caterina cacciatore

zipped home from the car show to concoct something for a pot luck party tonite

pot luck / we'll be lucky if there is any

make dough for two pizze

top one of them with homemade tomato/garlic jam / assorted cheeses / carmelized onion and zucchini / slices of big fat garlic stuffed green olives / the ubiquitous olive oil / drizzle drizzle

the other one has several cheeses on the bottom / barbecue chicken next / finely diced onion and zucchine and kalamata olives on top with some judicious dabs of tomato/garlic jam / more cheese sprinkled on top

i used a mexican cheese a jalapeno montery jack some mozzarella and some parmigiano

they are gorgeous

someone asked for this recipe so here it is :

from My French Kitchen by Joanne Harris

pastry :

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
5 TB chilled unsalted butter cut into small pieces (i usually put the butter in the freezer for a little while)
3 TB chilled vegetable shortening
1 large egg, beaten

put the flour in a large bowl (or use your food processor)
add the butter and shortening and rub together with your finger tips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs
cut the beaten egg in with a knife and combine until the dough forms a ball
knead briefly until smooth / wrap and regrigerate for 30 minutes

heat the oven to 375

for the filling :

3 TB creme fraiche or heavy cream whipped until slightly thickened
3 TB dijon mustar
10 to 12 large tomatoes, cored, peeled and sliced
sea salt and black pepper
4 fresh thyme sprigs
olive oil for drizzling

lie a 12 inch tart pan with a removable bottom with the dough
mix the cream and mustard and spred over the pasty shell
arrange the tomato slices / season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the thyme leaves over the top

bake for 40 minutes

drizzle with olive oil / serve warm or cold


i rather like this cookbook / she has a nice range / nothing too complicated

i like all cookbooks right now for browsing whilst waiting tea water to boil but i find i google up recipes more often than not

and i still love my Elizabeth David books more than anything !

Skaterina adopts her own guidlines for nutrition and weight loss plans

once time she Gave Up Butter

someone said well it's not the butter it's what you put it on (ie Everything)

duh

to give up Butter means giving up what you put it on

simple

sometimes we eat by colour : red white green Italian style / red white blue American style

all yellows and greens

the latest is Potassium Rich Foods

a baked potato with the skin on provides as much as 750 mg of potassium

of course it is drenched in butter

oh well

this is from April 2005 issue of Cooking Light which i perused as i waited my tea water to boil and was happy to discover i had all the spices required on hand as well as the shrimp, the rice, the chicken broth, the ginger and garlic, and just enough onion

combine in a small bowl :

2 tsps minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne
14 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves (had to grind whole cloves)
1 TB red wine vinegar

stir this all together to make a paste

set aside

heat 1 TB canola oil and saute 1 1/2 cups chopped onion for two minutes

add 2 TB minced peeled fresh ginger and 3 minced garlic cloves / saute for 20 seconds

add the spice paste and cook 30 seconds stirring constantly

stir in broth and 2 TB chopped golden raisins / oops i didnt have any and used currants instead

simmer, uncovered, for ten minutes

add one pound cleaned, deveined medium shrimp and cook for 4 minutes or until done / stirring ocasionally

yield 4 servings

serve over rice

this is really really spicey and delicious

the aromatics are enticing and seductive

i will use this spice combo for other things / stayed tuned in

Buffalo is a meat so lean that you can "sauce" it with a slice of butter

the latest Saveur magazine is devoted to cheese and they suggest making a Blue Cheese Butter to put on ground sirloin steak patties

so i did

4 TB softened butter
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp brandy (i used rum / dint have brandy)
4 TB gorgonzola (dint have blue but gorgonzola does the job)

stir the butter mustard and rum together until smooth then stir in the gorgonzola / season with salt and pepper but it didnt seem to need any

shape the butter into a log on a piece of waxed paper and refrigerate

shape the ground buffalo or sirloin in to oval patties / press some chopped fresh parsley into them / season with salt and pepper / do this to the other side as well / scored the meat a little in order to press the parsley into the meat

fry 'em up in a little olive oil / serve on a bed of freshly picked lettuce from the garden and place a slice of the butter on top

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the buffalo meat i get here is from Colorado / ranch raised and grass finished / it is free of preservatives / is high in protein / zero saturated fat / and federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in buffalo

he loves creamed spinach / his mom always made it for special ocasions / yesterday he brought a bag of fresh baby spinach grown by one of his best pals

he likes it over hardboiled egg slices / yes / really / so last night i boiled up some local eggs

to make the cream sauce : melt several TB of unsalted butter / in a blender put a cup of milk and several TB flour / whirr it up / take the melted butter off the heat while you slowly pour the milk/flour into the butter / stir until thickened / i added a beaten egg to this / slowly slowly as the egg hits the warm cream so the egg wont curdle

when it has thickened and bubbles a very little clap a lid on it and turn the heat down and cook for two minutes to take the raw taste out of the flour and cook the raw egg

season with salt and pepper and nutmeg

meanwhile steam the spinach / cool it / press all the moisture out of it / wrap it in a linen towel if necessary / then add to the cream sauce / stir and heat through

if you want to make it a cheese sauce add the cheese before the spinach / cook and stir constantly until the cheese melts unless you like it lumpy / any cheese is good

i eat the creamed spinach plain but for the s-o-l i butter a small baking pan / line it with slices of hard boiled eggs / pour the creamed spinach on top and heat in a 325 oven until heated through / maybe sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top if it is not cheesy enough allready

we also had chicken piccata

slice a good sized chicken breast horizontally in the thinnest slices you can manage / never mind / place the slices on a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper/ cover with same / and pound with one of those little meat pounding mallets

heat some oo and dredge the cutlets in seasoned flour / shake / dont want too much flour / have some lemon juice ready and some chopped garlic / sage / or parsley / maybe a few capers

fry the cutlets quickly on each side

remove from pan and thrown in the garlic and the sage / when that has cooked up some add the lemon juice and the parsley

pour this over the chicken cutlets

there is some leftover cooked white rice

finely dice some sweet onion and some tender celeri stalks

my latest food craze is "finely dice" instead of Chunks

goldenize them in the butter/oo combo

have ready some minced garlic / add that to the onion.celery

while the vegetables are still crisp put the rice on top to heat through

season with tamari or pad thai sauce or whatever / the 4 C's / cilantro / mung bean sprouts / whatever / maybe some nuts

****dont forget the EGG / beat an egg with some water and pour over the hot rice mix / makes those little egg bits that are in chinese fried rice diners

meanwhile have some shrimp ready / in this case i let the shrimp wallow in salt sugar and black pepper before searing them rapidly to pinkness in quite hot oil

cool them enough to cut into pieces or use whole / throw them in the rice

there you are

we had it on fresh picked lettuce from the garden of which there is a lot

i saw this in an arts rag from colorado

2 and 1/4 cup water
4 cups flour
4 T vegetable shortening
4 t baking powder
4 t salt

it is recommended that the ingredients be hand mixed, hand rolled, and cooked on a very hot cast iron griddle.

it is up to you and your hands to determine the end result.

art director's note : this recipe was shared with me by my dear friend, Dolores. Her entire family uses this recipe
and all of our tortillas come out different.

ES LA MANO ! IT'S IN THE HANDS !

skaterina wishes to lose five pounds and i am charged with creating meals and/or sustenance that meet certain requirements on a point system

the very very vegie bisque is 0 ZERO points

plus has Lots of Fiber

this particular bisque was made thusly "

several carrots cut into chunks
several stalks of celery chunked
some sweet onion cut up
finocchio / known as sweet anise or fennel / in thick slices

for flavor enhancement braise some of the vegetables in olive oil on top of the stove and then stick undr the broiler for browning

chop the other vegetables in a food processor / saute them in butter/oo until softened / add a quart of chicken broth and simmer for 20 minutes

add the braised and broiled vegetables to the pot

seasonings ? yes

couple big spoonfulls of tomato/garlic jam
salt . pepper . three of the four C's ; some cayenne . coriander . cinnamon

cool enough to put through blender / keep some chunky if you want

well this was so Very Very Vegie that i threw in a can of lite coconut milk

added some points but WTF

it's not cream !

just now cutting up some liver for The Last Cat i remember to tell that the easiest way to cut up liver is with a scissors instead of a knife / you can get those little postage stamp sized pieces mentioned in the post below

i received this nice note from abroad / smile / from A Broad ? heh

"I had a similar meal at the restaurant over the design museum in
London, except the caramelized onions were a side dish and the
liver, cut in tiny thin pieces (think 1" x 2 + 1/4") cooked in
butter/olive oil to just done and fresh sage leaves added to the
pan at the last minute before it was dumped on the serving dish.
I've been making versions of this ever since...

And I noted that I had all the ingredients of the zucchini bread
a bit before Easter, and so made it. Wonderful stuff!"

is there a more classic meal than liver and onions or liver and bacon ? yeah / meatloaf with mash taters and gravy / um yum

i am not much for carmelizing the onions to go with the liver / i like my onions on the crisp crunchy side hence my preference for sweet onions / i especially dislike red onions that get mushy when cooked

now carmelized onions are de riguer for making French onion soup / no doubt about it

Italians eat more veal than beef so the liver is always sumptuously tender / like "calves' liver" in this country / i never see liver designated such here but the liver i get from The Old Geezer Meat Market which allegedly sells only "goodstuff" free of all the stuff we want meat to be free of is very tender and tasty

the secret for cooking liver, however, is never never overcook it or use anything but a very low heat

most folks wd gag at "rare" liver / heh / so to have it just done right turn it off the heat and let sit for a bit / the heat will finish the cooking so it isnt slippery in the middle

speakina slippery liver / i wash the liver pieces and dry on paper towels or linen towels before sauteeing in butter/olive oil combination

um yum

now this chocolate cake is actually the Zucchini Cake
turned into a moist and succulent chocolate dream cake

i will repeat the recipe here so you dont have to go looking for it / smile

preheat oven 350'
butter and flour a tube pan
mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl :
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar (you can use brown sugar or a combination of brown and white / i use organic sugar)

whisk together the wet ingredients :
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil (like sunflower seed)
2 tsps peeled grated ginger root
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tsps orange zest

to make this a chocolate cake melt 4 oz of sweetened chocolate with the orange juice and then add to the eggs and oil

add the wet ingredients to the dry / mix until just combined

fold in 1 and 1/2 cups grated or shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped hazlenuts or pecans
as many chocolate chips as you desire

the batter for this cake seems a bit stiff when first mixed but the baking of the zucchini releases its moisture / also note there is no butter in this cake / the buttered cake pan gives a nice buttery taste

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just found this ice cream recipe in a SurLaTable catalog

it is the simplist recipe for an egg custard ice cream i have yet to see :


French Vanilla Ice Cream

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 cups cream
2 cups whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat eggs and milk together in a large saucepan / add sugar
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened (approx 10 minutes)
Mixture should coat the back of a spoon
Cool, then add the cream and vanilla

Refrigerate over night or freeze according to ice cream maker's directions

makes 1 quart

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now i have a cuisinart ice cream maker / the kind that you keep the bowl in the freezer so the goo within the walls of the bowl freeze / after assembling the ice cream maker you pour the well chilled cream into it and as it spins around it freezes the ice cream / this only takes about 20 minutes

most of the ice cream is soft and can be eaten immediately unless you want it firmer in which case you take it out of the maker bowl and put it in another bowl and into the freezer / much of the ice cream in the maker is frozen into the sides and because of this i stopped using it so much for ice cream and just put the ice cream in a covered bowl in the freezer / stirring from time to time as it sets up

the ice cream maker is great for making sorbets !

my current ice cream crave is B&J Cherry Garcia

sooooo / since Skaterina is counting points to lose five pounds i am going to make this vanilla ice cream recipe and add chunks of dark chocolate and the rest of the frozen cherries from last summer

cant wait !!