Season To Taste

My Italian American grandmother was the true cook in our family, but once a year on December 31^st,  her sister, my great Aunt Nellie, made her specialty New Year’s Eve Pizza.  We all converged on the Brooklyn brownstone she shared with my maternal grandparents to celebrate well into the early morning hours.  It didn’t matter that we were children who should haven been in bed.  The neighborhood came alive at midnight, complete with noisemakers, fireworks, and the aromas of late night meals being prepared in all the adjoining homes.   We all gathered on the front steps of the house, and zealously rang in the New Year with the rest of the neighbors.  

However, the real treat was when we went back inside to eat Aunt Nellie’s pizza.  It was a family favorite, but it was saved only for this special night.  Aunt Nellie made two types of pizza, “red” and “white”.  The red (recipe to follow) featured mounds of sautéed onions and grated Sardo cheese (a sheep’s milk cheese from  Sardinia, an island off Italy‘s western coast) atop a tomato sauced crust.  The white was served without tomato sauce and was flavored with anchovies and garlic.  Unfortunately, after many attempts to recreate it, I haven’t been able to do it justice.  Aunt Nellie loved secrets, and her few recipes were among her favorite things to keep to herself.  

Now that my grandparents and Aunt Nellie are gone and their house has been sold, I still make her red pizza.  To me, it is too good to make only once a year, so with some short-cuts (such as prepared dough and good-quality prepared tomato sauce) and substitutions (such as Pecorino-Romano for Sardo, which is difficult to find), it becomes an easy weeknight meal which my whole family loves.  I think Aunt Nellie would approve!

 Aunt Nellie’s New Year’s Eve Pizza

Serves 4-6

1-16 oz. bag prepared pizza dough (available in the refrigerator section at most grocery stores or your local pizzeria)

4 medium yellow onions, sliced

1 cup prepared basic tomato sauce (your favorite brand)

½ cup grated Pecorino-Romano cheese

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

 Saute the onions and oregano  in 2 T olive oil over medium-high heat, until lightly browned (about 15 minutes).  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside. 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly oil a 12×18 inch jelly roll pan.  Stretch out the pizza dough  onto the pan so it reaches to each corner.  Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the dough.

Spread the tomato sauce over the dough, leaving a ½ inch border on all sides.

Spread the sautéed onions  over top of the sauce, and sprinkle all over with grated cheese. 

Drizzle with olive oil again, and sprinkle more oregano if desired.

Bake on lower rack of oven for about 25 minutes, or until crust is golden and baked through. 

Cut into squares and serve.

Lately I’ve been having a hankering for my mom’s cooking.  In the past month, I’ve made her meatloaf with mushroom gravy, her homemade mac and cheese, and her famous “Chicken Waikiki Beach”.  Tonight, I was in the mood for her Chicken Pizzaiola (”peets-aye-ola”).  I think it is actually my grandmother’s recipe, to which she likely made some updates along the way.  They both always made this dish in a huge, electric skillet.  Since I do not have an electric skillet (and no, mom, I don’t have room for one either!), I decided to do some updating of my own and do this entire dish in the oven.  Sure, it would have more closely approximated the cooking method to do it in a big pan on my stove top, but that would require more attention than I was willing to give it at that point in the day.  I’ve always been a big fan of low-maintenance dishes, and this is probably one of my favorites.

The ingredients are simple—chicken, potatoes, onions, garlic, oregano and tomato sauce.  My mother and grandmother always used bone-in chicken pieces…a combination of breasts, legs, and thighs.  To cut the calories a bit, which come in large part from the skin and dark meat, and more importantly, to cut the cooking time, I opted for skinless, boneless breasts.  I’m the first to admit that chicken, or any meat, on the bone is very flavorful.  However, I think the full-on meatiness of the breasts is enough to make up for a little loss in flavor.  Besides,  I never have been a fan of having to pick through all those bones just to get a nice bite of chicken on my fork!

Be sure to cut the potatoes relatively small so they will cook quickly.   The breasts will not take long, and you don’t want to dig into a perfectly cooked piece of chicken only to have the potatoes underdone. 

Mom’s Chicken Pizzaiola

Serves 4-6

2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut in half crosswise

1 lb potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce (or  3 cans if you like it more saucy)

1 tablespoon oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly spray a large baking dish or pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Place the chicken breasts into the pan so they are not touching. 

Add the potatoes, sliced onions, and garlic to pan, and spread around the breasts.

Season everything with salt and pepper.  Pour the cans of tomato sauce over the top of the entire dish and sprinkle with oregano.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in center and potatoes are fork-tender.

On Christmas Eve, Italians and many Italian-Americans eat a seafood feast.  There is no meat whatsoever.  Traditionally, up to eleven different kids of fish were served (for the Apostles, minus Judas), but over the years, my family has scaled that back to three (for the Holy Trinity).  It has to be an odd number for good luck.  We always start the meal with one of my favorite dishes, Pasta con Sardo, which is spaghetti in red sauce, embellished with sardines, raisins, fennel, and often pine nuts.  The creation of this dish can get complicated.  The following dish is a lot simpler to make, but adheres to the same Christmas Eve standards I’ve come to follow.  It uses canned anchovies instead….wait!  Don’t stop reading!!  I promise you it is delicious!

Anchovies do not sit at the “popular table” in the cafeteria.  They are not pretty or sweet, and many foods don’t want to hang out with them.  Anchovies definitely have a following, but their friends are a little more alternative…they wear black and are sometimes seen as antisocial.  But what most people don’t know about the anchovies are that they are actually MUCH cooler than most of the foods at the popular table, they are just more of an acquired taste. 

Popular or not, I happen to love anchovies.  I grew up eating anchovies on white pizza, which was my great Aunt Nellie’s New Year’s Eve specialty.  I love bagna cauda, an olive oil dip made with anchovies, and I especially love anchovies in pasta dishes.  Over the summer, while visiting Italy’s Liguria region, I was in anchovy heaven.  Bordering the Mediterranean in the Italian Rivera, the local cuisine relies heavily on seafood.  Anchovies are the regional specialty, and “pasta con accuighe” is found in most every restaurant.   

This pasta dish is features a simple red sauce studded with chunks of fresh anchovies.  Fresh anchovies have a decidedly different taste than the tinned or jarred varieties with which we are most familiar here in the states.  Not only is the texture different (they are meatier), but they are more mellow and a little less salty.  However, since fresh anchovies are not widely available in most U.S. grocery stores, I’ve re-created the recipe using the tinned version. 

For this dish I pair the anchovy-enhanced red sauce with a lemon-pepper papparadelle I found at Trader Joe’s (although you could easily substitute regular pasta).  Lemon and pepper flavors go well with most seafood, and the zip in the pasta is a great compliment to the salty sauce.  On a recent night, I was short on time and decided to use my favorite jarred tomato sauce instead of making one from scratch (cue Grandma rolling over in her grave).  While the pasta cooked, I added some sauce to a small pan, added the anchovies, and stirred until they dissolved into the sauce.  I topped the dish with fresh parsley and a few chopped walnuts for texture.  It wasn’t exactly what I ate in Monterosso back in August, but it was a great 15 minute alternative with great flavor. 

Lemon-Pepper Pasta with Anchovies

Serves 2

1 - 12 oz package Lemon-Pepper Papparadelle (or other lemon-infused pasta)

1 cup basic tomato sauce (I opt for Victoria brand)

6 anchovy fillets packed in oil (drained)

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

¼ cup walnuts, chopped

Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente.

While pasta cooks, add tomato sauce to a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat.  Once simmering, add anchovy fillets and stir until dissolved.

Drain pasta and toss with sauce.  Top with parsley and walnuts and serve immediately.

2 ½ cups flour
½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

When I was a kid, it seemed like everyone had an electric can opener on their counter top.  Being that we always had to have the latest gadgets, ours was a special under-the-cabinet mounted version, ready for use but out of the way. 

Back then, unless you had a garden of your own, I guess there were a lot of cans being opened on a daily basis.  It wasn’t so unusual to eat peas or corn from a can, although these days, I wouldn’t dream of it.  I seem to remember lots of my friends eating Spaghettios and Chef Boy-ar-di from their lunchbox thermoses too, so can openers needed to be accessible and ready to go.  We had a very picky cat who only wanted the expensive canned food, so ours got daily use as well.  In graduate school, when I got my very first apartment, my mother bought me an electric can opener as a house warming gift.  She also gave me a set of wine glasses, which I guess she figured I’d be needing since I was now paying my own bills.  I still have both of these gifts, although I must say that the wine glasses get far more use than the can opener.  Why?  Some packaging genius came up with the idea for a pull-tab can—no can opener needed! 

Many soups, diced tomatoes, and tuna all have gone the way of the pull-tab…. but I’m still waiting for the rest of the can-world to catch on.  Beans?  Hello?  Time to get with the program!  And broth?  You too.  You’re missing the boat to the future!

Canned items are perfect for your pantry, as most of them keep for ages.  I always keep a variety of cans on hand, which are useful for all sorts of last minute meals.  Here is a list of canned goods worth keeping around, with or without your can opener.

Beans:  kidney, black, cannellini, garbanzo and pinto are all good varieties for your pantry.  They can be used in chili, soups, stews, and pureed for dips and spreads.  Be sure to rinse and drain all beans before using, as the water they are packed in is loaded with sodium.

Tomatoes:  whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes are all great starters for sauce, or a great way to add color and flavor to stews, soups, or pasta dishes.

Tuna:  the oil-packed Italian varieties and the water packed types are good for different things.  I keep both in the pantry at all times.

Soups:  bean soups, like lentil, are my favorite, and make an easy meal when drained a bit and poured over rice or pasta.  I tend to make my own noodle and veggie soups, but usually keep a can or two on hand for a hot-lunch in a pinch.

Broth:  chicken, veggie, and beef broths are good to have handy to add to soups, sauces, and stews.  Look for low-sodium varieties.

Photo above by “Blah Blah Blog”.

On Sunday I was in the mood for something homey…some sort of comfort food.  I’d had pasta the night before, so homemade macaroni and cheese was out, and I’d just made a roasted chicken earlier that week.  After scanning my pantry and fridge, I decided I was in the mood for pot pie.  But as much as I love traditional pot pie, with its flaky crust and creamy sauce, I thought we’d all be better off with a healthier, updated version. 

 I started with some skinless, boneless chicken breasts and a variety of vegetables.  Since I have small kids, who can sometimes be picky, I thought it best to choose veggies I know they’d eat:  carrots, peas, and corn.  Next, instead of a white, cream-based sauce, I opted for a lower-calorie, healthier tomato-based sauce for my pot pie.  Any prepared sauce will do…everyone has their personal favorites.  Just to add a touch of creaminess to the mixture, I tossed in a little half-and-half, which really transformed the entire dish. 

When it came to the crust, I chose to omit the bottom crust entirely, partly to cut back on fat and calories, but also to save time.  A flaky pastry crust may taste good, but can be tricky to prepare.  By using a multigrain baking mix, I prepared a biscuit-like crust to top my pot pie, and sprinkled it with a little parmesan cheese to give it a little extra flavor.

 This dish is really easy to prepare, and is absolutely delicious.  My whole family loves it….and I was almost disappointed when there were no leftovers! 

Healthy Family-Style Chicken Pot Pie

Serves 4

 1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3-4 medium carrots, diced

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

2 ears of corn, cooked and removed from cob (or about ¾  cup kernels, thawed if frozen)

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into a ¾” dice

1 cup prepared tomato sauce

¼ cup half and half

For crust:

2 cups whole wheat or multigrain pancake mix

2/3 cup of milk

1-2 t sugar

2 T parmesan cheese (optional)

In a large skillet or saucepan, sauté the onions, carrots, and garlic in a about 2T of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove veggies to a bowl.

In the same pan, heat another tablespoon of oil and add diced chicken.  Cook about 5-7 minutes, or until no longer pink.

When chicken is cooked, add the cooked vegetables back into the pan and add tomato sauce and half and half.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.   Pour into a 9″ deep dish pie plate.  Set aside.

Preheat  oven to 425 degrees.

In another bowl, mix the multigrain pancake mix with 2/3 cup of milk and sugar.   Dollop biscuit mixture on top of chicken and vegetable mixture.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired.

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes until biscuit is golden and cooked all the way through.

One of my mom’s specialties was her homemade macaroni and cheese.  Ironically, it wasn’t something she grew up eating.  In the Italian-American neighborhood where she spent her childhood, I’m pretty sure no one made, ate, or probably even gave any thought to classic American macaroni and cheese.  It just wasn’t part of the food culture.  However, when she left that area and headed to a less ethnic, more “middle-American” part of the state, she joined the ranks and began experimenting with mac and cheese.

Over time, my mom definitely changed her recipe a few times.  For many years she used a mixture of Velveeta  and cheddar, which melted beautifully and made for a very creamy finished product.  Then she began omitting the Velveeta and substituting all different combinations of other cheeses.  Early on, she used whole milk, which at some point became 2%, then 1%, then finally skim.  The macaroni itself never changed (always elbow shaped pasta), nor did the topping, which was always made from a combination of breadcrumbs, garlic powder, and paprika.  Through its many incarnations, it was always delicious.

These days, I try not to overindulge in massive amounts of pasta and cheese, but every so often when I’m feeling in the mood for comfort food, homemade macaroni and cheese is one of those recipes to which I always return.  Like my mom, I’ve made changes along the way, from using different shaped pastas (my kids like spirals), to different combinations of cheeses, and even some “add-ins” here and there.  I particularly like the idea of adding some sort of vegetable and/or protein to the mix, to amp up the nutritional value a bit.  This recipe is one of my favorite combinations.  Riffing on a classic Italian combination of peas and prosciutto, I use peas and diced, boiled ham.  The additions add texture and a great pop of color to the finished dish. 

It’s not exactly my mom’s mac and cheese, but I think she likes it just as much!

Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 4-6

12 oz macaroni (elbows, spirals, penne, etc)

1/2 cup onions, diced

1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

1 dried bay leaf

2 cups skim milk

1 tablespoon corn starch

dash of Worcestershire sauce

dash white vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder (plus more for sprinkling)

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated (plus more for sprinkling)

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 cup diced ham

1/2 cup Panko (Japanese style) bread crumbs

paprkia

salt and pepper

Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

In the same pot used for the macaroni, heat canola oil and saute onions until transluscent.  Add bay leaf and cook for another couple minutes.

In a mixing cup, whisk together milk and cornstarch and add to pot.  Simmer for a few minutes, then add Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, garlic powder, salt & pepper.  Remove bay leaf and continue to simmer for about 2-3 minutes. 

Remove milk from heat and add cheeses.  Stir until a smooth sauce is acheived.

Add cooked macaroni, peas, and ham to the pot and stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a __ quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and pour in macaroni mixture.

Top with bread crumbs, an additional sprinkling of garlic powder and parmesan cheese, and a bit of paprika.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until top is browned and crispy, and the macaroni is bubbly.

Let’s face it….most of what goes down in this world all comes back to the almighty dollar.  Sure, there are lots of good people doing good things, but the power of money seems to influence way too many important decisions…like our health.

While watching the Food Network, I saw a most disturbing commercial.  Two teenaged boys are sitting at the breakfast table eating cereal.  One says to the other, “Don’t you know that cereal is loaded with high-fructose corn syrup?  Even a doofus like you must know that is bad for you!”  The other, with a smug look on his face says, “Nutritionally it is the same as sugar and it is fine in moderation.”  The first boy looks as if he’s just been enlightened.  An all-knowing, female concludes, “Get the facts…you’re in for a sweet surprise!”   At the bottom of the screen, the fine print reads “The Corn Refiners Association”. 

Talk about spin!!  Sure, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) probably IS fine in moderation…but what they don’t tell you is that if you eat like most people do, it is nearly impossible to moderate your HFCS consumption.  It is in just about EVERYTHING these days.  According to Michael Pollan, author of the New York Times Best Seller The Omnivore’s Dilemma, of the some 45,000 items sold in grocery stores, more than a quarter of them contain some form of corn (HFCS, corn sweeteners, corn starch, etc).  HFCS isn’t just in soft drinks either.  It is in virtually everything that was once sweetened with sugar (sugar was replaced by HFCS because the latter is significantly cheaper).  This includes fruit juices, pretty much every item on the snack/chip aisle, baked goods (including crackers, cookies, pretzels, sandwich bread, rolls, muffins, etc), ice cream…and yes, cereals.  The list goes on and on.  While you can check to see if HFCS appears on product nutritional labels, its difficult to ascertain just how you’re ingesting.  And what about at restaurants?  In Pollan’s book, he references McDonald’s, where there are unspecified amounts of corn sweeteners and HFCS in the majority of foods listed.  But remember, HFCS is “fine in moderation”.

So what is so bad about the stuff?  Well, for starters, it is very high in calories.  I don’t need to tell you we have an obesity epidemic in this country, which most believe has led to a significant increase in Type 2 diabetes.  The problem is compounded by the fact that the inclusion of extremely inexpensive HFCS (instead of it’s more expensive counterpart, cane sugar) allows processed foods to be sold for a pittance, further encouraging poor food choices and over-consumption.  This is particularly a problem in the lower-socioeconomic communities.  Pollan gives an excellent example of this phenomenon:  a dollar’s worth of potato chips are about 1200 calories, where the same dollar’s worth of carrots are 250 calories.  One dollar of soda is about 875 calories, where the same amount of juice is 170 calories.  People think they are getting more for their money, when instead they are injesting a truckload of empty calories, only to be hungry for more a short while later (and naturally, consuming more empty calories).  The vicious cycle to obesity and poor health continues.

I find this “Sweet Surprise” campaign by the Corn Refiners Association unconscionable, but not unbelievable.  Yes, there are those of us who spend a lot of time reading labels, avoiding processed foods as much as possible, and trying to make health a top priority.  However, many people will see that commercial and think, “Great!  Sugar Pops aren’t so bad after all!”  Well, when you do “get the facts” as they instruct, you’ll realize you’re far better off avoiding the stuff all together.

Above photo by I’m Sort of A Big Deal.

For me, December is cookie month! 

I recently made more batches of meringue cookies than I ever thought possible.  No, I am not a meringue fanatic, nor do I have an unhealthy obsession with egg whites.  I do, however, have a freelance job as a recipe developer, and my corporate client wanted meringues.  No problem, I thought.  Meringues are easy!  A few ingredients, a slow oven, and I could collect my paycheck.  Many, many batches of cookies later, I am now eating those words, and far too many meringues.

I quickly found that the egg whites are quicker to whip into voluminous, stiff peaks when they are at room temperature.  Straight-from-the-fridge egg whites just won’t whip.  I also found that regular, granulated sugar doesn’t incorporate easily into the meringue mixture, and the cookies will feel gritty.  Superfine or “castor” sugar is much better for creating  a smooth meringue.

Stiff peaks should stand tall!

The fun came when I had to figure out how to incorporate my client’s flavored, brewed tea into the cookies.  After a few batches that fell flat (literally), it became apparent that the tea was destabilizing the egg whites.   While they whipped up into perfect peaks, soon after coming out of the oven, they would collapse.  After trying varying amounts of tea, I finally was able to add just a teaspoon of super-concentrated brew to flavor the cookies without ruining them. 

It was a long road to achieve the final result, and my Pumpkin Spice Meringues with Pecans were a hit with my client.  The recipe below is a variation on my many meringue trials, and perfect for your holiday dessert table. 

Merry Mint Meringues

Makes 2 dozen cookies

2 oz egg whites (from  2 large eggs), at room temperature

½ cup superfine sugar

½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar

½ teaspoon mint extract

¼ cup crushed peppermint candies (or candy canes)

Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 275 degrees and place rack on middle setting.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat egg whites on medium-high speed with an electric mixer, until soft peaks form (about 2 minutes).  Add the cream of tartar, then the sugar, a little at a time, and raise the speed of the mixer to high. 

Add the mint extract and continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form (about 5 minutes).  To determine if you have achieved “stiff peaks”, dip a wire whisk into the mixture, pull it straight out and upward, and then turn the whisk right side up.  If the egg whites hold their peak (and they don’t bend over sideways), then you have stiff peaks.  The mixture should be very voluminous and look like fluffy whipped cream.  Don’t overbeat….the mixture should look glossy, not dry.

Using a 2 oz ice cream scoop (or 2 spoons), place rounded mounds of meringue (about 2 tablespoons per cookie) onto prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies.  Bake for 45 minutes, until firm to the touch, turn oven off and allow the cookies to slowly cool as the oven cools (at least another hour).  They will be crisp on the outside, with a slightly soft center.  When they are finished, they will release from the parchment very easily.

Cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container on the countertop.

Note:  Superfine sugar is sometimes sold as “castor” or “caster” sugar and is available in the baking section of most supermarkets.  You can make your own superfine sugar by processing regular granulated sugar in a food processor for approximately 30 seconds.

Note:  High humidity can sometimes affect the results of this recipe.  Dry days are best to make meringues.