Chef2Chef Recipe Club Member Forum: http://forums.chef2chef.net -------------------------------------------------- Hello Recipe Club, I would like to thank Anna Maria Volpi for her fascinating historical and culinary tour of Italy. I really learned a lot. Thank you all for your kind notes this week. I guess you‘d like to know who the winner of the autographed copy of her book, The Timeless Art of Italian Cuisine, is? Ok…the winner is Harvey A. Shelman from Kentucky. Congratulations Harvey! If you still haven't dropped by Anna Maria's website, you should. Visit her here, if you enjoyed her recipes drop her a note: http://www.annamariavolpi.com Next week Pam will have some last minute Holiday recipes for you, Monday through Wednesday. Have a wonderful and safe weekend. -------------------------------------------------- The Island of the Sun - The food of Sicily Sicilian cooking is undeniably the most complex and colorful in Italy. Like hues on a painter's palette, the dishes on a Sicilian table represent the various cuisine's of the many civilizations that passed through the island. The longtime isolation of the island and the Sicilians' innate attachment to tradition have allowed for the preservation and evolution of an elaborate cuisine. In Sicily, new and old, East and West, thrive side by side, blending uniquely together as in no other place in the world. Early Greek colonizers who settled on the seaside from 700 B.C. to 400 B.C. founded most of the coastal cities we know today. For the Greeks, Sicily was a land of legend. The famous Greek poet Homer made Sicily the background for his mythological stories. It was amidst magic and superstition—in this land populated with gods, cyclops, and nymphs— that Greek civilization prospered. The city of Syracuse was unrivaled in those times for its splendor as well as its power. The Greeks brought with them to the island the foods they appreciated the most: olives, grapes, wheat, and figs. The Romans occupied Sicily around 260 B.C., but they did not contribute much to Sicilian progress. On the contrary, they imposed a regime of exploitation, creating large estates run with slave labor, and made Sicily the granary of Rome. As elsewhere in Italy, the collapse of Rome set off a chain of invasions, incursions, and transfers of power from one ruler to the next. Sicily was prey to more foreign rulers than any other region of Italy. The seminal moment for Sicilian cooking occurred, however, under the Saracen domination. Conquered by the Arabs around 830 A.D., Sicily became one of the most splendid Islamic provinces. The Arabs gave a new face to the gastronomy of the island: They brought in new produce such as peaches, apricots, melons, dates, rice, sugar cane, eggplant, raisins, pistachios, oranges, and lemons, as well as new spices like clove, cinnamon, and saffron. Under the Arab tutelage, the local cuisine acquired the sophisticated flavors that still make it unique one thousand years later. Oriental taste is alive in the many sweet-and-sour dishes, and especially in the desserts—extremely sweet, and full of honey, almonds, figs, nuts, and pistachios. Many Arabic words transferred to international gastronomic vocabulary: sorbet, sugar, saffron, and couscous, to mention just a few. It is in Sicily that we have the first testimony of the manufacture of dry pasta, as well as marzipan and nougat. At the turn of the millennium, the Normans conquered Sicily for a short but illuminated reign. The Spanish Aragonese briefly ruled the island, inspiring Spanish eating habits and dishes. They were followed by the Bourbons (with ties to both French and Spanish royalty), who founded the Reign of Sicily that survived until 1860. The products of the new world appeared: cocoa, tomato, squash, peppers, and potato quickly became part of "traditional" Sicilian cooking. In the early 1800s, when the island was under English protectorate for about a decade, an Englishman by the name of John Woodhouse "invented" Marsala wine. He recognized that Sicilian climate and wines had similarities with those of Madeira and Port, which the English valued and enjoyed. When the northern Italian leader Garibaldi landed in Marsala in 1860, finally Sicily was united with the rest of Italy, in its most congenial form, the one we know today. Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Saracens, Normans, French, Spaniards, English, and finally Northern Italians; our palette is now complete. Not only history has shaped the cooking style of Sicily. The southern Mediterranean climate has had its influence, favoring the use of olive oil and fish. Also, as in many other Mediterranean countries, street cooking flourishes. The Sicilian desserts—colorful, precious, and extremely sweet—made history many times: In the 1500s, Caterina de' Medici took a Sicilian baker to France with her. And in 1689, Procopio de' Coltelli, a Sicilian baker, opened his Café in Paris, giving European stature to Sicilian ice creams. It is to Sicilian cuisine that we owe our thanks for ice cream, candied fruit, nougat, marzipan, and desserts like cannoli and cassata. On this island punctuated by orange groves survival was never easy for the Sicilians. The people of Sicily emigrated by the hundreds of thousands to the new world. Yet they took with them their culture of pride, passion, and attachment to their traditions, as well as their dishes and cooking habits -------------------------------------------------- BIG NEWS, I've just been told that Signature Secrets Culinary Thickener is now available at the King Arthur Flour, Bakers Catalogue site, packaged in 8 ounce containers for consumers! And it's only $3.95! Use this link and use what the chefs' use! Click Here http://www.kingarthurflour.com/cgibin/start/catalogue/linkin3.html?whichprod=2808~ -------------------------------------------------- Fusilli con i Broccoli Arriminati Fusilli with Green Cauliflower Sauce The flavor of this sauce is a combination of sweet and sour in the tradition of many Sicilian dishes. Sicilian green cauliflower has a particular taste, and it can be found only locally, but this dish is a mouthwatering experience of Sicilian cooking and is enjoyable even if another type of cauliflower is used. The best pasta for this dish is fusilli, a spiral-shaped dry pasta. Serve this dish lukewarm at least two hours after the preparation, giving it time to set and blend all the flavors. 2 lbs. (900 gr.) green cauliflower Salt 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, finely diced crushed red pepper 4 anchovy fillets, chopped 2 oz. (60 gr.) pine nuts 2 oz. (60 gr.) raisins 1 bag saffron powder 1 lb. (450 gr.) fusilli pasta Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil, add cauliflower and salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, until cauliflower is half-cooked and not yet fully tender. Drain the cauliflower with the help of a large slotted spoon. Reserve the cooking water. Dissolve the saffron in 1-2 tablespoons of the cooking water. In a medium-size saucepan, pour the olive oil, and turn heat to medium. Add the onion, generous red pepper, and sauté gently until the onion becomes soft and translucent. Remove the saucepan from the stove, add the anchovy fillets and quickly stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve them. When adding the anchovies, don't let them cook otherwise they will burn, giving the dish a very strong tang. Return the saucepan to the stove, add pine nuts, raisins, saffron and cauliflower. Mix to combine and sauté briefly. Anchovies can be very salty, therefore adjust salt at this point if necessary. If sauce is too thick, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the cauliflower cooking water. Bring the stockpot with the cauliflower cooking water to a boil. Cook the fusilli in the cauliflower cooking water following manufacturer's instructions. Taste for readiness from time to time, until al dente (firm but not too soft or overcooked). Drain and transfer to a bowl. Top with the sauce, toss, and set aside until lukewarm. This dish can be served warm, but it will be tastier if eaten lukewarm, after a few hours, or even the day after it is prepared. -------------------------------------------------- Recipe Club, Get your own Holiday Presents at Chef2Chef.net GatewayGourmet, we would like to offer you the opportunity to win 6 pucks (1.5 oz containers) of More Than Gourmet's Classic Stock Reductions. Demi-Glace, Chicken Sock, Venison Stock, Veggie Stock and more: http://www.gatewaygourmet.com/chef2chef_special.htm Win a 6-month Salsa Kiss Club of the Month Membership valued at $150! That's one specially selected free salsa and one free gourmet hot sauce every month for 6 months delivered to your door. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=374 Register to a copy of the Chef of the Month, Jerry Traunfeld's cookbook, The Herbfarm Cookbook. A must have for your cookbook collection http://marketplace.chef2chef.net/sweep/ What's new at Chef Revival? They have got a new handy and cleanable First Aid Kit, A New Drizzler Kit, The Famous CutRuler, A beautiful new Line Spoon and the "Got to Have" Bonetector! !0 winner's will each receive a set of all of these new items. Register http://ads.chef2Chef.net/goto.php?id=36 Sign up for a FREE Subscription to Food Arts Magazine. The Magazine for the Foodservice and Hospitality Industry. U.S. residents only. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=242 -------------------------------------------------- Pasta alla Norma Pasta with Eggplant This dish was named after the homonymous opera written by Vincenzo Bellini. The famous composer, who was born in the Sicilian city of Catania, gained great popularity; and Norma, his most acclaimed opera, became synonymous with everything that was excellent. One day during a dinner among artists, the guests were served a dish of spaghetti dressed with eggplant, tomato sauce, grated salty ricotta cheese and basil. One of the participants, inspired by the taste and flavors of the dish, exclaimed: "This is a Norma!" meaning it was as wonderful as the music of the opera. Since then, the dish has gone by this name, and many variations have become popular throughout Sicily. 1 lb. (450 gr.) eggplant, ripe but firm Frying oil 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 clove of garlic, sliced Crushed red pepper 5-6 basil leaves 2 cups (500 gr.) tomatoes, puréed in a blender Salt 2 oz (60 gr.) black olives 1 tablespoon capers in salt, rinsed and drained 1 lb. (450 gr.) pasta (fusilli or penne) 4 oz. (115 gr.) ricotta salata cheese (see description below), freshly grated Cut the eggplants in 1/2 inch (1 cm) dice. In a skillet, bring the oil to frying temperature. Fry the eggplant until golden. Remove the eggplants and clean the skillet with a paper towel. Add to the skillet the extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and red pepper. Sauté for 2-3 minutes without browning the garlic. Add the basil leaves, tomatoes and salt. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the fried eggplant, olives and capers, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Adjust salt if necessary. Cook pasta in abundant salt water following manufacturer's instructions. Taste for readiness from time to time, until al dente (firm but not too soft or overcooked). Drain and transfer to a bowl. Dress with the eggplant sauce, mix well, top with the cheese and serve at once. The original Sicilian recipe calls for ricotta salata cheese, typical of the region. This cheese is a salted, oven-dried ricotta with a strong, pungent taste. It can be substituted by grated pecorino (romano) cheese. For those who prefer a milder taste we suggest using half parmigiano and half pecorino (romano) cheese, grated and mixed. -------------------------------------------------- Venison America Premier Supplier of American Farm-Raised Gourmet Game and Specialty Food. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=149 -------------------------------------------------- Involtini di Melanzane Eggplant Rolls Serves 6 Frying oil 5 long eggplants, cut lengthwise in 4 slices each 4 oz. (115 gr.) bread crumbs 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium white onion, finely diced 3 oz. (85 gr.) pecorino (romano) cheese, freshly grated 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped Salt and pepper 2 hard-boiled eggs, wedged 1/2 lb. (225 gr.) tomatoes, puréed in a blender In a skillet, bring the oil to frying temperature. Lightly fry the eggplant until golden on both sides. Set it aside. In a small skillet, fry half of the bread crumbs with 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil, until golden. In a skillet over medium heat, pour 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Add the onion. Sauté until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the fried bread crumbs. Turn heat off and cool to lukewarm. When the onion is cold, combine the grated pecorino cheese, oregano, salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 370 F (190 C). Spread over the bottom of an oven pan 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and a small quantity of the bread crumbs. This will prevent the eggplant rolls from sticking to the pan. Place the eggplant slices on a work board. On each slice, put 1 tablespoon of the onion mixture, 1 egg wedge, and 1 tablespoon of tomato purée and roll them. Place the eggplant rolls in the oven pan, side by side in rows. Spread the remaining tomatoes and bread crumbs on the rolls. Bake for about 20 minutes. Serve warm. -------------------------------------------------- Jerky of the Month Club Do you know someone who just loves Beef Jerky? Of course you do, everyone does! Now you can give the gift that keeps on giving. Members of the Jerky of the Month Club receive a new flavor of Jerky delivered right to their door every month for 6 months! After all the Hoopla of the holidays is over, be remembered every month when your present arrives to the member. And Santa will thank you for helping to keep his sleigh load down! http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=172 -------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS, Comments, Technical Support: http://forums.chef2chef.net |
