribute the anchovies on top of it. Sprinkle the olives and capers over the dish then cover with the rest of the potato slices. Season with salt and pepper. Finally, pour over the marinara sauce to cover.
Bake in the hot oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until a thermometer stuck into the fish reads 140°. Garnish with the shredded basil leaves and serve immediately.
There is a show on the Food Network called Chopped on which chefs are presented with a basket of disparate ingredients and challenged to prepare a dish using all of them within a set time. The results are put before panel of judges and the least successful chef is “chopped”—sent home. Every few days my refrigerator begins to resemble those baskets as various odds and ends accumulate and need to be used up. Tonight I opened it and found: two thin eye round steaks, half a can of tomatoes, half a can of tomato paste, and a partial container of beef stock. Fortunately, unlike on the Food Network, there was no gotcha ingredient from left field. If I had the patience this could be the makings of good bracciole but I decided instead to just make a sauce, cook the steaks in it, and serve with polenta and broccoli. Simple, and now I have some room in the refrigerator.
Put the steaks into a small bowl and pour on the vinegar coat each piece well. Set aside to marinate while you make the sauce.
Prepare a soffrito by chopping the one half of the onion, the carrot, and garlic. Do not worry about making them perfect since you will puree the sauce before using. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and sweat the soffrito until softened by not browned, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, herbs, and red pepper. Cook for a minute or two then add the tomato paste, stock, and wine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the cover, raise the heat, and reduce for 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Slice the remaining half onion and the bell pepper. Remove the steaks from the vinegar and pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Set a cast iron skillet over high heat. When it starts to smoke add a bit of olive oil and sear the steaks for 2 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium and cook the onion and pepper until soft. Return the meat to the skillet and pour over the sauce. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
