A year of Italian cooking

[Kevin72]

Grind the fresh-toasted peeled almonds with a little of the hot milk to a fine paste.

Simmer for a few minutes in the milk mixture (I've switched to doing milk and cream instead of custard) then steeped and left to cool to room temp.

[mrbigjas]

The contorno was lemon-pickled eggplant, again from Schiavelli.

It’s important to use baby eggplants in this as you essentially “cure” the raw eggplant in the lemon juice and then serve it.  Sliver it finely and toss with salt and sugar, then the juice of several lemons and some olive oil, and set aside to pickle for a few hours.  It still has a firm texture to it but it was addictive in its own way.

can we talk about this a little? i picked up some baby eggplants this weekend, and i'm thinking of making it tonight. couple questions, if you don't mind:

1. 'a few hours' -- so would, like, two be enough?

2. is that basil on there? or mint? or something unexpected?

3. what's the white stuff? yogurt? cream? melted cheese?

thanks

[Kevin72]

Two hours is the time called for in the recipe but I thought they were still a little firm after that point and went out to four. The white stuff is the eggplant; it just sporadically soaked up the oil and gave it a mottled white/yellow appearance. I added mint but basil or both would be great. Ooh, and maybe some olives . . .

Edited July 20, 2005 by Kevin72 (log)

[ludja]

Grind the fresh-toasted peeled almonds with a little of the hot milk to a fine paste.

Simmer for a few minutes in the milk mixture (I've switched to doing milk and cream instead of custard) then steeped and left to cool to room temp.

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Thanks Kevin! Sorry to come back with more questions, but if it's easy to give the ingredient amounts for your recipe I would appreciate it--the non-custard version sounds good.

[Kevin72]

My maker is about a 3 1/2 cup capacity, so I usually do 2 cups milk, 1 cup cream.

Honey to taste; I'd start with 1/2 a cup. The almonds I didn't do a precise measure for, but at least 3/4 cup whole and peeled before toasting.

[mrbigjas]

Two hours is the time called for in the recipe but I thought they were still a little firm after that point and went out to four.  The white stuff is the eggplant; it just sporadically soaked up the oil and gave it a mottled white/yellow appearance.  I added mint but basil or both would be great.  Ooh, and maybe some olives . . .

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aaah, looking more closely i see what you mean. optical illusion!

thanks. i'll make it tonight.

[ludja]

My maker is about a 3 1/2 cup capacity, so I usually do 2 cups milk, 1 cup cream. 

Honey to taste; I'd start with 1/2 a cup.  The almonds I didn't do a precise measure for, but at least 3/4 cup whole and peeled before toasting.

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Thank you very much Kevin; I'm looking forward to trying it!

[Kevin72]

Made a couple of pizzas last week. At first it was just going to be one pizza, with sardines and marinated artichokes. I don’t even know now where I saw the recipe, just that it was in reference to Sicily. And, I’m not even sure if the crust is traditional Sicilian, either: just standard thin-crusted pizza.

But, since I’d be in trouble with the wife if I made pizza and didn’t do one with some kind of sausage, I made a second pizza with sausage, roasted pepper, and scamorza. Both were gobbled quickly, no leftovers as I’d originally planned.

[Kevin72]

This weekend was part two of my wife’s birthday celebration. Saturday night, I made some Sicilian dishes I’d been doing practically since we started dating.

But first, a new appetizer: spittini, Sicilian dialect for skeweres (spiedini) of ground pork and mozzarella from Many Beautiful Things. Alternate very lean ground pork and mozzarella cheese on a skewer, roll in bread crumbs, and deep fry. There was also supposed to be savory béchamel included as one of the items, but mine never set up. Yes, the skewers were as delicate as you’d think and had to be handled and lowered in the oil carefully. But worth it, and tasty!

In the background was our cocktail: watermelon, lime juice, vodka, and sweet vermouth pureed together in a blender. Perfect summer starter.

The primo was another Sicilian pasta masterpiece (meaning their masterpiece, not mine!), Pasta alla Norma.

Eggplant is braised in a spicy, garlicky tomato sauce and finished with ample basil. Toss with rigatoni. What makes the dish, though, is the coarsely grated ricotta salata on top. Very important. I’ve had to “make do” before with parmigiano and even pecorino, and it just isn’t the same.

The secondo was pollo all’vincotto, chicken with “cooked wine”, which is made by reducing red wine and sugar together with cloves until it forms a syrup. Brown a quartered chicken in a casserole, then add: carrot, celery, onion, red pepper, cinnamon sticks, whole chili pepper pods and sweat them. Pour the wine syrup over the chicken, sprinkle in some currants or raisins and pine nuts, and then top off with red wine vinegar. Yep, yet another sweet and sour variant. The cinnamon is an important element and really sends up a welcome, homey, yet exotic aroma when the whole thing is braising. The contorno was a baked casserole of slice potatoes and onions, layered with bay leaves, and they perfumed the entire dish nicely.

Dessert was one of my wife’s favorites, cannoli. We met and first started dating in Atlanta, and in my typical clueless fashion, our first date consisted of me dragging her all over town on a search for my favorite Italian deli and food store there. I bought cotechino (a large sausage), she bought cannoli, and somewhere, Freud’s head exploded at the subtext.

And yet, I’m cursed with an inability to make cannoli from scratch. Maybe it’s the cheapo metal tubes, but every time I make them and fry them, they either slip off as soon as they hit the oil, or worse, hold tight and won’t come off the tube afterwards, ruining them. Batch after batch have been ruined, and I’ve tried all the tricks: water as a sealant, egg whites, oiling the tubes first, nothing works.

Fortunately, either Lidia Bastianich or Michael Chiarello in their PBS cooking shows fully endorse just frying the cannoli in disc shapes so that they puff up and make little fritters. Nowhere near as aethetically pleasing, of course.

And again, runny topping. Maybe it’s the heat?

Edited July 25, 2005 by Kevin72 (log)

[Kevin72]

Sunday morning we started with the Sicilian summertime breakfast of champions, a gelato in brioche sandwich.

This was featured on a cooking show on TV once, and my wife, ever the gelato freak, gave a giddy yelp when she saw it. So I thought it apropos of her “second birthday” brunch.

We’ve gotten into the habit that on my wife’s birthday, she does a “mystery basket” meal and requests an ingredient she’s craving. She gives me advance notice, usually at the start of the month, so I can start planning. This year, she dropped “salmon” on me. How was I going to do that, and remain true to Sicilian cooking? I was blocked for quite some time, but then woke up one day and the entire menu came to me. Not entirely Sicilian, but I tried to keep some of the spirit and ingredients true.

First up, smoked salmon bundles with ricotta and chive filling. Cocktail was vodka, zammu (homemade sambucca), and “arancino” (orange digestivo in the same vein as limoncello) shaken together.

We followed with “impanatina”, little fried pastries, stuffed with salmon and capers.

Third appetizer was salmon and potato pancakes. Urgh, no pics: they fell apart in the pan trying to flip them. Topped with a tomato and green olive sauce. “This is the last course, right?” My wife asked as we finished. Uh-oh.

After a little respite, we dove back in with fennel, salmon, and saffron soup, the most overtly Sicilian dish of the evening and the first one I came up with when brainstorming the meal.

Finally, salmon “salmoriglio”, grilled salmon topped with a sauce of olive oil, lemon juice, and hot water emulsified together. I guess the water lightens up the sauce? My wife thought it was butter, so mission accomplished! The contorno was pan-seared “slaw” of red peppers and zucchini.

[Chufi]

Dessert was one of my wife’s favorites, cannoli.  We met and first started dating in Atlanta, and in my typical clueless fashion, our first date consisted of me dragging her all over town on a search for my favorite Italian deli and food store there.  I bought cotechino (a large sausage), she bought cannoli, and somewhere, Freud’s head exploded at the subtext. 

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I love how this thread always has me laughing and salivating simultaneously!

that Chicken in cooked wine looks so good. Do I see capers in the sauce? You don't mention them in the description, but since we're still in Sicily..

Edited July 25, 2005 by Chufi (log)

[Kevin72]

I considered capers but then backed off at the last minute. They certainly wouldn't be out of place here, way to think like a Sicilian!

[hathor]

Buon compleano a Mrs. Kevin72!!

What a feast!! Hey, my birthday is in a couple of weeks, can I suggest an ingredient too? I already live vicarously thru this thread....!

We made a strawberry gelato brioche sandwich in class, and I truly only tasted it out of professional curiosity, I mean, it just sounds too weird. But, you know what, I went back and tried a lemon sorbetto brioche! Its a strange, but very good combo.

Bummer about the cannoli tubes... I don't think its the tubes, maybe its the pasta recipe? Have you fooled around with that? What kind of filling/topping did you make? I'm no dolce maker either, by a long stretch, I just don't have a sweet tooth, but we made a filling that was just whipped ricotta and sugar, that's all, and it was light and delicious. But god they are a lot of work! Ciao!

[Kevin72]

Bummer about the cannoli tubes... I don't think its the tubes, maybe its the pasta recipe? Have you fooled around with that? What kind of filling/topping did you make? I'm no dolce maker either, by a long stretch, I just don't have a sweet tooth, but we made a filling that was just whipped ricotta and sugar, that's all, and it was light and delicious. But god they are a lot of work! Ciao!

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I still think it's the tubes; I've tried Mario Batali's recipe, the one in Sweet Sicily, and one in Michele Sciocolone's Italian Holiday Cooking and in all three cases they stuck. The filling was my ricotta with powdered sugar stirred together. I may just >shudder!< buy the tubes from now on, unless my fellow eG'ers can convince me otherwise

[hathor]

store bought cannoli tubes are nasty, usually. Do you slip the cannoli off as soon as it comes out of the oil? or wait for some cool down? I don't know what difference that would make, I'm just trying to figure out why they would stick. Further experimentation is required....

[Kevin72]

Oops, actually above I meant buy the cannoli shells, unless I find a miracle cure.

You're supposed to take them off the tube hot out of the oil. I've tried all different variations on that, too, and nothing.

Last night's meal, two Sicilian dishes right out of Mario Batali's new cookbook, is posted here.

[kellytree]

Here's what Mr. Carrot has to show:

http://www.mistercarota.com/specia/specia.php?pag=sp007

I had a look on a few italian sites - almost all of them say you should let the cannoli cool down and then carefully take them off the tube.

Or you could skip the cannoli all together and make a sicilian ice cream sandwich with .. crap, can't think of the name of the bread..... Maritozzi??? I should go and look it up.

[Kevin72]

Here's what Mr. Carrot has to show:

http://www.mistercarota.com/specia/specia.php?pag=sp007

I had a look on a few italian sites - almost all of them say you should let the cannoli cool down and then carefully take them off the tube.

Or you could skip the cannoli all together and make a sicilian ice cream sandwich with .. crap, can't think of the name of the bread..... Maritozzi??? I should go and look it up.

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Gah, it's in Italian!

So he shallow-fries them? Never heard of that one before. His dough also looks more straightforward: flour, sugar, marsala? All three of the ones I've used have cinnamon in them as well and even a little chocolate (Batali's, I think). But then it also looks like he puts the spices back in the ricotta

The tubes he's using also look much more sturdy than mine.

Hey, do you think there's teflon cannoli tubes out there? Or would they have a problem with the deep-fry?

[divina]

One important thing to know is that in Italy that the flour we use is low gluten pastry flour, so the ratio to butter etc, is important..

OO flour is what i s used And I believe you use White Lily in place of it, or King Arthur sells some Italian pastry flour.

If you use all purpose flour.. it changes!

Edited July 29, 2005 by divina (log)

[hathor]

Good point Divina! I forgot about the tipo 00 factor. The other thing I was thinking about last night (see how we all think of you Kevin ), is maybe you should fry them longer than you might think is necessary. I know we fried ours a long time... they were very brown and crunchy. Part of the very brown though was due to using a red wine dough. But we didn't take them out of the oil until they were very nearly burnt. And we didn't wait for the tubes to cool down before handling, but honestly, a cool tube would be a whole lot nicer to work with....

[Kevin72]

One important thing to know is that in Italy that the flour we use is low gluten pastry flour, so the ratio to butter etc, is important..

OO flour is what i s used And I believe you use White Lily in place of it, or King Arthur sells some Italian pastry flour.

If you use all purpose flour.. it changes!

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I considered pastry flour but the recipe I was using in this case (Granof's Sweet Sicily) specified a long kneading period and a necessity to get it elastic and bubbly, so I thought I'd better use AP for the higher gluten content. Would pastry flour make a softer product though, if you wanted it crispy?

OT: What's the difference between cake and pastry flours? I get them both confused.

Good point Divina! I forgot about the tipo 00 factor.  The other thing I was thinking about last night (see how we all think of you Kevin  ), is maybe you should fry them longer than you might think is necessary. I know we fried ours a long time... they were very brown and crunchy. Part of the very brown though was due to using a red wine dough.  But we didn't take them out of the oil until they were very nearly burnt. And we didn't wait for the tubes to cool down before handling, but honestly, a cool tube would be a whole lot nicer to work with....

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Now, I wonder about this. The outside (facing the oil) was nice and brown but the underside (wrapped around the tube) was still soft and pale. Still, they stick so fast to the tube that I think they'd just burn. Hmmm . . .

[Behemoth]

OT: What's the difference between cake and pastry flours?  I get them both confused.

I think it has to do with gluten levels. I know you can make pastry flour from 2 parts bleached AP flour to one part cake flour.

Cannolis. Wow. Now there'e something I would really need to work up some nerve to make.

[ludja]

OT: What's the difference between cake and pastry flours?  I get them both confused.

I think it has to do with gluten levels. I know you can make pastry flour from 2 parts bleached AP flour to one part cake flour.

Cannolis. Wow. Now there'e something I would really need to work up some nerve to make.

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I've always wanted to make these at home as well--am now a little scared by the sticking, but at the same time feel compelled to try my recipe to see if they do the same thing. My recipe source is Nick Malgieri's "Great Italian Desserts". I've had the metal cannoli tubes for at least 7 or 8 years but haven't taken the plunge yet... I think this blog will be the impetus. I'll post back once I try them.

[Kevin72]

I think it has to do with gluten levels. I know you can make pastry flour from 2 parts bleached AP flour to one part cake flour.

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Good to know, thanks. Pastry flour here has suddenly become harder to find--suddenly our stores only carry it if it's whole wheat? I always have cake flour on hand, though.

Cannolis. Wow. Now there'e something I would really need to work up some nerve to make.

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Yeah, I'm beginning to see why. But I think Sicily would come calling if I did this entire month and didn't at least attempt.

Long story: years ago, the first time I went to make them, I didn't have a tube or dowel to wrap them around. I realized that the handle on my wire whisk was just the right width, though, and decided to use that. So the first cannoli gets wrapped and lowered in the oil (the whisk part stays above the oil) and is bubbling away. I lean over the pot to make sure it's doing okay, and suddenly the whisk handle pops loudly and sends a burst of oil up and just barely misses my eyes. I had forgotten that the whisk handle had a stopper on it, and the sealant melted in the heat and popped the whole thing off.

I've always wanted to make these at home as well--am now a little scared by the sticking, but at the same time feel compelled to try my recipe to see if they do the same thing.  My recipe source is Nick Malgieri's "Great Italian Desserts".  I've had the metal cannoli tubes for at least 7 or 8 years but haven't taken the plunge yet...  I think this blog will be the impetus.    I'll post back once I try them.

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Please do, so we can commiserrate. So help me, though, if they turn out perfect . . .

[Kevin72]

Friday night’s meal:

Fried “impanatine” with spicy lamb ragu:

I’m not sure if “impanatine” are the correct term, but I like to use it in a nod to Spain’s rule of Sicily. Yeasted dough is folded around a spoonful of spicy lamb ragu (ground lamb, cinnamon, garlic, chilies, tomato paste, white wine) and deep-fried.

I’ve really skewed the appetizers this month in favor of the deep-fried items, but Sicily’s elaborate antipasto culture is much more rich and varied; I just was craving fried stuff this time of year.

Primo: Fettuccine with Pesto Pantesco and Grilled Shrimp.

Pesto Pantesco (sp?) hails from the island of Pantelleria, where Italy’s best capers are reputed to come from. Naturally then, their pesto incorporates capers, as well as tomatoes, mint, fennel fronds, parsley, chilies, garlic, olive oil, and basil. I didn’t use, and have never seen offered, capers from Pantelleria. My local store carried salt-packed capers until just this month, when they switched to carrying exclusively capers pickled in balsamic. I had always secretly thought there wasn't much difference between the salt-packed and the pickled kind, but now that they've switched I've noticed it. I was worried the pesto would be too salty when I tasted it on its own, but once thinned with pasta cooking water and distributed amongst the pasta and grilled shrimp it was perfect.

Secondo: Grilled Swordfish Involtini with Warm Fennel-Pepper Salad.

The swordfish involtini were stuffed with shallots, parsley, mint, oregano, capers, and breadcrumbs, then bathed in olive oil and lemon juice for and hour and finally skewered with rosemary branches and grilled. To accompany them, I made another pan-seared “slaw” as with the salmon meal from last week, only this time with slivered peppers and fennel. I also zested and juiced two grapefruits, mixed in some marsala and sugar, then reduced this to a fine syrup, stirred in olive oil, and drizzled this over each plate to finish.