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Chicken Saltimbocca

Posted in Food Links, tagged , , , , on November 24, 2010| 5 Comments »

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Is it really a digression if you start a conversation with an off-topic point? Hmm. Perhaps instead it’s just good old-fashioned rambling…

I’ve noticed over the past year of learning the ropes of blogland that many bloggers choose to protect the privacy of their loved ones by either referring to them with an initial or giving them some sort of pseudonym. By this logic, my fiance would become “[N]” or perhaps even “Mr. Crafter.” If you know “[N]” at all, you are no doubt doubled over laughing at the thought of him ever being referred to as “Mr. Crafter.” Having his privacy protected, on the other hand, is very much up his alley. That said, I think for the sake of this post, I will simply call him Mr. Manly.

Mr. Manly is, well, manly. And patient. Let’s just say that pretty much the entire premise of this blog is outside his area of expertise. But he has perfected the fine art of nodding and saying “yes dear” whenever I go off on a tangent about fabric, is incredibly skilled at turning a blind eye to the ever-growing craft area taking over the corner of our living room, and has, on multiple occasions, driven me all over God’s creation to search out a much-needed specialty ingredient for one of my cooking adventures. Most importantly though, he can EAT.

Mr. Manly has a birthday today. (Is it just me, or is this starting to sound like a children’s book? Mr. Manly woke up one fine Sunday morning to sunshine streaming through the bedroom window. He leapt out of bed, ready to face the day. After a twenty minute rant about the civil war, he proceeded to the kitchen to make Mrs. Manly her favorite breakfast of Eggs Benedict, fresh cinnamon buns, and a tall glass of Diet Coke. “My dear Mrs. Manly — can I please take you shopping at the mall now?” asked Mr. Manly… Oh wait. That’s not a children’s book, that’s fantasy.) Moving on… Moving on…

To celebrate his birthday, I, of course, will be making one of Mr. Manly’s favorite meals. Meal of choice this year? Chicken Saltimbocca. (Cue end of very long rambling-intro-digression.)

What I love about Chicken Saltimbocca is that it’s one of those meals that is so incredibly quick and easy, yet tastes and looks like something from a restaurant. What I also love is that you don’t really need a recipe; to be honest, I do it differently every time I make it. Sometimes I use thin pieces of chicken, sometimes whole breasts. Sometimes I roll them up, sometimes I leave them flat. Heck, sometimes when I’m feeling particularly lazy, I don’t even bother properly layering anything, and I just throw it all into a pan. In my book, pretty much any combination of cooked chicken breast, prosciutto, sage, Fontina cheese, and pan sauce can be called “Saltimbocca”. Italian culinary purists will tell you that a true Saltimbocca doesn’t have cheese in it (they’ll also remind you that it should be done with veal and not chicken); many Italian-American cooks will tell you it ought to be breaded. Since we’ve got to start somewhere, though, let’s take a look at a specific iteration I made a little while back, shall we?

This particular go round, I started with boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets. They happened to be on hand. I also happened to have on hand the best prosciutto in the world — the prosciutto cotto from Salumeria Italiana. To start, layer each piece of chicken with a slice of Fontina cheese, a slice of prosciutto, and a sage leaf.

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Next, roll the chicken up into a not-so-neat bundle, and secure with a toothpick.

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Salt and pepper the chicken bundles, then heat a skillet (preferably metal for a nice sear), add some olive oil, and put in your chicken. Cook in batches if needed so as not to overcrowd the pan.

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Especially with cutlets, your chicken will cook FAST. As in, just a few minutes per side. By the time you have a nice golden sear all around, the chicken will be cooked through.

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Note that in the picture above, it is NOT cooked all the way through yet — see the raw area in the piece on the left? Photo was taken just after flipping. Do also note the drool-inducing gob of melted cheese making its way out of the center of the piece on the right, however.

When fully cooked, remove the chicken from the pan, and set aside (you can cover with foil or put in a warm oven if you want to do it properly and keep it warm — I’m usually too lazy). Now it’s time to make your pan sauce. Start by deglazing your pan with either sherry or Madeira cooking wine. I don’t remember which I used this time — depends on which bottle I happen to grab first. For newbie cooks, “deglazing” simply means adding a little liquid to the pan you just used and cooking it over medium heat while scraping up all the little bits of caked-on meat left in your pan. It will make your sauce yummy. What’s nice about Saltimbocca is that usually you get not only little bits of chicken in your sauce, but also chunks of prosciutto. Keyboard is getting drooled on again…

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Start with a little liquid at first to loosen the bits of meat from the pan, and then add more as it starts to cook down. I like to also add some butter for flavor and a slightly thicker texture. You can also add a little flour or arrowroot starch if you like a thicker sauce.

Now, assemble the chicken on a plate, drizzle with sauce, and garnish with a pair of sage leaves. Enjoy!

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The original recipe I based this on is below; I’m afraid I can’t credit it properly as it was passed on to me by my Mom. You’ll see it is a bit different than what I’ve just described. Bottom line, no need to be fussy — just go with it!

I think this may be my most hunger-inducing post to date. Luckily for me, it’s time to go make some Birthday ‘Bocca.

Chicken Saltimbocca
serves 4

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves (~5 oz ea)
  • 4 oz Fontina cheese, thinly sliced
  • 6 oz prosciutto, thinly sliced
  • 16 large fresh sage leaves
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 T. unsalted butter
  • 1 c. Madeira

Slice the tenderloin (small flap of meat) off the chicken breast halves; set aside. Cut each breast on the bias into 3 medallions. Place tenderloins and medallions between two layers of plastic wrap and pound to 1/16″ thick. On each piece, layer a slice of Fontina, half a slice of proscuitto, and a sage leaf; secure by threading a toothpick through the layers. Sprinkle underside of each with salt and pepper.

Melt 1 T. butter in a skillet over high heat. Saute half the pieces, chicken side down, until golden, 2-3 minutes. Turn and cook 1 minute more. Remove from pan and keep warm. Repeat with 1 T. butter and remaining chicken. Remove and keep warm.

Pour Madeira into skillet and let reduce slightly, about 1 minute. Add remaining 1 T. butter and cook, swirling pan, until sauce thickens, about 30 seconds. Pour sauce over chicken, remove toothpicks, and serve immediately.

Notes: I’ve substituted other types of cheese before and it was still good, if different. Likewise, feel free to substitute sherry, Marsala, or white wine for the Madeira. Oh, and one last tip: Unlike the photos above, I’d recommend using non-colored/dyed toothpicks to secure your chicken. Just take my word on this one.

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Tomatoes’ Last Hurrah

Posted in Food Links, tagged , , , on November 17, 2010| 6 Comments »

Am I the only one who refuses to acknowledge that we’re halfway through fall? In my mind, as long as the farmer’s market is open, it’s still summer. Sort of. Just turn a blind eye to all the squash and pumpkins and lack of corn and tomatoes, and you’re all set…

Before I move on to the second great love of my life (food, of course), some news about my first love, and an explanation as to why I’ve gone missing from blogging for the past few weeks:

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Reverting to my usual calm demeanor now. Wow, I can’t even type that with a straight face. Exciting stuff. No date set/wedding details as of yet, but suffice it to say good food will be involved.

Before I move on to new things, though, let’s hang on to the summer farmer’s market for just a moment longer. In the midst of being overrun by tomatoes, I ran across a recipe for Pasta with Baked Tomato Sauce, here and here. For my version, I did a combination of the two recipes, relying on heirloom grape tomatoes and torchio pasta from Italy. (As an aside — I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m not really that good of a cook…but I sure know good ingredients, and they make all the difference. Thanks, Mom!)

Check out how BEAUTIFUL these tomatoes are!

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Ready to cook now? Preheat your oven to 400° F. Start with some good fresh tomatoes of your choice, halving, quartering or generally chopping as needed to end up with pieces no larger than 1″ square. Place in a single layer in a glass baking dish with some olive oil.

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Top with equal parts panko and grated Parmigiano, a few cloves of diced garlic, salt & pepper, then bake for 20 minutes. Start a pot of water and cook your chosen pasta according to the package directions in the meantime.

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Now for the fun part. Once your tomatoes are done cooking, use a fork to mush your roasted tomatoes and breadcrumbs together. If you’ve used an heirloom variety, you will have a great time playing with color.

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Finally, mix in the cooked pasta, add some chopped fresh basil, and serve with passed Parmigiano. Gorgeous! And best of all, easy.

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In a final swan song, I also whipped up my grandmother’s Tomato Casserole and put it in the freezer to have as a special treat for my birthday in late January. Recipe below…

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Escalloped Tomatoes Somerset (Tomato Casserole)

  • 3 c. diced fresh tomatoes
  • 1 c. common crackers, rolled (can substitute oyster crackers or saltines)
  • 3 T. diced onions
  • 2 T. diced green peppers
  • 1/2 c. diced celery
  • 1 c. common cheese (i.e. cheddar), cut fine
  • 1/4 c. melted butter
  • 1/4 t. paprika
  • 1/2 t. salt

Make sure that everything has been chopped FINE. Combine all ingredients and turn into a buttered casserole dish. Bake at 350° degrees for 20 minutes.

As an aside, a Google search for “Scalloped Tomatoes” will bring up many, many iterations of an Ina Garten version of this casserole, as poularized by Smitten Kitchen. It looks fine and all (almost a combination of the two recipes here?), and who am I to argue with a Contessa, but… she’s wrong. This is the recipe to make. Because my grandmother makes it. And NO ONE can argue with my grandmother.

Ah. OK, maybe I can move on to squash dishes now that I’ve got all that tomato goodness out of my system. Just as soon as I get back from the beach. Isn’t denial wonderful?

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Pesto with an aside of sandwich

Posted in Food Links, tagged , , , , , on October 19, 2010| 8 Comments »

OK, so everyone make their own batch of pesto? No? Just jump down to the previous post for the recipe. Don’t feel like it? That’s OK too. You can go ahead and just look at the pictures. I won’t judge.

As a back story to this, you should first know that I have been completely and totally OBSESSED with tomato, basil, mozzarella sandwiches this summer. It’s one of the only recipes of which I will confidently stand up and say that you will find no version better than mine. I’ve tried caprese sandwiches in restaurants and margarita versions in sandwich shops…nope. Mine’s better. It’s better than the version they sell at the Iggy’s stand, even.

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Now, it’s a sandwich, so I can’t take credit for it based on my culinary prowess or anything like that. It’s all about the ingredients. For the best sandwich ever, follow these steps exactly. You’ll notice that you’re at a distinct disadvantage if you don’t happen to live in the Boston area.

1). Bread: Must be Iggy’s Francese. No other bread will do. I’ve tried it. The ONLY acceptable substitute I’ve found is the Concord loaf from Hi-Rise Bakery in Cambridge.

2). Tomatoes: Fresh farmer’s market tomatoes. In August. The sandwich just doesn’t taste the same in September, and certainly not October. Sigh. I like it equally well with a standard tomato or an heirloom variety. The heirloom will be a little sweeter, the red will impart more traditional Italian flavors. Place two thick slices (about a quarter inch) on your bread.

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3). Fresh mozzarella: I strongly recommend Narragansett Creamery for your mozzarella. Don’t get me wrong, I love Fiore di Nonno just as much as everyone else, but Narragansett’s mozzarella is just in a category of it’s own. Get the balls in water if you can — they will be the softest, creamiest mozzarella you’ve ever had. And with that, I just started salivating. Put 2-3 quarter inch slices on top of the tomatoes.

4). Fresh basil: top your mozzarella with 4-6 leaves basil.

5). Dressing: another key. First, drizzle liberally with extra virgin olive oil. I tend to use a basic Filippo Berio — but I’m sure it would be even better if you had a nice expensive gourmet olive oil. Christmas is coming if anyone wants to buy me some 😉 Next, drizzle balsamic glaze over the sandwich. I use Blaze and I swear by this stuff. Need to order more as I’m running low after this summer. It’s fantastic on roasted zucchini as well.

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6). Sea salt: also key! Any brand will do I suppose, so long as it comes in a grinder. You want the big chunks you get that way. Sometimes I’ll also do a little bit of fresh ground white pepper as well, but that’s completely optional.

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If you’re feeling kindly towards your meat-loving significant other, you can also make it with bacon, but that’s really just gilding the lily. Either way, serve with plenty of napkins.

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Um. Hungry Crafter? That’s wonderful, and it looks delicious, but… I thought you were going to talk about what I should do with this pesto I just made? Ah yes. I get a little excited when I talk tomato, basil, mozzarella. I needed to do it justice. This is going somewhere, I promise.

Now that you understand the depth of my sandwich obsession, you can understand what it means for me to fiddle with perfection. But fiddle I did! As soon as I made the pesto, I knew there was one thing I had to try right away. Tomato, pesto, mozzarella sandwich. Grilled.

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For this sandwich, I simply slathered some pesto on one of the slices of bread, layered on the mozzarella and tomato, and got ready to grill. No need to drizzle with oil, as there’s oil in the pesto; no need for salt, as the parmesan in the pesto provides enough of a bite. No Blaze, either — I wanted to let the pesto flavor shine. I did, however, use a pastry brush to dab some olive oil on the outside of the bread prior to grilling, to ensure a nice golden brown crunch.

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The verdict? Sometimes perfection is worth messing with.

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OK, so we’ve put pesto on a sandwich, we’ve eaten it on bread for snacks… How about a meal? Simplest thing ever: Boil water. Cook some pasta. Stir in pesto. Send your tastebuds on a trip to heaven.

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My only recommendation is to use a pasta shape that will hold the sauce well — think ridges and cupped shapes. See how you get little pockets of pesto with the Farfalle Rotonde? Be sure to pass some grated parmesan at the table as well. There’s no such thing as too much cheese.

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Pesto abbondanza

Posted in Food Links, The Spaghetti Capers, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 13, 2010| 2 Comments »

What a great food year it’s been! I’ve discovered that I do in fact like fennel and chowder (and fennel chowder), learned better ways to chop peppers and onions, explored the wonders of the fava bean, eaten my first zeppoli, developed an unhealthy obsession with Iggy’s Francese bread, and forever banned Vlasic pickles in favor of Claussens. As an aside — seriously? I have been MISSING OUT for years! I had no idea the difference between the shelf-stable, ho-hum excuses for pickles you find in the middle aisles of the grocery store compared to the crunchy, tasty, lip-smacking goodness of a pickle from the refrigerated deli section! If you haven’t made this discovery yet, RUN, do not walk, to your nearest grocery store and do a taste test. May I never eat those things I used to call “pickles” ever again. Pickle rant aside…What’s the point of all this, you may wonder? On to my latest revelation: I like pesto! When it’s done right, that is.

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It all started with the basil, of course. After sampling several vendors, I can safely say that the Siena Farms stand is THE place to get your basil if you frequent the Copley Square Farmers Market.  For one, their bunches are big, full, and include more stems in each bunch than most other stands. More importantly, they’re the only stand I’ve found that give you the entire stem — including the root! What this means is that your basil — kept in a cup of water on your kitchen counter — lasts twice as long as a bunch without the roots.

Inspired by the abundance of basil (and emboldened by my many new taste acquisitions of the year), I decided that I needed to give pesto another shot. I do love basil, after all; it was the pine nuts that made me squeamish before. For this adventure, I knew I didn’t want to mess around. I wanted to go to a proper authority for the recipe to get the best pesto possible. In my mind, this means one thing only: the good folks over at Cook’s Illustrated. If you’re not familiar with them, they approach recipe writing like scientists, doing lab test after lab test until the final recipe is perfected. They did not let me down.

Classic Pesto

Abridged from Cook’s Illustrated, The Best Italian Classics

  • 1/4 c. pine nuts
  • 3 med cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 2 c. packed fresh basil leaves
  • 7 T. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/4 c. finely grated Parmesan cheese

Toast nuts in a small, heavy skillet over med heat, stirring frequently, until just golden & fragrant, 4-5 minutes. Set aside.

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In same pan, toast the garlic cloves, shaking pan occasionally, about 7 minutes. Cool, peel, and chop.

Place basil in a large ziploc freezer bag, and use meat pounder or rolling pin to bruise all leaves.

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Combine nuts, garlic, basil, olive oil & salt in a food processor; process until smooth.

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Transfer mixture to a small bowl and mix in the Parmesan; add salt as needed to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and use within 3 days.

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It was so very, very good. As in, it’s all I can do to keep myself from running back out to the market and buying out their entire inventory of basil so I can make this by the bucketful. I was talking pesto with my mom prior to trying out the recipe, bemoaning how most jarred pestos tend to be overly oily at best, cloying in taste at worst. Not this pesto! Even the resident picky eater of the house liked it, and we happily slathered it on bread (Iggy’s Francese, of course) as snacks in between using it for meals. Next blog post: what we DID with the pesto! Get your food processors out and make some up so you can join in the fun!

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More food. More festival.

Posted in Events, Food Links, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 6, 2010| 2 Comments »

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of heading down to the first annual Boston Local Food Festival on the wharf in Fort Point. Now, before I go any further, let me stop right there and take one of my patented asides to address the question half of you are wondering:  Huh? What’s a Fort Point? Where’s Fort Point? I’ve lived in Boston for <<insert number of years here>> and I’ve never heard of it.

For the uninitiated, Fort Point is simply a specific section of South Boston, aka “Southie.” Southie should not be confused with the South End and certainly never confused with the South Shore. (Not that there’s anything wrong with the South Shore. I live there. But it sure ain’t Southie.) Fort Point’s also conveniently across the bridge from South Station. Got it, Southpaw?

For some time now, Fort Point has been hyped as the next “up and coming” area of Boston, and has become a trendy spot for artists, loft dwellers, and foodies, thanks in no small part to the efforts of local superstar chef Barbara Lynch. (More on her another day. Suffice it to say “GODDESS”). Fort Point’s most recognizable resident, however, is the giant Hood milk bottle that stands watch over the Boston Children’s Museum. Check out the Friends of Fort Point Channel website for more info on the neighborhood.
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Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s move on to the festival. If, like most folks, you judge the success of a festival by the number of attendees, then all I can say is that this was a resounding success. It was CROWDED! Yup, the local food movement has Boston all wrapped up in a tizzy. A tasty tizzy, inspiring an event that was pure Boston, through and through. In a move that brought a smile to my face, they even trotted out Mayor Mumbles (as we affectionately call him) for some grammatically incorrect opening remarks.
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The festival had a little bit of everything, from food to demos to games:

  • free food samples
  • butchering demonstrations
  • food vendors and trucks
  • non-profit orgs and charity crop sharing
  • slow food twister
  • cider pressing & butter making*
  • chicken coops & container gardens
  • a competitive seafood cooking throwdown
  • live music
  • beer tasting

*The butter making was super cool — maybe because I tend to enjoy kids activities more than most kids (or certainly more than an adult ought to). Basically, you take whole cream, put it in a Mason jar, shake it for about 20-25 minutes, and it separates into butter and buttermilk. Seriously, isn’t that COOL????

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In no particular order, some of the things I especially enjoyed were:

Pickles from Grillo’s. Seriously? I couldn’t get a picture of the pickles without someone’s hand in it because there were that many people jockeying about for a taste.
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Pig butchering demo by Chef Matt Jennings. Folks were NOT sticking their hands in THAT photo, but I still couldn’t get close enough for any gory pig photos. You’re crushed, I know. What I didn’t realize at the time was that Matt is the chef at Farmstead down in Providence, which has been on my “To Eat” list for far too long! Marcy, it’s time for another food trip to R.I.
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Fish cooking demo by the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association. You all know how to say “Gloucester,” right? Yeah, it’s “Glosstah”. Angela Sanfilippo (at left) was just fabulous to listen to. Very engaging. I loved hearing her stories of how the organization got started and her own involvement in helping to protect the local fishing industry here in Massachusetts.
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Bobby O’s pita chips. Pretty self explanatory, really. They tasted fantastic, so I snapped a photo in lieu of a business card (it was a “Zero Waste” event, after all!). Go buy some.
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Alternate grains from Four Star Farms. WARNING! About to expose myself as a super ultra geek. I had to buy a bag of the triticale flour because (gulp) in the Star Trek “Trouble with Tribbles” episode, the Tribbles were gorging themselves on the ship’s supply of quadrotriticale. I like that episode. Moving right along now…
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Olive Berries! Never seen/heard of them before. Chef Didi Emmons brought them out during the seafood throwdown and let us give them a try. Tart! (The berries, not Didi). Aren’t they beautiful?
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Didi’s apron. Lovely, eh? Check out the embroidered pocket… It’s a teacup. Sweet!
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THE FOOD. Rightfully, the star of the show.
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We ended up eating the pork and heirloom tomato sandwich from Sportello for lunch, but unfortunately in my haste to consume, I forgot to take a photo of the sandwich itself! Ah well, you can take a look at the preparation, instead.
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All in all, the Boston Local Food Festival was THE hip place to be on Saturday. A complete list of vendors is on the Food Festival site — help support local food!
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My one regret? Supposedly David Coffin (of Christmas Revels fame) was doing a roving performance of sea shanties and the like, and we missed him. We thought we heard him off in the distance at one point, and tried to steer our ship his way. The throngs of people proved too strong for our tired vessel, so we turned alee, never to find out if he in fact wears something other than tights outside of the Christmas season. Perhaps it’s just as well. I like the idea of Mr. Coffin being perpetually in tights. But that’s another story.

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Meatballs, Farina Style

Posted in Food Links, The Spaghetti Capers, tagged on September 24, 2010| 8 Comments »

What better way to kick off “The Spaghetti Capers” series here on The Hungry Crafter than with an old family recipe for that most enduring of Italian classics: spaghetti & meatballs. These are the meatballs of my childhood, the meatballs I dream of. The ultimate comfort food, embedded with a thousand memories.

Being a family recipe, the measurements are hardly precise, particularly for the meatballs. It’s been a “fiddle ’til perfect” type of recipe for me, as would be expected when the outcome you’re looking for is to reproduce a specific taste that you remember from being 5 years old. A good general rule of thumb I’ve discovered over the years is: more parmesan, less bread. It sounds so self-evident, but it’s really key.

First things first, though — get your sauce going. This last batch was truly fantastic, which I must credit in part to advice I received several years ago from my friend Peter. After I raved about a particular sauce he made, he pulled me aside and whispered in my ear, “The secret ingredient is time.” No, not thyme. Time. I let my rendition simmer for four hours, and I must say, I’m a big fan of the secret ingredient. While based on my grandmother’s sauce, I’ve made a few modifications to make this particular recipe uniquely mine! Here goes:

Jo’s Pasta Sauce

  • 1 good glop of olive oil
  • 1-2 shallots, diced
  • 2 bulbs fennel, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 3-4 cloves minced garlic (Or more if you like. I often do.)
  • 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, with juice, squashed by hand (Yes, squashed. Of course that’s a technical term.)
  • 1-2 parmesan cheese rinds
  • pat of butter
  • small handful basil leaves, chopped
  • salt, pepper, & fresh lemon juice to taste

Warm olive oil in a large saucepan or stockpot. Add shallot, fennel, and carrots and cook over medium-high heat until everything is soft and the shallots are translucent. Add garlic and let cook just another minute (garlic burns easily!), then add both cans of tomatoes. Bring to a slow boil, then turn heat to lowest setting, add parmesan rinds, and let the sauce simmer for a good long time while you make meatballs, read the mail, gab on the phone or what have you. Just prior to serving, remove the parmesan rind(s) with a pair of tongs and discard. If you are cooking for anyone picky (ahem), you can use an immersion blender to smooth out any chunks in the sauce at this time. Add a pat of butter and the basil leaves, then season to taste with salt, pepper & lemon juice (go light on the lemon — it’s as needed for acidity only).

Now what about those meatballs?

Farina Family Meatballs

  • 1 lb. hamburg
  • 1 egg
  • 2 good fistfuls of grated parmesan
  • a slightly lesser amount of breadcrumbs
  • handful of chopped fresh parsley (sub dried in a pinch, but really do try and use fresh)
  • handful of raisins
  • salt and pepper

You can see that this is a precise recipe indeed. Start by dumping all ingredients in a big bowl, except for the raisins. Here’s what my proportions looked like:

Mix ingredients together with your hands (stop as soon as it comes together; it’ll taste better if it’s not overmixed). If it seems too dry or bready, add a touch of milk and/or additional parmesan; if it’s too wet, add more breadcrumbs. Let this be your mantra: meaty cheesy, not bready goopy. When the consistency is where you like, add in raisins and mix with your hands.  Roll into balls.

Working in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan, brown your meatballs on all sides in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil.

Remove browned meatballs to a jelly roll pan and finish in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until cooked all the way through.

Carefully combine meatballs with your sauce and keep warm until ready to serve.

Now, to be fair and reasonable — this recipe should serve at least 4 people if served with a pound of pasta. Unless you are very hungry and gluttonous. (I, of course, know NO ONE like that!) In which case, remove yourself to the couch post haste, pull up a blanket, and proceed to moan and groan about how you ate too much for the next hour or so. It’s part of the family tradition.

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A feature and a festival

Posted in Food Links, The Spaghetti Capers, tagged , , on September 18, 2010| 3 Comments »

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Have I mentioned that I love Italian food before? Yes? I have? Well, no surprise there. What is somewhat surprising is the fact that I’ve now been living in Boston for 17 years, and had never been to a single Italian festival in the historic North End. Until recently. (This is going somewhere good, can’t you tell?)

I’ll tell you all about the festival in just a moment, but I’m too excited about the feature part to wait… What’s important to know is that my recent visit to the North End planted a seed in my li’l noggin. I came home after the festival and nestled into my corner of the couch with a couple of my favorite Italian cookbooks. I’m fairly confident in my cooking when it comes to Italian food, making it a ripe area for me to focus on to take my cooking skills to the next level. Hmmm, I thought to myself, what if I were to cook nothing but Italian food for a solid month? Nate wouldn’t mind eating it. It would be good for my skills. I most certainly wouldn’t mind eating it…

On further thought, however, I realized that a). I have way more than a month’s worth of posts to dedicate to Italian food, b). this might not be the most diet-friendly decision to make, and c). um. It’s already halfway through the month. How did that happen? Where did September go? Instead, I decided to introduce an ongoing sub-series of Italian posts, scattered throughout my other blog posts, all to be filed under the umbrella of…. (drumroll, please):

Each post belonging to the series will be introduced with The Spaghetti Capers logo above, letting this investigation of Italian cooking continue on indefinitely. I hope you’ll join me for the adventure! First post to follow shortly.

Now back to the festival. Sunday, August 29th, we headed down to the North End for the final day of the three day Saint Anthony’s Feast. According to their website, the feast is the largest Italian religious festival in New England, and is now in its 91st year. The highlight of the feast is the ten hour procession of the statue of St. Anthony throughout the streets of the North End. Donations are pinned to St. Anthony–often by people leaning out of their second floor apartment windows–babies are kissed… It’s truly a spectacle.
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The secondary highlight of the feast is, of course, the food. (Bless the Italians. Really.)
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All the classics were covered: spicy Italian sausages… (this photo’s for you, Dad!)
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pizzelles…
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Cannolis, filled to order…
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and plenty of tomatoes and basil.
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Myself, I was excited to try the zeppoli, which are basically a cross between a donut and fried dough. I’d read about them in some of my cookbooks, but never eaten any, and was not disappointed by the taste.
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This one kinda looks like a turtle, don’t you think?
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Oops, not anymore!
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They were sweet and hot and filling, so all I had room for next was a small calamari, olive, and celery salad — delicious!
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It was a brilliantly sunny day, and therefore hot, so after settling down on a curb to eat our snacks, we decided it was time to head home…after one last stop at Salumeria Italiana for some of that amazing prosciutto I originally discovered for my sister’s elopement, and a couple of snacks from Lyndell’s Bakery. More on the ensuing spaghetti capers from that detour at a later date, though (hint, hint)…

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Catching up

Posted in Food Links, tagged , , , , , , , on August 31, 2010| 4 Comments »

This crafter sure has been hungry! My poor computer is overflowing with photos of food, so I thought that I ought to just share some en masse. So, here goes: my summer, in food pictures:

First we have the ever delicious rice & chickpea salad from Sofra (available at the Siena Farms market stand). Must get more for lunch today as soon as I finish this post. Edit: only made it halfway through the post before running down to the farmer’s market to get some. The best part of this salad is that they play around with it a bit week to week. This week — no basil, yes broccoli!

Ah, memories… Fava bean season is long gone, of course, but at least I can reminisce about these beautiful beans sauteed in butter over toast with Ombra cheese on top. Sigh.

This here (Well, yes, it’s chocolate. Obviously.) is a base for a chocolate peanut butter ice cream I made for fourth of July. It turned out to be a disaster, actually, but tasted good nonetheless. It had the consistency of frozen fudge. Yes, I ate it anyway. With my fingers. Wouldn’t you?

On the far more successful side was this vanilla bean ice cream, midway through churning in the photo. Very very yummy. Recipe from David Lebovitz (the guru of all things ice cream). Topped it off with the salted caramel from Formaggio — amazing!

On another indulgent evening, I was craving some good old fashioned meat and potatoes, summer style. Enter steak tips, roasted red bliss potatoes with fresh herbs, and of course, some fresh corn on the cob.

And that’s just scratching the surface of my summer in food! My computer needs a break now, though. And so do I. Because I’m suddenly very hungry. Again.

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More ricotta…now with fennel!

Posted in Food Links, tagged , , , , on August 2, 2010| 3 Comments »

One of the many discoveries I had during my 6 weeks at Cambridge Culinary was that I like fennel. I had wrongly assumed that I didn’t like fennel because I didn’t like licorice, and therefore didn’t like anise, WHICH I mistakenly thought was the seed from a fennel plant. Live and learn — turns out that, while similar, anise and fennel seeds are NOT the same thing. Given my love for spicy Italian sausage, this doesn’t surprise me too much.

The recipe that turned me around was one that I originally scoffed at…until I tasted it.  WOW. The Fennel Corn Chowder from the soups class at Cambridge Culinary is to die for. (I also thought that I didn’t like corn chowder up until this particular recipe made its way into my sweaty palms.) To start off, it’s got bacon in it. Score 1. Second, it has fresh roasted corn in it. By roasting the corn first, then adding the kernels to the soup at the tail end of cooking, the corn stays firm and maintains a nice snap when you bite it. Also, the process of roasting the corn and then simmering the cobs in with the broth infuses the entire soup with a smoky corn flavor reminiscent of something pulled out of a lobster bake pit. Score another point. The recipe is more or less the same as this one from Big Oven, minus the cayenne sauce (dash of cayenne pepper never hurt anyone, though). Next time I make it, I’ll post pictures, I promise.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to use Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets cookbook as much as I can. Unfortunately, I haven’t found it to be overly helpful with the types of things I’ve been bringing home from my CSA. I’d like to try and find a cookbook that focuses on the specifics of New England crops and seasons instead (suggestions, anyone?)

Having warmed up to fennel, however, I did take it upon myself to try Deborah’s recipe for Pasta with Golden Fennel, making the fresh ricotta variation.

Blend fresh ricotta, garlic, sea salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon zest

Brown chopped fennel in oil, then braise in water and lemon juice until soft

Mix it all together, toss with pasta, then garnish with minced fennel greens and shaved parmesan

It was good — you got the hearty satisfaction of warm comfort food with the summery zip of lemon and delicate flavors of fresh ricotta. Next time around, though, I think I’d steer it more solidly into comfort food territory and reduce the lemon flavor, add some grilled chicken and perhaps mushrooms. Or bacon. Because everything’s better with bacon.

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A full plate

Posted in Food Links, tagged , on July 26, 2010| 6 Comments »

The farmer’s market is in full swing, as evidenced by my increasingly weighty weekly farm share. I’ve been up to my ears in corn, trying to get out of the weeds with all my greens, eating blueberries `til I’m…blue on the face…  OK, I’ll stop. I’ve been loving it.

Without any further ado, some pictures and recipes from the first half of the season:

Adolescent Carrots

Look at that gorgeous juicy red!

Bountiful Basil

And last but not least, behold, the terrifying STRAWBERRIES GONE BAD (aka The ‘Roided Ruby):

Strawberries on Steroids

One of the joys of the farmer’s market for me this year has been trying out fresh cheeses as well. A special favorite has been fresh ricotta, which has been making appearances in several places. The first time I brought some home, I was feeling a little cheeky in the kitchen and put together the following dish of strawberries, ricotta, basil, sea salt, pepper and a store-bought balsamic glaze called “Blaze.” I should mention that I LOVE this stuff and use it all the time. Highly recommended. Unfortunately for me, the dish itself was prettier than it tasted.

Fresh, fresh, fresh!

Then, of course, you can’t have fresh basil and ricotta in the house without making pizza!

Ricotta-basil pizza

I make the dough in my bread machine, then do a miserably amateur job of tossing, stretching and hanging the dough before ultimately beating it into a large jelly roll pan (more like a focaccia). Cover with sauce, shredded mozzarella, fresh ricotta, basil (I do a chiffonade), and a Spanish cured black olive to top off each mound of ricotta.

This pizza was amazing, albeit primarily because I finally nailed my crust recipe. It came out with just the right balance of crunchy/chewy golden perfection. Let’s hope I can repeat the experience. Like to try yourself? Here you go:

Pizza Dough

  • 1 1/2 c warm water
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 t salt
  • 4 1/4 c all-purpose flour
  • 2 t sugar
  • 2 t yeast

Add to bread machine in order listed, making a well in dry ingredients to pour in the yeast; run dough cycle.  Make pizza in large (18×24) jelly roll pan, and cook for 20 minutes at 425.

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