cibo 365

Carbonara with lamb.

Yes, I’m an apostate. Carbonara should be made with guanciale. I know. But I’ve got this really interesting lamb bacon from Paulina Market. So it was to be. Sautéed with a shake or two or three of dried red pepper flakes. The sauce was two egg yolks and one whole egg whisked together with fresh-grated pecorino peppato. 

Chicken curry penne.

Cut up boneless chicken thighs, sautéed in butter, and spiced with salt, pepper, turmeric and lots of curry powder. Then added heavy cream and golden raisins and reduced the cream by about a half. Then, in with the spinach penne.

Un singolare carbonara.

Never made one quite like this before. And I’ve made a boatload of carbonara over the years. Rotini instead of spaghetti, and Paulina Market lamb bacon instead of guanciale. One egg, one egg yolk, grated Parmigiano, all standard there.

Pork sirloin steak.

Hickory-smoked salt and pepper and Moroccan tagine spices on the steak, steak on a 400° grill for 3 minutes a side. Parmesan couscous made with chicken broth. Salad of sliced radish, sliced golden beet, radicchio, arugula sprouts and tomatoes with balsamic vinaigrette.

Linguine con frutti di mare.

A bit more complicated than I usually go in for, but worth the effort. Started by pre-heating the oven to 300°. Filled a skillet with a couple ounces of olive oil, smashed garlic and a half dozen chopped plum tomatoes, fired that into the oven for about 40 minutes. In a second skillet went a finely chopped hot red pepper and olive oil; warmed up the oil over a low flame for 20 minutes, which hotted-up the oil with the heat from the pepper. For the last five minutes of the linguine boiling I sautéed four chopped shrimp, a dozen sea scallops and four sliced-up calamari in the hot oil. While the pasta drained I combined the tomato and seafood mixture, then tossed in the linguine, fresh chopped basil and mixed well.

Pot roast.

Sunday dinner came a day early. Started by marinating post roast in red wine, grains of paradise, veal stock, tomato paste, anchovy paste and dried porcini mushrooms for three hour. Butter, rosemary, fresh sage and one onion sweating in a padella. Added one celery root ball, potatoes and carrots. Browned the roast in butter in a skillet, moved the roast to the padella with the root vegetables, added the marinade. Deglazed the skillet with more red wine, poured that over the roast. Into a 250° oven for two hours, and served up with garlic toast. Anybody hungry before breakfast has a problem.

Lunch for my wife.

Panino of mozzarella, prosciutto and roasted red peppers, grilled for five minutes and served with green olives and fresh strawberries.  

Chicken and lemon fettuccine.

NIce. Chicken leg quarters, sautéed in olive oil and baked at 375° for an hour. Meantime, prepped the clementine salad with fig balsamic and fresh ground grains of paradise. While the pasta boiled, chicken was removed from pot and returned to the oven to crisp up, and creamy limoncello was added to the pot to reduce. When cooked the fettuccine wash drained and tossed in the pot with the reduced limoncello sauce. Served up with a clementine salad: clementine sections tossed with fig balsamic, olive oil scented with blood orange and fresh-ground pepper.

Lamb and eggs.

Again. Only different this time. Hot off the presses from Paulina Market, lamb bacon, made from the same belly meat that pork bacon is. Fried up like regular bacon and served alongside eggs scrambled with spinach and toast.

Roman Easter pasta.

The annual festival of meat! Somewhat involved, about a three hour process start to finish, with onion, celery, carrot, garlic, followed by Italian sausage, beef short ribs, ground beef and pork, and red wine, tomatoes, and porcini mushrooms. Two pounds of fettuccine and fresh-grated asiago cheese. All the meat came from Paulina Market, again spectacular. Here’s the recipe:

Fettuccine alla Romana

(Easter Pasta)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, peeled & chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

3/4 lb. hot Italian Sausage

1 meaty short rib, about one pound

1/2 lb. chicken livers, rinsed & chopped

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/2 lb. ground pork

2 cups dry red wine

2 28-oz. cans Italian-style whole tomatoes

2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lbs. dried fettuccine

Parmigiano-reggiano

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic,

carrots, and celery, and cook until soft, about 15 minutes.

2. Remove sausage from casing, break up, and add to vegetables.

Cut meat off short rib, chop into bite-sized pieces, and add, with

short-rib bone, liver, beef, and pork to vegetables and sausage.

Brown meat for 20 minutes.

3. Add wine, increase heat to high, and cook, uncovered, for 20

minutes. Stir in tomatoes, crushing with the back of a spoon.

Reduce heat to low, and simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.

Add water if needed.

4. Soak mushrooms in 2 cups hot water until soft, about 20 minutes.

Remove with a slotted spoon, rinse well, chop and add to

sauce. Pour mushroom water through a strainer lined with a coffee

filter and add to sauce. Cook, uncovered, until thick, at least 45

minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high

heat. Add fettuccine and cook until al dente, 8-10 minutes. Drain in

a colander and transfer while hot to a large serving bowl and toss

with sauce. Serve topped with grated parmeggiano-reggiano and

garnished with short-rib bone, if desired.