Spaghetti with Blue Claw Crabs.... No boiling in this house

Crabs in marinara sauce

At minimum, twice a year my family and I go crabbing at the New Jersey shores.

I personally prefer the taste of blue crab over lobster. Here is my recipe:

We like clean crabs


Here is how to clean them:
Stun live blue crab by placing in ice water for five minutes.
Pry off the top shell using the shell's spine for leverage. This instantly kills the crab
Using high pressure water, spray out the entrails (yellow stuff)
Remove spongy gills from both halves and rinse.

Placed cleaned crabs in a baking pan
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 clam juice or doz. clams (if available)
Add 2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1 red chopped pepper (we prefer hot)
1 green chopped pepper, salt and pepper

Cover baking pan with foil and seal all around

Cook pasta al dente, drain, pour sauce over pasta and serve.

Images: ©2010 - Elisa picasaweb

Let's take the "MEAT" out of Meatballs - Part III

Potato and Zucchini Balls

    Polpette di Zucca e Patate

Ingredients

1 lb. zucchini
2 potatoes
1 carrot
2 eggs
 ½ cup grated pecorino cheese or asiago cheese
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
 ½ cup scallions3 tbsp. flour (if needed)

Preparation

Cut the zucchini and carrot in pieces and boil in water. Drain thoroughly when cooked.
Boil potatoes. When cooked, rice them.
Mix the riced potatoes, carrot and zucchini, add salt and pepper, chopped parsley, and cheese. Only add the flour if mixture is too soft.
Shape mixture into balls, roll them in breadcrumbs and fry in hot oil. Drain and serve.
If you prefer not to fry, place balls in a buttered pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Suggestion -
If you want children to eat this vegetable dish, simply add a piece of mozzarella within each ball.

Potato and  Zucchini Balls

Images: ©2010 - picasaweb

Let's Take the "MEAT" Out of Meatballs - Part II

Vegetarian Balls (Polpette di Vegetali)

Vegetarian Balls

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb. potatoes

½ lb. chopped spinach

1 carrot

1 cup fresh peas (if not availabe use frozen peas)

1 finely chopped onion

2 eggs

½ cup parmiggiano reggiano

One or two tablespoons of milk

2 tablespoons of chopped basil

2 teaspoons of paprika

3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 cup of vegetable oil for frying

Sauce (see below)

Preparation

Wash the potatoes and boil them for about 25 minutes. Once cooled, remove skin and rice them. Boil the carrot until soft. Cook washed spinach in its own water. Boil peas for about 10 minutes. In a pan add the extra –virgin olive oil, saute’ onion, add cooked spinach, carrot and peas, salt and pepper. Mix together and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Incorporate the potato puree, the cooked vegetables, cheese and eggs and milk. Mix well together and form into balls the size of a peach.

In a pan, add 1 cup vegetable oil. When hot, saute’ the vegetable balls few at a time. Remove into a plate with paper towel.

On a platter place the sauce, add the vegetable balls and sprinkle the balls with paprika and serve.

Sauce

6 fresh tomatoes or 2 cups chopped canned tomatoes

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove sliced garlic

Basil sprig

Parsley sprig

Salt and pepper

In a saucepan,add oil, saute’ garlic until golden, add tomatoes, parsley, basil, salt and pepper

Simmer for 20 minutes.

Images: ©2010 - picasaweb

Let's take the "MEAT" out of Meatballs

I have several recipes but I will start with my childhood favorite -

Pallotte Cace e Ova (Cheese and Egg Balls)
Pallotte is dialect Abruzzese for Balls

Cheese balls in sauce

Country style bread

Ingredients

• 1 pound stale country-style bread , crusts removed and cut into thick slices
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/2 bunch Italian parsley, leaves chopped to yield 2 tablespoons
• 1 bunch basil, leaves chopped
• 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup olive oil or vegetable
• 2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce, recipe follows

Fried balls

 

Directions

In a large bowl add the bread slices and milk. Let sit until the bread is soaked through, then squeeze dry. Crumble and tear the soaked bread into smaller pieces and process in the food processor, using quick pulses, to yield 4 cups soaked crumbs.

Mix the crumbs in a bowl with the eggs, cheese, herbs, and garlic, adding salt and pepper, to taste. Form into round balls about 2 inches in diameter. Set aside on a rack or plate to dry for about 15 to 20 minutes.

In a saucepan or deep skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil to frying temperature, about 360 degrees F, and fry the bread balls until brown on all sides. Remove the balls as they brown and drain on a rack covered with paper towels. Have the tomato sauce ready. Arrange the balls on a platter and lightly cover with sauce. Serve immediately. 


Tomato Sauce:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1  onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
• Parsley sprigs
• Basil sprigs
• Salt and black pepper

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and their juice, parsley and basil and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Other recipes to follow.

Images: ©2010 - picasaweb

SUSTAINABLE EATING: Means cooking from scratch and starting with fresh produce

Eating better goes beyond cookbooks. 

Broccoli

Yesterday, at the local Farmers’ Market, besides the beautiful and colorful display of fruits and vegetables, I noticed that the shoppers had one thing in common – they were middle-aged to older immigrants like me. Is it because we have more time to spare? Possibly.

 - Or is it because our eating habits reflect our roots and cultural identity?
 - Or is it the instinctive frugality of our family meals made of humble and seasonal ingredients?

By the way, I bought cranberry beans.

Cranberry beans (Fagioli Borlotti)

  

On my way home, I stopped at the supermarket, where convenience rules, to buy milk. At the checkout counter, I struck a conversation with a young mom who came to the store to buy ingredients for an old-fashioned, Italian dish called Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and bean soup). In her shopping cart, she had 2 cans of beans, canned tomatoes, chicken broth and chopped meat. She was following her mother’s recipe. My immediate thought: sugar, preservatives, sodium, nitrates.  She knew no other way. 

Had she planned her meal ahead of time, she could have purchased a bag of dry beans the day before and cooked them in the evening while doing homework with her children. The next day, she could have sauteed some onions, added 3 or 4 diced fresh tomatoes (if available) or a can of whole or diced tomatoes, the beans and pasta, and Voila!

Think about it, she would have had enough beans for several meals. Like anything else in life, planning ahead means getting the most for your money and time while minimizing waste.

But what do I know? I am an old, Italian immigrant.

Oh yes. The cranberry beans.

Fresh Shell Bean Stew

Time: 1 hour

6 servings

Ingredients

3 cups fresh cranberry beans (3 pounds in the shell)

1 quart of water

2 garlic cloves, halved

2 thyme sprigs and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme leaves

Pinch of baking soda

1 pound of tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

1. 
   
   In a saucepan, combine the beans, water, thyme sprigs and baking soda and bring to a boil.  Simmer over low heat until the beans are tender. 30 minutes or so.
2. 
   
   Drain beans, reserving 1 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.  In a saucepan, add the olive oil, saute' the garlic until golden, add the tomatoes and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, then add the beans and the cooking liquid.  Simmer the stew over moderate heat for an additional 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Add thyme leaves and serve.

 

Images: ©2010 - picasaweb

Scamorza Impanata (Breaded Scamorza)

Scamorza Abruzzese is a curd cheese, made by artisanal cheesemakers, shaped into a pear-like, tied with a string and hung to dry.

Scamorze Hung to Dry

The cheese is white unless it is smoked.

Smoked Scamorza

The scamorza can be substituted for mozzarella in most dishes. Using the smoked variety (scamorza affumicata) adds a nice background flavor in replacement of mozzarella.

Ingredients

2 Scamorze Abruzzese (Good quality dry mozzerella can be substituted)

1 cup bread crumbs

2 eggs

Fresh Black pepper

1 tablespoon of fresh chopped thyme

½ lb. Mixed lettuce (arugula, romaine, radicchio, frisée

8 slices artisanal bread (thick crusty bread)

1 cup of vegetable oil to fry

Remove the skin of the scamorze, cut into thick slices the size of a finger. Beat the eggs in a bowl with fresh black pepper. In another dish mix the breadcrumbs with chopped thyme leaves. Place the sliced scamorza in the egg mixture and then the bread mixture making sure it adheres well. Fry the sliced mozzarella few at a time, place on paper towels to remove the excess fat. Serve immediately with mixed lettuce and toasted bread.

Scamorza Impanata

I would combine this dish with a light white wine, preferably champagne to balance the remaining frying fat.

Images: ©2010 - picasaweb

Abandoning Wall Street for the Love of Food

Wall Street professionals who are fed up with their careers and fascinated by food and wine applied for jobs at EATALY.

Eataly, NY

For the people who do not know – Eataly is a 50,000-square-foot space brought to New Yorkers by three of the top Italian-American restaurateurs in the Nation: Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Lidia Matticchio. Founded by Oscar Farinetti, and located in the lobby of the Toy Building (200 Fifth Ave. between 23rd and 24th streets) in the Flatiron District, Eataly features multiple restaurants, including a fine dining Italian steakhouse called Manzo, a Neapolitan pizzeria, and a year round rooftop beer garden and microbrewery (*Which is set to open to the public in November), a cooking school, and retail stores.

According of Oscar Farinetti, the founder: “Two boys, with a degree in communications, came to me in Turin demanding work. I said I have nothing here, but I'm opening a large complex in New York, an emporium of high quality food and seven restaurants. I need someone who can make cheese by hand. If you learn, the place is yours. They started running. I sent them in Andria , have been there for two months. "

This reaffirms my belief that one should be a jack of all trades. To me, an educated person is -
A person who can think with their mind and work with their hands.

I think I'll go to make fresh mozzarella now. 

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCnVyrZ1s2M

Welcome to Cheap Globalization!

In the late 60's and 70's, the beauty and quality of “Made in Italy” meant: fine materials, extraordinary workmanship and proud store owners.

Pure linen tablecloth and napkins

Pure linen hand towels

What a shame that some of Italy’s greatest traditional handiwork, not to mention their elegant taste, is fast disappearing and going the way of cheap globalization.

Photo from the NY Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/world/europe/13prato.html?scp=1&sq=%22Made%20in%20Italy%22&st=cse

A Crochet Bedspread in my Italian Trunk - Il Copriletto all'uncinetto nel mio Baule

Few days ago, I decided to crack one of my two Italian trunks open and live a little.

Italian trunk (baule) brought to this country in 1955

Shipping tag - Naples to NY



I have been married 44 years and have owned this crochet bedspread for 50 years or more. It was part of my trousseau (corredo) together with other treasurables.

 Crochet bedspread - Copriletto all'uncinetto

It took my mother 5 years to complete this bedspread utilizing many summer afternoons, skilled hands and lot of ecru thread..a lot of work..a lot of love. When I got married, I found the bedspread to be old fashioned, fussy and not useful. Not practical but yet very pretty. And really, it’s a treasure. An heirloom practically and too good to use every day. So, I have never used it. I decided to save it for a really special occasion.

The years went by. My husband and I moved from a double bed, to a queen sized bed, to a king. Children were born. More years go by.  Lots of them.  The children moved out and married. My mother is no longer here.

                                                                                          Crochet pillows

More years go by.  Until, finally last week, getting ready for very special houseguests - I decided to use the crochet bedspread. It has been waiting fifty years for my Real Life to begin.

Pecorino Cheese from ABRUZZO - Formaggio Pecorino d'Abruzzo

My husband just flew back from Abruzzo yesterday.  He was given this cheese by a relative who lives in Castelli (Teramo).

Pecorino d'Abruzzo - Artisan sheeps' cheese

I just could not wait to taste it.  Simply GUSTOSO!

Pecorino cheese from Tornareccio (CH)

When my relatives ask me what do I want from Italy - my answer is Cheese from Abruzzo.

Some sites and sounds of a pastoral life in Abruzzo.   Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/12721628

 di maurizio casalini

Blood Oranges, Town Crier and my childhood - Arance Sanguine, Bannitore e la mia fanciullezza

Recently, I was reading a recipe for Margaritas and it called for blood oranges. Now, I have not seen or have eaten a blood orange since I was a child and, of course, this sparked a childhood flashback.

Blood Orange

But what does a town crier or bannitore have to do with blood oranges? I grew up in a small town in Abruzzo, post World War II. You see, in those days, there weren’t any circulars or ads in the local paper advertising sales.

A town crier or bannitore would be the person that, when a vendor would arrive in town, would go street by street communicating the notice to others. Generally, he was equipped with a trumpet or horn which served to draw people, who would then rush to their windows to hear what was being sold at the piazza. “Attenzione, attenzione; è arrivato il venditore con le sue belle arance sanguine dalla Sicilia.” Correte tutti in piazza…”. “Attention, Attention, a vendor has arrived with  blood oranges from Sicily.  Run to the piazza.”  The announcement would diffuse in record time because in those days neither radio nor other methods of communicating with others existed.

My mother and I upon hearing the sale announcement rushed to the piazza and purchased blood oranges by the kilos. These blood oranges, stained with red like Lady Macbeth, had an unforgettable sweet and tangy like taste with a hint of raspberry. I was told that the rich soil of Sicily and the Mediterranean temperature variation between day and night seems to be necessary to develop the distinctive red color.

We did not have Margaritas in those days nor did we have desserts on a daily basis.  Blood oranges and other fruits substituted for desserts which we only had on special occasions.  Today, being food conscious and a label reader of many cookies and cakes laden with corn syrup and artificial ingredients, I wish all children would eat oranges or other fruits as a snack or dessert.  In my opinion, they would be healthier.

--------------------------------------------------------

The rich hue of blood oranges can be an aesthetic wonder when added to fresh fruit mixes and salads or used as a garnish.

INSALATA DI FINOCCHIO ED ARANCE

 

Ingredients –

• 2 large navel oranges and 2 blood oranges

• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced but save a few feathery fennel leaves

• Extra virgin olive oil to taste (about 8 – 10 tablespoons)

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

• Cut the oranges and fennel bulb

• Arrange orange and fennel slices on a large round plate

• Drizzle with olive oil

• Add salt and black pepper

• Sprinkle with the fine fennel leaves and serve.

 

Oh yes, the Margaritas

Ingredients

1 quart fresh blood orange juice or fresh orange juice (about 12 blood oranges or 8 large navel oranges)
1 1/2 cups fresh lime juice (about 12 limes)
1 1/2 cups Cointreau or other triple sec
3 1/2 cups silver tequila
Kosher salt
1 blood orange or orange wedge, plus 12 thin blood orange or orange slices
Ice
1 dozen small sage sprigs or leaves

Directions

1.In a large pitcher, mix the blood orange juice with the lime juice, Cointreau and silver tequila. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes.

2.Spread a small mound of salt on a small plate. Moisten the outer rim of 12 martini glasses with the orange wedge, then dip the rims into the salt to lightly coat.

3.Add ice to the pitcher and stir well, then strain into the prepared glasses. Garnish each margarita with a blood orange slice and a sage sprig and serve.

Make Ahead

The margarita recipe can be prepared through Step 1 and refrigerated, covered, overnight.

A Visit to My Local Farmers Market - (Visita al mercato locale degli agricoltori)

Due to the explosion of demand in terms of people desiring to buy local, new farmers markets are sprouting throughout our state. It’s a favorite marketing method for many farmers and a weekly ritual for many shoppers like me that love fresh food.

  

Pumpkin Flowers

From spring until late fall, you can find local growers set up with their canopies and colorful displays of just-harvested fruits and vegetables in town squares, parks and other public spaces.

Carrots

Seasonal Produce – Peaches, Apples, Melons, Plums, Berries, Pears, Quince, Jersey Tomatoes, Heirloom Tomatoes, Flat Red Onions, Eggplant, Potatoes of all kinds, Corn, Squash, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Beans Arugula, Lettuce of all kinds, Pumpkin Flower, Broccoli di Rape, Parsley Root, Celery Nob, Green Garlic, Red carrots, White Radish, Winter Squash, Large Variety of Peppers, Baked Items and More…

Cabbage

Variety of Peppers

Fall Items – Gourds, Indian Corn, Haystalks, Pumpkins, Decorative Squash, Mums, Wine Grapes

Gourds

Pumpkins

 The festive atmosphere and fresh foods will certainly please all your senses.

Images: ©2010 - picasaweb

Gearing Up for the Home Winemaking Season (Vino Fatto in Casa)

It's great to see that home winemaking remains alive and well.

Oak barrels (Botte)

Today, many Italian-American old-timers make wine in garages and basements from grapes trucked from California.

Home winemaking is an important pursuit among Italian-Americans in many US cities with a sizable Italian community.

Winemaking is such an important part of the Italian community that many cities support several winemaking supply shops, wine competitions etc.

In addition to the raw materials (the pre-pressed must or the whole bunches of grapes), these winemaking supply stores sell the entire range of home winemaking supplies - different sizes of oak barrels going up to a capacity of 50 gallons, demijohns (damigiani) in case one prefers to ferment in glass, small basket presses, grinders and so on.

                                                                                        Grape Press (Pressa)

Whether you’re driven by quality, quantity or efficiency — or by the high-tech joy of using the latest home winemaking toy — these stores will help you decide what to buy. They will help you sift through the overabundance of specialized winemaking equipment to find tools and gadgets that match your budget, annual wine production and goals.

Corks in all shapes and sizes (Suri)

   

 We will be making our wine in a few weeks.  Stay tuned....

alla SALUTE!!