Mom’s Turkey Stuffing

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

DON’T DROP THE TURKEY!

There are so many trimmings we associate with Thanksgiving dinner. In my house we start with the antipasto,  then the lasagna or soup and finally the turkey with all the side dishes. But the one thing that stands out from all the rest, besides the turkey, is my mother’s stuffing. My mother always stuffed her turkey. I don’t remember anyone ever getting sick from her stuffed turkey. We might have turned blue from over eating, but stuffing the turkey was not living on the edge of food safety. I guess the food police had not taken over the country yet and stuffing a turkey was not considered a violation of federal guidelines.

I could eat my mother’s stuffing as a meal by itself. And often the days after Thanksgiving I did.  There was always plenty of left over stuffing and I could remember just taking spoon fulls of the stuff and heating it up and eating it with some turkey gravy poured over the top. When the stuffing ran out, Thanksgiving had come to an end! Unless you found a little morsel left inside the turkey carcass that someone did not take the time to dig out.

We always had a huge gathering for Thanksgiving, with all my aunts and uncles and cousins. The basement was the only place we could set up a table large enough to accommodate everyone. There was so much cooking going on in the house that on some holidays we didn’t have any oven room for the turkey! After all, a 24 pound bird had to sit in the oven for at least 6 hours or so. And my mother refused to use her oven in our kitchen. So it was the oven in our basement and my grandmother’s oven that was working overtime. I could remember my mother preparing the turkey very early in the morning and stuffing it with her delicious stuffing and tying the legs together and then added more stuffing into the neck cavity and every last drop was used and fit somewhere on that bird. After buttering it up she would cover the turkey in foil and early in the morning my father and I would load the turkey in the car and drive it over to our neighborhood Italian bakery. For a nominal fee the bakery would cook the bird in their large bread ovens.  What a great idea! That left plenty of room in our own ovens to cook up a meal that usually fed 30-40 people.

As my aunts, uncles and cousins arrived they brought even more food with them, along with deserts. Everyone pitched in setting up the table and getting chairs from all over the house down to the basement. The windows of the house where fogged from the heat generated from all the cooking and heat coming from the ovens and stove tops. And the aroma of tomato sauce, and cheese and the smell of spice from the pies baking and sweet potatoes roasting. Almost made you forget about the turkey. And just before everyone was called to arms to take their place at the table my mother gave my father his marching orders, “SAL! Go get the turkey, it’s almost time to eat.”

My father and I made the trip again to the Italian bakery, this time to pick up the turkey. When we got there the owner asked for our name and went in the back to retrieve our cooked turkey. I whispered to my father, ‘I hope they give us the right one”. My father was ready with the pot holders in hand and when the turkey came out she lifted the foil to show us how wonderful and brown the turkey was. My father bought about four loafs of Italian bread and handed them to me as he lifted the huge roasting pan holding the turkey. “Don’t drop it!”, I said. It was a few weeks ago my father was bringing up the Sunday chicken dinner from the oven in the basement and just as he got to the last step he tripped and the birds when flying in front of him landing on the steps that led to my grandparents apartment. There were potatoes and chicken everywhere. That was not a good Sunday dinner!

I opened the car door for him and he placed it on the floor in the back seat. The smell of that turkey and the fresh baked warm Italian bread was more than either of us could stand. The turkey was too far out of reach but those loaves of bread were right on my lap. My father reached over and took a piece off the end and I went in for a piece myself. If we only had butter. We pulled into our driveway and went in through the side door of our house. Downstairs in the basement my mother and grandmother and all my aunts were bringing out the antipasto and olives and everyone was seated around the table, with my grandfather at the head of course.  When my father walked downstairs with the turkey and entered the room the fanfare was tremendous. Everyone clapped and cheered that the bird had arrived. I was only carrying bread. Thanksgiving dinner was about to begin.

Mom’s Turkey Stuffing

  • 1 bag of seasoned stuffing cubes
  • 1/4 pound of bacon
  • 1 pound of Italian Sausage , casing removed (if you can buy bulk Italian sausage meat, great. If not, buy the link sausage and remove the casing)
  • 1 cup of celery, chopped
  • 1 cup of carrots, chopped
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 2 large apples, cored, peeled and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon of dried sage
  • 4 cups of chicken stock or broth
  • 1 egg, beaten (optional)

 

 

In an extra  large frying pan or saute pan cook the bacon till crisp. Remove the bacon, chop it up  and set aside. Leave the bacon fat in the pan.

 

 

In the same pan cook the sausage meat and break it up till browned.  Remove the cooked sausage meat with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl with the bacon.

 

In the drippings from the bacon and sausage cook the celery, carrots, onion and apple till the vegetables get soft, stirring occasionally. Half way through cooking the vegetables add the thyme, rosemary, oregano and sage.

 

Once the vegetables are soft add the bacon and sausage, stirring and cooking for about two minutes.

 

Dump the seasoned stuffing cubes in a very large bowl. Add the fry pan goodies of the vegetables, bacon and sausage to the stuffing cubes. Mix well. Add the chicken stock till you get the consistency you like, allowing the stuffing cubes to absorb the broth. If you like a firmer stuffing you can add the beaten egg at this point.

You can either stuff your turkey or place the stuffing in a deep pan to bake in a 375 degree oven covered in foil for about 35 minutes. Have some extra broth or chicken stock on hand to moisten the stuffing if it gets too dry.

Posted in Turkey | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Grandma’s Eggplant Parmigiana

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

The way my grandmother made eggplant parmigiana is noting like you get today. First she never breaded the eggplant. Second she did not use mozzarella cheese.

 No mozzarella cheese??? How can it be eggplant parmigiana without mozzarella cheese? 

 If it were called eggplant mozzarella than I can see you asking that. But it’s called eggplant parmigiana for a reason, because it should be made with plenty of Parmigiana cheese. Americans added Mozzarella cheese to this dish, along with anything else they call “Parmigiana”.

So this is a true eggplant Parmigiana the way my grandmother made it many years ago. It’s simple, authentic and very delicious. My mother remembers my grandmother making this when she was a little girl and always raved about it. The taste of the eggplant really comes out without being hidden by all that breading. The secret to this dish is fresh ingredients and use a good Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Grandma’s Eggplant Parmigiana

  • 2 large eggplant
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 can of Italian Peeled San Marzano tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • oil for frying
  • 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • pinch of oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Wash and slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds. Lightly sprinkle each side with salt and lay in a colander. Place a plate on top of the eggplant with a weight on top and allow to drain for at least an hour.

 

Wipe off the moisture on each eggplant with a paper towel. Heat a large skillet with an inch of oil and fry the slices till golden brown on each side. Add more oil as needed. Place the cooked eggplant on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the oil. Place a layer of paper towel between each layer of eggplant to get as much oil out as possible.

 

In a large sauce pan heat the two tablespoon of olive oil and saute the garlic for a minute or two. Puree the can of peeled tomatoes and add to the pan. Add basil, oregano,  sugar, salt and pepper (use less salt than you normally would)  and simmer for about  15-20 minutes or until thickened.

 

In a baking dish or Pyrex pan place a thin layer of tomatoe sauce on the bottom to just cover the pan.

 

Add a layer of eggplant, spread some more sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle a 1/4 cup of Parmigiana cheese over the top.

 

Repeat the process till all the eggplant is used up and end with a layer of sauce with a good sprinkle of Parmigiana cheese.

 

Bake in a 375 degree oven uncovered  for 20 minutes or until sauce bubbles. Cool slightly before serving.

Make sure you have plenty of Italian bread for this.

Posted in vegetable | Tagged , | 18 Comments

Fillet of Fish Oreganata

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

Eating fish in Sicily is as good as it gets. Especially in and around the fishing villages. In Riposto, my Uncle Benny’s town, we ate at a restaurant that was right on a pier over looking the Mediterranean Sea. The eatery was nothing fancy, the four walls of the restaurant were open and in the distance you could see the fishing boats bobbing up and down in the water.

After we took our seats the waiter came over to our table and explained what was on the menu for the evening. He led us over to a large ice chest that was made of wood against a wall and opened up the lid to expose the “catch of the day”. Presented before us was a large assortment of fish that was brought in on that days catch by the local fishermen. We had to choose as he explained what each fish was. It didn’t get any fresher than that.

There were two women in the kitchen that were ready to prepare whatever we picked for dinner that reminded me of my grandmother. Truly a home cooked meal. That evening I had one of the best seafood dinners in my life.

My earliest memory of eating fish is eating it this way. Simple ingredients with wonderful flavors that enhance the fish, not over power it. It’s simple to prepare and is ready in no time. For this recipe I’m using Pollock. Probably the least expensive fish at the market. But its large flaky meat is mild and taste great prepared this way.

 

Fillet of Fish Oreganata

  • 4 fish fillets, any white flaky fish will do, cod, scrod, pollock, Turbot,  flounder, etc.
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1  1/4 cup prepared breadcrumbs*

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

 

 

*To prepare the breadcrumbs, take 1 cup of plain bread crumbs. To that add 1/4 cup of Romano Cheese, 1 clove minced garlic, 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix well. In a medium frying pan over medium heat  melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add  2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the bread crumbs and lightly toast, stirring constantly,  for about a minute. Take out of the pan and place in a small bowl and set aside.

 

In a roasting pan, large enough to fit the fish in a single layer, squeeze the juice of one lemon. To the lemon juice add the white wine, 1/4 cup olive oil and the 4 whole cloves of crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Stir the sauce to combine.

 

Dip the fish on both sides in the pan  liquid and place fillet in a single layer.

 

Sprinkle the prepared bread crumbs on top of the fish to coat evenly, be generous. If you have left over bread crumbs these are great sprinkled over steamed vegetables and served along with the fish, like broccoli or cauliflower.

 

Bake the fish in a pre heated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Do not over cook the fish. Remove the garlic before serving.

 

Serve the fish in individual plates or family style with lemon wedges. Drizzle the sauce from the pan around the fish.

Posted in Seafood | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Chicken In Wine Siciliano

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

 WHEN LIFE WAS SIMPLE

Our Sunday dinner, more often than not, would consist of a pasta dish  or soup usually followed by a roast chicken or two. We always ate around 2pm. Mom always had a table cloth on the kitchen table and amongst the clattering of the silverware my mother would shout out to us, “go get your father, the foods almost ready”.

My father would more than likely be working on his 54 Mercury in our driveway. I never remember him going to a mechanic, not even for oil changes. He always did it himself. That was during a time when you didn’t have to be a computer genius or rocket scientist to do the work on your car. Autos were much simpler then. You could open your hood and actually see and identify the engine.

 I remember one time not that long ago I was up in New Paltz New York with some friends. A very attractive young lady had asked me if I could help her start her car, her battery was dead. When I opened the hood of my 1994  Cutlass Supreme convertible I was at a loss. I could not find my battery to attach the jumper cables. I just stared under the hood perplexed. I could not find my battery!  I knew what the damn thing looked like but for the life of me it was not where a battery should be. When she walked over to ask if something was wrong I said, “no no, I just need to hop in my car a minute to do something before I attached the cables”. I frantically searched in my glove compartment for the owners manual and hoped I could figure it out before this young lady thought I was a total fool.

No owner’s manual.

 I got out of the car and said, “You should ride with me, my car doesn’t even need a battery, this thing is solar powered!”   Life was much more simple in the 50’s and 60’s, certainly cars were.

As I walked out of my house to call my father for dinner I could see half his body sticking out from under the hood. “Dad, come on, time to eat”.  My father lifted himself out from under the hood with a ratchet and spark plug in his hands. “OK, I’ll be right there”, he said. I went back into the house and sat myself down on our living room sofa and picked up the Sunday Daily News. I flipped through the sections and took out the comics to read.  I could hear my father coming in from the basement and washing up in his bathroom downstairs. “Sal!”, my mother shouted, “bring up the chicken when you come up”. My mother only used the oven in the basement for cooking.

When my father came up from the basement with the roasting pan filled with two of those  golden brown chickens, Sunday dinner was about to begin. My brother and sister made their way to the kitchen and took their places at the table. I walked into the kitchen with an insert from Macy’s and showed my mother a toy I wanted for Christmas. Without even looking at me she said, “Put that down, it’s time to eat, you can show me later”. My father looked at me and said, “Come on, put that away, you have enough toys”. 

It was Sunday dinner and the most important thing at that moment was the plate of macaroni my mother was serving us. It was as simple as that.

Chicken in Wine Siciliano

  • chicken legs and thighs
  • 2 medium potatoes, blanched and cut in 1/8’s
  • 4 whole cloves garlic, crushed
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion sliced thin
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup rinsed capers
  • 1/4 cup pitted Kalamata or oil cured olives
  • 4   peeled plumb tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste

To blanch the potatoes, put them, peeled or unpeeled, in a pot and fill with cold water. Turn the heat to medium high. When the water starts to boil allow the potatoes to cook for 10 minutes. Drain, cool and cut into 1/8’s. Set aside.

Soak chicken parts in salted water for 1/2 hour. Rinse pieces well and pat dry with paper towel.

 

In a large saute pan heat olive oil on medium heat. Saute the chicken till browned on all sides.

 

 Add the garlic and onions and continue cooking till the onions get soft.

 

Add the capers, olives, tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes.

 

Add the parsley and potatoes and pour the white wine and wine vinegar over the chicken. Cook for about two minutes.  Cover the pan and cook till the chicken is done, about 15 minutes. Turn the chicken halfway through.

 

After 15 minutes uncover the pan and reduce the sauce a bit.

 

Plate the chicken and pour the wine sauce over it. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Don’t forget the Italian bread.

Posted in Chicken | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Hearty Minestrone Soup

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

My grandmother would make the best minestrone soup! This is what I call a “kitchen sink” soup. Everything is in there but… There is no right or wrong way to make this soup. There is a right and wrong way to eat it. Just ask my sister Annette.

When my sister was courting her soon to be husband Arthur, she had prepared a number of meals to impress him. Well, she really didn’t prepare anything. My mother and grandmother did all the preparation and my sister just served them. Arthur didn’t need to know that. On this occasion as soon as they sat down to enjoy a romantic meal alone together, in comes my brother Richard from a 3 day camping trip, unwashed and ready for a meal. My brother sets up his own bowl of soup and plops himself down at the table with my sister and Arthur and begins to eat his soup the only way he knew how. My brother Richard would slurp his soup like a wet vac. Birds would fly off of neighboring trees startled by the vibrations.  It would drive my sister crazy. Really added to the tunes of Nat King Cole playing in the back ground with the candles flickering to the reverberation. “Mona Lisa!, Mona Lisa men have called you…..sfsfsfsfsfsfsfsffssffsssssssstt….ahhhh”!

My grandmother used to use a beef base to make this vegetable soup. If you want to keep it vegetarian then do so. I like the hearty beef base. Any lean cut of beef will do. Beef bones for stock is good because they have some meat on them that you can chop up and add back to the soup.  Use fresh vegetables for the best flavor. If you have packages of frozen vegetables in the freezer, this is a good recipe to use them up.

If you make enough of this you can always freeze the left overs in small containers, it will still be better than the canned stuff you buy. I ask you, what can be better on a cold fall or winter evening than  eating a bowl of nice hot homemade soup, with a tissue close by to blow your nose every now and again. Hot soup does that to you. It lets you know it’s working. A sip of soup, a bite of hot crunchy garlic bread, another sprinkle of Parmesan cheese just for good measure, and a Kleenex close by. Ahh! Home sweet home.

If you are not into soup bones, but I have to tell you, the bones add another whole demension of flavor, you can brown a pound of lean chopped meat in the pot instead.

Hearty Minestrone Soup

  • 2 pounds of beef bones with meat for stock
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1  – 9 ounce package of frozen cut green beans or fresh
  • 1 small zucchini quartered and diced
  • 3 cups escarole,  washed well, drained and chopped
  • 1 – 28 ounce can of peeled tomatoes chopped with juice
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon of  dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 – 15.5 ounce can of chick peas (garbanzos), drained
  • 1 – 15.5 ounce can of red kidney beans, drained
  • 1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni or small pasta for soup
  • 1   1/2 tablespoon salt or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Rinse the beef bones to get rid of any small bone fragments.

 

In a large heavy bottom pot heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sear beef bones, browning on all sides. Add the chopped onions and garlic and cook till onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.

Add 5 quarts of  fresh cold water to pot. Turn the heat high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered  for 45 minutes. 

In the meantime, prepare your vegetables.

When the soup is done remove the beef and bones. Discard the bones and chop the meat well and return to the soup.

 

Add your celery, carrots, frozen green beans, zucchini, escarole, chopped tomatoes, basil, oregano, marjoram and bay leaf. Allow to simmer uncovered for 35 minutes.

Now add the chick peas, red kidney beans and elbow macaroni and simmer for an additional 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the salt and pepper. When you find the bay leaf, remove it.

 

Serve this soup with plenty of grated cheese and some garlic bread.

Posted in soup | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Ziti and Sausage Portobello

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

Herbs drying in my Kitchen.

  The beginning of fall brings an end to my herb garden. The oregano will last till the first frost along with the rosemary and sage. The basil has been gone for a few weeks now. And oh, how I miss the fresh basil. I found a way to keep parsley fresh in the fridge for about 3 weeks  at a time but basil is much more delicate. My mother showed me a simple way to keep basil fresh for months. Yes months! Freeze it. Fresh basil is still abundant in the supermarkets now. Buy  a large bunch, take it home and wash it. Dry the leaves well and pull them off their stems and pack them in a zip lock freezer bag loosely. They freeze into perfect little leaves. Take out what you need when you are ready to use them and place them frozen into your recipe. Don’t thaw them out. Works like a dream. For the parsley, I wash and dry them well. Keep them on the stems. Take the parsley and wrap them in a couple of paper towels and place in a zip lock bag. Store the bag in your vegetable draw and they will keep fresh like that for at least three weeks.

It’s real easy to dry your oregano, rosemary, basil and sage. Just cut each plant as close to the bottom as you can. Take the individual twigs and pull off about an inch of leaves from the bottom.Discard any moldy or diseased leaves.  Gather up each herb and tie at the bottom together. Hang them in a warm dry place for a couple of weeks until they fully dry out. You can store them in zip lock bags or clean mason jars. Leave them whole and crush them as you use them. They will keep better that way. You can store them up to a year this way, until next year’s growing season.

My mother freezes everything. Even bags of potato chips and corn chips. They never last long enough in my house to have to freeze them, but if you are left with more than you can consume just place a chip clip on top to seal the bag and store in your freezer. Stays fresh for months. My father likes to freeze milk for some reason. I don’t recommend that. When I lived at home it used to drive me nuts. It never thawed out fast enough when you needed it. My father recently found a new way to keep milk fresh. On time when I was visiting my Dad I opened his freezer and found about six half gallon containers of what looked like frozen milk. I asked him what was he doing with all that milk in the freezer. He told me that they were frozen containers of water. He would surround the container of milk in the refrigerator with these frozen half gallons. He said it kept his milk fresher. God love him! 

Freezing bread was another favorite  past time for my dad. He ate it frozen. Said it was good for his teeth. My father did a lot of weird things like that. Like putting  an egg  in the coffee basket when he brewed his coffee in the morning. That way he would get brewed coffee and a soft boiled egg all in one shot. Not sure if it also increased his dose of calcium for the day from the egg shell. One of my father’s favorite snacks was a raw egg and frozen bread. He would poke a small hole into the top of the egg with a pin and just suck it out and eat that along with the frozen bread. That was during the time when eating raw eggs was not a health hazard. I could remember my grandfather making egg nog for me in the morning.  He used to call it “egga-nog”. We used to have the old fashioned malted milk mixers, this was before the invention of blenders, like the ones they had in the soda shops to make milk shakes. You find them for sale today as “retro drink mixers”. He would place one or two raw eggs in the mixer container along with milk and some sugar and blend it up till it was thick and frothy. I used to love it. I would drink it down till there was nothing left but a milk mustache on my upper lip.

As the weather gets colder it puts you more in the mood for heartier dishes. In the summer time you enjoy eating light with summer salads and grilled food. But in the fall and winter there is something very comforting in eating soups and substantial pasta dishes. This is one of those pasta dishes. I had a dish very similar to this at my friend Joe Duck’s house a few years ago. I never got the recipe so this is my version of what I had that day. I love to eat something different and then pull apart the ingredients in my mouth and try to make that dish myself, adding my own touches and bringing in the flavors that I enjoy.

Ziti and Sausage Portobello

  • 4 Italian sweet sausage
  • 4 portobello mushroom caps, cubed
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 pound prosciutto, chopped
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup cognac or white wine
  • 1 cup beef broth or 1 beef bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water
  • 1 – 28 oz can peeled tomatoes, pureed
  • 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 pound ziti
  • 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese

 

 

Brown 4 sausage links in frying pan. Cook sausage till done, about 10 minutes.  Slice the sausages into bite sized pieces and set aside.

 

In a large saute pan on medium high heat,  melt butter and add olive oil. Add the mushrooms and onions and stir together. Allow the mushrooms to cook without stirring for about 5 minutes. The mushrooms will start to release their moisture.  

 

Stir the mushrooms and cook 5 minutes longer without stirring to allowing them to caramelize. 

 

 

Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add prosciutto and cook another minute. Put the heat on low and deglaze the pan with cognac.

 

Add the beef broth and turn the heat back to medium high. Cook down for about 3 minutes. Add the pureed tomatoes, basil,  hot pepper flakes and cook down till thickens, about 20 minutes.

 

Add the 1/2 cup of heavy cream and stir 1 minute . Add the sausage and stir to combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste (it might not need any). Cover the pan and turn off the heat.

 

Cook the ziti in 5 quarts of salted water. Once the ziti is cooked, drain and add to the sauce. Add grated Romano cheese and toss to combine.

 

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Macaroni with Eggplant – Past alla Norma

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

Halloween meant different things to me at different stages of growing up on 77 Street in Brooklyn. At an early age, Trick or Treating was one of the most wonderful activities a child could take part in. Going door to door with an empty shopping bag and having it filled with all sorts of candy and treats. It was like being in Willy Wonka land!

The start of the Halloween season would begin when my mother went down to the basement and opened a hugh trunk in the back of the furnace room that stored all the holiday decorations. All the Christmas decorations were at the bottom of the trunk and laying on top were the Halloween decorations of witches and pumpkins and black cats and scary skeletons. As soon as she opened the trunk I would catch a whiff of the pine smell that came from the Christmas tree ornaments that were hanging on last years real Christmas Tree. I knew it was Halloween, but that smell meant that Christmas was not that far behind. We would tape the decorations on the front room windows and hang the paper skeleton on the front door with its arms raised in hopes to scare the children that came trick or treating.

And then came the decision as to what I was going to be that year. I remember going to Woolworth’s on 86th Street and seeing the boxes of halloween costumes lined up on the shelf. I often wondered what it would be like to buy one of those costumes. I only gazed and imagined having that mask on my face of Aquaman, or Yogi Bear or Micky Mouse. And oh! If I can only be Superman. What a fantasy and dream of being able to fly and swoop through the air, over the telephone poles and over the trees and houses. A dream I would have many times as a child. But my mother only came to Woolworth’s to buy some Halloween candy. Our costumes were only of the homemade variety. My mother would say, “you don’t want those costumes”.

I don’t???

“I can make you something much better than that”, she said. “When we get home I’ll put something together for you”.

A pirate was one of my favorite costumes. My mother would pick through the closets and piece together the costume from different articles of clothing. All I needed was a plastic sword and some grease paint to put on my face. But the best Halloween costume my mother ever made for me was a Superman costume. She cut out the “S” out of felt and sewed it to an old sweatshirt I had. I showed her one of the many Superman comics I had so she would get the design just right. It was all coming together. She fashioned the cape out of some red material and together with an old pair of red boots we had in the closet I was beginning to look like the “man of steel”. When I donned the costume for the first time I could hear in the distance,

“Look!

Up in the sky!

It’s a bird,

it’s a plane.

No! It’s SUPERMAN!!!!”

I tried to run as fast as I could through the house so my cape would flap in the wind. I ran out the side door, jumped down the steps, and with my arms raised high in front of me, flew through the back yard. I loved that costume!

When it was time to go trick or treating I got together with all my friends on the block and we started with the house that was right in front of us. One of the great things about trick or treating in Brooklyn was you had housing density. We didn’t need parents driving us around or taking us to shopping malls. On one side of my block alone there were at least  30 houses with two families in each house. An upstairs and a downstairs bell. You do the math. By the time we went up  just one side of the street our bags were full. When we got older and were able to cross the street to hit the other side, well, you can imagine the tons of candy we collected.

I could remember the last time I went trick or treating. And I knew that this was going to be my last year. I was getting to “old” for this sort of thing.  I must have been 11 or 12 years old. That last year I was a hobo.

The following year, we started to do different things for Halloween. For some reason, and I’m not sure why, but  buying eggs and shaving cream became the Halloween thing to do. We must have gotten the idea from the older kids.  Besides eggs and shaving cream we would buy sticks of pastel chalk and place them in heavy socks and beat the chalk against the curb until it turned  into a dust. When you got smacked by that sock you would be marked by a cloud of dust. Of course we would have “wars” with each other and by the end of the night we would be caked in a mixture of eggs, shaving cream and chalk dust.

One year we picked on the wrong group of kids from around the block earlier that evening. At that point we were old enough to be hanging out with some of the older kids. I’m not sure which one of them fired the first shot, but at some point we were all hanging out in the middle of our block and in the distance we heard the roar of a crowd, a very large crowd. At first no one was really sure what was happening. But as we looked up towards the corner of 15th Avenue we saw a stream of bodies running towards us at full speed. I swear, it looked like the start of the New York City Marathon combined with a casting call for William Wallace and his warriors from the epic film Braveheart. Except instead of spears, clubs and swords this angry crowd was packing an arsenal of eggs. There was no end in sight of the egg wielding, pissed off gang of kids that was headed right towards us. We knew we were going to get our asses kicked! We double shuffled in all directions trying to figure out where we were going to run. We all scattered, every man for himself. Some of us ran into the driveways and jumped over the garages in back to get away. Me, Mike Rizzo and Johnny D ran into my driveway. As I fumbled with my keys to get into my house Mike and John were telling me to hurry which made the task of opening my door all the harder. We got into my house and closed the door behind us and ran into my front porch to see what was happening on the street.

One lone soul stood his ground. Richard Carter was the last man standing. But not for long. The mob circled him as he stood nonchalantly against the fence in front of Bobby Agostino’s house. His elbows were resting on the fence behind him with one of his legs crossed in front of the other like he was standing at a pick up bar checking out the babes.

We all gasped while we watched the scene unfold from my porch window and Johnny D said “Holy Shit, Carter is dead!” We felt helpless. We couldn’t hear what was being said as the circle got tighter around Carter. From what we could gather he was negotiating for his life and was probably telling them that he had nothing to do with the attack of their friends from around the corner. He was just hanging out by the stoop.

As far as the invading gang was concerned they were there to take revenge on whoever messed up one of their own. No matter who it was. And in this case it didn’t matter who it was. Carter was the only target they had and these eggs had his name on them.

I never saw a human omelette before, it was a sight to behold. Carter stood there and took it like a man as each of the 300 fired at will. For good measure they threw some eggs at the parked cars and houses as they finished their raid. And when every egg was unloaded, they left.

Carter was not a happy camper when we all resurfaced and joined him. We thought he was nuts for standing there but when you think about it, it could have been a lot worse. They could have been hard boiled eggs.

When I was 14 years old and traveled throughout Italy with my brother Richard we spent two weeks with my Aunt Angie and Uncle Benny in Sicily. We stayed at a small family run resort near the seaside town of Riposto not far from Taormina.

A memorable dish they served us for dinner one night was a plate of macaroni with a slice of fried eggplant draped over the top. I never tasted something so wonderful in my life. The macaroni was dressed with a simple light marinara sauce made of fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil. And sitting on top of the plate of pasta was two fried slices of eggplant. It couldn’t be more simple than that. We cut the eggplant into the macaroni and sprinkled on some grated cheese. I’ve been making it that way ever since.

Macaroni with Eggplant

  • 1 medium eggplant sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
  • oil for frying
  • 1  28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes, roughly chopped or mashed with a potato masher
  • 1 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 6 fresh basil leaves, torn
  • pinch of sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 pound of  macaroni, ziti rigati  or rigatoni

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Place the sliced eggplant , with the skin on, in a colander and sprinkle each layer with kosher salt. Put a plate on top of the eggplant with a heavy weight on top and allow to sit for at least an hour.

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Pat the eggplant dry with a paper towel and heat a large pan with an inch of canola or vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, fry the eggplant till each side is golden brown. Place the fried eggplant in a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the oil and set aside.

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In a large sauce pan, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chopped garlic and cook till the garlic is golden. Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes.

In the mean time, in a large pot boil 5 quarts of water. Add the  macaroni and cook till al dente.

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When the sauce is cooked turn off the heat and add the torn basil leaves. Drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the tomato sauce. Toss the pasta to coat it well. You can leave the pasta in the pan for a few minutes. The starch from the pasta with thicken the sauce a bit.

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Serve the pasta in large bowls and place two slices of the fried eggplant on top of the macaroni. Serve with plenty of grated Romano cheese.

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Chicken Cacciatore Baked

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

After 92 years my father’s gallbladder gave him problems so about a week ago he had it removed. The nurses said in the recovery room after the operation they haven’t seen 45 year old patients recover as quickly as he did. Has to be good genes. But after a week in the hospital and a few days at a rehabilitation center, institutional food started getting really old for my dad. I made enough of this chicken cacciatore to bring some over to him this weekend. When I told him what I had I thought he was going to click his heels right then and there. I set up his table and opened up the container. A smile came over his face that was worth a million bucks. Food will do that to you, especially good old home made food after a week and a half of hospital food. “These bastards don’t cook the vegetables”, my father said. “Every thing is hard”. I guess he never got the memo about steamed vegetables are supposed to be better for you.  My mother does the same thing when I take her out to eat. After she orders the entree she tells the waiter to please have them cook the vegetables because she doesn’t eat them raw. I guess 92 years of eating well cooked vegetables didn’t hurt my mom or dad!

 Bringing something from home always makes you feel better when you’re stuck in a hospital. Believe me, my father wanted to go home a few days before yesterday. And evertime I visited him the first thing he would ask me is if I was bringing him home today. Well, I brought him the next best thing.

I could remember when I was a child Iwas in the hospital with pneumonia. One afternoon my mother walked into the room with a brown paper bag filled with delicious deli hot dogs with mustard and sauerkraut. I still remember the feeling when I bit into those dogs and was transported out of the hospital for that brief moment.

In my house growing up, chicken cacciatore is as close to Italian  comfort food as you can get. My mother would make chicken cacciatore the traditional way in a large pot and cook it till the chicken almost fell off the bone. It was delicious. She would add mushrooms and ripe black olives to the dish.  I adapted her recipe and baked the cacciatore in the oven. Because of baking it I added potatoes and turned this into a one pan meal. Just add a salad. The Italian bread is a must to mob up the delicious sauce. I enjoy dark meat chicken so I make this with the legs and thighs. But you can use any cut of chicken you prefer.

Chicken Cacciatore Baked

  • 1 frying chicken cut into serving pieces
  • 1 large onion sliced into 1/8″ pieces
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 4 medium peeled potatoes sliced in 1/8’s
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeds and core removed, cut into strips
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • one 28 oz can peeled San Marzano tomatoes
  • 5 fresh basil leaves, torn
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375

In a large roasting pan place peeled potatoes.  Sprinkle chopped garlic over the potatoes and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

Place chicken skin side down over the potatoes.

Add onions, peppers in between the chicken, basil and tomatoes, crushing them with your hands over the chicken.  Sprinkle on the red pepper flakes. Add the juice from the tomatoes and the white wine and spread around the chicken.  Sprinkle on the red wine vinegar. Add a good helping of salt and pepper to taste.

Add oregano by crushing it between your palms over the chicken. Sprinkle extra virgin olive oil over the top. Shake the pan so everything settles.

Bake in oven for 1 hour. 

Turn the chicken skin side up and raise the temperature to 475 degrees and bake another 30 minutes or until chicken is golden  and potatoes are cooked. Allow the dish to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with a tossed salad and Italian bread.

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Roast Turkey Thighs with Stuffing

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

I love Thanksgiving turkey!

What memories sitting around the table with the family and starting Thanksgiving dinner with a large antipasto made up of olives, cheeses, sliced salami and dried sausage. Just a little starter to get the appetite in full swing. After that my mother would serve us a large helping of manicotti with my mother’s delicious tomato sauce. Or some years she would make a lasagna with tiny meatballs and sausage or baked ziti. Once we were  done eating the pasta the table would be cleared and all the side dishes would come out. Sweet potatoes, string beans with garlic and oil, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes, sauteed broccoli rabe, eggplant rollatini, a large tossed salad,  and oh yea, the turkey. Complete with gravy, stuffing (made with Italian sausage) and cranberry sauce.

This was an American Thanksgiving Italian style. A combination of both worlds and cultures. Not sure if the Pilgrims had lasagna on their first Thanksgiving, but we sure did! Our plates were overflowing with all the turkey and side dishes we tried to fit on it. Some of us piled it on high when we ran out of plate. And for dessert, what else, but pumpkin pie, fruit, nuts, apple pie, Aunt Mary’s Cassata cheese cake, Italian pastries and sliced fennel bulbs….just to help with the digestion. It’s a wonder that anyone made it to the sofa before falling asleep. And if you did fall asleep the smell of the espresso coffee would fill the air and encourage everyone back to the table.

This roast turkey thighs with stuffing is something I threw together this past weekend because I wanted a little bit of Thanksgiving early. You can make this dish any time of year and have it from preparation to your plate in about 1  1/2 hours. Enjoy it with a tossed salad.  If you miss the lasagna or manicotti you will just have to wait till next Thanksgiving.

Roast Turkey Thighs with Stuffing

  • 2 turkey thighs
  • 4 slices whole wheat bread including the two end pieces
  • 2 slices bacon
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • 3 fresh sage leaves
  • 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
  • 2 fresh oregano sprigs
  • 1/2 apple, any kind, peeled, cored and chopped
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste

Take the sliced bread and cut them into cubes. Place in a large bowl.

In a medium size skillet, fry the two slices of bacon till crisp. Take out the bacon, save the drippings in the pan.  Chop up the bacon when cool.In the same hot skillet with the bacon drippings add the onion, celery, carrot, apple and garlic. Cook for about 4 minutes. Add  2 of the minced sage leaves,1 of the chopped  rosemary sprigs and and one sprig of the chopped oregano. Continue to stir and cook till well incorporated.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Add a cup of boiling water to the chicken bouillon cube and stir to dissolve the cube.

Add the cooked vegetables, along with the crumbled bacon to the cubed bread and mix well. Add 1/2-3/4 cup of the chicken bouillon and stir till you get the right consistency. The bread should absorb most of the bullion. Add salt and pepper. Pour in half of the beaten egg and mix the stuffing well.

Spread the stuffing on the bottom of a greased roasting pan to about the width and length it would take to cover it with the turkey thighs.

Rinse the turkey thighs and dry with a paper towel. Salt and pepper the turkey and sprinkle with garlic powder on both sides. Place the turkey thighs on top of the stuffing, making sure the turkey covers all the stuffing.

In a small microwave safe bowl add the butter and the remainder of the chopped sage, rosemary and oregano. Place in the microwave oven for about 40 seconds to melt the butter.

Pour the herb butter mixture over the turkey thighs, skin side up, making sure the butter covers all of the skin.

Bake in the oven for about an hour or until the turkey skin is golden and crisp.

Serve the turkey with the stuffing and a side of cranberry sauce.

Posted in Turkey | Tagged | 4 Comments

Zuppa di Cozze – Mussels in Tomato Wine Sauce

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

When did macaroni become pasta?

A reader of mine, Frankie, made a comment on a previous blog I posted about a poem he heard from Michael Savage,  a radio talk show host, called “When did Spaghetti Become Pasta?” I listened to it on YouTube and it only confirmed that I’m not the only one who thinks it’s crazy on how we follow trends and fads and how much we are willing to pay for it.

I touched on this subject on two of my previous blogs of April 24 and July 13. When did macaroni become pasta? How can a plate of macaroni, that cost pennies, be made into a dish that is called pasta and we are willing to pay $15 to $20 a plate? Spaghetti with garlic and olive oil, Macaroni and beans, two staples from a humble Italian kitchen is served up at a trendy Italian restaurant and we pay up to $15  for it.

Italians eat macaroni, almost on a daily basis, because it was an inexpensive way to nourish themselves. The Italian kitchen produced many ways to flavor this starch, mainly with tomatoes and herbs, and added it to meals in order to stretch the food budget. Today we pay top dollar to be served those same dishes.

I rarely order pasta when I go out to eat and when it’s served as a side dish I usually push it off to the side. I make macaroni all the time. I don’t need a dish of it when someone else is cooking it, and not quite as good as I can make it.

But it doesn’t end with macaroni. When did Pizza become a billion dollar industry? When did a 25 cent slice of dough with a smear of sauce and sprinkle of cheese turn into a “gourmet pizza” at $3 a slice. Who said you can put pineapple and ham or a tossed salad on it and still call it Pizza? Who said you can put spaghetti and meatballs in a can and call it Italian food?  Am I the only one that feels this way?

Americans are great at taking something and making it their own. And they have taken the prize at making Italian-American food. I saw a show on the Food Network the other day. One of their celebrity chefs was making a simple dish at his restaurant of spaghetti with marinara sauce. And as he served it to his diners they were in  a state of ecstasy when they tasted it. It’s spaghetti with marinara sauce! I’m sure he used fresh tomatoes and fresh basil and twisted the spaghetti as he plated it for his guest. But at $15 a plate? I don’t think so.

I think as a society we have lost sight at how delicious food can be. We eat mass produced food from chain restaurants that taste the same in New York as it does in California. And we find comfort in that. We lost the individuality of local eateries. Of chef owned restaurants that cook their own food back in the kitchen. I’m amused when I peak into the kitchen of an Italian restaurant and see everyone but Italians preparing my meal. I’ll never forget the time when I was visiting my cousins in San Fransisco and went into a pizzeria and saw a Chinese gentleman making the pizza. Even at 12 years old I thought that was odd. I never had Chinese pizza before.

America is a melting pot. And Italian food has become as American as apple pie, which actually is an English dish that goes back to the 13th century. You see what I mean? We can take any food from any country and make it our own. That is why when I go out to eat at an Italian restaurant I’m always disappointed. Because I set the benchmark too high. I have eaten dishes all my life from my mother and grandmother’s kitchen, and I get it. That is why I learned how to cook and prepare my own meals. Don’t get me wrong. I go out to eat from time to time, but mostly for the convenience.  That is why I started this blog and decided to share many of my families recipes. It’s good for the soul to eat real food as often as you can. And not pay top dollar for something that is merely convenient. There is nothing quite as comforting and delicious as a home cooked meal. And in today’s economy, it pays off in twice the dividends.

If you are reading this blog, chances are you love to cook and eat well. So I might be preaching to the choir. But there are those among us who may never get the chance to know how wonderful a good home cooked meal is. Some may be our friends, others our children. Teach them, show them, that some of the simple pleasures in life is as close as their kitchen. And it doesn’t start with the micowave oven.

Zuppa di Cosse – Mussels in tomato wine sauce

  • 2 pounds mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
  • 2 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped, plus 2 whole cloves
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1  28 ounce can of peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 6 basil leaves, torn
  • pinch of red pepper flakes, or more to taste
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • black pepper and salt to taste
  • bread for the bruschetta

 

 

To make the bruschetta, take a loaf of italian bread or baguette and slice on on angle. Make about 10 slices.

Toast the bread. Rub a whole garlic clove on the toasted bread, on both sides, then drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil. Set aside. You should use up about 2 cloves of garlic doing this.

Wash and scrub the mussels well and pull of the “beard” that may be attached to some mussels towards the narrow end of the mussel to remove. Discard any mussel that does not close when tapped or is fully opened..

 

 In a large pot heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil on medium flame and add the shallots and chopped garlic. Cook till garlic is golden.

 

 

Add the wine, tomatoes, ground black pepper,pepper flakes, salt, and the mussels. Cover the pot and steam for about 15 minutes, stirring the bottom shells from time to time to ensure they are evenly cooked. Discard any mussels that do not open.

 

When the mussels have opened, stir in the chopped parsley and basil.Place the mussel soup in individual bowls and place two slices of bruschetta on each bowl, and serve.

 

The bruschette is great for dipping in the soup and picking up all the little pieces of shallot and garlic. MMMM!

Posted in Seafood, soup | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments