Sicilian Style

Is it just too boring that we eat spaghetti so often? Do we eat more pasta than anyone else in the world? Or is spaghetti just the most versatile, comforting, delicious food ever invented?

His Highness loves fennel, anise, tarragon and all things licoricy. I can't even stand the smell. Vows and rings can't compare, it is my supreme show of love to bring James bags of Dutch black licorice (salted, sweet, gummy -- all kinds) or make a pasta dish like this one.

While the water came to a boil, I sauteed 8 anchovy filets in about 1/2 cup of olive oil, mashing the fish to a paste as they heated. Then I tossed in 1 thinly sliced bulb of fennel, one thinly sliced onion, and a pinch of crushed red pepper and cooked over medium heat until just soft (about 5 minutes). Next went in two chopped tomatoes, 1/4 cup of pine nuts, and 1/4 cup of golden raisins. The sauce simmered over low heat for about 5 minutes.

Before I drained the pasta I took one cup of the cooking water and added in 1/4 tsp of saffron threads, then added the saffron liquid and the pasta to the sauce and allowed to cook (tossing with tongs) over low heat until the spaghetti was well coated with the fennel mixture. To serve, instead of the usual cheese, I topped the pasta Southern Italian style with toasted bread crumbs for a bit of welcome crunch.

I love you Honey.

Roast Chicken with Stewed Winter Vegetables and Balsamic Fig Preserves

I'm a sucker for Thomas Keller. I buy his cookbooks (okay . . . James bought them for me), I dream of eating in his restaurants, I cook his recipes at home.

Yesterday while browsing recipes for dinner I came across the great chef's (and his brother's) recipe for stewed winter vegetables. I just happened to have everything I needed right from the farmer's market.

First I peeled shallots (I did about 4), sprinkled them with S&P and wrapped them in tin foil with 1/2 TB of butter. Those I popped into the oven (350º) for 30 minutes.

Carrots and parsnips are peeled and cut into 2 inch lengths (I made sort of batons about 1/2" x 2"). Leeks are split in half, cleaned and cut into 1" lengths. Turnips, quartered. All of these cut vegetables go into a pot with a sprig of thyme, 2 TB of butter, and 2 1/2 cups chicken stock. I brought the vegetables up to a boil, covered and allowed to simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile I boiled some small potatoes until tender, and when the vegetable were just soft added in the drained potatoes and the roasted shallots and seasoned to taste.

On the side -- when a Thomas Keller recipe is on the table everything else is a side-dish -- a quick roast chicken. I simply stuffed the cavity with garlic cloves, lemons and herbs from our garden, trussed, basted with olive oil, sprinkled on S&P and popped it in the oven for an hour and 20 minutes (I basted with more olive oil about 20 minutes into roasting) at 350º -- good company for the roasting shallots.

Thomas Keller was not the only chef on our table last night. Yesterday at work I commented on the delicious balsamic fig preserves served on the grilled chicken breast, and the boys in the truck were kind enough to give me not only the recipe but a little to go container. A little extra autumn flavor complements of our friends at "Off The Shelf."

Bitter Greens and Fresh Ricotta

Spaghetti is my everyday fallback position. I can always find something in the house to turn into a credible sauce even if it's just olive oil, garlic, red pepper, and pasta cooking water. A little cheese -- even better.

Half a red onion, garlic, a few slices of prosciutto, and a couple spoonfuls of fresh ricotta turned out a pretty tasty quick dinner.

As the pasta cooked, I sautéed the chopped garlic and onion in olive oil and sprinkled in a bit of crushed red pepper. When the onion was soft I tossed in shreds of prosciutto until just crisped.

I added the drained al dente spaghetti to the sauté pan along with the chopped dandelions, S&P, 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water (kitchen gold!), and plenty of grated Romano cheese and gave it all a quick stir of medium high heat. I thought the greens might still be too bitter on their own so I topped the dish with two quenelles of fresh ricotta and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

I'm not sure any Italian ever made this spaghetti recipe, but it made a fine supper for my hungry Scot.

Early Thanksgiving

The other day while reading food magazines at the gym (I know it's perverse but I do it all the time) I saw an article for roasting a butterflied (it's really called spatchcocked for whatever reason I am not sure) turkey. Even though I have done this in the past (usually it's the second turkey on a big Thanksgiving) I suddenly could think of nothing else but roast turkey for dinner. I was probably pushed on a little by a pair of articles in last week's New York Times debating if turkey or the side were the stars of the Thanksgiving table --

"“If roast turkey is so good . . . I wonder why we don’t we make it at other times?” You’d think people would serve it at dinner parties," Julia Moskin snidely wrote as she lovingly described her host of admittedly tasty-sounding, “show-off” side dishes.

There on the elliptical machine I decided to make my vote for the bird.

As the instructions detailed, and I've managed with chickens and turkeys before, I cut out the backbone (a good strong pair of poultry scissors is handy for that) and opened the bird up. Then I cracked the breastbone so the turkey (12 lb) would lay down flat, tucked the wings under, and my weekday bird was ready to roast. As Martha suggested I went simple and rubbed the bird with olive oil, salt, and pepper and popped it into a 450º oven for an hour and 10 minutes (rotating once while cooking), and out came a glistening brown, crispy- skinned, decidedly not Norman Rockwell early Thanksgiving hero.

But then, as the turkey cooked, I thought maybe Moskin didn’t have it all wrong. While the bird roasted I cut some peeled sweet potatoes into cubes, popped them in a pot of cool water and boiled gently until tender. I mashed those with some cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, butter, vanilla extract and cream. The flavored mashed sweet potatoes went into a small casserole dish and I topped the puree with a mixture of chopped pecans, brown sugar, and butter. I let the

potatoes cook through in the oven at 375º for about half an hour (I would have let it go maybe 15 minutes more but we were hungry and the bird was ready to serve).

While the turkey rested I made a quick gravy with pan drippings, flour and white wine instead of the stock or water. I let the gravy, which, dare I say it, James called “exceptional” cook until nicely thick while I put green beans over a pot of boiling water to steam.

Super easy mid-week turkey. Hmm, why don’t people roast turkey more often?

PS: One trick Martha didn’t give her readers was a great way for a quick cooking bird and tasty stuffing. Years ago Cooks Illustrated published a recipe for a butterflied turkey roasted over a pan of stuffing. Prepare the bird as described above, put your favorite stuffing recipe into an oiled roasting pan big enough to support the turkey (CI suggested 12” x 16”) – lay a cooking rack or slotted broiler pan top (I’ve used a wire cooling rack that I use for baked goods) across the pan and place the turkey (skin side up) on the wire rack so he is supported above the stuffing. Brush the turkey with melted butter, S&P, and whatever seasonings you fancy. As your bird roasts the drippings fall down and flavor the stuffing. While the bird rests you pop the stuffing back in to the oven for the crispy edges fans of baked-outside-the-bird stuffing love. The best of both worlds in about an hour and a half.

Risotto Experiment

A couple of you might remember, though I'm not sure why you would, that a few weeks ago I tried a risotto experiment. When I accidentally made risotto for 8 instead of for 4 (that's me, James and lunch the next day) I took half of the half-cooked recipe out of the pan, cooled it on a baking tray, and tossed it in the freezer.

After I gave the rice time to thaw I popped it in a frying pan with about 1/2 a cup of hot broth and I just picked up where I left off. Stirring and adding more broth until the rice was cooked. In a separate pan I sautéed loads of garlic, red onions in olive oil, and added in chopped kale just until wilted. And, when the rice was tender stirred the vegetable mix along with some shredded Romano cheese and a little knob of butter -- risotto experiment one, finished.

Next time I think I will store the rice when it is a little less cooked (in truth it was more than half way) but this isn't a bad plan for a busy night -- 10 minute risotto.

Autumn Scallops

James loves scallops. I love chestnuts. When fall comes around I am constantly looking for an excuse to stir in a few chestnuts. Yes, I usually use vacuum packed chestnuts (except for Christmas eve when I generally try to roast a pan for us to nibble), and yes I could get those any time of year . . . but somehow autumn (into winter) is the only time that seems right. A stab for seasonality in our round the year, ship anything, anytime world.

This simple sauce was just leeks and bacon cooked until soft in a bit of butter, a bit of cognac flamed, vacuum packed chestnuts and chicken broth simmered until soft and pureed in the blender. I added a bit of cream and a hefty dose of S&P. With hot oil in the pan -- before I put the scallops into sear -- I tossed in some fine rosemary leaves (I would have used sage but we didn't have any handy -- I have to remember to plant some) just until crisp and set them aside on a paper towel. I laid the scallops in the hot oil and basted with melted butter as they cooked through. To serve I poured a bit of the warm sauce on the plate, laid the scallops on top and garnished with the rosemary leaves.

James scraped up the leftover sauce with toast -- success!

Salame Pizza

I have a love hate relationship with Trader Joe's. I love how cheap it is. I hate the parking lot. I love the organic maple syrup and stuffed olives. I hate their pizza dough. Mostly because it's (at least) as good as mine. I hate being shown up by the -- what does Michael Pollan call it . . . "the industrial food complex?" . . . "the military industrial complex?" . . . I hate that anybody's pre-packaged anything is as good (at least) as my home made. I used to make batches of dough and package them in the freezer for unexpected pizza moments. These days -- though I am loathe to admit it -- we usually have a package of Trader Joe's fresh pizza dough (white or garlic herb) in the fridge. The shame of it all. Sigh.

In spite of my culinary dishonor I have to admit, dough in the fridge makes for an easy weeknight dinner.

One of my New Year's resolutions for 2009 was to learn to make Salami. There were also a few cheese, education and gym related ones that I more or less lived up to, but the clock is ticking on 2009 salami. So far I'm just eating more of it, and a near forgotten link in the fridge made the surprise topping on this pie.

I piled on thinly sliced potatoes (very thin cut with a mandoline), red onions, garlic, thin rounds of salami (I mean pepperoni is just a salami after all), chopped parsley, and a good dousing of olive oil. I topped it all with sliced mozzarella and popped the assembled pie onto our pizza stone preheated to 500º. After 10 minutes I covered the top with shredded romano cheese and popped it back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Another weeknight quicker than carry-out meal . . . thanks to Trader Joe's (Grr).