paintings + drawings

Penne (or whatever) all'Arrabbiata.

from Amy Kaufman.

ingredients
1/4 cup e.v. olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic finely minced
1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes or to taste
sea salt
one 28 ounce can peeled tomatoes (I like the whole San Marzano)
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (this helps cut any canned taste of the tomatoes)
freshly ground pepper
1 lb dried pasta (the fancy dried stuff, Latini, Rustichella d'Abruzzo etc. is good)
1 cup flat leaf/Italian parsley leaves, rough chop
freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

directions
1. Heat oil in large saucepan, add garlic, chili flakes, pinch of salt. Stir, cook until garlic JUST golden.
2. Puree tomatoes (whole or crushed) through food mill into pan, or use a food processor.
3. Add vinegar and pepper. Stir and simmer for 15-30 minutes.
4. Add parsley and taste for seasoning.
5. Cook pasta al dente, drain, add about 1/4 cup parm, toss to coat, add 1/2 the sauce, toss to coat. Cover and let sit a few minutes.
6. Dish out with extra sauce on top of each serving. Extra cheese on the side.

Serve with salad (bitter and sweet greens with vinaigrette) and bread.

And if you have time and ingredients (organic preferred): sliced oranges and biscotti

Biscotti di Prato

ingredients
1/2 cup whole raw hazelnuts or almonds
1/2 cup whole raw almonds
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4-1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp (Trader Joe's organic is good)
2 whole large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp freshly grated orange zest (or lemon)
1 - 1 1/2 tsp anise seed
optional: 3/4 - 1 cup chopped dried fruit esp. apricots/golden raisins.

directions
Preheat oven to 350.
1. Lightly toast hazelnuts and almonds in oven or in toaster oven. Cool and rub the hazelnuts between the palms of your hands until some of the skins fall away.
2. In large bowl stir nuts, flour, sugar, bp, baking soda, salt, anise seed, (dried fruit) and butter.
3. In a separate bowl combine eggs, yolk, vanilla, zest  and lightly beat.
4. Add egg mix to flour mix. Stir with a fork and then knead/further combine with your hands until incorporated.
5. Turn onto floured surface and knead 1 minute adding a little flour to make it manageable.
6. Divide into 4 equal portions. Using your floured palms, roll into logs about 12 inches long, 1 inch diameter.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment or grease it with butter or use a silpat mat.
8. Place logs about 2 inches apart. Lightly flatten with your palm to about 1/2 inch thick.
9. Bake 15-20 minutes, golden brown.
10. Let  cool. Slice on diagonal into pieces about 1/2" wide.
11. Place cookies on baking sheet cut side down. Bake 10 minutes or more, until golden brown.

Hot fudge pudding cake.

from Gale Antokal.

ingredients
2 tsp instant coffee
2 cups water
⅔ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (2 1/2 ounces)
⅓ cup brown sugar (packed -- 1 3/4 ounces)
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 oz semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate -- chopped
3⁄4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup whole milk
1⁄4 tsp table salt
1 lg egg yolk

direction

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Lightly spray 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Stir instant coffee into water; set aside to dissolve.
4. Stir together 1/3 cup cocoa, brown sugar, and 1/3 cup granulated sugar in small bowl, breaking up large clumps with fingers; set aside.
5. Melt butter, remaining 1/3 cup cocoa, and chocolate in small bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water; whisk until smooth and set aside to cool slightly.
6. Whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl to combine; set aside.
7. Whisk remaining 2/3 cup sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt in medium bowl until combined; Whisk in yolk.
8. Add chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
9. Add flour mixture and whisk until batter is evenly moistened.
10. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and spread evenly to sides and corners.
11. Sprinkle cocoa/sugar mixture evenly over batter (cocoa mixture should cover entire surface of batter); pour coffee mixture gently over cocoa mixture. (this is the weird part, as it will look like a lake on top of the batter-not to worry)
12. Bake until cake is puffed and bubbling and just beginning to pull away from sides of baking dish, about 45 minutes. (Do not overbake.)
13. Cool cake in dish on wire rack about 25 minutes before serving.

If you have cold, brewed coffee on hand, it can be used in place of the instant coffee and water, but to make sure it isn’t too strong, use 1 cup of cold coffee mixed with 1/2 cup of water.  Serve the cake warm with vanilla or coffee ice cream. Leftovers can be reheated, covered with plastic wrap, in a microwave oven.

It looks seriously weird when you put it in the oven, but I promise you that when it comes
out, it will be perfect. Maybe too "adult" for children (because of the coffee), but it is a masterpiece of decadence.

White bean/kale stew and toaster.

from Alexis Mackenzie.

ingredients
1 onion
olive oil
2 large cloves or 4 small cloves garlic
cooked, crumbled sausage (optional) (i used about a cup)
1 tomato
1 bunch kale
1 reg. sized can navy or cannellini beans
2-3 cans chicken broth
salt & pepper
dash red pepper flakes

directions
1. Saute garlic and onions in olive oil until golden.
2. Add dash red pepper flakes and tomato, continue to sauté.
3. Next add beans, saute 2-3 more minutes.
4. Add chicken broth, cover, and simmer until beans are soft.
5. Mush some of the beans up against side of pot to add extra texture to broth.
6. Cook, covered for about an hour (shorter if you are hungry, but it tastes good to let it veg for a while).
7. Add kale when you are just about ready to eat. Chop it up and add to pot and cook until
done but still crisp. If it needs more broth (depending on how many vegetables you added), you can always add more.
8. Put parmesan or asiago cheese on top.

My sister sent me this recipe for white bean/kale stew a while ago, I requested it from her because I tried some that she made once. It's very easy... can also be made with seared pancetta, or vegetarian. I don't know where she originally got the recipe or if she just made it up, she and my mother have a knack in the kitchen which I don't.

And for a beverage - nothing fancy, just something which I discovered is perfect on cold nights, let's call it a 'toaster'. I believe it's also a sort of hot toddy, and my roommate said something like an Irish hot chocolate. All I know is, I like it.

Toaster

1 cup milk
2 T. hot chocolate mix
whisky!

Make yourself a nice cup of hot chocolate in a large mug, leaving room at the top to add a finger or two of whisky, more if you're a total lush. add the whisky. stir. drink and enjoy the warmth it bestows!

Piroshki.

from Lawrence Rinder.

ingredients
1 pckge (10 oz) frozen patty shells
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/4 diced half-cooked bacon
1/2 teaspoons dried dill weed
salt and pepper

directions
1. Thaw the frozen patty shells in the refrigerator overnight, or on the counter at room temperature for about one hour.
2. Saute the onion in butter for 2-3 minutes. Add sour cream, stir in the bacon, dill, salt and pepper. Mix well, set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each patty shell into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. With a 3 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut from each as many circles as you can. Gather the scraps into a ball and roll out again to make additional circles.
4. Spread a rounded tablespoon of the meat filling on one-half of each circle of the dough, fold other half over the filling and seal the edges by pinching the dough together; cut a couple of lsits in each to let steam escape.
5. Place the piroshki side by side on a buttered baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Breakfast Muesli.

From John Zurier:

For an unsugared uncluttered Muesli that is delicious with yogurt mix the following ingredients bought from the grain bins at your local organic grocery store. You can start with these proportions, and then add a little bit of this and a little bit of that to suit your taste.

ingredients

1 cup       Rye Flakes

1/4 cup   Organic Gold Flax Seeds

1/2 cup   Crispy Brown Rice Cereal

1/4 cup   Toasted Wheat Germ

1/4 cup   Raw Sunflower Seeds

Brussel sprouts with pancetta and hazelnuts.

from Nina Hubbs Zurier:

ingredients

2 stalks of brussel sprouts (about 100 sprouts)

6 thick pieces of pancetta or bacon

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup chopped hazelnuts

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

3 tbs cream

 

at least 8 hours before:

Remove sprouts from stalks and clean, removing loose outer leaves and stems, putting sprouts in a bowl of water as you clean them. Transfer wet sprouts to a baking pan or paper bag and put in freezer for at least 8 hours.

 

 

directions

1. Remove sprouts from freezer and put in large pot on stove over low heat to thaw, about 30 minutes. You can also just let them thaw in a bowl of water if you have more time.

 

2.When thawed, remove from water using colander or slotted spoon and pat dry with a towel.

 

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

4. Place sprouts in roasting pan and lightly coat with olive oil. Roast sprouts for about 45 minutes until lightly browned, turning every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

 

5. Heat chicken broth.

 

6. Fry pancetta or bacon in large heavy skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove and place on paper towels.

 

7. Pour off fat from skillet, then deglaze the pan by adding 3-4 tbs. balsamic vinegar to the hot pan, stirring and scraping until all the residue comes loose.

 

8. Stir in ½ to 1 cup chicken broth; add more vinegar to taste.

   

9. Add sprouts to the pan, put the pancetta/bacon on top, cover, and turn off heat. Let sit for at least an hour in order to absorb liquid.

 

10. Before serving, add 2/3 cup of hazelnuts, reheat on medium, stirring occasionally; add cream about 5 minutes before finish. Garnish with remaining hazelnuts.

Fried Chicken.

from James G. Leventhal:

ingredients

1 whole fryer chicken (cut-up’s an option), cut into 8 pieces
2 bottles of white wine or a rosé
2 tbs kosher salt and a gang of black pepper
Flour, for dredging/drudging
2 qts of cholesterol-free corn oil

directions

1. Get a sweet little paring knife out and work your chicken. Soak it in water for twenty minutes or so, and then drain the water and peel of the skin. Soak it again, trim off the remaining fat.  Now cover the bird in salt and pepper and MASSAGE. 
2. Now you got one clean set of bird parts and you can cover them in white wine.  What you cook is going to be succulent.  You will want to dredge the chicken in flour with about an hour or so in the fridge before you set to cooking. I usually dredge the chicken in a deep 9x13 baking pan, and you can lay aluminum foil on the bottom of the pan to save time in cleaning up later.
3. To start the pan for cooking, I usually use a corn oil and set two pans abrewing. Since I don’t have a thermometer, what I do is set the stove to high and wait until the oil looks really hot.  It’ll ripple.  Drop a bit of flour in there and it’ll sizzle. Turn the stove down a bit, not too much; but the thing is that if the oil’s too hot, it’ll just burn the outside of your chicken up and not let you seal and cook through like you wanna do.
4. Place chicken skin side down into the pan. I spread it across two pans and I don’t time it, I feel it. It’s when the chicken reaches a perfect color brown. I usually give it a little more time, I think. I also use a cover every once in a while to help cook the “up” side, and I think in professional cooking that’s frowned upon.  There is absolutely nothing worse than blood at the bone.
5. I line a baking pan in foil, then paper towels and put the cooked chicken into a low preheated oven (usually gas) for about 15 minutes at a keep-warm temperature, like 200 degrees to be sure the chicken is cooked through and gets a chance to drain a bit.

Before I tried to lay down the framework for my recipe for fried chicken, I went to food.com – the foodchannel. So I could edit theirs based on what I do. I also made a point of cookin’ chicken for the family right before I took my first stab at this, in an effort to be authentic.  Actually, I am frying that chicken right now.

btw I usually serve this chicken with creamed potatoes and broccoli vinaigrette. That’s home to me.

Bourbon sweet-potato pureé with buttered pecans.

From Jonathan Knapp:

ingredients

6 pounds sweet potatoes (about 6 large)
3 tbs bourbon
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups pecan halves (about 8 ounces)
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
2 tbs packed dark brown sugar

directions

1.Preheat oven to 425° F
2. Prick sweet potatoes with a fork and in a baking pan bake in the middle of oven until tender, about 1 hour.
3. When just cool enough to handle, peel potatoes and transfer half to a food processor.  Add bourbon and 6 tablespoons butter and pureé 30 seconds.  Transfer pureé to a large bowl.  Pureé remaining potatoes in food processor until completely smooth and transfer to bowl.  Stir pureé until combined well and season with salt and pepper.  Transfer pureé to a 2-quart gratin dish or other shallow baking dish.  Pureé may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.  Bring pureé to room temperature before proceeding.
4. Reduce temperature to 325° F.
5. In a shallow baking pan spread pecans in one layer and bake in middle of oven until fragrant, about 10 minutes.  Toss hot pecans with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and coarse salt.  Pecans may be made 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
6. Arrange pecans on top of pureé and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Bake pureé in upper third of oven until heated through and pecans slightly browned, about 30 minutes.  Serves

Alright, this one's from my father, who in turn got it from Gourmet Magazine some years back.

Pineapple Sauce Surprise.

from Tim McFarlane:

ingredients

1/2 can crushed pinapple, chilled
1/2 jar unsweetened, chunky applesauce (or regular applesauce, if that’s your preference) chilled
ice cream of your choice
cinnamon

directions

1. Pour crushed pineapple and applesauce into bowl and add desired amount of cinnamon, stir.
2. Add scoop or two of your favorite ice cream and that’s it!
3. Enjoy!!

Gazpacho.

from Dorka Keehn:

ingredients

6 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 purple onion, finely chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper (or green) seeded and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
6 or more drops of Tabasco sauce to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (omit for vegetarian option)
4 cups tomato juice

directions

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Blend slightly, to desired consistency.
3. Place in non-metal, non-reactive storage container, cover tightly and refrigerate overnight, allowing flavors to blend.

This is out of season but it's easy to make and yummy.