Frittata

Frittata

Italian frittata's and Spanish tortilla's are essentially the same things, a thick, egg, almost quiche-like omelet filled with various ingredients. Like a regular omelet, you can put whatever you want in a frittata and naturally, it's a great way to use up leftovers. Unlike regular folded french omelets, the fillings are cooked suspended in the egg rather than wrapped up like a crepe.

Frittata

You can eat them hot out of the pan or at room temperature. They are not limited to the breakfast plate however. Sliced up they also make good tapas. They're great with a salad for lunch and would even make a substantial protein for dinner.

Fresh herbs I had in the fridge

Boiled sliced spuds

I always like to include a lot of chopped fresh herbs and boiled sliced potatoes in mine. This time around, I also added some caramelized onion and red bell pepper for color.

Caramelized onion and red pepper

Runny side up, ready to "flip"

Preparation goes something like this. Chop up all your ingredients, par boil the potatoes and let cool. In the meantime, saute your veggies if using. Beat eggs (I usually go with about three per person). Heat up a non-stick pan. Gently fold in herbs, potatoes, and veggies into the beaten eggs and season with a little s&p. When pan is hot, stir around a couple of teaspoons of butter or olive oil, or give it a shot of cooking spray and slowly pour in the egg mixture. Tilt the pan to distribute everything evenly and allow to cook on medium-low to medium heat for a few minutes. The time will vary depending on how thick the mixture is and how hot the pan is. The trick is to have the heat low enough to not burn the bottom as the top takes time to dry up a little. Test the frittata for doneness by lifting an edge with a wooden spoon. If it comes away from the pan and more or less holds it's shape then you are ready for the flip. Take a plate that is just as large as the pan and cover the frittata. Using both hands, lift the plate and the pan and turn the whole thing upside down. The frittata is now on the plate cooked side up. To finish cooking, slide the frittata back into the pan for a few seconds just to finish cooking the runny side.

Fettuccine con Verdure Fresche

Fettuccine con Verdure Fresche

Okay, I don't know what to call this or what I was thinking when I made it other than I was hungry. Sometimes, despite good intentions, things don't always come out awesome in the kitchen. In fact, a lot of meals are just like this one, utilitarian in nature, but I decided to post this concoction anyway in the interest of complete transparency. Yeah, sometimes you just have to eat and you eat what ya got.

So what is it? As mentioned before, I have no idea what to call it but it started with some fettuccine. To this, I par-boiled some veg before transferring it to a wok with some minced garlic and olive oil and tossed it around for a bit. Then I added a hand full of Parmesan cheese and voila! I ate it.

Actually in retrospect, it wasn't too bad after all. It wasn't the nicest presentation but I guess you can say it was healthy enough and it did what was intended, "it filled a hole" as they say.

Now if it had an Italian name, maybe it would sound intentional. How about "fetuccine con verdure fresche"? Yeah that's it... That's what I had intended to make all along.

Tomato Feta Caper Onion Pizza

Tomato, Feta, Caper, Onion Pizza

Pizza's have evolved quite bit since the first ones I can remember eating. In the town I grew up in, there was a Magoo's pizza wagon parked on the main highway through town. The selection was pretty standard for the day; pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, a combination, the "Hawaiian" ham and pineapple (I'll say more on this some other time), or you could select your own combination of toppings. Pizza proved to be a popular treat in Hawaii as evidenced by chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's quickly staking claim in mini-malls all over town. Today, pizza is an ubiquitous fixture on America's food landscape. Open any phone book, (wow, am I dating myself or what?) rather, do a search online in any metropolitan area and your pizza choices are vast.

The humble pizza's evolution has brought us Wolfgang Puck and California Pizza Kitchen, just two of many institutions that aren't shy about baking anything on top of a crust and calling it a pizza. Now, I like myself a good barbecue chicken pizza once in a while just like the next guy, but there is such a thing as taking things too far. Often, pursuits in innovation and novelty result in losing touch with the fundamentals. I needed to get back to basic pie making.

Practicing my pizza dough recipe I came up with this Greek inspired pizza recipe. Well, Greek only because feta cheese stands in for the usual mozzarella. At the time of writing this post, I Googled "Greek pizza" and found a fantastic Greek food blog called Kalofagas. Turns out the Greeks have been making pizza or "ladenia" as it's called on the Greek island of Kimolos, probably as long as, if not longer than the Italians have. For all food Greek, the Kalofagas blog is a must. Check it out. I will definitely be sampling his recipes in the future.


So here's my pizza dough recipe. Just five ingredients go into my fool proof pizza dough (hey, if I can do it...); 2 to 3 cups of all purpose flour, 1 packet of yeast, 1 cup of lukewarm water, a pinch of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt.

In a large bowl, pour in the lukewarm water, sprinkle the yeast over the surface and add the pinch of sugar to activate the yeast. Let it sit for ten to fifteen minutes in a warm draft free place until it starts to get all frothy. Next, add a cup of flour and the salt while stirring. As the flour begins to absorb the water yeast mixture, continue adding flour until the mixture starts to form a ball and comes away from the bowl. Plop the dough ball onto a floured work surface and knead for about ten minutes or until you get tired of kneading, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from getting too sticky. The more you knead, the more elastic the dough will become. A little kneading will produce more of a bread like consistency once baked, similar to a foccacia bread. A lot of kneading will give you a dough that will bake into a crispy thin crust. At this point, transfer the dough into a lightly (olive) oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel and allow to rise for about forty five minutes. It should double in size. While you're waiting for it to rise, you can prepare all your toppings.

After the dough has had a chance to rise, dump it out onto a floured surface and you should have enough dough for two large pies or one gigantic trash can lid sized pie. I suggest going with two. Roll out half of the dough and make it as thin as you'd like. I prefer mine thin and crispy. Top with sauce, and cheese and anything else you'd like.

Now comes the baking part. For me, nothing works better than my outdoor grill. I crank the heat up as high as it will go, around 600 degrees, and stick the pizza in. I forgot to mention, I use a perforated non-stick pizza pan or you could probably get even better results if you use one of those expanded metal mesh pans found at a restaurant supply place. Why? Because more heat will hit the bottom of the crust directly making it super crispy. Ten to twelve minutes later, and the pie is done; crispy on the bottom, nicely browned on top just like I like 'em.

Stuffed Calamari

Stuffed Calamari

There's a little Italian American restaurant in Honolulu called Auntie Pasto's. Back when I first ate there twenty years ago, there weren't too many casual neighborhood Italian eateries to choose from in Hawaii and Auntie Pasto's was one of the better choices in my memory. Since that time, as food culture and awareness flourished and foodies grew more sophisticated, more and more Italian restaurants opened their doors to a hungry Hawaiian public eager for new flavors.

Although I enjoy sampling authentic, regional Italian cuisines there's something nice and comforting about basic Italian American style fare. Perhaps it's the warmth and hospitality of the establishment, or the fact that you don't have to speak Italian to understand what all the items are on the menu. On more than one occasion at Auntie Pasto's, when the line to get in was about twenty deep or so, the owner would send out one of the waitresses with a stack of plastic cups and several carafes of house Chianti for those of us waiting in line. That's what I call hospitality.

You can always order an old standard at places like these and walk away at the end of the meal feeling full and happy with money left in your wallet. Humble mounds of spaghetti and meatballs and plates of eggplant Parmesan cooked to perfection and smothered in marinara all taste as if your Italian Grandma (or Auntie in this case) cooked all afternoon just for you.

In addition to all the usual favorites to choose from, there were always the chalk board specials. I can't be sure if the stuffed calamari was on the regular menu back then. It's highly likely I ordered it off of the specials menu. Squid, stuffed with breadcrumbs and ricotta cheese (?), baked and served over a bed of spaghetti marinara.

In this version, I added some chopped clams to the stuffing and went with a pomodoro sauce. It took a little effort to stuff these guys. Perhaps there is a trick to stuffing them like maybe using a pastry bag, but with a little patience I managed to get them filled. Now, the key to cooking calamari is either, cook them forever or cook them quickly, anything in between and you end up with something inedibly reminiscent of a garden hose in texture. I chose to saute the stuffed calamari in a pan with tomato sauce for a few minutes and finish them off under the broiler for another few. They came out pretty tender and not rubbery at all.

When eating out, I'll always look over the daily specials menu. Once in a while I'll try a dish like this and be pleasantly surprised.

New Years Eve Lasagna

New Years Eve Lasagna

Food humorist/writer/poet extraordinaire, Calvin Trillin, single-handedly launched a campaign to make spaghetti carbonara the national dish for Thanksgiving. I first learned of his coup attempt to unseat the roasted turkey as America's thanksgiving day centerpiece when I read the story in a passage in the New York City Cookbook. A few years later, I listened to it when National Public Radio aired the story.

In the essay, Calvin Trillin begins his amusing if not logical argument citing, "It does not take much historical research to uncover the fact that nobody knows if the Pilgrims really ate turkey at the first Thanksgiving dinner". Here's a link to the rest of the story to see where he goes with his argument.

This year, New Year's Eve fell on a Wednesday and other than the occasional barrage of fireworks and celebratory gunfire from the next block over, it felt like any other uneventful midweek day. I couldn't come up with a good justification for having lasagna but I thought, nobody needs an excuse to eat lasagna, after all, it's lasagna. So that's what we had, New Year's Eve lasagna in homage to Calvin Trillin's Thanksgiving spaghetti carbonara.

Here's a short sampling of the dry wit of Calvin Trillin.

Tuna and Chickpea Salad

Tuna and Chickpea Salad

Rachael Ray's 30-minute meals show inspired today's lunch. Last night on her program, Rachael Ray put together a similar Mediterranean salad as a side dish. I can't remember the specific ingredients she called for in her recipe, but I had enough in house to assemble something close. All it involved was some chopping; lettuce, tomato, green onion, and olives, and opening up a couple of cans; tuna and chickpeas or garbanzo beans. Lemon juice and olive oil or "EVOO" as R.R. likes to say, makes up the dressing. Use solid white tuna and toss it lightly unless you want your tuna to disintegrate and disappear like mine did.

Did you say there was tuna in here?

Despite being only one component in a 30-minute meal program, it still took "Mr. unorganized me" 20 minutes to prepare. I wish I had a talented staff of Food Network prep cooks to boss around during commercial breaks!:)

Here's Rachael Ray's Recipe.

Conchiglie with Pesto and Grilled Shrimp

Conchiglie with Pesto and Grilled Shrimp

On a recent visit to the Culver City farmers market I picked up a bunch of fresh basil. As you probably know, fresh basil usually only lasts for a couple of days in the fridge before it gets all wilty and starts to turn brown, so I always try to use it as soon as I can. Usually we'll have it fresh with a tomato salad of some sort on the first day. On the second or third day we'll throw it in a pasta dish at the last minute. After that, it gets turned into pesto. On more than one occasion I wasn't quick enough to use it and it got dumped-and I hate wasting food.

Ridges in the conchiglie help the pesto stick

I used to only eat pesto in restaurants or once in a while I'd buy the store bought variety, that is, until I found out how easy it is to make and how superior homemade stuff is in freshness and flavor. Just basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, and olive oil, that's it. Load it all into a blender or food processor, a couple of pulses and you're done or go old school and use a mortar and pestle (pesto's namesake method by the way). If you don't plan on using it right away, float some olive oil on the surface before storing in the fridge to prevent oxidation and to retain the vibrant green color.

Zebra Heirloom Tomatoes with Bocconcini and Basil

Zebra Heirloom Tomatoes

The zebra heirlooms I found at the farmers market last Saturday couldn't have been more perfect. They were vine ripe and firm with tight skins. The flavor was intensely bright and tomatoey. There was even a slight berryness to the finish which makes sense seeing as how tomatoes are classified as a fruit. Eat enough supermarket tomatoes and it's easy to forget what tomatoes are supposed to taste like.

Zebra Heirloom Tomato Caprese

When it comes to produce this fresh, simpler is better so I chose to prepare them in a classic Caprese style salad with mozzarella bocconcini, some basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and fresh cracked pepper.

Close up

Like a Heatwave

Yesterday it was unbearably hot. The temperature was in the mid nineties all day but felt more like a hundred. What's going on? It's already October!

Extremely hot weather always seems to diminish my appetite. I don't feel like eating anything heavy. The thought of cooking over a hot stove may sound nice when it's cold and dark outside but yesterday felt like August in Death Valley-inside the house as well as outside. We needed something simple and light.

I've always liked the concept of making a meal out of several small plates. Eastern Mediterranean cultures have meze, the Spanish have their tapas, the Japanese have izakaya, in Hawaii they serve pupus and so on. Most of the savory small plates that comprise these ways of eating are traditionally served with drinks but can also be served as stand alone appetizers or more often here in L.A. these days, are combined and shared to make up a whole communal meal. What's nice about this style of eating is that it's casual, not confined to courses and you get a taste of everything. Go back for seconds of your favorites or order another plate. Have some of this and some of that, have a bit to drink and eat a little more. Our Christmas eve tradition is to start with a nice breakfast then pull out all the stops and get right to work cooking little dishes of our favorites and eat them all day into the night, something I look forward to all year. Sorry, I got off on a tangent... back to last night's dinner.

Cannellini Bean Salad

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Pasta with Shrimp, Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, Olive Oil and Toasted Garlic

I wouldn't really define last nights dinner as any of the above ways of eating (alchohol wasn't included and there wasn't a lot of variety) but if it had anything in common, it was made out of three small light dishes. The first was a refreshing cannellini bean salad dressed with olive oil and lime juice. The second dish was brussel sprouts with red onion and pancetta (a dish I copied from a local Italian restaurant) and the filler was pasta with shrimp, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil and toasted garlic. It was light, that's for sure. The flavors where more summer like than fall but felt appropriate for our hot weather. At least I didn't sweat through dinner.

The Sidecar

Artichoke, Grape Tomato and Red Onion Salad

Whenever we have a pasta dish, we usually accompany it with a side of sauteed fresh vegetables or a small salad of some sort.

Last night with our spaghetti bolognese, we had a quick, easy salad of marinated artichoke hearts, orange grape tomatoes and red onion (soak the red onion slices in some chilled water to remove the bite). I dressed it simply with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a little sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. The acidity of the vinegar serves well to offset some of the richness of the bolognese sauce.

Always a Crowd Pleaser

I don't know of many people who'll turn their nose up at a simple spaghetti with meat sauce. In an effort to make our grocery purchases stretch, I used half of the ground beef I usually use in my quick and dirty recipe and supplemented it with lots of shredded carrots and chopped celery. This is actually closer to an authentic ragu bolognese recipe which starts out by sauteing a soffritto of diced carrot, onion and celery. You can also substitute ground turkey, veal, pork or sausage and add some pancetta or mushrooms if you like. Use your imagination. This one is hard to mess up.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Yum! food coma...