PAN SEARED TILEFISH

I never knew that tilefish was considered a delicacy until I cooked it.

I found it to have a mild, sweet flavor and a firm flaky texture. 

There are many ways of cooking tilefish, I ch0se pan seared.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tilefish fillets
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Procedure:

Pat the tilefish dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and black pepper.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and heat until shimmering.
Place the tilefish in the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
Flip the fish and add garlic and lemon zest to the pan.
Cook another 5 minutes. The fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork.
Sprinkle with parsley.
Serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges.

Tilefish is rich, so I like to serve it with simple sides.

For this dinner, I made sauteed escarole.

Sauteed escarole

Tilefish is one of the best-tasting fish you can eat!

I eat a lot of different fishes, but this was gold!

CHERRY TOMATO CANNING (Conservazione di pomodori ciliegini)

 I found myself with a bounty of beautiful, sun-ripened cherry tomatoes from our garden and decided to preserving them for the winter.

First washed the cherry tomatoes. Unlike larger tomatoes, peeling cherry tomatoes is skipped due to their small size and thin skins.

Then, I split them in half and squeezed to remove the seeds.

Placed them in a large pot, added salt and began cooking over medium heat for about 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

 

I then passed the tomatoes through a food mill into a medium-sized pot.

Finally ladled the tomatoes into jars, added two leaves of basil and then placed the filled, lidded jars in a water bath. 

 

Boiled for 25 minutes.  Left the jars sit in the hot water for 2 or 3 hours before removing them.

Here is how I transformed my garden summer abundance into jars of preserved sunshine.

Pork Liver Sausages (Salsicce di Fegato di Maiale)

Pork liver sausages are for those who truly can appreciate the taste of old dishes, strong, tough, but absolutely delicious.

It's an Abruzzese tradition that goes back in time.  They consist of a combination of pork flavors - pork belly and liver together with minced garlic, minced orange peel, bay leaf, hot pepper powder, salt and pepper.

Ingredients

2 lb. of pork meat (pork belly)

2 lb. of pork liver

Salt

Black pepper

2 Orange peel

1 chopped garlic

4 tablespoons of hot pepper powder

3 or 4 bay leaves

Pork casings

Preparation

The liver is finely chopped by hand with a knife.  The pork belly fat is ground using a meat grinder. Add the fat to the pork liver. Add orange peel, garlic hot pepper and bay leaves, salt and pepper.

The meat mixture is left to flavor overnight and then stuffed in pork casings.

They are hung to dry for 3 to 5 days.  At this point, they are ready to be grilled or cooked in the oven.

  

PORK LIVER IN "VEIL" - Fegato di maiale nel velo

Pork liver wrapped in veil is a dish of great tradition and exceptional flavor. It is a dish rich in taste consisting of slices of pork liver wrapped in a delicate veil and scented with bay leaves.

Ingredients for 4 persons:

1 lb. pork liver

1/2 lb. pork veil or caul
Bay leaves
salt and pepper

Cut the liver into strips about 3” in length; wrap (together with a bay leaf) in a piece of veil, add salt and pepper, and secure with a large toothpick.  Then grill over hot coals for a few minutes on each side.  

No fireplace, no grill, not a problem.  You can cook them in a frying pan with a thread of olive oil.

Enjoy your meal!

EASTER MENU (PRANZO DI PASQUA)

• I start preparing holiday meals a few days in advance to save time on the day of celebration.

I consider making these dishes ahead of time to streamline the meal prep process.

Appetizers:

Shrimp and clams ready to be baked for few minutes before dinner.

Stuffed and fried different mushrooms and fried peppers also ready to be baked minutes before dinner.

MAIN DINNER:

Make sauce the day before

Stuffed pasta shells stuffed with ricotta and cheese.  Baked for an hour or so before dinner.

Cut lamb chops.  To be marinated with a mix of olive oil, garlic, rosemary and lemon juice.  To be grilled few minutes before dinner.

Potatoes and onions to be baked

Salad

Leg of Lamb ready to be baked

WISHING YOU ALL AN ENJOYABLE EASTER DINNER!

FOOD TO EAT DURING LENT

From the ashes of Ash Wednesday to the light of Easter, the Church encourages spiritual growth, and practice self-discipline with allowances for fish and other non-flesh foods to maintain nourishment while observing penance.

"Eating lean" does not mean eating too little, nor does it mean eating poorly. It means making a choice. Red meats, poultry, and their by-products are excluded, while foods such as fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, grains, vegetables, and fruit remain permissible. 

Here are some Italian dishes during Lent.

FISH DISHES

Baked baccala' with escarole

Baked salmon with risotto

Stuffed calamari over peas

Risotto with shrimp and spinach

Baccala' and potatoes

Baked fresh cod with potatoes

Whiting over rice

PASTA DISHES 

Linguini with clams

Fettuccini with shrimp

Tagliatelle with mushrooms

Rigatoni with eggplant

VEGETABLE DISHES

Stuffed artichokes

Broccoli di rape

Fava beans and artichokes

EGG DISHES

Eggs with cipollata

Eggs with broccoli

and many, many more!

CAVATELLI MURGIANI AL FORNO (BAKED)

  Came across these Cavatelli Murgiani at the local Farmers Market.  Purchased them for the first time and decided to bake them with ricotta and mozzarella.

INGREDIENTS

  

1/2 lb. Cavatelli Murgiani
1/4 cup of olive oil
• 
  

1/2 onion chopped

2 cups of crushed tomatoes

Fresh parsley

Couple of basil leaves

Salt and pepper

1 cup of ricotta

1 egg

4 oz. mozzarella (grated)

1/4 cup of grated cheese

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; set aside.
• In a large skillet add olive oil and onion.  Cook onion until golden, add tomatoes, parsley, basil leaves and salt and pepper.  Cook sauce for half hour.
• Beat the egg slightly, add ricotta and mozzarella.  Mix slightly.
• In a baking casserole, add a little sauce.  Add the cooked pasta.  Then add the ricotta and mozzarella mixture.  Stir gently to combine. Add the remaining sauce.
• Bake covered in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle with grated cheese. 
• Bake for 5 more minutes.