Bistecca Fiorentina

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Peter Bocchieri

It sounds great! And is one of the best steaks you will ever experience. The truth is, the only place you can have authentic Bistecca Fiorentina is in Florence, Italy.  Sad but true. Oh, you can make something similar here. The ingredients are simple. Salt, pepper and the one ingredient that is hard to come by…Chianina Beef. You are not going to find this beef in your neighborhood grocery store or butcher. Chianina Beef is a large white oxen type cattle that originated in Italy. It dates back as far as the Roman Empire.  This cattle is from the provinces of Arezzo and Siena in the region of Tuscany. And that is where it is raised till this day. The beef is tender and marbled and like so many great Italian dishes, it is prepared quite simply as to bring out the full flavor of the main ingredient.

So, why am I posting Bistecca Fiorentina if I can’t make the real thing. Well, I’m posting it more for the story that comes with the  Bistecca Fiorentina experience I had while visiting Florence. And I’ll give you the authentic  recipe.

No where else in Italy can you get a good steak but in Florence. They are known for their Bistecca Fiorentina. Back in the late 70’s when I was married I was visiting my wife’s family in Calabria. On the way down to the tip of the boot we stopped in Rome and visited her Uncle Ferdinando and his family. After spending a few days with the family and touring Rome we took a train to Florence and Zio Ferdinando decided to accompany us.

When we arrived in Florence we decided to go get something to eat. I knew I wanted to try their specialty, Bistecca Fiorentina. We choose a modest restaurant in the middle of the city and took our places at the table. I told Zio Ferdinando what I had in mind and he agreed that the Bistecca Fiorentina was something special and we should try it.  What I didn’t know was what I was going to get with my steak dinner… a first hand look at “Italian Theatre”.

The waiter came over to our table and took our order. We all ordered Bistecca Fiorentina. The waiter was happy with the order and went back into the kitchen and placed it. Now, Zio Ferdinando, like many Italians, are not big beef eaters. If you don’t live near Florence the beef in the rest of Italy is nothing to write home about. It’s actually quite terrible if you can find it anywhere. As soon as the waiter came out of the kitchen, which was only seconds later, Zio Ferdinando called him over and said he had changed his mind and would prefer a plate of cheese and olives with some bread for his meal. The waiter clutched his order pad with both of his hands and brought them up to his chest as he hesitated and stood there frozen. Zio Ferdinando asked him if something was wrong, if there was a problem. The waiter, being the salesman that he was said, ” no problem Signore, I’ll tell the chef”.

Zio Ferdinando looked at my wife and me and gestured with his hands, “If there is a problem I’ll have the steak”.  Moments later I could hear the two men talking behind the closed swinging doors that led to the kitchen. The voices grew louder and in an instant I heard pots and pans banging to the ground. The level of their conversation grew louder to the point of yelling the way only two Italian men can yell at each other. We all looked at each other and wondered what had we started. The next thing I knew, the chef stormed out from behind the double swinging doors and ripped off his apron and threw it to the ground as he screamed and yelled at the poor waiter, still in the kitchen, and went storming out of the restaurant. The chef passed our table and did not even look our way, he just stormed out of the front door.

Zio Ferdinando immediately started shouting something to the waiter that was now coming out of the kitchen with his hands to his head as if he was pulling out his hair. You have to understand that all this conversation was going on in Italian and they were speaking so fast that I couldn’t understand a thing they were saying. I turned towards my wife Gisella to translate all this for me because I couldn’t believe what was happening.

The waiter started to explain to Zio Ferdinando that the chef had just QUIT. That he was very upset because he started preparing the Bistecca Fiorentina and had already butchered the meat. Zio Ferdinano explained to the waiter that he was not a big beef eater and that he would have preferred a plate of olives and cheese with some bread. But if he had known that this  would happen he would have stuck with the Bistecca Fiorentina. As a matter of fact he would have two Bistecca Fiorentina if that would make the chef happy. “Sure, sure I’ll have the Bitecca Fiorentina”, said Zio Ferdinando, “go tell that maniac out there to calm down”!

All this time, as my wife Gisella was translating this for me, I was hysterical. I looked outside the front door and saw the chef out there smoking a cigarette and still yelling  towards the restaurant and flailing his arms in all directions. It was like an opera.

The waiter said that he would go outside and try and calm the chef down. Sort of a “good cop, bad cop” ploy, I thought. The waiter went outside and both men were still yelling at each other. After the waiter got a word in edgewise the chef looked like he calmed down a bit. He waived his hands a few more times, threw his cigarette to the ground and came back into the restaurant. He stormed right past us, still not giving us even a glance, as he muttered unintelligible Italian words under his breath. As he passed, Zio Ferdinando made a few comments as he raised his hands in the air. The chef picked up his apron and tied it back on as he walked back into the kitchen.

This was Italian theatre at its finest. You could never get away with this in the States. But we were not in America. We were in Italy. And the Italian attitude and culture is not like anywhere else.

The Bistecca Fiorentna was absolutely delicious. Well worth the price of admission.

To prepare this dish the traditional way you have to cook the steak on a hot wood charcoal fire with the flames burned down and just a coating of white ash over the coals. The steaks themselves are a Porterhouse cut of beef about 2″ thick. They should be brought to room temperature before cooking.

Place the steaks over the hot coals about 4 inches above the coals. They should cook about 5 minuets on each side for medium rare. After you turn them, never with a fork or anything that might pierce the steak, salt and pepper the cooked side of the meat and leave on the fire for another 5 minutes.

When you take the steaks off the fire salt and pepper the other side and allow to rest for a few minutes. Serve the steak with a plain side salad dressed with some olive oil and vinegar, salt and pepper.

Some recipes call for a coating of olive oil after the steak is cooked and served with some lemon. No, No, No. If you are having the authentic Bistecca Fiorentina you don’t need to flavor the beef with anything but salt and pepper…it’s that good.

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Chick Pea Meatballs – Polpette di Ceci

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Peter Bocchieri

 

I have been cooking since I was 10 years old. Always loved it. Never even gave it a second thought.  I guess you could say I was a natural, whatever that is. When I see people toil over the idea of cooking or say they can’t cook I never understood that. I started with simple things like breakfast. Watched my mother scramble eggs a hundred times. And one day, I just did it myself. I knew how she made French Toast so when I wanted French Toast I made it myself. Same with pancakes, bacon, sausage, poached egg.  It got to the point when we got up for breakfast and my mother asked my brother and sister and I what we wanted for breakfast, they would put in their orders and I would tell her I’d rather make it myself. I think in the beginning my mother felt insulted that I didn’t want her to make my breakfast, or she thought how novel it was that her youngest would rather do it himself. I enjoyed doing it and liked the way I made it better. My brother and sister couldn’t care less as long as they were served a hot meal and my mother cooked it for them.

I guess cooking comes natural for some people. While others look at it as some form of domestic entrapment. Some people do it very well while others are better off making reservations for dinner.

My brother-in-law Arthur comes to mind as one of those people that should never get close to a pot or stove…for every one’s health and welfare. My sister Annette learned to cook after she got married. I remember for weeks, prior to her wedding with Arthur, running around the kitchen with a note pad and pencil copying down as much as she could watching and questioning my mother and grandmother while they cooked. She had a lifetime to learn this, but took a “crash course” two weeks before her marriage. If she didn’t, no one would have eaten in her house. Which brings me back to Arthur.

I’ll never forget this one summer when my boys and I were spending a week down the Shore with my sister and her family. I had free room and board there because I did all the cooking. That’s the least I could do for a fun filled week down the Jersey Shore. But one afternoon Arthur decided to barbecue some cheese burgers for the kids. I let him. That was a mistake. Arthur has three Masters degrees in I’m not sure what….but he has three master’s degrees. He is not a stupid person. I would call him quite intelligent. So tackling a “manly” duty like a back yard BBQ should be a piece of cake.

My son Michael comes over to me after biting into his cheese burger and spitting it out on the ground. “Dad!”, he said, “there is something wrong with these cheeseburgers”. I looked at him and took the cheeseburger from my sons plate and opened up the bun and looked inside. “STOP EATING THE CHEESE BURGERS!!!!!!”, I yelled. The kids must have thought I was nuts. I was running around the back yard pulling cheese burgers from every one’s mouth. Arthur stood there with the spatula in his hands puzzled by my tirade. “Arthur!”, I said, “didn’t you take the plastic wrap off of the Kraft Singles before you placed them onto the burgers???!!!?????”. Arthur looked at me in puzzelment and said, “The cheese slices have plastic on them?”

Till this day my son Michael has a phobia of plastic wrapped cheese slices. I guess Arthur never made cheese burgers before. Or never handled a Kraft Single. But it didn’t end there.

The next thing Arthur attempted to grill was chicken tenders. Not breasts, tenders. Those little strips of chicken breasts. Now he knew he was going to grill the chicken. Why did he buy chicken tenders?? Do you know how hard it is to negotiate those little thin strips of chicken on the grill? Now, if I was cooking them I would have placed the tenders perpendicular to the grill grates. The space in the grates were a hair narrower than the chicken tenders he bought. They fit on the grate fine when he put them on, but as they cooked and shrunk they started falling into the coals. No, Arthur placed the chicken tenders in line with the grates on the grill and they were dropping like flies into the hot coals. I watched in amusement as Arthur was trying to catch the little strips before they landed in hell. I watched and waited till Arthur looked at me and in total subjugation and defeat said, “Pete, can you give me a hand here”. I’m loosing them all!”

I knew I should have not left Arthur in charge of cooking. I really let my guard down. But deep down I knew this was going to be an amusing afternoon. I didn’t know it could get deadly. After that afternoon I told Arthur he should stick to picking out good crumb cake at the corner bakery and leave the cooking to me. He gladly obliged.

I’m not a vegetarian by the wildest stretch of the imagination. But these meatless meatballs satisfies the best of us carnivores. Served with some lemon wedges and a side tomato salad, they make for a good light supper.

 

Chick Pea Meatballs – Polpette di Ceci

  • 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1 carrot,peeled
  • 1 red or green bell pepper, seeded
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 3 eggs
  • 1  1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • vegetable oil for frying

Makes about 15-16 meatballs

In a food processor pulse the chick peas till they are ground up. Place in a bowl.  Add the zucchini, carrot, bell pepper, garlic and onion to the processor and pulse till the vegetable are ground into small pieces.

In a medium frying pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute the vegetables till soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add the cooked vegetables to the bowl of chick peas along with 1 beaten egg.  Mix well.  If the mixture is too loose add some plain breadcrumbs.

Beat the other two eggs in a small bowl. Place the bread crumbs into another bowl.

Form the vegetable and chick pea mixture into little meat balls about the size of a  golf ball.  Dip the chick pea meatballs in the beaten eggs with the help of a fork or spoon and then coat them with the bread crumbs, gently forming into a ball.  Place the meatballs on a platter and allow to dry for about 15 minutes before frying.

Heat about 2 inches of canola oil in a heavy pot to about 350 degrees.  Place about two or three meatballs onto a large slotted spoon and ease them into the hot oil. Fry the meatballs in batches until golden. Drain them on a plate with paper towels.

Serve warm with some lemon wedges and sliced tomatoes. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and a sprinkle of oregano and salt and pepper.

Joseph’s Gourmet review: “Tasty!”

Posted in Antipasto, vegetable | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lasagna

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

Lasagna is as well known an Italian dish as spaghetti and meatballs. There are many different ways to make lasagna. In southern Italy lasagna is made with a rich ragu meat sauce either of pork or beef and ricotta cheese. In northern Italy they make lasagna with a Bechamel sauce. Each region has its own version of lasagna. Some people put hard boiled eggs in their lasagna, others add tiny meatballs.

In Sicily, where my family comes from, there is a version of lasagna that hails from my father’s town of Ragusa. There they mix all the ingredients of  a rich tomato sauce loaded with pork and pig skin, ricotta,  and caciocavallo cheese in a large pot with the lasagna noodles. Everything is mixed together before they layer it in a large roasting pan. Laying down the first layer they cover it with more sauce and cheese, then lay down the second layer topping it with additional sauce and cheese. Then they bake it.

My version has the same ingredients but I build my lasagna the classic way with the noodles, ricotta, sauce and more noodles. Either way, it all taste good! As my son Joseph says, it all gets mixed up in the end.

My family always made lasagna for special occasions or holiday dinners. This was not a dish we expected on a Wednesday evening, unless it was leftovers. Lasagna would even accompany our Thanksgiving dinner. Like the turkey with everything else was not enough food. Christmas dinners, baptisms, communion parties, important company, all warranted lasagna as a first course dish. We would mix it up every now and again with some manicotti, they both were held in high regard as a proper first course. I guess if the Pope ever came to visit we would have both lasagna AND manicotti.

 

Lasagna

  • 1 box of lasagna noodles
  • 1 pound of Italian sausage, casing removed
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2   28ounce cans of San Marzano peeled tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
  • 7-8 fresh basil leaves chopped
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1  15 ounce container of whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 1 pound of whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

My grandmother used pig skin in her tomato sauce which she cut into thin strips and added back to this sauce. I did not include this in the recipe. If you want the added flavor and richness of the pig skin you can add it to the sauce while cooking, then cut it into thin strips and incorporate it back to the sauce. 

Remove the casing from the sausage and brown in a large pot or dutch oven breaking up the sausage with your spoon into small pieces. 

Add the chopped onions and cook till onions get soft. Add the garlic and cook about two minutes.  Add the red wine and cook down for two minutes.

Puree the canned tomatoes and add to the pot with the sausage meat. Rinse each can with 1/4 cup of water. Add some water to  the tomato paste and stir well.  Add the tomato paste to the sauce. Stir in the basil and bay leaf.  Simmer on low flame uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for salt and pepper, keeping in mind that the sausage meat has plenty of salt and pepper.

In a large bowl beat together the ricotta, mozzarella cheese, Romano cheese, eggs, and parsley. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper. Set aside.

In a large pot bring about 5 -6 quarts of salted water to boil and cook the lasagna till tender stirring occasionally, about 8-9 minutes.

 

Drain the cooked lasagna and put back in the pot that you cooked it in. Add a laddle  or two of the cooked sauce to the lasagna noodles and mix well. This will keep the noodles from sticking together. Stir the noodles to help cool so you don’t burn your hands when you assemble the lasagna. Rinsing your hands with cold water helps.

You are now ready to assemble your lasagna.

In a 13×9″ baking dish pour a ladle of sauce covering the bottom. Remove and discard the bay leaf when you find it.

Place  4 or 5 lasagna noodles over the bottom, slightly overlapping. If the noodles don’t go all the way to the end of the pan place a couple of noodles in the opposite direction to fill that space.

 Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture over the lasagna and cover with a good layer  of the meat sauce. Repeat layers, noodles, cheese mixture, sauce.

 Cover the last layer with remaining noodles and sauce.  You should have three layers of noodles and two layers of the ricotta cheese. Sprinkle the top with plenty of Romano cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Place the baking dish over a cookie sheet in case the sauce bubbles over. Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

Posted in Pasta | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Red Wine Struffoli

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

My earliest memory of Santa Claus was when I was 4 years old. Yes, I met Santa. He came to my bedroom when I was sleeping and woke me from a sound sleep. Gave me a gift that I unwrapped, still half asleep, as my mother,father,brother and sister watched. It was a western shirt. I thought Santa brought toys to little boys and girls. Why did I get a cowboy shirt? After my mother gave Santa a glass of milk and a cookie he wished everyone a Merry Christmas  and with a Ho-Ho-Ho, he left. I went back to sleep, not quite sure about what just happened.

It wasn’t till many years later that I found out that Santa was my friend Anthony Merola’s father, Mr. Merola, or Joe, as my parents called him.   Joe Merola was that kind of guy. He would dress up as Santa and visit the children on the block and bring them presents that their parents set him up with. What a nice thing to do.

Joe Merola was also a musician. He played the trumpet. And every Christmas Eve  when I was older he would stop by my house and recruit me to go caroling. I would bundle up in my heavy coat, hat and gloves and join the merry gang of carolers.  He gave me a glockenspiel to play. A glockenspiel is like a xylophone, except the keys are made of metal instead of wood.  I knew how to play the piano, so the notes on the glockenspiel were easy to find. We were a group of about five or six, it varied year by year. Each of us played something, bells, tambourine, etc. Mr. Merola played the trumpet and I played the glockenspiel. We would go door to door and start singing. The occupants of the house would come out and were thrilled with the songs. Deck the Halls, Joy to the World, Noel, Jingle Bells, Hark the Herald Angels, were all part of or repertoire.  Some neighbors gave Joe a shot of spirits, kept his lips in tune. We would get hot chocolate, sometimes a shot of espresso….hey, it was 77 Street, Brooklyn.

We would go up one side of 77 Street and down the other, stopping at every house along the way.  All the houses were lit with Christmas lights and you could see the Christmas trees all lit up inside the homes. What a great way to help celebrate Christmas. All the neighbors would come out and clap at the end of the songs and that great feeling of the spirit of Christmas went through every fiber of my body. We always picked up a few more carolers along the way. Some years we had snow, which made it all the nicer. By the end of the night my hands and toes were freezing from being out in the cold, but I didn’t care. We were spreading peace and joy throughout our little part of the world.

At the end of the night we all wished each other a Merry Christmas and I went back into my house and down my basement where all my family was gathered around the table. My grandfather, father and uncles were playing cards at the table as they cracked roasted nuts and drank small glasses of wine. Some of those card games got very loud as the winner of the pot reached for the nickles and dimes.  In the kitchen my mother and grandmother were preparing the desserts and coffee along with my aunts. My cousins were roaming around the house with my brother and sister, trying to sneak a peek at the gifts that were under the tree upstairs in our front porch. We would wait until Christmas morning before we opened them.

Aunt Mary came out of the kitchen carrying a huge pot of coffee and my mother followed behind her with my aunt’s cassata cheese cake. I heard knocking on the basement window as more relatives and friends came to join us. Christmas Eve was a special time at my house that were filled with fond memories that will last a life time.

Struffoli was a traditional Neopolitan desert made for Christmas. Italians from Calabria and Sicily made these little honey balls but added red wine to the mixture which added another dimension of flavor to these honey cookies. They also shaped them a little different. Instead of the traditional little balls, the red wine struffoli was shaped like a gnocchi, like a little barrel.

 

 Red Wine Struffoli

  • 2  1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 /4 cup plus 2 tablespoon red wine like burgundy or chianti
  • vegetable oil for deep frying
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • nonpareils to sprinkle over the top

In a large bowl measure the flour and add the salt. Mix well. Add the the eggs and red wine and mix with a spoon until all the ingredients are incorporated. When it gets too hard to mixwith the spoon place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about ten minutes until smooth.

Cover the dough and let rest for 15 minutes.

Cut off a piece of dough and on a floured surface roll out to the thickness of your index finger. My index finger might be thicker than yours so lets say to about the size of a pretzel rod. Cut the rod into  1 inch pieces.

Roll the pieces of dough on the back of a fork to form ridges on the dough. Place the little barrels off to the side and use up the rest of the dough this way.

Place about two inches of vegetable oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, about 350 degrees, add the struffoli. Do not over crowd. Make them in batches.  They almost turn themselves when they are cooked.  

When they are golden brown on both sides remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels.

In a large frying pan or pot large enough to hold all the fried struffoli, add the honey, sugar, and water. Bring to a rolling boil. Be careful, the mixture will start to foam. Lower the heat if the foam starts to over flow.  When the foam subsides and the mixture is clear and amber remove from the heat.

 Add the fried struffoli to the honey mixture and mix well, covering all the struffoli with honey. Work quickly before the honey cools.

 Place the struffoli on a plate and mound into a pyramid. Sprinlke with nonpareils before they cool so they will stick. Allow to cool before serving.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Lox

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

Alright, I know what you’re thinking. What does Lox have to do with Italian comfort food. Absolutely nothing.  Unfortunately I didn’t even start eating lox until I was well into my 30’s. This was not something grandma put out with the provolone and olives.  But I’m proud to say that I’m an Italian that finds it very comforting to have a nice hot bagel spread with some Philadelphia cream cheese  layered with a few slices of that delicious fish over the top. I do put capers on it!  And every now and again a few slices of onion. Heck, I was introduced to lox by a Greek friend of mine. So there you have it. Ethnic food is ethnic food no matter where it comes from and for the most part it’s all good.  And the wonderful thing about living in New York is that we get the chance to enjoy all ethnic food traditions.When it comes to  enjoying good food there are no borders.

Lox can be very expensive to buy in the specialty stores so I decided to make it myself.  I’m all for saving money and eating good food. It’s ridiculously easy to do and will cost you half of what you pay in the specialty shops. This recipe is a traditional Nordic way of preparing salmon. They call it Gravlax. The salmon is coated with a spice mixture, which often includes dill, sugars, salt, and spices like juniper berry or cracked black peppercorns.  You can also add orange zest to the mixture. It is then weighted down to force the moisture from the fish and infuse the flavorings.

The end result is a whole half salmon fillet that cost me $12 at Shop Rite  transformed into a pound and a half of lox that can cost you up to $80 in the stores. Well worth the effort.

LOX (Gravlax)

  • 2 cups of kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest (optional)
  • 1 side of salmon fillet, skin on, pin bones removed.

 

Rinse the salmon fillet under cold water and pat dry.

Combine the salt, peppercorns, dill, sugar and zest in a medium size mixing bowl. Mix well. Lay a piece of plastic wrap twice the size of the salmon on your counter top. Cross another piece of the plastic wrap of the same size over the first piece and lay half way across horizontal.

Spoon about a cup of the salt mixture on top of the plastic wrap about the size of the fish.

Lay the fish skin side down over the salt mixture. Pour the remainder of the salt mixture on top of the fish making sure every exposed area of the fish is covered by the salt.

With the palm of your hands press the salt mixture into the fish.

Fold the two pieces of plastic wrap tightly around the fish, folding the ends in securely. Place the fish in a glass baking dish or flat cookie sheet. Top the salmon with another cookie sheet and place heavy cans or two clean wrapped bricks or a heavy cast iron pan on top of the baking pan to weight down the salmon. Refrigerate for 24 to 30 hours, depending upon the thickness of the fish.

Remove from the refrigerator and unwrap the salmon. Discard the wrap and scrape off the seasoning mixture. Rinse the salmon under cold water to remove the seasoning mixture. Pat dry.

To serve, remove 2 inches from the tail of he salmon. Slice the salmon, at an angle, into paper thin slices.  Welcome to lox heaven!

Posted in Seafood | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Pasta cui vroccoli arriminati – Pasta with Cauliflower

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

It’s amazing the things we remember growing up. Back in the 60’s I used to watch a TV show that featured the “Cool Ghoul”, Zacherley. Zacherley used to host programs that showed horror movies and back in the 60’s he hosted Chiller Theatre, among other shows including Hercules cartoons,  on WOR channel 9. He would broadcast from his crypt with a whole host of ghoulish characters including his wife, “My Dear”, who used to live in a coffin. Another was his son Gasport who hung formlessly from the wall in a burlap bag and moaned. I loved his shows. One memorable moment was when he was injecting some kind of serum into a “cauliflower brain” trying to awaken it. Believe it or not, it was during the posting of this blog for the recipe of Pasta with cauliflower that reminded me of that moment watching Zacherley. Go figure.

This is about as Sicilian a dish as you can get. Cauliflower grows abundantly in Sicily. And around my grandmother’s town of Catania they grow a purple variety that is native to that area. The volcanic soil around Mount Etna is rich in nutrients and the purple cauliflower is like nothing found anywhere else. Like most imigrants that came to this country they had to use the ingredients that were available to them. If you can’t get a hold of purple cauliflower the white variety will have to do.

Cauliflower does not have much flavor to it. The housewifes and chefs had a challange and with this dish produced something with amazing flavor. The sicilian cooks prepared this dish to use an inexpensive vegetable that was plentiful. As with many Italian dishes, each region makes this a little different. Some don’t use tomato paste, others add breadcrumbs to the finisned dish instead of cheese. Others bake the finished pasta with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs over the top. The key is to make sure the sauce is moist and gently stirred and cooked down.

This is the way I remember my grandmother making pasta cui vroccoli arriminati.  I would detect the aroma as soon as I entered her apartment to see what was cooking on a Sunday afternoon.

Pasta Cui Vroccoli Arriminati

  • 1 pound bucatini pasta
  • 1 large head of cauliflower
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts (pignoli)
  • 6 anchovy fillets
  • 1 pinch of saffron
  • 1 tablespoon tomatoe paste
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper

    •  

    Wash and cut up the cauliflower into small florets and boil in plenty of  salted water until soft. You will need enough water to cook the cauliflower, add to the sauce and cook the pasta. So fill up the pot. 

    In the meantime, over low heat sauté the chopped onion in olive oil until soft.

    Add the anchovies, raisins, tomato paste and the pine nuts, and two cups of the cauliflower water.

    Mix well and cook gently for about 10 minutes, breaking up the anchovies until they disolve into the sauce.

    When cooked, turn the heat up high and add the cauliflower to the sauce using a slotted spoon to remove the cauliflower from the water. Add another 2 cups of cauliflower water while slightly mashing the cauliflower, mixing it with the other ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste and leave to cook gently, making sure it doesn’t get too dry. If it does, add more cauliflower water. Add the saffron to the sauce and mix in thoroughly.

    Cook the pasta in the cauliflower water and drain when ready.

    Serve the cauliflower sauce on top of the pasta and sprinkle liberally with parmesan cheese.

    Posted in Pasta, vegetable | Tagged , | Leave a comment

    Sausage Tortellini Soup

    Posted on November 28, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

    This delicious soup recipe came to me courtesy of my niece Jeanette’s husband Barry. Barry is one of New York City’s Bravest. He used to make this soup for his crew at the fire house he worked at in Brooklyn. It’s quick to make and really sticks to your ribs. When you’re cooking for your fire company it needs to be quick because you never know when an alarm might be called in. You can adjust the heat to your likeness. I like the bite the red pepper flakes give to this soup. Barry likes it really hot, then again, this is a man that runs into burning buildings….ya gotta like it hot!

    Barry and Jeanette have four beautiful children and when they were much younger we used to share a house down the shore together with me and my two boys, my sister Annette and her husband Artie and my other niece Elaine with her four children. So we had 10 children between the ages of 2  and 14, and 6 adults spending a week down in Lavalette New Jersey in a three bedroom house by the beach. Did I say this was a vacation?  I didn’t really complain because the price was right. Actually I didn’t have to pay anything, my sister and Artie invited me and my boys down to spend the week with them. All I had to do was cook dinner every now and again, which I didn’t mind at all……and enjoy spending a week at a day care center.

    Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind being around children, after all, I raised two boys. But they were older now, around 10 and 14. I  was over and done with the diaper years and screaming years, the crying years,  the running around the house wild years and tantrum years. I was over that.  So when I was spending a week with the brood I really didn’t want to deal with any of that. At least not for any extended period of time. And let’s face it, while you’re at the beach you’re in wide open spaces so the acoustics of screaming children does not penetrate your brain as deeply. Every once in a while they would be drowned out by the seagulls and crashing waves. For the most part my nieces and their husbands would be running after the children along with my sister and Artie. So I was usually left alone to enjoy the beautiful summer days with my boys.

    Except for this one morning. I had just finished preparing breakfast for the “Brady Bunch”, we would eat in shifts because there was only so much room at the table.  My two sons were still asleep somewhere in the house, they must have found a quite spot because they were not awake. My sister Annette was cleaning up the breakfast dishes and my two neices were going through the process of getting the gaggle of children ready for the day.

    What a great opportunity to spend some quiet time alone on the beach!

    Without talking to anyone in fear of giving up my plan, I changed into my bathing suit and gathered my beach bag and blanket and slipped out of the house unnoticed. There it was before me, a beautiful stretch of beach with the sun rising over the horizon. Quiet and alone. The waters were calm and the lapping of the surf was gentle and relaxing. Ah…alone at last. I lied out my blanket and lay back facing the ocean with a rolled up towel propped under my head. The morning sun felt good on my face and I dug my toes into the cool morning sand. I could actually hear myself breathing.

    I must have dozed for a second or two, or so it seemed. Then I started to hear digging in the sand behind my head. For a moment I thought I was dreaming and then I realized there was someone behind me. I rolled over onto my stomach and looked up in front of me. There kneeling inches behind me was little Megan playing with her beach pail and shovel. I looked to the left, then looked to the right, then looked all around me. It was only Megan and I on the beach. What was she doing here? Where was my niece? I thought it was odd. ‘Megan” I asked, “what are you doing here alone? Where is your mother?” I naturally assumed that Megan had gotten out of the house and came to the beach alone. I immediately pick up my cell phone from my beach bag and called the house to tell my sister that one of the children escaped. And more importantly, send someone out here to watch her!!!!

    My sister Annette answered the phone. “Annette! Did you know Megan is on the beach alone??!!??” My sister didn’t seem too concerned and said she would be out here shortly. Before I hung up the phone Caitlyn was coming over the sand duns with her little beach tube, swimmies and pail heading right towards us. Wait a minute, I thought, what the heck is going on here. Behind Caitlyn was little Patrick and his sister Krista. One by one the house was unloading and all the children were marching straight for me and my blanket. 

    I called the house again. This time when my sister answered the phone she was laughing hysterical. “Hellooo”, she said. “What are all the kids doing here on the beach?” I asked, while Megan was walking all over my clean blanket with her sand filled feet.   “We’ll be there in a little while”, my sister giggled, ” It’s nice and quite here”.   Before I knew it I was hanging up the phone and running after Patrick who was making a bee line for the surf.

    This was wrong. This was very wrong.

    Sausage Tortellini Soup

    • 2 tablespoons of butter
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 onion
    • 1 clove garlic, chopped
    • 3 quarts of low sodium chicken stock
    • 2 scallions, chopped
    • 1/2  – 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, according to taste
    • 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 1 pound Italian sausage
    • 1 pound cheese tortellini

     

    In a large sauce pan add the sausage and fill with water just to cover the sausage. Prick each sausage in three places with a fork on each side.  Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, cooking the sausage for about five minutes to render out most of the fat. Drain the water from the pot and over medium heat add the olive oil to the sausage and brown on all sides. When browned, remove the sausage and cool.

    Cut the sausage into 1/4 inch slices and set aside.

    In a large soup pot melt butter and saute onions till soft. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

    Add the chicken stock and and bring to a simmer. Add the scallions, red pepper flakes, basil and bay leaves.

    While the soup is boiling add the sausage and tortellini, stir well and boil for 5 minutes or until tortellini is done.

    Posted in soup | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

    Stracciatella – Roman Egg Soup

    Posted on November 27, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

    Looking for something to eat on a cold winter weeknight that’s hot and quick and satisfying? Stracciatella is just the ticket. When I say quick you obviously don’t have to make it with fresh chicken stock, unless you already have some made in your freezer. Your favorite chicken broth or stock  in a box will do just as fine. This is considered a peasant dish. It is very simply made with simple ingredients.

    I remember my mother making this soup for us when we were kids. Instead of chicken broth my mother used  Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup mix. That’s when they had freeze dried pieces of chicken in it.  Mom had her short cuts as well. It was great for a quick lunch or a soup course at dinner time. She would make the soup according to the direction and then whisk the egg mixture into it. I loved it! It was her own touch to store bought soup.

    That’s not to say this soup is at its best if you use homemade chicken stock. But we are talking quick here. For those who would like to make their own chicken stock I have included the recipe. It only takes about 30 minutes prep time but you should simmer the stock for at least 5-6 hours. Once it’s made you can freeze it and use it for soups and other recipes.

     Add a side salad and some toasted garlic bread and the only other thing you will need are the tissues. I don’t know about you but eating hot soup makes my nose run.

     Stracciatella – Roman Egg Soup

    • 4 cups low sodium chicken broth  or stock
    • 3 eggs
    • 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
    • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
    • 1 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley
    • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

    Bring the broth to a boil.

     In a bowl, beat together the eggs, breadcrumbs and cheese. 

    Pour  a steady slow stream of the egg mixture into the boiling soup, blending well with a whisk as you pour it in. Return the soup to a boil as you  whisk and add the chopped parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.

    You are ready to serve.

    Chicken Stock

    • 4 pounds chicken carcasses, including necks and backs
    • 1 large onion, quartered
    • 4 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2
    • 4 ribs celery, cut in 1/2
    • 10 sprigs fresh thyme
    • 10 sprigs fresh parsley with stems
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 8 to 10 peppercorns
    • 2 whole cloves garlic, peeled
    • 2 gallons cold water

    Place chicken, vegetables, and herbs and spices in 12-quart stockpot.  I use a large pasta pot for this and place the ingredients in the strainer basket so when it’s done I just lift the strainer basket and all the solids are out of the pot. Then I just strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer. Pour the water into the pot. Cook on high heat until it begins to boil. Turn heat down to medium low so that the stock maintains a low, gentle simmer. Skim the scum from the stock with a spoon or fine mesh strainer every so often during cooking. Add hot water as needed to keep bones and vegetables submerged. Simmer uncovered for 5-6 hours.

    Lift the strainer basket out and discard the solids or strain stock through a fine mesh strainer into another large stockpot or heatproof container discarding the solids. Cool immediately in a sink full of ice water to below 40 degrees. Place in refrigerator overnight. Remove solidified fat from surface of liquid and store in container with lid in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or in freezer for up to 3 months. Prior to use, bring to boil for 2 minutes. Use as a base for soups and sauces

    Posted in soup | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

    Happy Thanksgiving – Chocolate Pecan Pie

    Posted on November 25, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

    If  Thanksgiving isn’t a food holiday I don’t know what is. And I’m sure everyone is going to have plenty of food on their table this Thanksgiving so you don’t need any more recipes from me today. But, just in case you do, I have this great little simple recipe for Chocolate Pecan Pie.

    I first made this pie over 20 years ago and brought it to one of my families Christmas Eve dinners. I’ve been asked to make it every year since. It has become one of my families favorite and most asked for pie, second to my apple pie.  The way my Aunt Mary was known for her Cassata cheese cake, I guess I’ll be known for this pie. For those of you who love pecan pie, the addition of chocolate to the pie filling makes this one a keeper. And it’s  a great addition to the desert table along with the pumpkin and apple pie for Thanksgiving.

    Before I begin the recipe I just wanted to take some time to wish all my readers a very Happy Thanksgiving.  This year as in the past I have plenty to be thankful for. Most of all, I’m thankful for my family, my faith, my health and my friends.  With a combination of those blessings there is really nothing else more you need in this world. Buon Appetito!

    Chocolate Pecan Pie

    • 3 eggs
    • 3/4 cup of sugar
    • 1 cup dark corn syrup
    • 2 ounces milk chocolate
    • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
    • 1 tablespoon melted butter
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1/4 cup of strong brewed coffee, cooled
    • pinch salt
    • 1 ready make pie shell or single crust pie, recipe to follow
    • 1  1/2 cups whole pecans

    Single 9″ crust pie recipe

    • 1 cup all purpose flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 cup Crisco shortening
    • ice water

    In a medium mixing bowl cut the shortening and salt into the flour by hand or with a pastry blender until it is the texture of cornmeal. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of ice water over the mixture and mix just until the dough is moistened. Repeat by adding 3-4 tablespoons of water, one at a time, until all the dough is just moist. Do not over mix. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator until ready to use.

    Melt both the chocolates with the butter over a double boiler or melt in the microwave oven.  To melt in the microwave, microwave  on high for 30 seconds and check. Put in for another 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate and butter are melted and combined. Set aside to slightly cool.

    In a large bowl beat the eggs and sugar together with the corn syrup. Add the melted butter and chocolate to the egg mixture along with the vanilla, coffee, and salt. Stir until smooth.

    On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place the rolled out pastry into your pie plate.  Trim off the edges to fit the plate and crimp the edges with your fingers to form the crust.

    Pour into your unbaked pie shell (ready made or home made)  and arrange pecans on top. Bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 and bake another 30 to 40 minutes or until puffed and set.

    Cool and serve at room temperature.

    Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

    Meatloaf Italian Style

    Posted on November 17, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

    My early memories of meatloaf go back to when I was a child and my mother was in the hospital for about a week. During that time my father was in charge of cooking and preparing dinner for us. And almost every night we had meatloaf. There wasn’t anything my father didn’t throw into his meatloaf. He mixed in spinach,  escarole, hard boiled eggs, pieces of left over chicken. What ever he had left over from a previous meal he would mix it into his meatloaf and serve it to us. It was terrible. He called it his surprise meatloaf. And each night when he served it I was scared to see what would come out of that hunk of beef while he was slicing it. Sort of like that episode of “Our Gang” when the Little Rascals were baking a cake with surprises in it. Only thing missing from the meatloaf was the hair brush and hot water bottle. But I could have sworn I heard that funny noise come out of the oven,  “EEEH- WHAAAA!” while the meatloaf was baking.

    My father was no chef by any stretch of the imagination. But he did what he had to do in order to feed himself and us kids. Now, my sister Annette was old enough to fix us supper, but that would have been a faith worse than death. I’m not exaggerating. And my older brother Richard? Let’s just say that Richard was as useless in the kitchen as my sister was. I’m not sure why my grandmother didn’t intervene. After all, she just lived upstairs from us. And she did come down to our apartment from time to time to check up on how things were going. I guess  the act of clutching my throat when she came down while we were eating might have been too suttle for her.  As long as my father had a piece of Italian bread with his meal he would eat anything. I guess it came from his days in the army during WWll when he served under General Patton. You ate whatever was available, and enjoyed it.  I guess I learned from that experience what NOT to put in a meatloaf.

    My inspiration for cooking came from my mother and grandmother who were wonderful cooks. And in spite of some harrowing experiences I had with meatloaf, it still is one of my favorite comfort foods. At least the versions my mother made. This meatloaf is extremely tasty and full of flavor. Not one ingredient over powers the other and they blend together to make a great “Italian style” meatloaf. I hope you enjoy it!

      

    Meatloaf Italian Style

    • 2  1/2 pounds ground chuck, 80% lean
    • 1 medium onion, chopped
    • 1 carrot, chopped
    • 2 stalks celery, chopped
    • 3 slices of bread, soaked in water
    • 3 dashes of worchestershire sauce
    • 1 tablespoon chopped basil
    • 1/4 cup ketchup
    • 3/4 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
    • 6-7 slices of mortadellla
    • 7 -8 slices of slicing  mozzarella or provelone cheese

    Place the sun dried tomatoes in a microwave safe bowl and cover with red wine. Microwave on high for two minutes to soften the tomatoes. Allow to soak for 10 minutes. Drain and chop the tomatoes and set aside.

    In a large frying pan saute onions, carrots and celery in 2 tablespoons of oil until vegetables are soft. Allow to cool.

    In a large bowl place the ground chuck, cooked onions, carrots and celery,basil, ketchup, breadcrumbs, eggs, Worchestershire sauce, soaked bread with the excess water squeezed out, salt and pepper. Mix well.

    On top of a piece of plastic wrap, as long as the roasting pan you are using,  lay the meatloaf mixture out and flatten it as you spread it over the plastic wrap, making an oval shape covering most of the plastic wrap.

    Place the sun dried tomatoes on top, next the  slices of the mortadella. Next place slices of mozzarella on top of the mortadella.  Leave about 1 inch of space around the meatloaf. At the end farthest from you leave about 2 inches of space. Starting on the long end closest to you, roll up the meatloaf like a jelly roll using the plastic wrap to help you lift and roll the mixture.  Peel away the plastic wrap as you roll the meatloaf making sure the stuffing stays put.   When you get to the end, make sure all the cheese and meat stuffing is covered by the chopped meat. If you have to, tuck in the filling and mold the meat over it.

    Place the roll, with the help of the plastic wrap into the baking pan seam side down. Make sure the ends are sealed and shape into a loaf.

     Place in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 1 hour or until the meatloaf  browned and done.

     Let meatloaf rest 15 minutes before you slice it.

    Posted in Beef | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments