A Spotlight on Salad

You see those greens there in the corner, peeking out from behind that looming breast of roast chicken? Excuse my tendency to personify food, but I just can’t hold back with this dinner from last night.

I decided to throw together something simple and crisp to go with the bird, which had been marinating in spices and citrus overnight. A quick toss, and I was done. A dainty portion alongside the hefty centerpiece of chicken, and we were seated. A small bite to cool down the pungent protein, and the something simple went from side dish to center stage.

The lovely lady I speak of is a balanced mixture of sliced celery, thinly sliced fennel, parsley and shaved parmesan. With a generous douse of fresh lemon juice and a slick coating of olive oil, this salad gives wintery produce a summertime outlook.

For years, I’ve roasted fennel until it's sweet and caramelized. I love preparing it this way for guests who shy away from this bulbous vegetable with long, furry stalks. But once raw fennel gets a quick trimming, its refreshing bitterness is a perfect foil for the richness of parmesan and good olive oil.

So imagine this: It’s the Eve of Thanksgiving. You are about to gorge yourself on an intimidating quantity of sweet potatoes, cranberries, corn pudding, wild rice, pumpkin lasagna, butternut squash salad…oh yeah, and turkey, if your holiday table looks anything like my mother’s. Give your stomach a fresh start with this simple but satisfying salad, and your palate - and stomach -will be ready for game day.

Serves 4
2 fennel bulbs, rinsed and patted dry
4 celery stalks, rinsed and patted dry
fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 lemon, juiced
¼ cup olive oil
salt and freshly-ground pepper
fresh parmesan

-Slice fennel in half. Thinly slice each fennel half (about 1/8 inch thick). Slice celery into thin ½ moons, all the way down the stalk. Dump into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
-Roughly chop parsley and add to bowl.
-Squeeze lemon juice over salad. Pour in olive oil.
-Season with salt and pepper and toss. (Let sit before serving for 10 minutes, max)
-Using a veggie peeler, shave parmesan over salad, and serve.

Freezer 101-2: Red Sauce Joints

Eggplant parm, baked ziti, chicken parm, brasciole, eggplant rollatini, shrimp parm. What do these parms and other Italian American entrées have in common? Not too get all Sesame Street on you, but the glaring “ingredient in common” is our beloved marinara sauce, or more simply “red sauce.”

We all love these dishes. They’re satisfying, they feed a hungry crowd, and the steaming portions urge the inner Italian out of you, and before you can say “baci!” you’re eating with your hands. Take a look through any recipe in the “red sauce joint” category, and marinara sauce is a likely add-in. The recipe will often call for store-bought marinara, but with a few stirs and some good canned tomatoes, your kitchen can be stocked à la nonna for whenever the Italian Stallion in you calls!
The sauce gets simmered over the course of about an hour – the perfect opportunity to pick out your outfit for the next day, chat with a friend, or set the table. Simply ladle it into, around, or over just about anything you can think of, or let it cool and stash it away in your freezer for the parm in your near future. Next time you’re reading over recipes before family night is at your house, you’ll be grateful that homemade marinara is tucked away in your home kitchen, rather than shelved in the supermarket. Believe me, this will make all the difference in your Italian dishes, and will make you the master of your own Red Sauce Joint.

For this post, a special grazie goes out to my sister Julie, whose inner-Italian overrides any Francophilia I might hope to obtain. And to her freezer, which is stocked to a height greater than her five foot frame.

2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 yellow onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 dried bay leaves
1 pinch red pepper flakes, if desired
¼ cup red wine
½ cup olive oil
salt and freshly-ground black pepper

-In a large stove-top pot, drop in olive oil and bring up to medium heat.
-Add in onions and garlic and let sauté for about 4 minutes, or until cooked through.
- Drop in carrots and celery and stir with a wooden spoon.
- Once the veggies are softened (about 10 minutes), add in crushed tomatoes. Lower the heat to a simmer, and stir to incorporate veggies and oil with tomatoes.
- Add in red pepper flakes if you like a bit of spice.
- Let simmer for about 15 minutes. Add red wine and let simmer for about half an hour more, or until reduced and thickened.
- Taste for seasoning, and add in salt and pepper.
* To defrost your sauce, place in the fridge overnight and then bring to room temperature when ready to use.

Where there’s smoke, there doesn’t have to be fire

It was 7pm, my pre-dinner hour, and I gazed hungrily upon my kitchen and its tools. I realized that I was in dire need of some sort of Italian-style grill dish. I had some lovely eggplant on hand and plenty of basil, but I couldn’t think of how to produce that smoky flavor I hungered for. Too cold to call my one friend with an illegally-located outdoor grill, and too obviously without an indoor griddle, I paced as far as my studio apartment would permit and took an inspirational sip of Syrah.

And then it hit me. The grill, in all its fiery glory, does not have to be the sole deliverer of smoky cuisine. The ingredients themselves, and your humble oven, can harness just the same delectably-charred flavor.

So I dashed out, around the corner, and picked up some smoked mozzarella from Union Market. And before I had the chance to unwrap this salty, auburn-flecked fromage, my oven door was agape, and eggplant was headed yonder for a long waft of high heat, baba ghanoush-style. These two ingredients – smoked mozzarella and eggplant, sliced thinly – were the keys to the Italian-style grill I yearned for, without all the charcoal fanfare. By extracting the bitterness out of eggplant and importing mellow smokiness through roasting, I had some gorgeously charred veggies on hand. Paired with thin tears of the smoked mozzarella and some basil, this untraditional caprese is really a nice contrast in texture and flavor.

And while I was up to this kitchen mischief, I thought why not whip up an unexpectedly light main course to go with this strongly-flavored salad. That’s just what I did here with whole wheat spaghetti with leeks and calamari. The filling spaghetti gets a light coating with olive oil sautéed with leeks, garlic, and crisped up calamari, along with a good handful of chopped parsley.

Next time you gaze longingly upon a recipe, while remembering that you lack this kitchen tool or that, take a good long stare at what actually lies tucked away in your kitchen drawers…or a sip of Syrah! Before you know it, you’ll be controlling the flavor output in your kitchen, not vice versa, and your guests will taste the benefits.

Serves 4
2 small eggplants (smaller eggplants are better in texture and cook up faster)

2 large tomatoes, red or yellow
1 large ball of smoked mozzarella
fresh basil (a couple leaves)
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly-ground black pepper

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
-Line a sheet pan with foil. Slice eggplant ¼ inch thick.
-Dump eggplant slices into a colander and sprinkle salt over them. Place in sink and let eggplant sit for about ½ hour. The salt will drain out the bitter juices in the eggplant, which will allow them to better soak up the oil when in the oven.
-Next, dump eggplant onto sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Let cook for about 35 minutes, turning once, or until cooked through and slightly charred.
-Meanwhile thinly slice/tear mozzarella.
-Roll up basil leaves and slice thinly.

-Slice tomatoes into 1/4 inch rounds.
-In a small dish, whisk together about 1/8 cup of olive oil with about 4 tablespoons of vinegar.
-When the eggplant has cooled just slightly, layer decoratively with mozzarella. Drizzle with vinaigrette and season with salt and freshly-cracked pepper. Garnish with basil.

Simply Steak

Peter Lugers, Primehouse, Quality Meats, Keens, Landmarc, Sparks, and Striphouse; New York City is rife with steakhouses. And the ever-growing supply is with good reason. The carnivore in you can’t help but be beckoned by these temples of seared meats. Whether outfitted in the classic design of leather banquettes and mahogany, or lit anew with minimalist lighting and artfully-aged wood, there’s a reason why today’s New Yorkers keep their dens of red meat around.

The dramatic décor of a steakhouse, so distant from many an apartment’s dining room table, appears as just the place to slice through a hefty wedge of iceberg, nestle into your chop of choice, and furtively slip your fork into a neighboring side of creamed spinach or mashed potatoes with crispy shallots. Forget about the last couple nights of grilled chicken and veggie burgers. A bountiful filet lies before you and a chocolate mousse is in your not-so-distant future.

But why not mingle luxe with daily living? A good steakhouse avoids all complications and focuses on the beef at hand, anyway, so bring home the beef chops, and create a steakhouse in your house. Steak was the go-to dinner in the 1950s and 1960s, à la Don Draper, and with good reason. What better welcome after a day at the office than a juicy, seared steak? And to the gratification of Betty Draper, is there any easier dish to prepare, when you don’t even know when to expect Mr. Draper’s Caddy to pull into the driveway?

Forget marinade and complicated sauces. Forget haute cuts like filet mignon, porterhouse, and T-bone and spring for the cheaper, but still tasty top sirloin or skirt steak. And ask your butcher if you feel lost amongst the glassed-in terrain of red meats. As long as these more frugal cuts have good marbleization, or plentiful stripes of white fat, your steak will turn out juicy and flavorful. By searing your steak, letting it sit to lock in its natural juices before slicing, and by serving simply prepared vegetables rather than starches as your sides, steak can be just as nutritious and balanced as any other weeknight dinner.

Just by adding a small set of steak knives to your cutlery repertoire, the drama of the steakhouse dinner can be at your doorstep. Your dining companions will revel in the innate pleasure of slicing through the caramelized exterior to the rosy interior, all without obsequious waiters standing attention.

Serves 2
2 half-pound top sirloin steaks
coarse salt and freshly-ground pepper
olive oil

-Rinse steaks in cool water and pat dry.
-In a small, shallow dish, mix together a very generous portion of salt and freshly-ground pepper. About 3 tablespoons of each. This will look like a lot, but this coating creates a delicious crust on the steaks.
-Dip steaks into the shallow dish and coat with salt and pepper on both sides.
-In a heavy skillet, drop in olive oil and bring to high heat. Sear steaks on both sides for 3 minutes, for medium-rare to medium (depending on thickness).
-Place into a 350 degree oven to continue cooking to desired doneness.
-Serve whole, or slice thinly on a bias, after letting steaks rest, covered with foil.