Celebrating Italian-Style

What’s cooking? Crostini di Ricotta con Uva Rossa (Crostini of Ricotta with Red Grapes)

For a compulsive person with an inability to say no – that would be me – the holidays offer a number of traps that my hubby refers to as self-inflicted wounds. This year the problem was acute. Dinners for 8, 16, and 13 so far, with one to come for 12 on New Year’s Eve. And something like 400 decorated cookies – for the neighborhood party, my children and grandchildren, and one of those dinner parties. What was I thinking?

Then in the run-up to sending those cookies to my grandchildren, I discovered that my cache of cookie tins was down to zero. I stopped in at my local Container Store, where they always have a good supply, and discovered... nothing. A couple of very small tins, and a couple of very large ones, but none of the Goldilocks size that holds exactly three dozen cookies.

I grabbed a nice young man who was working there and challenged him.

“You sure?” he said.

“Pretty sure,” I said.

“Well, let’s go check. There might be some in a couple of other places around the store.” But no. Only more of the very big ones, which would mean baking more cookies, and the very thought of restarting the baking process had me ready to weep.

We discovered some square tins, which I thought might do, and some middle-sized tins that my helper swore to me were the middle-sized tins they’d always had. Still, when you’ve bought as many of these things as I have, you develop an eye for the right size. But how to prove it? I had a lightbulb moment.

“I’ll call my daughter-in-law,” I said. “She might have some of the old ones that we can measure.”

Sure enough, she had some. “So tell me what the measurements on them are. I’ll need height and diameter,” I said. The mathematician in me had awakened and figured to compare the volumes of these various tins. Even with different shapes, I could know how many cookies would fit.

“Hold on,” she said. “I have to find a measuring tape.” There followed a lot of rustling around, and a raised voice as she asked the darling children what they had done with the measuring tape.

“She’s looking,” I said to my helper. Finally, sounding slightly frustrated, my DIL said, “Well, I can’t find the measuring tape. So do you have a Metrocard [NYC Transit card]?”

“Uh, yes...,” I said, as I dug through my purse. Then she added brightly, “It’s the same height as a Metrocard.”

“Ok,” I said, “but I also need the diameter...” And that’s where the train derailed. In desperation, I bought a few of the faux-middle-sized tins and headed out. Amazingly, on my way home, the cookie gods smiled at me. My friend Elaine called to say that she’d just been to Michael’s where they had cookie tins on sale. The exact right size. A Christmas miracle.

And at that point, I also knew what to get my son and daughter-in-law for Christmas: tape measures.

* * *

On one of my many trips through the grocery store this season, I happened upon a display of Italian delicacies, and found a recipe for an hors d’oeuvre that sounded unusual, festive, and delicious. I was right on all counts. You get a full range of tastes – from the sweetness of the grapes to the salty pancetta and the slightly bitter, garlicky flavor of the shallots. The cool creaminess of the ricotta adds a great visual and textural contrast to the grape/pancetta/shallot mix. So it’s not just tasty – it’s also gorgeous.

Because of the slicing and dicing, this is a tiny bit tedious in the making; but if you enlist your mate or another helper in dicing the pancetta and slicing the grapes, it can all be done in an hour. Mise en place will again be very helpful, so start with the slicing and dicing. Once you begin cooking, the process moves along pretty quickly – less than 25 minutes on the stove. And while you’re cooking, your “helper” can make the little toasts.

Crostini of Ricotta with Red Grapes

Adapted from Central Market, Austin, Texas.

Serves 8-10.

Ingredients
1 baguette, cut diagonally in ½-inch thick slices
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove (optional)
10-12 ounces of ricotta (as fresh as you can find)
1-2 heaping tablespoons of honey (the KG fave is acacia honey)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces pancetta, sliced to thickness of bacon and cut in ½-inch dice*
1 pound seedless red grapes, sliced in half lengthwise
4 shallots (about 6 ounces), thinly sliced
¼ cup of dry white wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (plain or fruit-flavored balsamic; I used fig balsamic)
Garnish: 1 bunch basil, chiffonade

*Kitchen Goddess note: Pancetta is essentially Italian bacon, but the two products aren’t made the same. Bacon is cured with salt, then smoked and sliced. Pancetta is cured with salt, black pepper, and spices and rolled into a cylinder. It is never smoked. Most of the time, you’ll find it in your grocer’s deli area, where you’ll have to have it sliced to order. For this recipe, you’ll want to get it sliced thin, 
but not wafer thin. Tell the deli guy/girl you want it about the thickness of bacon.



Directions
Preheat the oven to 350º or set it on broil. Brush one side of the baguette slices with olive oil, lay them on a baking sheet, and bake them for 10 minutes, or run them under the broiler for 45-60 seconds, until lightly toasted. You’ll have to keep an eye on the broiler version – they can burn in a heartbeat when you’re not looking. Brush the other sides and repeat to get both sides lightly toasted. The KG also rubs one side with a clove of fresh garlic, but that’s up to you. Set the crostini aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the ricotta, the honey, and salt/pepper to taste. Don’t be stingy with the pepper – it adds great flavor. Set aside the flavored ricotta.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the diced pancetta until golden. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pan. To the fat, add the shallots and sauté for 3 minutes, until they appear soft.

Add the grapes, stir together well, and increase the heat to medium-high. Leave the grapes and shallots to cook undisturbed for 5 minutes, then stir occasionally as the mixture cooks for another 5-6 minutes. The finished grapes are prettiest if they experience some browning, so try to get the cut side of the grapes exposed to the bottom of the skillet as much as possible. If the shallots start to burn, remove them to the bowl or plate with the pancetta, or push them to the side of the skillet.

Pour the wine into the skillet and stir well to scrape up any bits of pancetta/shallot/grape from the bottom. Add the pancetta back to the pan, and continue to cook, stirring, until the liquid in the pan has reduced to almost nothing. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vinegar.

Serve the grape mixture atop crostini that have been spread with the ricotta, and sprinkled with chiffonade of basil. The Kitchen Goddess likes to serve the grape mixture and the ricotta in separate bowls, so that guests can assemble the crostini themselves, but you can also assemble them and serve on a tray or plate.

By the way, this should go very well with champagne or another dry sparkling wine.

Happy New Year to you all!!

Kitchen Goddess Tips for a More Stress-Free Thanksgiving

What’s cooking? Roasted Carrots with Turmeric and Cumin, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

It’s that time again. The food day of all food days. You think you’ve got it all under control ... until you don’t. Uncle Harvey will call to say he’s bringing his nephew who just showed up on a business trip from Wisconsin and isn’t it great that he can stay for the big dinner? Or Darla, who was going to bring the pumpkin pie, texts you that she’s got chills and a fever, and will be spending the day in bed. Shit happens, as they say.

So the first thing you have to remember is that, in the words of the great Gilda Radner, “It’s always something.” Pour yourself a glass of wine and try to relax while you figure out how many of the gears in your Thanksgiving machine have to be adjusted. In my case, there’s always an appetizer I can delete. A few other thoughts on maintaining sanity:

1. Make a chart that includes every food you’ll be serving, including the ones being cooked by other guests. Assign days when you’ll cook them, what dishes they’ll be served in, and which utensils you’ll need for serving. These sorts of decisions – if made at the last minute – will cost you precious energy when you realize you’ve put the green beans in that bowl you were saving for the mashed potatoes.

2. You’re going to need all the room that’s possible in your fridge, so find a large cooler and move all the condiments from your fridge into the cooler. You won’t need most of them for this meal, and you may decide that the 2-year-old mango chutney can go straight into the trash. Add a couple of large zip-lock bags of ice to keep the chill, and you can move that cooler to the basement or garage or laundry room – wherever you have the space.

3. Whether you’re wet-brining or dry-brining or not brining your turkey, let it sit for its last 24 hours in the fridge without any covering at all. This air-drying technique produces extra-crispy skin on the cooked bird. If you’re still trying to decide on the brining question, take a look at an excellent piece by Kim Severson in The New York Times last week, “The Rise and Fall of Turkey Brining.” 

The group favoring dry-brining over wet-brining includes an impressive number of food scientists (e.g., Kenji López-Alt, Harold McGee, and Christopher Kimball) and other food stars like Ruth Reichl and Ina Garten, so the Kitchen Goddess will this year be trying her hand at the dry-brining method. I’ll let you know...

4. Set the table Wednesday night. That way, when you wake up on The Day, you don’t have to worry about it. And if, like the Kitchen Goddess, you are still winding things up with a couple of dishes when the guests arrive, at least it will look like you’re ready.

5. Don’t forget the candles – they create a mood that’s friendly and warm. Besides, everyone looks better in candlelight; it’s prettier and more flattering than electric light. And candles are a symbol of hospitality and hope. I direct you to a past post – HERE – with all you need to know about adding candles to the scene. Tealights in particular can be used in glasses or containers of all sorts, so even if you don’t have candlesticks you like, you can add candlelight to the table.

6. Remember the mise en place. Much of your chopping and measuring can be done the day before; put the chopped veggies or other ingredients into zip-lock bags and label them for when you’re ready to do the actual cooking. It’s by far the most efficient way to work.

7. Assemble a gaggle of timers for the multiple dishes that will all be at different stages, and Post-It Notes to help you keep track of which timer is working for which dish. These are the sorts of issues that prompt moments of crazed hilarity– or unladylike language – for the Kitchen Goddess.

8. Let your friends and relatives help. Most of them are happy to have something to do rather than stand around watching you, and the camaraderie it generates will add to the festive atmosphere. So have a couple of tasks in mind that you can lay off to the first volunteers.

9. Skip the basting. It’s a needless distraction. Rub the turkey inside and out with seasoned butter, add orange or lemon slices, an onion, and a couple of handfuls of herbs, and stick it in the oven. Take it out when it’s done.

10. Everyone loves leftovers, so have ready a box of quart-sized zip-lock bags your guests can use, so you won't be eating the meal for the next week.

And now for some ideas to fill in the blanks in your menu. The KG took a stroll down memory lane, checking out dishes she’s posted in years past. Here are four of her best (click on the title to link), followed by two fresh ones.

Asparagus Coins with Chive Oil and Parsley Water – One of my all-time faves for its unique look and fresh taste. Cooking time is very short; do the prep the day before.

Smashed Carrots with Feta and Mint – This one is making an appearance on the KG’s Thanksgiving table. Gorgeous, delicious, and different, and easy to make ahead.

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Tangy Whipped Cheese Sauce – A delicious way to eat cauliflower – nutty and sweet – and you can make the cheese sauce the day before.

Lemony Green Beans with Frizzled Leeks – Another dish that will grace the Kitchen Goddess’s table. Bright and colorful, and a great mix of flavors. The beans can be steamed a day ahead.

If none of these ideas tickle your fancy, here are a couple of new thoughts: Roasted Carrots with Turmeric and Cumin, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta. These are both easy, and need little monitoring as they cook. And my prince has given both dishes a thumbs-up, even though he says, “In the end, they’re Brussels sprouts.”

\

Roasted Carrots with Turmeric and Cumin

Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman in The New York Times.

Serves 6.

Ingredients
10 medium carrots (just under 1½ pounds), peeled
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or mild chili powder
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425º.

Cut the carrots in half lengthwise and crosswise. For the thicker carrots, cut lengthwise into quarters. Slice the carrots crosswise into pieces 2-3 inches long. Your goal is to have the pieces be more or less the same thickness, so that they reach a level of uniform doneness in the roasting. (At the CIA, the saying is, “Look the same, cook the same.”) Put the carrots in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper, and thyme leaves. Hang onto that bowl for later.

Heat a heavy baking sheet (traditional quarter sheet pan, about 9x13 inches) in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Remove the hot pan and distribute the carrots on it in a single layer. Roast 25-30 minutes, stirring the carrots midway. When the carrots are tender, they should also be lightly caramelized.

While the carrots roast, place the cumin and coriander seeds in a small saucepan or skillet over medium/medium-low heat and toast 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan or stirring until you can smell their aroma. (Don’t let them burn!)Transfer the seeds to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and pulverize to a fine powder. Add the ground spices to a small bowl along with the soft butter, turmeric and Aleppo pepper (or chili powder) and stir until well combined.

Kitchen Goddess note on the spices: It is perfectly acceptable to use already ground spices, but do heat them a bit in a skillet or saucepan before adding them to the butter. Starting with the seeds simply gives you more flavor. But don’t go buying coriander seeds or cumin seeds just for this recipe – try them if you use those spices frequently and want to get stronger flavor.

Remember that large bowl? When the carrots have finished roasting, transfer them to that bowl and add the spiced butter mix and most of the mint. Toss gently, until the butter and spices are well distributed across the carrots. The carrots will need salt, so adjust salt and pepper seasoning to taste. The carrots can be served immediately or set aside and served at room temperature. Sprinkle the reserved mint on top.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

Adapted from Gourmet magazine, January 2001.

Serves 4.

Ingredients
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
3 ounces pancetta, minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons water (if needed)
Garnish (optional): 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds

Prepping the sprouts

Prepping the pancetta

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450º.

In a medium-sized bowl, toss the prepared sprouts with the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, and salt and pepper. Transfer the sprouts to a quarter sheet pan (9x13 inches), and spread in a single layer with the cut side of the sprouts down. Sprinkle the pancetta around and on top.

Roast in the upper third of the oven for 25 minutes, or until the sprouts are tender and have begun to brown. Remove all to a serving dish. If any brown bits (called the fond) stick to the pan, add the water and stir/scrape to remove them, then add that to the serving dish.

As you know, the Kitchen Goddess has an irresistible urge to garnish. For these lovable sprouts, she drizzled pomegranate balsamic vinegar (though plain balsamic would also do) and tossed some pomegranate seeds on top. Extra delicious, if you ask me.

Kitchen Goddess note: These sprouts needn’t be served piping hot, but they'll get a bit mushy after a night in the fridge. My recommendation is to prep the sprouts and pancetta the day before, then pop them into the oven a half hour before you plan to serve. In fact, you could assemble the baking pan, with sprouts, olive oil, lemon juice/zest, salt/pepper, and pancetta, then wrap the whole thing tightly with cellophane wrap and refrigerate it overnight. Take it out 30 minutes before roasting, to let everything come closer to room temp. Where there’s a will,...


The Kitchen Goddess will be back tomorrow with two more dishes that might fill in some holes in your menu. In the meantime,... start your engines!

Easy-Peasy What’s cooking? Three-Pea Pasta with Herbs and Pancetta

There’s a funny smell in my garage. (I know that’s an unusual beginning for a food blog. The mind goes where the mind wants to go...) Probably a critter that got in by mistake and couldn’t find the way out. But ignorance is bliss, and that’s pretty much the approach my prince and I take when it comes to projects we’d just as soon not shoulder. For a couple of weeks now, we go out to the car and he says to me, “Do you still smell it? Because I don’t much.” And I say, “Yes, I definitely smell it. We have to investigate.” And then we get in the car and leave.

I have lots of friends who know how to focus on such issues. When they see a problem, they get right down to it. We are not in that camp, unless the problem is something like changing a light bulb, and even then I can think of at least one bulb that’s been out for a while. If it’s golf- or wine- or music-related, he’ll gladly tackle it. And if it’s food- or cooking-related, I’m on it like white on rice. So it’s not that we’re lazy. At least, I hope it’s not. We just neither of us want to charge into an experience that’s guaranteed to be unpleasant.

To my mate’s credit, if we knew where the critter was – like in the middle of the driveway – he’d find a shovel and some newspaper and get rid of the thing. But the idea of poking around in the recesses of the garage, and hoping that nothing jumps out, ... even just that moment of discovery... Not our thing.

What we need is an assistant. Some go-getter type. Well organized. A person of action. We’ve got both Siri and Alexa, and neither of them can actually do a damn thing. I want to say, “Alexa, change the lightbulb in my bathroom.” “Siri, find the source of that smell in the garage.” But no, they just sit there. We can do that much.

For certain activities, we’ve found that if we hang out with the right friends, we don’t have to be action people. We can take advantage of their organizational skills. For social activities, a couple of our friends often come up with fun dinner-type experiences. For travel, others are amazingly good at planning golf or sightseeing trips. Last fall, when a group of us went to Sicily, the house we stayed in and the sites we visited were all figured out by others on the trip. We believe every group needs a few Type B personalities, and that is our contribution. We pack our bags and go where we’re told. No whining, no complaining, no suggesting.

But so far, none of our friends has stepped forward to find the dead critter in the garage. If you know anyone who’d consider taking that on, please tell them to give me a call. I’ll make dinner.

* * *

Speaking of which, I made the loveliest pasta the other night. The grocery stores are finally offering real spring veggies, like snow peas and sugar snap peas and English peas, though I must confess that I haven’t actually found any English peas. In making this dish, I substituted frozen peas, and thought neither the taste nor the texture suffered.

The other great thing about this recipe is the use of herbs. While I took the sage and parsley and mint from my kitchen garden, they’re all available in great quantity at the stores now. The heady aroma of all those herbs, combined with the nice crunch of the pea pods, made this dish a real celebration of spring. The ricotta salata – ricotta cheese that has been pressed, dried, and salted, and which tastes like a very mild feta cheese – provides a nice, lightly tart accent, but the dish is also terrific without it if you’re not into cheese.

The recipe comes from Melissa Clark of The New York Times, and Ms. Clark developed it to use with farro pasta. But the Kitchen Goddess is not into scouring the planet for such specialized ingredients, so she used whole wheat fusilli and was very satisfied. (I will say that the color of the whole wheat pasta works really well with the peas.) I also added the mushrooms, just because it seemed like a good idea – and it was! I served it to friends – who were effusive with their praise – as one of my “guinea pig” dinners, with French bread and my favorite citrus salad, orange slices with black olive tapenade and fennel seeds. A terrific light meal that takes almost no time to prepare. And you’ll love the leftovers. Spring into it!

Kitchen Goddess notes: (1) Pancetta is just Italian bacon, made from pork belly, salt cured and jazzed up with black pepper and other spices. It’s sometimes eaten raw, but not in this dish. It comes in a spiral shape, which makes it a little funky to slice; but it’s really flavorful, so you should try some. Get it at the deli counter.

(2) Almost all the work in this recipe comes from trimming the little ends off the snow peas and the strings and tips off the sugar snap peas, which is a bit tedious but certainly not hard. And because the peas should be eaten firm-tender, the sauce takes almost no time to cook. So if you get your mise en place – peas trimmed, pancetta chopped, scallions sliced, herbs shredded, lemon zested, etc. – you can start the pasta before you even put the olive oil into the skillet. By the time the pasta is al dente, the rest of the dish will be ready to go.

Three-Pea Pasta with Herbs and Pancetta

Adapted from Melissa Clark in The New York Times.

Serves 6.

Ingredients
1 pound whole wheat fusilli or other pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta (or bacon), 2-3 thick slices, cut crosswise into strips about ⅜-inch wide
3 tablespoons butter at room temperature, separated
4 ounces fresh morel mushrooms (or crimini mushrooms), sliced
1½ cups thinly sliced scallions (white and light green parts), about 2 trimmed bunches
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2½  tablespoons fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
1½ cups frozen peas (not thawed) or shelled English peas
8 ounces sugar snap peas, strings removed and ends trimmed
6 ounces snow peas, ends trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
zest of 1 lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
2 heaping tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
2 heaping tablespoons roughly chopped mint
2 ounces (about ¼ cup) ricotta salata or mild feta cheese, crumbled

Directions
In a large pot of well salted water, cook the pasta until it is just al dente. Before you drain the pasta, reserve 2 cups of the pasta water for use with the sauce.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil on medium-high in a large skillet, and add the pancetta. Cook, stirring, for 5-6 minutes, until it starts crisping and turning brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove it to a plate or bowl, but leave the skillet on medium-high heat.

Add 1 tablespoon of butter, and when it sizzles, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes. Add the scallions, Aleppo pepper, and sage to the skillet and stir well for about a minute, to distribute the oil on the scallions. Stir in the peas (all three kinds), and season well with salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until the peas (all three kinds) are barely tender.

Stir the drained pasta into the pan, along with about a cup of the reserved pasta water. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Gently toss the pasta and the veggies as they cook, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer the mixture until the pasta has reached a just-done stage and the veggies are still only fork-tender, adding more pasta water as needed. (This is a personal preference thing: If all the liquid has been absorbed and it seems like the pasta is still too al dente for your taste, use that extra cup of pasta water.)

Turn off the heat, and add the butter and the reserved pancetta. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon zest, parsley, and mint until well combined. Toss the mixture gently with the pasta, and season again with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the pasta in large shallow bowls. Sprinkle the ricotta salata on top.

Mangia!