Tag Archives: italian cuisine

Semi-homemade pizza

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Caprese pizzas ready to bake

I put together semi-homemade pizzas (two Caprese style and one a doctored-up focaccia) for a group today, using the following items:

1)  1 Tetra Pak (15 oz) of Italian tomato sauce
2)  1 small bunch of basil, washed and the leaves picked off and dried with a towel
3)  3 T good olive oil
4)  I small container (15 oz) of part-skim ricotta cheese
5)  1 lb fresh mozzarella log, such as can be found at Trader Joe’s, sliced into about 20 rounds
6)  Two cornmeal pizza crusts that you can buy at a place like Berkeley Bowl, about 10 inches in diameter
7)  One vegetable focaccia, about 8 1/2 inches X 15 inches
8)  Red pepper flakes

I’ve improved store-bought focaccia to make it a meal

Here’s what you do for the CAPRESE pizzas:

1)  Spread 1 T of the olive oil in each of the two cornmeal shells
2)  Lay down some of the basil leaves over the oil, flat
3)  Spread on about 1/3 of the tomato sauce such that the basil is mostly covered
4)  Make a mozzarella layer on top with 10 rounds of the cheese
5)  Set aside while you make the other pizza

Here’s what you do for the DOCTORED-UP FOCACCIA:

1)  Brush 1 T of the olive oil on the top of the focaccia
2)  Spread on about 1/3 of the tomato sauce (will be a light layer, but this is OK, since you should be using a focaccia that already has stuff on it)
3)  Scoop out little rounds of ricotta and distribute them evenly over the top, and then press each one down a bit with the back of a spoon
4)  Sprinkle a few red pepper flakes on top
5)  Bake ALL pizzas in a 400 deg. F. oven until the cheese on the round Caprese pizzas is bubbly and a bit browned.  This would be the time to drag out that baking stone, by the way.
6)  Allow the Caprese pizzas to set for 5 mins before you serve or else you will need a ladle

Note:  feel free to add S&P, but I don’t because of how I like cheese to taste on these

Caprese-style pies done

Meatballs

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Meatballs that were convection roasted first are now in italian sauce

Here’s my tip for meatballs – and, yes, it is my tip because I have been doing this for years even if others, like America’s Test Kitchen, only figured it out recently:  Don’t fry them before they go into the sauce.  Roast them in a hot (400-425 deg. F.) convection oven on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  They will brown and firm up this way and you won’t have a big mess in your kitchen.  My meatball recipe is simple in that you combine, but do not overwork, good ground meat that is no leaner than 90%, a little bread that has been softened in water, an egg or two, a bit of grated parmesan, a little Best Foods/Hellmann’s mayonnaise, a smidgen each of Dijon mustard and Worcestershire, and salt and pepper.  Form big meatballs and brown in oven as described above.  Just keep an eye on them and take them out when they have browned to your liking.  Allow to cool a bit and carefully transfer to hot sauce and simmer for an hour.  Your sauce need be nothing more than a #10 can of crushed tomatoes (buy at Costco) with whatever you have on hand to liven it up, but certainly some Italian spice mix, fresh garlic, a little olive oil, a dash of red wine and a bit of sugar to cut the acidity.  Simmer all this together for 45 minutes before you add the meatballs.

Chicken al mattone, or “under a brick”

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Mattone in action

Mattone in action

The most delicious chicken dish in the universe is chicken al mattone, or chicken under a brick.  If you cook lots of chicken then I would purchase a mattone, which is a two-piece affair:  a shallow terracotta dish – kind of like a cazuela, but with shorter, straight sides and glaze on the inside only.  Piece #2 is a teardrop-shaped terracotta weight.  You use this contraption on the stovetop to cook a butterflied, oiled and seasoned bird by pressing it into the shallow pan with the heated weight.  You will wind up with highly flavored meat and crispy skin.  Honestly, you won’t believe how good this chicken turns out.  Clearly there is something to cooking in clay that is more than the sum of its parts.

Chicken in a mattone ready to cook

I honed a recipe that works with pieces and uses only a few ingredients.  Here’s what you do:  Wash and dry a whole butterflied chicken or pieces and set aside.  Put the mattone press (the top part) into a cold oven and set the heat to 375 F.  Wait about 10 minutes.  Place the mattone base on your burner with medium heat.  No need to use a flame tamer, but I guess you can if you want to.  Immediately pour in about 1/3 cup of good olive oil and sprinkle in a handful of dried oregano, some ground black pepper and kosher salt.   No need to use fresh oregano because the cooking method opens up the dried version fine.  When the oil is hot, put in the chicken – skin side down.  If you have a whole chicken you’ll crowd the pan, which is fine.  Strew some oregano and S & P on top of the chicken and drizzle on a bit of olive oil.  Remove the press from the oven with a good mitt and place directly on top of chicken, pressing down firmly but not with enough force to knock your range over.  You get the idea.  Turn down the flame so you maintain a little sizzle but not too much; a smidgen over low should work.  When it comes time to take the chicken out of the pan, first remove the press and set it on a wooden board or some other surface that is not cold.  Remember, a rapid temperature change will cause clay cookware to crack!  Test the temperature of each chicken piece with an instant-read thermometer to make sure it is done.  As of this entry you want 165 F., but be sure to check current requirements with the USDA often, since they change.  The chicken will stick to the bottom of the pan, so use a straight-sided spatula of some ilk to loosen it before you scoop it out.  This process can be fairly intense but if you are patient and work under the skin with some oomph and a slight back-and-forth motion, you’ll get it out intact.  I place the pieces on a huge platter of spring mix and then spoon the drippings, which are so good this dish should be illegal, over the top.  The warm “dressing” is all that is needed on the salad.  I serve this with some rice and roasted peppers, which I’ll give you the recipe for tomorrow, I promise.  Notes:  If you want to butterfly a chicken, take a good set of kitchen shears and make one continuous cut along each side of the backbone starting at the pope’s nose and ending at the top.  Then open the chicken up and press it down (with the skin side facing up).  Plunk that long backbone in the freezer for congee or stock.  If you don’t want to get a mattone, use any clay dish (glazed on the inside) with sides that may be used on the stovetop as the base, and a few clean bricks for the press.  Some people wrap the bricks in foil, but I do not.  When I first buy the bricks I wash them well and then bake for quite some time to clean and sterilize, and then wash them thoroughly after each use.  You won’t get the same results but the dish will still be tasty.  If I don’t want a mess, I crimp foil under the base of the mattone all the way around as I place it on the stovetop so I have a “wall of foil” around the whole setup.  When I have the press on, I then tent the affair by placing a sheet of foil on top.  The cooking chicken can still breathe (you don’t want it airtight) but it provides a little more heat for the chicken to cook through while keeping all the spritzing oil at bay.

Chicken cooked in a mattone - under a brick

Genova Deli in Oakland

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Sandwich from Genova Deli in Oakland CA in 2007

Sandwich from Genova Deli in Oakland CA in 2007

Decent Italian deli in Oakland.  Why did we not know?  I’ll bet when we were told we dismissed the information because of how often we have been misled by people who have lame data points when it comes to certain kinds of food.  Anyway, we were driving on Telegraph in Temescal when we saw a sign for Genova Deli (5095 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland) and thought, “What the hell – let’s stop.”  We made our way around the nice-ish rectangular strip mall to find a jam-packed Italian deli that looked like it actually had something going on besides Columbus and Saag’s (now owned by Hormel, did you know this?) products.  Lots of counters with  prepared food and cold cuts and a serious sandwich operation.  The sandwiches are made on good, crusty rolls and have a respectable amount of protein.  You’ll find all the suspects here, like various prosciuttos and salamis.  They have many varieties of salami, not just Genoa and Sopressata, so this is a place to get a real salumi fix on.  There are packaged goods, like beans and pasta, alongside your truffle and olive oils.  One end of the store is dedicated to baked goods, and you can have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake there.  I am told they make excellent ravioli.  I’ll bet this place is out of control during the Christmas season.

Polenta ala Ina Garten

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Ina Garten's rosemary polenta

Ina Garten’s rosemary polenta

I made a great polenta dish today from Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten.  I love all of Ina Garten’s cookbooks because the recipes really work.  This is an older book – from 2002 – but I go back to it again and again.  The rosemary polenta on page 130 is killer, even if you substitute whole milk for the half and half and use commercially-prepared chicken stock.  I have some leftovers which I plan on serving under chicken in pan gravy tomorrow.  Of all the cooked-formed-chilled-cut-fried polenta dishes in my world, this is by far the best; that little bit of rosemary she calls for really makes the dish.  Oh, did I mention that I served the polenta tonight with NY strip steaks?  I nabbed a whole USDA Choice striploin the other day for $5.99/lb.  This is by far the best way to go if you need to feed a group or if you don’t mind freezing what you don’t use right away.  A good striploin does not need much trimming and, indeed, you’ll want to leave that layer of fat on there to lubricate the meat as it cooks.  Simply cut steaks evenly with a sharp knife.  Once you’ve done this a time or two you’ll be a pro – just don’t fear those larger cuts of meat since they often represent a terrific bargain.  When my mother goes into my fridge to see what’s going on in there and she catches a glimpse of a massive vacuum packed slab of beef, she knows she’ll be firing up the Weber for steaks that weekend.