Although he grew most of the vegetables we ate, my father wasn’t really much into cooking.   He was in charge of salads and made eggs on Sundays, but that was pretty much the extent of it.  Dad did, however, have a few signature dishes that he  loved to prepare – and he did so with great gusto!  One of said dishes was a frittata.

A frittata is a fancy, Italian name for a baked, open-faced omelet.  It’s an egg-based dish that usually contains  a combination of various vegetables, cheese and meat.  The cooking is started on the stove and then finished off in the oven.  It is very similar to the Spanish dish,  tortilla de patatas, except that there is no flipping involved, making it much easier to execute.

Frittatas were always on the menu at my house on “meatless” meal days like Christmas Eve and Fridays during Lent.  My dad would thoughtfully plan what to include in his frittatas based on what was growing in his garden at the time.  His favorite kind was filled with caramelized onions, fresh asparagus, mushrooms and big hunks of mozzarella cheese.   He would prepare each component of the dish separately, and with the skill of an architect, would carefully construct his creation before cooking it.  Then, Dad would strut into the dining room, proud as a peacock, and present his masterpiece to us. I can still see his face, beaming with satisfaction and delight!  My father’s frittatas always turned out perfectly – much better than mine ever do.  I wish I had paid more attention to his technique.  I guess I just thought that he would always be around to make them.    Sigh…

While it looks rather impressive, a frittata is a super simple dish to prepare, with lots of room for creativity.  And, it works equally well for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  You can put just about anything but the kitchen sink in it too, making it a great choice for when you need to purge your fridge.   This frittata is filled with onions, potatoes, ham and Parmesan cheese, which is what I happened to have handy on the night I made it.   If I had planned ahead, I would have probably also added mushrooms and some mozzarella or provolone chunks.  It’s all good!

Do you ever make frittatas?  What are your favorite things to put in them?  I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.

In my family, we always knew it was a special occasion by the telltale aroma of lasagna baking in the oven.  Neither my grandmother nor my mother made it often.  A traditional lasagna is a labor intensive dish that takes several hours to prepare – even longer if you make your own pasta.  So, it was usually reserved for  holidays and the occasional birthday, christening or graduation party.  Maybe that’s why this classic Italian combination of layers of tender sheets of pasta filled with meat, veggies and ooey, gooey cheese tasted so wonderful to me.  Or, maybe it was because lasagna is just plain wonderful.

The thing is, that with a little advance planning and a few teensy shortcuts, you can make a perfectly scrumptious lasagna in a lot less time than you may think. And, if you prepare it in the form of these luscious, self-contained lasagna rolls, you can easily make enough to stash a batch or two in the freezer for later. How about that! You can enjoy lasagna any old time you feel like it! What a concept!

So, grab an apron and let’s make some lasagna rolls! 

Remember those teensy shortcuts I mentioned?  Well, the first one is using marinara sauce from a jar.  Oh yes, I really did just say that.  I know that cooking a marinara from scratch is preferable, but I’m trying to save you some time here.  And, unless you already have a vat of homemade marinara sauce in your freezer, it’s going to take an extra hour to make some.  Besides, there are some really excellent jar sauces out there made with San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil and other quality ingredients.  So, don’t be a sauce snob.  Embrace the convenience!

Another shortcut I take is using pre-shredded mozzarella.  Sargento makes a very good one, as does Sorrento.  There is no shame in not shredding your own cheese.  Even my mother does it.  I swear.

When I make this dish, I start preparing my filling at the same time I put a big pot of water on to boil for the lasagna sheets.  By the time the pasta is cooked, my filling is all ready to go.

Roll, baby, roll!

Cook your lasagna sheets just to the shy side of al dente.  They will be drenched in sauce and baking for a while.  This will help keep them from falling apart.  Also, be careful not to put too much filling into each roll.  A couple of tablespoons is enough.  If you overdo it, the filling will ooze out during baking.  It will still taste good, but it will look kind of yucky.  Yucky is not a good look for lasagna.

Snugly fit your rolls together in a baking dish and smother them with sauce and cheese.  See!  It looks just like a traditional lasagna, except that it will be a lot easier to serve.

These lasagna rolls can be prepped the night before and will be ready to bake when you get home from work the next day.  They can also be made ahead and frozen in one of two ways.  You can prepare them and freeze either before baking or after.  I prefer to freeze before baking.   If do you freeze them, you’ll need to either thaw them out first, or add at least an extra half hour or so to the baking time.  This is no big deal, as your prep work is already done.

So, don’t wait for a special occasion to treat yourself to these cheesy, meaty, yummy lasagna rolls.  Every day should be a celebration!

I’ve always been somewhat of a food purist.  I’m probably the only person over the age of five that actually prefers a plain cheese pizza to one with a zillion toppings.  Pasta nirvana for me is a bowl of spaghetti with Marcella Hazan’s three ingredient tomato sauce.   And, I take my vanilla ice cream straight up – no add-ins, thankyouverymuch.   Actually, my very favorite ice cream flavor is fior di latte, which doesn’t even have vanilla in it.  It’s not that I don’t appreciate more complex flavor combinations, because I do.   But sometimes,  I just like to savor the purity of really good ingredients, like fresh, local, organic cream from happy cows; or sweet and juicy, ripened by the sun, heirloom tomatoes.  And, I love that soft tug against my teeth when I bite into a buttery, melting mass of fresh mozzarella that was made by real hands.

I like my panna cotta straight up as well.   I also enjoy it flavored different ways.  But to me, nothing says heaven more than a soft, pillowy cloud of simply sweetened, pristine creaminess, adorned  by nothing more than a smattering of fresh berries.    Oooh!  I get goosebumps just thinking about it!

Panna Cotta is one of the easiest desserts to make.  Yet, it is so elegant and luxurious, one would never guess.    This basic “fior di Latte”, or “flower of milk” panna cotta recipe only contains three ingredients: cream or milk, sugar and gelatin. That’s it!  And, you can whip up a batch in under fifteen minutes.   If you want to jazz your panna cotta  up a bit, you can add any number of different flavorings to the base, as well as a variety of toppings.  I’ve tried it with everything from instant espresso powder to  fruit purees.  It’s all good.    That’s why this recipe such a “must have” in anyone’s dessert repertoire.  Its ease and versatility make it perfect for every occasion.

Today, I’m sharing panna cotta “di due fiori”, i.e. “with two flowers”.  The first is the basic, unadulterated version, which can be topped with any kind of fresh fruit, gelée, or coulis.  The second one is a panna cotta di fiori di arancia, which translates to orange flowers.  Both recipes are identical, except that I’ve added some orange flower water to flavor the second one.  Orange flower water is a popular ingredient in Italian desserts.  It has a subtle floral quality, and is wonderfully fragrant.  You can find orange flower water at most Italian or Middle Eastern markets, as well as online.

I’ve garnished my plain panna cotta here with fresh blueberries and the orange ones with some of the candied kumquats that I made last week.  Candied orange peel would also be a good choice.  Or, you could just leave it plain and revel in its silky creaminess and sublime simplicity.

I’ve never really been into “cutesy” things.  I’m not one to redecorate my house in themes for every holiday.  And, I never wear sweaters with Rudolph, Cupid or the Easter Bunny plastered across my chest.  Whether it be home décor, fashion or food, I tend to prefer uncluttered, elegant and clean lines.  That’s just me.   Take Valentine’s Day, for instance.  Where is it written that every food served has to be bedazzled in pink or red?   I mean, it’s fine if a food actually is supposed to be pink or red.  Otherwise, I prefer my Valentine treats straight up – hold the gimmicks?   Besides, a great  recipe made with good quality ingredients speaks for itself – like these divine white and dark chocolate Pots de Crème.

Simply put, a pot de crème is the French equivalent of a custard or pudding.  The term literally means “pot of cream”.  Leave it to the French to make something so simple, sound so special!   Anyway, think of a pot de crème as a crème brûlée, without the brûlée.  

Pots de crème are a silky, luxurious and almost sinful indulgence.    While dark chocolate is more traditional, I decided to make some of my pots de crème with white chocolate as well. It takes an extra step to make them two ways, but it is so totally worth it.  Not that these are in any way difficult to make, because they’re not.  Actually, they come together pretty easily.

I found my inspiration for this sweet little Valentine’s Day dessert from Bea over at La Tartine Gourmande.  Bea’s blog is one of the first food blogs I ever read, and it is still one of my favorites.  She shares the most gorgeous food and makes it seem so effortless.

Bea’s pots de crème recipe calls for whole milk.  I swapped out the milk for half and half because, after all, these were meant for Valentine’s Day, so I felt a little extra decadence was in order.   Besides, if I had used milk, there wouldn’t have been enough for cereal the next morning -  and I didn’t feel like running out to the store again.   I also added an extra egg yolk, because I needed the white for another recipe.  I hate to waste a good yolk!

I wish I could tell you which version of these pots de crème I liked loved better, but I can’t.  They were both so outrageously good.  I also wish I could tell you which one Mr. SGCC preferred.  But, I can’t do that either, because my sweets-averse spouse wouldn’t touch them.    For twenty-five years I’ve been making him decadent treats for Valentine’s Day, and for twenty-five years he hasn’t eaten them.   Hey, I’m not complaining.  His loss is my gain. 

Let me just come right out and say it.  These Swedish meatballs are the bomb!  Seriously.  They. Are. Awesome.  IKEA had better watch out. I’m just sayin’.

Swedish meatballs are a perennial favorite among the smörgåsbord set, which is why I had to include them in my Meatball Week series.   These plump and moist little nuggets of meat are delicately seasoned with fragrant spices like cardamom, allspice and nutmeg before being bathed in a rich and velvety cream sauce.  As with most traditional ethnic dishes, you’ll find as many different recipes for Swedish meatballs as there are cooks who make them.  I’ve tried many different versions, and I think this one is the best I’ve tasted.

The basic recipe for my meatballs came from Marcus Samuelsson, who got it from his Swedish grandma.  When a recipe comes from a famous chef’s grandma, you just know it has to be good.   With ingredients like honey and pickle juice, it’s unlike any I’ve seen before.    I did deviate quite a bit from the original, but that’s just how I roll.  That’s the great thing about recipes like this.  There’s lots of room to improvise.

The meatballs themselves are made with a mixture of beef, pork and veal.  I’ve always been a fan of using veal in meatballs.  I think it gives them a lighter texture and better flavor.

Let’s get started! 

To make the meatballs, you first sauté some finely diced onions in olive oil.  Set them aside to cool while you gather up the rest of the meatball ingredients.

Toss the sautéed onions in with the other ingredients and mix them all up together in a big bowl.   Form as many golf ball sized meatballs as you can get.  I got a ton.  Then, brown them in a skillet.  But, don’t cook them all the way through.

Yes, that is butter that those meatballs are frying in – big, fat, voluptuous butter.  But, it’s okay.  I don’t do this every day.  And, I don’t have an endorsement deal with any big drug companies.

Next, whip up that fabulous Swedish meatball sauce.   You start by making a roux, which is used as a thickening base for all kinds of sauces, gravies, soups and stews.  A roux a mixture of butter and flour that is cooked together until it reaches varying shades of brown, depending on what it’s being used for. Cooking the flour allows it to thicken the sauce without giving it a “raw”, starchy taste.  The roux for this dish should be on the lighter side – sort of like a café au lait color.  Marcus’s grandma’s recipe doesn’t call for a roux.  But, I wanted a sauce with more body, so I made one.

When the roux is ready, add some stock, a little at a time so that it doesn’t sputter up and splash you in the face. Trust me, that is not pleasant!

Then, add some heavy cream, lingonberry preserves and pickle juice.   No, that’s not a typo.  I thought the pickle juice was weird too.  Just do it, though.  You’ll thank me later.

When the sauce starts to bubble,  gently plop the meatballs in.   Then, simmer them in that glorious sauce until they’re cooked through.  Honestly, it took almost all of my self-control not to just slurp that sauce up with a big, fat, giant spoon!

Serve them with more lingonberry preserves and some pickled cucumber slices -  and watch your guests drool.

TOUCHDOWN!

If you missed the first two Meatball Week installments, you can find them here:

• Scallion Meatballs with Soy-Ginger Glaze
• Kefta Meatballs in Moroccan-Spiced Tomato Sauce

Coriander, cumin, paprika and cinnamon are but just a few of the staple ingredients you’ll find in the Moroccan dada’s  pantry.   The cuisine is earthy, fragrant and complex, redolent of rich spices, chiles, onions and garlic -  punctuated with  bright bursts of citrus, cilantro and mint.    To me, it is both straightforward and mysterious at the same time.  I think that’s what I love most about it.  And, that’s why I decided to make the second quarter of my Meatball Week all about Kefta Meatballs in Moroccan-Spiced Tomato Sauce.

My source for this dish came from Paula Wolfert’s The Food of Morocco, considered by many to be the definitive work on Moroccan cuisine.  With a lifetime spent immersed in Moroccan food and culture, Wolfert’s name has become synonymous with it.  And, luckily for the rest of us, she loves to share her enthusiasm.

The original dish is a tagine, which is a slow-cooked stew named for the pot that it is traditionally cooked in.   Wolfert’s kefta tagine features little lamb meatballs simmered in a cumin and paprika-laced tomato sauce.  Before serving, eggs are draped on top of the stew and poached.  Oh my!  I had to fight myself not to chuck the whole meatball plan and just make the recipe as written!  But, I’m hopelessly devoted to you, dear readers, and I could not leave you “meatball-less”.    So, here we go… 

The first thing you need to do is make your meatballs.  Wolfert says to use either lamb or beef, and I chose the more traditional lamb.  Onions, spices, garlic and crème fraiche are added to the lamb.  Crème fraiche!?!?  Yeah.  I had the same reaction, but it works.  The meatballs turn out kind of light and fluffy and have a subtle, pleasant tang to them.

Here we have the “Offensive Line” ready to cross the line of scrimmage.

Next, we start to make the line of scrimmage, er….um… I mean the tomato sauce.

Sauté finely chopped red onions in olive oil, then whisk in tomato paste.

Mix in the tomatoes and spices, and let it come to a bubble.   Wait a few minutes and then, breathe deeply.  It will smell heavenly.

Finally, add the kefta balls to the sauce and gently poach them for about half an hour.  Resist the urge to crack a few eggs in there.

Aaah!  Mmmmeatballs!

It’s meatball week here at Chez SGCC.  That’s because we love meatballs and think they make the perfect Super Bowl nosh.   They’re compact, easy to eat and can be made a zillion different ways.  So, as we count down to the big game, I’ll be sharing some different and delicious meatball recipes for you all to try out.

Let’s kick off with these yummy Asian-style Scallion Meatballs with a Soy-Ginger Glaze.

The original recipe for these tasty little morsels, from Canal House Cooking, calls for ground turkey.  I decided to make them with a combination of ground chicken and pork.    You can use whatever you want.  Turkey is perfectly fine.   I just think that Asian meatballs should be made with chicken and pork.   I also put a splash of fish sauce in my meatballs.  Don’t ask me why.  I’m just crazy like that.  I think it ups the umami quotient. 

I like to pulse the meat up a few times in the food processor before I mix in the rest of the ingredients.  You don’t have to do this either.  I find it gives the meatballs a finer texture, though.

There are no bread crumbs or other thickeners in the original recipe either.  I found the meatball mixture to be a little too wet for the balls to hold their shape, so I added a little cornstarch to it.  It worked great!

I love these gratuitous frying pan shots, don’t you?  The bubbles make me giddy!

Once your meatballs are all cooked, serve them with a drizzle of soy-ginger glaze.  They taste even better if you eat them with cute little curly-topped bamboo toothpicks like these.

My father had the most magnificent fig tree in his yard.  It was about twenty-five feet tall and the breadth of its branches was almost as wide.  Though he would never actually confirm it, the rumor is that he bred the tree using cuttings smuggled here from a bigger and even more magnificent fig tree that sits on the grounds of his ancestral home in Italy.  I have seen that original tree with my own eyes, and eaten its fruit.  It is amazing!

Dad’s fig tree was the jewel in his garden.  He babied and fussed over it.  He nurtured it through winters that were too cold and summers that were too hot.  That tree was the Goldilocks of fig trees.  Everything about it was just right, including the lush, moist fruit that grew from it.  Dad’s figs were almost the size of small fists!  Ripened by the sun, their flesh was so sweet that droplets of dew-like nectar oozed freely from them.   There was nothing – and, I mean nothing, people – that could rival the taste of my father’s figs.

Almost five years ago, on a grey November day, cancer stole my father away.  Within two weeks, the fig tree dropped all of its leaves, shriveled up and died.  I kid you not.  It was like the tree was in mourning and died of a broken heart. The only sign of life that has come from that tree since is the occasional appearance of a gorgeous, crimson cardinal, who swoops in from time to time and perches itself on a bare, brittle branch.   The bird just sits there, calmly looks around for a minute or two, and then flies off again.

None of us has the heart to chop down the fig tree.  Dad loved that tree, and to do so would almost be like losing him all over again.  So it still stands in its place beside the house as a bittersweet reminder of what once was.

Perhaps it is because of all of those wonderful, homegrown fresh figs I’ve devoured in my life, that I’m in so love with them.    Even now, I have a hard time passing them up when I find them at the market.  Sadly, they’re not quite the same when they come out of a plastic container.   I still buy them however, even though I’m often disappointed.

Another thing I can’t pass up is a good deal.  A few days ago, my market was having a BOGO sale on fresh figs.  They looked really lovely, so I slipped two quarts in my shopping cart, hoping that they would be good.  As I suspected, they were all style and no substance.  Out of the two dozen or so that I had, only about six were worth eating.  The rest were a little hard and dry, and the only thing I could think of that might save them was heat.  I find it intriguing how stewing, baking or roasting lackluster fruits can bring them back to life.  I’ve tried it with  berries, peaches, tomatoes and now, figs.  It works every time.

I thought about making some kind of tart with my figs, but honestly, I wasn’t in the mood to make a crust.  So, I decided that they would be just as delicious in a clafoutis.  For those who don’t know, a clafoutis is a French dessert where fruit is baked in a custard base.  Think of it as a crustless pie.   Traditionally, a clafoutis is made with cherries, but almost any kind of firm fruit will work well.   I love the combination of figs and honey, so I also decided to use that instead of sugar.

Despite its fancy, French name, making a clafoutis is very easy.  The first thing you need to do is cut up your fruit and artfully arrange them in a pie plate or glass baking dish.

Then, whizz up the rest of the ingredients in a blender and pour it over the fruit.

Bake the clafoutis until the custard sets and the top is nicely browned.

Look at how pretty it is!  And it tastes as good as it looks, too.  The custard was rich and creamy, with soft floral notes from the honey and the splash of orange flour water I also added.    Once baked, the figs took on a soft, jammy quality, and their sweetness intensified.   It was a lovely and elegant dessert that took hardly any effort at all.

I wish I had known about things like clafoutis when my father was around.  As delightful as this one was, I can’t help but wonder how spectacular it could have been with his figs.

*Photo of cardinal from iStockphoto.com

It seems like all I ever do lately is complain about the heat?  Well, that’s because it’s HOT here, people!  Really, really hot.  And humid.  Hot and humid is miserable.  Thus, I am miserable too. Hot, cranky and miserable!   Yes, I know it could be worse.  The grass is always greener and all that.  But in this case, the grass actually is greener somewhere else.  Because it is so damn hot, our grass is mostly brown these days – brown and crunchy and sad.  I know that compared to much of the country, this place is considered a paradise.  But, living in paradise does have its drawbacks.

Heat makes me tired – and lazy.  I don’t feel like going anywhere or doing anything, including cooking.  Except for making ice cream.  Does making ice cream count as cooking?

But still, we have to eat, and I can only get away with heat-related cooking reprieves for just so long.  So, I’ve been resorting to lots of salads and other quick dishes that don’t require a lot of effort on my part.

One of the easiest ways to get a meal on my table in a short amount of time is to make pizza.  All you need is the dough, a stocked fridge and some imagination.  And, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I buy my dough.  Sure, I know how to make it from scratch, and I sometimes do – when it’s cold outside, and I’m in a good mood.  In fact, my favorite recipe can be found here.  But, I’m sure not going to go to all of that time and trouble making homemade pizza dough in the dead of summer, especially when I can buy some great stuff at several local pizzerias and bakeries.  I can even find an acceptable product at my neighborhood supermarket.

Pizza is a lifesaver because you can put just about anything on it – even leftovers -  and it will almost always taste good.  I’ve made a lot of pretty great pizza using some rather unconventional toppings, like leftover pulled pork, picadillo and even fruit salad.  Last Friday night, I think I created my most interesting and delicious concoction yet, and it all started with a leftover container of Chinese takeout.

I’d been having one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, and all I wanted to do  was go home, turn the a/c down to 68 degrees and crawl into a cool corner.    I would rather have chewed on broken glass than go back out and sit in a restaurant.  So, I called an Italian bakery that was on my way home and asked if they had any pizza dough left.  They did, and I swung by to pick up a few blobs.

After I got home, I foraged around in my kitchen to find something to put on my pizza.  I decided to make one pie with the last of my homemade ricotta and some tomatoes from my garden.

Coming up with the fixings for the other pie wasn’t so easy.  I guess I hadn’t been shopping in longer than I’d thought.   And then, I spied a small container of Szechuan Eggplant with Garlic Sauce leftover from the night before.  There wasn’t enough to make a meal out of, but there was plenty to top a pizza with.  So that’s just what I did.

I’ll admit, I was a little concerned about how that pizza would turn out.  But OMG!  It was out. of. this. world.  Seriously!  Mr. SGCC and I couldn’t stop eating it.  In the oven, the sauce thickened and the eggplant and onions got all melty and caramelized.  It had a subtle sweetness that cut right through the sharpness of the garlic.  Who would have ever guessed that a container of half-eaten Chinese takeout could be turned into such an amazing pizza?  Color me gobsmacked!

I’m leaving you with not so much a recipe, as a guide.  Don’t feel obligated to run out to your corner Chinese place for Eggplant in Garlic Sauce.  That is, unless you really love Eggplant in Garlic Sauce.  In that case, go right ahead.  If you don’t, however, any number of different dishes would work just as well on a pizza, like Moo Shu Pork or Beef and Broccoli.  (I wouldn’t try it with wonton soup, though.  Just sayin’.)   It doesn’t even have to be Chinese.  I’ll bet Butter Chicken or Saag Aloo from your favorite Indian restaurant would be great options as well.

I suppose that the moral of this story is that we need to keep our minds open to new things, especially when it comes to food.  Sometimes flavors that we would never think of mixing together can be a fantastic combination.  And also, that no matter how crappy your day has been, a fabulous pizza can put it all in perspective.

It seems like we have zucchini coming out of the woodwork these days!  Everyone has it growing like mad in their gardens and no one can use it up fast enough.  I happen to adore zucchini, but even I’ve been feeling a bit challenged trying to find some different and interesting ways to use it.   And then, I found the recipe for this cake – Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze.   The moment I saw it, I knew I had to make it.

This is not your typical, dense, leaden loaf of zucchini bread, people.   No, no, no!  It is cake. Real, honest-to-goodness cake, with a moist, light and delicate crumb drenched in a lovely sweet-tart lemon glaze.  And, it is heavenly! 

It all starts with the usual cast of cake ingredients, like flour, sugar and eggs.   There are also a few special guest stars, like coarsely grated, fresh from the garden zucchini…

And, some fragrant, fruity extra-virgin olive oil.  Yes, olive oil.  In cake!

Let’s not forget the crunchy, yummy toasted pecans.  How could anything not be wonderful with toasted pecans?

I’ll admit it doesn’t look like much before being baked, but just wait until it comes out of the oven…

And it gets a nice slathering of that delightful lemon glaze.

WOWZA!

Seriously folks, this was one of the tastiest cakes I’ve ever baked – and there was no chocolate ganache or Swiss buttercream in sight.  Even Mr. “I Don’t Eat Sweets” SGCC indulged in two slices – and that’s saying something!

I have to say, I was a little leery about using extra virgin olive oil  in a cake.  I was afraid that flavor would be too assertive, but it wasn’t.  In fact, if I hadn’t known it was in there, I wouldn’t have ever guessed.   On its own, the cake has a slightly earthy, mellow quality to it, and is not overly sweet.  The lemony glaze, however, is what really gives this cake its va va voom.   A mixture of granulated and confectioner’s sugars is what supposedly gives the glaze its crunch.  Although I thought the glaze was really delicious, I have to say I didn’t find it to be particularly “crunchy”.  But, I didn’t care.  It is a luscious glaze adorning a fabulous cake.  Who could ask for more?