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Egg and Cheese Fritters from Tarallucci e Vino

In Italian,” finire a tarallucci e vino” (literally,  to finish up with cookies and wine), means to say that there was a happy ending.  At the Tarallucci e Vino restaurant at 15 East 18 Street near Union Square in NYC,we were happy not just with the ending of the meal, but everything else from appetizers to dessert.

We had the tasting menu, so we got to try a number of different things.  My photos don’t really do them justice, so I’ll just post a few of the best ones.  Above is a roasted sea scallop with wild mushrooms and a poached quail egg.

Among the starters were these fried sage leaves stuffed with anchovies and mozzarella.  I like to stuff zucchini blossoms this way, but this inspired combination means that I can make them even when the blossoms are not available.  The sauce was nice and fresh, but the crunchy sage and tasty filling really didn’t need it.  Many more good things followed.

Did I mention the bread basket?  Charles could not stop eating the flatbread flavored with squid ink, rosemary and olive oil.  I know it sounds odd, but take my word for it, I was glad he ate it all so I could not.  There were also warm little baguettes and olive rolls.

We’ve long been fans of Tarallucci e Vino and weekend mornings often find us there enjoying one of New York’s best cappuccinos and a perfect Italian-style cornetto.  On our recent trip to Abruzzo, we met Lorenzo, who is the manager for all 4 of the restaurant’s branches.  He invited us to come by for dinner to the 18th Street location and we were glad we did.  It’s one of New York’s best kept Italian restaurant secrets.   The place was cozy and the atmosphere lively.  Charles had only good things to say about the wine list and in honor of our last trip ordered the Cantina Frentana Coccociola, an unusual white wine from Abruzzo, and the Emidio Pepe 2003 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which was superb.

We ended with this dark, totally fudge-y semifreddo topped with chocolate and cognac gelato.  We’re looking forward to going back again soon to try the rest of the menu.

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.

Last week, Charles and I spent a few days in Rome, then headed to Abruzzo.  Here is my Roman favorite dish his trip, the Spaghettoni alla Carbonara at Roscioli.  The bits of guanciale were chunkier than usual and had been fried until crisp around the edges.  The sauce was perfectly made, with just eggs and cheese and lots of black pepper.  Perfection!

In Abruzzo, we stayed in the area known as the Costiera dei Trabocchi where we were the guests of the Cantina Frentana winery.  Trabocchi are wooden platforms built for fishermen that are now used as restaurants.  For a better look at them, see my blog on the i-Italy website.  Not surprisingly, the star attraction in this area is very fresh seafood.

Of course, there was lots of great pasta, too, both fresh and dried.  The town of Fara San Martino is the home of several major pasta companies, including De Cecco, Del Verde and Giuseppe Cocco.

The last one above had tiny little lamb meatballs tangled in spaghetti alla chitarra, fresh pasta made on a chitarra, a wooden frame strung with thin wires used to cut sheets of fresh pasta into long square spaghetti.

Cheese, of course, was only served on pasta with meat sauce.  A plate of long, skinny fresh green chilies was passed with every pasta.

Tender little tarts filled with chocolate and grape preserves were a tasty dessert on at least two occasions.

Throughout our stay, we drank wonderful wines of the region from Cantina Frentana.

Joel Peterson, the owner of Ravenswood Winery, has been called both a vino-revolutionary and the godfather of zinfandel.  That may be, but it doesn’t give you any idea of how knowledgeable he is, or that he is a delightful dining companion.  You may already have guessed that he makes a superb line of California zinfandels.  Joel was in town last week and together with some other writers, I had a chance to chat with him and taste his new vintages over lunch at A Voce in the Time Warner Center.  As far as I’m concerned, there is no better way to taste a wine than to accompany it with food, and A Voce turned out to be the perfect choice.

Joel organized the tasting in 3 flights.  We began with the lightest wine, the Dickerson Zinfandel, named for the vineyard where the grapes are grown.   This wine is made from 100% zinfandel grapes.  As soon as I lifted my glass, I noticed the aroma — like a big bowl of fresh ripe raspberries. It was a perfect way to the start the tasting and went great with the first course, crisp fried cassoncini, little turnovers filled with crescenza, a creamy cheese, and swiss chard, plus tender sliced prosciutto and stracchino, a soft cheese best known as the stuffing in burrata, and fresh fava beans.  Then we moved on to the Big River Zinfandel, also 100% zinfandel, which had a more subtle fruit aroma and concentrated flavor.  The third wine in the flight was the Belloni Zinfandel made from a blend of grapes.  Joel described the aroma as dark fruit like plums, which was true, and boysenberry, but since I ‘m not sure I know what boysenberry smells like I’ll have to take his word for that.

Joel made it clear that he wants to avoid what he called the “3 sins of Zin”:   high alcohol, high sugar, and too much oak.  With the next course we  drank Barricia Zinfandel fom the vineyard of the same name, made with 76% zinfandel grapes blended with petite sirah.  This wine was more complex than the first three with a better balance.  The Old Hill Zinfandel, so called because the vines are thought to be the oldest in Sonoma, went great with my pasta, Sagne alla Amatriciana.  Sagne is a wide fresh pasta ribbon and in this version it was sauced with a smooth tomato sauce flecked with smokey bacon and fresh marjoram.   The wine tasted of dark cherries with a rich leathery quality.  The bacon, tomatoes and spicy pecorino cheese on the tender pasta matched up with the wine beautifully.  The Teldeschi Zinfandel was particularly interesting to me.  Joel said that the blend of 4 grape varieties — zinfandel, petite sirah, Carignane and Alicante Bouschet — used were originally planted by Italian immigrants and this wine was a favorite with traditional grape growing families.

We ended with two more wines.  According to Joel,  the ICON Mixed Blacks was the wine that should have been and would have been made in California if it had not been for Prohibition.   The blend of grapes is the same as the above Teldeschi, but the proportion of zinfandel is much lower — 37% for ICON as opposed to the 75% in the Teldeschi.  That’s why the ICON cannot be called a zinfandel on the label.  To go with the wine, I had grilled quail glazed with fig reduction resting on a bed of fregula, tiny Sardinian pasta similar to couscous.  This was outstanding and the flavors of the fig glaze and grilled meat were an ideal match with the robust flavors of the ICON and the final wine of the day, the Pickberry Red.  This is a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blend that shows promise, and will really come into its own with a few years of aging.

Do you know how to choose a good olive oil and how to use it?  On Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 5:30, I will be a member of a panel discussion hosted by The American Institute of Wine and Food entitled OLIVE OIL: MISCONCEPTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS.  Clark Wolf will host the panel of experts including Michele Buster, an importer with Forever Cheese Inc., Eric Korsch, Chef at the Waverly Inn, Louis Coluccio Jr, a retailer with D. Coluccio and Sons, Inc.  Hope you can join us.  For more information and to sign up, go to http://www.aiwf.org/newyork/

Salvo Montalbano is the leading character in a series of Italian mystery novels written by Andrea Camilleri.  Salvo is a decent and humane man with a fiercely independent streak who happens to be a police commissioner in Sicily.    He fights corruption, solves crimes, has girlfriend problems, and never fails to enjoy a good meal.   Normally I’m not much of mystery reader, but the series is well written and the characters are appealing.  The books capture a real feeling of life in Sicily.  The highlight for me though is the opportunity to experience Sicilian food vicariously with Montalbano.  You can bet that no matter how grim or perplexing the crime, Montalbano will sit down to a good meal and a bottle of wine either at his beachside home, prepared by his faithful housekeeper Adelina, or at some truckstop or trattoria on the way to or from the crime scene.

Recently, my friend Diane Darrow picked up a copy of  I Segreti della Tavola di Montalbano–Le Ricette di Andrea Camilleri (The Secrets of Montalbano’s Table — The Recipes of Andrea Camilleri)  by Stefania Campo.  Diane is a great home cook and the author, along with her husband Italian wine expert Tom Maresca, of several Italian cookbooks.  Undaunted by the lack of detailed info in the recipes, Tom and Diane decided to undertake a Sicilian dinner Montalbano-style and Charles and I were delighted to attend.

The meal began with Adelina’s Caponata from Excursion to Tindari.  The flavors of the eggplant, onions and celery were balanced though it had less tomato than I am accustomed to and was topped with crunchy toasted almonds.  Altogether delicious.  Next came the Pasta col Ragu Siciliana (also from Excursion to Tindari), which was as good as it looks.  The ragu was made with sirloin that Diane and Tom had ground themselves and the pasta was topped with caciocavallo, a classic Sicilian cheese.  Our main course was a dramatic ‘mpanata di maiale, from The Wings of the Sphinx, a baked drum of bread dough stuffed with sauteed sausages, potatoes, olives and cauliflower.  Diane accompanied it with roasted red peppers, the ideal complement.

Tom selected the wines for the dinner.  Though we started with a magnum of French Champagne, at the table there were three Sicilian reds:  Don Antonio from Morgante, and the Rosso del Soprano and Faro from Palari, which we all enjoyed.

Little dark chocolate cakes with orange sauce (sformatino di cioccolato amaro con salsa all’arancia) from The Snack Thief were a nice finish to our memorable Montalbano dinner.  Salvo is a lucky character to eat this well in every book, and we too felt lucky to share it with Diane and Tom.

You can read more about this dinner and Diane’s kitchen adventures at http://dianescookbooks.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/a-sicilian-meal-for-montalbano/.