Bucatini Amatriciana

If you watched Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations in Rome, then you know that Italians fight over where this sauce originated. Some say Amatrice (by Abruzze), and others dispute it was invented by the Romans, in Rome.

You should also know that people from Rome use an onion in this bacon and tomato sauce, but Italians from other regions would never think to use an onion in their Amatriciana, sacrilege!, sort of like the unspoken Italian rule: "NO CHEESE ON FISH". So, there's another argument for you.

Mario uses an onion, so I did too.

Another touchy rule about this sauce is you must use guanciale. Cured pork jowls (or pig's cheeks, as I like to call it).

Good luck finding guanciale. It is a real treat to eat, and I only seem to indulge when it's found in a dish at one of Batali's NYC restaurants. You can mail order it (Batali's dad owns a salumi co. in Seattle which sells it) if you like, but I chose good old American bacon (Oscar Meyerino to be exact) instead, and I cut the chunk of bacon while still frozen, so I could cut it into slivers.



This was one of the best quick tomato sauces I have made at home. It calls for bucatini, which is the traditional pasta to serve with Amatriciana. Bucatini are thick spaghetti strands with holes down the center.

The second time I made this sauce I served it over linguine (because I was out of bucatini), and we both agreed that we liked the linguine better with the sauce! HEATHEN!

Ok, enough information and banter about a 30 minute tomato sauce. Here is the recipe.

I chose a simple recipe from Mario Batali's book Molto Italiano. Every recipe I have tried from this book has been terrific. It's a shame I only use it during the winter months.
This was one of the best quick tomato sauces I have ever made.



Bucatini (or Linguine!) Amatriciana: (adapted from Molto Italiano)

1/4 cup EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
1/4 lb. of GUANCIALE, PANCETTA or good bacon cut into slivers (I cut it while frozen)
1 red onion, cut lengthwise in half and then into ¼-inch-thick half-moons
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2-1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (it depends on how much heat you like)
28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes
1 pound bucatini
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, and add 2 tablespoons salt.

Meanwhile, in a 10- to 12-inch sauté pan, combine the olive oil, garlic, bacon and red pepper flakes; set over low heat and cook until the onion is softened and the guanciale or bacon has rendered much of its fat, about 12 minutes.

Drain all but ¼ cup of the fat out of the pan. Add the tomatoes, breaking up with the back of a spoon. Turn up the heat, and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and allow to simmer about 20 minutes until sauce looks like it is coming together.



While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in the boiling water for about a minute less than the package directions, until still very firm; drain.

Add the pasta to the simmering sauce and toss for about 1 minute to coat. Divide the pasta among four heated bowls and serve immediately, topped with freshly grated Pecorino.




DELISH.

Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts Salad w/ Pecorino & Walnuts

For Meatless Mondays, here is something light to start the week off right.
I thought I had tried Brussels sprouts every which way.

Here is yet another way to enjoy these little green cabbages, which have become one of my favorite vegetables.

If you have never had your sprouts raw, don't be scared. They taste wonderful.

This is a bright and fresh salad and I can't wait to make it again. The toasted walnuts with lemon and Pecorino is the perfect combination. We ate the entire bowl!

The recipe from Saveur suggests you shred the sprouts on a mandolin. At first I thought that was crazy, there must be a better way. After slicing and dicing, the mandolin (though a pain in the butt to shred each little guy) is the only way to go.



Brussels Sprout Salad w/ Pecorino & Walnuts (adapted from Saveur):

1 lb. Brussels sprouts
2 cups toasted walnut halves
1⁄3 cup grated Pecorino, plus shavings for garnish
1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
Juice of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper

Start with the freshest Brussels Sprouts and wash them well.

1. Working over a large bowl, shave Brussels sprouts into very thin slices on a mandolin, starting from each sprout's top while holding it between thumb and forefinger by its stem. Be extremely careful doing this, or you will lose a finger! Discard stems.



2. Add walnuts, Pecorino, olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper to taste. Depending on the saltiness of the cheese, season lightly with salt to taste.

3. Toss with a spoon until just combined and divide salad between 4 bowls or small plates. Using a peeler, shave more pecorino over the top; drizzle with more olive oil and add more pepper to taste.



Enjoy!

Hermit Bars

Why are these cookies called "Hermit" bars? Maybe because you might want to hide in your house, becoming a hermit and eat them all!

I have loved these spice cookie bars since I was a kid, and have always secretly liked the name.

These are a cinch to make for the non-bakers like me. But tell me why does the molasses drip all over the counter and jar when you pour it in? There must be a better way.

Hermit Bars (adapted from Epicurious)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup raisins or currants
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Using a hand mixer is probably your best bet for this thick cookie dough, but I insisted on using a wooden spoon. My arms needed the workout anyway.

Mix together the dry ingredients and then add the butter (which I melted in the microwave), brown sugar, egg, molasses and your raisins and nuts. Use your hands to mix this dough and it will come together nicely.

Spread out the dough on a Silpat or a parchment paper lined baking sheet (the half sheet size) and bake in a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes until dough is set. Let cool in the pan before slicing into squares.



Makes 24 bars.

The smell is delicious and the taste even more delicious. Store in an airtight container, the cookie bars will last 3 days, if they make it that long!

Enjoy!

Smörgåsbord Snacks & Dorie Winners

Here is a last minute appetizer for Thanksgiving, in case your menu isn't complete.

When I think of the word "Smörgåsbord", I think of a big Vegas buffet table with piles of food on top of people's plate and gluttony!

I recently found out that the word Smorgas translates to "open faced sandwiches" and Bord means "table" in Swedish.

Traditionally, a Smörgåsbord is a buffet where everyone helps themselves to lovely little snacks of open faced sandwiches and appetizers with smoked fish, etc. Swedish style!

Isn't it great to always get a language lesson when you come here?

Anyway, I will be making these wonderful little tartines, snacks, open faced sandwiches, whatever you want to call them for our holiday buffet this week.

They were Easy and Excellent. The two E's we like to hear.



Smorgasbord Snacks: Smoked Trout w/ Curried Mayo & Egg: make 12 canapes

4 slices of whole grain bread, cut into thirds (rectangle shapes)
3 tbsp Hellman's mayo
1 tsp or more to taste of curry powder
1 can smoked trout (Trader Joe's sells a great one in the tuna aisle)
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced thin
fresh parsley for garnish

I like to slice my eggs on an egg slicer, makes for nice, even slices.



Mix the mayo with the curry powder and swipe some on each rectangle of bread.



Share the slice of bread with a piece of hard boiled egg and a piece of flaked smoked trout.
Garnish with fresh chopped parsley leaves.

Smaklig måltid! (it means Bon Appetit!)



PS Congratulations to the random winners of Dorie's new cookbook. The winners are (drum roll please........) Angela who loves stuffed calamari on Christmas Eve, and Caroline, who loves her grandmother's secret, never written down, stuffing recipe. Please contact me with your addresses so you can receive the books!

I will be taking a few days off from blogging this week, but will be back on the weekend with some new recipes. So if it's quiet around here, don't worry.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
xxoo
Stacey

Butternut Squash Gratin w/ Apples & Caramelized Onions

If you have noticed, I cook a lot of things using produce that is in season.

During August and September, I post 3 tomato recipes per week! Then October rolls around, and apple desserts are all the rage.

Fall is just a great time for butternut squash, and I have made so many great recipes with this wonderful vegetable (in case you haven't noticed!) in the past few weeks.

This wins the award for the BEST butternut squash dish I have tried so far.
I can't wait to make it again.

This recipe would be perfect for Thanksgiving. It is beautiful and fairly simple to make, just all the slicing can be a bit tedious.



A bit of bossy info:

This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of dry Sherry.
DO NOT buy the crap cooking Sherry that is in the salad dressing aisle of the supermarket (I don't want to mention brand names), it is filled with mostly preservatives and additives and is not really sherry.

Sherry is from Jerez, Spain and the region is known for their fortified wine and it makes a different when using a good sherry to glaze the leeks. You can find many brands of real Spanish dry sherry at any liquor store. A big bottle was $7.99, and the garbage sherry cost 5.99. Spend the extra 2 bucks, it's worth it, trust me.

Though, if you have to make this recipe RIGHT NOW, and don't want to make a liquor store run, then you can substitute a half cup of apple cider. Do you feel better now?

The original recipe calls for leeks, but I had onions, and they worked perfectly.



Butternut Squash Gratin w/ Apples & Caramelized Onions: (adapted from Whole Living & Ezra Poundcake) serves 6 as a side dish (you can double the recipe for a crowd).

olive oil
2 large onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup of dry Sherry (or apple cider)
2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin (I used Empire)
kosher salt & pepper
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & sliced into 1/8" thin slices
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese



Cut up your squash (a fun chore), and slice super thin slices with a mandoline, preferably.

In a large skillet, cook your sliced leeks or onions in olive oil, season w/ salt. Cook on medium about 8 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup of Spanish dry sherry & sage to the pan (the pan may flare up, so be careful, you are adding alcohol). Cook another 3 minutes until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.

Butter a 2 quart shallow baking dish and place the thin slices of squash as the first layer, overlapping them neatly. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Next layer is going to be your leeks or onions. Lay them over the butternut squash.



3rd layer is the apple slices. Layer the thin slices over the onions and sprinkle w/ salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.

Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake about 50 minutes at 350F.

Carefully uncover the dish and sprinkle w/ 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Raise the oven temp to 450F and cook until the cheese is golden brown and melted. Let rest 10 minutes before serving and garnish with fresh sage leaves.

Spoon out servings as a side dish. I LOVED THIS!!!



Delicious!

Very Good Pecan Pie

Pecan pie is one of those desserts that graces most American's Thanksgiving tables.

I usually make a chocolate version, just add chocolate chunks to the recipe and it becomes a "chocolate pecan pie", but this year I made a straight forward, traditional pecan pie.

I add a ton of pecans, because I like more nuts than a gooey corn syrup mixture.



Very Good Pecan Pie (just sweet and sticky enough):

1 (9 inch) pie shell
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 stick butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans
2/3 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

You can use a prepared pie shell for this if you like to make life much easier, but a homemade pastry is always best.

Mix all ingredients together and pour into prepared pie shell.
Decorate the top with some whole pecans if you like.

Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes. Let rest in the pie pan or tart ring before removing, for about 20 minutes so the pie will solidify.

These pies freeze very well, so you can make some and freeze them for the upcoming holidays!

Whipped cream optional!



Enjoy!

Mini Ricotta & Spinach Souffles

This sounds much fancier than it really is.

I am calling them souffles only because of their appearance. A souffle has egg whites and puffs up and then falls after baking.

Just think "quiche" and you will want to make these.

I loved the pretty green ribbons of spinach through out.

I baked this in an 8x10 Pyrex glass casserole in the morning, and after it chilled in the fridge for 4 hours, I cut the pie with a fancy biscuit cutter to make attractive hors d'oevres!

You can serve these room temperature or heat them gently in the microwave when ready to serve. They made a nice appetizer for a Sunday brunch.



Mini Ricotta & Spinach Souffles:

2 lbs. fresh spinach (not baby spinach)
1 small onion, diced
olive oil
5 lg. eggs
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb. Ricotta cheese
1 tsp. salt
Fresh ground pepper
roasted diced red pepper for garnish

Cook the diced onion with the fresh spinach in olive oil until spinach is wilted.
About 2 minutes. Set aside.

Beat the eggs w/ both cheeses, salt and pepper.
When spinach mixture has cooled add it to the egg mixture.

If you are making a large souffle, then place in a greased square baking dish with 4" sides.

If you are making appetizer size souffles, then butter a dish with lower sides (I used a rectangle Pyrex baking casserole, 8x10), and pour batter in the dish. Bake at 350F for about 35 minutes until puffed.

You can serve the dish hot, however, if you are making mini appetizers, then place the baking dish in the fridge for 4 hours (or overnight) until the souffle has completely cooled and firmed up.
Now you are ready to use your biscuit cutter to cut out shapes.



I used a 2" fluted edge cutter and easily cut out the rounds. (eat the leftover scraps as you go!).

Garnish each souffle with a roasted red pepper piece and serve.

Lentil Salad w/ Tuna & Preserved Lemons & a Dorie Giveaway!

It's lentil time again. The cooler months call me to make lentil salads and lentil soups.
I never think to make lentils in the summer. It's a winter thang.

You know I am crazy about my lentils du Puy, from the Auvergne region of France.
They are blue greenish in color and are the very best. Try and find ones that have an A.O.C. label on them (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée: "From that region" by French law).



This recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan's new book Around My French Table.
The book is not haute cuisine by any stretch, nor is it really a French cookbook.
It's a book compiled of simple, French inspired recipes, tried and true by Dorie herself, who lives in NYC half the year, and Paris the other half (my dream!).

Simple roast meats and gougeres, as well as fruit tarts and tagines are included in this big book. Easy recipes for the home cook with Dorie's nice style of writing, as if she is chatting with you personally about the food.

This recipe made for a terrific lunch, and it was delicious the next day as well.
I used 2 tiny preserved lemons from my huge jar from the Middle Eastern food store (I have 30 left!!).


Dorie's Lentil Salad w/ Tuna & Preserved Lemons:

Dressing:
2 tsp black tapenade (olive paste found in Italian specialty stores, or you can make your own)
2 tsp French grainy mustard
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil

whisk dressing ingredients together and set aside

3 cups of cooked lentils du Puy
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 small onion, studded with a whole clove
1 dried bay leaf
1 carrot, peeled and diced
salt & pepper to taste

Rinse lentils in a strainer and sort through. In a large pot, cover lentils with 3" of water and start to boil. Add the bay leaf, the chopped carrots, an onion studded with a whole clove, and a smashed garlic clove.

Simmer about 25-30 minutes until lentils are tender but not mushy. Remove onion and bay leaf.
If there is some liquid left in the pot, strain it out.

Add warm lentils to bowl with the dressing, toss and set aside.

Salad components:
6 oz. Italian tuna, packed in oil
2 scallions, sliced (I used chives because they are still alive in my garden!)
1-2 preserved lemons, depending on their size, chopped (use rind and middle parts)

add the flaked and drained tuna to the lentils with the scallions and chopped lemons.
Season with salt & pepper and drizzle with some olive oil before serving.

It is best served cooled in the fridge for 2 hours. If you are serving it the next day, bring to room temperature and correct seasonings and add more olive oil.

Since it's almost the holidays, I will be giving away 2 of Dorie's new cookbooks, Around My French Table.



Tell us your favorite holiday dish and 2 random winners will be announced on Tues., November 23.

Good luck and enjoy!

Piggy Pork Chops Giambotta

I don't usually make recipes from Guy Fieri's shows.
Though I do like him, I feel his food is laden with fat and he uses way too much meat for me. I do enjoy watching him though, and my mouth waters every time, however, that's not the kind of cooking that usually goes on in my kitchen (much to my husband's disappointment).

I love his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I love the 6 egg omelets laden with cheese and grits, and the bacon burgers piled high with avocado, tomatoes and a lb. of Angus beef; the macaroni and cheese with 4 cheeses and breadcrumbs with lobster on top, drizzled in butter, though I probably would never order any of these dishes out or in.

Wonder what Guy's cholesterol is? I don't want to know.

I was sent a preview for his November 26 airing of his show that is featuring a local diner that is close to my house! It's called The Ritz Diner, in Livingston, NJ.
They are famous for their mile high homemade fantastic apple pies. They are to die for.

Guy tries their amazing Pork Chops Giambotta and loves it. What's not to love?
Sausage, fried potatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, yum, yum, yum. All piled obscenely high on top of 2 grilled pork chops.

This is piggy food at its best.

Giambotta (pronounced JAM-BAWT here in New Jersey) is a Southern Italian stew, usually including a lot of vegetables, served as a side dish, and sometimes w/ chicken or sausage.

There are only a few ingredients in this recipe, just be prepared for a messy stove. There is a lot of frying involved.

You can make the giambotta the day before and use it to top the pork the next day, so it's a great make ahead dish.

Pork Chops Giambotta: (adapted from The Ritz Diner, Livingston, NJ)

Two 8 oz pork chops (I buy bone-in chops)
2 garlic cloves, sliced
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 Spanish onion, sliced
2 roasted red peppers, sliced (you can use jarred peppers if you like)
4 oz of sweet Italian sausage (sliced)
olive oil (for the Giambotta), and vegetable oil (for the chips)
4 small Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced paper thin with a mandoline
salt and pepper
fresh parsley



Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. In a grill pan, grill pork chops to leave grill marks, about 2 minutes on each side.



Place pork chops in a 375° oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

While the pork chops are in the oven, sauté all of the vegetables together in a frying pan with the olive oil until they are golden brown.



Cook your sausage slices in olive oil in a separate small frying pan, and when browned on both sides, add to the vegetable mixture, season with salt & pepper and set aside.



Using a mandolin, slice the potatoes carefully to get paper thin slices. I leave the skins on (and try to leave your fingers on too, while slicing!).



Fry the potato slices in vegetable oil (not olive oil, the olive oil will burn) and season the chips with salt. Using a thin metal fish spatula, turn the potatoes to cook the other side, a few minutes at most. Drain on paper towels and set aside.



Place one pork chop on plate, then place half of the giambotta on top. Place second pork chop on top and place remaining sausage & veggies on top to make a "tower" effect. Take the potatoes and place them around the pork chop tower. Enjoy!



This little piggy was very satisfied!