Let me teach you guys a magic trick. How’d you like to learn how to take some old cans in your pantry and elevate the contents to heavenly bites of goodness? This white bean bruschetta is downright dirty in its simplicity – crack open a can of white beans, toss with a fresh vinaigrette of lemon, rosemary and garlic, and slather the deliciousness on toasted crostini. Continue reading White Bean Bruschetta with Rosemary and Lemon
Back when I was rocking plaid skirts and a blazer in high school (and even before that as a tagalong with my mom’s running club), we used to frequent a quirky eatery called Generous George’s Positive Pizza and Pasta Place. Fake flamingos and pink and teal paint dripping with kitsch and childhood memorabilia everywhere, it looked a little like Miami Vice and Parker Brothers got together as an interior design firm. And do I recall a shark hanging from the ceiling? Or maybe a surf board? It was probably both.
Aesthetics aside, the place was too fun. The pizzas featured airy, pliant dough with mounds of toppings and cheese. And the pastas, all served on a single-sized pizza crust, were epic sized portions that even my dad’s appetite could not slay. People left the place with takeout boxes and close to a pound of pasta in leftovers. My mom usually got the red or white clam, Dad loved Old Naples with crumbled sausage and melted cheese, and Lexi usually ordered a personal pizza and pretended to be full after a bite or two so that she could get away with ordering dessert. I used to be a sucker for the Chicken Romano Fettucine, basically alfredo with chicken, ham, peas and mushrooms, until I ordered the Rosemary Chicken Florentine on a whim. The first time made me a convert – farfalle tossed with tender chicken, spinach, bacon, roasted red peppers in a rosemary cream sauce. It was ridiculous. Preposterous. I was hooked.
Years have gone by since I’ve rolled down Duke Street in Alexandria to see our old haunt, and it turns out that there’s only my memories of the place to serve me now. My sister posted on Facebook that the location was demoed and is now a PNC Bank. I wondered if they auctioned off the merry-go-round pony that was in the main dining room? Anyways, rather than put on my old school uniform, I decided to relive a classic and make a heaping mess of the beloved pasta. I cut back the fat on the sauce, using milk instead of cream, and I didn’t have a pizza crust to use as a plate. But it was still ridiculous. Still preposterous. And apparently, I’m still hooked.
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
2 c. of chicken stock
1 c. of white wine
1/2 tsp. of white pepper
1/2 tsp. of black pepper
1 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. of garlic powder
2 bay leaves
4 strips of bacon
4 cloves of garlic
6 oz. of roasted red peppers, sliced
6 oz. of baby spinach
1 tbs. of olive oil
1 tbs. of chopped rosemary leaves
1 lb. of dried pasta cuts (farfalle, conchiglie, ziti, penne)
6 tbs. of butter
3 tbs. of flour
2 1/2 c. of whole milk
1 c. of locatelli
1/2 tsp. of black pepper
pinch of white pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp. of garlic powder
Begin by cooking the chicken. Add two boneless, skinless chicken breasts to a saucepan with the stock, wine, rosemary sprigs, bay leaves, 1/2 tsp. of white pepper, 1/2 tsp. of black pepper, 2 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. of garlic powder. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Remove chicken from poaching liquid and let cool slightly. Shred with two forks. Set aside.
Now make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour, white pepper, black pepper, garlic powder and nutmeg. Add the milk, whisking the entire time to prevent lumps. Turn the heat to medium and whisk until thickened. Stir in the locatelli and remove from the heat. Stir in the roasted red peppers. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to box directions. While the water comes to a boil, add bacon to a skillet and brown. Toss in garlic, rosemary, spinach and the olive oil and cook until spinach is wilted. Season with a little extra salt and black pepper and set aside.
When the pasta finishes, drain and toss with the red pepper cream sauce, spinach/chicken/garlic/rosemary mixture. Top with extra grated locatelli and serve hot.
Filet be damned, I want a ribeye. I want a thick cut, well-marbled ribeye with a juicy center and a lovely charred edge. I want nary the spice or marinade other than a smattering of coarse salt or crushed pepper, with olive oil to marry it all together and a brush of rosemary as a whisper of flavor with each bite. In the words of Veruca Salt, “Don’t care how – I want it NOW!”
Kidding, I’m not a brat and I can totally whip this up for myself. It’s the best kind of recipe in that it’s barely a recipe. Making a steak at home is surprisingly forgiving and has more to do with the quality of the meat and the amount of time you give it to cook. Letting the steak come to room temperature before cooking, letting it sit on the grill undisturbed before flipping, and letting it rest so that the juices redistribute are all necessary steps to the perfect bite of steak. In addition, if you can splurge for a prime dry-aged steak, definitely do it. It’s a total treat, and though pricey, a lot less expensive than a steak dinner out on the town.
When you are purchasing a ribeye, look for rosy, well-marbled meat where the eye (the round of fat in the middle of the steak) is intact. This bit of fat keeps the meat moist during cooking and adds perfect flavor – shying away from the fat means you are denying yourself the succulence and juiciness that you so rightly deserve from your steak. Other than that, there really isn’t that much to it – season, grill, rest and dig in.
Ingredients
2 ribeye steaks, 1 inch thick
kosher salt and pepper
sprig of rosemary
olive oil
Heat a grill or a grill pan on high. Liberally salt and pepper steaks on both sides. Drizzle with olive oil and using the sprig of rosemary, rub the spices and oil into the meat. Flip and repeat on the other side, rubbing the flavor of the rosemary into the meat. Let steaks sit at room temperature while the grill heats up.
Grill the steaks, undisturbed, for 10 minutes on each side for medium rare. Let rest for at least five minutes before slicing. Serve.
Everybody knows that I’m a fan of mushrooms. And yes, I just said that in my best Phaedra Parks voice. I’m amazed by folks who aren’t down with fungus, but that emotion is quickly replaced with, “If you’re not gonna eat those, I’ll take care of ’em for you.” In addition to the plebian (but ever so delicious) market staples of white buttons, portobellos and cremini mushrooms, I’m a huge fan of those mushrooms that are literally found off the beaten path. Maitakes, enoki and chanterelles are all beloved, and pricey morels are a necessary splurge during their short spring season. Even the funky ones that are more chewy than spongy, like the wood ear mushrooms or black trumpets.
I particularly love the versatile ones that hold up to all sorts of cooking and cuisines, and oyster mushrooms are no exception. Royal oysters (sometimes called King Trumpets) are fabulous in that after a little cooking, they still retain all of their flavor and their texture. So much so that you can actually marinate them and grill them, treating trumpets like a protein rather than a vegetable. If you see these guys at the market sometime, give them a whirl – they’re a simple side and will sway even the most skeptical mushroom eater. Actually, sway or no, who cares. I want to eat these and not share with anyone. I’m not kidding.
8 trumpet (royal oyster) mushrooms, halved and bottoms trimmed
1/4 c. of white balsamic vinegar
6 tbs. of olive oil
1 tsp. of kosher salt
1 tbs. of chopped rosemary
1/4 tsp. of coarse ground black pepper
Mix balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary together in a small bowl. Pour over mushrooms and toss to mix. Marinate for 20 minutes.
Heat a grill or a grill pan and oil lightly. Place mushrooms on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes on each side until the mushrooms are slightly browned. Serve.
Much like my obsession with collecting bolognese recipes, I love love love a good roast chicken recipe. I adore the way in which a little love, butter or olive oil, salt, pepper and aromatics transform the lowly chicken into something worth honoring. Crisp, golden skin and tender meat come into their own with very little effort, and a homestyle supper is on the table for loved ones without a second thought. Or if you love them EVEN more, you’ll just tuck in with them without even leaving the kitchen. Best of all the leftovers make at least one more meal, if not a gorgeous chicken stock.
My husband saw me oogling over Jonathan Waxman’s pan roasted chicken cooked in a cast iron skillet and purchased me a Lodge Logic 15″ beauty from Amazon. It’s heavy as hell (a two-hand job) but an amazing holder of temperature and big enough for a chicken and a mess of roasted veg to boot. It needs a name. Like Thor. Or maybe the Kraken. So whenever I take it out, I’m releasing the…haha…you get it.
For the butterflying portion, you can certainly have the butcher do it, but it’s easy work with a nice pair of kitchen scissors. Simply cut out the back (and save for stock) and flatten the entire mess with a little pressure on the breast bone. Prepping the chicken in this manner cuts the cooking time way down and allows more of the surface area to come into contact with the lemon and herbs. The whole mess forms a delicious sauce for the incredibly moist chicken, all with no fuss at all. So basically, yes, your prayers were answered and that homecooked meal you’ve been dreaming about is here. Now. Go make it.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
2 lemons
1 bunch of rosemary
1 bunch of thyme
1 onion, thinly sliced
coarse sea salt and black pepper
good olive oil
1 bunch of tarragon
1/2 c. of chicken broth
2 tbs. of butter
Preheat the oven to 450°. Rinse the chicken well and pat dry. Using the poultry shears, cut along each side of the backbone to remove it. Flip the chicken over and press down on the breastbone to flatten it. Liberally season with coarse salt and black pepper and then rub with a bit of olive oil. Place chicken skin side down in a cast iron skillet. Surround the chicken with the onions and top with the rosemary and thyme. Halve the lemons and squeeze the juice over the chicken. Tuck lemons into the pan with the herbs and onions. Drizzle with a little more oil and pop into the oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the juices of the thigh meat run clear when pierced with a fork.
When the chicken is finished, remove from the skillet to a platter and let rest. Put the skillet on the stove and heat. Add the chicken broth and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. When the sauce thickens a bit, add the butter. Strain the sauce and set aside. If you feel diligent, you can also pick out some of the roasted onions.
Carve the chicken into pieces and serve with the sauce.
Ham salad or deviled ham is seemingly pedestrian, but man, is it good. Just as a rotisserie chicken can be transformed by dijon mustard, tarragon and apples, into sumptuous chicken salad, so too can baked ham be blended into deliciousness with rosemary, shallots and mayonnaise. To truly make this some devilish goodness, add some paprika and cayenne to make things a little more fiery. We used to make this after Easter with the tons of leftover ham from the feast the day before. It kept incredibly well in the fridge for quick sandwiches and was always a treat…for as long as it lasted.
This recipe makes a pretty dry salad, like I like it, but if you want things a little more moist, add a few more tablespoons of mayo to smooth things out.
Ingredients
1 lb. of ham (leftover baked ham or deli ham works fine)
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
1 tbs. of dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 tbs. of minced shallots
1/2 tbs. of dijon mustard
3 tbs. of mayo
In a food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth. Spread on crackers or eat as a sandwich spread on crusty bread.
Holidays are about traditions – both making them and breaking them. Given my wide splay of ethnic background, it tends to be the case that I manage to do both of these things each and every year with a slightly different celebration that meets one of our many traditions. I feel like this is the way it is with most of us – over time we build up a collection of various customs that are an amalgamation of all of our traditions put together.
This year, we decided to give a shout out to Sicily (both my husband and I are of Sicilian decent) with the Feast of the Seven Fishes. A custom with origins in Southern Italy, a series of fish dishes (and no meat) are prepared for Christmas Eve. The number of dishes varies – some say it’s seven for the seven sacraments, or 10 for the commandments. It’s at the point now where people come up with a number of dishes between 7 and 15 and assign a biblical association for that number. At the heart of the celebration is a gathering of family and friends for a delicious meal and (hopefully) fine company.
One of the must-haves for the Feast of the Seven Fishes is baccalà or salt cod. In another cultural twist, our Feast of the Seven Fishes contained two preparations of baccalà in the traditional Brazilian manner (called bacalhau), fried into small balls and baked with garlic, onions, potatoes and hard boiled eggs. There’s something about the blended traditions that truly makes it a holiday for me.
If you’d like to get on a little fish action yourself and create a new family tradition of your own, here is the road map for our Feast of the Seven Fishes. Have fun with it, add as many or as few fish as you’d like, and chow down Sicilian style.
One of my husbands early memories was of his father making a special seafood salad at Christmastime. He did a little research and found a close version online, that we adapted to make it like the one he knew as a child. I’m lazy and I don’t like to spend my entire life cleaning seafood, so we purchased the squid pre-cleaned and the octopus pre-cleaned and cooked at Whole Foods (the octopus was in the Seafood Salad area of the store). The rest of the goodies are poached in a flavorful liquid of herbs and vegetables and then tossed with a light vinaigrette and crisp veggies. Despite the sheer number of ingredients, this is one of the most beautiful things you can put on your table.
These croquettes of salt cod are crispy and light on the outside, and tender and moist on the inside. Soaking the cod for a goodly while gets rid of the fishiness and elevates the taste of this festive, bite-sized treat.
Growing up so close to the Chesapeake Bay, blue crab is more of a right than a privilege for me, and what seafood feast would be complete without it. These dainty suckers leverage lump crab for sweetness and claw meat for cost efficiency. The seasoning is traditional, eastern shore, crab cake style, as yet another shout out to the land of my ancestors.
Recipe for Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Who doesn’t love lobster? Strangely, my sister doesn’t. But this incredibly simple and delicious preparation of fettucine with tender lobster meat was gobbled down by her and won her praises. If that’s not a Christmas miracle, then I don’t know what is. Use good egg fettucine for the pasta and fresh basil to brighten things up. To save time during the feast (since you are cooking most everything at once), I used a jar of Rao’s Arrabiata sauce, which is delicious, but way too expensive at $9 a jar. I found a bottle of White Linen Gourmet Marinara at Costco for $4 that actually tasted BETTER than the Rao’s – no joke. If you go that route, just make sure to add a heavy dose of crushed red pepper for kick.
Linguine with white clam sauce, for me, is comfort food at its best – it doesn’t take a hell of a long time to prepare, it’s got a healthy dose of garlic and red pepper for kick, and at the end of the day, who doesn’t want to tuck into a mound of tender pasta. I use my Poorman’s Linguine with Clam Sauce for this one, but add fresh clams to the mix. Simply heat some olive oil and garlic in a saute pan and when hot, pour in a cup of white wine. Add a pound of small clams (I use manila clams) and pop a lid on the pan. Let steam in the wine garlic mix for a short 5 minutes and then scoop out the open clams and put them on top of the pasta. Discard any clams that haven’t opened after cooking.
Recipe for Linguine alle Vongole
Though this dish is Portuguese in origin (Porto to be exact), it’s a favorite among Brazilians as well. The dish was supposedly created by a wealthy cod distributor’s son, who after being disowned, was forced to work in a restaurant. His legacy was this dish, a delicious combination of cod, tender potatoes, sautéed garlic and onions, and topped with hard boiled eggs, olives and parsley. This recipe reminds me of whenever my great grandmother would come into town with heaps of bacalhau ready for the cooking. Upon her arrival, it was a sure thing that Gomes de Sá was going to be prepared shortly thereafter.
Nothing says majesty like fresh fish with a lovely topping of lemon, garlic and herbs. Simplicity is the focus, so the freshest of fish is necessary in this one – get sushi grade (or Grade #1) tuna, or the brightest, firmest fillets of whatever you’d like. While you can spread the fish with the gremolata and then broil them, with the tuna I like to sear them in a pan to control the doneness (I like the steaks rare) and then slather the hot fish with the lemon mixture so that it melts into the fish. Gremolata is traditionally a combination of lemon, parsley and garlic, but here, I add rosemary instead of the parsley as it is hardier and holds up to the many other bold flavors at this feast.
Recipe for Swordfish with Gremolata
Sauteed Cavolo NeroCalled black kale or dinosaur kale, this leafy green is a fabulous taste sensation for anyone that loves bitter greens. Plus, it matches up with the sweetness of the seafood and sauces with outstanding strength. This recipe comes straight from one of my favorite foodie websites, Chow.com, and utilizes orange juice, garlic and onion to create the most perfectly rounded flavors in this dish. A major keeper, I didn’t even have to tweak this recipe one bit, which absolutely NEVER happens when I’m in the kitchen. If you have any leftovers, you can fold them into a delicious soup, like a Caldo Verde (Portuguese Sausage and Kale Soup) or a Ribollita (Italian Kale and White Bean Soup with Croutons).
Recipe for Cavolo Nero at Chow.com
Bread and butter is really a lot more elegant than we treat it as, kids. It’s a fine marriage between savory, sweet, crusty, doughy, chewy, pliable goodness. It comes in infinite permutations, such as a few of my favorites – poblano cheddar bread (from Best Buns in Arlington, VA) with Normandy beurre, or a crusty baguette with a slathering of lavender infused oil and butter. Both are divine, but require a trip to DC or Marseille (the restaurant in NYC, not the city, although I wouldn’t mind…) For my money, and for the sheer ease to reward ratio, I’m a fan of the infused oil with whatever artisan bread I can get my hands on easily.
Infused oils aren’t complicated – cheap oil works and just about any dry herb or spice can be used. Just make sure to follow a few rules. One – really and truly don’t include garlic in making your homemade oils unless you are going to consume them immediately. Garlic, being a lovely root that grows in the earth, harbors tons of bacteria that would love to thrive in a bath of olive oil. And voilá, you’ve got some botulism on your hands. No es frio. Some folks say that if you acidulate the oil and refrigerate it, you are in business. I don’t leave my tummy up to fate. If you want your oil to be garlicky, try muddling your finished oil with fresh or roasted garlic before serving. Or, for the true infused garlic oil experience, just buy some from a licensed supplier who will guarantee you a botulism-free experience. This is just a reminder that all cooking is chemistry, and while most chemistry mistakes in the kitchen will result in bad tasting food, some will actually result in illness. Improperly infused garlic oil is one of those mistakes.
Secondly, as much as it looks gorgeous to store your oil on the counter, I’d advise you to keep it in the fridge. It’ll last longer, stay fresher, and again, no risk of contaminants.
Lastly, I call for thai chilies in this recipe, that when you grind them, create a bit of pepper dust. This in turn, if inhaled, will give you a few coughs. Be careful with that. Don’t breath in too much when you are transferring the pepper to the oil. If you want to play it safe, use a milder chili like an ancho or pasilla. Or use pre-crushed red pepper and avoid the dust altogether. Likewise, you can go hotter as well – habanero or ghost chilies even. Just be careful as you work with them, because they can be vicious.
This oil is lovely as the preface for a rustic italian meal – mix a few tablespoons of oil with a pinch of kosher salt and some chopped garlic and use it as a dip for focaccia or ciabatta. You can also use a few tablespoons as the basis for sauces and dressings.
Ingredients
16.9 oz. bottle of olive oil
1/3 c. of thai chilies
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 sprig of thyme
In a spice grinder or food processor, grind chilies and herbs together. I like to use a food processor so that everything gets a rather rough chop. Using a cooking thermometer, heat oil in a heavy pan until 200°. Carefully pour the chilies into the oil and let cook at 200° for 4-5 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the herbs and chilies continue to infuse the oil as it cools to room temperature.
Pour into a clean bottle and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Fish gets a bad rap – no matter what anyone tells you, it’s not hard to cook. In fact, it takes such a short time to cook, all that you need to do to cook it well is to untrain your brain into its natural inclination to overcook meat. Give it only a little time, only a little seasoning and it is perfection. I love swordfish because it’s forgiving, takes seasoning well, and comes out deliciously restaurant-worthy without any fuss. Not to mention that it’s meaty – a manly fish meant to be tucked into like a steak.
This barely qualifies as a recipe below in terms of ingredients – all the work is in the technique. Basically, you are forming a paste out of the lemon zest and garlic that is then slathered onto the swordfish. If you haven’t invested in a microplane yet (and you really should), you will need to use the finest setting on a box grater for the lemon zest. As for the garlic, you will need to mash it with some kosher salt until it forms a paste – not hard, but so much easier if you pick up a microplane. Continue reading Rosemary Lemon Swordfish
