In my opinion, infectious enthusiasm should be treated in exactly the same way as all infectious diseases; i.e. quashed ruthlessly with whatever combination of chemicals is necessary. With that statement out there, it’s probably unnecessary to further outline my feelings towards TV’s favorite, lovable faux-Cockney, Jamie Oliver. However, and as I have referred to in at least one other post, I grudgingly concede that he can cook, so from time to time – against my better judgment – I find myself thinking I should try some of his food…

… Just not today. Instead, I took (okay, stole) inspiration from one of his earlier shows – in which he made lunch for an Italian-British restaurateur who gave him one of his first breaks in the food biz - and made a tagliatelle and parsnip dish I am going to call my own regardless of its similarities to his.

You’ll notice that it’s parsnips again - our attempts at seasonal eating continue. The key to the dish is texture, so your parsnips have to be sliced finely enough to resemble the cooked pasta under your teeth – a mandolin or a vegetable peeler are your friends here. Then, only when it’s in your mouth do you taste the parsnip-y sweetness vs. the smooth starchiness of the pasta. Visually, squid-ink pasta makes the dish look more arresting, but regular would do fine too.

Tagliatelle Neri con Nastri della Pastinaca (Black Tagliatelle with Parsnip Ribbons)

Ingredients

• 1lb black (or regular) tagliatelle
• 1 large or 2 small parsnips, skinned and sliced into thin ribbons
• 3-4 asparagus spears, sliced into ribbons
• 4tbsp good olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes/peperoncino
• 1 splash (c. 1oz) dry white wine
• 1 tsp chopped parsley
• 1tbsp grated parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino romano

Recipe

1. Place pasta in boiling salted water and cook for seven minutes
2. In the meantime, heat large skillet/saute pan to medium high and add oil.
3. Hit pan with garlic and peperoncini and allow to flavor oil for a couple of minutes. Do not allow garlic to color.
4. Toss in parsnips and immediately hit with white wine. Stir.
5. Timing is important here. Pasta must be nearly done when parsnips go in pan or it’ll all be overcooked.
6. Drain pasta and toss in with parsnips until well combined and all is coated with oil/wine sauce. Add some pasta water if you’ve not enough liquid.
7. Kill the fire and hit dish with parsley and grated cheese. Plate quickly and enjoy the dramatic contrast of black pasta and creamy parsnip.

I tweaked the original Bon Appetit recipe a bit and only had a piece of puff pastry in the freezer and some pie crusts. I will write the recipe asking you to use only puff pastry, but feel free to do what we did and roll out defrosted pie crusts, shape into a rectangle and line the outside of the tart with strips of puff pastry. It works just as well!

The taste of this tart was light and chewy. Using various different veggies and ricotta over all eggs helped me convince myself that I was eating healthy. Even after a few helpings, I knew I was kidding myself but I’ve never been one of those fools that really believed that “a moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips”. If I did I’d be much thinner and this blog would not exist, clearly!

Btw… thanks to our friend at Serious Eats who featured this post in their “Blogwatch” section recently.   Gracias!

ASPARAGUS, CREMINI AND TOMATO TART WITH RICOTTA AND PETITE JURASSIC CHEESE

Ingredients:

• 2 sheet of thawed puff pastry (1/2 of a 17.3 oz. package)
• 1 egg, beaten
• about 10 to 12 asparagus spears
• 6-8 grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 6-8 cremini mushrooms (or white/brown mushrooms), sliced in half
• 1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• pinch of salt
• 6 slices of thinly-sliced genoa salami, soppressata or other sliced cured meat of your choice
• 2/3 cup grated Petite Jurassic cheese (or Gruyere, Swiss or Comte cheese)

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out puff pastry on floured surface and roll into a large rectangle (about the size of a long baking sheet). Cut 1/2 inch of puff pastry from each side and brush the sides with a bit of the beaten egg. Place 1/2 inch pieces all along the edges of the puff pastry tart so that the egg is the binding ingredient. Transfer to a baking sheet.
• Steam asparagus until so it’s crisp-tender – about 2 to 3 minutes. Shock in an ice bath to keep color and texture. Chop the bottom 2 inches of the asparagus off and puree these in a food processor along with the rest of the beaten egg, ricotta, the olive oil and pinch of salt. Transfer to bowl.
• Spread the asparagus puree on the bottom of your tart, reserving a few tablespoons. It will fill up to about 1/8 of an inch high. Make sure it is coated evenly. Nestle the pieces of salami into the puree in random places around the tart. Sprinkle your cheese around the tart as well and put your remaining tablespoons of asparagus puree over the pieces of salami (so to cover them).
• Add your sliced grape tomatoes, asparagus spears and mushrooms to the top of the tart – make it look pretty, why not.
• Drizzle some olive oil over the top and bake about 25 to 30 minutes or until the filling is set. Serve warm or cold along with a salad or for breakfast with a runny egg.

Check out some other posts you may enjoy:

• Lemongrass Beef Shortribs
  
• Watercress & Ricotta Ravioli with Radicchio Butter Sauce
• Ensalada de Cabrales (Thin Sliced Apple Salad with Cabrales Cheese & Chive)
• Parsley, Parmigiano and Garlic Roasted Artichokes

Although we were the lucky recipients of a gorgeous red tagine as an engagement pressie from my parents friends a few years ago, we decided to forgo using it in the 95 degree heat New Yorkers were forced to endure last week. For those who may not know, a tagine (or tajine) is a clay vessel used for the North African dishes of Moroccan cuisine. It’s a two-parter type of deal – the bottom is like a heavy clay pot about five inches in depth and the top is a cone-like lid. There are no air holes in a tagine and this is specifically for keeping the steam inside. It almost creates a small clay oven on your stovetop or in the oven. What’s absolutely brilliant about this cooking vessel is that, due to its conical shape, it retains the moisture which is emanated from the ingredients inside and as it rises, it gathers on the conical top and falls right back into the food braising perfectly. This creates real depth of flavor as well as moist and delicious meats, especially those cuts that are tougher or cheaper. Tagines are really made for slow and low type of cooking and are used for a variety of different types of meals including meat or fish tagines and even soups. I highly recommend getting one of these babies for your kitchen and trying it out – but wait until it’s not 90 degrees outside.Which brings me to the actual recipe portion of this post – it’s friggin/freaking/fricking/fuggin/fucking (however the heck you express it) hot here in my neck of the woods. H-O-T. The last thing I felt like doing was turn on my oven. Luckily, on a shop-a-holic spring weekend in April we got summer-fever and spent about $300 we don’t really have at Lowes. At that time (and in my “holy s&it it’s the first 60 degree day” happiness fog), I thought it would be a great idea to purchase a $99 gas grill for our “backyard”. Somehow, miraculously, we shoved this very large gas grill in our small ‘backyard’ in Brooklyn (I use the word backyard lightly considering our plot of bricked-over land is about 7 feet by 3 feet – but I AM NOT COMPLAINING… honestly!). It’s the best financial investment I’ve made since buying my husbands greencard 5 years ago!

I’m rambling. Apologies. I’m writing this as I’m at the beach, pink with a light sunburn, and I’m 3/4 of the way down a very strong vodka tonic (twist of lime, thank you very much!). Anyways, it was freaking hot in New York, I was craving a tagine and I did not want to turn on my oven or stovetop. What’s a girl to do? Buy all the ingredients for a tagine and cook them on the grill separately. So, that’s what I did and let me tell you kind readers, it was freaking fabulous. We grilled every bit of what I would’ve put in a tagine and we served it with a nutty and fruity couscous. It’s been done time and time again, but, like I’ve mentioned before in another “deconstructed meal”, sometimes you just want to cut into things with a knife and fork. This meal was super easy and obviously much quicker to cook than a tagine. It’s perfect for the hot summer. Just rub your favorite Moroccan spice blend over your lamb (or use chicken if you’d prefer!) like a Ras el hanout, and grill along side fresh apricot and olives. Yes, we grilled olives. Although I don’t think it’s necessary to grill, the olives did take on a nice flavor by grilling them. Throw it all together with some cous cous and (as my British husband would say) you’re laughing.

I have submitted this dish to Grill It! this months “Monthly Mingle”. 

TAGINE-STYLE MOROCCAN LAMB WITH GRILLED APRICOTS AND OLIVES – serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 lamb shoulder chops
• 1 large onion, cut into thick slices (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches)
• 10 large whole green olives
• 2 apricots (you can use dried apricots or other stone fruit like plums if it’s not the season)
• For Moroccan Spice Mix:
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon chile powder or cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon tumeric (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• For Cous Cous
  • 1 cup of couscous (your favorite brand – if it’s packaged, no problem
  • chicken stock to cook it in
  • 1/2 onion, minced
  • handful of fresh coriander, minced
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1 teaspoon of the moroccan spice
  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest

What do to:

1. Add all the spices together and mix with a fork or spoon to create your Moroccan Spice Mix.
2. Rub spice mix generously on lamb and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes using a little olive oil to help it adhere.
3. Make sure to reserve at least one teaspoon of the mix to flavor your couscous.
4. Heat grill to medium-high and grill your chops for at least 4 minutes (perhaps as many as 6 minutes – use “poke” test to check) per side for a nice medium-rare pink.
5. After a couple of minutes, oil the onions and begin grilling. These need around five minutes per side and be careful turning them as they tend to separate.
6. After turning your chops over, add the olives, neatly threaded on some skewers. These don’t need that long, they just need to blister a little on all sides.
7. Remove chops to a plate, cover with foil and allow to rest.
8. Oil, salt and pepper the asparagus and begin grilling them.
9. Add chicken stock to couscous, cover and let absorb.
10. When stock is absorbed, add pistachios, spice mix,herbs and lemon zest and fluff together. Aromas will be wonderful!
11. Remove onions, asparagus and olives from grill. Add all to plate and sprinkle generously with some more pistachios. Enjoy!

Check Out Some Other Posts You Might Enjoy:

Knowing Your Tagliatelle from Your Tagliolini
At the Desk Gourmet: It’s the Future
Free Lunch for Inner-City Kids: Does Free Mean It Needs to be Crap?
I’m Dreaming for Some Cured Pigs Cheeks

Indeed, to my mind, (and to disagree with Mr. Steingarten, for once) there is one distinct advantage to oven-roasting vs. spit-roasting, namely, drippings, and drippings, like the crumbles in the corner of a bag of chips (crisps), are where the flavor is at. These drippings, you see, can be made into one of the most sublime of all cooking by-products, the gravy.

So, after washing and patting dry my bird, I stuffed its cavity with carrots, celery, onions, garlic, thyme, and lemon, before giving it a good rub all over with olive oil and a healthy sprinkling of salt. I then placed said bird in a dutch oven (le creuset) and leaving the lid off, put it in a 420F oven for forty minutes. After forty minutes, and with the bird looking perfectly golden and crispy, I turned the heat down to more placid 350F and let it roast for another hour before removing it and letting it rest a while out of the oven.

Before carving it, I removed the bird from the pot and took out the stuffing from the cavity, then drained all the juices out of the cavity into the pot where they mixed with roasting juices. Adding the cavity stuffing to the juices, along with about a pint of tap water, I turned up the heat and scraped the burnt bits off the bottom of the pan. I let the liquid reduce by about a third, stirring occasionally and crushing some of the vegetables a bit with my wooden spoon.

Nicely brown and beautifully redolent of chicken, thyme, lemon and the sweetness of roasted carrots, I strained the gravy and then pushed the solids through a sieve to add some body and flavor back in to it. Seasoning only slightly with salt and fresh pepper, I was proud to have made an absolutely fantastic, honest-to-goodness chicken gravy without recourse to stock, bouillon cubes or thickeners like corn starch. It was a moment in which I realized that just by following my instincts I had recreated the kind of gravy you’d commonly find at a good English restaurant or pub, or indeed, a good country French restaurant.

It was really quite an ordinary dinner – roast chicken, dauphinoise potatoes and a warm asparagus salad with fennel and celery tops, but with this gravy it became extraordinary — exactly the kind of restorative elixir that my body needed. “They” say that chicken soup contains something that makes you better when you’re sick, and I am sure that this chicken gravy had some of that goodness in it too. It was freshly made, flavorful and, well, chicken-y in a way that only chicken can really taste like chicken, and it made me feel wholesome without resorting to wheat germ, lentils and colonic irrigation.

Another interesting by-product of this dinner was a rather toothsome recipe for a potato and fennel gratin that I’m also inordinately proud of, perhaps because I didn’t work from a recipe, perhaps because I’m an asshole. Anyway, here’s how to do it:

Potato & Fennel Gratin
Ingredients

• 2 large or 3 medium waxy potatoes (yukon gold are best here) peeled, but left whole
• 1 large fennel bulb with tops trimmed and reserved for fennel salad
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup milk
• 2-3oz low moisture mozzarella, sliced thinly
• salt & pepper to taste

Recipe

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Using a mandolin on the middle thickness setting, slice your potatoes and fennel.
• Lay out potatoes overlapping one another by about 3/4 slice (see photo below) in a layer in a baking dish.
• Then do the same thing with your fennel slices. This second layer will probably not be as neat as the first one, but that doesn’t really matter.
• Pour the milk over the vegetables but make sure milk does not cover them. Depending on the size of your dish, you may need a bit more or a bit less milk, but it should only come up to the bottom of the upper-most layer of vegetables.
• Season with salt and pepper.

• Cover dish with foil and place in oven for about half an hour.
• After this time, remove from oven and lay your mozzarella slices on top. Do not add too much cheese – be a little sparing.
• Return to oven and allow to bake for another twenty minutes or so, until cheese begins to puff and brown.
• Remove and allow to cool a bit before serving (cutting is easier when vegetables and cheese have firmed up a little).
• Serve with roast chicken on a Sunday night and calm the weekly apprehension at your impending return to work.

Check out these other posts you may enjoy:

• BRAISED PORK CHOPS WITH LIME AND OLIVES
• ENSALADA DE CABRALES (Thin Sliced Apple and Cabrales Cheese Salad w/ Vinaigrette)
• AUTHENTIC THIN-CRUST PIZZA
• BLACK, RED OR PINTO BEANS WITH CHORIZO AND CUMIN
• VEAL KIDNEYS WITH MUSHROOMS AND COGNAC
• CREAMY LEMON PASTA
• LIDIA’S LAMB CHOPS (Lamb Chops with A Mustard Anchovy Sauce)

This is the way we are with a dish we call “lidia’s lamb”. I’ve no idea what the real name for it is since I’ve never looked up a recipe for it and I’ve only watched it being prepared once, on TV, by Lidia Bastianich, on her show Lidia’s Italy, but that’s what we call it. Essentially, it’s lamb shoulder chops braised in a sauce made from dijon mustard, anchovies, garlic and chicken stock, but such a description belies its richness and savory flavors and, if you’re crazy and you don’t like anchovies, it will put you off. So, just take it from me, you need to try this dish. It’s virtually impossible to mess up, it’s delicious and you can make it from scratch in under an hour, making it perfect for a weeknight meal, or if lamb is hard to find or expensive where you live, a good option for a dinner party because it’s so easily scalable for larger numbers. Plus, once you’ve made it the first time, you’ll be having cravings for it a lot.

Lidia’s Lamb
(recipe serves 2, but for more just scale the recipe up. You’ll probably need more than one pan too, but you can figure that out yourself)

Ingredients
2 lamb shoulder chops (4-6 oz each)
approx. 2 pints chicken stock
2-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (depending on your tolerance for the stinking rose)
1-2 shallots, finely chopped
2-4 anchovy fillets (the salty ones in oil, you know what I’m talking about) (add more of less depending on how squeamish you are about anchovies – see final note below)
6-8 tbsp smooth dijon mustard (we prefer Maille, but Grey Poupon is fine. Don’t even think about using American yellow mustard! Save that for your hot dog.)
2-3oz plain flour
2 tbsp olive oil
black pepper to taste

Recipe
Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Dredge chops in flour and shake off excess. Hit pan with the olive oil and add the chops.
Cook chops for about three minutes per side, or until golden brown. Make a hot spot in the pan and add the shallots and garlic.

Allow these to saute for a couple of minutes until softened and fragrant, then add the anchovies. Stir anchovies vigorously around the pan until they start to disintegrate. After about another minute or two, add enough stock so that the liquid is at the same level as the “top” of the chops. Using your tongs, scrape the crusty bits off the bottom of the pan and turn the chops over. Add about half the mustard at this point and stir it in.

Reduce heat to medium and allow chops to braise in simmering liquid for about another 25-30 minutes, turning chops occasionally. Keep an eye on the level of the liquid and add more stock whenever it falls below the “top” of the chops. Meat should have begun to pull away from the bones after about 30 minutes.

Taste the sauce at this point. It should taste like it needs more mustard. Add some or all of the remaining tablespoons of mustard according to your taste. Increase heat to medium-high and allow sauce to thicken for about another 5-8 minutes. When it’s done the sauce should be around halfway up the chops and be of a medium thickness, with a pleasant sheen to it. Check seasoning and add black pepper to taste before serving.

We often serve this with some roasted potatoes because they usually take approximately the same amount of time to cook as the meat, providing you cut them reasonably small, parboil them first, and slap them in at least a 400F oven. We also often serve it with some asparagus, kale or broccoli di rape on the side. It sounds kind of heavy I know, but it’s really pretty well-balanced and very satisfying. I promise you, you’ll like this one.

And, just a final note, if you’re worried that the people you’re cooking for don’t like anchovies, I will be amazed if they can tell this dish contains anchovies. All the anchovies do here is add a salty, umami-ish flavor to the dish that brings it all together. You’ll notice that I don’t add salt to the recipe – that’s why. So, please don’t exclude the anchovies because the dish will not be the same without them. Again, just trust us on this one.

As the final day before Lent, Shrove Tuesday is also traditionally a day of feasting before the Lentern abstinence or fasting that evokes Jesus’ 40 days and nights in the desert. The pancake bit comes from the fact that in order to find it easier to abstain, one should use up all ones flour, milk, sugar and eggs on Shrove Tuesday, and while a lot of things can be made from those basic ingredients, the Brits – long ago – decided pancakes were the thing to make. And, since the combination of these ingredients makes for a high calorie experience, Shrove Tuesday (it’s such a puritanical idea – shriving, isn’t it?) is known as Mardi Gras in French, or literally, fat Tuesday. Those Catholics have all the fun, don’t they?

British pancakes have more in common with the a French-style crepe than they do with the thicker, but smaller pancakes common in America, although the recipe is largely the same. On pancake day it’s quite common to have a mixture of both savory and sweet pancakes, though the sweet versions are the more popular. (We had both savory and sweet – see savory filling recipe below.) Typical fillings are very simple and are often limited to powdered sugar and jam or nutella, or just a squeeze of fresh fruit juice. My family’s favorite filling is granulated (plain, white) sugar and lemon juice. The less stuff you have in the middle, the more pancakes you can have, see…?

Of course, you don’t have to wait another year before making some pancakes, though. They make great desserts, first courses, or even main meals depending on the filling and the size of your pan, and they are dead easy to make. So, go ahead, treat yourselves tonight, unless you’ve given up pancakes for Lent, that is.

Here’s how they’re made.

SWEET AND SAVORY BRITISH PANCAKES

Pancake (or Crepe) Batter Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 egg and 1 egg-yolk
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tbsp melted unsalted butter (optional)
• 1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)

SAVORY (SMOKED SALMON, ASPARAGUS AND CREAMY TARRAGON MUSHROOMS) BRITISH PANCAKE FILLING

Creamy Tarragon Mushrooms Savory Filling Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 shallot, finely diced
• 1/2 leek, finely sliced
• 3 button mushrooms, slice thinly
• 2 tbsp tarragon, chopped finely
• 4 tbsp light cream
• 1/2tbsp butter
• salt & black pepper

Other Savory Ingredients:

• 6 oz. smoked salmon
• 6 asparagus spears, cut into 2” pieces and either sauteed or steamed till cooked but still crunchy

SWEET (BLOOD ORANGE, LEMON AND SUGAR) BRITISH PANCAKE FILLING

Sweet Ingredients:

• 1 blood orange (or a regular orange will do)
• 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

What to do:

To make batter, combine flour, salt, melted butter and eggs together in a bowl. When well combined add milk slowly, whisking all the time. Continue whisking until mixture is smooth and frothy. Batter is ready. Cover and set aside.

Now it’s time to make the savor filling. Melt butter in small saute pan over medium heat. Add shallots, garlic, leeks and mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute mixture for 3-4 mins or until mushrooms take on some color and the leeks wilt nicely. Add cream and tarragon and reduce heat to low. Cook for another couple of minutes. Adjust seasoning. Allow to keep warm on low until pancakes are ready to be filled. In another pan saute or grill your asparagus, or just put them in a bowl with a little bit of water, cover with plastic and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. Slice your smoked salmon.

Time to make the pancakes…

Heat a 12inch non-stick skillet over medium high until the pan is too hot to touch. Toss in a knob of butter and allow to melt almost completely before adding a ladle-full of batter to the pan. Tilt pan in a circular motion so that batter covers bottom of pan. Allow pancake to “solidify” (cook) until almost all of the moisture has gone before tossing it, about 30 seconds – 45 seconds depending on how hot your pan is.

“The Toss”

The toss is the tricky bit and there have been many times when my kitchen ceiling has been festooned with bits of partially-cooked batter on Shrove Tuesday, so be careful with it. In fact, the lower the toss, the easier it is to do it right and have the pancake land without folding over on itself. Alternatively, you could use a non-stick, plastic spatula and give it a quick flip. It’s much easier and safer, though less fun.

Put pancakes on a plate and separate with parchment paper, and keep in a warm oven until you’re ready to eat.

Assemble your savory pancakes…

Spoon in a bit of the creamy tarragon mushroom mixture into the center of your pancake. Add some smoked salmon and asparagus, roll, up and dig in!

Ready for dessert?

After you’ve completed eating your savory crepes, go back to your heated pan and make a few more. When done, sprinkle your crepe with 1/2 a teaspoon (or more if you’d like!) of sugar all over. Squeeze some orange down the center and then some lemon. Roll up or fold into a triangle and enjoy.

 CHECK OUT SOME OTHER POSTS YOU MAY ENJOY:

• PAPPA AL POMODORO (Tuscan Tomato and Bread Soup)
• San Gennaro Festival, Little Italy, NYC – Ain’t What it Used to Be (Girl’s Version)
• European Roast…? (Why Coffee Taste Better There)
• Rachel Ray – Maybe Hate is a Strong Word?
• JAMAICAN JERK CHICKEN
• TORTILLA SOUP
• Free Lunch for Inner-City Kids – If It’s Free Does It Have To Be Crap?

Ok, so I’m overusing the title “Quickest Meal Ever”. There can only be one “Quickest Meal”, right? In our bizarre blog world, no. I’ll have as many “Quickest Meal Ever” posts as I want! You know why? Cause they’re quick and we all know you like some things to happen quickly – getting a shot at the doctors, ripping a band-aid off a hairy arm, getting a bikini wax and making meals. For fu*ks sake, that’s why that idiot Rachel Ray is popular – she’s got every one of you fooled that her meals only take 30 minutes to make! Well, if you’re as lucky as she is to get every one of your veggies and meats completely prepped and cleaned for you, you may have a chance of making it under 30 minutes.

Rachel aside, the recipes I label “Quickest Meal Ever” must only take about 30-40 minutes to make from start to finish. And I actually cut things up and prepare things if necessary. So with that I invite you to make this delicious and light Creamy Lemon Pasta. Yes, there is cream and some butter mixed in, but it really tastes so incredibly light. Even though we’re in the midst of winter, eating this meal tonight made me imagine that summer is on the way (unfortunately, it was only the food coma talking).

CREAMY LEMON PASTA

• 1 1/2 juicy lemons + zest of the lemon
• 1 lb long pasta (pappardelle, linguine or fettuccine preferable)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted preferably
• (Optional) grilled or blanched asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• parsley, finely chopped
• parmigiano reggiano
• fresh pepper

1. Saute shallot and onion in 1 tablespoon butter. Add some olive oil if it needs extra stuff to saute in.
2. Boil water for your pasta.
3. Once shallots are translucent, add chicken stock and the juice of one lemon. Allow to reduce so only 1/4 of the stock remains in the pan.
4. Cook pasta in boiling, salted water.
5. Once stock is reduced, whisk in the heavy cream. Add a pinch of salt, the lemon zest and the juice of the other half of lemon. Whisk in the last tablespoon of butter and about 1/8 cup of the pasta cooking water. Allow to cook on medium and reduce a bit. It should be bubbling while it reduces and thickens.
6. Add they drained pasta to the lemon sauce and toss with parmigiano reggiano, the blanched asparagus (optional) and some fresh pepper. Top with a sprinkle of parsley, some extra lemon zest and another small bit of cheese and voila!

CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR OTHER SUPER-QUICK RECIPES:

• GROUND LAMB KABOBS (Lamb Kubideh)
• PASTA WITH LEEKS, ASPARAGUS, MUSHROOMS AND GRUYERE, TOPPED WITH A FRIED EGG
• ORECCHIETTE WITH SAUSAGE AND KALE
• TORTILLA SOUP
• PASTA WITH TUNA (Pasta Con Tonno)
• CHORIZO, CHICKPEA AND POTATO SOUP

Anywho’s, we may not have had 7 Fishes this Christmas Eve, but we did 5 fishes and did two of the 2 different ways. In my mind, that’s like doing seven, right? I now bring to you our first fish course – Fritto Misto di Mare (Mixed Fried Seafood). It was absolutely delicious, but pacing the cooking correctly was a bit frustrating. I would advise have 3-4 pots of scalding hot oil going at the same time as to hasten the cooking time – especially if you are going to be cooking for 10 or more people at the same time. Remember to separate all the seafood from the vegetables if you are doing both. The oil can often take on the fish taste and you don’t want your crunchy asparagus tasting like smelts – or do you? Whatever floats your boat! I highly recommend making this for a group of friends – it’s fun, bite-sized and delicious. We served ours with a homemade Roasted Garlic Lemon Aioli as a dipping sauce. It is lighter than you think, even though it’s all fried! Come on, the Italians are not the ones with a nationwide obesity epidemic!

The recipe below fed 11 people as a starter, albeit a pretty good-sized starter. You can add/take away stuff as you’d like.

FRITTO MISTO DI MARE WITH ROASTED GARLIC LEMON AIOLI (Fried Mixed Seafood with Fried Mixed Veggies)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb shrimp
• 1/2 lb. squid (bodies and tentacles), cut into rings
• 1 fillet of whitefish (sole, flounder, etc.), cut into 1 inch pieces
• 6 large smelts (heads removed), cut into 1 inch pieces and soaked in milk for 1 hour prior to frying (takes some of the fishy smell away) OR whole sardines
• 1/4 head of cauliflower, blanched, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 8 asparagus stalks, woody bottom removed, blanched and the rest cut into 1 inch pieces
• 6-8 large button mushrooms, quartered
• 1 whole zucchini, sliced in 1/4-inch rounds
• 1 small eggplant, sliced in 1/4-inch rounds
• Peanut Oil for frying (has a high smoke point and burns less easily – traditionally this should be fried in olive oil)
• (Optional but preferred) Cast Iron Skillet for frying
• paper towels or brown paper bag for draining
• Kosher Salt
• Lemon Wedges

For the Fritto Misto Batter:

• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (seasalt or kosher salt preferably)
• soda water or sparkling water

For the Roasted Garlic Lemon Aioli

• 1/2 head garlic oven-roasted in foil
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon horseradish
• juice from 1 fresh lemon
• 2 egg yolks
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• sugar

What to do:

1. Make your Lemon Garlic Aioli as early as 1 or 2 days ahead. Roast garlic in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool. In a glass mixing bowl, add your roasted garlic (squeeze it out of the skin), 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon horseradish, 2 egg yolks, pinch of salt and the juice of 1 lemon. Mix with a whisk. After that is mixed up, slowly add olive oil and continue to whisk feverishly until it starts to get thick. Eventually you’ll have added enough oil to make a mayonnaise. Taste and add some more salt if you would like and add about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Always taste to make sure the seasonings are to your liking!
2. Make sure you prep your hard veggies (asparagus and cauliflower) by boiling them for 1 to 2 minutes and shocking them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking.
3. Make your batter by combining all your dry ingredients first, mixing and then adding enough sparkling water for it to be slightly thin. You want it to coat your veggies and fish, but you do not want it so thick that it resembles spackle. Make it like a thin pancake batter. Add more flour if you mess up. Let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. After all your veggies are prepped, pour enough peanut oil into your skillets or pots (you should have one for frying veggies and one for frying the seafood) to almost cover your ingredients – about 2 1/2 to 3 inches deep. Whack your heat up to high. When you stick the end of a wooden spoon in and there are bubbles all around it, your oil is probably ready.
5. Start with your blanched asparagus. Put pieces in the batter and allow some of the batter to drip off before placing each piece in the oil. Do this with each piece and allow to fry until golden brown. After all the asparagus is done, remove from oil using a slotted spoon and allow it drain on some paper towels and immediately sprinkle with a good amount of kosher salt. Next, do your cauliflower, then mushroom quarters, etc. till you have fried all of your veggies.
6. Repeat with all your fish. The ONLY exception to the “cook till golden brown” rule should be for the squid/calamari. They really should not be cooked more than 2 minutes or else they’ll be chewy. Allow them all to drain on paper towels and sprinkle with kosher salt as well.
7. Serve mixed up on a big platter with your lemon/garlic aioli in a serving dish on the side. Serve with lemon wedges and some nice wine!

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER RECIPES YOU MAY ENJOY:

• PASTA (BUCATINI) WITH PISTACHIO SAUCE
• PASTA WITH TUNA (Pasta Con Tonno)
• PERFECT BROCCOLI DI RAPE WITH SWEET SAUSAGE
• LIDIA’S LAMB CHOPS (Lamb Chops with A Mustard Anchovy Sauce)
• Pigs Must Dream of Ending Up Here
• Remaking a Tuscan Restaurant Meal (From Florence)
  
• San Gennaro Festival, Little Italy, NYC – A Letdown (Boy’s Version)

Wow… that title is a bit long, but it’s the best description I could come up with. This meal is absolutely delicious, quick and cheap. It is adapted from our favorite master chef – Jacques Pepin. On his PBS show Fast Food My Way (WATCH IT!!!), Jacques creates seemingly difficult and creative dishes in no time. He never attempts to wow you with his personality (charming, sweet, truly charismatic), made-up stories to keep you interested (unless you count recollections of his mother’s cooking in France growing up which you really know are true and actually want to hear) or his K-RAZY catch phrases (only at the beginning with a “Happy Cooking!” in his lovely French accent). Jacques is a true master in the food world and every time I watch him I not only immediately relax, but I always learn something new. I am in awe of him and I not-so-secretly wish he was my grandfather (no offense to my real grandfathers whom I love/loved very much).

Jacques original dish is called Bowtie Pasta with Fried Egg and Cheese. His recipe is very, very nice, but I tweaked it a bit. We love garlic and had to add it. Jacques uses gruyere cheese, but we’ve also done this dish with shredded mozzarella and fontina cheese. Both melt extremely well and give the dish an excellent flavor. Topping the pasta with a runny, fried egg brings this dish to another level. Make SURE you don’t overcook the egg! You’ll want that yolk to run all throughout the pasta, mixing with the other ingredients, almost creating a sauce. I’m salivating thinking about it now.

I’ve also entered this recipe in Real Epicurean’s “In The Bag” May event.  Check out this blog for some delicious recipe!

PASTA WITH LEEKS, ASPARAGUS, MUSHROOMS, GRUYERE AND A FRIED EGG

• 1/2 – 3/4 of a box of short pasta, whole wheat if you so choose (gemelli, penne, rigatoni, cavatelli, etc.)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 shallot, minced (optional)
• 1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced
• 6 asparagus spears (make sure to cut off the woody bottom), grilled and then sliced into 2 inch pieces (you can also boil them or saute them if you don’t have a grill pan)
• 5 white button mushrooms, thickly sliced (1/4 inch slices)
• 1/4 pound shredded Gruyere cheese (or mozzarella, fontina)
• a palmful of shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• peperoncino (optional)

What to do:

1. Heat up your grill pan (if you have one, if not, skip to #2)
2. In a medium-high heated pan, suate your mushrooms in some olive oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt. As soon as they take on bit of color (about 2 minutes), add your leeks and saute until soft. Mushrooms should not be mushy, but have a bit of give. If you over-saute them, no biggie. I just like the taste of a bit of firmness along with the asparagus… you may not care. Reserve in a bowl on the side.
3. Grill your asapargus spears on your indoor or outdoor grill. Allow to cool and then cut into 2 inch pieces. (NOTE: If you do not have a grill pan, cut your raw asapargus into 2 inch pieces and saute in a bit of olive oil until cooked through – 3-4 minutes or so).
4. Boil your water for the pasta and cook for alloted time until al dente.
5. While pasta is cooking, in a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil, gently saute your shallots and garlic on medium-low (if you have the time, do it on low), so that they not only cook, but the flavor infuses into the butter/olive oil (5-8 minutes).
6. In a separate pan, fry an egg in some olive oil. Make sure to only fry it on the other side for a second in order to keep the yolk runny! That makes the dish! Keep warm until ready.
7. Drain your pasta, reserving about 1/2 a cup of the cooking liquid. Add your pasta to the pan with the shallots/garlic/butter/olive oil mixture (pan should be on low/medium-low heat. Add one more pat of butter (about a tablespoon) and toss. Next, add a dash of pasta water (about 1/4 cup at most), add back the other veggies and toss. Add a pinch of salt to your liking (always taste!). If you would like a stronger garlic flavor, add a pinch of garlic powder (NOT garlic salt if you’ve already added salt). Toss again.
8. Add your gruyere first and then the parmagiano cheese. Continue to toss pasta until cheese is completely integrated into the dish and melted.
9. Serve immediately, top each dish with a fried egg and some optional peperoncino if you want to add a kick to it.

CHECK OUT SOME OF THESE OTHER POSTS YOU MAY ENJOY:

• WATERCRESS & RICOTTA RAVIOLI WITH A RADICCHIO BUTTER SAUCE
• GNOCCHI DI PATATE WITH A BROWN BUTTER, SAGE, BREADCRUMB SAUCE
• PERFECT BROCCOLI DI RAPE WITH SWEET SAUSAGE
• LA RIBOLLITA (Tuscan Vegetable and Cannelini Bean Soup)
• AVGOLEMONO SOUP (Greek Lemon-Egg Chicken Soup w/ Orzo)
• SWEET ANISE-FLAVORED SALMON IN A POUCH (SALMON EN PAPILLOTE)

If you’re like me, you love to eat… and drink… and eat and drink. This is what the weekends are for! We often are more gluttonous on a Friday and Saturday night that by Sunday we’re rubbing our bloated bellies with the Sunday blues and the need to detox. Many Monday dinners are “light” (well, light for us) which usually means fish, salad or even (DARE WE SAY!) a vegetarian meal (ok, remove the egg to make it veggie). By Tuesday we’re starting to feel kind of healthy again. Here is a meal you’ve seen on many menus, many, many times. Not extremely creative, but it’s pretty easy to make and tastes filling and satisfying when you feel like having a healthy meal. Here’s our version of the infamous “Salad Nicoise”. Traditionally, anchovies are used but we left them out. Add ‘em if ya want. We also used capers instead of the traditional black olives (although often the salad has both) and left out the traditional green pepper (I’m not a fan of raw green pepper so I left that out).

SALAD NICOISE the SEPPY-SILLS WAY:

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 tuna steaks (depending on how hungry you are), I like sushi-grade
• 1 bag of leafy greens/spring mix/whatever greens you like
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 2 Hard-Boiled egg (the perfect hard-boiled egg: boil egg for 7-8 minutes… no more! stop the cooking by immersing egg in an icy bath of cold H2O)
• handful of capers
• handfull of fresh chives
• 1 sliced spring onion
• handfull of green beans
• 10 stalks of asparagus
• dijon mustard
• champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar or, hell, red wine vinegar)
• olive oil

What to do:

1. Boil some H2O and hard-boil your eggs (see above for the ‘recipe’). When they are done, fish them out w/ a slotted spoon and save that boiled water.
2. Boil the green beans and asparagus for 3-4 minutes (or until they are still crispy enough to your liking – you do NOT want them to be limp and over-cooked). Shock them in an icy bath water (can you re-use the same water the eggs were in?) to stop them from cooking. Fish out of the icy-water when cooled and put aside.
3. Heat up a grill pan so it’s nice and hot. If using a cast-iron grill, make sure it’s heated up a bit earlier so it’s nice and hot in order to sear the tuna quickly.
4. Cut up your tomatoes however you like (I use plum tomatoes an cut them in half and then in quarters).
5. Slice up your spring onion (into thin slices).
6. Prep you tuna steaks very simply – rub some olive oil on both sides and sprinkly with salt and pepper. You can “jazz it up” (jazz hands!) with some other herbs or spices – experiment! But I think it’s best when it’s nice and simple.
7. Put your tuna steaks on the grill pan to sear quickly. Time it – no more than 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side (depending on thickness). You want it nice a pink on the inside and seared on the outside. Take off grill to rest for a few minutes.
8. Now make your vinagrette by combining in a bowl:
   • 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
   • 1 tablespoon vinegar
   • pinch of salt and pepper
   • MIX UP with a whisk
   • Slowly add some extra virgin olive oil while whisking the ingredients in the bowl
   • DONE! Taste to make sure you feel there’s enough mustard taste and vinegar taste for your liking.
9. Add your vinagrette to your spring/lettuce mix but reserve a couple of teaspoons. Toss.
10. Slice your tuna steaks against the grain (so it stays together in pieces) and slice up your cooled asparagus into 2 inch slices. Cut the ends of your green beans off – do it on an angle to look fancy). Run your knife through your capers to give it a rough chop. Rough chop your chives.
11. Assemble your plate! Put your mixed lettuce on the plate and assemble the veggies on and around it. Place a few slices of the tuna on top. Spoon a bit extra vinagrette on top of the tuna.

ENJOY!