The Cooking and Cuisine of Sicily

[Andrew Fenton]

OK I finally decided on the menu for tomorrow night. I dropped the cauliflower fritters in favour of chickpea fritters b/c there's only 2 ingredients in the chickpea fritter recipe (chickpea flour, parsley, and seasoning and water) and we're trying to pull off a longer menu...

All I can say is, that menu looks tremendous. You have some lucky guests!

[FoodMan]

That is an amazing menu and I am looking forward to the pics. But I thought the majority of your guests are vegetarians. Is that not the case anymore?

Also, about those cannoli's. Will you be making the pastry as well? If so, do you have a tried and true recipe?

It's always amusing to me when someone says they cannot eat a dessert that contains alcohol because they are pregnant. I mainly see that here in the US. Alcohol is not a poison. Unless a woman binge drinks, the baby should not be affected. The doctor assured my pregnant wife that she can have a glass of wine on our anniversary a month ago if she wants to. She did.

Andrew- I will PM you the adapted recipe for the baked rice as soon as I can.

[Adam Balic]

Right, I haven't been so successful in doing any cooking at the moment, but I did manage some tonight (yay).

A basic seafood pasta that I had in Lipari a few years ago. The flavours are fennel, capers, pinenuts, mint, a few diced tomatoes and, oddly apple. Not quite sure if this is traditional or a restaurant invention, but in context of the meal we had it was 'authentic', if you see what I mean. On Lipari it was swordfish, in Scotland it was sea-trout.

Salad - shaved fennel, orange, wild cardoon, pinenuts, capers, mint.

Dessert was watermelon jelly. Utterly delcious, although it didn't set. Something wrong with the recipe as I ended up using twice as much starch as suggested. Still if you have watermelon, you should make it as the flavours are great.

[Shaya]

I finally got inspired to make a Sicilian-influenced meal today. It was simple and really tasty.

Braised Braciole with Olives and Capers

Chitarra with Sauce of Trio of Roasted Peppers (Red, Orange, Yellow) and Anchovies

Edited July 13, 2006 by Shaya (log)

[Pontormo]

"The serenades of the south

The sweet, warm exhausting Sicilian nights--

The whole time I'd been away

the memory of those nights...

had filled my days with longing and nostalgia.

Agramonte: 18,000 souls,

4,300 of them illiterate,

1,700 of them partially or fully unemployed.

Twenty-four churches...

This is the Cefalu palace

And this is the family coat of arms,

Practically the only thing

my father had not yet sold."

--Ennino de Concini, opening monologue of Divorce, Italian Style (1961) as narrated by the dishy Marcello Mastroianni while his character waits for his roast beef and two potatoes on a train traveling back to his home. Brilliant, wicked fun and full of social commentary and culinary references. (One of the annoying characteristics of the wife is she goes on and on and on about the things they eat.) Accompanied by:

Pasta alla Paolina or Friars' Pasta (Wright's translation) in honor of the Franciscans of San Francesco di Paolo in Palermo. Absolutely divine and highly recommended. I omitted the pinches of cloves and cinnamon and used this as a way to step outside the Cult of Roasted Cauliflower. Since I bought purple cauliflower, I sauteed minced red onion to match, colored further with a little tomato paste before chopped stalks and florets are added with pine nuts and golden raisins. Covered and stewed just in the olive oil used for the onions, seasoned at the end with (lots, in my case) minced anchovies added just before the ziti. Stunningly colorful and flavorful.

As a contorno, green beans were cooked in ways suggested by several recipes consulted, especially this for fagiolini alla menta whose methods really are effective. I used a frying pan so the water was shallow and drizzled olive oil on top so the beans were just a little slick by the time they were done. I am normally not a big fan of string beans as a side dish for meatloaf or roast chicken, et al, but find that in the summer, especially when I buy them at the farmers market, they are indeed wonderful in salads. After these guys sat around for a while, just before I ate, I followed the instructions of Mimmetta Lo Monte for her anchovy-rich green beans and tossed them in toasted bread crumbs. The contrasting texture, the oily crunch with each bite complemented both the beans and the softened cauliflower. Really happy with this, too.

Dessert was not quite dessert but almost Sicilian: figs wrapped in Iowan prosciutto.

Thank you, really, Kevin and Hathor for putting your heads together on this project. These threads are pushing me to cook new things.

Ling, you seem to be celebrating the fact that you get to cook with a little more freedom than anticipated. What a feast! You know, I thought you were being cute about the lifeguard, but then discovered that actually is the name of a dish served at Babbo. Father and son all in one meal: a VERY Italian thing to do.

Shaya, it's good to see you back and making braciole ...you, too, Adam. Wild cardoons? This late in the year? Please say more.

And Divina, a belated wish that your back is not too much of a pain. Keep your trip to Puglia in mind next month. I hope you'll be able to share something from your trip to Sicily last winter.

Finally, the question posed in my new signature line is in fact a link to a very old thread where Adam is called The Balic. Still haven't read my way through all 13 pages of it, but thought you might be amused.

[pedie]

I just bought some cannoli tubes and I am planning on trying my hand at those soon.

Lasrt night we had another recipe from C. Wright's "Cucina Paradiso", Baked Rice.

Here is the casserole before putting the final layer of rice and bread crumbs

If you've never tried this before, you should. It is so flavorful, delicious and light at the same time. My favorite bits are those around the edge that get nice and crispy. I will be making this again for sure.

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The baked rice looks very good and unique. I would like to try that.

I smiled when I read about your purchase of cannoli tubes. We have cannoli on special occasions and always use the old family recipe as well as the family cannoli sticks. They were made by my Sicilian Immigrant grandfather. He took a broom handle, sanded it down so it was very smooth and clean. Then he sawed the handle into six inch lengths. Next he seasoned them by oiling them down with olive oil and baking them in the oven, taking them out, cooling them, oiling them again, baking them etc. over and over until he was satisfied that they were seasoned and would release the pastry when it was fried. We have used these sticks since I was old enough to recognize them. They get hot when we make the shells but they do release the pastry with a quick rap on the end of the stick with one of the other, cooled sticks. I have already put my name on them for the family "inheritance!"

Our shells are made traditionally with flour, sugar, oil, egg yolk and wine and the ends sealed together with egg white. We roll them out quite thin because we prefer the crisp thin shell to the heavy one.

Our filling is unique. Some of the family make the usual vanilla or chocolate custard filling. My mother prefers to use fresh ricotta cheese whipped up, then folds in freshly whipped heavy cream, some powdered sugar, vanilla. We fill the shells just before serving so they stay crisp, dip one end in chopped nuts (walnut or pistachio) and the other end in shaved chocolate. Dust with powdered sugar.

They are very light.

Meravigliosi!

[hathor]

Italian site, but we can all make out names in bold type and DOP associated with Ragusano & one pecorino.

Actually, it was caciocavallo that I had in mind when asked.  (I use RS all the time.) It seems like the kind of thing you'd find hanging up in some of the older Italian-American stores.  I am also curious about Hathor's situation in a small town in Umbria.  How much does Sicily matter there?  (The group trip to Sicily sounds lovely. )

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Sorry I didn't answer this sooner Pontormo! God, this thread is moving very quickly!!

Actually, I needed to think about my reply. The biggest influence that I can detect, is at the market on Wednesdays in Umbertide. There are these Sicilian 'dudes' who have some of the best produce around. They are kinda rough, so I was a little 'ascared' to take their picture...last week, they wanted to know if I was "Tedeschi"...this was after Germany lost to Italy in the World Cup. They thought that was just hysterical. Whatever, here is a photo of the produce when I got home. With the exception of the lemons, and including the frigerelle peppers that you can't see...all this cost 3,50euros. Uhm...just slightly cheaper than NYC's Greenmarket!

Also, take a look at these red peppers, they HAVE to be what we Americans call pimento. They are exceptionally sweet and flavorful.

Here's a little story to explain regionality: I ran up to Guido's to get a piece of swordfish (frozen...I know, I know, but its not Wes. so it's hard to get fresh fish). I pulled the piece of fish out his freezer, and he took it and said, "No, that's not what you want, it has too strong of a flavor." I said, "No, I do want sword fish, I want to cook Sicilian tonight." He looked at me as if I had 3 heads..why on earth, would anyone could Sicilian?? I laughed it off, and said it was the heat that made me feel like I'm in Sicily. Inter-regional marriages are far more acceptable, than inter-regional cooking!

Dinner was a swordfish based sauce, with capers, raisins, ollives, spices, over cous cous that had chopped mint, basil and parsley. One of the salads was chopped oranges, bits of pepperoncino and slivers of sweet onion. This is a very refreshing salad. I couldn't take any pictures. We just met an American that bought a house here in town, they came for aperitif, stayed for dinner, and I didn't want to scare them with the food-cult thing by whipping out the camera before they put food in their mouths....!

[Adam Balic]

Adam.  Wild cardoons?  This late in the year?  Please say more.

Finally, the question posed in my new signature line is in fact a link to a very old thread where Adam is called The Balic.  Still haven't read my way through all 13 pages of it, but thought you might be amused.

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The cardoons were preserved under oil (store purchase), from Sardinia I think but I thought they would be appropriate as I saw wild cardoon/artichoke thistle flowers on sale in the Syracuse market.

The Balic was a complete arsehole, I wouldn't pay any attention to anything he said.

[Kevin72]

Finally, the question posed in my new signature line is in fact a link to a very old thread where Adam is called The Balic.  Still haven't read my way through all 13 pages of it, but thought you might be amused.

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Adam!

[Adam Balic]

I was young and foolish OK. Sorry.

[Ling]

That is an amazing menu and I am looking forward to the pics. But I thought the majority of your guests are vegetarians. Is that not the case anymore?

Also, about those cannoli's. Will you be making the pastry as well? If so, do you have a tried and true recipe?

It's always amusing to me when someone says they cannot eat a dessert that contains alcohol because they are pregnant. I mainly see that here in the US. Alcohol is not a poison. Unless a woman binge drinks, the baby should not be affected. The doctor assured my pregnant wife that she can have a glass of wine on our anniversary a month ago if she wants to. She did.

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The vegetarian couple are in LA this weekend, so we invited another couple. Originally, the plan was to make the cannoli from scratch, but we couldn't find suitable metal tubes for the frying. So we purchased cannoli shells from a gourmet Italian market...I hope they'll taste OK.

I agree on the alcohol issue, but I want to respect her dietary concerns.

[Chufi]

Elie, the baked rice looks delicious. and...

The doctor assured my pregnant wife that she can have a glass of wine on our anniversary a month ago if she wants to. She did.

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congratulations!

Ling, I can't wait to see your dinner.

I didn't have dessert tonight. I want some cannoli

[FoodMan]

That is an amazing menu and I am looking forward to the pics. But I thought the majority of your guests are vegetarians. Is that not the case anymore?

Also, about those cannoli's. Will you be making the pastry as well? If so, do you have a tried and true recipe?

It's always amusing to me when someone says they cannot eat a dessert that contains alcohol because they are pregnant. I mainly see that here in the US. Alcohol is not a poison. Unless a woman binge drinks, the baby should not be affected. The doctor assured my pregnant wife that she can have a glass of wine on our anniversary a month ago if she wants to. She did.

←

The vegetarian couple are in LA this weekend, so we invited another couple. Originally, the plan was to make the cannoli from scratch, but we couldn't find suitable metal tubes for the frying. So we purchased cannoli shells from a gourmet Italian market...I hope they'll taste OK.

I agree on the alcohol issue, but I want to respect her dietary concerns.

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Ah, that's why we are having the very unvegetarian friendly ribeyes

I think I will give Mario's cannoli recipe shell a try from his first book. I'll report how it works out with my metal tubes.

If a friend asks me not to use alcohol in cooking because she is pregnant, I would most certainly respect her wishes as well Ling. I was just thinking out loud, 'wine is not a poison people'.

[Shaya]

After a starter of pesto with favas and pecorino romano, we had two types of fish, swordfish and tuna. Both were pan-grilled and served with a warm Sicilian salmoriglio sauce made with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, anchovy (ok, so this ingredient is not in Marcella's version, but my 3-year-old insisted...) and capers added at the end.

For the swordfish I used a technique I saw elsewhere - I coated the fish with breadcrumbs and capers before grilling.

Sicilian Style Swordfish and Tuna - the fish were served on an emulsion sauce made from lemon juice, olive oil, anchovies and capers

[Andrew Fenton]

anchovy (ok, so this ingredient is not in Marcella's version, but my 3-year-old insisted...)

You have trained the nippa well! When I was three, I only insisted on malt liquor...

[Ling]

Pics from our meal...I didn't follow any recipes, but looked at the list of ingredients for the caponata and the calamari before cooking. Everything turned out really well...I think this is one of the best dinners we've had in awhile.

arancini (carnaroli, pecorino romano, peas, guanciale)

we all ate way too many of these (I fried about 25) but here's one I plated for the camera

rosemary ciabatta from Essential Baking Company

...served with oregano salami from Salumi, and eggplant caponata (a Batali recipe I very loosely followed)

Sicilian Lifeguard calamari...again, a Batali recipe I loosely followed

Henry grilled the ribeyes perfectly...the sauce is anchovy, parlsey, garlic, and olive oil

chocolate pistachio cannoli...we couldn't find metal tubes to fry the shells, so we had to use store bought shells

not shown--lots of bread with Vermont Butter & Cheese butter, white peach ice-cream, and way too many cocktails and glasses of Perrier Jouet champagne

Edited July 15, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Shaya]

Ling and Henry, that meal looks amazing. I just love arancini. Did you mix egg into the rice before making the balls? What did you use to coat them - they look too coarse to be breadcrumbs, are they panko crumbs?

How did you prepare the calamari - did you give it the really short treatment or the super long treatment? Was it tough or yummy chewy?

[Pontormo]

Laurna ed Enrico: Wow!

Henry established his Italian credentials in his food blog, but I guess I never fully appreciated how much a love of pastry, cream, chocolate, cake and goo betrayed Ling's past life as a Sicilian nun!

Great job, you two! Yes, the arancini are indeed gorgeous. Were the cannoli shells acceptable? Still waiting for the shot of the ice cream.

* * *

Shaya: Yum! It's funny. The son of a friend of mine used to go nuts over capers when he was three or four.

Well, a bowl of cold cereal, skim milk and a sliced white peach awaits. Sigh.

[hathor]

Shaya, your tuna/swordfish due looks just beautiful. I vote the anchovies as well.

Ling, Henry: absolutely gorgeous looking meal. Would you mind describing more about the lifeguard thing? I don't have access to any Batali cookbooks.... Thanks.

I think parsely/anchovies must be in the air, after last weeks bout of caponata. I took some of those red peppers that I have, thinly sliced them and made a dressing of parsley, anchovies, olive oil and red wine vinegar. At first I thought the flavors wouldn't meld, but by the time we sat down to eat, all the flavors had happily danced with each other, and it was good.

Update on the fennel experiment: currently in the freezer I have:

fennel-lemon

fennel-orange-black pepper

fennel-orange-compari

and the surprise flavor: fennel-rum

I stood there with the extra fennel syrup wondering what to try next, then I started sniffing all the bottles of booze that we have (god, only knows what the guys doing construction across the street were thinking), and thought, gee, the rum aroma seems to work. I was thinking about Kevin's suggestion for using Sambuca, or wishing I had some Varinelli...but I had rum, so I used rum. What a great match! It almost comes off as vanilla flavored, or butterscotch. Someone else try this and tell me if just time to join AA, or did I discover some incredible flavor combination!

**edited because I really cannot spell, and I'm an even worse proofreader!

Edited July 15, 2006 by hathor (log)

[Pontormo]

Hathor: I trust your tastebuds. Interesting. Thanks for answering my question about regionalism above, a post that coincided with reading a passage in Heat in which a Tuscan butcher throws a fit over finding a bottle of balsamic vinegar--foreign stuff--on his table. Those tapering red peppers are gorgeous and I am looking forward to more pictures of the beautiful things those Sicilians bring your way.

[acevola]

Really good photographs, Miss Ling...reminds me of the Chocolate and Zucchini food pictures, Bravo!

- Alfonso Cevola

Italian Wine Guy

http://acevola.blogspot.com/

[Ling]

Thanks for all the compliments!

Yes, our huge pan of risotto was cooled, then mixed with 2 eggs, then covered in egg wash and panko. (We love panko...we apologize for the deviation from tradition.) The squid was cooked in about a minute--they were probably the most tender squid I've ever eaten.

The calamari dish by Batali has tomato sauce (homemade), capers, pine nuts, currants, and couscous (but we didn't use the couscous).

The cannoli shells were OK--we bought the mini ones pictured there (the brand is Ferrara), and these huge ones that didn't taste quite as good.

The morning after--my stomach is STILL bloated from all that food!

Edited July 15, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Chufi]

Awesome dinner, Ling & Henry! Oh those arancini look soooo good. I have to make some this week!

I made the baked risotto with eggplant today, based on Marcella's recipe (I added all the tomatosauce to the risotto instead of keeping some back to layer with the rice). It was very good, we kept talking about how such a simple dish with so few ingredients (some vegetables, rice, a bit of cheese and some herbs) could be so satisfying, and have such a deep and complex flavor. Really excellent.

And dessert. I recently found a deli that sells fresh ricotta (wonderful stuff! very different from the plastic supermarket tubs!) and since my cassata plans got canceled, and I'm not going to fry cannoli tubes, but I still wanted to do something with a ricotta/candied fruit/chocolate mixture, I came up with this. may I present.. cannoli tarts!

I made some small chocolate pastry shells and filled them with a mixture of ricotta (beaten with a little cream to loosen it), candied orange zest, orangeflower water, sugar, a little bit of candied fruit, chocolate and pistachios.

Edited July 15, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[hhlodesign]

Still waiting for the shot of the ice cream.

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We had more ice-cream tonight and took a picture just for you!

[mrbigjas]

well, i was going to suck up my failure and post a pic of tonight's dinner, but i've decided against it.

besides the ever-popular batali caponata, and a whole pile of the most brightly-colored rainbow chard i've ever seen, i decided to go ahead and make this recipe for a big ol' braciolone from about.com, because why not.

but it didn't work out so well. when i pounded out the meat (pork, since i couldn't get a veal breast) it didn't hold together so well, which necessitated some interesting trussing.

this, of course, resulted in each piece of the roll basically opening up as i cut it to serve it, the stuffing mixture falling apart, along with the egg slices. combine that with my inexperience with my new camera, and really the photos belong on the regrettable dinner thread.

but the taste was fantastic. after all, when you layer a shell of meat with mortadella, salami, and a great prosciutto cotto (which i'm going to go back and get a whole bunch of soon), and then stuff two kinds of cacio in the filling, how far wrong can you go?

but really the thing that makes it so enjoyable is that, after you cook the thing with the tomato sauce, the sauce has taken on a great meaty flavor, and yet is in actuality still pretty much just tomatoes.

anyway, verdict: i suck at this sort of thing, so it doesn't look so good, but it does taste so good. it's too bad--after missing out on half of this month so far, i set aside a good part of the afternoon, and had hoped to be able to post up some photos of something fun. oh wells. at least we have tons of leftovers...

i'ma make some of that sardine pasta later this week, and rumor has it a timballe may be in my future, so the month may not be a wash yet.

Edited July 16, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)