Papa di pomidoro (fried bread with tomatoes)        

                                                Prep time: 15 minutes

                                                Cook time: 15 minutes

                                                Serves: 4

My introduction to this dish was one of the most pleasurable I’ve ever experienced. It happened in the town of Colle val d’Elsa, in Tuscany, Italy, in the Piazza St. Agostino when I was there with my family. The small restaurant specialized in regional dishes, and this was one of several local dishes we absolutely loved.

We ordered it as a starter even though we didn’t know if it should be a starter or main course. Since then, I’ve made it many times as an accompaniment to a meat dish usually. Basically, it is an Italian version of stuffing, or served alone, an alternative to a soup course. It is one of the easiest to make in this collection of recipes, but the flavor is always pleasing. It is comfort food, through and through. Give it a try!

MUSIC: Do you like Hip-Hop? Eminem, anyone? Okay, forget that one for now. Bill Evans LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD or his collaboration with Toots Thielemans, AFFINITY, while not very Italian, would work well here. Of course, Italian operatic arias by Puccini, preferably duets, would probably be best.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

1. Italian bread or baguette, fresh or stale, about one and ½ quarts volume
2. Tomatoes, 2 large field or beefsteak
3. Olive oil, high quality, ½ to ¾ Cup
4. Garlic, 3 large cloves, chopped
5. Salt and pepper

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Break the bread into pieces and chop further or put into a food processor to make pieces about the size of popped corn.
• Chop tomatoes to same size and mix with bread in a bowl, or add tomatoes to the food processor with the already processed bread. IMPORTANT: do not use too many tomatoes. The ratio of bread to tomatoes should be about 1 to 1 or 1 ½ to 1. You don’t want tomato sauce. The final mixture should be the consistency of a moist stuffing that goes in a turkey.
• Heat olive oil to medium in a large skillet and add the bread-tomato mixture and garlic.
• Cook, avoiding burning, to soften and heat fully, usually 10 minutes. You may add some more tomatoes, oil, or water if it is too dry.
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Serve warm

CADENZA: I usually don’t top it off with parmesan cheese, but it wouldn’t hurt.

WINE: An Italian red wine (Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone) could elevate this dish into full entrée status. Otherwise, marry the wine to the main course.

About tomatoes: Ripening tomatoes has nothing to do with sunlight. In fact, they ripen best in the dark, at room temperature. A refrigerated tomato: Sad, sad, sad.

Chèvre chaud (French vinaigrette salad with melted aged goat cheese)

                                                            Prep time: 15 minutes

                                                            Cook time: 5 minutes

                                                            Serves: 2

           

I just returned from Provence (France), where goat cheese is a way of life. We enjoyed this salad while looking out on tall cypress trees and linear rows of lavender with purple just beginning to peek out from tight buds.

Chèvre chaud (which translates literally from the French, to hot goat cheese), is a salad, best served as a starter before dinner, or as a light lunch. This salad is one my family’s all time favorites. The inspiration comes from David Simpson and Noёlle Spieth, friends, gourmet cooks, and musicians from Paris who first made it for us (with unpasteurized cheese of course). We flipped, and have made it regularly ever since. See the commentary on goat cheese and lettuce, below.

MUSIC: David Simpson has a beautiful CD of Barriere’s sonatas for cello, but you might have trouble finding it. Next, try Bach unaccompanied cello suites. Not in the mood for Bach? Try any Chet Baker or Miles’s KIND OF BLUE.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

FOR THE SALAD:

1. Goat cheese (the ‘chèvre’): this is the important part (see about goat cheese, below).  Rounds ¼ inch thick of 'Chabichou du poiton', placed on a small pan for melting under a broiler.
2. Lettuce, one small head or half a large head, soft leaves only.
3. Green onions, thinly sliced, white part or green part, 1 tsp per serving, approx. (don’t over do the onions)

FOR THE DRESSING: Any oil and vinegar dressing will work except those that come from a bottle—they have too many extra flavors. I prefer a French style white vinegar-Dijon vinaigrette. In a jar, mix:

1. Olive oil, ½ Cup
2. White wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar) (1 part for 5 or 6 parts oil, about 1/8 Cup)
3. Garlic, 1 clove peeled, cut in half (to stay in the jar)
4. Dijon mustard, ½ tsp
5. Salt, about ½ tsp or less (remember, mustard is salty also)
6. Black pepper

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Add all the dressing ingredients, shake and let sit for 2 hours, shaking periodically, to bring out the garlic flavor
• Tear the fine lettuce leaves (washed and dried well) into bite sized pieces and place in salad bowl.
• Add sliced green onions.
• Turn on broiler (a broiler in a toaster oven works just fine).
• Add some dressing to the greens and combine gently. Add more dressing if too dry.
• Plate the salad on separate plates and wait for the cheese to melt.
• Broil chèvre and watch until it is bubbling and soft, maybe even some liquefaction. A little brown is okay, but not too much.
• Scoop pieces of melted chèvre with spatula directly onto each salad and serve immediately. One or two pieces per serving is usually plenty.
• Serve with fresh baguette and butter.

WINE: Generally, wine does not accompany dressed salads well. Water is better. If it is the main course, then a Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, or Beaujolais would do nicely.

About goat cheese (Chèvre). Goat cheese starts out soft and white when it’s fresh. Mounds are shaped into the size of a child’s fist and put aside for aging. When Chèvre ages, it develops a slight rind, dries somewhat, and becomes more firm the more aged it is. The flavor gets stronger as it ages.

            For the right ‘melt’ in this recipe, use a medium aged cheese. Too fresh, it remains tangy white goat cheese like it started out. Too aged (firm), it never melts enough to soften.

            Look for Chabichou du Poiton. Ask simply for “Chabichou” (pronounced: shabby-shoe). It is a firm but squeezable medium aged goat cheese perfect for this salad. Slightly firmer and smaller is the Pelardon, also good. Any serious cheese store should carry some aged goat cheese

About lettuce. It has become harder and harder over recent years to consistently find lettuce with nice delicate leaves. Lettuce seems to be bred these days for durability, and the leaves are too thick, too stiff. And the bitter lettuce, though fashionable, doesn’t work at all. For this recipe you want soft, sweet leaves. Boston butter lettuce is the best when the leaves are soft. Directly out of your garden, or the hydroponic varieties are usually best. Green or red leaf lettuce can also be delicate. Romaine, while crisp and great for Caesar salad, doesn’t work well. Wild bitter greens should be avoided. If you happen to be in France, several butter lettuce varieties are grown. The Chinois variety is spectacular: a broad head of light green small soft leaves.

One other thing. Many recipes exist for Chevre chaud, and many suggest melting a piece of fresh (not aged) cheese onto a piece of thin toast (with olive oil) before placing it on top of the salad. This is fine, especially if the quality of the melt is less amenable to placing cheese directly on the salad.

PORTIFICATION© of red wine

Red wine lovers! Try these two unconventional approaches to preserving your wine. Purists, don't scoff just yet. These methods, I admit, are heretical. But your palate does not lie. If you detect good flavors where once there were bad ones, that’s the name of the game.

1. Portification. How many times have you opened a not-so-inexpensive bottle of red and been disappointed? You wouldn’t serve it to guests, but are reluctant to pour it down the drain. And how many times have you wished you could resurrect a two-day-old bottle of Bordeaux that has lost its mojo? 

There is hope. PORTIFY© your wine. Add Port to a glass of wine, about ¼ Port, ¾ wine. It makes all the difference in the world. Cheap $10 Port is fine for the job. Ruby Port is better than Tawny Port. Works best with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Malbec and Italian wines, and less well with Pinot Noir.

2. Refrigeration. The second approach is a no-brainer. Personally, I’ve been disappointed with the evacuation method of preservation, but white wine can sit around in the refrigerator for days until the bottle is gone. Red wine is the same: put leftover red wine in the fridge; when you pour a glass, microwave it for about twelve seconds and, Voila!, you are back in business with a surprisingly good reconstitution. Red wine can last for days that way.

Enjoy. 

For all of my publications, visit https://www.jameschanningshaw.com

Tilapia with mango salsa

   

                                                Prep time: 30 minutes

                                                Cook time: 15 minutes

                                                Serves: 2

          

Tilapia is a beautiful little fresh water fish, farmed sustainably, firm enough to barbeque or to fry hot; it won’t fall apart easily. My personal favorite is lightly floured and fried in olive oil, with either a Latino mango sauce or a Mediterranean tomato sauce. Both are in this collection. We start with the mango salsa recipe.

MUSIC: This calls for something with some rhythm. Classical won’t do. Latin music, while cliché, is perfect here. The Brazilian bossa nova  works of Carlos Antonio Jobim, with vocals by Astrud Gilberto or Elis Regina (Girl From Ipanema, etc.) are always appropriate. Or, tangos by the great Astor Piazzolla (Kronos Quartet: FIVE TANGO SENSATIONS), or, if you can find the original album, Gato Barbieri’s LAST TANGO IN PARIS soundtrack.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

1. Tilapia whole filets, 2 or 3 (approx 1 pound in total), brought to room temperature
2. Olive oil, extra virgin, 3 Tablespoons
3. Flour, about ½ Cup for dusting the fish
4. Kosher salt to sprinkle after cooking

For the salsa:

1. 1 Mango, diced into small chunks (may use 2 mangos, especially if small)
2. ½ large sweet red pepper or 1 smaller pepper, also diced into small chunks
3. Cilantro, one bunch, chopped finely



** Scotch bonnet peppers

4. Hot peppers (jalapeño or Scotch bonnet**), chopped finely, 1 tablespoon or less, depending on how hot they are. ( or a few splashes of hot pepper sauce if you don’t have fresh peppers)
5. Juice of ½ lemon (without seeds!)
6. Juice of ½ lime
7. Kosher salt, 1 large pinch (about ¼ teaspoon)   

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

Prepare salsa first.

• Combine salsa ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate 30 to 60 minutes for flavors to meld. This salsa is fine at room temperature, but when chilled, it produces a wonderful temperature contrast of cool and fresh in your mouth with the warm fish. While it chills, have a glass of champagne, dance, whatever. Do not pay bills or work on your taxes.

           

To cook the fish:

·        In a 10 or 12-inch skillet, heat olive oil to medium heat.

·        Lightly flour the fish and fry in olive oil until golden brown on both sides.

·        When almost done, squirt some of the remaining lemon juice on top, and sprinkle with Kosher salt. You almost cannot overcook Tilapia- it retains its flaky texture quite well.

CADENZA: Serve right out of the pan onto plates, with sticky (Sushi) rice, and salsa on top. Excellent with cooked carrots, black beans, bok choy, broccoli or green beans.

VARIATIONS ON THE THEME: Try barbecuing instead of pan-frying. Lightly brush the fish filets with olive oil before placing on the hot grill. Turn once or twice as needed.

WINE: Un-oaked chardonnay or sauvignon blanc go very well.

About sweet peppers. If you cannot find dark red sweet peppers, use yellow or orange. Light colored red peppers often have a chemical taste that upsets the entire balance of the salsa, if not life itself.

About hot peppers. The heat has been bred out of jalapenos, so I prefer Scotch bonnet peppers, originally a Jamaican pepper, full of great taste and plenty of fire.

About chopping cilantro. Wash the whole bunch and shake dry. Holding the cilantro by the stems, sweep away the leaves with one swipe of either a French or Asian knife, and chop accordingly in the French style with one hand on top of the blade, or rapid fire Asian style like playing a drum (or with two knives like playing tympani). Takes about thirty seconds.

BAKED TROUT WITH CARMELIZED ONION/VERMOUTH REDUCTION

                                                Prep time: 15 minutes

                                                Cook time: 30 to 60 minutes

                                                Serves: 4

Farmed rainbow trout currently makes it onto all the ‘best choice’ seafood lists, with minimal contaminants and sustainable production. Thank goodness, because trout is a wonderful fish, flavorful, reasonably inexpensive, and easy to cook. Plain trout with salt and pepper is hard to beat. This recipe elevates plain trout to casual entertainment level. Give it a try.

MUSIC: Minimalism was quite possibly the most profound movement of second half twentieth century ‘classical’ music. One of my favorites is Steve Reich’s Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards, a pleasant, undulating ride for 22 minutes. For non-minimalists, try jazz guitarist Tuck Andress’s masterful album RECKLESS PRECISION, especially Body and Soul, and Begin the Beguine.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

1. Two trout filets (or three if they are small)
2. One medium onion, finely chopped
3. Dry Vermouth (or other dry white wine), ¾ Cup, more or less*
4. Sundried tomatoes, about ten to twelve halves, chopped coarsely**
5. Olive oil, 2 Tablespoons
6. Butter, 1 Tablespoon
7. salt and pepper

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Place trout filets, skin down, in a greased baking pan (oil or butter) just big enough to hold them, and bring to room temperature.
• Heat olive oil/butter in a sauce pan and sauté onions about 15 minutes until slightly carmelized to a golden brown color.
• Add vermouth and sundried tomatoes and cook on medium-high heat until reduced by half or more.
• Heat oven to 400° F.
• Pour/spread reduced onion mixture over the trout and place in oven.
• Bake until just done, usually about 8 to 10 minutes, certainly until active bubbling at the edges.
• Serve immediately on warmed plates, with kosher salt and coarse pepper added to taste.

CADENZA: Serve with either rice or potatoes, plain with only butter and salt and pepper so the flavors of the trout get top billing. A green veg on the side accompanies well (asparagus or broccoli best, hint of lemon juice).

WINE: White is best. A medium-dry Sauvignon Blanc, Vouvray, or a not-too-sweet Riesling accompanies the fish nicely.

*Dry Vermouth is inexpensive and full of flavors that work well in cooking. Any white wine works here as well.

** Sundried tomatoes come either dry or packed in oil. In this recipe, either is fine because cooking them in the Vermouth sauce softens them nicely.

Prosciutto and Broccoli with Pasta

Prosciutto and Broccoli in Pasta  

             

                                    Prep time: 20 minutes

                                    Cook time:  15 to 20 minutes

            The inspiration for this dish came during an Italian cooking class I took many years ago. The chef’s mother’s family, who lived in rural Italy, had made variations of this recipe for three generations. The dish had clearly withstood the test of time.

            I once made it for a woman to whom I was strongly attracted. It led to a variety of good things during and after the dinner. For one, I ended up marrying her (after, not during). Over the years, this recipe has withstood the test of time in our household when many others have fallen away as our tastes changed.

            The recipe is simple, the flavor bright; good for any season of the year. The main attractions are the olive oil and garlic, but all the ingredients, while they maintain their ‘individuality’ and color on the serving dish, meld beautifully on the palate.

MUSIC: This dish begs for Italian Opera (Pavarotti in an early career recording of La Boheme would be fine). If opera is not your thing, Frank Sinatra with the Count Basie big band “I Only Have Eyes For You” would work exceedingly well. If neither opera nor Sinatra is your thing, try one of them anyway. 

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED

1. Pasta: about ¾ to 1 lb. Any noodle will do, but shorter cuts (penne, fusilli, capunti) are best because the pasta is tossed with the sauce before serving, and long noodles can be cumbersome. Fresh pasta is always best.
2. Prociutto, Italian (Parma) or domestic, one slab ¼ inch thick, enough to make 1 Cup of cut pieces (see below). ¹
3. Broccoli, two or three stalks, stems in tact.²
4. Sundried tomatoes, about 6 to 8 halves or ¾ Cup chopped.³
5. Celery, chopped, 1 Cup minimum, with leaves.⁴
6. Garlic, 2 to 3 cloves, chopped
7. Olive oil, extra virgin, ¼ to ⅓ of a Cup
8. Parmesan cheese, grated, for garnish
9. Salt, Pepper to taste

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Get all ingredients prepared ahead of time:
• cut prociutto into small shoe-string sticks, about one inch long, total about 1 Cup or less.
• cut broccoli into bite size pieces, including stems ¹
• chop sun dried tomatoes coarsely
• chop garlic, celery
• Cook pasta in plenty of salted water, drain and set aside.
• In a 4 quart shallow sauce pan, sauté garlic and celery in olive oil. Don’t skimp on the olive oil, especially if it is really good olive oil.
• Cook garlic and celery for 3 to 5 minutes approximately on medium heat. Don’t burn the garlic.
• Add rest of ingredients and turn up to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is bright green and has softened slightly, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Turn off heat
• Add a portion (or all) of the pasta in with the sauce and toss lightly. Add a Tablespoon or two of water if needed.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Serve on warmed plates and top with plenty of grated Parmesan.

CADENZA:  Serve with a country-style Italian bread and a simple leaf salad, maybe with some sliced green onion but without all the extras that are popular these days like nuts, pears, pomegranate seeds, etc. 

WINE:          Red wine is definitely best. Chianti, Rioja, Dolcetto d’Alba, or any of the lighter reds. Most white wines will nicely accompany this dish as well: Sancerre, Vouvray, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, French Chablis or white Burgundy.

¹About prociutto: While Parma prociutto from Italy is generally considered the best, some domestically produced (i.e. North American) prociutto is fine for this dish. The thick slab is important in order to make the small pieces; you might not need the whole piece depending on where on the leg it was cut. Don’t use more than one Cup of meat: too much procuitto overpowers the other flavors. One piece with every bite or second bite, is plenty.

²About broccoli: if you didn’t already know this, most of the sugar is in the stem, so use as much stem as possible. Cut off the chewy outer skin, but don’t discard the light green pulp of the stems. Stems are the best! The florets look nice but have less flavor.

³About sun dried tomatoes: I once heard a guy in the media predict that sun-dried tomatoes were only a fad and would soon go the way of quiche or other food fads. Clearly this guy’s fund of knowledge was more about pop culture than food. He was so wrong (about both sun-dried tomatoes and quiche). Sun-dried tomatoes are one of life’s wonderful taste treats, and will remain so as long as they exist on the planet. Though highly versatile, my preference is to use them in cooked dishes, not raw, as in a sandwich. But…personal tastes, you know.

            Buy them packed in olive oil or dry. The brighter the color, the brighter the flavor usually. If very dry, they require reconstitution in water before using for cooking.

⁴About celery: the leaves are full of wonderful flavor. Include them in all recipes that call for celery, especially soups.

OXTAIL SOUP

This may seem manic, but I have to share this with those of you who like to cook because it was so unexpectedly delicious and took about ten minutes. This is how it happened. It was all done with waay leftovers.

1. Ox tail bits from the freezer: I had made beef stock from oxtails [[[one oxtail sawed by the butcher into pieces, a quartered onion, some chunks of clelery, some chunks of carrot, a bay leaf, some water—you figure it out, just not too much—and cook it for two to three hours, strain off the broth to keep, ditch the veggies, freeze the oxtail bits]]].

2. Some of the leftover stock, gelatinized in the fridge, about ½ Cup or a little more.

3. Mashed potatoes from three days ago—equal parts potato and celery root pieces—boil the hell out of them, smash’em, add some butter and cream, salt and pepper.

4. Reduced tomatoes from, like, five days ago. (Take a can of chopped tomatoes, or sauce will suffice, and reduce by 50% in a pan on the stove or in the oven at 350, a little salt, a little thyme, until sort of dryish.)

• Thaw out the oxtail pieces enough to take the meat off the bone, or better, heat in a pan until you can take the meat off.
• Heat in a sauce pan with a little butter and light oil (sunflower or veg oil) along with one or two tablespoons of the reduced tomato goop. Stir to prevent sticking/burning.
• When hot, add the old stock/broth
• Add one or two tablespoons of the mashed potatoes and blend into the broth.
• Warm
• Serve
• I also had a few leftover mushroom agnolotti/ravioli/tortellini that I refreshed in hot water for a few minutes and added to the mix just before serving.
• A little parmesan and pepper is excellent.

It was unbelievably delicious, and I even was sober. I don’t have a photo. Next time.

Love

EASY ESCARGOTS

Easy Escargots (snails) Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4 as a starter


Escargots, a big red Burgundy, an electrical storm, and very loud Beethoven at 3:30 in the afternoon. That was the setting in which I first made this dish. Sometimes a new recipe must first be tried in private (I had the place to myself for two days). The inspiration, of course, came from France. It was so successful that I simply had to include it in this collection.


Don't get me wrong. I realize that escargots are not everyone’s cup of tea. Eating snails is simply a non-starter for most of the population of North America. So this recipe is for two groups of people: 1) those of you who have loved eating escargots in French restaurants and would like to prepare them in a simple successful method; and 2) those adventurous souls who recognize the example of the French and would like to advance their palates into scrumptious new territory.


You don’t need special serving equipment. Don’t bother with the shells. They're only for show anyway unless you are actually cooking live snails. Instead, this recipe calls for a small baking dish.


MUSIC: Beethoven changed symphonic music forever with his 3rd Symphony, that’s what I was told, so I was trying to learn about that when I put it on. Consider listening to the killer first movement. Or try the 9th symphony which also blew humanity out of the water. In a different vein, Coltrane changed jazz, James Brown changed R&B, Jaco Pastorius changed bass playing, the list goes on and on, so find a musical visionary and play that music. Play it loudly.*


HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:


1. Snails, one can of 24 to 36
2. Ceramic baking dish or Ramekin: medium size
3. Butter, unsalted, ½ stick (¼ Cup)
4. Garlic, 1 clove
5. Parsley (Italian), a handful, chopped (¼ Cup approximately)
6. Red wine, a small dollop or two (2 tablespoons maximum)
7. Kosher salt, one medium pinch (less than ¼ teaspoon)


HERE’S WHAT TO DO:


· Pre-heat oven to 450º to 500º.
· Melt butter in the ceramic dish (microwave or oven).
· Rinse, drain escargots and add to melted butter.
· Chop garlic and add to dish
· Finely chop parsley and add to dish
· Add salt and red wine
· Stir gently to mix
· Heat in oven until bubbling and sizzling nicely, about 10 minutes usually. Use extreme caution removing from oven.


CADENZA: Escargots are best served with French baguette. Any bread will suffice however. I prefer slices, partially toasted, crunchy on the outside, soft and warm in the middle.


WINE: This dish is based on the Burgundian recipe, so a Burgundy style pinot noir is best, and red goes very well with the big flavors of the garlic, butter, and parsley. A white Burgundy would always be fine as well (or Chablis, Chardonnay).


About escargots. Snails come in a can unless you buy fresh at an outdoor market. I prefer the smaller size snails, 36 to a can, but the larger (24 to a can) are fine too.


About parsley: Italian (flat leaf) is best. The crinkly parsley would work in a pinch but try for Italian.


*About loud music. Not everyone enjoys music so loud you must shout to have a conversation. In my ‘old days’, shouting over Miles or Coltrane was just fine during a meal. But on the subject of loud music, I can't help being reminded of the landlord I once had in Boston who lived on the top floor of an old house and rented out the flats on the first and second floors. He was large, had a tetra-syllabic Italian name, taught Italian 'litrature', and smoked big cigars. Evenings, he would blast Italian opera through the floor to our apartment. My girlfriend and I had little knowledge of opera at the time, but on more than one occasion, the music provided ample accompaniment for what we were doing on the sofa, and we learned to like it. Loud has its place.

FEGATO (CALF'S LIVER MARSALA)

                                                Prep time: 30 minutes

                                                Cooking time: 10 min

                                                Serves: 2

            This recipe is about LIVER.

            “Eeew,” my daughters would say. The thought of liver sends shivers of disgust down the spines of thousands, even many card-carrying carnivores. What happened? Did their mothers cook beef liver for them in the 1950s??

            Here’s the story. When prepared well, veal (calf’s) liver is a real treat, delicate in flavor, and tender. Many restaurants do an acceptable job, but even they could do better. You cannot simply buy liver, throw it in a pan, and expect to eat well. Some care is required.

            The inspiration for this dish came from a restaurant in Florence, Italy, called Sabatini. I ordered ‘fegato’ (pronounced like mega-toe), not knowing what kind of liver it would be. I was served the most wonderful tender bite size strips of light tan colored milk-fed calves liver. No gristle, nothing to cut. Only tiny morsels of heaven.

            So try this recipe. It’s not difficult but requires a bit more care than most of the others in this book.

MUSIC: You need at least 30 minutes. Try Shostakovich’s Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op 57, especially the Intermezzo movement; or Sting: MERCURY FALLING or IT’S A BRAND NEW DAY.

HERE’S ALL YOU  NEED:

1. Liver: ¾ to 1 pound of milk-fed veal (calf) liver, firm in texture, cappuccino in color.
2. Flour, white, a handful for dusting liver
3. Butter, unsalted, about 3 Tablespoons
4. Garlic, 1 medium to large clove, chopped
5. Marsala, dry (not sweet), ¼ to ½ Cup

6. Kosher salt, pepper

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Cut liver into strips 2 inches long, ¼ to ⅓ inch wide. There should be NO sign of veins or other gristle. This requires discarding as much as ⅓ of the bulk of the liver.
• Toss liver strips in a bowl with the flour until evenly coated.   
• Heat butter in 8 to 10 inch skillet on medium-high heat until bubbling (hot but not burning or smoking)
• Add liver strips (not the excess flour)
• Add garlic
• Allow the liver to brown a little but don’t overcook (one or two minutes, max).  
• Salt with healthy pinch of kosher salt, and 4 or 5 twists of a pepper mill.
• Add Marsala which will sizzle at first and then meld with the juices and flour to create a nice sauce. Mix once, gently.
• Serve immediately

CADENZA: Excellent with some plain buttered noodles or potatoes au gratin, carrots, broccoli. Goes very well with polenta, grilled Portobello mushrooms, and grilled asparagus.

WINE: This dish needs a big red wine. Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, big Italian such as Brunello or Super Tuscan (Tignanello, Sassicaia), or an Australian Shiraz. White wine would be lost on this recipe.

About liver: Milk-fed calf (veal) liver is essential. Beef liver is incompatible with this dish or any high quality eating, though it is good for iron deficiency!

            A slice of veal liver is usually about ½ inch thick. You can see all the veins and connective strands. Get rid of these. Cut them out. Use only the flawless middle sections with no gristle when making strips.

About flour coating: Please, no measuring allowed. Throw some flour on a platter or bowl and toss the liver pieces until coated, OR sprinkle liberally directly onto the meat. Any excess flour will fall off when you transfer the meat to the pan. You can also use a sieve after you have tossed the liver pieces in flour.

Leeks sauté, the easy way

                           

                                                Prep time: 15 minutes

                                                Cook time: 30 minutes

            Leeks are indispensible as an alternative to the standard green vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, and green beans. The subtle sweetness of leeks, combined with their hint of onion flavor make for a delicious side dish to accompany meat, fish, or other vegetables.

            Sybil introduced me to leeks. She once said that if you want to blend into rural French life, just have some leeks protruding from your grocery bag. Everyone will think you are French! That the French are big on leeks says something about how good they are. More and more, beautiful leeks are on the shelves in grocery stores and farmers’ markets all over North America.

            Many home cooks are intimidated by leeks because of fancy presentations they have tried at restaurants. This recipe, like most in this book, is simple. Use it for a dinner at home or for entertaining. The standard quantity easily serves four but could be stretched to six with slightly smaller portions.    

IN ESSENCE: Chopping eliminates the stringiness that happens if you try to cook whole leaves. The low heat sauté, covered mostly, allows them to steam and soften in their own juices.

MUSIC: Bob Dylan (Lay Lady Lay, or Spirit on the Water); or Joni Mitchell. I usually don’t go for folk music, but good memories were made one time when I prepared this dish while listening to Bob Dylan. If you don’t do folk music, try Pat Metheney, the LETTER FROM HOME album, or Tuck Andress, exquisite solo jazz guitar from the RECKLESS album.

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED:

1. Leeks, 3 or 4 whole stalks                                                  
2. Butter, 1 tablespoon,
3. Salt and pepper
4. (optional: Cream (10% to 30% butter fat), ¼ Cup)
5. (optional: Nutmeg, ground, about ¼ teaspoon)

HERE’S WHAT TO DO:

• Clean the leeks. The white part grows so tightly that it is usually grit-free, but dirt invariably gets into the base of the green part. If you plan on using the green part of the stalk (which you should, except when making vichyssoise), you must wash each leaf carefully to get all the dirt off.
• Chop the leeks. I recommend a fairly fine chop. Pieces about the size of postage stamps are perfect.  This requires a large chopping board and a long French chopping knife or Chinese style vegetable cleaver.
• Place chopped leeks and butter into any large sauce pan or skillet that can be covered. I usually use a 10 inch, 3 quart saucepan.
• Cook at medium low heat, being careful to avoid sticking or burning, for about 30 minutes. You could use cooking oil or olive oil instead of butter, but butter enhances the leek flavor nicely. You may need add a little water during the cooking, usually no more than a few tablespoons.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• See VARIATIONS below.

CADENZA: This dish accompanies pork tenderloin medallions beautifully. Also good with a white fish such as sole, cod, or halibut. Or serve with roasted red peppers, potatoes, or sweet potatoes for a purely vegetarian delight.

VARIATIONS ON A THEME: Add some cream at the end. Leeks and cream are an unbeatable combination. About ¼ cup of table cream (18% butter fat), or heavy cream (35% butter fat) should suffice. Add nutmeg, ¼ to ½ teaspoon for a real treat, especially if serving with fish. Delicious.

WINE: With the leeks themselves, a French Chablis or white Burgundy are splendid. If you are serving with pork, a Beaujolais or Pinot noir go very well.