Category — Recipes

After weeks of eating and drinking far too much and too often, Charles and I decided that a little austerity would be a good thing for a change.  Since January 2, we’ve been eating very simply.   Poule au Pot might sound elegant, but it’s just the French way of saying Chicken in the Pot, a recipe in The French Slow Cooker.   I decided to make it the other night when the sudden cold snap had us craving something comforting.

Basically, Chicken in the Pot is a one-dish dinner with chicken and vegetables steaming in a bit of broth.  I bought a nice fat chicken and put it in my slow cooker on a bed of leeks, carrots, celery and rosemary, added some chicken broth and turned on the heat.  That’s about it.
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Several years ago, I was signing my book A Fresh Taste of Italy at the Greenmarket in New York’s Union Square.  A man stopped by and told me he was looking for a recipe for vecchiarelle, meaning little old ladies.  He explained  that they were something like struffoli, only shaped like gnocchi and flavored with red wine.  As he described them, I began to remember the struffoli my godmother Jean would bring us every Christmas.  Somehow, I had forgotten all about them, even though my family loved them.  We always called them Red Wine Struffoli.

As soon as I could, I called my mom to ask her if she had a recipe.  She’d forgotten all about them, and she might have had a recipe at one time, but couldn’t find it anywhere.  Disappointed, I mentioned the incident to my sister, who thought she had once had it, but couldn’t find the recipe either.  One day, she was visiting our Aunt Millie and mentioned that she was looking for the recipe.  Aunt Millie remembered them too, looked in her recipe book and there was the recipe, carefully handwritten by my mother on pink notepaper more than 30 years ago.   When I finally got the recipe I knew how lucky I was since I hear stories all the time about family recipes that are lost because no one took the time to write down.

Vecchiarelle or Red Wine Struffoli

So here’s the recipe for Vecchiarelle, Little Old Ladies, or Red Wine Struffoli.  Copy it, put it in a safe place, and I hope it inspires you to write down your family’s treasured recipes for future generations to enjoy and think of you.

 LITTLE OLD LADIES

Vecchiarelle

 Serves 8 – 10

4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

3/4 cup robust red wine

1/4 cup olive oil plus more for frying

1 cup honey

Colored candy confetti

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, wine and 1/4 cup oil until blended.  Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients.  Stir until the flour is moistened.  Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth.
3. Cut the dough into 8 pieces.  Roll each piece into 3/4 inch thick ropes.  Cut the ropes into 1/2 inch lengths.
4. Holding a cheese grater in one hand, use the thumb of your other hand to press and roll  each piece of dough over the medium holes to roughen the surface on one side and form an indentation on the other side.
5. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a deep, heavy pot until the temperature reaches 370° F. on a deep frying thermometer or use an electric deep fryer.
6. Carefully lower just enough of the pieces into the pot so that they form a single layer and are not crowded.  Cool, stirring occasionally, until they brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
7. Remove the pieces with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels.  Repeat with the remaining dough.
8. Heat the honey in a large pot just until it warms and thins out.  Remove from the heat.  Add the fried pieces and stir well until the honey is cooled and the struffoli are coated.  When completely cold, scrape the struffoli into a cookie tin and seal tightly.  Sprinkle with the candy confetti just before serving.

Every year about this time, I hear from cooks with questions about struffoli.  These little honey covered nuggets of fried dough are made in many places in Italy, but are most popular in Naples and the South.  To many Italian Americans and Italians, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without them.  Making struffoli is a great tradition to pass on to the next generation.  I have given the recipe before, and it is in several of my cookbooks, but  if you don’t have it, here is a link.  This is a recipe from my book 1,000 Italian Recipes.   http://michelescicolone.com/struffoli-christmas/

Now that you have the recipe, I thought I would pass along a couple of tips. [Read more →]

A big bell pepper with a ding in it, half of a large tomato and a handful of small ones, an eggplant, miscellaneous potatoes, and a couple of onions — I’m cleaning out my vegetable supply and it’s a perfect occasion to make ciambotta.  

Don’t be surprised if you have never heard of ciambotta (sometimes spelled giambotta or cianfotta).  You won’t find it on many restaurant menus, but you can find versions of it in just about any home kitchen in Southern Italy.  It is a vegetable stew made from whatever vegetables are in season.  Though you could eat it hot, it really tastes best when it is just warm. Like a lot of stews, the flavor improves the next day.   I can make a whole meal of ciambotta, but it’s good as a side dish, too, with sausages or chops or chicken.  Eat it plain, sprinkled with basil, extra virgin, or grated cheese, or mixed with scrambled eggs.  Stuff it in a crisp hunk of Italian bread for a great sandwich or toss it with some cooked pasta.  It’s all good.

Ciambotta (pronounced something like giam-boat) isn’t fancy or fussy and it is easy to make.  In fact, in the Italian dialect of the region my family was from, to say that something is a “big giamboat” is to say that it is a big mixed up mess.

Trim  all of the vegetables and cut them into bite size pieces.  You can salt the eggplant if you are concerned that it may be bitter and want to drain off the juices, but I don’t often do that anymore.  Saute the onion in some olive oil, and add garlic if you like.  When the onion is tender, you stir in the remaining vegetables.  Quantities or varieties are not really important and one more or less pepper, onion or potato won’t be a problem.  Sometimes I add zucchini, or green beans.  Some cooks add a hot chili to the mix.  You can put in parsley or oregano if you like, but I think fresh basil, added at the end of the cooking time to protect its delicate flavor, is best.  Fortunately, my garden still has some small basil leaves.

If you are one of those people who likes your vegetables crunchy, this is not the dish for you.  By the end of the cooking, the eggplant and tomatoes will pretty much melt into a sauce and the potatoes will absorb the flavors of the other ingredients.  Ciambotta is nothing if not comforting and rustic — I’m always amazed at how good it turns out.

This recipe is one that appeared in my book, 1,000 Italian Recipes, (John Wiley & Sons).

CIAMBOTTA

Serves 4 to 6

1 medium onion

1/4 cup olive oil

4 plum tomatoes

2 potatoes, peeled

1 medium eggplant

1 medium red pepper

1 medium yellow pepper

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil or freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or   pecorino romano

Trim the vegetables and cut them into bite size pieces.  In a large skillet, cook the onion in the oil over medium low heat until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant,  and peppers.   Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are tender and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 40 minutes.   If the mixture becomes too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water.   If there is too much liquid, uncover and cook 5 minutes more.

Serve warm or at room temperature plain, or drizzled with olive oil, or sprinkled with basil or cheese.

Variation:  Ciambotta with Eggs:  When the vegetables are ready, beat 4 to 6 eggs with salt until blended.  Pour the eggs over the vegetables.  Do not stir.  Cover the pan.  Cook until the eggs are set, about 3 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

I’m sorry, slow cooker.  No vacay for you this year.   At 104 degrees F. in New York yesterday, it’s just too hot to turn on the stove, so I’m relying on you to make us a good dinner.  I’ve found a nice sheltered spot for you outside that is protected from the elements and stray critters, so you can do your thing without heating up the kitchen.  You won’t be using up a lot of precious energy either, since you only need as much as a 75-watt light bulb.

Of course, we won’t be wanting any of those heavy stews or hearty roasts you do so well during the cold months, but how about a Summer Minestrone, like I made yesterday, served at room temperature as they do on hot days in Italy, or poached chicken to turn into a warm weather salad, or even a simple frittata?

With more hot days to come, I’ll be turning often to my book, The Italian Slow Cooker.  Here is what you will be cooking.

1. Summer Minestrone (recipe below)

2. Chicken with Rosemary and Garlic

3. Tomato Soup with Burrata or Goat Cheese

4. Farro Salad

5. Salmon with Basil and Lemon

6. Tomato, Ricotta and Basil Frittata

7. Pesto Chicken

8. Rolled Stuffed Turkey Breast

9. Roasted Beets with Orange Balsamico Dressing

10. Summer Squash with Tomatoes and Onion

Summer Minestrone

I was all out of fresh tomatoes, so I used some canned crushed tomatoes instead.  I did have some chick peas that I had cooked previously, but canned would be fine.

Serves 6-8

2 cups canned crushed tomatoes

4 carrots, chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 medium onions onion, chopped

2 cups drained cooked chick peas, or 1 16-ounce cans, drained

2 medium boiling potatoes, such as Yukon Gold peeled and chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 cups water

1/2 cup white rice

1 cup chopped fresh basil

Extra virgin olive oil

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

In a large slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, onion, chick peas, potatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, and salt and pepper to taste.  Add the water.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high 5 hours.

Stir in the rice and cook 30 minutes more or until the rice is tender and the soup is thickened.

Stir in the basil and let cool to room temperature.  Taste for seasoning.  Spoon into bowls.  Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and grated Parmigiano.

Check out www.cookstr.com on Wednesday, June 29.  I’m the featured “chef” (though I would say cook).  Cookstr is a great site for recipes and information about cooking, cookbooks and authors.  Wonder which recipe of mine they will feature?