caterina cacciatore

we are a little off our feed this week / lost our appetites / we did have some nice fresh skinny asparagus and prosciutto for lunch

i understand lately that prosciutto is now pronounced Pro Shoo without the final sylable / or maybe Pro Shoot

this is au courant

perfectly acceptable to leave off final vowel sounds when speaking italian

i needn't have been so pizzy when that seattle babe mispronounced MasCarPoN AY

see what i always liked about italian is how every word ends in a vowel even plurals

plurals dont end in eSSes like i was used to

an actor i knew, giancarlo giannini (love the name) told me it was a challenge to perform Shakespeare

Skaterina is hankering for Lean Cuisine / well, i never

from the Apples Stuffed with Spiced Lamb recipe

this is a Persian Dish from Is There a Nutmeg in the House ?

8 oz fresh tomatoes
8 oz tin of canned italian tomatoes
some garlic
goodly amount of good olive oil
tumbler of red wine
salt and sugar

she rather raves about this tomato sauce claiming it is unlike any other tomato sauce she ever had so i was curious to make it as it seems to be the ordinary ingredients most of us would use to make a tomato sauce

actually i use my own canned tomatoes for sauce but curiosity drove me on / anyway i was making the Apples Stuffed with Spiced Lamb according to her directions and the tomato sauce was essential

plunge the fresh tomatoes into boiling water and then slip their skins off
chop them coarsely and into a goodly measure of olive oil cook them until most of the moisture has evaporated

add a clove or two of minced garlic and the can of Italian tomatoes including the liquid

(this time i used some organic "fire roasted" tomatoes / i was a little sorry for the smokey flavor but it went away with the wine)

cook down the tomatoes until like a thick soup

add the wine and seasonings, some salt and sugar to taste

continue to reduce the sauce / it comes out a rich dark red colour and / darn it all / it quite yummy

~~~~~~

this recipe like many others in her books seem skimpy on quantities of ingredients / they are from another time and culture / definitely not the "All You Can Eat For A Dollar" crowd

the sauce is rich and tasty / it is not the kind of sauce that you smother or douse something in / more like a luxurious condiment that you cd eat by the spoonful if you cd get away with it / smile

william saroyan described his mother's meatballs, studded with pomegranate berries

(an Armenian dish)

so years ago while living with a considerable number of pomegranate trees i made up a recipe of meatballs with pomegranate jewels

a lingering memory

whilst enjoying the last of the season's pomegranate crop i got some ground lamb, spiced it up with cinnamon, cumin, coriander, and cayenne ala Elizabeth David's apples stuffed with spiced lamb and threw in a couple of handfuls of pomegranate berries

fried the meat balls up in some butter/olive oil

pop

as the heat increased the berries on the outside of the meat balls began to explode

they popped right out of the pan

like popcorn

wow

hellzapopping kinda recipe

for the original recipe scroll down

i made parmesan muffins again and used a combination of finely ground corn meal and spelt flour because one of the dinner guests is allergic to wheat

the corn meal made them a little on the gritty side but this was considered Good

once more i made 24 tiny little muffins and six muffin "tops" with the left over batter

a muffin top pan has shallow cups and is designed to only make the top of a muffin which apparently is favored over muffin bottoms

in the case of the parmesan muffins i think a normal sized muffin would be less appealing

the muffin tops however are where it is at

leftover ones can be popped in the toaster

and (in one case) smothered with sauteed shitake mushrooms that have been inundated with garlic

extremely yum for an evening snack

1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup of milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 TB lemon zest
3/4 tsp salt
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup lemon juice

bring cream, milk, sugar, salt and zest to just under a boil
in a heavy 2 quart sauce pan, stirring ocasionally

beat the yolks lightly in a large bowl

add the warm cream mixture to the egg yolk slowly so as not to curdle the eggs

then return eggs and cream to the sauce pan

at moderate high heat stirring constantly witha wooden spoon until the custard
coats the back of the spoon / takes about ten minutes

pour through a sieve and then add the lemon juice

mix well / set to cool / then chill in refrigerator and then into the freezer

or freeze in an ice cream maker

hmm i see the frozen quart of thanksgiving turkey broth has cracked its jar

get it out / let it thaw in a pot / remove the broken glass / think of what kind of soup to make

slice some leeks and chop some onion and mince some garlic

put them in olive oil/butter combo in soup pot / saute until transparent or carmelized whichever you prefer

add the turkey broth

meanwhile peel some yukon gold potatoes and cut them into chunks and bring to boil covered with water until fork tender / drain the water / save some of it / and put the potatoes in the brothandonions

simmer unti blended / let cool enough to puree in a blender / season with salt and pepper and gratings of fresh nutmeg

adjust thickness of soup

too thick ? too thin ?

or just right ?

i like organic basmati rice
i rinse it and soak it a while before adding it to boiling water to which has been added a hefty chunk of butter
1 cup rice to 1 and 3/4 cup water is a proportion that i like
add the rice to boiling water / put the lid on the pot immediately and turn heat down to lllooooooowwwww / set timer for 15 minutes

this usually comes out pretty good for me

i eat a little dish of it plain with butter and salt and pepper

when i make chicken soup i cook the rice separately and then add it to the soup later / keeps it from getting too mushy

leftover rice becomes Rice Thing :

saute in oliveoil/butter some chopped onion
crisp some bacon or throw some ham in with the onion
other things to add : diced zucchini / green and or black olives / chopped tomato / some kind of grated cheese

put the leftover rice on top and stir up or mix through so that everything is warmed through and the cheese is melty

sometimes i make enough of this to eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner

another Rice Thing is what i call Hunza Rice / you really should use brown rice for this

saute in oliveoil/butter (combo for max flavor) chopped onion / plenty of whatever kind of onion preferred (i like vidalias or mayan sweets / there are a lot of good sweet onions seasonally / they dont make you cry / they soooooo sweet

then add the rice that is already cooked / handsful of raisens and/or currants / other dried fruits of your choice / and some chopped nuts

nourishing and gives lots of chewing exercise

rainy windy night / get out the pot of chicken soup

get out the leftover cappellini (angel hair pasta)

snip it in one or two inch pieces with a scissors

pop it in the simmering broth

get out a slice of neo-tuscan boule

toast it / butter it

dunk in hot chickennoodlebroth

sleep tight

wintry wind

we will have a cup of hot tomato soup fresh out of the can with a can of milk / my favorite / with crumbled cheese crackers garnee

a hearty salad of mixed greens / salad spinach / baby arugula / diced celery / grated carrots beets and finocchio / slivers of ham and a handful of cheese cubes

spanish olive oil and homemade fruit wine vinegar / prolly Moab Mulberry

you forgot the olives

yes, the fat green olives that have been rolled in minced garlic and some of the kalamatas with their pits squeezed out

on the side : parmesan muffins

can i ask for anything more ?

prolly not

i made a change to the Parmesan Muffins (scroll down)

quadruple the garlic and toast it in some of the olive oil
before adding to the eggs and milk / oh i also used kefir
instead of milk

and instead of normal muffin pans i made 24 of those little ones

and six "muffin tops"

1 and 1/2 cups finely chopped nuts (i used pecans)
3 TB butter melted
2 TB sugar

mix and press into bottom and sides of springform pan

then bake 10 minutes in a 325' oven

~~~~~

i used this crust for the cheesecake made with the kefir cheese and some of the mascarpone

simple cheesecake :

in this case i had 12 oz kefir cheese including a little of the kefir mascarpone

soften and then beat together with 3 large eggs

pinch of salt

2/3 cup sugar

squirt of vanilla

shot of fresh lemon juice

freshly microplaned lemon zest

i used a smallish cheese cake pan / 7" in diameter

nice size for the quantity of nut crust to cover the bottom and go most of the way up the sides

bake in 325' oven maybe 30-45 minutes

DO NOT OVERBAKE

it can still wiggle a little

use a tester in the middle / okay if it is a little moist / overbaking means it cracks across the top and the consistency becomes grainy rather than creamy

i thawed out some of my special stash of sour and sweet cherries and blueberries collected last summer as a little accompaniment

finocchio is the italian name for fennel or sweet anise

it looks like a fat white bulb with long feathery fronds at the top of the stalks

cut off the stalks and fronds and add to juice or give to livestock (i had an angora rabbit, Orchid, who loved finocchio fronds) or put in compost / stock pot / what have you

cut the hard end off and then you can slice it thinly to have raw in salads or with other crudites

or saute/braise thin slices in olive oil / season with salt and pepper and dress with parmesan cheese

add to some rice and it makes a nice luncheon dish

yesterday i cut one down vertically into quarters and eighths

place in roasting pan / crank the oven up to 400' and put the rack towards the top / drizzle with olive oil / sprinkle with salt and pepper

roast them !

until they are gently bronzed and carmelized and tender

dowse them with freshly grated parmesan cheese

these are more divine than you can possibly imagine

did i mention they have a faint or not so faint taste of licorice (anise) ?

they do

will we ever tire of making somethings with parmesan cheese ?

Makes 12 Muffins

2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup ex virgin olive oil
2 oz (1 cup) freshly grated parmesan
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 TB sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
(maybe i will use sage or lavendar instead)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tso black pepper

preheat oven 350' with rack in the middle
whisk together eggs milk and oil in a bowl
whisk together 3/4 cup of the parmesan an
and all of remaining ingredients in a large bowl
then add wet ingredients to dry / whisk well

divide among 12 greased (1/2 cup)
sprinkle with remaining cheese
bake until a tester comes out clean
about 20 minutes

cool in pan on rack 5 - 10 minutes

i found the ghee making pan in the cooler outside where in winter it is possible to stash foodstuff

inside the pan were the remains of a roast chicken surrounded by the jelly and good stuff that accumulates when you roast a chicken with herbs and garlic and lemons and small pieces of vegetables

by golly, the chicken is still "good"

popped it into a stock pot with some onion and celery and all the chicken jelly at the bottom of the pan

we come up with two quarts of rich and tasty chicken broth

now for the ghee

ghee is better for you than butter and some other time i will tell you why

when the ghee pan was missing i decided to make ghee in the new heart shaped Le Crueset pot that Skaterina got for her birthday / the point of the heart made a good pouring spout and it was big enough for one pound of butter / usually two or more pounds are clarified in the big ghee pan

use organic unsalted butter / one pound makes one pint of ghee

the new stove has two burners called Power Burners / they heat up quick and hot

before i knew it i had a pot of totally black butter !

yeah, burned butter

i strained it anyway / strain through two layers of fine mesh cheesecloth or butter muslin into a sterile jar

oh foo i thought

sigh

peel four more sticks of butter and start over after cleaning up the cute heart shaped pot

later i notice that the burned butter had solidified and is now a lovely coffee with cream colour / it tastes and smells like caramel or toffee

tonite i will have a spoonful of it in my hot milk / yum

we eat Hoppin' John on New Year's Day to bring us luck all the year

Skaterina first had Hoppin' John when she was a delicate bride married to a southern gentleman

it's a southern thing, you see

basically black eyed peas and rice together fixed any way you can think of to make it .. uh .. delicious

well, i think maybe my true feelings about Hoppin' John have just emerged

saute some chopped onion until golden or carmelized whichever you prefer

throw in a few garlic cloves

you have already soaked the black eyed peas, have you not ?

put the soaked peas into the onion and cover with chicken broth

cook until peas are done / have some rice ready made and left over from last night

cook up a lot of bacon or ham reserving some of the grease

mix some rice into the peas / throw on the bacon/ham/grease

you can also add chopped tomato

this is pretty much how i made it today / it came out soupier than usual so we had it in bowls as our soup course