FOODIE FRIDAY RECIPE - SUPER SIMPLE STROMBOLI

Stromboli is a rolled up cousin to pizza and calzones.  Delicious meat and cheese rolled up in bread dough is easy to make and guaranteed to please.  Casual and versatile peasant fare, they make a hearty meal or can even be used as hors d'oeuvres when sliced thin. This is even good cold or at room temperature.  The filling choices are unlimited so I just going to give you the basics of my favorite and then you can use your favorite combination. Add genoa salami or sliced pepperoni for a little spice.  You can even add some drained roasted peppers or drained, cooked chopped spinach.

INGREDIENTS:

1 prepared pizza dough from grocery refrigerated section or local bakery

1 eight ounce fresh or Buffalo Mozzarella

8-10 slices deli ham [boiled style]

2 tablespoons grated romano or parmesan cheese

fresh cracked black pepper

flour for dusting

1/2 tsp. sesame seeds [optional]

METHOD:

Let the dough come to room temperature for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 425*

Thinly slice the mozzarella.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to an 8 x 12 rectangle.  Grind the black pepper over the surface of the dough.  Just a light coat is enough.  Sprinkle the grated cheese over the surface.  Lay the slices of cheese over the grated cheese, leaving 1/2" bare border.  Arrange the ham in two layers over the cheeses.  Starting at one of the shorter edges, carefully roll the layered dough away from you forming a log.  Pinch the two sides to seal and press the seam.  Lay the log, seam side down, on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle sesame seeds on the top of the roll and lightly press to the surface.  

Bake at 425* for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Be sure to allow this to cool for 5 minutes before trying to cut.  If cutting into thin pinwheels allow to cool a full 10 minutes.

It is customary to serve with marinara sauce on the side.  I find the sauce unnecessary.  

FOODIE FRIDAY RECIPE - LOBSTER POT PIE

Lobster Pot Pie

One evening this summer I had the pleasure of dining waterfront in Connecticut overlooking the Long Island Sound.  One of the specials being offered was Lobster Pot Pie.  Who could resist?  It was a perfect meal which immediately shot to the top of my list of favorite foods.  I wish the restauranteurs would make this a permanent feature on their menu.  I deconstructed the entree and have come up with my version for you.  Although I first had the pot pie in the heat of summer I think it is even more perfectly suited to a crisp fall evening.  You could even make smaller portions to serve as a very elegant first course for Thanksgiving.  That would surely give your family and guests something to be thankful for!

INGREDIENTS:

meat from 2 steamed lobsters [each kept separate]

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 small potatoes, peeled and diced

2 cups half & half cream

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons instant [Wondra] flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons frozen green peas

1 teaspoon dry sherry

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, defrosted

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 400*

Parboil the peeled and diced carrots and potatoes until just fork-tender, drain and place in a mixing bowl.  In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter but do not let it get any color.  Remove from heat and stir in the flour and the whisk in the half & half.  Return to low heat and add the salt, pepper, sherry and nutmeg.  Heat to just before simmer temperature while stirring,  but do not simmer or boil.  Remove from heat and add peas, potatoes and carrots.

Unfold the defrosted pastry sheet and cut two circles about 2 inches bigger than the rim of your [cereal-sized] bowls.

Place the meat from each lobster into each bowl and divide the cream/vegetable mixture over the lobster.  Cover each bowl with puff pastry and cut a small [1/2 inch] X vent in the center.  Place on a baking sheet and into the preheated oven on center rack for 20 minutes or until golden and flaky.

Serve in front of your fireplace* with a green salad and your favorite white wine. 

*if you don't have a fireplace, this dish calls for candles as the very least! 

FOODIE FRIDAY: CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

This is a close and delicious relative of beef goulash but with a few tasty additions and of course the obvious use of chicken instead of beef.  A robust and flavor-rich dish just perfect for fall and winter yet it is light and subtle.  I like to serve this over wide egg noodles or with potato pancakes.  Warm, sweet pickled red cabbage is an obvious accompaniment to balance the zip of the spices.

INGREDIENTS:

1 frying chicken cut into 8 pieces

1/2 cup a.p. flour

1 medium onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 sweet red bell pepper diced

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup quality sweet paprika

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 clove garlic, smashed

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper [optional]

12 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms

1/3 cup oil for frying

1/2 cup good red wine

METHOD:

Lightly brown the onions, bell pepper and garlic and move to a casserole dish.* While the onions are browning, dredge the chicken in flour. Add the chicken pieces to the oil and lightly brown on both sides over medium high heat.  Move the chicken to the casserole dish.  Now saute the mushrooms just until wilted and then add the paprika, salt and black pepper.  Transfer the seasoned mushroom mixture [with the liquid] to the casserole.  Add the remaining ingredients to the casserole dish.  Cover and bake in a 350* oven for 2 hours.  

Remove from oven, remove chicken to a platter.  Stir the sauce and serve over noodles.

*can be made in your slow cooker on high for 4 hours.

"SAUCE WARS"

Last weekend I had the honor of being one of the judge's for my hometown's first annual "Sauce Wars" tomato sauce competition.  When I got the call to participate I thought "this should be fun!".  I must admit that I haven't been very involved locally since the days when I owned my regional theater here: The Westchester Show Place. I grew up here.  I'm "third generation" Italian American Peekskillite and this competition was to be part of a three day Italian festival.

When I got off the phone it occurred to me that I hadn't asked for any details beyond when and where I was to show up.  I had no details about the competition rules or requirements or even how many people would be submitting their sauce. I watch FoodTV and the Travel Channel.  I'm a "foodie".  I know good sauce.  What more did I need to know? I figured I would taste a few sauces, be social, have some fun and do my part for the community. How hard could this possibly be?

Competition day arrived and the weather was picture perfect.  What a great day to spend outdoors with friends.  Predictably irreverent, I donned my favorite apron which is imprinted with "DON'T MAKE ME HAVE TO POISON YOUR DINNER" across the chest, and showed up at the address with which I had been provided.  The meeting place was a nice small office adjacent to the festivities.  I was greeted by old friends and familiar faces.  I soon realized that we were going to be doing the bulk of the judging in this space and not outside in the beautiful weather.  We would do the preliminary judging inside and then be joined by the local "celebrity" judges for the final round of three sauces.  Hey, wait a minute.  I'm not a "celebrity"?  My ego isn't too bruised.  

Lesson number one: when you get asked to judge a food competition, ask for details!  

I am quickly introduced to the other two non-celebrity judges, given a name badge and a clipboard and we are briefly instructed as to how we were to score and judge.  This is where we first learn that the competition had been such a success that  there had been 82 entries in the competition, some from as far as New York City.  82 different sauces to taste!  We were to judge 10 at a time and then our results would be tabulated and the second round would be narrowed to 20.  After that, 12 and then be joined by the "celebs" for the final 3 on stage.

Let's stop and do the math.  82 + 20 + 12 +3.  When it was over we will have tasted 127 samples!  127 tastings with only water for palate cleansing.  This was going to take a long time.

Lesson number two: when you create a food competition make some rules and guidelines for the entrants. 

The first set of 10 jars is placed on the judging table along with a large supply of plastic spoons.  "OK, begin".  With my first taste I discovered that the sauce was cold.  After I made my "unattractive face" I ask about the temperature and was told that "there was no way to heat them up but that they had been left out of the refrigerator for a while to warm up to room temperature".  Cold tomato sauce!  How do you judge COLD tomato sauce?  It's neither fair to the contestants nor [especially] to the "non-celebrity" judges being asked to sample 127.  Temperature completely throws off the taste balance, acidity and viscosity.  Not to ignore the fact that cold, oily sauce is off-putting. I wouldn't even want to taste my own [wonderful] sauce cold!

As I make my way through the first set of cold, oily sauces something else has revealed itself to me and my fellow judges:  there were no guidelines for the sauce.  If it was red it's in the competition.  The sauces were with or without meat.  I'm sure a few had fish in them.  Some had vegetables.  Some were so spicy that water would not cleanse the palate.  Other entries tasted more like Mexican salsa or burrito sauce.  The competition should clearly have been broken down into categories.

By the time I had tasted 40 very different sauces I was turning a little green.  Not "with envy" green.  Just "how the hell am I going to taste 87 more samples?" green.  I think it was around this time that my mind began to wander to the inevitable thoughts of  "I wonder who made these" and "is there a cure for botulism?" and "I wonder if I'll ever again be able to smell tomato sauce without getting nauseous".  

By the time we finished the first round of 82 I was in the groove.  The bulk of the judging was behind us and we knew what we were in for for the rest of the rounds.  We had already tasted all of them.  The rounds should get much easier if you don't factor in the cumulative effect.  I spent a lot of time suggesting to the people in charge that next year it should be a cannoli contest instead!

The "celebrity" judges arrived and to their credit decided to join us "nobody" judges for the final 12 round.  They were lovely, gracious and fun.  I took a great deal of pleasure watching them jump in and take spoonfuls of the cold, oily sauces.  When they heard how many samples we had already tasted they were very complimentary and no doubt grateful that they hadn't arrived any earlier in the process.

We did it.  Somehow we narrowed the sauces down to the final 3.  The top 3.  We were escorted outside to the stage where we were announced, introduced and seated.  It was great to be outside.  The fresh air was very welcomed.  We did our final judging in front of the audience and the winner was announced.  

It was a fun day.  It was a good experience that I surely won't soon forget.  Unfortunately the competition more closely resembled "Bizarre Foods" with Andrew Zimmern than "The Next Great Chef"!  

That evening I went home to eat some crackers,  brush my teeth and gargle several times followed by a nice dinner at my favorite Indian restaurant!

FOODIE FRIDAY RECIPE - ITALIAN VEGETABLE STEW

GIAMBOTTA

[Italian Vegetable Stew]

Late in summer when local vegetables are abundant and gardeners are begging their friends to relieve them of some of their zucchini, tomatoes and string beans, it's time for Aunt Gloria's hearty giambotta.  You can get the necessary vegetables year round now but nothing compares to local garden-fresh.  This peasant dish is a close relative to the French ratatouille but less condensed and minus the eggplant.  This is a flexible dish so feel free to adapt to taste.  Aunt Gloria always put potatoes in her stew and served it as a side dish.  I generally omit the potatoes and serve the stew over pasta as a main course.  Either way, you can't miss.

Ingredients:

4 cups diced ripe tomatoes

[or canned crushed tomatoes]
2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups large-diced zucchini

1/2 cup diced celery

3/4 cup diced carrots

1 diced bell pepper

1 minced clove garlic

2 diced medium onions

1 pound string beans

4 large potatoes, peeled and diced [optional]

3 cups water or chicken stock

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

6 to 8 fresh basil leaves

3 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 cup good red wine

Method:

Preheat oven to 330*.

Clean and prep all the vegetables.  I find it helpful to scrape some of the skin from the zucchini with a serrated knife before cutting.  Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch Oven and lightly brown the onions, celery, carrots and pepper.  After a few minutes add the garlic and remove from heat.  Add all the remaining ingredients, cover and return to medium heat to bring to a simmer.  

Give the stew a quick stir and then move it from stovetop to preheated oven.  Let it cook in the oven for 2 or even 3 hours.  The stew is done when all the vegetables are soft to the fork.

Serve over prepared farfalle or orecchiette pasta and enjoy with a loaf of really great peasant Italian bread!

FOODIE FRIDAY RECIPE - CROCK POT STEAK PIZZAIOLA

Steak Pizzaiola is a family favorite here at the Lanni household.  When you order it in an Italian restaurant it is usually made with a shell, strip or sirloin steak as these are firm, tender cuts.  At home, we have always made it with bone-in chuck steaks.  The chuck steak is an inexpensive but very flavorful choice but it can be tough.  I decided to experiment and adapt the recipe for crock pot cooking and the result is an amazingly tender dish with really big flavor.  

Ingredients:

1 large [2-3#] bone in chuck steak, 1" thick

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

one 8 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed

1 large can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon dry oregano

1/2 tablespoon dry basil

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes [optional]

Method:

In the bottom of the crock pot combine all ingredients and stir.  Cut the steak into 3 or 4 pieces to fit your crock and submerge them in the sauce mixture.  Cook on medium for 6-7 hours until fork tender.  Remove the meat to a serving platter and serve the sauce over white rice or pasta and top with grated romano cheese.  

FOODIE FRIDAY RECIPE - CRUNCHY OVEN "FRIED" CHICKEN

Simple and delicious, this is a variation on "fried" chicken that's sure to please.  The recipe is flexible enough to adapt to your own personal choice of herbs but I prefer a straight forward approach with few, if any, herbs.  The chicken is crisp and tasty with a hint of sweetness provided by the corn flake crumbs.  I like to serve it with mashed potatoes and the optional "gravy".

This is a dish that is sure to impress.  You can keep the fact of how easy it is to make just between us!

Ingredients:

1 chicken cut up into 8 pieces

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika 

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2 cups corn flake crumbs 

1 stick of butter, melted

Method:

Preheat oven to 425* and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a rack in the pan.  Spray with cooking spray.  

Wash and dry the chicken parts.

In a wide bowl combine 1 can of soup with 1/2 cup milk and the pepper.  Whisk until smooth.

In another bowl combine the corn flake crumbs, salt, onion powder and paprika.

Dredge the chicken pieces in the wet mixture and then in the dry mix.  Place on the prepared rack and bake and drizzle with the melted butter.  Bake for 40 minutes.

"GRAVY"

Combine 1 can of soup with 1/2 cup of milk.  Whisk until smooth and heat until simmer.  Yes, that's all there is to it!