Crumb Cake

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

I thought I would share this recipe for crumb cake being it is so popular at family gatherings and office parties. It makes a huge pan of cake and is really easy to do, mixing boxed cake mix with other ingredients. You never have to tell anyone you used Duncan Hines. Opps! I just did.

First time I tasted this crumb cake I was working in the classified department of  The Star Ledger in Newark. It was a staffers birthday and one of the managers made this cake for everyone. When I tasted it I had to have the recipe. There are those who eat something and enjoy it, and then there are those who enjoy what they eat and have to know how it was made so they can repeat the process. I’m the latter. It took a little negotiation, but I managed to pry the recipe from her. I’m glad I did, because whenever I make this cake it’s always a hit. I call it Drake’s coffee cake on steroids.

My brother-in-law Arthur is a connoisseur when it comes to crumb cake, and more specifically, apple crumb cake. When ever we have a family get together Arthur would bring crumb cake. He’s become famous for that, among other things. One year I told him I was making crumb cake so he would not buy it. I brought this crumb cake over to his house and Arthur gave it 4 stars on the Merlino’s rating for crumb cakes.

One year Arthur brought crumb cake to a Thanksgiving dinner at my brother Richard’s house in Long Island. When we finished dinner and put out the desert table, which looked more like the bakery display case at Junior’s Restaurant in Brooklyn, Arthur cut into his crumb cake and discovered it was stale. He couldn’t believe it. My cousins and I were histerical that Arthur, the crumb cake king, would have been duped into buying stale crumb cake. With the dozens of other cakes and pies we had to choose from, no one else would have given it another thought. But Arthur  wrapped up his stale crumb cake in the original box that it came in and quietly placed it in a plastic bag.  We later found out that the next day Arthur went back to the bakery that sold him the stale cake and returned it for his money back. Arthur is a man of principal, and no one should be allowed to sell stale crumb cake and get away with it.

This is about as fresh a crumb cake as you’re going to get. I just made this cake for my co-worker’s birthday, Noemi and Val, and put it out in our lunch room at about 8:30 that morning. By the time I got in off the road from selling  at around 3pm all that was left was an empty pan. Our production artist Frank brought me the pan at my desk that he just cleaned and he didn’t even get a piece. Next time I’ll have to make two. Sorry Frank, you waited too long.

Crumb Cake

  • one box of Duncan Hines Butter Cake mix
  • 4 eggs
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2/3 cups brown sugar
  • 2/3 cups white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 2 sticks margarine. room temperature
  • 1 stick of salted butter, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • confectionery sugar

 

Place the cake mix, eggs, milk and vegetable oil in a mixing bowl and beat for 4 minutes.

 

Grease and flour a large sheet cake or jelly roll pan.

 

Pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.

 

While the cake is baking, in a large mixing bowl add flour, brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon and mix well.

 

In another bowl beat together the margarine, butter and vanilla extract.

 

Add to the flour mixture. Mix it all together with your hands or a wooden spoon to make the crumb. Don’t over mix it but make sure the butters are incorporated into the flour mixture.

 

When the cake is done take it out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

 

Sprinkle the crumb mixture onto the top of the warm cake, making sure you cover the entire surface. Pile it on.

 

Spread the crumb mixture evenly all around the cake to cover.

Bake the cake another 15 minutes at 350.

 

Once the cake is cool sprinkle confectionery sugar on top.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Roasted Peppers

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

There are many ways you can roast peppers. While in Italy, we used to build a wood fire in a fire pit and allow the embers to burn down white hot. We would then place the whole red peppers directly on top of the fire and cover them with more twigs and branches and allow them to burn. Once the peppers where charred black, we would pick them out of the embers, place them onto a plate and bring them into the kitchen to peel and prepare. The wood smoked flavor of these peppers were amazing.

 A cook out in Italy was always a great experience.  On a visit to Calabria we spent a day at the Nocera Terinese Marina, right on the Golfo di Sant’Eufernia. We had the beach all to our selves. This was back in 1983. I understand today the marina is a lot more popular, part of the Italian riviera. But back then we practically had the place to ourselves. We set up shelter and prepared a fire. First thing to go on the fire was a huge pot full of water. For what else? The macaroni! No matter where or when you ate, you had to have pasta with the meal. And a cook out was no different. We roasted peppers, eggplant, everything went on that fire. There wasn’t a hot dog or hamburger within 300 miles. And I didn’t miss them.

Whether we were at the beach or in the mountains, someone would start a fire, and the big pot would come out for the pasta. We would haul water from a local well and the macaroni was cooked. That was all that mattered. And of course, the roasted peppers. One of my uncles would venture off into the woods to find mushrooms. He would come back with a bag full of the wild fungi. I asked him, “you ever pick a poisonous one?” He would look at me with a smile and say in Italian, “I’ve been doing this for 60 years and have not picked a poison mushroom yet”. I trusted him. He knew his stuff.

When I got home to Rockland County, I dug my own fire pit and surrounded it with rocks so I can roast my peppers this way. Once you peeled the peppers, any ash on the pepper goes away with the peel.

If you don’t want to fire roast your peppers you can always place them on the BBQ  grill over hot coals and roast till charred. Or you can broil them in the oven, keeping your eye on them and turn so they blacken evenly all over. Without charring the peppers black they would be impossible to peel. Allow the peppers to cool before you peel them.

Peppers prepared this way make a great appetizer served with plenty of fresh Italian bread. Add a bowl of fresh tomato salad with chopped basil and garlic and extra virgin olive oil and a dish of Italian cheese and olives and you have the making of a great light summer meal. If you’re grilling Italian sausages, these peppers make a great accompaniment. If you are making a sandwich with the sausages just place them in a fresh Italian roll or piece of Italian bread and top the sausages with these peppers. Drizzle some of the oil on the bread and you have the making of a great sandwich.

I usually serve these peppers in a small bowl surrounded with provolone cheese, olives and sliced dried salami and sopressata.  If you have some homemade eggplant caponata or eggplant with mint this makes a great antipasto.

 

Roasted peppers

  • 5  red peppers, washed and left whole
  • 1 clove garlic, minced fine
  • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 fresh basil leaf, chopped fine

 

Roast the whole peppers over an open flame until the skin is charred black all around the pepper. Place the peppers in a brown paper bag and leave 20 minutes to cool. The brown paper bag will absorb most of the moisture away from the peppers.

Once the peppers have cooled, peel of the charred skin and scape off the seeds from inside the pepper.

Pull off the stem and slice each pepper into 1/2 inch thin strips.

While the peppers are still warm, add the chopped garlic, olive oil, basil and salt and pepper. Mix well and allow to marinate at room temperature for an hour before serving.

I LOVE THESE THINGS!

Posted in Antipasto, vegetable | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Tripe – Trippa Alla Parmigiana

Posted on May 30, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

OK folks, this is not one of the more popular Italian dishes. I’ll bet you will not find it at Olive Garden, Bocca di Peppe  or Macaroni Grill.  For those of you who know what tripe is you have either tasted it and love it, tasted it and hate it, or never tasted it. For those who have no idea what tripe is, quite simply it’s the stomach of the cow. Beef tripe is the most common found in the supermarkets, but you can get tripe from any animal including sheep, goat, pigs and deer. I use fresh beef  honeycomb tripe.

I absolutely love tripe. I don’t just like it, I love it! I don’t make it often,  only about three times a year. But when I make it, my sons don’t eat it (although I have to say, they both tried it) so I eat it every day until it’s gone.  They love how it tastes , but they can’t get past the consistency and knowing what it is. I should have started them at an earlier age.

How nutritious is tripe?  Tripe contains a large amount of connective tissue which forms gelatin when cooked. And that is basically the consistency of tripe when you eat it. A 150-g portion is a good source of calcium, protein, niacin, iron, zinc, and copper and contains 7 g of fat, of which one-fifth is saturated.

But I make tripe because I love it!  Did I say that already? And I’m sure my grandmother made it because she and my grandfather loved it as well. I could remember the look on my grandfather’s face when my grandmother place a bowl of tripe in front of him. You think she just put the King’s treasure on his plate. As a matter of fact those were his words before he ate tripe or capozzelle (lamb’s head) “Ahhh, today I eata lika king!”  Grandpa, the King gave those scraps to the servants. My grandfather could buy and afford the best cuts of meats whenever he wanted them. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that he was a butcher. But when this peasant food was placed in front of him, he would comment he was eating like a King.  I love him!

So for the more adventurous of my readers I offer you this delicious recipe for Trippa ala Parmigiana. I could never get enough of it. And it’s just as good the next day reheated, and the next day, and the next. I’m glad my boys don’t eat this. Is that being selfish?

TRIPPA ALLA PARMIGIANA

  • 2  1/2 pounds tripe
  • 1 carrot 1 onion 1 stalk of celery, each cut in half
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1  1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
  • 2/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth plus more to cover
  • 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in large cubes
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmigiana cheese
  • Salt and pepper

Most tripe you purchased is cleaned. Rinse thoroughly under cold water anyway. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil.

Add to it the carrot, onion and celery.

Add the tripe, cover and cook at a moderate boil for 20 minutes. Drain and place the tripe in a bowl to cool. Discard the water and vegetables cooked with the tripe.

Once the tripe is cooled, cut it into little bite sized pieces and set aside.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

In a heavy casserole or dutch oven put the olive oil, 1 tablespoon of butter, and chopped onion, celery and carrot and cook slowly over medium low heat for about 5 minutes or until vegetables have gotten soft.

Add the crushed garlic, parsley, and rosemary and cook just long enough to stir everything well .

Add the tripe, stirring it into the vegetables and seasonings, and cook it for 5 minutes. Add the white wine and raise the heat to medium high, boiling the wine for about 30 seconds.

Add the tomatoes, freshly ground black pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and broth, enough to cover the tripe, and bring to a light boil. Cover the pot and bake for 2  1/2 hours.

After the 2  1/2 hours, uncover the pot and check for liquid, add some water if necessary. Add the potatoes, stir into the tripe and cover and cook an additional 1/2 hour.

When done, remove from the oven and swirl in 2 tablespoons butter and 3/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Mix well.

Trippa alla Parmigiana

Posted in Beef | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Mom’s Classic Potato Salad

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

Hawaiian Luau

Yes, this is classic American  potato salad. Did you think my mom made nothing but Italian food? She made a pretty good pea soup as well which I will share in another blog.

Whenever my sister Annette would have one of her teen age parties my mother would make this potato salad, among other things. When Hawaii became a state in 1959 it was all the rage to have “Hawaiian Luau Parties”. In 1959 my sister was 18 years old. What an excuse for a party!

It was the event of the decade. In 1959 I was 5 years old and was smack in the middle of everything. The planning my mother and sister made for this party would make the Obama’s party planners look like amatures. My mother spared no expense.  Our entire basement was transformed into the House of Kamehameha. I was surprised they didn’t dress my father up in a grass skirt and send him to roast a pig in the back yard.

The house support poles that lined the length of our basement were turned into palm trees, complete with brown crepe paper wrapping the poles and green crepe paper cut outs forming the swaying palm leaves. My mother made a grass skirt hula girl on the wall behind the table of food, just in case you didn’t think you were on the island of  Maui.

When my sister’s friends arrived they were all greeted with authentic plastic Hawaiian Leis. My mother made her famous New Year’s Eve pink lemonade punch, minus the whiskey, and added pineapple . All the boys were wearing Hawaiian flowered shirts and the girls had exotic flowers in their hair. Elvis was singing Blue Hawaii on the Victrola and I thought I had actually made it to Disney Land.  The only thing missing were the Tiki birds. I’m not too sure of the entire menu, but I know my mother made her Hawaiian Ham with slices of pineapple pinned to the pig with toothpicks and dotted with cloves and brown sugar.

And then everyone played that traditional Hawaiian game called the “broom dance”. It’s not Hawaiian? Well, that’s what they told me. For those of you not old enough to know what the broom dance was, it went something like this. Everyone had a partner to dance with except one person, that was me. I danced with the broom. When the music stopped everyone changed partners, yes even me, I dropped the broom, and quickly got a new partner. The last one left without a partner had to dance with the broom. The music would start again and we repeated this ridiculous routine. For some reason, I danced with the broom more than anyone that night. But I was having a ball. Every once in a while I’d tag one of my sister’s girlfriends. I would grab onto one of them and not let go.  I thought once you grabbed one you had them, but a few got away. I’m sure they loved dancing with a chubby five year old. I might have fallen in love that night for the first time.

If only my cousin Concetta was there. She would have been the most authentic Hawaiian at the party. My Uncle Sal was stationed in Hawaii and my cousin grew up as a teenager there. She actually learned how to hula from a kumu hula. She had the entire traditional dress and learned all the complex hand motions that signified the aspects of nature, such as the basic Hula and Coconut Tree motions. She could tell stories of the islands with her hand and leg motions. It was actually quite impressive. I remember seeing home movies of her.

But, we had to settle for what we had…Don Ho and Tiny Bubbles. When the party was over my mother could not bring herself to tear down the crepe paper palm trees. So for years after the Hawaiian Luau we kept the support poles in the basement dressed as palm trees.  I wish we really had Tiki Birds. I didn’t get to Disney Land for another 10 years.

Mom’s Potato Salad

  • 5 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 1 rib celery, diced
  • 1/2 large onion, diced
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
  • 2 heaping tablespoons sweet pickle relish, drained
  • 1/2 cup real mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • paprika
  • salt
  • 1/2 cup ripe olives

In a large mixing bowl combine onion, celery, chopped hard boiled eggs, sweet pickle relish, mayo, mustard, and sugar. Mix well to combine.

Boil cubed peeled potatoes till tender. Drain and allow to cool in colander.  Once cooled, slice the potatoes and add to the dressing in large bowl. Mix gently. Taste for salt.  Spoon into a serving bowl  or tray. Sprinkle top with paprika and decorate with black olives. Chill before serving.

Posted in Salad | Tagged | 2 Comments

Pasta Carbonara

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

I love this pasta dish! It’s one of my favorites.  This is in no way the original pasta carbonara recipe, which is a traditional Roman dish. My mother made this version for us and we all loved it. 

I have seen a lot of versions of pasta carbonara.  This is a simple dish, a peasant dish, and whenever I order it out they always ruin it by adding mushrooms, ham, cream, peas and all sorts of things that don’t belong in this dish. So I don’t order it out much.

My mother made this all the time. She always used onions in her recipe. I enjoy it with onions because it adds a sweetness to the carbonara. But essentially it’s an egg and bacon pasta. The bacon being pancetta, Italian bacon. It’s very easy and quick to make. About as much time to boil the water and cook the pasta.

This was one of the dishes I learned to make myself very early on. When money was tight, pasta carbonara was a very inexpensive dish to make and filled you up. It was also a dish you made late at night when unexpected friends were over and you got hungry but did not want to leave the house. In about 15 minutes you had enough food to satisfy everyone.

Pasta Carbonara

  • 1 pound linguine, or bow tie pasta
  • 1 large onion sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 stick salted butter
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 oz pancetta diced
  • 3 large eggs beaten
  • 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes

 

   Cook pasta according to directions.
 
DSCN1326

In the meantime in  a large skillet melt butter and add olive oil over medium heat.

Add onions and pancetta and cook till onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Turn off flame.

Just before the pasta is done and you drain the pasta, take 1/2 cup of pasta water and slowly pour it over the beaten eggs while stirring quickly. This will temper the eggs so they don’t turn into scrambled eggs when you add to the pasta.

Drain the pasta.  Place pasta in the skillet with flame on low with the onions, and pancetta, mix well.

DSCN1329

 While pasta is still hot, turn off the heat and pour beaten egg slowly onto the pasta while stirring quickly, you do not want scrambled eggs.  The heat from the pasta will cook the egg.

Add grated cheese, salt, freshly grated black pepper and red pepper flakes. Toss to mix well. If you want more cream to the pasta add some pasta water and mix well until you get the desired consistency.

 

Posted in Pasta | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Italian Iced Coffee

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

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The first time I had iced coffee in Italy I was in Taormina. Taormina is a small town on the east coast of Sicily. The  village of Taormina is perched on a cliff overlooking the Ionian sea. Besides the ancient Greek theatre, it has many old churches, lively bars, fine restaurants, and antique shops. Taormina is approximately a forty-five minute drive away from Europe’s largest active volcano, Mount Etna.

I was sitting in one of Taormina’s many outdoor cafes and saw “iced coffee” on the menu. It was quite warm outside so I thought I would rather have that than something hot. And I wasn’t in the mood for Granita, which is a Sicilian lemon ice made from fresh lemons grown on the island. A treat I have only had in Sicily and never found anything comparable anywhere else.

I gave the waiter my order and sat back in my chair to relax and enjoy the wonderful breeze that was coming up from the cliff in front of me off of the Ionian sea. It was a perfect day for people watching.

The iced coffee came and the waiter placed it in front of me. I was anticipating an ice filled glass of coffee when he arrived. But I got something totally unexpected. Inside the glass were two scoops of vanilla gelato floating in sweetened espresso coffee. I thought, I could like this.

The rich roasted flavor of the espresso coffee and the cool creaminess of the vanilla gelato was just wonderful together. You tasted the vanilla cream with a background of rich espresso coffee. Delicious! I knew I was in Italy!

I have never had this before. Such a simple concoction, yet such a delicious treat. That was over 25 years ago and since that time I have never seen coffee served that way anywhere. But that certainly was not the last time I enjoyed Italian iced coffee.

Every summer I make this desert and serve it to family and friends with the same enjoyable results. And it’s really quite simple to make.

Brew your espresso ahead of time. Place it in a glass bottle or jar and sweeten it with 1- 1/2 teaspoons of sugar for each espresso size glass you make.  An espresso cup holds approximately 2 oz of liquid. There are many different ways of making espresso. If you have an espresso machine that’s fine. But they only make one or two cups at a time and you could be there all day brewing 10 cups of espresso. There are many on the market and they go for big bucks. I have one myself, and quite honestly, it’s more bother than it’s worth. And it’s another one use kitchen appliance that takes up room on your counter top.

For my money I’ll go with the way my grandmother used to make it, with a flip over drip Neopolitan espresso maker or the aluminum pot that you brew on the stove top. I’ve also used a French Press for making espresso with very good results, but the fine grain of the espresso coffee make it a little difficult to press the coffee.

Once you have your espresso made,  I use 1 tablespoon of espresso coffee for each 20z of water, sweeten it and place it in the refrigerator to cool. When your ready to serve place about two scoops of premium vanilla or french vanilla ice cream into a tall glass. Pour about two espresso cups (4 oz) of espresso over the ice cream. Serve with a spoon and straw.

You will never think of iced coffee the same way again!

As a side note, during the summer I always keep a bottle of sweetened espresso coffee in the refrigerator. I may not always have vanilla ice cream with my espresso, but it’s a great little pick me up straight up any time of day when the weather is warm outside. You can even make iced “cafe latte” with it. Just fill a glass with ice, place about 4 oz of  espresso in the glass and fill  the rest with milk.

Oh, you might be wondering, what gourmet Italian roasted coffee I use? The same my grandmother always used…Medaglia D’oro Caffe Espresso.

Posted in Dessert, Drinks | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Mpanada Ragusana – Lamb Stuffing

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

 For the Easter Holidays my Uncle Sal Arestia, my Aunt Mary’s husband,  used to make this every year. My father, who came from Ragusa like my uncle, says his mother used to make it for him as well. It’s a real specialty in my father’s town.

No one has made this dish in my family since my Uncle Sal passed away more than 25 years ago. I did a little family research and came up with the original recipe my uncle used. Today my father is 92 years old and  just the other week mentioned how he used to love eating this mpanada agnello specialty when he was a little boy. I surprised him one weekend when he was over and served him “mpanada agnello”. Boy, did he enjoy it! Like a kid in a candy store. He couldn’t get enough. That’s what I love about certain foods. It feeds the soul. I asked him if it tasted like his mothers. He said it was really tasty, but his mother used to make it with chunks of lamb with the bone still on it. I asked him, “how do you eat this pie if there are bones in it?” “With a knife and fork”, he said. “You pull out the meat and eat the meat around the bones. The bones add extra flavor to the mpanada.” Well, I guess I missed that part. I guess the pie holds together the whole package, bones and all. And you just cut into it and eat it that way. I prefer it without the bones. We live in a convenient society and I like just picking this up and eating it like a sandwich. Either way, it’s a matter of preference.

Even without the bones, my father really enjoyed it. So did I.

The sweetness of the onions permeates the lamb and the red sauce flavored with red wine gives this savory dish a mouth watering appeal. Brought me back to Easter 1960. I served this with a side of escarole cooked with garlic and olive oil. What a treat!

Mpanada Agnello

For the dough

  • 2  1/2 cup all purpose flour
  •  1 envelopes of dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil 
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of sugar

 
In a bowl mix 1 cup of warm water, sugar and the yeast. Add ½of the flour, mix until it is well blended and a soft dough is obtained. Combine  remaining flour, the oil, salt and knead to obtain an  elastic dough, similar to bread dough. Make a ball,  put it in a lightly greased bowl, cover and put in a warm place until it almost doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. 

  • 2 lb. boneless lamb,  cut in small chunks
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 medium size onions, finely chopped
  • 1 cup of dry red wine
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato paste diluted into one cup of water
  • salt and pepper

    • In a 4 qt. saucepan, over a medium flame heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil with the onions and the lamb. Saute until the onions are light golden in color and the lamb is browned on all sides. You will get a lot of moisture in the pan from the lamb. Let that cook off and then the onion and lamb will brown. Add wine and increase to a high heat to allow the alcohol to quickly evaporate. Lower heat to a medium flame and add tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste; cook for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

     You should wind up with a thick sauce coating the lamb.

    Divide the risen dough in half. Roll out one half into a 16 inch circle and place in a lightly greased pan. Spoon the lamb mixture onto the dough, leaving a 1 inch space around the edges. Moisten the edges with water and roll out the second piece of dough and place on top. Seal and crimp the edged and cut 2 or 3 slits on the top to allow the steam to escape.

    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake 15 minutes. Brush the top with olive oil and bake an additional 15 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

    Posted in lamb, pizza | Tagged , | 1 Comment

    Sicilian Fried Eggs with Bread Crumbs and Cheese

    Posted on May 21, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

    In A Pinch

    It’s finally 5pm.  Another rough week at work. Trying to get home. Tractor trailer overturned on I-287 at exit 41. One lane opened. Man, that 10 acre farm in northern New York looks awfully good.

    Two and a half hours later, Bella, my 8 year old German Shepherd is really happy to see me! I am too Bella. The stress of the week totally subsides. And I’m hungry. But Bella wants to play, not to mention run outside and take care of her business. Dinner? One thing at a time.

    By now it’s close to 8pm. What the heck am I going to eat? I open the fridge and peer inside, for a while, like something already cooked is going to materialize. Maybe If I stare long enough. Left over Marinara sauce. I just had pasta last night.  Eggs, Italian bread…….Got it!

    Once again, for a group of people that are not big on breakfast, this egg dish is one of my favorites. But who says we have to  eat this for breakfast?

    This is a great dish to make for a quick supper.  And tonight, it’s perfect. I usually make it when I have extra tomato sauce in the fridge. The common name for this dish is “eggs in purgatory”.  But this one has a little twist. The top of the eggs are sprinkled with a Romano Cheese and bread crumb mixture. Wow! That’s good! Many people  don’t realize how good fried eggs and tomato sauce taste. At one time or another we all put ketchup on our fried egg sandwich. Well, this blows that away.

    There are many variations of this. Some people bake the eggs in the tomato sauce and add toasted bread to the bottom of the pan.

    We keep it simple. And tonight is one of those simple nights. It’s always good to add some red pepper flakes to the finished dish. Once in a while I sprinkle on some Tobasco sauce. The added vinegar gives it a nice touch.

    • 3/4 cups plain bread crumbs
    • 1/3 cup grated Romano Cheese
    • 1 – 1/2 cups tomato sauce
    • olive oil
    • 8 large eggs
    • Salt and black pepper

    Combine the bread crumbs and cheese in a bowl.

    Heat the tomato sauce in a saucepan and keep at a very low simmer, stirring often.

    In a 12-inch nonstick frying pan, heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Break the eggs, side by side, into the pan. Sprinkle with salt and the bread crumb mixture. Cook over low heat until the eggs are set. Separate the eggs with the end of a spatula and gently turn over, one by one. Cook only 1 minutes for a soft yolk, longer for a harder one.

    Invert the eggs onto a plate. Spoon the tomato sauce over the eggs and serve at once. Sprinkle with a little grated romano cheese on top and black pepper. These are great with fried potatoes and crisp Italian bread.

    Posted in eggs | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

    Baked Chicken with Lemon and Garlic

    Posted on May 19, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

    WHEN A HOUSE IS REALLY A HOME

    When my grandfather first came to this country he worked as a laborer, building the subway system in New York City. Most likely he worked for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), which was expanding existing lines during that time period. Back in Vizzini, Italy he learned his father’s trade of being a butcher, but here in America he needed to make money at whatever job he could find. He met my grandmother in New York, but knew she was from his home town in Italy. A nice girl with a good family background and hard worker.

    When my grandparents got married they moved in with my grandmother’s family on Elizabeth Street between Canal Street and Hester, right off the Bowery. My grandmother’s parents, Concetta and Ralph had a son, Joseph, and daughter Mary. My grandmother Lili was the oldest.  She also had another brother that died when he was very young.

    When my grandparents had their first son, Salvatore, they moved into their own cold water flat in the same building at 54 Elizabeth Street. Two years later my mother Rose came into the world, and Concetta and Ralph had a third daughter, Angie. Angie and my mother were born within a year of each other in 1918 . Even though Angie was my mother’s aunt, they grew up like sisters.

    At some point my grandfather decided that breaking his back for the City of New York was not what he wanted to do and saved enough money to go into business for himself and opened up his first butcher shop on Hester street, not a block away from where he lived. Prior to that move the apartment my grandparents lived in had a shared  bathroom and bath with another family that lived on their floor, two families sharing a bathroom in a common hall. My mother could remember walking up the long flight of stairs to her apartment and seeing gas lamps on the walls. Once my grandfather’s business started going, he was able to afford a larger apartment in the same building that had a private bath. Living in the lap of luxury!

    In 1928, just before the Great Depression, my grandfather did what I did some 50 years later, moved his family out of the City and into the Suburbs, Brooklyn, New York. Not just his family, my grandmother’s family as well.

    Back in 1928 Brooklyn still had many farms and dirt roads scattered around the borough. My grandfather bought a two family house on 77 Street between 15th and 16th Avenue for about $15,000, a lot of money back then.  The house was a resale and my grandparents were the first of many Italian families that moved into this Jewish neighborhood.

    In order for them to survive during those tough economic times  my grandfather rented the top floor of the house to another family. My grandparents lived on the first floor with their two children Rose and Salvatore, along with their parents, Concetta and Ralph and their three children, Joseph, Mary and Angie. There were only three bedrooms on the first floor so my grandparents took one and my great grandparents took the other. Mary, Angie and my mother shared one bedroom and the boys, Joseph and Salvatore slept on cots in the living room and kitchen.

    My grandfather opened his second butcher shop on 15th Avenue off of 77 Street. He Eventually opened a another on 71st Street and one on 18th Avenue where my Uncle Sal worked.

    In 1928 when they made the move to Brooklyn my mother Rose and her older brother Sal were 10 and 12 years old. So they grew up playing in the same streets I did. And actually went to the same schools that I did as well. A teacher my mother  had in elementary school was still teaching when I attended P.S. 201, Dyker Heights Junior High School.

    There were quite a few changes in that house since my grandfather first moved in. Back then they heated the house with coal, and in the back of the house was the coal shoot that they poured the deliverys of coal through.  The basement wasn’t finished then.

    During the worst times of the depression everyone contributed to the upkeep of the house. Although people were hurting, they still had to eat. Maybe not as extravagant, but enough for my grandfather to survive in his business and do quite well. Enough to expand and have three businesses going at once. For a man with a 6th grade education, he knew how to run a business.

    Eventually my great-grandparents moved out of the house and got their own apartment near by. That old house went through many more changes.When my mother got married she and my father moved in with my grandparents and all four took the top floor of the house. My grandfather split the apartment below into two living areas and collected two more rents. I said he was a good business man.  It wasn’t a legal 3 family, but he did what he had to do in order to survive. And my father was a master carpenter so my grandfather had all he needed to renovate the house, eventually finishing the basement and added that to the living space. That’s how a kitchen wound up in the basement.

    I could remember when I bought my single family house in Rockland county with an acre of land I was proud of my accomplishment and brought my grandfather up to see my achievement. He said “You crazy! Why no you buy a two family house?? Thata way you hava an income coming in!” That’s how he thought. And he was right. With today’s tough economy and taxes going through the roof, if I had bought a two family house I would have been better off today. But back in 1977, I got a piece of the American Dream.

    When my father was called for service during World War ll, my sister was a year old. And of course my mother had the security of living with her family. During that time my father made a record he shipped home to my mother from France. He sang the Cole Porter hit from Kiss Me Kate “So In Love”. My father was a great tenor. We still have that record. I haven’t heard it in years.

    When the war was over and my brother  Richard was born my parents needed more room.  And they were tired of changing the space around everytime the house inspectors came to check how many families were living there. So they moved out of my grandparent’s apartment and occupied the basement and front rooms of the house.  They still had another family living in the four back rooms. We have old family movies from that time that show many parties held in our basement with all the family gathering in front of the bright spot lights my father had attached to his 8mm camera. Every one was squinting. He bought that camera because my mother was due to give birth to me any day.

    When I finally arrived, seven years after my brother’s birth and 13 years from my sister, my mother was 36 years old. I don’t think my parents planned on having a third child but I was a gift that just kept on giving. My parents needed more room again and two years after my birth we took over the entire first floor of the house, including the basement.  I shared a room with my brother.

    Growing up in that house I never realized the history that preceded me. To me it was always home. And home to many others. When my Aunt Angie and Aunt Mary and Uncle Joseph came over for the holidays with their family and children they were celebrating in their home. And when my Uncle Sal came over for a visit with his wife Paula and children Concetta and Peter they were as much a part of this house as anyone else. When we were all together we were “la familia”,  celebrating as a family.

    It’s no wonder why my Grandfather Pietro  and Grandmother Lili were considered the Patriarch and Matriarch of the family. It was a title they well deserved.

    I remember carrying this dish of baked chicken with lemon and garlic many times up from the basement oven. My mother never used the oven in the kitchen on the floor that we lived in. She used to store her pots and pans in that one. This chicken dish is really simple to make and the flavor of the potatoes with the lemon and garlic is wonderful. I always make it with extra potatoes because they taste so good. I hope you enjoy it!

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    Baked Chicken with Lemon and Garlic

    • 1 chicken, cut into pieces
    • 2 lemons
    • Zest of 1 lemon
    • 3 potatoes, unpeeled and cut into wedges
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 5-6 garlic cloves, whole 
    • Salt and freshly ground pepper

    Preheat the oven to 450 degrees

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    Place the chicken and potatoes in a baking pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Squeeze the juice of one whole lemon over the chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle with the oil, oregano, garlic, lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything up with your hands in order to coat everything, then leave the chicken skin side up. Slice the second lemon and tuck the lemon slices between the chicken and potatoes.

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    Bake the chicken for 45 minutes. Baste with the pan juices. Continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken is browned and the potatoes are cooked.

    Plate the chicken, potatoes and lemon slices. Skim off most of the fat from the pan, then drizzle the chicken and potatoes with the the juices.

    Posted in Chicken | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

    Steak Pizzaiola

    Posted on May 16, 2010 by Peter Bocchieri

     The Gestapo Way

    They used to call him “Booch”. That was my brother’s nick name during his high school years. Back then, Richard, aka Booch, hung around with a less than desirable crowd.  A crowd, you can say, that was in training for bigger things. And my mother knew it.

    She didn’t like the group of kids my brother associated with and my mother did everything in her power to get in the way and lead my brother on the straight and narrow path. If anyone could do it, my mother could.

    She succeeded, quite well. I could remember reading about some of his friends, years later, ending up in jail for all sorts of crimes. Extortion, loan sharking, you name it. Who knows if any of them are alive today. But because of my mother’s intervention, my brother grew up pretty damn good.

    There were all sorts of bad influences in our neighborhood. You didn’t have to search far to find them.  Wise guys, connected people, people with time on their hands because they didn’t hold a nine to five job in order to buy their Cadillacs or fancy suits. You know what I mean. But my mother was more effective than any vice squad or crime prevention unit. She nipped it in the bud. Let me give you an example of my mother’s technique of not letting any of us get away with anything.

    The year was 1960. My brother Richard was 12 years old and a student at Our Lady of Guadalupe  Parochial school. The movie Spartacus with Kirk Douglas had just been released in the theatres and Richard’s friends were all going to the movies that weekend to catch the flick. After repeated attempts to convince my mother that he would finish his school work after the matinée my mother made it very clear that Richard was not going anywhere until he finished his studies.

    How my brother thought that he could sneak out of the house and join his friends at the movies without my mother finding out is a mystery to me till this day. But, at 12 years old, you lack the gene of good judgement and only see the prize at the end of the tunnel. Spartacus was just too much of a temptation that would lead my brother out of the slavery of doing his school work to go off and join his Thracian brothers in his own revolt to freedom!

    If you are familiar with the movie, it didn’t work out too well for Spartacus. The Roman army was just too powerful.  My brother was about to suffer the same fate as Spartacus did at the hands of my mother who marched as an army of one, and took no prisoners. Spartacus was crucified at the end of the film and fortunately for my brother, his fate was not going to be that serious. But what my brother was about to experience, crucifixion would have been the easy way out.

    Richard made it to the movie theatre with his friends and as they all settled down in their seats, the house lights dimmed and the film was about to begin. What could be more exciting for a twelve-year-old than the spectacle of Roman slave gladiators, fighting to the death and seeing Kirk Douglas in a flat top crew cut.

    At some point my mother realized that Richard was missing. He was not in his room studying and could not be found anywhere in the house. She opened the front door and called his name to see if he might have been in the back yard or nearby. Richard was missing. And my mother knew exactly where he was.

    The beam of the flashlight started out small and slowly grew wider as the movie matron walked down the aisle towards the row my brother and his friends were occupying. At some point, subconsciously, my brother must have had a bad feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong. He was sitting in the middle of the row and caught the beam of light in his peripheral vision. The movie matron shined the light down my brother’s row and as my brother turned he was blinded by the light and was only able to make out the form and silhouette of two people. Instinctively, he knew one of those forms was my mother. She didn’t say a word. Neither did my brother. He simply jumped up out of his seat and climbed over his friends and headed towards the light!

    My brother’s friends must have thought that Richard had one too many Cokes the way he jumped out of his seat. If they even realized he was missing. It happened all too fast. Rather than suffer the embarrassment and humiliation of having your mother come get you in the middle of a movie and make a scene, my brother knew exactly what he had to do and realizing his situation, sprinted out of his seat like a jack rabbit and raced towards the exit.

    I would have loved to been a fly on the wall as my mother negotiated with the theatre manager that she had to get inside and pull out her son who was attending the screening of Spartacus without her permission. If I know my mother well enough, I’m sure she also got a refund for my brother’s ticket.

    My brother caught hell that day and I’m sure was grounded for months. How many parents today would have done what my mother did? I suspect not too many. Oh, you can’t embarrass your children in front of their friends. What about their self esteem? You need to sit them down and discuss how disobeying your parents was not acceptable behavior. And suggest they think about what they did as they sit in their room with their Sony Play Station and video conferencing with their friends.

    Hogwash! My mother followed the rule of law. And the law was broken. And Richard was to suffer the consequence. Judge, trial and jury all rolled up into one angry Italian Mamma. And justice was served on a silver platter.

    If I’m not mistaken, a few years ago, on a Saturday afternoon, my brother Richard was getting ready to watch the movie Spartacus on network TV. He was finally going to  watch the movie he never got to see so many years ago. Halfway through the flick his wife Lillian came into the room and shut off the TV and said, “You’re watching TV?? Your mother is waiting for you! You should have picked her up a half hour ago!!”

    Richard never did get to see the rest of Spartacus. In some wierd way, my brother was serving a life sentence for a crime he committed over 50 years ago of disobeying my mother.

    ________________________________________________________

    My mother would make this steak pizzaiola with a cheaper cut of meat, like chuck steak,  and braise it in the sauce for at least an hour. Almost like an Italian pot roast. Chances are if you order steak pizzaiola today in a restaurant it is served with a better cut of beef, cooked till your desired doneness, then covered with a flavorful tomato sauce. That is not the way Mom or Grandma made it. This is their version, and to be honest with you, I prefer it this way.  The meat becomes fork tender, and the cheaper cut of meat is much more flavorful with the fat and adds a richness to the tomato sauce.

    Steak Pizzaiola

    • 1 – 2 pounds of chuck steak
    • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
    • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 2 medium onion, thinly sliced
    • Two 28 oz cans Italian peeled tomatoes crushed by hand
    • 1/2 cup water
    • 1 teaspoon dry oregano
    • 1/2 cup red wine
    • Salt and pepper to taste
    • pinch of red pepper flakes
    • Optional if you want to add sliced red peppers and mushrooms

    Season the steaks with salt and pepper.

    In a large sauté pan heat olive oil over medium high heat and sear the steaks about 3 minutes each side.

    Remove the steaks and place aside.

    In the same pan on medium high heat,  cook the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook 1 minute stirring. Deglaze pan with red wine and cook down for 1 minute.

    Add the crushed tomatoes, water to rinse the cans,  oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and bring sauce to simmer. Add the steaks and what ever juice accumulated in the dish. Cover and cook over low heat for about 1 1/2 hours. Last half hour uncover and cook till sauce thickens. Taste for seasoning.

    This sauce is so incredible you can serve it with pasta, like rigatoni.

    Serve with plenty of crusty Italian bread for mopping up sauce.

    Posted in Beef | Tagged , | 2 Comments