Saturday May 15, 2010
A few weeks ago I had Tony Simotes share his culinary history with me on my radio show. Shortly therafter we found out that Tony has throat cancer (with a very good prognosis). He is undergoing treatment and I asked if I could make them (he and his wife, Lucy) some food and he asked me if I could try and make his Mom's avgolemono soup.
So this soup's for Tony!!!
1 whole organic chicken
Enough water to completely cover the chicken
3-4 stalks celery, cut into quarters
1-2 onions
Juice of 3 lemons
3 eggs
2 cups of cooked rice
salt and pepper to taste
Clean and place chicken in soup pot and cover with water. Add celery and onion. Heat over medium heat to a boil and then simmer for about an hour until chicken is cooked. While chicken is cooking, occasionally skim off the scum.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove from water and let cool. Meanwhile, separate your egg whites from yolks. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form and then blend in the egg yolks and juice of 3 lemons. Then add about a cup of the warm chicken broth to the egg and lemon mixture to acclimate and then add to chicken broth along with the rice and the chicken which you have taken off the bones and chopped into bite-sized pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste and Enjoy!!
GET WELL SOON TONY!! xxoo
Sunday May 09, 2010
Heirloom Manicotti
When I think of Mother’s Day there is a recipe that comes to mind that has been handed down from my great grandmother to my grandmother to my mother to me. This is the essence of heirloom meals - savoring yesterday’s traditions today.
My featured recipe is manicotti and for all of you who speak phonetically, M-A-N-I-C-O-T-T-I. When I was little I pronounced it manicotti (pronounced in Italian) and most of my friends had a quizzical look on their faces – So I have gotten into the habit of saying it two times – like Tony Two times form the God Father. Manicotti (MANICOTTI) – get it!! I am sure most of you have had manicotti –thinking large tubular noodle stuffed with ricotta (pronounced Italian style) R-I-C-O-T-T-A – there’s Tony Two times again!!
Well my family recipe will transform your idea of manicotti forever!! This is our recipe for heavenly light crepes - fill them with luscious ricotta filling and finish with some sauce - the best!!
Manicotti Crepe Recipe:
This recipe makes 80 crepes but can easily be halved or quartered. This dish is such a family favorite we usually make all 80 and freeze some for another time.
12 large eggs
4 cups of flour
4 cups of water
8 Tablespoons of melted butter (cooled)
Beat eggs, flour and water until smooth, then add the melted butter. Cover batter and refrigerate overnight.
I happen to be lucky enough to have my grandmother’s well-seasoned caste iron crepe pan, but a non stick crepe pan will do as well. Using a well-seasoned crepe pan or non-stick 5-6" frying pan, heat on low-medium flame, brush pan with canola oil or melted butter. (I usually do a tester before I really get started to make sure pan it hot enough etc.) Then ladle the batter into the pan and swirl it so it spreads into the entire surface. Cook until the edges start browning and top seems dry. I use a fork but a spatula would do the trick as well to loosen the edges. Then flip the crepe and let it cook for a few seconds. (I find this is a feel sort-of-thing - you just can tell when it's ready!!) You can make these up to three days ahead.
Ricotta Filling
6 lbs Ricotta
4 eggs
2 lbs mozzarella, cubed
Romano cheese, salt, pepper and parsley to taste
Milk (to adjust the consistency)
Mix all ingredients except milk. We want it to be thick, not runny.
Assembly
And now the assembly…oops….what about the sauce??? Truly you can use any sauce – your own, a jar of Rao’s Homemade. We are biased, we use our own. Our secret for this particular dish are making tiny meatballs!! Our sauce and meatball recipe will have to be another show.
Take a crepe and spread ricotta mixture in center, fold one edge over the other and place in baking dish that has some sauce spread lightly over bottom. Repeat. We recommend only one layer as it is easier to serve.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. And remember they must settle for at least ten minutes before serving or you will have a runny mess - still delicious but not pretty!!
Enjoy!!
Sunday May 02, 2010
Amy Loveless, a true Stockbridge, MA native attributes her love of cooking to her wholesome upbringing. Her Mom was always cooking and baking and Amy knew at an early age that baking and cooking were her passions! Her Dad always maintained a large kitchen garden so Amy is at home with preserving and accustomed to using local in-season ingredients. Amy owned and ran a bakery, a catering company and now gets to create meals at the Dream Away Lodge where she feels it offers her the perfect next step - cooking for many, in a very community-oriented restaurant. Enjoy listening!
Wednesday April 21, 2010
Giulia Melucci's book dedication: For my mother, who taught me how to cook and how to love. That sums up Giulia - a passionate Italian-American who loves food, cooking and family. Giulia shares her quest for love through the meals she cooks for her boyfriends in her memoir, "I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti." It is a witty, self-effacing, often funny account of Giulia's love life and the food she cooks - for love, to assuage a broken heart, and for pure joy.
Giulia represents all that Heirloom Meals aims to capture - a love of one's past seen through food memories, and taking those meal memories and tweaking them for our current lives - "savoring yesterday's traditions today." Enjoy listening to the interview. Thank you Giulia!!
Wednesday April 14, 2010
Christopher Blair grew up in Connecticut in the 1950's in a typical home where Mom always served home-cooked meals. But it was Chris's time in college that helped him evolve into an intuitive cook, a bread baker and lover of seasonal ingredients. One of Chris's favorite books: The Cook Book Decoder or Culinary Alchemy Explained by Arthur Grosser, helps him think about how different foods interact with seasonings from chemistry point of view.
Chris does a brilliant job fusing the art and science of cooking. Who would ever think of pairing paté with ground coffee beans or ground chocolate? Enjoy the interview.
Thursday April 08, 2010
Make no mistake about it Brian Alberg's innovative comfort food derives its roots from his upbringing, which was closely connected to the land and farmers in Copake, NY. He broadened that connection through his apprenticeships in restaurants since the age of 14 and his degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.
Brian was a true advocate of slow food and the locavore movement way before they became "movements!" Here is the interview.
