Before we plunge into this delicious recipe, ragazzi, Annalena has to comment on something that is bothering her. TRULY bothering her.
We learned, last week, that Paula Deen has Type 2 diabetes. The comments, almost universally, have been along the lines of "GEE WHIZ. I am NOT surprised." To say they have been cutting, nasty, sarcastic, and mean, would understate the case. And, interestingly, no one can comment on what Ms. Deen eats or does or ate or did, to "deserve" diabetes (and the sense is clearly that she does in fact DESERVE this!!!!), but rather, the comments are directed to her cookbooks, her television shows, etc, which "encourage us" to eat unhealthily.
Annalena is going to switch to all caps. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE? ARE YOU FOIE GRAS GEESE BEING FORCED TO OVEREAT BAD FOOD? If Ms. Deen presents fattening unhealthy food recipes, then you are presented with a choice: you may eat them, or you may choose not to. You may choose to read them as entertainment, or you may decide to eat them every night. This is the reader's call. None of Ms. Deen or her handsome sons are standing over anyone, with a gun, saying "eat that butter stick right now," anymore than anyone is pointing a gun at anyone who finishes a meal at MacDonalds. You know better. You make your choices. The recipe which follows is far from healthy and Annalena does not recommend eating it every night, or even every week. But it IS good food. Enjoy it once in a while.
AND LEAVE THE SOUTHERN LADY ALONE!
Very well, truly unhappy rant over, let us return to the kitchen, for what is unquestionably a rich, rich RICH dish, that is also delicious. It is worth making from time to time. Do try to eat some lean things with it, or to limit how much of it you do eat. It is difficult, Annalena knows. Repent the next day if you must. Balance and reason are everything.
You will need to spend some money and buy a pound of wild mushrooms. Now, it is getting very difficult to distinguish between wild and cultivated mushrooms these days. During the time, when the available mushrooms were white button, and everything else, the distinction was clearer. Portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, etc, are not wild mushrooms. And if you are living in a climate where the ground freezes, any local mushrooms, are not wild mushrooms. Do keep this in mind. You can buy wild mushrooms from other geographies. You may also want to substitute the wild mushrooms with a flavorful, cultivated one. Ask your merchant: s/he will know which one is the strongest tasting, and that is what you should use. But in no event does Annalena counsel mixing different kinds of mushrooms. She finds that such medleys result in the loss of identity of any individual mushroom. So, stick with one kind and, as noted, a pound.
You are going to cook this with twelve ounces of FRESH pasta, and the shape of that pasta is going to determine how you slice the mushrooms. For example, when Annalena made this, she had linguini. Hence, she sliced her mushrooms (chanterelles), into long strips. Were she working with penne, or radiatori, or other, stubby pasta, she would have cut chunks. That is how this works.
You will also want one, small red onion. Cut it in half horizontally, and then cut the halves into half moons, as thin as you can. Finally, you are going to want some salt, some pepper, and equal amounts (three tablespoons each) of olive oil and butter. And, finally.... one cup of heavy cream.
Oh yes, the calories are going to mount up here. Put the oil and butter into a very large frying pan, and when the butter begins to bubble, add the onions, and a pinch of salt. Cook just until they soften, and then add the mushrooms. Add a pinch more salt, and let them sit for a few minutes. Annalena has mentioned before, that if you watch mushrooms cook, you will see how the water begins to leave them. So, ragazzi, when your pan begins to look a little moist, stir the mushrooms up. And then leave them alone again, and you'll watch the liquid disappear.
When that happens, you add the cream. All of it. Stir everything together, at medium low heat. When the cream begins to bubble, let it cook for about three minutes, and then take it off the heat.
Have a big pot of salted water ready, and toss in your fresh pasta. You know the drill: taste it until it feels aldente to you. Then, drain it, toss it into the cream sauce, and return it all to the heat. Stir it together for another two minutes or so. The pasta is going to drink up most of the liquid, and you'll have a very "tight" pasta dish. In fact, you may want to add a few tablespoons of hot water. Then, off the heat, grate in as much parmesan as you like. PLEASE grate it yourself. If you are using the stuff in the green cardboard container, please leave right now.
Dinner. For two, or three, or four. With SALAD please. Maybe some chicken. Maybe some fish.
THis is a lovely, easy thing to do , with items that you will have no trouble finding. Perhaps, if you are in the mood to beat up on Ms. Deen, you can eat this and leave her alone. Even if you are not, make it, and make yourself and some others happy.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Foolproof? Hmmm. Italian pear cake (Torta di pera alla nonna)
You will hear it said, or read it, that Italians do not do much dessert preparation at home. Classically, this was true. If Annalena's family ate dessert, it was almost always fruit. If the fruit was fresh, she and her famiglia sat there and pulled grapes off of stems, or cut oranges or apples, or gorged on cherries, etc. If it was not, Nana's dreaded fruit salad would follow. OH, those salads. The poor woman, confronted with no budget, and rotting fruit, did her best. Some of the combinations were, shall we say , interesting. Bananas and peaches, with canned plums. Yes, that may be the strangest one.
Annalena is told that this is changing and more Italian home cooks are in fact making desserts at home. Indeed, her erstwhile teacher, the soon to be Dr. Mullins , was reporting on a possible need for a standard intervention, given the amount of cake baking he was doing while sojourning in Modena. And one does hear reports as to the failure of the "Mediterranean diet," whatever that is.
The fact is, ragazzi, Italians are no different than any of you: we have sweet tooths. Coyly, we address them by eating gelato on the street, or sitting in cafes with cookies or other goodies, so you don't find the stuff in our house, but we are in fact doing our share. Think of some things you know: panna cotta. Tiramisu. Cannoli. Do these sound like fruit desserts? I think not. We are eating them, and we are simply making them better than anyone else.
There. I said it. French chefs, eat your hearts out. But we are having others do them.
Notwithstanding this, every Italian home cook needs a repertoire of simple desserts because, well, you never know. And this is one, with a caveat.
The recipe comes from Marcella Hazan, who prefaces it by saying "the only way for this cake to fail is an affirmative act of sabotage." Well.... Annalena begs to differ. This is an easy cake, but it is not so easy as her mentor would have it to be. So, learn from Annalena's experience as we make this one. She shall explain the pitfalls of what is, essentially, a very easy cake.
You start by needing fruit: 2 pounds of it. This is going to be a lot of fruit for this cake. Bosc pears, please, because they are nice and dry. Ripe and juicy, but not soft. Peel them, and cut them into small chunks rather than the slices Ms. Hazan recommends. Annalena shall explain.
Put them to the side, while you preheat your oven to 350, and then prepare your batter. No heavy equipment here. You need 2 large eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, a cup of sugar and 1.5 cup of flour with a teaspoon of salt. And that's it.
You do notice what is missing , yes? No butter, no leaven. This is a dense cake. Butter will reemerge, but only as an accent.
With these ingredients, you need only a big spoon and a bowl. Beat the eggs and the milk until they are "as one." Then stir in the sugar, and then the flour. You will have a big, heavy batter. This is as it should be. Leave that and tend to your pan.
Get a nine inch pan of some type, be it spring form or not, and - BUTTER THAT SUCKER VERY VERY WELL. BUTTER IT TO AN INCH OF ITS LIFE. And then, if you have some unflavored bread crumbs around, put them in the pan, and coat the whole thing. If you don't, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT PAN IS BUTTERED. This is why:the batter is free of butter, and with the large amount of sugar, there is little to help you release it from the pan.
Now, spoon that batter into the pan. You may have to dig and work, as it's rather dense. Spread it out as well as you can, and then dump the fruit over it. If you like, you can also stir the fruit and batter together first.
The reason for chunking the fruit, rather than slicing it, comes out here. Sliced, the pieces are larger, and heavier, they sink to the bottom of the pan, and they stick. Trust me on this.
OK, now once you have this whole thing in the pan, you need to do a few things, and you may want to do a few more. You MUST take about 2 tablespoons of butter, and break it into little pieces, and strew it over the cake. Ms. Hazan suggests adding some whole cloves as an option. Cloves are difficult. They are not to everyone's taste. But cinnamon is. Cinnamon sugar is even more . So Annalena sprinkled cinnamon sugar on it and, at the last minute, she added candied ginger, and stayed away from the sugar coated walnuts she wanted to add.
Into the oven it goes, for fifty minutes or so.
Not hard, was it? It will bake up, but it will not rise very high. The butter will sink into the cake.
When it comes out of the oven, let it sit for a few minutes - 10-15. If you have used a springform, run a knife around the edge, and release it. You are on easy street. If you did not, you will have some work to do. Again, run the knife, and have a rack ready. Put that on top of the cake, protect your hands with gloves, and turn the thing over. You may have to rap it a few times to get it out... and unfortunately, in so doing, the bottom may break up a bit.
Despair not. That is the bottom, and you can hide that, with the wonderful crispy cinammony top.
And that's it. Now, this is not a standard cake texture. It is not airy, and it is not fluffy. Rather, it is closer to a very thick pancake. And that's fine.
You can do this with apples, and you could probably do it with juicier fruits, like mangos, that have some solidity. Ripe banana may work. Annalena would stay away from truly juicy stuff like pineapples, but cometh late summer, she may try this with plums. And peaches. and nectarines.
Face it, ragazzi, there are times when you want to serve a dessert, but... . Annalena believes you probably have everything in the house right now. Don't have cinnamon sugar? Well, you have sugar and cinnamon dont you? Hmmmm.
To the pantry, ragazzi. Make it. Tell Annalena how it turned out. The times, they are a changin'
Annalena is told that this is changing and more Italian home cooks are in fact making desserts at home. Indeed, her erstwhile teacher, the soon to be Dr. Mullins , was reporting on a possible need for a standard intervention, given the amount of cake baking he was doing while sojourning in Modena. And one does hear reports as to the failure of the "Mediterranean diet," whatever that is.
The fact is, ragazzi, Italians are no different than any of you: we have sweet tooths. Coyly, we address them by eating gelato on the street, or sitting in cafes with cookies or other goodies, so you don't find the stuff in our house, but we are in fact doing our share. Think of some things you know: panna cotta. Tiramisu. Cannoli. Do these sound like fruit desserts? I think not. We are eating them, and we are simply making them better than anyone else.
There. I said it. French chefs, eat your hearts out. But we are having others do them.
Notwithstanding this, every Italian home cook needs a repertoire of simple desserts because, well, you never know. And this is one, with a caveat.
The recipe comes from Marcella Hazan, who prefaces it by saying "the only way for this cake to fail is an affirmative act of sabotage." Well.... Annalena begs to differ. This is an easy cake, but it is not so easy as her mentor would have it to be. So, learn from Annalena's experience as we make this one. She shall explain the pitfalls of what is, essentially, a very easy cake.
You start by needing fruit: 2 pounds of it. This is going to be a lot of fruit for this cake. Bosc pears, please, because they are nice and dry. Ripe and juicy, but not soft. Peel them, and cut them into small chunks rather than the slices Ms. Hazan recommends. Annalena shall explain.
Put them to the side, while you preheat your oven to 350, and then prepare your batter. No heavy equipment here. You need 2 large eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, a cup of sugar and 1.5 cup of flour with a teaspoon of salt. And that's it.
You do notice what is missing , yes? No butter, no leaven. This is a dense cake. Butter will reemerge, but only as an accent.
With these ingredients, you need only a big spoon and a bowl. Beat the eggs and the milk until they are "as one." Then stir in the sugar, and then the flour. You will have a big, heavy batter. This is as it should be. Leave that and tend to your pan.
Get a nine inch pan of some type, be it spring form or not, and - BUTTER THAT SUCKER VERY VERY WELL. BUTTER IT TO AN INCH OF ITS LIFE. And then, if you have some unflavored bread crumbs around, put them in the pan, and coat the whole thing. If you don't, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT PAN IS BUTTERED. This is why:the batter is free of butter, and with the large amount of sugar, there is little to help you release it from the pan.
Now, spoon that batter into the pan. You may have to dig and work, as it's rather dense. Spread it out as well as you can, and then dump the fruit over it. If you like, you can also stir the fruit and batter together first.
The reason for chunking the fruit, rather than slicing it, comes out here. Sliced, the pieces are larger, and heavier, they sink to the bottom of the pan, and they stick. Trust me on this.
OK, now once you have this whole thing in the pan, you need to do a few things, and you may want to do a few more. You MUST take about 2 tablespoons of butter, and break it into little pieces, and strew it over the cake. Ms. Hazan suggests adding some whole cloves as an option. Cloves are difficult. They are not to everyone's taste. But cinnamon is. Cinnamon sugar is even more . So Annalena sprinkled cinnamon sugar on it and, at the last minute, she added candied ginger, and stayed away from the sugar coated walnuts she wanted to add.
Into the oven it goes, for fifty minutes or so.
Not hard, was it? It will bake up, but it will not rise very high. The butter will sink into the cake.
When it comes out of the oven, let it sit for a few minutes - 10-15. If you have used a springform, run a knife around the edge, and release it. You are on easy street. If you did not, you will have some work to do. Again, run the knife, and have a rack ready. Put that on top of the cake, protect your hands with gloves, and turn the thing over. You may have to rap it a few times to get it out... and unfortunately, in so doing, the bottom may break up a bit.
Despair not. That is the bottom, and you can hide that, with the wonderful crispy cinammony top.
And that's it. Now, this is not a standard cake texture. It is not airy, and it is not fluffy. Rather, it is closer to a very thick pancake. And that's fine.
You can do this with apples, and you could probably do it with juicier fruits, like mangos, that have some solidity. Ripe banana may work. Annalena would stay away from truly juicy stuff like pineapples, but cometh late summer, she may try this with plums. And peaches. and nectarines.
Face it, ragazzi, there are times when you want to serve a dessert, but... . Annalena believes you probably have everything in the house right now. Don't have cinnamon sugar? Well, you have sugar and cinnamon dont you? Hmmmm.
To the pantry, ragazzi. Make it. Tell Annalena how it turned out. The times, they are a changin'
Friday, January 13, 2012
By request: Annalena's honey ice cream(s)
It is not often that Annalena gets a request for a recipe. She's serious about that. Interestingly, ragazzi, you do not ask for them, or ask "can you post for..." Perhaps it is because Annalena's third eye sometimes knows what you want beforehand, and sends it to you, before you ask. Of course, we do not want to attribute powers to Annalena that she does not have, now, do we? But who knows?
In any event, this week, she did in fact have a request. It was a request for lavender ice cream. It came from her dear Texan friend, who shall be referred to herein as Gilda Pecuniaria. Should GP choose to manifest herself, fine, but if not, we shall remain incognito and add yet another layer of intrigue and mystery to this blog.
Oh dear, the meds ARE setting in, aren't they? In any event, GP reported that she had been looking for that recipe, and could not find it. Annalena was convinced that she had posted this, and then, much to her surprise, learned that it was not amongst the hundreds of recipes on this blog.
Shameful. And, actually, it is not a recipe for lavender ice cream (which Annalena believes you will all be able to deduce for yourselves from reading this), but for lavender honey ice cream, and that in turn led to a decision to write about honey ice cream, generally.
Did you know that honey is the ONE food that will NEVER spoil? It is true. They have found honey in the tombs of Egyptian pharoahs, and it is allegedly still edible (although Annalena is not going to put THAT stuff in her mouth). It does not harbor bacteria, which keeps it from spoiling. Now, that may change with the so-called "infused" honeys, where flavor is picked up from other things that are steeped in warm honey - as CAN be the case here. Annalena is unaware of any such studies.
She hopes that you know that any attempt to give up sugar in favor of honey because it is "healthy," is silly. Honey is sugar. It is a different form of sugar, but it is sugar nonetheless. Due to its invert nature, it tastes sweeter, and you might use less of it, but the nutritional benefits are minimal. Should you be choosing it for philosophical or other reasons, do not let Annalena impinge on your views. Do know, however, that you are not getting nutritional brownie points for it. Anyway, to the ice cream.
When Annalena makes lavender honey ice cream, she uses a particular brand, which comes from Napa Style. It is a lavender honey that , to Annalena's tongue, TASTES of lavender. Others have disappointed her (sort of like men). If you have a honey you like, that is what you should use. If you wish to infuse your honey with lavender, well.. this is not the time of year to do it. You really do need fresh lavender for it, and you will find none this time of year. To infuse the honey, you will need a goodly teaspoon - perhaps as much as a tablespoon - of fresh lavender blossoms. You remove these from the stems of the lavender plant, and as you do so, you will smell the wonderful oil. Put the blossoms into 3/4 cup of honey, and then warm it until the honey just bubbles. Then, put it aside, and let it steep. Start tasting after 5 minutes, and every five minutes thereafter, until you have a flavor you like. It may take awhile. Then, strain the blossoms out of the honey. Annalena is sure that you, like Gael Greene "do not appreciate lawn clippings in your dessert."
If you have a regular honey that you like - and please stay away from the bitter types like leatherwood, or buckwheat for ice cream - use 3/4 cup of it, and again, just warm it. You want to warm it because, when you get the other ingredients together, if everything is too cold, you will get clumps of honey, and you may not want that. Although... please read on.
While your honey is warming, combine either 3 cups of heavy cream , or 2 cups of heavy cream and one of milk, with the yolks of six large eggs. Whip this all together, and then pour it into the warm honey. Get your whisk and start stirring. If you have read the other ice cream recipes in this blog, you know what you're looking for: get a thickness that coats the back of a spoon. Undercooked is better than overcooked. And when you get there, take it off the heat, cool it and then pull out your ice cream maker, and get to work.
Now, to variations. You can make "burnt" honey ice cream, which is essentially the honey version of caramel ice cream, by heating the honey , stirring, until you begin to smell a caramel type of odor. When that happens, pour out the honey into another receptacle IMMEDIATELY. Honey may not spoil, but it does burn, it burns easily and it keeps burning. Your caramel can go from tasty to yucky in minutes. Keep an eye on it.
For comb honey ice cream, after you have churned your ice cream, and you see it beginning to firm up, start breaking small chunks of honey comb right into the custard. This will produce something akin to ice cream with honey bubble gum in it. Not unpleasant, to be honest, and actually quite nice.
Nothing like a little January sweetness in your life, eh? Thank Gilda for this one.
In any event, this week, she did in fact have a request. It was a request for lavender ice cream. It came from her dear Texan friend, who shall be referred to herein as Gilda Pecuniaria. Should GP choose to manifest herself, fine, but if not, we shall remain incognito and add yet another layer of intrigue and mystery to this blog.
Oh dear, the meds ARE setting in, aren't they? In any event, GP reported that she had been looking for that recipe, and could not find it. Annalena was convinced that she had posted this, and then, much to her surprise, learned that it was not amongst the hundreds of recipes on this blog.
Shameful. And, actually, it is not a recipe for lavender ice cream (which Annalena believes you will all be able to deduce for yourselves from reading this), but for lavender honey ice cream, and that in turn led to a decision to write about honey ice cream, generally.
Did you know that honey is the ONE food that will NEVER spoil? It is true. They have found honey in the tombs of Egyptian pharoahs, and it is allegedly still edible (although Annalena is not going to put THAT stuff in her mouth). It does not harbor bacteria, which keeps it from spoiling. Now, that may change with the so-called "infused" honeys, where flavor is picked up from other things that are steeped in warm honey - as CAN be the case here. Annalena is unaware of any such studies.
She hopes that you know that any attempt to give up sugar in favor of honey because it is "healthy," is silly. Honey is sugar. It is a different form of sugar, but it is sugar nonetheless. Due to its invert nature, it tastes sweeter, and you might use less of it, but the nutritional benefits are minimal. Should you be choosing it for philosophical or other reasons, do not let Annalena impinge on your views. Do know, however, that you are not getting nutritional brownie points for it. Anyway, to the ice cream.
When Annalena makes lavender honey ice cream, she uses a particular brand, which comes from Napa Style. It is a lavender honey that , to Annalena's tongue, TASTES of lavender. Others have disappointed her (sort of like men). If you have a honey you like, that is what you should use. If you wish to infuse your honey with lavender, well.. this is not the time of year to do it. You really do need fresh lavender for it, and you will find none this time of year. To infuse the honey, you will need a goodly teaspoon - perhaps as much as a tablespoon - of fresh lavender blossoms. You remove these from the stems of the lavender plant, and as you do so, you will smell the wonderful oil. Put the blossoms into 3/4 cup of honey, and then warm it until the honey just bubbles. Then, put it aside, and let it steep. Start tasting after 5 minutes, and every five minutes thereafter, until you have a flavor you like. It may take awhile. Then, strain the blossoms out of the honey. Annalena is sure that you, like Gael Greene "do not appreciate lawn clippings in your dessert."
If you have a regular honey that you like - and please stay away from the bitter types like leatherwood, or buckwheat for ice cream - use 3/4 cup of it, and again, just warm it. You want to warm it because, when you get the other ingredients together, if everything is too cold, you will get clumps of honey, and you may not want that. Although... please read on.
While your honey is warming, combine either 3 cups of heavy cream , or 2 cups of heavy cream and one of milk, with the yolks of six large eggs. Whip this all together, and then pour it into the warm honey. Get your whisk and start stirring. If you have read the other ice cream recipes in this blog, you know what you're looking for: get a thickness that coats the back of a spoon. Undercooked is better than overcooked. And when you get there, take it off the heat, cool it and then pull out your ice cream maker, and get to work.
Now, to variations. You can make "burnt" honey ice cream, which is essentially the honey version of caramel ice cream, by heating the honey , stirring, until you begin to smell a caramel type of odor. When that happens, pour out the honey into another receptacle IMMEDIATELY. Honey may not spoil, but it does burn, it burns easily and it keeps burning. Your caramel can go from tasty to yucky in minutes. Keep an eye on it.
For comb honey ice cream, after you have churned your ice cream, and you see it beginning to firm up, start breaking small chunks of honey comb right into the custard. This will produce something akin to ice cream with honey bubble gum in it. Not unpleasant, to be honest, and actually quite nice.
Nothing like a little January sweetness in your life, eh? Thank Gilda for this one.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Simply shrimp: Pan seared shrimp with veggies and liquor
Ragazzi, your favorite Italian, Annalena, has been woefully under the weather this week. That has not kept her from cooking, but her attention span has been limited, as she dosed herself with over the counter decongestants and cough syrups, antibiotics, tea, and enough Vitamin C to prevent scurvy to an entire navy. A visit to her doctor has resulted in some improvement, and hopefully, back to recovery. Let us hope, recipe seekers that you are.
During this period of illness of the physical type, Annalena found herself in a bit of a dilemma. She was planning the traditional Tuesday night fish dinner for herself and the Guyman. A trip to the Monday market to buy fish from the redoubtably handsome Wade was not in the cards, as it was bitterly cold and Annalena was clearly auditioning for the role of Violetta in Traviata, what with her consumptive hacking. No problem, thought she, since there are two wonderful fish markets in competition at Grand Central Station.
Except... when she made her tour on Monday, Annalena saw nothing that appealed to her. And by Tuesday, when the fresh halibut appeared, it was too late. She had committed herself to using the reserve shrimp that she keeps in the freezer, just in case....
In fact, half of the shrimp was in the freezer, as Annalena feared that this might be the case, and so half was kept fresh. Hence, she had the protein ready. What, however, to do next?
Ah, an excellent question, as the fogged mind of the physically indisposed Annalena did not admit of too much creativity. She pulled in some of her past ideas on cooking shrimp, however, and the need for something simple, and .. this followed. It is, in many respects, inspired by a dish Annalena learned called "gamberi buon giusto," but it is ultimately rather different. And it admits of variation. So, ragazzi, let us proceed.
You start with a couple of stalks of celery , a carrot, and a large clove of garlic. Scrape the carrot, and if there are any uckies on the celery, cut them away. Peel and smash the garlic. Now, put all of those veggies into your food processor, and pulse until you have a very fine mixture. If you are absent a food processor, chop to as fine a consistency as you can.
You will also need a pound of shrimp. Annalena favors what are called "medium" shrimp, as many of you know. If you want the larger ones, by all means, but as we all know, there is a contradiction in the phrase "large shrimp," and for this dish, it really makes no difference. Annalena buys her shrimp peeled and deveined. They cost about a dollar more a pound, but at this point in her life, Annalena finds it worth the buck. She hopes you feel the same way. You will also want a tablespoon of tomato paste. Finally, you will need three tablespoons of a liquor of your choice. Here, you need to consider your taste buds, as well as the fact that shrimp are rather delicate in flavor. When Annalena first made the buon giusto, the liquor called for was dry marsala wine, and indeed, that dish is wonderful. It also contains much more tomato, and no vegetables. If you are predisposed to this beverage, please feel free to use it. Annalena used some VSOP brandy, but you could use any non-sweet liquor , or even mildly sweet ones. (Indeed, she can envision the use of an anisette with this, but the diners must be selected carefully).
Now, we cook. Put about three tablespoons of vegetable oil into a large pan. You can add the chopped vegetables immediately, and turn the heat to medium high. When they begin to sizzle, move them around a bit, and also add a nice teaspoon of salt. You will note the veggies beginning to soften, and when that happens, add the tomato paste, in a spot on the pan that is cleaned, such that it may fry for about thirty seconds (a technique Annalena learned from Lidia). Then mix that in with the other vegetables. Now, add your shrimp to the hot mix (which you may of course call a hot mess), and do nothing for two minutes. Then, stir everything together. You will notice the shrimp beginning to "pinken," if that is such a word (and if it is not, it should be. It has many uses). Keep stirring, until you see that the shrimp have almost completely pinkened . When that happens, take the pan from the heat and add your liquor. You MUST do this with a "high test" liquor like brandy, or risk burning your uni-brow or other facial appurtenances. It is wise to do it with lower powered materials, like the aforesaid marsala. Now, put it back to the heat, and lower that heat. Gently mix everything together for about another minute and a half, simply to reduce the liquids.
And, you are done. Finito. In less than half an hour. Ananlena served this forth with polenta, her own version of "shrimp with grits," Italian style.
Had she thought of it, Annalena may have put some fennel in, in place of the celery. Maybe next time. Perhaps you will try it this time around. Also, if you wanted to bulk up the dish, why not add some very quick cooking greens, like spinach or chard.
Go to it, ragazzi! Make Annalena even prouder of you than she is already.
During this period of illness of the physical type, Annalena found herself in a bit of a dilemma. She was planning the traditional Tuesday night fish dinner for herself and the Guyman. A trip to the Monday market to buy fish from the redoubtably handsome Wade was not in the cards, as it was bitterly cold and Annalena was clearly auditioning for the role of Violetta in Traviata, what with her consumptive hacking. No problem, thought she, since there are two wonderful fish markets in competition at Grand Central Station.
Except... when she made her tour on Monday, Annalena saw nothing that appealed to her. And by Tuesday, when the fresh halibut appeared, it was too late. She had committed herself to using the reserve shrimp that she keeps in the freezer, just in case....
In fact, half of the shrimp was in the freezer, as Annalena feared that this might be the case, and so half was kept fresh. Hence, she had the protein ready. What, however, to do next?
Ah, an excellent question, as the fogged mind of the physically indisposed Annalena did not admit of too much creativity. She pulled in some of her past ideas on cooking shrimp, however, and the need for something simple, and .. this followed. It is, in many respects, inspired by a dish Annalena learned called "gamberi buon giusto," but it is ultimately rather different. And it admits of variation. So, ragazzi, let us proceed.
You start with a couple of stalks of celery , a carrot, and a large clove of garlic. Scrape the carrot, and if there are any uckies on the celery, cut them away. Peel and smash the garlic. Now, put all of those veggies into your food processor, and pulse until you have a very fine mixture. If you are absent a food processor, chop to as fine a consistency as you can.
You will also need a pound of shrimp. Annalena favors what are called "medium" shrimp, as many of you know. If you want the larger ones, by all means, but as we all know, there is a contradiction in the phrase "large shrimp," and for this dish, it really makes no difference. Annalena buys her shrimp peeled and deveined. They cost about a dollar more a pound, but at this point in her life, Annalena finds it worth the buck. She hopes you feel the same way. You will also want a tablespoon of tomato paste. Finally, you will need three tablespoons of a liquor of your choice. Here, you need to consider your taste buds, as well as the fact that shrimp are rather delicate in flavor. When Annalena first made the buon giusto, the liquor called for was dry marsala wine, and indeed, that dish is wonderful. It also contains much more tomato, and no vegetables. If you are predisposed to this beverage, please feel free to use it. Annalena used some VSOP brandy, but you could use any non-sweet liquor , or even mildly sweet ones. (Indeed, she can envision the use of an anisette with this, but the diners must be selected carefully).
Now, we cook. Put about three tablespoons of vegetable oil into a large pan. You can add the chopped vegetables immediately, and turn the heat to medium high. When they begin to sizzle, move them around a bit, and also add a nice teaspoon of salt. You will note the veggies beginning to soften, and when that happens, add the tomato paste, in a spot on the pan that is cleaned, such that it may fry for about thirty seconds (a technique Annalena learned from Lidia). Then mix that in with the other vegetables. Now, add your shrimp to the hot mix (which you may of course call a hot mess), and do nothing for two minutes. Then, stir everything together. You will notice the shrimp beginning to "pinken," if that is such a word (and if it is not, it should be. It has many uses). Keep stirring, until you see that the shrimp have almost completely pinkened . When that happens, take the pan from the heat and add your liquor. You MUST do this with a "high test" liquor like brandy, or risk burning your uni-brow or other facial appurtenances. It is wise to do it with lower powered materials, like the aforesaid marsala. Now, put it back to the heat, and lower that heat. Gently mix everything together for about another minute and a half, simply to reduce the liquids.
And, you are done. Finito. In less than half an hour. Ananlena served this forth with polenta, her own version of "shrimp with grits," Italian style.
Had she thought of it, Annalena may have put some fennel in, in place of the celery. Maybe next time. Perhaps you will try it this time around. Also, if you wanted to bulk up the dish, why not add some very quick cooking greens, like spinach or chard.
Go to it, ragazzi! Make Annalena even prouder of you than she is already.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Doing things the Greek way: Greek sugar cake: ravani'
When Annalena was younger, pot lucks seemed to be all the rage. Perhaps it was because we all KNEW we had less money then, or there was a different sensibility about dinner parties, who knows? In any event, to the extent Annalena remembers her past, she remembers those parties. You've been to the top, where there's one main dish, 26 pasta salads, and 19 plates of cookies.
Ah yes, indeed. Annalena did contribute to those imbalances herself, frequently bringing the cake elaborated upon in this entry. Why she stopped making it, is open to question. It is a good cake, a fun cake, and a popular one. Annalena should also tell you that according to the Greeks she knows, this is not authentic. Annalena got the dessert recipe from a woman who's last name is Theoharous. Dare one say "it's all Greek to me?" Seriously, when researching the recipe (as Annalena is wont to do), she found so many variations as to boggle the mind. So, this is hers. Make it if you like, or if you are inspired to look for others, please do. And tell me what you find, and make.
The interesting ingredient in this cake, is farina. Or, as we called it as children "Cream of Wheat." If you are of a certain age, you ate this. Annalena used to much prefer it to oatmeal, and was bribed with it occasionally. (Perhaps that is why it fell out of favor with Annalena: she doesn't much eat cooked breakfast cereal anymore. Oh well...).
Let us cook. You are going to need to preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan. Put this aside, and melt two sticks of unsalted butter. Let it cool a bit, and add 3/4 cup of sugar to it. Beat this VERY well. Five minutes is not too little time. Then, add five large eggs, and beat them in very well. Annalena prefers to add an extra egg yolk, but this is your call. You definitely should do it if you can only find medium eggs.
In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, a cup of cream of wheat, or farina (and PLEASE. No instant cereal here, please), and 2 TABLESPOONS (you read that correctly) of baking powder. Stir this all into the egg/butter mixture, and then add a generous couple of teaspoons of vanilla.
You are going to have a yellowish, thick cereal like batter. Pour that into your pan, and smooth it out. Get it into the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes.
That wasn't hard, was it? Now, let's make syrup. Mix 3 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a saucepan, and let them heat for about fifteen minutes. Then, add the juice of one lemon, or even more. Indeed, Annalena likes to boil the syrup with the peel of one lemon as well, and then pull it out at the end. If you prefer the taste of oranges, use those. You could use blood oranges, which makes a very tasty, but somewhat ugly looking cake.
When the half hour has passed ,your cake will be light brown, and you will be intrigued by the texture. It is somewhat sandy, in a good way, and very light. It is rather sturdy though. This is not a cake that is going to collapse on you.
Fun part coming up. While the cake is hot, score it into small squares, or diagonals, or diamonds, whatever you like. Then, take the hot syrup and slowly pour it over the cake. It will get drunken up, but as you add more and more syrup, it will "imbibe" more slowly. It will all go in though.
Then let the beast sit and rest for a few hours. It's beter not to refrigerate this.
Annalena has been known to sit there with her slice, sucking the syrup out of it, because she is rather perverse. You may find yourself doing that as well.
Given the sweetness of the cake, you can feed LOTS of people with this. Annalena's source says 20, which must mean the Greeks she knows eat very little. Annalena thinks 12 servings or so. In any event, make it and see for yourself.
This is one for you, Jim Peck
Ah yes, indeed. Annalena did contribute to those imbalances herself, frequently bringing the cake elaborated upon in this entry. Why she stopped making it, is open to question. It is a good cake, a fun cake, and a popular one. Annalena should also tell you that according to the Greeks she knows, this is not authentic. Annalena got the dessert recipe from a woman who's last name is Theoharous. Dare one say "it's all Greek to me?" Seriously, when researching the recipe (as Annalena is wont to do), she found so many variations as to boggle the mind. So, this is hers. Make it if you like, or if you are inspired to look for others, please do. And tell me what you find, and make.
The interesting ingredient in this cake, is farina. Or, as we called it as children "Cream of Wheat." If you are of a certain age, you ate this. Annalena used to much prefer it to oatmeal, and was bribed with it occasionally. (Perhaps that is why it fell out of favor with Annalena: she doesn't much eat cooked breakfast cereal anymore. Oh well...).
Let us cook. You are going to need to preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan. Put this aside, and melt two sticks of unsalted butter. Let it cool a bit, and add 3/4 cup of sugar to it. Beat this VERY well. Five minutes is not too little time. Then, add five large eggs, and beat them in very well. Annalena prefers to add an extra egg yolk, but this is your call. You definitely should do it if you can only find medium eggs.
In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, a cup of cream of wheat, or farina (and PLEASE. No instant cereal here, please), and 2 TABLESPOONS (you read that correctly) of baking powder. Stir this all into the egg/butter mixture, and then add a generous couple of teaspoons of vanilla.
You are going to have a yellowish, thick cereal like batter. Pour that into your pan, and smooth it out. Get it into the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes.
That wasn't hard, was it? Now, let's make syrup. Mix 3 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a saucepan, and let them heat for about fifteen minutes. Then, add the juice of one lemon, or even more. Indeed, Annalena likes to boil the syrup with the peel of one lemon as well, and then pull it out at the end. If you prefer the taste of oranges, use those. You could use blood oranges, which makes a very tasty, but somewhat ugly looking cake.
When the half hour has passed ,your cake will be light brown, and you will be intrigued by the texture. It is somewhat sandy, in a good way, and very light. It is rather sturdy though. This is not a cake that is going to collapse on you.
Fun part coming up. While the cake is hot, score it into small squares, or diagonals, or diamonds, whatever you like. Then, take the hot syrup and slowly pour it over the cake. It will get drunken up, but as you add more and more syrup, it will "imbibe" more slowly. It will all go in though.
Then let the beast sit and rest for a few hours. It's beter not to refrigerate this.
Annalena has been known to sit there with her slice, sucking the syrup out of it, because she is rather perverse. You may find yourself doing that as well.
Given the sweetness of the cake, you can feed LOTS of people with this. Annalena's source says 20, which must mean the Greeks she knows eat very little. Annalena thinks 12 servings or so. In any event, make it and see for yourself.
This is one for you, Jim Peck
Thursday, January 5, 2012
A bit of complexity: pomegranate braised lamb shanks
We speak, often, of the so-called "made in heaven" combinations, i.e, the foods that we just LOVE when they're together. Ripe tomato and basil comes to mind, maybe with mozzarella. Bacon and eggs. Ham and swiss. For some, chocolate and peanut butter, or banana and peanut butter, or the three. Think about it: you have some of them, that make you think "could there be anything better?"
What is interesting to Annalena, multicultural gal as she is, is that these combinations are all Western, and may not appeal to someone who's origins are Eastern. And if you asked for combinations of that type from someone who's origins are not in Europe or the United States, you might be surprised, and may even sit back in a bit of revulsion. Such are cultural favorites.
Annalena is thinking of this because of her fascination with "fertile crescent" or "mesopotamian" food, or whatever label you wish to call it. There seem to be a lot of lamb, and goat recipes in these cuisines, both of which are proteins that are dear to Annalena's taste buds. The cuts of lamb associate with these dishes, are not the usual ones we Westerners favor: you won't see many lamb chop or leg of lamb dishes in these cuisines, but you will see shanks, shoulder, and other tougher cuts of meat. And what you will see, over and over again... is pomegranate. And yes,this is another magical combination. Lamb and pomegranate are a wonderful marriage. And it was with this in mind, that Annalena was looking for a recipe for the famous New Year's party.
It was not difficult, but it WAS difficult to find something that did not have a Western "stamp" on it. Many chop recipes. Many leg of lamb recipes. Where, however, were the stews? The braises? Annalena came up empty. So, in her intrepid way, she figured "how bad good it be?" and took a recipe for chops, and adapted it for shanks.
It smelled good and apparently WAS good, as the Guyman and Annalena got nary a taste of it. Annalena presents the recipe here, and is making it for us next week. You should try it too.
THe only odd ingredient you will need, is pomegranate molasses. You may have to look around to find this, but it's available, and if all else fails, you can buy it on line. I would get a large bottle, because you will use it again.
And lamb shanks. Get smaller ones. No more than 3/4 to 1 pound each. That's actually a very small shank. These critters can go up to 2.5 pounds. That you don't want.
Let's make our marinade, which also serves as our braising liquid. Combine a half cup (measure, don't guess) of the molasses, and combine it with 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a big tablespoon of fresh ginger, a tablespoon of ground cinnamon (best grade you can find), a couple of teapoons of ground cumin, a half tablespoon (or, 1.5 teaspoons ) of paprika. If you happen to have smoked paprika, use that. Half a a teaspoon of salt, and the same of pepper. Put this all in a dish, and mix it together. Smell it. You may swoon. It's that fragrant. Now, salt, and then add your shanks. GEt in there with your hands, and coat them well. You can now leave this out at room temperature, for 2-4 hours, or you can refrigerate it. If you refrigerate it, plan on a night , at the least.
When you are ready to cook, preheat your oven to 325. Add about a half cup of water or broth to the marinating liquid, and stir everything together one more time. Then cover it tightly, put it in the oven, and get engrossed in a book. You're going to need to let these go for at least two hours, maybe longer, depending on how tender you want the meat, and how big the shanks are. Test after two hours. If it's close to falling off the bone, or falling off the bone, you're done.
The smell out of your kitchen while this is happening, is amazing. And when it's done, make yourself some couscous, and you've got a meal.
Now, there is a variation here, which you can try if you don't mind lots of smoke. If you want a browner type of dish, after the marination, try to get as much of the marinade off of the shanks as possible, heat up some oil, and brown the critters. This will create spattering, and black smoke, and you may thing "what the hell am I doing?" Bear with it. It will be good. But if you, as so many of us, are having some winter respiratory problems, a simple braise is fine. OR, you could brown the meat before you put it in the marinade. That is how I would do it next time.
Mesopotamian comfort food, with some wonderful, warm, spicy ingredients. The weather is cold outside. What could be nicer?
What is interesting to Annalena, multicultural gal as she is, is that these combinations are all Western, and may not appeal to someone who's origins are Eastern. And if you asked for combinations of that type from someone who's origins are not in Europe or the United States, you might be surprised, and may even sit back in a bit of revulsion. Such are cultural favorites.
Annalena is thinking of this because of her fascination with "fertile crescent" or "mesopotamian" food, or whatever label you wish to call it. There seem to be a lot of lamb, and goat recipes in these cuisines, both of which are proteins that are dear to Annalena's taste buds. The cuts of lamb associate with these dishes, are not the usual ones we Westerners favor: you won't see many lamb chop or leg of lamb dishes in these cuisines, but you will see shanks, shoulder, and other tougher cuts of meat. And what you will see, over and over again... is pomegranate. And yes,this is another magical combination. Lamb and pomegranate are a wonderful marriage. And it was with this in mind, that Annalena was looking for a recipe for the famous New Year's party.
It was not difficult, but it WAS difficult to find something that did not have a Western "stamp" on it. Many chop recipes. Many leg of lamb recipes. Where, however, were the stews? The braises? Annalena came up empty. So, in her intrepid way, she figured "how bad good it be?" and took a recipe for chops, and adapted it for shanks.
It smelled good and apparently WAS good, as the Guyman and Annalena got nary a taste of it. Annalena presents the recipe here, and is making it for us next week. You should try it too.
THe only odd ingredient you will need, is pomegranate molasses. You may have to look around to find this, but it's available, and if all else fails, you can buy it on line. I would get a large bottle, because you will use it again.
And lamb shanks. Get smaller ones. No more than 3/4 to 1 pound each. That's actually a very small shank. These critters can go up to 2.5 pounds. That you don't want.
Let's make our marinade, which also serves as our braising liquid. Combine a half cup (measure, don't guess) of the molasses, and combine it with 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a big tablespoon of fresh ginger, a tablespoon of ground cinnamon (best grade you can find), a couple of teapoons of ground cumin, a half tablespoon (or, 1.5 teaspoons ) of paprika. If you happen to have smoked paprika, use that. Half a a teaspoon of salt, and the same of pepper. Put this all in a dish, and mix it together. Smell it. You may swoon. It's that fragrant. Now, salt, and then add your shanks. GEt in there with your hands, and coat them well. You can now leave this out at room temperature, for 2-4 hours, or you can refrigerate it. If you refrigerate it, plan on a night , at the least.
When you are ready to cook, preheat your oven to 325. Add about a half cup of water or broth to the marinating liquid, and stir everything together one more time. Then cover it tightly, put it in the oven, and get engrossed in a book. You're going to need to let these go for at least two hours, maybe longer, depending on how tender you want the meat, and how big the shanks are. Test after two hours. If it's close to falling off the bone, or falling off the bone, you're done.
The smell out of your kitchen while this is happening, is amazing. And when it's done, make yourself some couscous, and you've got a meal.
Now, there is a variation here, which you can try if you don't mind lots of smoke. If you want a browner type of dish, after the marination, try to get as much of the marinade off of the shanks as possible, heat up some oil, and brown the critters. This will create spattering, and black smoke, and you may thing "what the hell am I doing?" Bear with it. It will be good. But if you, as so many of us, are having some winter respiratory problems, a simple braise is fine. OR, you could brown the meat before you put it in the marinade. That is how I would do it next time.
Mesopotamian comfort food, with some wonderful, warm, spicy ingredients. The weather is cold outside. What could be nicer?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Annalena revisits Nigella: glass noodles with shrimp
Ciao ragazzi! Primo, let Annalena tell you that she is gratified by the seemingly renewed interest in her musings. Absence certainly does seem to have made the heart grow fonder, as the "hits" on the two January entries have been rather large. Indeed, they are rivaling the "eating clean" entry on fish cookery, and while they will not ever catch the leader, which is braciole (who can figure), she is truly touched.
OK, enough sentimentality. Every year, Annalena and The Guyman give a New Year's Day party. Some choose to call it, and treat it, as a recovery party, others as a last fling before the rigors of January resolutions come in. Do not ask Annalena and The Guyman why they do it. The party, however, is always a big success, with much food cooked, and little left over. This year, of ten entries, prepared for from between 6-10 people, there was enough food left over for one large plate for the doorman. Hence, we continued our tradition of Chinese food for dinner on January 1.
Some of the dishes that appear on our table, are dishes we have eaten already, and others are new. Hence, in the first few weeks of the New Year, Annalena cooks the dishes that we have not eaten, a second time, so that we may try them. The beef stroganoff you have been reading about is one. This is another.
Regular readers of this blog know that Annalena is a very big fan of Ms. Nigella Lawson. To say that she loves her understates the case. To have access to Ms. Lawson's blog via facebook is a treat. And this recipe evolves therefrom.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, Ms Lawson posted a recipe for turkey leftovers. It was a cold salad of glass noodles in a sweet and spicy sauce, and turkey. Well, Annalena is not a big fan of turkey, but she is a fan of glass noodles, and has been for years.
Do you know glass noodles? They are Asian, and they are part of a family of noodles which include bean sprout noodles, glass noodles, and some others. They are fine, very long, and have a pearlescent white color about them, when dry (homework assignment: use pearlescent in a sentence today or tomorrow, without referring to teeth, or noodles). In her early years, Annalena became familiar with them at a Cuban Chinese restaurant, located near Christopher Street. All of those wonderfully handsome young men (and older men), in their leather jackets, and their tight jeans... with their moustaches somewhat covered in glass noodles. Ah, it was a sight.
Oh dear. She's digressing to her past again. OK, back to the present. The wonderful thing about glass noodles, or bean noodles, is that to "cook" them, you put them in cold, or warm water, and let them sit. Seriously, that is all. One thing you SHOULD do, unless your significant one finds noodles in your moustache to be hot, is to break them in half, or even thirds, as they are truly long. Cover them with plenty of water, regardless of how you are using them, and let them sit.
For this recipe, Annalena used about 8 ounces, which is a LOT of noodles. Please feel free to cut the quantity in half.
You will need a sauce as well, and that sauce calls for an ingredient you should have in your home: Asian fish sauce, or , in Vietnamese, which is the type you will almost always find, "nam pla." There are Thai, and Phillipino and Chinese versions available, and if you can find them, please feel free to use them.
It is interesting that many cultures do have a sauce based on old, almost rotted fish. In the earliest of Latin cookbooks, Apecius speaks of "garum." Do not read a recipe for garum unless your stomach is in good shape. Worchester sauce is based on anchovies (or was), and so on, and so forth. In any event, buy yourself a bottle of this, because you will want to make this again.
While the noodles are soaking, combine 4 cloves of peeled, minced garlic, and 4 crushed chillies. Ms Lawson seeds them. Annalena did not. Please be aware of your heat tolerance, and proceed as such. If you do not have the whole chillies, use some flakes, but again, adjust the recipe. Four chillies will give a good tablespoons or so of flakes. The milder pepper flakes will be fine at that quantity, but if you have a variety that says HOT, cut it back. Now combine this with four tablespoons of fresh, minced ginger, and 4 tablespoons of the fish sauce. Add the juice of one lime, or one sour lemon or sour orange. Finally, add a half cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of fine sugar. NOT confectioner's sugar, mind you. Look for something called "caster sugar," which is also called "baker's sugar." You may also wish to use turbinado, or raw sugar. Stir it all togther. Let it sit for a few minutes, and taste.
Good, isn't it? If you want more heat/garlic/ginger/acid/sweet, this is your sauce. Go and do it.
Let the sauce be for a few minutes, and cook a pound of medium , shelled shrimp in boiling salted water. It will take less than five minutes for them to "pink up." Annalena likes the medium sized shrimp, which are really the "small" shrimp of the shrimp world. Drain them. And now....
Take the noodles out of their water. Give them a good shake. Put them in a bowl, and add just about three quarters of your sauce. Stir it together. The noodles will actually soak up some of this sauce, but most of it will be "locked" in between the noodles, which are very fine. Put the shrimp on top of that, and pour the rest of the sauce over it.
WHEW! That was hard work, wasn't it? Uh, no. And again, you have what is essentially a fat free, filling, tasty dish, for at least two of you, perhaps as many as four.
You will start using this sauce with everything, even fruit. Indeed, if you wanted to add sliced mangoes to your salad, do not let Annalena get in your way. Or, if you want to combine green papaya and ground pork, or sausage, well, have at it, ragazzi.
Go forth. Get this one under control, because tomorrow, to paraphrase Ms. Rupaul "you better WORK"
OK, enough sentimentality. Every year, Annalena and The Guyman give a New Year's Day party. Some choose to call it, and treat it, as a recovery party, others as a last fling before the rigors of January resolutions come in. Do not ask Annalena and The Guyman why they do it. The party, however, is always a big success, with much food cooked, and little left over. This year, of ten entries, prepared for from between 6-10 people, there was enough food left over for one large plate for the doorman. Hence, we continued our tradition of Chinese food for dinner on January 1.
Some of the dishes that appear on our table, are dishes we have eaten already, and others are new. Hence, in the first few weeks of the New Year, Annalena cooks the dishes that we have not eaten, a second time, so that we may try them. The beef stroganoff you have been reading about is one. This is another.
Regular readers of this blog know that Annalena is a very big fan of Ms. Nigella Lawson. To say that she loves her understates the case. To have access to Ms. Lawson's blog via facebook is a treat. And this recipe evolves therefrom.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, Ms Lawson posted a recipe for turkey leftovers. It was a cold salad of glass noodles in a sweet and spicy sauce, and turkey. Well, Annalena is not a big fan of turkey, but she is a fan of glass noodles, and has been for years.
Do you know glass noodles? They are Asian, and they are part of a family of noodles which include bean sprout noodles, glass noodles, and some others. They are fine, very long, and have a pearlescent white color about them, when dry (homework assignment: use pearlescent in a sentence today or tomorrow, without referring to teeth, or noodles). In her early years, Annalena became familiar with them at a Cuban Chinese restaurant, located near Christopher Street. All of those wonderfully handsome young men (and older men), in their leather jackets, and their tight jeans... with their moustaches somewhat covered in glass noodles. Ah, it was a sight.
Oh dear. She's digressing to her past again. OK, back to the present. The wonderful thing about glass noodles, or bean noodles, is that to "cook" them, you put them in cold, or warm water, and let them sit. Seriously, that is all. One thing you SHOULD do, unless your significant one finds noodles in your moustache to be hot, is to break them in half, or even thirds, as they are truly long. Cover them with plenty of water, regardless of how you are using them, and let them sit.
For this recipe, Annalena used about 8 ounces, which is a LOT of noodles. Please feel free to cut the quantity in half.
You will need a sauce as well, and that sauce calls for an ingredient you should have in your home: Asian fish sauce, or , in Vietnamese, which is the type you will almost always find, "nam pla." There are Thai, and Phillipino and Chinese versions available, and if you can find them, please feel free to use them.
It is interesting that many cultures do have a sauce based on old, almost rotted fish. In the earliest of Latin cookbooks, Apecius speaks of "garum." Do not read a recipe for garum unless your stomach is in good shape. Worchester sauce is based on anchovies (or was), and so on, and so forth. In any event, buy yourself a bottle of this, because you will want to make this again.
While the noodles are soaking, combine 4 cloves of peeled, minced garlic, and 4 crushed chillies. Ms Lawson seeds them. Annalena did not. Please be aware of your heat tolerance, and proceed as such. If you do not have the whole chillies, use some flakes, but again, adjust the recipe. Four chillies will give a good tablespoons or so of flakes. The milder pepper flakes will be fine at that quantity, but if you have a variety that says HOT, cut it back. Now combine this with four tablespoons of fresh, minced ginger, and 4 tablespoons of the fish sauce. Add the juice of one lime, or one sour lemon or sour orange. Finally, add a half cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of fine sugar. NOT confectioner's sugar, mind you. Look for something called "caster sugar," which is also called "baker's sugar." You may also wish to use turbinado, or raw sugar. Stir it all togther. Let it sit for a few minutes, and taste.
Good, isn't it? If you want more heat/garlic/ginger/acid/sweet, this is your sauce. Go and do it.
Let the sauce be for a few minutes, and cook a pound of medium , shelled shrimp in boiling salted water. It will take less than five minutes for them to "pink up." Annalena likes the medium sized shrimp, which are really the "small" shrimp of the shrimp world. Drain them. And now....
Take the noodles out of their water. Give them a good shake. Put them in a bowl, and add just about three quarters of your sauce. Stir it together. The noodles will actually soak up some of this sauce, but most of it will be "locked" in between the noodles, which are very fine. Put the shrimp on top of that, and pour the rest of the sauce over it.
WHEW! That was hard work, wasn't it? Uh, no. And again, you have what is essentially a fat free, filling, tasty dish, for at least two of you, perhaps as many as four.
You will start using this sauce with everything, even fruit. Indeed, if you wanted to add sliced mangoes to your salad, do not let Annalena get in your way. Or, if you want to combine green papaya and ground pork, or sausage, well, have at it, ragazzi.
Go forth. Get this one under control, because tomorrow, to paraphrase Ms. Rupaul "you better WORK"
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Revisiting a classic: beef stroganoff
This is a dish that has been on Annalena's mind, for quite some time. She remembers a time, the 60s in fact, when this seemed to be all the rage. There was even a tv commercial, where each ingredient in the dish, was assigned an operatic voice. If Annalena remembers correctly, the beef was given the bass role, the onions, the tenor part (it was a dramatic tenor), while the mushrooms seemed to be the soubrette, and the sour cream, which was the object of the commercial, the soprano.
Does anyone else remember this silly commercial? Or is Annalena going battier than she already is? Her friend Sybil is one who may very well remember this, being a child of 60s tv as she is. We will have to caucus.
In any event, heaven knows why this came back to Annalena's addled mind, but she is glad it did. This is one of those dishes that you WANT to come home to. And if you can't, you can make it, in less than 30 minutes. Probably less if you buy the meat in cubes already, but we will come to that, ragazzi. It is hearty, and while Annalena cannot say that this is a light dish, it is comforting , and satisfying, in a way that we all want our food to be when it is about 25 degrees outside, snow is on the way, and we are all freezing. So, ragazzi, once you make this, the next chance you get, buy some extra meat, freeze it, and be ready for making this again.
Let's talk about the meat first. When Annalena first learned of this dish, the prescribed cut was sirloin tips. Perhaps this was a cut more common in the 60s than it is now. Annalena HAS found it, but not often, and frankly, is not that big a fan of the sirloin cut in general. It was chosen because one of the points of this dish is that it is quick to cook, and sirloin tips brown fantastically fast. In fact, with them, you could probably make the dish in 20 minutes; however, Annalena prefers her meat more robust (silenzio, ragazzi!), and prefers to use a cubed meat. Now, let's talk about this too. If you buy beef cubes, and you ask the butcher, or the sales person, "what cut is this," you will probably get a blank stair, or "stew meat." And if you ask "what is stew meat", you will get another stare. Stew meat can be shoulder. It can be leg. It can be any of the tougher, chewier cuts of meat. Essentially, what the butcher does not sell on Monday, becomes stew meat on Tuesday. And frankly, for most applications, this is fine. You will be "stewing" the meat for a long period of time, and the cooking will proceed in its merry way.
Stroganoff cooks quickly. It must. So, Annalena prefers to buy a roast, and cube it herself. Get a small one: about three pounds. You can use sirloin if you like it, but Annalena prefers the top or bottom round (again, silenzio!). As always, go for the grass fed meat. If you have time to prepare the cubes ahead of time, you should salt them and leave then in the fridge, after your large knife has gone to work and produced cubes of about an inch/inch and a half per side. When Annalena did this last week, it took less than ten minutes. Do not hurry and hurt yourself, but it will not take long.
For this much meat, slice a pound and a half of mushroom. The plain white ones are fine, the creminis, even better. You may also want to spend the extra money and save yourself some time, if you can find them presliced. Annalena decided to splurge with the extra buck and a half. A bit of diced onion, please. Maybe one medium sized one for this much meat. A total of 4 tablespoons of fat: equal amounts of butter, and of vegetable oil. Finally, two cups of sour cream. Use the full fat stuff, or the 2%. If you are going lower than that, you shouldn't be making beef stroganoff.
Now that you've gathered all your ingredients, melt the butter in the oil, and then add the beef cubes. Don't crowd the pan, and brown them thoroughly. You may want to check, after about 6-7 minutes of cooking (turning every two minutes), to see if the meat is done enough for you. It will cook quickly. When it's nice and browned, and cooked, remove it from the pan. Now add the onions and cook them in the drippings, just until they're soft. Put them aside with the beef (note that Annalena varies from orthodoxy here, and cooks the beef before the onions. She does this so that the beef does not burn from the hot fat). Now, add the sliced mushrooms. If they do not all fit at once, add them in portions. Let them sit for a minute or two, and then start stirring. You will be amazed, at how rapidly the mushrooms reduce, and the water goes off. Soon, you will be wondering what happened to all those mushrooms: the volume will drop by at least 2/3.
When your mushrooms have cooked, toss the beef and onions back in, and stir everything together. Now pour in that pint of sour cream. Turn off the heat, and stir it together. Taste it, and add salt if you like, or a big spoon of prepared mustard. You may also want to shower this with some chopped scallions, or some other bright green thing. Garlic greens seem to have been "discovered" by our local farmers market types who have greenhouses, and I would use this if you can find them.
Annalena dedicates this to her sister Sybil, because if there is anyone who remembers that silly commerical, it is Sybil. And if she doesn't, or pretends not to because she is too young, she will probaby re-cast it, singing all the parts.
Alla prossima, carini.
Does anyone else remember this silly commercial? Or is Annalena going battier than she already is? Her friend Sybil is one who may very well remember this, being a child of 60s tv as she is. We will have to caucus.
In any event, heaven knows why this came back to Annalena's addled mind, but she is glad it did. This is one of those dishes that you WANT to come home to. And if you can't, you can make it, in less than 30 minutes. Probably less if you buy the meat in cubes already, but we will come to that, ragazzi. It is hearty, and while Annalena cannot say that this is a light dish, it is comforting , and satisfying, in a way that we all want our food to be when it is about 25 degrees outside, snow is on the way, and we are all freezing. So, ragazzi, once you make this, the next chance you get, buy some extra meat, freeze it, and be ready for making this again.
Let's talk about the meat first. When Annalena first learned of this dish, the prescribed cut was sirloin tips. Perhaps this was a cut more common in the 60s than it is now. Annalena HAS found it, but not often, and frankly, is not that big a fan of the sirloin cut in general. It was chosen because one of the points of this dish is that it is quick to cook, and sirloin tips brown fantastically fast. In fact, with them, you could probably make the dish in 20 minutes; however, Annalena prefers her meat more robust (silenzio, ragazzi!), and prefers to use a cubed meat. Now, let's talk about this too. If you buy beef cubes, and you ask the butcher, or the sales person, "what cut is this," you will probably get a blank stair, or "stew meat." And if you ask "what is stew meat", you will get another stare. Stew meat can be shoulder. It can be leg. It can be any of the tougher, chewier cuts of meat. Essentially, what the butcher does not sell on Monday, becomes stew meat on Tuesday. And frankly, for most applications, this is fine. You will be "stewing" the meat for a long period of time, and the cooking will proceed in its merry way.
Stroganoff cooks quickly. It must. So, Annalena prefers to buy a roast, and cube it herself. Get a small one: about three pounds. You can use sirloin if you like it, but Annalena prefers the top or bottom round (again, silenzio!). As always, go for the grass fed meat. If you have time to prepare the cubes ahead of time, you should salt them and leave then in the fridge, after your large knife has gone to work and produced cubes of about an inch/inch and a half per side. When Annalena did this last week, it took less than ten minutes. Do not hurry and hurt yourself, but it will not take long.
For this much meat, slice a pound and a half of mushroom. The plain white ones are fine, the creminis, even better. You may also want to spend the extra money and save yourself some time, if you can find them presliced. Annalena decided to splurge with the extra buck and a half. A bit of diced onion, please. Maybe one medium sized one for this much meat. A total of 4 tablespoons of fat: equal amounts of butter, and of vegetable oil. Finally, two cups of sour cream. Use the full fat stuff, or the 2%. If you are going lower than that, you shouldn't be making beef stroganoff.
Now that you've gathered all your ingredients, melt the butter in the oil, and then add the beef cubes. Don't crowd the pan, and brown them thoroughly. You may want to check, after about 6-7 minutes of cooking (turning every two minutes), to see if the meat is done enough for you. It will cook quickly. When it's nice and browned, and cooked, remove it from the pan. Now add the onions and cook them in the drippings, just until they're soft. Put them aside with the beef (note that Annalena varies from orthodoxy here, and cooks the beef before the onions. She does this so that the beef does not burn from the hot fat). Now, add the sliced mushrooms. If they do not all fit at once, add them in portions. Let them sit for a minute or two, and then start stirring. You will be amazed, at how rapidly the mushrooms reduce, and the water goes off. Soon, you will be wondering what happened to all those mushrooms: the volume will drop by at least 2/3.
When your mushrooms have cooked, toss the beef and onions back in, and stir everything together. Now pour in that pint of sour cream. Turn off the heat, and stir it together. Taste it, and add salt if you like, or a big spoon of prepared mustard. You may also want to shower this with some chopped scallions, or some other bright green thing. Garlic greens seem to have been "discovered" by our local farmers market types who have greenhouses, and I would use this if you can find them.
Annalena dedicates this to her sister Sybil, because if there is anyone who remembers that silly commerical, it is Sybil. And if she doesn't, or pretends not to because she is too young, she will probaby re-cast it, singing all the parts.
Alla prossima, carini.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Back from hiatus with: pineapple roasted with orange juice and honey
Buon capo d'anno, ragazzi! Annalena has returned. She never really left (sort of like many ailments), as she checked for comments (NONE. Hmmmm. Are you reading???), or for requests for her return (NONE. Hmmmmm). The month of absence was, to be honest, the result of what she calls the combination marathon and sprint that is the end of the year for us. Let us face it: would it not be easier if we could split the triad of Thanksgiving , Christmas, New Year and have one of the holidays at a different point in the year, when we really need it? Just as we take a breath from Thanksgiving, the Christmas rush is upon us. All of you know, you were breathing hard for at least part of that six week period. None moreso, than those of us who cook, and those of us who play musical instruments. It is to the latter that Annalena bows her head. There is so little room for error in performance, that it makes cooking look easy. Yet, talk to musicians, and they will bow their heads to cooks. We understand each other. So, ragazzi, with the crush of holiday baking, the Thanksgiving dinner, the Christmas dinner, and the fabulous mess that is the New Year's day party of Annalena and the Guyman, plus work, workouts with the Paraguayan punisher, and so much else, Annalena was absent. At least from writing. But just like Evita, "I never wanted to."
In that time, however, Annalena was thinking of all of you. As recipes were made or tried out, she would think "is this for the gang?" Sometimes the answer was a resounding ABSOLUTELY NOT. Other times, it was "iffy," and then there were others that called out with certainty as things we should be making. And we will have three of those in succession, and as is the case with Annalena's groupings, we shall move from the simplest, to the most complex; however, none will be very complex.
This first one is a sweet, but as far as sweets go, it is a "good" sweet, involving no fat. That is right, dear reader, no fat. And a fruit which , in Annalena's experience, terrifies people, for reasons she cannot fathom. That is the pineapple. Let us see a show of hands: when is the last time any of you bought a pineapple?
Now, if you bought the pineapple to make pina coladas, please lower your hand.
Just as I thought. Well, you should change that. Many of you, I suspect, do not buy them because you are in the camp of "I don't know how to pick a good one." Well, modern science and modern marketing have eliminated what was, honestly, a real problem for years.
When Annalena was younger, there were all kinds of tricks for buying a ripe, sweet pineapple: pull a leaf out of the crown. Smell the bottom (no jokes, please). Squeeze it. Smell the top. And heaven knows, none worked consistently.
Some time ago, there was a breakthrough in pineapple genetics (Annalena kids you not. She follows these things), and there is now a pineapple on the market, called the "golden sweet." There has been litigation over it: Annalena kids you not. Google the words pineapple, and antitrust, and you will read of the long standing fight between Dole and Del Monte about this. In any event, the golden sweet pineapple is unfailingly reliable. If you see the name on the label, you can be certain it will be good. DO make sure that it is not buggy, or overripe (is there juice coming out of it). Buy one (they cost between 3 and 4 dollars each), and you will have a treat.
And Annalena will not countenance the "it's too difficult to prepare" excuse. This is how you clean a pineapple: turn it on its side, and make a vertical cut to take the leaves and a small amount of the fruit off. Now, turn it standing up, and with a large knife, cut down the plant, in segments, to remove the skin. If you have small amounts of skin left from the eyes, cut them out as well, but with practice, you will take enough off so that there is no issue.
You will have a naked pineapple, with an inedible core (at least most think it inedible. Annalena enjoys chewing on the fiber, but then again, she also chews on the strings from a tied roast). For this recipe, you have very easy ways to get rid of it, as you will now find out.
Clean not one, but two pineapples, as you were just directed. Put them aside ,while you squeeze enough oranges, or blood oranges, or tangerines, or any sweet citrus, to get a cup of juice. Annalena's original recipe called for regular oranges. She had plenty of blood oranges from the Citrus Bomb and the Citrus Stud, so she used those. Mix those with half a cup of honey.
Digression coming: some day, go to your market, talk to a honey purveyor, and ask to taste the different types. You will be astounded. Even if you HAVE a life. Use one that you like. Stir that honey into the citrus juice.
Now, remember those two pineapples? Well, standing them vertically, cut them into quarters. Observe them. The core is very apparent. Take a small knife, and cut it away, from each piece. Then, trisect the cleaned pineapple into long slices, and put it in with the juice mixture. Stir it all together and leave it out to marinate for 30 minutes. Turning it every now and then if you think about it.
That wasn't much work, was it? Plenty of words, but no effort. Are you welcoming me back yet?
Now, turn your oven to 450, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. You do need to do this, to keep the pineapple from burning too badly.
After the half hour, pull the fruit out of the juices, and spread them out over the two baking sheets. Don't let the slices overlap. Put them in the oven for ten minutes, but after five, reverse the sheets and turn them as well.
Meanwhile, if you are so inclined, pour the juices into a small pot, and raise the heat to high, reducing the juice to as thick a syrup as you like. After the pineapple has roasted for ten minutes, put it back in the bowl, pour the juices over it (or not) and serve it forth. And if you're not ready, it will hold, unrefrigerated, for a whole day. Refrigerate it afterwards.
In many parts of the world, as well as in colonial America, the pineapple was , and is, the symbol of hosptiality. That is why you will see the symbol over many threshholds, and on gates. Annalena is also told that, in Hawaii there is a legend that the spirit of grandmothers departed enters pinapples. Perhaps. That would explain how easy, and how good, this dessert is.
Welcome to 2012 everyone. Have a wonderful year. Get in contact with Annalena. And make this dessert
In that time, however, Annalena was thinking of all of you. As recipes were made or tried out, she would think "is this for the gang?" Sometimes the answer was a resounding ABSOLUTELY NOT. Other times, it was "iffy," and then there were others that called out with certainty as things we should be making. And we will have three of those in succession, and as is the case with Annalena's groupings, we shall move from the simplest, to the most complex; however, none will be very complex.
This first one is a sweet, but as far as sweets go, it is a "good" sweet, involving no fat. That is right, dear reader, no fat. And a fruit which , in Annalena's experience, terrifies people, for reasons she cannot fathom. That is the pineapple. Let us see a show of hands: when is the last time any of you bought a pineapple?
Now, if you bought the pineapple to make pina coladas, please lower your hand.
Just as I thought. Well, you should change that. Many of you, I suspect, do not buy them because you are in the camp of "I don't know how to pick a good one." Well, modern science and modern marketing have eliminated what was, honestly, a real problem for years.
When Annalena was younger, there were all kinds of tricks for buying a ripe, sweet pineapple: pull a leaf out of the crown. Smell the bottom (no jokes, please). Squeeze it. Smell the top. And heaven knows, none worked consistently.
Some time ago, there was a breakthrough in pineapple genetics (Annalena kids you not. She follows these things), and there is now a pineapple on the market, called the "golden sweet." There has been litigation over it: Annalena kids you not. Google the words pineapple, and antitrust, and you will read of the long standing fight between Dole and Del Monte about this. In any event, the golden sweet pineapple is unfailingly reliable. If you see the name on the label, you can be certain it will be good. DO make sure that it is not buggy, or overripe (is there juice coming out of it). Buy one (they cost between 3 and 4 dollars each), and you will have a treat.
And Annalena will not countenance the "it's too difficult to prepare" excuse. This is how you clean a pineapple: turn it on its side, and make a vertical cut to take the leaves and a small amount of the fruit off. Now, turn it standing up, and with a large knife, cut down the plant, in segments, to remove the skin. If you have small amounts of skin left from the eyes, cut them out as well, but with practice, you will take enough off so that there is no issue.
You will have a naked pineapple, with an inedible core (at least most think it inedible. Annalena enjoys chewing on the fiber, but then again, she also chews on the strings from a tied roast). For this recipe, you have very easy ways to get rid of it, as you will now find out.
Clean not one, but two pineapples, as you were just directed. Put them aside ,while you squeeze enough oranges, or blood oranges, or tangerines, or any sweet citrus, to get a cup of juice. Annalena's original recipe called for regular oranges. She had plenty of blood oranges from the Citrus Bomb and the Citrus Stud, so she used those. Mix those with half a cup of honey.
Digression coming: some day, go to your market, talk to a honey purveyor, and ask to taste the different types. You will be astounded. Even if you HAVE a life. Use one that you like. Stir that honey into the citrus juice.
Now, remember those two pineapples? Well, standing them vertically, cut them into quarters. Observe them. The core is very apparent. Take a small knife, and cut it away, from each piece. Then, trisect the cleaned pineapple into long slices, and put it in with the juice mixture. Stir it all together and leave it out to marinate for 30 minutes. Turning it every now and then if you think about it.
That wasn't much work, was it? Plenty of words, but no effort. Are you welcoming me back yet?
Now, turn your oven to 450, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. You do need to do this, to keep the pineapple from burning too badly.
After the half hour, pull the fruit out of the juices, and spread them out over the two baking sheets. Don't let the slices overlap. Put them in the oven for ten minutes, but after five, reverse the sheets and turn them as well.
Meanwhile, if you are so inclined, pour the juices into a small pot, and raise the heat to high, reducing the juice to as thick a syrup as you like. After the pineapple has roasted for ten minutes, put it back in the bowl, pour the juices over it (or not) and serve it forth. And if you're not ready, it will hold, unrefrigerated, for a whole day. Refrigerate it afterwards.
In many parts of the world, as well as in colonial America, the pineapple was , and is, the symbol of hosptiality. That is why you will see the symbol over many threshholds, and on gates. Annalena is also told that, in Hawaii there is a legend that the spirit of grandmothers departed enters pinapples. Perhaps. That would explain how easy, and how good, this dessert is.
Welcome to 2012 everyone. Have a wonderful year. Get in contact with Annalena. And make this dessert
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