Kale Slaw

Posted on June 27, 2011 by fjbnyc

This dish is not Italian (or even Italian-influenced) but today, I’m making an all-American meal–burgers, oven-fries and a slaw of raw vegetables–predominantly kale.

When I make burgers, I’m always looking for a good raw vegetable salad that’s not just cabbage and mayonnaise–although I like that from time-to-time.  Today’s slaw is sweet, crunchy and vibrantly colorful, with deep green ribbons of kale, julienne of red cabbage, red peppers, and carrots.  I’ve made it a couple hours ahead to allow the flavors to meld and the volume to decrease a bit.  The dressing on the slaw is simply extra-virgin olive oil, rice wine vinegar, agave and lemon juice.  The rice wine vinegar gives it the perfect mild acidity, without making it overly tart.

Kale Slaw

serves 4 to 6

medium bunch of kale, stripped off the stems and cut into 1/2″ ribbons

1 red pepper, cut into fine julienne

1 carrot, peeled and cut into fine julienne

1/4 head of red cabbage cut into 1/4″ julienne

1/4 c rice wine vinegar

1/4 c agave

1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

juice of half a lemon

Combine vegetables in large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl or jar, combine dressing ingredients and shake or stir until combined.  Dress vegetables and allow to sit in fridge for at least 2 hours prior to serving.

Posted in Salads, Vegetables | 2 Comments

Oven Fries

Posted on June 27, 2011 by fjbnyc

These “fries” are almost as good as french fries.  To get the dry, crispy texture of a french fry in the oven, a little advance preparation is required.  Two hours ahead of baking, the potatoes (Idahos or Yukon Golds) need to be cut and soaked in salted water, to remove some of the starch.  They are then rinsed and dried in a towel before being placed on a hot baking tray and into a hot oven.  After the potatoes have been soaked and dried, place them in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt, black pepper and olive oil.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Preheat the baking tray in the oven until it’s sizzling hot.  Slide the seasoned, oiled potatoes onto the hot tray and place in the oven.  If you have convection in your oven, now is the time to use it–it helps to add crispness to them. Turn from time to time and bake until golden brown.  Add another sprinkling of salt as soon as they come out of the oven.

The potatoes take about 45 minutes to bake and they must be eaten immediately for maximum flavor and texture.

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Pasta, Piselli e Pancetta

Posted on June 22, 2011 by fjbnyc

A couple of times every spring, I’ll go through the trouble of making fresh peas.  When the peas are plump and fresh, they are sweet enough to eat raw (my mother enjoys them raw more than cooked). 

The labor of making peas begins with the selection process.  You should always buy them where you can touch and squeeze each pod–if the pods are pre-packaged, you might not be getting  a consistent product.  You can’t always tell by looking at the pods whether the peas inside are plump and worthwhile.  Like fava beans, you want pods that feel full of nice fat peas–not half-empty pods or pods that look plump and round, but only have tiny peas inside.  The yield of peas to pods is small, so you generally want to buy a lot (2 or 3 lbs of pods) even if you’re only cooking for four.  Therefore, you’ll be standing over the bin of peas for a while and squeezing each pod before you select it. 

To shuck, simply run your thumbnail lengthwise along the perforation in the pod and split it open.  Scrape out all the peas and set aside until ready to cook (or eat raw).

Once the peas are shucked and blanched, you’re ready to assemble the rest of the ingredients and cook the pasta.  The pancetta is thinly sliced, then diced; shallots are chopped and set aside.

The other inspiration for this meal was a bunch of fresh chives that my neighbor Beppi cut from his garden this morning.  Those chives will be perfect sprinkled on top of the finished dish.  Chives and peas are a great combination.

Pasta, Piselli e Pancetta

serves 4

1 lb fresh egg fettucine

1 lb freshly shucked peas (the yield from 2 – 3 lbs of pods)

2 small shallots, diced finely

1/4 lb pancetta, thinly sliced, then sliced into smaller pieces

1/2 c white wine

1/2 cup chicken broth

4 tbls olive oil

3 tbls butter

1/4 c fresh chives

grated parmiggiano for sprinkling on top

Boil the peas for about 5 minutes in boiling salted water.  Drain, set aside.  Keep the liquid and boil the pasta in it.

In a broad skillet on low heat, saute the shallots and pancetta in the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter until the pancetta renders some of its fat and the shallots just begin to color (about 8 minutes).  Add in the wine and reduce for about 3 minutes.  Add in the broth and allow to simmer while the pasta cooks.

When the pasta is just about done (fresh egg pasta cooks very quickly), toss the pasta into the skillet, along with about a cup of cooking liquid (the fresh pasta absorbs a lot of liquid and you want to keep a saucy consistency).  Add the last tablespoon of butter and stir over high heat to incorporate. 

Sprinkle with chives and grated cheese at the table.

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Spinach and Smoked Almond Pesto

Posted on June 22, 2011 by fjbnyc

This pesto has a wonderful smokiness and intense green color, and it doesn’t blacken easily.  There’s only a touch of basil, but lots of baby spinach.  The predominance of spinach makes for a milder, more subtle green flavor than pesto made entirely with basil.  The smoked almonds and pecorino romano add a strong, salty bite.  Together, they eliminate the need for added salt.  

You can add this to any pasta dish, or it’s brilliant as a topping for a grilled chicken breast.

Spinach and Smoked Almond Pesto

serves 6

1/4 c smoked almonds

3 cups tightly packed baby spinach leaves

1/4 c grated pecorino romano cheese

1/4 + 2 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

12 basil leaves

1 – 1/2 lbs cooked pasta

In a food processor, grind the almonds to a fine powder before adding other ingredients. Add spinach and basil and pulse until pulverized

 

Add olive oil and grated cheese and continue processing until puree consistency.

Pour pesto into the bottom of a large mixing bowl, then dilute with a couple tablespoons of hot pasta water.  Add hot pasta on top and toss.  Serve with additional grated cheese at the table.

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Chicken Paillard with Olive Tapenade

Posted on June 21, 2011 by fjbnyc

I was recently reminded how good a thinly pounded, quickly grilled chicken breast can be, at Bar Pitti in Manhattan.  Their grilled chicken breast is served with chopped endive and sundried tomatoes  on top and is the perfect light lunch or late night meal (it was, in fact, 10:30 in the evening). 

This reminded me of a similar dish we used to make at Po Restaurant, which was topped with black olive tapenade and a pile of salad.  I happen to have some absolutely beautiful lettuce and arugula from my neighbor Beppi’s vegetable garden, so it felt like the perfect time to make this light, summery dish. 

First, address the chicken breasts–they must be boneless, skinless and pounded thin.  Even if they are labeled as “thinly cut”, you may still need to pound them  to get them to an adquate thinness, so that they grill quickly and remain moist.  Between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, lay out each breast and lightly pound until less than 1/2″ thick–they may become a bit raggedy around the edges, but that’s OK.  Moisten with oil, and set aside until ready to grill.

Make sure the grill is on high and super-hot.  Grill each breast for a total of about 5 minutes and remove.  The tapenade is simply placed on the hot breast once it comes off the grill, along with some lemon zest.  On top is a salad of lettuce and arugula dressed with oil and lemon, along with some chopped tomatoes.  Summer’s here!

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Zucchini and Onion Frittata

Posted on June 19, 2011 by fjbnyc

I was thrilled to see a new vegetable in season at my local farm stand–zucchini.  They were just picked and the perfect size for a frittata.  The ideal sized zucchini is about 6 to 8 inches long–not too many seeds or too watery.  This is the first dish I make when zucchini come into season every summer.

My neighbor Beppi taught me this frittata–beautifully simple–just onions, eggs and zucchini–no cheese, which would obscure the natural sweet, delicate flavor of the fresh zucchini.  Beppi  makes his with butter and oil, but I prefer just olive oil.  I also add a touch of half and half to my eggs, which I find lightens their texture.

The main thing to remember when making a frittata–especially one without cheese–is to adequately salt it.  Both the eggs and the vegetables call for more salt than you think.  This is one dish you can’t add salt to after the fact, therefore you must add enough while you’re cooking.

Today, we’re having the frittata as a sandwich–on a freshly baked buttered whole wheat  roll.  This is a perfect midday snack–or a great sandwich to wrap in paper and take to the beach.  It holds beautifully at room temperature for a few hours.

Zucchini and Onion Frittata

serves 4

6 small zucchini–about 6 to 8 inches long, sliced into 1/2″ disks

1 large onion, sliced into 1/4″ strips

4 large eggs

3 tbls half and half

3 tbls extra virgin olive oil

2 tsps salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

In a broad skillet (I used 10″), begin sauteing and browning the zucchini and onion together  in 2 tbls olive oil, tossing often. 

This will take at least 10  minutes, depending on the strength of your flame.  Add 1 tsp salt and continue browning until onions are caramelized and most zucchini slices have turned golden.   Taste for salt–they should be nicely seasoned.  If too salty, cut the remaining salt to be added to the eggs.

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, half and half, remaining salt and pepper.  Transfer the zucchini into an 8″ nonstick skillet (for a tall, fluffy frittata) until sizzling.  Pour in the egg  mixture and stir with heatproof rubber spatula to combine the eggs and vegetables. 

The eggs will begin to cook immediately.  After stirring for about 10 seconds, stop stirring, but continue gently lifting and holding up the sides of the frittata, letting any loose eggs run to the bottom of the skillet. 

On low heat, let the frittata turn golden brown on the bottom (check by lifting edge with spatula and peeking underneath.  When the underside is golden, place a large plate over the skillet and invert the frittata onto the plate.  Add the remaining oil to the skillet and quickly slide the frittata back into the skillet, uncooked side down.  Immediately tuck down the edges all around with the spatula, to maintain the round shape.

Brown on the other side for about 5 to 8 minutes until golden. 

Let rest for 10 minutes, then serve.

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Arugula Caprese

Posted on June 18, 2011 by fjbnyc

This was only the appetizer for tonight’s meal, but it was so great, I had to share it with you.  The dish began with a bag hanging on my back door, from my 89-year old neighbor, Beppi.  Beppi’s garden (which he cultivates and plants himself) is just beginning to yield some produce–arugula.    The arugula is strong and peppery, despite how delicate the leaves look. 

Although local tomatoes are not yet in season, my produce market had some nice looking plum tomatoes, which turned my head away from the usual grape tomatoes.  I bought a nice ball of mozzarella with which to make caprese, and decided to use chopped arugula instead of basil as the green.

This dish is the perfect balance of bitter (arugula), sweet (tomatoes) and rich (mozarella).  If you like the dish made with basil, try this version–the arugula is wonderfully assertive and you can add a big pile of it on top–it makes the dish much more of a salad and gives it a crunch that a few basil leaves don’t.

The main course tonight consists of three dishes I’ve posted before in one form or another–but I never get tired of them–plain seared scallops, sauteed broccoli di rapa with garlic and lemon, and skillet potatoes with rosemary.  I’ve included a photo just because it looked so good!

Arugula Caprese

serves 4

1-1/2 lbs ripe plum tomatoes, sliced

4 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

2 cups chopped arugula

4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Lay out the tomato slices and salt well.  Place slices of mozzarella in between.  Top with arugula and drizzle with oil.  Top with ground black pepper.  Serve immediately.

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Rice with Broccoli Pesto

Posted on June 16, 2011 by fjbnyc

For those of you who read last night’s post, you may have noticed the beautiful green color of my rice.  This is a dish that vegetable lovers should try–it’s easy and GREAT–and you can even use frozen broccoli.  It was my  way of using up the last of last year’s local broccoli harvest from my freezer. 

As I’ve said before, broccoli loses some of its texture and becomes a bit watery when frozen.  It’s still great to put in soups, or to puree.  In tonight’s case, I decided to make a coarse puree of the broccoli and add some lively ingredients to make a pesto.  The pesto then gets folded into rice, to make an intensely green rice dish that is equal parts rice and vegetable.

Rice with Broccoli Pesto

serves 4

1 – 1/2 c arborio rice

3 cups chicken broth (or boullion dissolved in water)

1 bunch cooked broccoli (fresh or frozen)

1/4 c smoked almonds (or regular salted almonds)

grated zest of half a lemon

1/2 c grated parmiggiano

1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp black pepper

In a small pot, bring broth or boullion to a boil, then add rice and cover.  Cook at the lowest heat for about 10 minutes.

In a food processor, pulse the almonds alone until they’re finely chopped, then add broccoli, and remaining ingredients and process into a coarse puree.

Add the pesto to the pot of simmering rice and gently warm the entire mixture, covered,  on low heat for a few minutes.  Taste and gently stir.  Add more broth or grated cheese, as desired.

 

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Chicken with Mozzarella in Eggplant Sauce

Posted on June 16, 2011 by fjbnyc

 

This dish makes wonderful use of more of my two-hour slow-cooked eggplant tomato sauce (see my recent post for the sauce recipe).  This sauce is as versatile as plain tomato sauce, but so much more complex–the eggplant melts into the tomato sauce, leaving a deep, sweet-smokey undertone (not unlike chipotle peppers).

In my prior eggplant-sauce post, I dressed whole-wheat spaghetti with the sauce and added chicken sausage.  Tonight, I’m using chicken breasts, which lend themselves to almost any kind of sauce–neutral and clean.  The melted mozzarella is a wonderful, luxurious topping for the whole dish.

The breasts are lightly dredged in “Wondra” flour  then briefly sauteed in olive oil until very lightly golden.  Then the sauce is added to the skillet and sliced mozzarella is laid onto the chicken breasts and gently allowed to melt under a lid. 

To accompany, I’ve made some plain sauteed zucchini in olive oil with salt and pepper–also a great neutral vegetable which goes well with tomato sauce. 

Chicken with Mozzarella in Eggplant Sauce

serves 4

1 lb skinless, thinly sliced chicken cutlets

Wondra flour for dredging

2 cups eggplant tomato sauce (see my recent post)

6 oz mozzarella, sliced thinly

4 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

Heat olive oil in a broad nonstick skillet.  Lightly dredge the chicken cutlets in flour, then gently slip into hot oil.   Turn down heat and lightly brown the chicken breasts for only a minute or two. 

 

 Add the eggplant sauce into the skillet and bring to simmer.  Top the chicken cutlets with overlapping slices of mozzarella.  Cover and simmer on low heat for about five minutes.  

 

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Chicken Under a Brick

Posted on June 10, 2011 by fjbnyc

This dish is known in Italy as “pollo sotto il mattone”.  It’s a great technique for getting the maximum amount of crispness and grilled flavor from a chicken.  It works best with smaller chickens (under 3 lbs) or–better yet–cornish hens or poussins. 

It takes a bit of advance preparation, and preferably a little marinating or brining.  I like to rub heavily with salt and pepper, as well as a combination of herbs, such as sage and rosemary, and a little lemon zest and juice. 

Before preparing the herbs and spices, remove the backbone from the chicken by cutting a slit up both sides of the backbone with poultry shears, while pulling up on the bone.  When you get to the top of the bone, you will feel a snap and be able to pull it out in one piece.

Next, open the chicken and turn it over breast side up.  You should be able to flatten it out by pressing down ont the breast.  Next, prepare the marinade–in a large baking dish, combine sage, rosemary, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and chili flakes.

Rub the flattened chicken all over (including under the skin) with the herb/oil mixture.

The chicken should rest in the fridge for 4 – 8 hours until ready to grill.  When ready to grill, remove from fridge for a half-hour to allow it to come to room temperature. 

When ready to grill, you’ll need about an hour of grilling time from start to finish.   I always like potatoes and a salad with grilled chicken, so tonight we’re having skillet potatoes and a spinach salad.  I could eat this meal a couple of times a week!

Chicken Under a Brick

serves 4

2  3-lb chickens or 4 poussins or cornish hens, backbone removed and flattened

4 tbls salt

3 tbls black pepper

1 tsp chili flakes

juice and zest of 1 lemon

2 tbls olive oil

2 tbls chopped fresh sage

2 tbls chopped fresh rosemary

Rub chicken with herb and lemon mixture and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours (up to 8). 

Preheat grill and place flattened chickens, skin side up, over high heat.  Place a foil-wrapped brick on top of each chicken and turn heat to medium.   Cover grill and allow to grill undisturbed for 25 minutes.  Check on them every few minutes to make sure there are no flareups–if there are flareups, quickly squirt with some water to extinguish. 

Turn chickens with 2 spatulas and grill on the other side, undisturbed for about 30 more minutes.   At this time, lift the chickens gently with a spatula–if they are not crisp enough, turn the heat to high and let them grill for another 5 minutes or so.  Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

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