Sauce in the pot

Penne Peperonata

• 2 red bell peppers, deseeded and sliced long
• 2 yellow bell peppers, deseeded and sliced long
• 1 green bell pepper,  deseeded and sliced long
• 2 red onions, peeled and sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• chopped parsley
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1-2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 Tbs  crème fraîche
• 1Lb penne or rigatoni*

*I used the whole wheat penne, but I think the whole wheat pasta is not exactly the best match for this delicate sauce.

1. Fill a large pot with water and start boiling the water on a low flame. Salt the water generously.
2. Put all peppers in a large saute pan with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the lid on, and cook the peppers slowly on a low flame until the peppers become completely soft for about 15 minutes.
3. Add the onions and cook softly another 20 minutes until everything looks almost caramelized.
4. Add garlic and some of the parsley. Season with salt and pepper.  Add balsamic vinegar.
5. Bring the water in roiling boil and cook the pasta al dente.
6. Add crème fraîche to the sauce.
7. Add cooked pasta with a little bit of pasta water to the sauce. Add parmesan cheese. Finish with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and rest of the parsley.

I had a few friends over for a pot luck dinner last week, and I wanted to make something simple and non-meat dish, and I made this Greek baked fish dish adapted from great Paula Wolfert‘s Mediterranean Cooking (page 86). It is one of the simplest and fool-proof recipes that I have tried, and certainly one of the easiest in Wolfert’s book.  We had the fish with H.’s Israeli couscous and E.’s beet and carrot salad, which went very well with the fish.  As requested by H., here’s the recipe adjusted for 8 servings.

8 fish steaks or fillets (I used red snapper, but any firm mild-tasting white fish will do)
Lemon juice
salt
2/3 cup olive oil
6 cups chopped onion (3 medium size onions)
28 oz. canned tomato sauce
2/3 cup chopped parsley
2 tsp chopped oregano
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 cup sweet red wine (I used port)
2/3 cup bread crumbs

1. Wash the fish. Rub with lemon juice and rinse. Rub with salt and pepper and let stand 10 minutes. Rinse again and drain.  Do not skip this step.  Make the fish taste fresh and flesh firm after cooked.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Make the tomato sauce by first sauteeing onion in a skillet with olive oil.  When onion is soft, add the tomato sauce, parsley, oregano, allspice and wine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook, covered, 15 minutes.
4. Arrange the fish in an oiled baking dish. Pour the sauce over the fish.  Sprinkle the surface with bread crumbs and dribble over a little oil.  Set on the middle rack of the oven and bake 30-40 minutes until the fish is cooked and the brown crust is formed.

So M. and J. got married yesterday in the City Hall. It was a beautiful fall New York day, and the ceremony was filled with laughter and friends. I threw a small wedding reception at my apartment and here is the cupcake wedding cake tower that I made (well, the stand was made by B.) for the occasion. The recipe is based on cupcakes from Billy’s Bakery on 9th Avenue in Chelsea. You can find the recipe here. For cake decorating supplies, I go to New York Cake and Baking Supplies. I made the heart decoration by rolling fondant and stamping the heart shape with a cookie cutter. I wrote M and J with a brush in yellow food coloring. The cupcakes were delicious, if I may say so, even better than the ones from Billy’s now that they changed ownership, and changed the frosting recipe (too sweet for my taste). One caveat: for Vanilla frosting, I would reduce the amount of milk in half to keep the frosting not too runny.

I also made Roasted Chicken Curry with Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash, which is one of the easiest and yummiest party food. The recipe will feed about 30 very hungry people as a main course. Adapted from a recipe in the current issue of Food & Wine magazine.

• 1Lb Brussels sprouts, cut in half
• 2 large butternut squash cut in 1″ squares
• 2 large red onion cut in small wedges
• 10 Lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in 1/3
• 1 17oz. container of nonfat Greek yogurt
• 6 garlic cloves finely minced
• 2 Tbs grated ginger
• 2 Tbs or more of your favorite curry powder
• olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Preheat the oven 350 degrees.
2. Toss Brussels sprouts, onion and butternut squash with enough oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables in one layer on a sturdy high-rimmed cookie sheet.
3. Mix yogurt, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic and curry powder and coat the chicken on all sides with the mixture.
4. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Halfway through roasting, rotate the pan. Check occasionally to remove access liquid.

I served this with some couscous and pita bread in some cultural anachronism.

ingredients have been gathered...

D. and L. came over for dinner last night, and I made a vegan meal with ratatouille, grilled portobello mushroom and couscous. Ratatouille is a provençal vegetable stew made famous by the Disney animation movie, and generally consists of eggplants, zucchini, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes.  There are many, many different versions and ways as there are cooks in the kitchen.  The recipe for refined and layered version made in the movie Ratatouille is by Thomas Keller of French Laundry and Per Se fame, and is actually not ratatouille but something called Confit Byaldi.  Last night, I made a general, easy recipe combining lots of different recipes.

voilà, the transformation

• 1 eggplant (about 1lb)
• 2 zucchini
• 1 yellow squash
• 2 red onions
• 3 small bell peppers
• 4-5 firm but ripe tomatoes (1 1/2 lb)
• 6 garlic cloves
• 4 tbs chopped parsley
• bouquet garni (thyme and parsley)
• lots of good olive oil

1. Slice eggplants, squash and zucchinis 1/4″ inch thick.  (I prefer lengthwise, but rounds are fine) Sprinkle salt and put them aside for 30 minutes in a colander to sweat.
2. Meanwhile, slice all the vegetable lengthwise.  Remove seeds from tomatoes before slicing (and if you want to get fancy, remove skin as well).
3. Wipe moisture off eggplants and zucchinis with paper towel, and saute them (both sides) in olive oil in batches until they are golden.  Set aside.
4. Saute onions until they are slightly wilted in olive oil. Add bell peppers.  Saute until they are soft (10 minutes). Add garlic.  Season with salt and pepper. Add tomato slices and bouquet garni.  Cover and cook about 10 minutes in low heat.  Uncover and reduce liquid.
5. You can add zucchinis and eggplants and mix them altogether, or if you have patience, layer them with bell pepper and tomato mixture.  Take out 2/3 of bell pepper. Layer eggplants and zucchini. Sprinkle parsley. Layer bell pepper then eggplant.  Sprinkle parsley.  Top it with bell pepper/tomato mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining parsley.
6. Cook uncovered until only 1/2 cup sauce remains occasionally basting the vegetables.
7. Serve it over cooked coucous and grilled portobello mushroom.  To grill the mushroom, remove stems.  Clean the cap with damp paper towel.  Splash some olive oil and put the smooth side down first on a hot grill pan.  Sprinkle the underside of the cap with chopped garlic, parsley, lemon zest and olive oil. Flip to finish cooking.

Appetizer: artichoke heart, green olives and walnut tapenade with garlic toast

One of the fastest dinner you can have is seafood pasta. I am very picky about Italian restaurants because most places cannot match what you can whip up in your own kitchen. Unless I am in an amazingly good splurge worthy places, I usually find the sauce too watery and pasta over-cooked. You can avoid all that by making this at home. For 2 people with healthy appetites.

• 3/4 Lbs deveined shrimps with shells on
• 5 cloves of garlic
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 14 oz can of San Marzano tomato
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• several sprigs of parsley
• 0.5 Lb spaghettini or linguini
• 1/4 cup white wine

Bring large pot of water for pasta to a boil while preparing the sauce. Thinly slice the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a deep sauté pan and add garlic and red pepper flakes. When garlic is golden brown, add the tomato and most of the parsley. Reserve some parsley and chop finely. Break up the tomato and reduce heat and reduce the sauce. When sauce looks pretty dry, add white wine. Reduce the sauce a little bit and add the shrimps. Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the package direction. When pasta is al dente, use the tong to transfer cooked pasta to the sauce. Heat the pasta and sauce together a couple of minutes. Serve in a warm bowl with additional drizzle of olive oil, squirt of lemon and sprinkle of parsley.

Ramp, also known as spring onions, ramson, wild leeks, wild garlic, and, in French, ail sauvage and ail des bois, is an early spring vegetable with a strong garlicky odor and a pronounced onion flavor.  You can find the ramp in farmer’s markets.  There’s nothing like ramp to signal the arrival of spring, and I made a risotto with some sweet Italian sausage.  Recipe adapted from epicurious.com. The recipe is supposed to be for 4 people, but Ben and I polished it off pretty easily, and Ben could have eaten some more.  Also original recipe indicates 3 cups of stock, but the rice was not ready when 3 cups of stock was used up.  I ended up using 4 cups.

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1/2 pound hot Italian sausages, casings removed
12 ramps, trimmed; bulbs and slender stems sliced, green tops thinly sliced
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for passing

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage. Cook until no longer pink, breaking up with spoon, about 5 minutes. Add sliced ramp bulbs and stems. Saut´ until almost tender, about 2 minutes. Add rice and stir 1 minute. Add vermouth. Simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 4 cups chicken broth, 1 cup at a time, simmering until almost absorbed before next addition and stirring often. Continue cooking until rice is just tender and risotto is creamy, adding more broth if dry and stirring often, about 18 minutes. Mix in green tops and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Season risotto to taste with salt and pepper. Serve, passing additional grated cheese separately.

Ben got sick again.  He was hoarse and completely congested and miserable, and he had no appetite and was bored with your normal chicken soup.  I decided to be adventurous and make Tom Kha Gai (Thai chicken coconut soup).  It turned out to be surprisingly easy and delicious and curative all at the same time.  I read a few Tom Kha Gai recipes, and found out that Kha in the name denotes galangal and Gai chicken.  This soup utilizes the basic essential ingredients of Thai food, and turns out to be an excellent introduction to Thai cooking.  The ingredients are:

1. Fish sauce (nam pla)
2. Coconut milk
3. Kaffir lime leaf
4. Galangal
5. Lemongrass
6. Palm sugar
7. Bird’s eye chilies
8. Cilantro (coriander)
9. Lime

I went to WholeFoods and Garden of Eden to look for these ingredients, but I could only find lemongrass and lime.  So I once again searched internet for appropriate substitutes and found out that galangal can be substituted with ginger and a bit of lemon, and instead of Bird’s eye chilies, I bought a mixture of small Mexican green and red chilies.  Thankfully I already had a bottle of nam pla and a can of coconut milk on hand.  I simply had to give up on Kaffir lime leaf, and I was not exactly sure what flavor would be missing since I have never used this before.

The soup itself is very simple.  The soup base is made by combining chicken stock (14 oz.), galangal (2″ long; same amount of ginger with a splash of lemon), 2 chilies slice, sugar (1 tbs), lemongrass (2 stalks, white parts only), nam pla (4 tbs) and lime juice (from 4 limes) in a pot and boiling.  Once the liquid is boiling (taste and adjust seasoning, more lime, more nam pla, etc), thinly sliced chicken and coconut milk (1 can) are added and cooked for about 2 minutes, and the soup is finished.  Of course, I vary the recipe a bit and added a few shrimps, mushroom and bok choy.  The soup is finished with some cilantro.  It was surprisingly similar to Tom Kha Gai that I have had in Thai restaurants, and it really helped Ben’s sinus.

I always look forward to dinner at my friend M.’s.  She is a fantastic cook who happens to be Portuguese, and I come to expect Portuguese feasts whenever she has people over.  She often makes a version of bacalhau dish that is always excellent and a rare treat since we don’t get to enjoy this dish outside her house very often.  Bacalhau is a Portuguese version of salted cod fish dish and it is known by many different names, as it became part of the cuisine of many European nations. For example, it is known as bacalao (Spanish), bakaiļao (Basque), bacallà (Catalan), morue (French), baccalà (Italian), klippfisk/clipfish (Scandinavian), saltfiskur (Icelandic), bakalar (Croatian), and Saltfish (Caribbean). Each country and as a matter of fact each individual have their own special way of making this salt cod dish, and I came to appreciate the rustic simplicity of Portuguese way.  M. also makes bacalhau in a very similar way as Italian baccalà with heavy cream.  But last night, she made a version that showcases the excellent Portuguese olive oil.  To prepare any salt cod dish, you begin the same way; soak the fish in cold water for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator with several changes of water.  This softens the  fish and removes excessive salt.  For this version, the fish is cooked in white wine, and then layered on top of boiled and sliced potatoes in a casserole dish.  Sauteed onion (of course in olive oil) is layered on top of the fish and then another layer of potatoes.  The finishing touches are hard boiled sliced eggs, black olives and generous drizzle of olive oil.  The casserole is then baked in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  M. served it with a simple arugula salad with cherry tomatoes.  In Portugal, bacalhau is usually accompanied by vihno tinto (red wine), but we brought some bottles of vihno verde since we love this refreshing, effervescent wine.

Bacalhau was not the only Portuguese delicacy we enjoyed last night.  As an appetizer, two different chouriços (Portuguese version of chorizo) were served interestingly enough set on fire on a pig shaped boat.  We also had an amazing octopus salad with boiled eggs, onions and red pepper.

Finally, the evening meal was gloriously finished with a mixed berry (strawberry, raspberry and blueberry) cobbler made by M’s friend and neighbor C. , who called this her razzleberry cobbler.  The cobbler was tart and sweet, and the crust (biscuit crust) nutty and flavorful.  An excellent ending to a fabulous feast.