New Year's Breakfast Strata
My friend Tori Ritchie, Tuesday Recipe, recently posted this fabulous and easy to make Breakfast Strata recipe to her website as well as to my friend, Amie O’Shaughnessy’s Ciao Bambino blog.
I can vouch that the strata is a winner. I made it for Christmas brunch and plan a repeat performance with a few different ingredients to serve New Year’s morning. Since it is made the night before, in the morning all that is left to do is to roll out of bed, pop in the oven, and an hour later when delicious aromas fill the air, plate it up and enjoy.
Ham & Cheese Breakfast Strata
Serves 6
room temperature butter for greasing dish
1 pound loaf soft French or Italian bread (not sourdough), such as Pugliese
12 ounces thick-cut baked ham or ham steak, fat trimmed off, cut into cubes
1-1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) grated Monterey jack cheese
freshly ground black pepper
6 eggs
2 cups whole milk
3 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese
The night before, rub the bottom and sides of a 13×9×2–inch baking dish with butter. Cut the bread in half crosswise, then again lengthwise to give you open-faced quarters. Tear out the insides of the bread and tear into small pieces, getting every last bit of white from the crusts (save the crusts to make breadcrumbs in the food processor for another time).
Spread half the bread in the bottom of the buttered dish. In a food processor, pulse the ham until finely minced (or finely chop by hand). Sprinkle half the ham and half the cheese over the bread, then repeat with remaining bread, ham, and cheese. Grind fresh pepper over the top. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together, then whisk in the green onions. Pour over the bread-ham mixture, then with a large rubber spatula, fold ingredients gently until bread is moistened. Spread the mixture evenly in the dish. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, remove the plastic wrap. Sprinkle the top of the strata with the Asiago or Parmesan cheese, then cover dish tightly with foil. Slide into a cold oven and turn the oven to 350°F. Bake until the strata starts to puff and eggs look set, about 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until golden, crusty, and delicious smelling, about 25 minutes more. Serve at once.
mkmtCOOK | Comment (1)Blood Orange Granita
Paul is a huge citrus granita fan. I usually make lemon or lime for him. When I saw this recipe I couldn’t resist. It was a true hit – I used blood oranges and the color was electric. I plan to make this again for Christmas to serve as a palate cleanser.
I like the dramatic color and somewhat tart flavor of blood oranges, which is why I chose them for this recipe. But really, any good juicing orange will yield a deliciously refreshing granita.
Makes 6 servings
1 whole cardamom pod
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups freshly squeezed blood orange juice (use Valencia or navel oranges or tangerines if you are unable to find blood oranges)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of one orange
Grand Marnier or a similar orange-flavored liqueur (optional)
6 small sprigs fresh mint
Place a large rectangular metal baking pan in the freezer to chill it.
In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of water and the cardamom pod to a boil. Pour in the sugar and cook just until the sugar has dissolved completely. Remove the syrup from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate in a tightly lidded container until completely chilled (leave the cardamom pod in the syrup).
In a bowl, combine the orange and lemon juice, and the orange zest. Discard the cardamom pod from the syrup and stir the syrup into the orange juice mixture. Retrieve the metal baking pan from the freezer and pour the orange mixture into it. Return the pan, uncovered, to the freezer. Freeze the mixture for 30 minutes. Remove it from the freezer and use a fork to scrape the crystals away from the sides of the pan and turn the mixture. Continue to freeze, scraping every 30 minutes, until the mixture is completely frozen, about 2 hours. Transfer the granita to a container with a tight lid and freeze until ready to serve.
To serve, divide the granita between 6 ice cream bowls or custard cups. Drizzle a few drops of Grand Marnier, if using, over each bowl and garnish each with a sprig of mint.
Do Ahead: The syrup can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated. The granita can be made up to 3 days in advance and frozen. Use a fork to break up the crystals before serving.
Big Night In
More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Italian-Style
by Domenica Marchetti
2008 Chronicle Books
Winter Endive Salad
I plan to make this salad for Christmas. A little elf told me that Domenica is making it too!
My family has been making this salad for years. It is easy to prepare, and I have never served it to anyone who didn’t immediately love it.
Makes 6 to 8 servings
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
For the salad:
5 heads Belgian endive, cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
1 large head red leaf lettuce, torn into large pieces
1 large or 2 small bunches arugula, tough end stems removed
2 juicy chilled oranges, peeled with all white pith removed from the exterior, sliced into thin rounds
To make the dressing:
In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper. Gradually incorporate the oil, pouring it in a thin stream and whisking all the while to achieve an emulsified dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt if necessary.
To assemble the salad:
Mix all of the greens together and arrange them in a large, deep serving platter. Arrange the orange slices on top of the greens. Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Serve immediately.
Do Ahead: The greens may be washed several hours in advance and stored in zipper-lock bags in the crisper compartment of the refrigerator. Leave the leaves whole until you are ready to assemble the salad to prevent browning. The oranges may be prepared several hours in advance and stored in a tightly lidded container in the refrigerator. The dressing may be prepared several hours in advance and kept, covered, at room temperature. Whisk before using.
Big Night In
More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Italian-Style
by Domenica Marchetti
2008 Chronicle Books
Smoky Ham and Corn Chowder
Mario Batali once said that his three favorite words are “wrapped in ham”. While this chowder isn’t wrapped in it, it is infused by it – I am certain that Mario would approve.
I served this chowder as part of a cocktail buffet party on a cold night in November. I was looking for one dish to serve as an anchor of sorts—something that was more than bite-sized, but not a full-blown main course. I ladled the finished chowder into my slow cooker, placed it on the buffet, and set it on “warm.” Throughout the evening, guests helped themselves to bowls of chowder, which had the double effect of shaking off the late-fall chill and making everyone feel right at home. You will notice, as you read through the ingredient list, that the recipe calls not only for ham but also for bacon and smoked pork chop. As a resident of Virginia for more than a dozen years, I feel obligated to avail myself of the wonderful selection of pork products from my adopted home state.
Serves 8 as a main course or up to 20 as part of a buffet
4 slices thick smoky bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 pound good-quality smoked cooked ham, cut into 1/2-inch dice (see Cook’s Note)
2 small boneless smoked pork chops, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 large yellow onions, diced (about 4 cups)
2 to 4 jalapeño peppers, minced, depending on how spicy you like your chowder
2 red bell peppers, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 green bell peppers, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 medium red potatoes (about 2 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch dice (peeling is optional)
2 fresh bay leaves
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (you may substitute cayenne if you do not have chipotle powder, but you will lose the smokiness of the chipotle)
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
8 to 10 cups best-quality fat-free, low-sodium canned chicken broth
1 16-ounce bag frozen roasted corn, thawed (if you are unable to find frozen roasted corn, use regular)
1 cup heavy cream
Place the bacon in a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot and cook it over medium heat until it begins to brown and render its fat, about 7 minutes. Add the butter, ham, and pork chops and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the meat is lightly browned. Stir in the onions and jalapeño peppers and sauté, stirring often, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in the red and green bell peppers, potatoes, bay leaves, and thyme. Sauté until the peppers and potatoes are slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the salt, sweet and smoked paprika, and the chipotle powder and stir to combine. Sprinkle in the flour, stirring all the while to prevent lumps from forming.
Pour in a cup of chicken broth and stir well to combine it with the flour. Gradually add an additional 7 to 8 cups of broth, depending on how thick you like your chowder. Cover the pot partially and simmer the chowder gently over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until all of the vegetables are tender. Stir in the corn and cream and bring the chowder to a simmer. Serve immediately.
Cook’s Note: For a three-letter word, ham is a complicated subject, as I learned when I moved to Virginia. There is dry-cured ham and wet-cured ham, country ham and city ham, baked ham and smoked ham, salt-cured, and sugar-cured. And that is only the beginning. For this recipe you want a good-quality basic cooked ham that has been smoked. You should be able to find it in the deli department of your supermarket.
Do Ahead: You can make the chowder a day in advance, up to the adding of the corn and cream. Refrigerate the chowder in a tightly lidded container. When you are ready to finish the chowder, bring it to a simmer in a large pot. Add the corn and cream and heat through until it is just bubbling.
Big Night In
More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Italian-Style
by Domenica Marchetti
2008 Chronicle Books
Insalata di Riso
We had to make this recipe when we read that it was one of Domenica’s favorites in the book. Be prepared, it is time consuming with lots of chopping but worth it.
Of the many recipes in this book, this appetizing salad may be my favorite. It is based on a dish that my Zia Gilda, my mother’s eldest sister, used to make every summer for my sister and me. If we were lucky, she might have a bowl of it waiting for us when we arrived from the airport to the apartment in Rome that she shared with my mother’s other two sisters, Adriana and Elsa. Gilda was a person who loved fine things, like Bruno Magli shoes and Luisa Spagnoli dresses. But she was also modest, and the styles she chose were simple. It was the same with her cooking: the food she prepared was always simple, unadorned home fare. But she went to the open-air market in the piazza near her house every day to find the freshest ingredients, and whatever she made was always delicious. Gilda passed away some years ago, never having written down her recipes, but with my sister’s help I have recreated her rice salad here to the best of my memory. I think she would have approved. I like to serve this as a refreshing alternative to potato salad at a backyard cookout, or as the main course at a casual summer luncheon.
Serves 5 to 6 as a main course and 10 to 12 as a side dish
1 1/2 cups Arborio, Carnaroli, or other short-grain risotto rice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces best-quality canned or jarred tuna in olive oil, drained
3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered lengthwise or sliced crosswise
2 Rizzoli brand alici in salsa piccante (page 16) or best-quality Italian anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained and chopped
1 cup diced jarred giardiniera (page 18)
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup pickled cocktail (pearl) onions, drained, and halved if they are any larger than a marble
1/3 cup diced jarred roasted red bell peppers or a combination of roasted red and yellow bell peppers if you can find them at your supermarket or gourmet food store
1/4 cup green olives, such as Picholine
1/4 cup purple olives, such as Gaeta or kalamata
2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon capers, preferably in salt, rinsed, drained, and coarsely chopped
Juice of 1 large lemon
1/4 cup mayonnaise (not mayonnaise-based salad dressing or sandwich spread)
Kosher or sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour in the rice. When the water returns to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook the rice at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes, or until it is al dente (tender but still a little firm and not at all mushy). Drain the rice in a colander in the sink and rinse it under cold water to stop the cooking process and to cool it. Drain thoroughly and transfer the rice to a large bowl. Toss the rice with the olive oil. Add the remaining ingredients except for the lemon juice, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper, and gently fold everything together. Stir in the lemon juice and mayonnaise and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the rice salad into a decorative serving bowl, cover, and let it sit at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle. Just before serving, toss the salad again and bring it to the table with a large serving spoon to allow your guests to serve themselves.
Do Ahead: My sister and I agree that this salad is at its absolute best when made up to 1 hour in advance so that the rice has time to absorb the flavors but is still just the slightest bit warm. However, the ingredients can be chopped and prepared ahead of time and set aside or refrigerated until you are ready to use them. Bring them to room temperature before mixing them into the rice.
Big Night In
More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Italian-Style
by Domenica Marchetti
2008 Chronicle Books
Home Cooking With Charlie Trotter
Our next My Kitchen My Table cookbook club will meet on January 11th. We will consume the pages and more than 130 recipes that make Charlie Trotter’s show-stopping fare accessible to home cooks.
Here’s the summery to whet the appetite.
Charlie Trotter’s most approachable cookbook, HOME COOKING WITH CHARLIE TROTTERis designed for casual home cooks who appreciate top-quality cuisine. Trotter begins by discussing classic methods of preparing food, from braising to grilling to sautéing. He then presents a variety of uptown traditional–as well as an assortment of exotic–starters, entrées, and desserts that have been streamlined with an eye for readily available ingredients and straight-forward techniques, while still bearing the master chef’s signature style.
mkmtCOOK | Comment (0)2008 Cookbook Round Up
Tis the season that the “Best of” and “Favorite” cookbook lists materialize.
Examining these lists presents an opportunity to find the perfect gift for that foodie on your list, be inspired by must have titles to compliment your personal collection, and capture a comprehensive overview of all the amazing cookbooks that have been published in the past 12 months.
I hope you discover some gems! Happy Cooking!
Epicurious The Best Cookbooks of 2008
Food and Wine The Year’s 25 Best Cookbooks
New York Magazine Cookbooks for the Foodie on Your List
Wall Street Journal A Bumper Crop of Cookbooks
San Francisco Chronicle Food Staffers Pick Their Go-To Books
mkmtCOOK | Comment (0)Mac Gourmet and Etoufette; replacing the recipe box.
My good friend Leon in New Orleans is a fourth generation Y’at of the crescent city who loves to cook. A few winters ago, over fabulous gin martinis, I brought up the discussion of the importance of familial recipes that get handed down through the generations. He got very excited and hoisted his portly frame across the kitchen to grab a black plastic index card box.
With all the reverence of a priest handling a chalice, he produced card after card of recipes. The cards were worn and splattered with sauces, a perfect testament to an active kitchen. There was, however, a few cards that were a little worse for wear and in need of rewrite to avoid total obliteration. He admitted that he needed to get around to the task, but as with all things like this, it just never gets done. I suggested that he should put them in a recipe database that he could keep on his computer. To use his words; “I thought I’d never see the day that I would need a user manual to keep track of the ingredients of my Etoufette.”
He had a point. The cross roads between computer and kitchen have always been narrow almost to the point of non-existence. That is until this year when Mariner Software released Mac Gourmet Deluxe, Recipe and Wine management software.
Going into this review, I was already jaded. There is a romance that is inherent to a recipe box like Leon’s, how could that ever be replaced by software? I think the designers of Mac Gourmet had the same notion. The software is not competing a with the recipe box as much as it is offering a viable alternative.
Most important in luring chefs away from the their boxes and notebooks is that the conversion to the computer needs to be easy. Mac Gourmet is just that. This convinced me in the first few minutes that it would be worth the time to enter all my recipe’s into the application. Having done that it wasn’t long until I discovered some of the other fabulous features of Mac Gourmet. Like the ability to email a recipe right from the software. This has been brilliant as requests come in for seasonal holiday recipes.
Another feature that I was surprisingly attracted to is the meal planner. Simply drag various recipes onto specific days of the week and press a button to create your shopping list. Mac Gourmet Deluxe will print out all the necessary ingredients for more organized and money efficient trips to the store and farmers market. But above all my favorite feature has to be the Chef’s View, a greatly enlarged screen view of your recipe, that allows you to keep your laptop on your kitchen table, out of harms way, but still close enough glance at with dirty hands. If you need a picture to remind you what your concoction is supposed to look like, Mac Gourmet Deluxe has room for images, either shot by you or found on the web.
Mac Gourmet Deluxe also lets you keep track of your favorite wines. If you are like me, always intending to write down those fabulous wine discoveries while galavanting around town, you now have a central place to store the details.
Mac Gourmet Deluxe has a more sophisticated features that you can delve into. Some may or may not be useful to you. But the folks at Mariner Software have cleverly integrated them out of the way of the core functionality of software leaving you the freedom to go shopping and get cooking.
The Mac Gourmet Deluxe interface if clean and intuitive, much like Apple’s Mail software program, making it easy to find or browse your recipes. Mariner software, the company that created Mac Gourmet Deluxe, is a veteran software company for whom databases are old hat. You can trust that your recipes will be safe to hand down to future generations. I’m giving Mac Gourmet Deluxe four and half out five shakes of the Cayenne for stability, ease of use, and keeping a focus on the core purpose of the product.
mkmtLIVE | Comment (1)Farmers Market Minestrone
This is one of those wonderful recipes that changes each time I make it, depending on what’s in the stalls at the farmers market and what I have on hand in my pantry. Think of this version as a guideline and feel free to improvise. Adding the small meatballs featured in the Pasta Timballo (page 99) recipe was my daughter, Adriana’s, inspired idea. They turn the soup into a one-dish meal, perfect for a casual gathering of family or friends.
Makes 8 to 10 first-course servings or 6 main-course servings
For the Homemade Vegetable Broth:
2 large ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into large chunks, or 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
3 carrots, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
3 ribs celery, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large onion, cut into chunks
3 scallions, bulbs and stems cut crosswise into large pieces
Stalks and fronds of 1 fennel bulb, cut into large pieces (reserve the bulb for the soup)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 cups (2 quarts) cold water
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
For the soup:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for drizzling
2 medium carrots, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 fennel bulb, cut into dice
3 purple or green scallions or spring onions, bulbs and tender stems cut crosswise into thin slices
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 cup)
1 yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (briefly thawed if frozen)
1 batch meatballs from the Pasta Timballo (page 99)
2 cups small shell-shaped pasta
5 ounces fresh spinach leaves
1 packed cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano
To make the broth:
Heat the oven to 450ºF.
Combine all of the ingredients for the broth in a large roasting pan and toss well to combine. Place the pan in the oven and roast the vegetables for 30 to 40 minutes, turning every 15 minutes or so, until they are soft and browned in places.
Transfer the vegetables and their juices to a large pot and pour in the water. Add the peppercorns and bring the broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover partially, and cook for 45 minutes, until the broth is richly flavored.
Remove the broth from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Using a fine-mesh sieve lined with damp cheesecloth, strain the broth into a clean pot. Discard the solids. Return the broth to the burner, cover, and keep warm over low heat.
To make the soup:
In a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, fennel, and scallions and sauté, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until the carrots are bright and shiny and the scallions are softened. Add the zucchini and yellow squash and season with 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook for 3 minutes, just until the squashes start to soften.
Add the chickpeas and corn kernels and cook for a minute or two, then slowly pour in the warm broth. Add the meatballs, if using. Bring the broth to a boil and stir in the shells. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the shells are al dente (cooking time will depend on the brand and type of pasta you use). Turn off the heat and add the spinach, stirring until it is wilted. Cover the pot and let the soup sit for just a minute or two. Stir in the basil and the cheeses.
Ladle the soup into individual shallow rimmed bowls and drizzle each serving with a little olive oil. Serve immediately.
Do Ahead: The broth may be made in advance and kept in a tightly lidded container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. The meatballs may be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated or up to 1 month ahead and frozen. If frozen, bring them to room temperature before using.
Big Night In
More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Italian-Style
by Domenica Marchetti
2008 Chronicle Books
Big Night In Cookbook Club Re-Cap
It has been a long time since we have worked with a cookbook that everyone has loved unequivocally. Despite the fact that most of the recipes we made were labor intensive, time consuming and sometimes involved making 2-3 recipes for a recipe, everyone said that they would continue to cook from the book and re-visit the recipes they had made again.
With music from the movie Big Night streaming in the background, we gathered at the table and spent 3 hours sharing stories about what we made and sampling each dish one by one. In the end, it was impossible to choose our top 3-5 like we usually do, everything was so good.
This book is thoughtfully written and well laid out. We appreciated the front matter with Tips for Planning a Big Night In, Equipment, and Ingredient Information. Domenica makes meal planning a cinch with the Menu Suggestions in the back which were well thought out. Full of mouth-watering photography and appealing recipes, it was hard to choose which to make. We ended up making 18 dishes (19 if you count 2 Minestrone soups) – now that’s what I call a Big Night In – Italian family style!
The Cooks Notes, Do Ahead advice, and Goes With sections that were included in most recipes were constructive and wise. They gave us a good feeling for Domenica, at times we felt like she was in the kitchen with us or had become a friend whom we could phone if we needed cooking advice.
Overall, we liked the layout and design elements of the book. A couple people found the ingredient font size too small and hard to read especially with the darker colored ingredient boxes.
Our meal was served in three courses.
Soup and Salad
Minestrone Soup – made by 2 people
Smoky Ham and Corn Chowder
Winter Endive and Orange Salad
Farro Salad
Calabrian Fennel Salad
Main Courses and Sides
Eggplant Parmagina
Three-Cheese Stuffed Red and Yellow Peppers
Fresh Tuna Stew with Olives and Herbs
Roast Pork Loin with Carrots, Fennel and Onions
Roasted Squash Wedges
September Gratin
Tomato and Cheese Tart
Frank’s Garlic Bread
Dessert
Blood Orange Granita
Baked Farro Pudding
Toasted Coconut Crostata
Drunken Strawberries
Harvest Crostata
Quotes heard through out the night:“There were so many great recipes for dinner parties”
“This was a pain in the ass to make but it is so good I’ll make it again”
“The recipes were straightforward and ingredients easy to find.”
“I enjoyed reading the head notes”
“The pictures were great and so many of the recipes looked so good it was hard to choose what to make”
“Loved the Do Ahead notes”
“Many of the head notes were great to read because the author would tell the reader how the recipe was personal.”
Stay tuned for some of the recipes. They will be featured on MKMT throughout December.
Big Night In More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Italian-Style
by Domenica Marchetti
2008 Chronicle Books