Farro Burgers

Ingredients:                                                                 Difficulty Rating:  Easy

2 scallions, dice the white and light green part
2 Tablespoons olive oil plus 2  Tablespoons for later (or you can use an olive oil sprayer)
1 cup Farro
1 Tablespoon butter (optional)
2 cups vegetable broth - low sodium
1 egg, beaten
¼  cup cilantro - chopped
¼  cup panko bread crumbs
¼  cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1Tablespoon fresh lime juice
Kosher salt and Black Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to a small saucepan over a low flame
Add the scallions and stir until they're soft
Add the Farro and stir for about 2 minutes to toast it
Add butter,stir
Add the vegetable broth, and raise the flame to medium
When it comes to a full boil, stir once or twice and lower the flame to low to keep the Farro simmering
Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the Farro is al dente.  If all the liquid evaporates before the Farro is al dente, add a little more broth.
Drain the broth from the Farro, and then pour it into a bowl.
First mix in the cilantro.  Mix in the egg, then add the bread crumbs, Parmigiano, and lime juice, salt and black pepper.



Mix in the Cilantro, egg and Parmigiano  after you take the Farro off the stove 

Form into medium size balls and gently press down  into the shape of a burger.
Add 2 Tablespoons of oil into a sauté pan and add the burger
Sauté each side for about 3 minutes or until each side is a little crispy



I use an ice cream scoop to form the burgers.  Put them on the griddle, and gently flatten

It's delicious when served on flat bread with arugula, a slice of tomato and aioli or a mixture of light mayo and mustard. Get creative!


Lasagne Bianche ai Carciofi, Spinaci e Formaggi - White Lasagna with Artichokes, Spinach and Cheeses

Ingredients:       preheat to 350                                                       Difficulty Rating: Medium

12 Artichokes – removed hearts (Find a good video online)

2 lemons – cut the first lemon in quarters, if the 2^nd is needed for the artichokes, cut it in quarters too

2 scallions, diced (white and light green parts only)

4 Tablespoons olive oil – plus 2 Tablespoons to prepare the baking dish (no need to use Extra Virgin)

1 cup dry white wine

1 ½ quarts whole milk

8 Tablespoons butter plus 3 more Tablespoons  

6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons salt

¾ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

1 ½ packages frozen spinach, defrosted and the all water squished out

Kosher salt and freshly ground high quality black pepper to taste

½ pound Tallegio cheese - a little stinky but very yummy. 

This cheese has a history back to the 10^th century when it was left it caves to mature.  If you can’t find it in your local store, there's no need to go cave hunting, you can choose a good a Brie, or ask your cheese monger for a good substitute.

Scamorza

1 pound Scamorza cheese – (don’t get smoked Scamorza.)  Scamorza means beheaded.  

It got its name because it looks like a head in a sack after it’s been chopped off.  Lovely picture, but it really does.  It has a protective wax covering which you can cut off with a knife, or if you have a good potato peeler, you can peel it off. 

If you can’t find Scamorza, use a good imported Provalone.

½ to ¾ pounds of Parmigiano Reggiano, depending on how heavy handed you are

Lasagne sheets – no bake sheets are the easiest.  Barilla makes some and there are lots of others out there

Preparation:

Prepare a 12 X 9 inch baking dish by pouring 2 teaspoons of olive oil in the dish and spread it around the bottom and sides of the dish with a piece of waxed paper.  It should be well oiled. Using 1 Tablespoon of butter, and the same piece of waxed paper, spread the butter in the corners of the baking dish to prevent sticking.

To prepare the artichokes:   

Remove the hearts from the artichokes.  If you’re not familiar with how to do this, there are lots of videos to watch online that will help you.  I watched Monkey See and it was very helpful.  There are plenty of videos on You Tube.  Make sure to rub the lemon over the artichoke whenever the peel is removed so it doesn't oxidize and turn brown. Another option is to have a bowl of cold water with a few tablespoons of fresh lemon added to it.  Put the peel artichoke in it immediately.  Don't forget that the stem is part of the heart! The whole choke needs to be removed, I thought that would be difficult, but using  a grapefruit spoon with a serrated edge really helps, as does a very sharp paring knife.



Slice the artichoke hearts in half (including the stem).  Leave 2 well-shaped halves to the side (rub lemon over them).

Cut the artichoke hearts into bite-sized pieces (if you have a tiny mouth, make them in larger than bite size pieces).  In a large skillet over a medium flame, add 4 Tablespoons of olive oil and the diced scallion. 

When the scallion becomes soft add the cut pieces of artichoke.

When they are about half way cooked, add the wine and let it evaporate.

Add salt and pepper, and cover for 5 – 10 minutes until they are tender when you stick a fork in them.  If necessary, add a little water to cook a little longer



When they’re finished, scrape the artichokes and scallions onto a plate

To make the Béchamel (Besciamella) sauce:

Get 2 medium to large sauce pans ready.  1 is for the butter and flour, 1 is to heat the milk. 

Pour the milk into one sauce pan, but don’t turn on the heat yet – just have it ready.

Cut the butter into pieces to aid in melting and place in a medium to large sauce pan on a low flame. Stir as the butter is melting to be sure it doesn’t burn.

When the butter is melted, add the flour 1 tablespoon at a time and whisk.  When all the flour is added, turn a low to medium flame on under the sauce pan with the milk, and raise the heat to medium for the butter mixture, stirring with the whisk for about 7 minutes or until it thickens and is a light golden color and feels like a roux. 

Right before the milk starts to boil, shut off the flame. 

Pour 1 cup at a time into the butter mixture and stir with a whisk.  When it is well mixed and there are no lumps, pour in the next cup of hot milk and repeat until it is all combined and the mixture is very smooth.  They continue cooking for about 10 minutes, and continue whisking. When it’s thick and very smooth, remove from the heat.

Add the salt and scrape the nutmeg.  Add ½ teaspoon of nutmeg, stir it in and taste the sauce.  It should have a subtle, warm nutty flavor. If needed, add the remaining ¼ teaspoon, stir and taste again.



Press the spinach between paper towels to make sure the water is squished out.  Rip the spinach apart and add it about 1 cup at a time, to the Béchamel time and stir with a whisk until the spinach is no longer clumpy and it is all mixed in.

Slice the Tallegio and the Scamorza into thin slices

To pull it all together:

Pour 1 or 2 ladles-full of Béchamel into the baking dish and spread it around the bottom.

Put the lasagna sheets on top to fully cover the pan

Cover with artichoke pieces, Parmigiano, Tallegio and Scamorza

Repeat – Béchamel, artichokes, Parmigiano, Tallegio and Scamorza

Repeat until you run out of artichoke hearts.  If you have room in the pan, you can do one layer without the artichoke heart and cover with Béchamel. 

In the center on the top, place the 2 artichoke heart halves facing opposite directions, it’s a lovely addition

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top gets a bit golden

Simply delicious.

Fish Tacos for Cinco de Mayo (or anytime)

Ingredients:       Serves 4 people                                            Difficulty Rating: Easy        

½ medium red onion, sliced thin
1 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup fresh lime juice (and zest), plus  2 more limes
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup well chopped cilantro (measure it after it’s chopped)
1 jalapeño – remove stem and seeds, well chop
Kosher salt - to taste
1 pound Mahi Mahi, tilapia or cod or other flakey white fish (make sure there are no little bones) cut into 4 equal pieces. Then cut those pieces into 2" pieces
Red Cabbage - finely shredded (optional)
8 tortillas (I don’t make these, I buy them.  I used to buy corn tortilla but I don't anymore unless I can find certified organic corn tortillas- all the GMO stuff with corn is to scary  Now I usually buy whole wheat, it’s your choice)
Sour Cream or Mexican Crema (do yourself a culinary favor and make the Crema, it's super easy and well worth it).

Tomato Salsa (Pico de Gallo) ingredients:

4 medium sized ripe tomatoes

1 clove of garlic, minced

¼ cup diced onion (about 1/4 of a small white onion)

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 jalapeño (or more depending on your 'heat tolerance'– remove stems and seeds and diced

1-2 limes (depending on size), zested and juiced

½ tablespoon olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Tomatillo Salsa Verde ingredients:
1 pound fresh tomatillos1 medium to large Spanish onion cut into chunks
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
¼ packed cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
½ jalapeño, remove the stems and unless you like lots of heat, remove the seeds

½ lime, zested and juiced

Kosher salt to taste

Mexican Crema:
8 ounces sour cream (whichever type you like, full fat, low fat)
2 medium limes, jucied and zested
 

Even though there’s a few steps in the preparation, they’re all easy, so don’t let it frighten you.

Preparation:

If you buy the salsa, then you can skip this, but if you're making it (which is much better), these recipes are fine to make ahead of time.

Pico de Gallo

    To Prepare Pico de Gallo:

    Add all the ingredients together.  Let them marinate for at least ½ hour. 

   Put about 1/3 of the salsa in the food processor and pulse a few times (you don't want soup, but you do want it juicy), and then add it back to the rest.








 

To Prepare Tomatillo Salsa:

Pull the husks off the tomatillo and wash them in cool water until they aren't sticky anymore.  

Cut then into quarters and add them to the food processor together with garlic and onion.

Tomatillo - like a tomato with a husk a.k.a. Tomate Verde

Process until smooth.



Add the jalapeño, cilantro, salt and lime juice
and process until the jalapeño is well chopped.

Pour the mixture into a small saucepan over
medium heat. 

Bring it to a boil, stirring often being careful
not to burn the bottom.  Turn it down to a
simmer and continue stirring until most of the
water is boiled off, about 10 to 15 minutes,
until it gets thicker and it gets the consistency
of relish. 

Cool and add lime juice before serving.
This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.

To Prepare Mexican Crema:

Combine the sour cream, lime juice and zest.  Mix well.

To Prepare Everything Else:

Marinate the onions in the red wine vinegar and ¼ cup lime juice for 30 minutes or a month!  They're good so you'll probably want to make extra and keep them covered the refrigerator.

Mix the olive oil, ancho chile power, cumin, jalapeño and salt together in a small bowl. 

Put the fish in another bowl and pour the olive oil mixture over it making sure it coats the entire fish. Let it marinate for about 20 minutes

I like to make the fish in a well-treated cast iron pan or griddle, but if you feel like it's easier in a nonstick pan, that'll be OK too.

Heat your pan over a medium flame.  If you're using cast iron, heat it longer than you would for a nonstick pan.

Pour the fish and marinade into the pan.  You don't need to add extra oil, because there's oil in the marinade.  Cook it for about 3 minutes on one side and 2 or 3 on the other.  Right before you're ready to take the fish out of the pan, squeeze 2 of the lime quarters over the fish and toss the fish around.  

Remove the fish from the pan, scrape out the left over marinade that's in the pan and sprinkle it over the fish with the cilantro.  If you want, at this point you can flake the fish a bit and make sure the left over marinade covers all the fish.  If needed, add some extra salt.

Put a damp paper towel on a dish, put 4 tortilla's on top of it then cover with another damp paper towel. Heat in a microwave for about 40 - 50 seconds

If you have a special plate for tortilla's use that, but if not, line a basket or bowl with a clean kitchen towel and place the tortilla's on it and then cover them.  Do the same thing for the next 4 tortillas.

You can assemble the first group of tacos for your guests or family, but putting about 1 heaping Tablespoon of fish in the center of the taco and adding some onions and red cabbage on top. 

Serve them with the sour cream and salsas and the remaining lime wedges.

Note:  The condiments you serve with your tacos are up to your imagination.  Shredded cheese, guacamole or pieces of avocado or crunched-up potato chips.  It's all up to you!

Removing the skin from Peppers - A few ways to roast them

The fork method (with a gas stove)

This method is the best when you're only doing 1 or 2 peppers

Stick a form into the end of the pepper, or hold it with a tong, and rotate it over the flame on a gas stove
Keep rotating the pepper on the fork until the outside chars and the pepper softens
Place the pepper in a paper bag and close the top
After a few minutes steaming in the bag, the skin will peel off easily
OR
wrap the pepper in heavy duty aluminum foil and place it on the burner
Rotate it every 5 minutes (for 20 minutes total) using tongs
When it's finished, unwrap and place the pepper in a paper bag and close the top by rolling it up.
After a few minutes steaming in the bag, the skin will peel off easily

The Oven Method - best when you have a lot of peppers to roast and peel

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil
Place the oven rack on the upper half of the oven
Lay the peppers out on the baking sheet
Let them cook for about 20 minutes
Turn the peppers using tongs
(remove the baking sheet from the oven when you turn them so the temperature doesn't drop)
Cook them for another 20 minutes or until they are charred and the pepper collapses
When the peppers are finished, place them in a paper bag and close the top by rolling it up
After a few minutes steaming in the bag, the skin will peel off easily

Tagine - Cod,tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, olives, figs and some heat

Ingredients:                                                  Difficulty rating:  Medium

2 pounds cod fillets,  cut into 8 equal size pieces
3 Tablespoons Chermoula

12 small Yukon Gold or other new potatoes

1 red or orange bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Ghee (clarified butter)

3 cloves garlic – well chopped

15 grape or cherry tomatoes

15 – 18 olives, I use different types, Cerignola, Kalmata, Oil Cured,Sicilian, Spanish with Pimento

6 – 8  figs, cut in half lengthwise –  most times of the year you should use dried figs (plump dried figs) but if fresh figs are in season, use them

½ preserved lemon

Kosher salt or sea salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

½ cup water

Preparation:

Rinse the fish and pat it dry with a paper towel

Put the fish in a medium bowl and rub 3 tablespoons of the Chermoula into the fish and cover bowl with plastic wrap to marinate in the refrigerator for about 3 hours

When the fish is finished marinating remove it from the refrigerator

Boil water in a medium size pot a medium size pot 3/4 filled with water
When it starts to boil, add the potatoes and bring water back to a boil
Boil until they are a little soft, but not all the way cooked - about 8 minutes 
Drain out the hot water and run cold water over them to stop them from cooking anymore
Peel the potatoes, the skin will come off easily after they’ve boiled
Slice the potatoes into thin round slices <!--[endif]-->

While the potatoes are boiling, roast the peppers
Remove the skins & seeds

Heat Diffuser

Slice into thin strips 

Put a heat diffuser on the stovetop and put the bottom of the Tagine on top of the diffuser
Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and the Ghee. It will take a little while for the oil to heat up because of the diffuser, but once it is hot, it will stay hot - be patient
Add the garlic and sauté until it is translucent
Once it's translucent add the tomatoes, peppers and the remaining Chermoula. Once the tomatoes are a little soft, remove the tomatoes and peppers from the tagine

Line the bottom of the Tagine with  the round pieces of potatoes
Sprinkle some of the tomatoes and peppers over the potatoes
Add the fish on top
The add the rest of the peppers and tomatoes on top  of the fish 

Sprinkle the olives and figs over the fish and tuck some in around the sides of the fish
Sprinkle the last Tablespoon of olive oil on top and add the water on the side, that is,  without pouring it over the fish

Cover the Tagine and keep the flame medium-low for about 20 minutes

When the fish is cooked, sprinkle the juice from the preserve lemon over the top and server right away *Available at speciality stores and online

 

Al Frank's Horseradish

Ingredients                                 Difficulty Rating: Easy (but don’t touch your eyes)

• Horseradish root
• 1 good sized, but not giant beet
• 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water - Dad used white vinegar, but I use apple cider vinegar, about ¾ cup of vinegar to ¼ cup of water, pour a little at a time.  You don’t want this too liquidy
• 2 heaping teaspoons sugar
• Kosher salt

Preparation:

Warning:  Your eyes will burn!  DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYES!

Peel the horseradish - you may have to use a knife because it is not easy to peel
Scrub the beet and clip off the top and bottom.
Cut horseradish and beet into very small pieces. 
Add all the ingredients, a little at a time, to a blender and grind
If it's too strong, add more vinegar, water, salt or sugar to taste - make sure you don't  make it too liquidy.
Put in glass jars, with very tight lids, in the refrigerator. Make sure the lids are tight or everything in the refrigerator will have a slight bouquet of my dad's horseradish.
 

Mini-Meatball Soup (Zuppa di Polpettine aka Italian Wedding Soup)

Ingredients:                                                                    Difficulty Rating: Easy

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef (some people prefer 1/3 pound beef, 1/3 pound pork, and1/3 pond chicken)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2-3 medium garlic cloves, minced (depending on your love for garlic), plus 2 medium clove garlic, minced for the soup 
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½  cup grated freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
• ½ cup unflavored bread crumbs (I use Panko because of their lightness, you can use regular unseasoned breadcrumbs if you prefer, with the Panko I use an extra ¼ cup and pulse them in the blender just slightly)
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Kosher Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 quarts chicken stock or broth – low sodium
• 2  cups ditalini, tubettini (both are small tubes), or conchigliette (small shell) pasta –  give whole grain pasta a chance. It goes well with this soup
• 1 pound fresh escarole or Tuscan Kale (very well washed), coarsely ripped

Preparation:                

In a medium size bowl combine meat, 2 minced garlic cloves, grated cheese, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper.  Don’t overdo the salt, let people decide how much they want on their own.
Use your hands to combine the above ingredients, but mix them together lightly, without squishing them in your hands, or it will become too dense

After the meat is well mixed, roll tiny meatballs, about the diameter of a nickel.  

In a large pot over medium heat 2 Tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot add the meatballs (don't over pack them, if you need to do half and then the 2nd half, that's fine).  Toss the meatballs around until they're brown - then put them in a small bowl.  Don't keep them over the heat for more than 3 - 4 minutes, remember they're small. 
When they're finished, scrape the meat off the bottom of the pot and add rest of the oil. When the oil is hot add the carrots, and celery, stirring occasionally.  After about 4 minutes add the onions and remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic.  Stir often, so the garlic doesn’t burn. Add some salt and freshly ground pepper.  When the onions are translucent, stirring to ensure nothing burns. .

Add the broth, bring it to a boil.  Lower the heat and carefully add the meatballs. Add the pasta, cover and simmer soup until the pasta is cooked, it should be about 10 minutes.  Drop the escarole into the soup, and stir.  Once the escarole is wilted, the soup is done.

Serve with extra grated cheese, salt and freshly ground pepper and a delicious crusty bread.

Note: You can cook the pasta separately and add it to the soup, it’s up to you. But make sure you simmer the soup long enough for the meatballs to cook.