Archive | eat this

a Sicilian tradition :: Pasta alla Norma recipe

March 6, 2013 at 11:21 am

On Monday a few of my friends and I gathered for a cooking class with Maria, a wonderful Italian woman who often watches our children. She is known for being a fabulous cook and we’ve all enjoyed her bruschetta and pasta alla norma in the past. She had agreed to teach us both recipes so we can recreate them after we leave Sicily.

I’m going to share her pasta alla norma recipe today and her bruschetta recipe tomorrow. Pasta alla norma is a classic Sicilian dish that is made with fried eggplant, tomatoes, and salted ricotta cheese. I’m not a huge fan of eggplant — even though it is ubiquitous in Sicily — but I will eat pasta alla norma by the kilo, it seems. It tastes like Sicily to me.

Here are some pictures of the process and then the recipe is at the end. Enjoy!

First, take a kilo of tomatoes and pour boiling water over them. Let it stand while you prepare the eggplant by cutting strips off four sides. Eggplant becomes very soft when cooked so the remaining skin helps it to keep some shape.

Chop the eggplant into 1-inch pieces and put in a bowl of cold salted water. Sprinkle salt on top. The salt helps draw out the bitterness of the eggplant.

Meanwhile, take your tomatoes, deseed them, and then dice them.

Next you’ll need olive oil. Our olive oil comes in 5-liter jugs around here!

Simmer the tomatoes with 3/4 cup olive oil and 6 cloves of garlic for about an hour.

Take a break to admire all our cute kids playing around the house…

And a sleeping baby, bless him. It lasted 5 minutes before he was back in Mama’s arms.

In a cup of hot vegetable oil, fry the chopped eggplant in batches. Be sure to squeeze out the salt water before adding the eggplant to the oil.

Your eggplant should look like this when it’s done frying. Yum!

Take another break to admire cute kids admiring a cute baby.

Cook your pasta and then toss it with the sauce and the fried eggplant. Top with grated ricotta cheese.

And eat! Best when served by a sweet Italian nonna. Buon appetito!

Pasta alla Norma Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 kilo pasta (1 lb)
1 kilo tomato (2 lbs)
3 eggplants
6 whole cloves garlic
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 Tbsp salt
Cold water with small handful of kosher salt
3/4 c. olive oil
Ricotta Salata
1 Tbsp Sugar (for sauce if tomatoes aren’t sweet enough)
1Tbsp dried basil or handful of fresh basil

Directions

For Eggplant:

Peel eggplant leaving 1in. strips of skin around. (4 strips of skin, 4 strips of flesh) and dice
into 1in. pieces and place in prepared salt water. Sprinkle 2 palm fulls of salt onto top of
eggplant
Heat vegetable oil in large skillet. Squeeze water from eggplant really well. Fry eggplant
(in small batches) 5 minutes, turn pieces over, continue to fry until golden brown.
Drain into colander set in large bowl.

For sauce:

Place tomatoes in large bowl. Bring pot of water to a boil and pour over tomatoes.
Let sit for 10 minutes, drain, then peel, seed (by squeezing tomato), and pit tomatoes.
Dice very small and place in large skillet pour 1/2 Tbsp salt in tomatoes and bring to simmer.
Pour in 3/4 c olive oil. Add 6 whole cloves of garlic. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Taste sauce, add sugar if needed. Stir, continue to simmer. Let simmer 1 hr.
Add 1 Tbsp dried basil or handful of fresh basil

Add tomato sauce and eggplant to cooked pasta. Top with shredded ricotta salata cheese.

15 :: in eat this, friends, Sicily

Valentine’s Day cookies with Lena

February 15, 2013 at 2:54 pm

Elliott was the first one to remember it was Valentine’s Day. He gave me a kiss — “… and happy Valentine’s Day, my valentine!” — as he headed out the door early in the morning, leaving behind a still-sleepy wife and two sleeping babies. I will admit I didn’t give Valentine’s Day another thought until that afternoon, when Elliott’s return was growing imminent and I had absolutely no plans to commemorate the day.

Since my friend Shelley was generously providing dinner for us, I didn’t have to come up with a meal. But maybe I could handle a dessert?

Correction: Lena and I could definitely handle a dessert!

I found this sugar cookie recipe and halved it. I also added in the grated peel of a whole orange, which made the cookies 10xs more delicious, in my opinion! We mixed up pink frosting from this recipe. Gil woke up in his swing while we were finishing up the frosting. When I turned back around, Lena had the frosting all over her clothes! Time for a wardrobe change.

Unfortunately I didn’t realize until the dough was mixed and chilled, the frosting prepared and set aside, and the dough rolled out for cutting that I do not own a heart-shaped cookie cutter. What?! In the end I improvised by cutting the dough out around a construction paper heart (which, ironically, was a note I had written to Elliott at a Valentine’s Day dinner last year).

We made 3 heart-shaped cookies and the rest were butterflies or flowers. And yes, I did attempt to frost one while also nursing my baby. #fail

At last Daddy came home… bearing bouquets of flowers for both of his girls! Lena wanted to show hers to her little brother. “Wanna smell my rose, Gil?” *smash*

We ate a delicious meal from our friend and topped it off with the heart-shaped cookies for dessert. Later Lena blew out the dinner candles with Elliott. We eat by candlelight most nights, and no, it is not my idea! Elliott’s parents almost always have candles burning at the dinner table (something they picked up from Edith Shaeffer’s The Hidden Art of Homemaking, a wonderful book that is not nearly as stuffy as it sounds). Elliott brought that tradition into our home, and now Lena’s new tradition is to count the candles (“waaan… twoo… treee… fur!”) and blow them out with her daddy every evening.

While Elliott gave Lena a bath, I admired my own beautiful flowers: romantic roses mixed in with my favorites (daisies… or at least the closest we can get to daisies from our local flower shop). Then I tried out the ring sling with Gil for the first time (he liked it!) while washing the dinner dishes.

I’d like to say we stayed up late watching a romantic movie with glasses of red wine, but actually we went to sleep around 10pm. Oh the life of parents of a newborn! We’re both looking forward to an evening out at our favorite sushi restaurant and this amazing chocolate cafe once life takes on a little more of a routine. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy our candlelit dinners and handmade sugar cookies at home!

What did you do or make for Valentine’s Day?

9 :: in eat this, family, holidays, Instagram, Lena

3 “holiday” desserts you should make year round

January 23, 2013 at 3:33 pm

It really is a shame that some of the very best treats and sweets are intended for just one month of the year! The reality is, though, that many of these delicious goodies can be made for other occasions, especially for ones that involve red and white (like Valentine’s Day, which is just around the corner). Here are a few suggestions from my holiday list of favorites…

… and then it’s your turn! What are your favorite “holiday” desserts that you can (and do!) make even in the spring or heat of summer?

{pictured above}

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

Original recipe from my friend Joy. These cookies are amazing.

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
12 large candy canes or 6 oz. peppermints crushed into pieces (make sure not to crush too much or it will become powdery)
1 (12 oz.) bag white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.
Add eggs and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, beating until blended.
Combine flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating just until blended.
Beat in candy canes and white chocolate chips just until combined.
Drop using a 2 tbsp. scoop onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake 10-14 minutes. I bake them 12 minutes.
Remove to wire racks and cool completely (about 15 minutes).

Mini Cheesecake Petit-Fours

Original recipe from paper{whites}.

Makes 24 petit-fours.

Ingredients

1 8-oz. ‘brick’ of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
6 double squares of graham crackers, roughly broken up
1 can cherry pie filling

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line mini muffin tins with liners.
Place graham cracker pieces in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until they break down into fine crumbs. Melt butter in a medium-sized, microwave safe bowl and add the crumbs to the melted butter. Mix until well combined.
Using a 1/2 teaspoon, spoon the mixture into the lined muffin tins and use your fingers to press lightly to mold them into the bottom and sides of the tins to form a crust.
Mix the cream cheese with the sugar until silky smooth (get rid of all the lumps!). Add vanilla, and then the eggs, one at a time. Scrap down the sides of the bowl as you mix.
Using a teaspoon, spoon the cream cheese mixture into the muffin tins to about 2/3 full.
Bake for 10-12 minutes and cool in tins for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before refrigerating at least 2 hours. (Note: when you pull the petit-fours out of the oven, they’ll look underdone, but they’ll firm up as you let them cool.)
Immediately prior to serving, top each petit-four with a cherry.

Caramel Pecan Shortbread Pie Bars

Original recipe from ButterBaking.com

Makes 48 small squares, or 24 larger bars.

Ingredients

For the base
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 cups flour (+ 1–2 tbsp)
For the topping
- 2 cups of pecan halves, roasted
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tbsp cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with baking paper.
To make the shortbread base:
1. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour and mix on a low speed until a crumbly mixture forms. If it is too sticky, add a couple more tablespoons of flour. It should be crumbly but stick together when pressed.
2. Press the shortbread into the base of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until the top is dry and slightly puffed.
While the crust is baking, make the topping.
1. In a medium saucepan, melt together the butter, brown sugar, honey, cream and salt over a medium heat.
2. Bring it to a simmer and let it bubble for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Mix in the pecans and vanilla.
Pour the pecan caramel mixture over the hot shortbread base and spread out the pecans as evenly as possible.
Bake for about 12 – 15 minutes, until evenly bubbling all over.
Allow to cool completely before cutting.

7 :: in eat this, holidays

Dutch babies + pigtail buns

January 15, 2013 at 3:24 pm

Saturday morning usually means piping hot whole wheat pancakes (< they're so good that I'm proud of them even though they're not from scratch!). Every now and then, though, it's fun to try something new. I had seen a recipe for Dutch babies on one of my favorite blogs and decided to give it a try. I went to work with a very cheerful assistant.

Moments later we sat down to Dutch babies dusted with powdered sugar and sprinkled with lemon. Although I did like them, I’m not sure I’d repeat the topping combination, because the flavor of egg was too strong for me. I might prefer them with pure maple syrup, like we eat on our pancakes, or… Nutella and bananas?

Because everything is better with Nutella. Can I get an amen?

Dutch Babies

serves two
adapted from Elephantine

Ingredients

2 room-temperature eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
a pinch of ground nutmeg
a pinch of salt
2 Tbsp butter
Toppings

lemon slices
powdered sugar for dusting
jam
maple syrup
Nutella!

Directions

Place an oven-proof skillet (mine is 10″) into your oven and heat to 425˚F.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until light and frothy. Add milk and stir. Gradually whisk in flour, nutmeg and salt.
Remove skillet from oven. Melt butter in the hot skillet, rotating to coat. Pour the batter into the skillet and return skillet to oven.
Bake until puffed and lightly browned, about 12 minutes.
Remove promptly, slice into quarters and squeeze lemon slices over the pieces, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

7 :: in eat this, Lena

a tasty sip :: Pom & sparkling water

January 7, 2013 at 4:04 pm

While searching for foodie inspiration for the vet clinic Christmas party at our house a few weeks ago, I came across this delicious signature cocktail. Inspired, I bought pomegranate juice and some Prosecco, and then I also bought sparkling water for the pregnant girl (ie. me).

I gave the combination a try at the party and was totally hooked! The sparkling water and tart juice are a refreshing combination. It’s like drinking a fruit soda but with all-natural sugar.

Want to try? It’s pretty simple…

Gather sparkling water and either Pom or another juice. I tried this Blueberry-Pomegranate juice because it was less expensive, but it’s too sweet for me. I like the tangy kick of pure pomegranate juice! (The price of Ocean Spray, however, is sweeter than the price of Pom.)

Thankfully, sparkling water is cheap in Italy; I bought this sparkling water for about 40 cents a bottle.