MUSHROOM TOASTIES - CROSTINI AI FUNGHI

Last weekend, I traipsed through San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace.  Once the terminus for traffic in and out of the Bay, the space has morphed into a high-end food hub.  Speciality shops -- bread-bakers, salami-makers and cheeses-mongers -- line the interior.

A line of eager mouths snaked in front of Acme Bread, where workers pulled flour-dusted loaves from a brick oven. At Boccolone, diners noshed on house-cured salumi and homemade Italian sausages.

Evoking Europe's covered markets, the Ferry Building touts California's local vitals. I can't afford most food on sale here. I like to browse, though.  One of my favorite spots is a stall where I've never shopped: Far West Fungi.

Far West Fungi

Specializing in mushrooms, Far West serves edible fungus from across California -- including both farm-raised and forest-foraged varietals.  Pink oyster mushrooms, the ruby hue of a grapefruit, beckon to prospective foodies.

Perusing the porcini and prune-wrinkled morels, I started concocting mushroomy meals in my head. Risotto? Lasagna? Veggie ragù?  In a rush, I went for a quick dish: mushroom crostini.  Toasted bread is crowned in pan-crisped mushrooms, lemony parsley and a hint of cream.  I grabbed a crusty baguette at Acme Bread and headed home.

 

Far West Fungi

 INGREDIENTS:

• 12 oz - 1 lb of mixed mushrooms (crimini, button, Shitake, portobella, etc), sliced
• 1 loaf crusty bread (baguette or Italian), sliced thick
• A bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons fresh cream or half-and-half
• 4-5 tablespoons fresh grated parmigiano
• 4-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper, to taste.

www.thefreshloaf.com

Slice the rustic Italian loaf or baguette into 1" - 1.5" slices.  Toast the bread on a baking sheet in the oven until hard.  Be sure not to over toast.  Your slices should feel like toast but not yet be golden-brown.  Set aside the bread  and let cool at room temperature.

Meanwhile, wash and clean the mushrooms, scrubbing off any soil that clings to the 'shrooms. Coarsely slice the mushrooms. Some slices can be thin like the mushrooms you see on pizzas and some can be chunkier.  When the mushrooms are cut rough-chop a bunch of flat-leaf parsley. You'll need about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley.

Image from: Delightful Delicacies

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Cooking in batches, saute the mushrooms until they've begun to brown. You don't want slimy mushrooms. To avoid soggy 'shrooms, cook them in hot oil and only just cover the surface of the skillet.  Cooking the mushrooms all at once will cause them to release water -- they won't brown and they will turn mushy.  Smaller batches, on the other hand, will caramelize and sizzle.

Cook 2-3 minutes on each side, stirring only occasionally.  Once browned, remove the batch of mushrooms to a separate plate and continue pan-frying the remaining fungus. When all of the mushrooms have been browned, return them to the skillet.

Heating over medium-low, toss in the chopped parsley. Pepper to taste and mix for 1 minute. Because we're using salty parmigiano, you won't need to add salt now. While the mushrooms and parsley re-heat, spoon in the grated parmigiano. Stir the skillet vigorously until the cheese starts to melt and turn gooey.

Photo from Italian blog: http://focacciaalrosmarinoit.blogspot.com/

Lastly, pour in the heavy cream one tablespoon at a time. Toss the pan to make sure the cheese, parsley and cream evenly coat all the mushroom mixture.  Generously dress each slice of toast with the cheesy mushroom mix. Serve warm.

SPAGHETTI & CLAMS

     

Photo from: http://cosacucino.myblog.it

Italy is touched on most sides by the sea.  Unlike more landlocked countries, no one region lays claim to seafood preeminence; all prize fish, squid and shrimp.  It's not the presence of seafood that sets these regions' cuisines apart.  It's how that seafood gets prepped.     

While Venetians steep sardines in vinegar and onions, Sicilians stew them with raisins.  Neapolitans slow-cook octopus in tomatoes but, moving north to Liguria, you find the eight-legged critter boiled with potatoes and a squirt of lemon.

In Naples, spaghetti with clams is a classic dish - clams, olive oil and garlic.  Fresh clams are the key to a tasty sauce.  Once cooked, the clams open and release their juice; this liquid adds an "oceany" complexity to the final sughetto.  Spicy red pepper compliments the mollusks' briny taste.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1.5 - 2lbs of live manilla clams, in their shells

* 8 oz spaghetti, cooked al dente

* 6 tablespoons of olive oil

* 2 garlic cloves (or less; depends how "garlicky" you want it), sliced thin

* Red pepper flakes, to taste 

* 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, rough chopped

Scrub the clams, removing any sand still on the shells. Place the clams in a bowl and cover with water.  Let the clams sit in the water for 20 min.  The clams will expel whatever sand is inside, guaranteeing your meal is not a gritty mess.  

Heat a dutch oven over medium.  Do not add any oil yet.  Put the clams in the hot pan and cover for 3-4 minutes.  During this time, the clams should open up and begin releasing their juice.

Clams with shells open after cooking. Photo from: http://savourbcn.files.wordpress.com

When they've opened, you can either keep the clams in their shells or toss out the shells.  Remove the clams / juice from heat and set aside.  If you choose to pull the meat from the shells, do not pour out the liquid they have emitted. Pour 6 tablespoons of olive oil into a separate skillet and heat over low.  Toast the garlic / red pepper flakes the skillet until aromatic.  

Photo from www.buttalapasta.it

Once the garlic sizzles, add the conserved clams / juice to the pan with the garlicky oil.  Cover and cook the clams for 15 minutes. Cook on very low heat.  As a final step, toss the al dente pasta in the skillet with the clams, sprinkling with the chopped parsley.   

PUMPKIN PASTA

Stewed or fresh, tomatoes are the base of many Italian meals.  When you travel through Italy, you'll quickly spot paler plates of pasta.  Sicilians toss spaghetti with fresh sardines, pine nuts and raisins.  Calabria's cooks squeeze a sauce from wild fennel and local chilis. In the north, ravioli swim in cream and bitter radicchio.  Tomatoes are just one condimento, among many, for pasta. 

Fresh tortellacci served with radicchio, parmesan and cream. Photo.

In Emilia-Romagna's kitchens, sage and butter often crown the region's yolk-yellow noodles. A few years ago, I lived in Bologna -- home to  leftist politics, Europe's oldest university and the country's best fresh pasta.  My friend Lucio and I grabbed a quick bite one night at Osteria del Montesino, a Sardinian eatery filled with broke students and anarchists mellowed by cheap wine.  

Osteria del Montesino, Bologna; Via del Pratello 74. Photo.

Nicknamed "la Rossa" (the Red), Bologna is the proud birthplace of Italy's communist political movements.  True to form, the walls inside Osteria del Montesino are plastered with left-leaning poster from Bologna's last 30 years.

For 7€, you get your of pick the pasta made that day. We both went  for the penne alla zucca -- pasta dressed in a slippery mix of roasted squash, grated parmigiano and pan-frizzled pancetta.   Our meal was so good that we couldn't help but ask how to make it.  The cook's reply: 1) roast squash, 2) stir with cheese and pancetta, 3) toss and 4) serve.  Roasting the squash brings out the gourd's sweet taste -- a sugary note balanced by the umami of the salt-cured pork.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz. penne or rigatoni,cooked al dente
•  1 - 1.5 cups of parmigiano, fresh grated
•  4 oz pancetta, cubed (optional)
•  1 tablespoon butter (optional)
•  1 - 1.5 lbs butternut squash
• 1 onion, rough diced

Photo from: http://fabioc.it/

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the squash in half, splitting it down the middle. Since we're roasting the squash whole, there is no need to peel. Scoop the seeds and stringy goop out from the inside, rinsing the squash halves under cold water.  Rub the squash all over with light olive oil.  Then, wrap the squash tightly in aluminum foil. Be sure that no part of the squash is exposed.  Wrapping it will help the fibrous squash to steam and, subsequently, cook faster. Lay the squash halves flat-side down on a cooking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes -- until the flesh has softened and can be spooned out with little effort.

About 20 minutes into cooking the squash, frizzle the pancetta cubes over medium heat in a large and flat skillet.  Cook until the pancetta's has started to render.  Add the diced onion to the pan-fried pancetta, stirring. When the onion has turned translucent and the cubes are beginning to brown, turn off the heat. Keep the onion and pancetta in the skillet.

Photo.

Take the squash pieces out of the oven and let them cool, unwrapped, for 2-3 min.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente.  Remove the boiled pasta with a slotted spoon, reserving at least 1 cup of the hot and starchy water. Scoop out the squash pulp and mix it in the pan with the pancetta and onion. At this point, return the skillet to medium-low heat.

Stir squash, pancetta and  parmigiano together until a uniform and creamy mix has formed.  The cheese will melt and blend together with the softened pulp. Season to taste with fresh ground black pepper.

Photo

Use a wooden spoon to mash  larger chunks of squash.  As a final step, toss the pasta together with the cheese-and-squash mixture. To ensure an even coating, add a little bit of the hot pasta water to the skillet while stirring. If desired, mix butter in now. Pour the water in 1 tablespoon at a time to avoid making a runny sauce.  Shake the pan once or twice to ensure equal distribution of sugo. Serve hot, sprinkled with a spoonful of grated cheese.

PASTA WITH CAULIFLOWER

Cauliflower needs more love.  Americans tend to damn it to side-dish oblivion.  Boiled to a bland mush, cauliflower loses most of its flavor.  Sadder still, what little taste is left then gets entombed in molten cheese sauce.  This recipe aims to lift cauliflower out of its Velveeta-drowned purgatory.

When pan-fried, cauliflower caramelizes.  High heat salvages the florets' crunch, drawing out the sweetness sapped by boiling.  If you hate cauliflower, give this recipe a whirl and see if you still find it icky.

In much of Rome, the cavolfiore romanesco is a comical and common sight.  Looking like a mad botanist's creation, it's sort of broccoli and sort of cauliflower. Bright green, the romanesco variety first emerged in Italy during the 1600s.  Its texture is spongy like cauliflower but, once cooked, presents a greener taste more akin to everyday broccoli.

This dish combines market-variety cauliflower and the more alien-looking romanesco.  If you can't find romanesco, plain old cauliflower is more than up to the task. Porous florets happily sop up the oil, vinegar and lemon juice dressing. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small head of white cauliflower
• 1 small romanesco cauliflower
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (optional)
• 6-8 pitted olives, chopped
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 - 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 8 oz of penne

Wash and core the cauliflower, keeping the individual florets intact as much as possible.  For instructions on coring a cauliflower, go here: how to cut a cauliflower.  Slice the florets in half or in quarters.  Cauliflower browns best when cut with one or more flat sides.  The flat surface will touch the hot pan and caramelize.  Uncut florets will may turn soggy and be hard to brown.

While the water is boiling, heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a flat skillet over medium-high. Depending on size, you might need more oil.  When the pan is hot (but-not-smoking), add cauliflower slivers.  Quickly stir the so that all the pieces are coated in oil.  :: Stop stirring ::.  In order to brown, the cauliflower needs to be in sustained direct contact with the hot pan.  Wait 3-4 minutes or until the cauliflower has begun to brown.  Continue cooking until browned all over.  Remove the florets and set aside.

Cook the penne in 3 quarts of salted water.   In the same pan that you cooked the cauliflower, heat another 2 tablespoons of oil.  Add the garlic, olives, capers, red pepper flakes and anchovy, stirring occasionally to avoid burning.  Cook over medium heat for another 2 minutes -- you will begin to smell the aromatic garlic and the vinegary tang of the capers.
 

When the garlic starts to caramelize, return the browned florets to the pan.  Lower heat and gently mix together, making sure that the garlic and olives and capers get evenly distributed.  Dress the florets at this point with the lemon juice and balsamic.  Keep cooking for 2-3 minutes over low heat -- or until the juice and vinegar have been absorbed.  Toss the cooked pasta together in the pan with the dressed cauliflower. Serve hot.  

PASTA ALLA CARBONARA

Pecorino and pepper is well and good most days.  But, sometimes, you want pig with your pasta.  Spaghetti alla carbonara is fail-safe answer to such suine-y cravings. 

Mixing pan-crisped pancetta, nutty parmigiano and creamy yolks, carbonara is everyday fare in Rome.  This quick pasta can be prepped at home in little time and with just a few ingredients.

Although many U.S. restaurants use smoked bacon or cream in this dish, the Roman version is made only with cheese, yolk and cured pork.  Unlike American bacon, pancetta is not smoked.  Instead, the pork is air-dried for months, wrapped in a coat of salt and spices.  It's still satisfyingly unctuous but won't make your whole meal taste like mesquite.

The key to carbonara is good  ingredients -- sun-yellow yolks, real parmigiano reggiano and salt-cured pig.  Avoid pre-grated "parmesan" sold in the store, as the cheese tends to lose its taste not long after grating.  Instead, buy a hunk of parmigiano and grate the cheese just before you prep the dish.

Once the spaghetti has cooked, toss the still-steaming pasta with the slurry of cheese, pepper and  yolks.  The hot pasta will cook the egg mixture and melt the cheese, thickening into a sauce.  Be sure to toss the pasta and egg and cheese in the same pan where you fried the pancetta. Rendered pork fat adds a smooth texture to your finished sauce and gives the dish its signature creaminess.      

 INGREDIENTS:
    •    8 oz of spaghetti or tonnarelli
    •    4 or 5 oz of pancetta, cubed
    •    3/4 to 1 cup of freshly grated parmigiano
    •    3 or 4 egg yolks
    •    Black pepper, fresh ground 

Lightly beat the yolks together with a fork.  Add the grated cheese to the egg mixture, stirring until you have a thick slurry.   Grind a healthy heaping of black pepper into the eggy/cheesy mix -- 5-7 twists on the pepper mill.  Cook the spaghetti meanwhile in 3 quarts of salted water.

Photo from: http://4.bp.blogspot.com

While the pasta is cooking, render the pancetta. Crisp the cured pork cubes over medium-low heat, waiting until the fat has rendered. You may need to pour 1 teaspoon of olive oil in the pan before browning to avoid sticking.  If the heat is too high, the pork will burn and not render. KEEP THE RENDERED FAT IN THE PAN. Pancetta, remember, is not American bacon. We want that grease. Once crisped, turn off the heat but leave pancetta in the frying pan.
                                                       

 

Remove the pasta from the hot water with a slotted spoon, reserving at least 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water in the spaghetti pot.  DO NOT RUN THE PASTA UNDER COLD WATER.  It needs to be steaming hot.  Toss the hot spaghetti in the frying pan that holds the crisped pancetta.  If the rendered fat has begun to solidify again, the hot pasta should re-melt it.  When the cubes are evenly mixed throughout the pasta, pour the cheesy/yolky mix over the pasta and vigorously toss.

 The hot pasta will cook the yolks and form a sauce.  If sauce seems lumpy, add 1/4 a ladle of steaming pasta water and shake the pan to make sure the egg has coated all the pasta. Serve hot.

SWEET & SOUR EGGPLANT

In Italy's boot and heel, eggplant reigns supreme. Whether fried, char-grilled or teamed with red sauce, this ink-purple verdura is at the heart of countless rustic recipes.

Historically, Italy's south was poorer and more rural than the north.  Its cuisine reflects this reality -- rich in  local vegetables and seafood but short on more expensive red meats.  Carne -- beef, pork and lamb -- was a pricey treat reserved for Sunday dinners or dry-cured as salami.

In southern Italian kitchens, eggplant fills the role that cutlets or steak play in richer regions.  People make eggplant meatballs (polpette di melanzane) throughout the south, substituting ground meat with eggplant and bread crumbs.  

Melanzane in agrodolce is common in Sicly, Calabria and Campania.  Grilled or pan-fried eggplant are dressed in a tangy slurry of red wine vinegar, sugar, garlic and herbs.  Porous eggplant will sponge up the tart marinade.  Because the glaze is vinegar-based, the dish will last up to a week in the fridge.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

SUPERMARKET TIP:

Italian eggplants are thinner, longer and all-around tinier than American supermarket varietals.  If possible, look for either "Italian eggplant" or "Japanese eggplant."  Gigantic eggplants can have a bitter taste.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 or 5 eggplants, cubed
• 1 sweet onions, diced
• 1 cup of good red wine vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon capers
• Fresh mint or flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt & pepper

Cut the eggplants into cubes. For tips on cubing an eggplant, go here: How to cube an eggplant

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In a large frying pan, heat 4-5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.  Olive oil has a low burn temperature, so be careful not to get it too hot.  It will smoke and taste bad.  Pan fry the cubed eggplant until each cube has softened and is golden brown / lightly caramelized on all sides -- about 8-10 minutes.  Cook the eggplant in batches. You won't be able to cook it all at once.  

Fry about 20 cubes at a time.  You may need to add more olive oil after cooking a batch.  Remove the browned eggplant and place it in a large mixing bowl.  Then, cook the onion on medium-low heat in the same pan until translucent. Add the cooked onion to the bowl with the caramelized eggplant.
Photo: www.ideericette.it

When the eggplant is done, make the marinade.  Whisk the minced garlic, red wine vinegar, fresh herbs, capers and sugar together in a bowl.   If you are cooking large eggplants, you will need to double the marinade proportions.  Taste the marinade and add salt and pepper.  Pour the marinade over the pan-fried eggplant and onion, tossing the mixture.  Let the eggplant sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, mixing every 5 minutes to ensure that the marinade is evenly distributed.  
This photo is from www.mondodelgusto.it

GARLIC BREAD TUSCAN STYLE

There are easy recipes. And, there are easy recipes --  food that  folks who struggle with Kraft Mac can make. And, make well.  Literally meaning an oiled up slice of bread, fettunta is Tuscany's bare-bones take on garlic bread.  (My high school English teachers would be horrified -- two sentences in one paragraph that start with "and").

For most Americans, just mentioning garlic bread conjures images of oven-toasted loaves doused in butter, parsley and mountains of minced garlic.  Some garlic bread leaks yellow. Some ooze gooey cheese. Others make you wonder why the bread looks like orange Kool-Aid.

While not straying far from the grease + bread + garlic equation, fettunta might better be called garlicky bread.  If American garlic bread showcases the zing of garlic and the stringiness of mozzarella, the star of fettunta is the bread.  To be sure, garlic is still here.  It's just not the main attraction -- one note in a choir rather than that voice that makes you forget all others. Since garlic won't overpower the bread, it's key that you get your hands on a quality loaf.

Raw garlic is rubbed right on top of toasted or grilled bread.  The warm surface absorbs just a hint of the garlic's punch.  You taste the bread. You taste the fruity olive oil. You taste the garlic.  No one flavor kills the others.  Served hot, this is easy and light finger food.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 loaf crusty bread
• Olive oil for drizzling (1/2 cup)
• 6 or so peeled garlic cloves
• Salt & pepper

Slice the crusty Italian loaf into thick "bruschetta-sized" slices. Each slice should be about 1 to 1.5 inches wide.  Once sliced, flash toast (on high) the slices. If you have a grill pan or a grill, grilling the bread is the way to go.  This will endow the final dish with a rich, smoky aftertaste.  

When toasty, take a clove of garlic and rub it into the bread's rough surface.  The garlic will rub off.  Garlic up each hot slice this way.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  If the bread is already salted, only use a smidgin of salt. As a final step, pour a big glug of extra-virgin olive oil over each garlicky piece.  The warm bread will absorb the oil. Serve hot.

                                               This photo is from http://theitaliandish.blogspot.com

FRIED SQUASH BLOSSOMS

When in Bologna, try the meat sauce. When in Florence, nosh on salami. When in Rome, eat fried food. Both hostarie (fancy-pants restaurants) and pizzerias with vinyl tablecloths serve up fried antipasti in Rome. Conventionally, the fritto misto alla romana is a mix of battered-n-fried veggies and meaty odds and ends (sweetbreads, brain, spinal chord). Romans may love their innards. Visitors, well, not so much.

 Despite purists' complaints, most restaurants now offer less offal-heavy options: fiori di zucca (fried squash blossoms), olive ascolane (olives stuffed and fried), frittelle di baccalà (salt cod fritters) and mozzarelline fritte (fried mozzarella balls). During the summers, markets in Rome abound with baskets of orange and green zucchini flowers. Restaurants and home cooks buy bags of them and either fry them or serve them sauteed in olive oil over a bed of pasta.

Although other regions in Italy stuff zucchini flowers with ricotta or cured meat, Roman-style fiori di zucca are always made with a lone anchovy and a small bit of mozzarella. Once filled, they get dipped in a yeasty batter and fried -- preferably in vegetable or light (not extra virgin) olive oil.

In a frying pan, pour 3-4 inches of oil and heat to 375 degrees.  If you don't have a frying thermometer, you can test the oil temperature by putting a little drop of the batter in the heated oil. If it sizzles and floats to the surface, it's ready.  If not, keep heating.  Fry the blossoms for 2 min.  They should be crispy & lightly golden on all sides. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and serve immediately.  

 INGREDIENTS:

* 10-15 zucchini flowers

* 2-3 eggs

* 1 cup flour

* 4 tablespoons of beer

* Vegetable oil sufficient for frying

* 1 fresh mozzarella ball sliced into thin strips

* Anchovy fillets (or none if you don't like the taste)

Wash the zucchini blossoms and gently pat them dry with a paper towel; remove the tough and spiny base of the flower. Be careful -- it can be prickly and stick to your fingers.  Then, place a thin sliver of mozzarella in each flower and, if you want, one small anchovy. Do not to over-stuff.  Cheese melts during frying but we want it inside the blossom and not oozing out.  Set aside the filled blossoms.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs (yolks and whites) with a fork. Bit by bit, sift the flour in, stirring constantly to avoid clumps.  Once your pastella is the consistency of thick pancake batter, add the beer and whisk.  Dip the flowers in batter, letting any extra pastella drip off.

CACIO E PEPE - CHEESY BLACK PEPPER PASTA

If you go to any trattoria in Rome -- whether expensive, touristy or a hole-in-the-wall -- you'll face the same choice: which pasta dish to get?  In a typical Roman joint, pasta gets served one of four (at most five) ways:  alla carbonara (eggs, grated cheese and pancetta), all'amatriciana (tomato, red pepper flakes, guanciale -- like pancetta), all'arrabbiata (spicy tomato sauce) or al cacio e pepe.

In Roman dialect, cacio means cheese.  Pepe is Italian for black pepper. Traditionally served with spaghetti or tonarelli (a fresh pasta thicker than spaghetti), cacio e pepe is Roman food at its most minimal and delicious.  To prepare this recipe, you simply mix the freshly-cooked pasta (still hot) with grated pecorino romano and a few hefty twists of black pepper.  In order make sure the cheese evenly melts over the pasta, add a ladle of hot pasta water before tossing it all together.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 - 1.5 cups of finely grated pecorino romano

* 8 oz. of spaghetti cooked

* 1-2 tbs of fresh-ground black pepper

       

          WATCH:   CHEF MARK LADNER DEMOS "CACIO E PEPE"

  
Cook the spaghetti al dente in 3 quarts of salted water.  Once cooked, remove with a slotted spoon, leaving the pasta water still in the pan.  Do not pour the water down the drain.   Transfer the spaghetti to a large sautee / frying pan.  Coat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and ladle in about 1/2 cup to 3/4 of a cup of the hot and starchy pasta water.  Warm the pan with pasta, water and oil over very low heat.

 Now, add both the fresh ground black pepper and grated pecorino to the still-hot pasta.  *Grate the pecorino when the water is coming to a boil -- so you have all of it ready to mix in.*  Quickly, toss the pasta, cheese, water and pepper.  Briefly heat this trio over a low flame until all the cheese has melted.  The starchy water, when mixed with melting cheese, will form a creamy glaze that coats the pasta.  Serve immediately. 

BEEF & BLACK PEPPER STEW

San Francisco can get cold -- like teeth-chattering-in-August cold... despite the sweater and hoodie and thermals you've dutifully layered.  On foggy days, I want comfort food.  Stews. Bread. Braised things.  

When I lived in Florence, I quickly learned that Tuscans don't pride themselves on their pastas.  Fettuccine might grace menus in the region but when it comes to home-cooked meals, Tuscans want a minestra (soups made of beans, vegetables and bread) or meat (grilled, roasted, stewed, sauced).  Il peposo -- the "peppery one" -- sits somewhere between a meaty stew and a wined-up braise.    

Its ingredients are basic: beef, peppercorns, garlic and red wine.  Mix, cover and fire until the meat falls apart... roughly 3-hours later.  Medieval in origin, il peposo is cold-night food far from haute cuisine.  

In good Medieval fashion, the hunks of beef are served over thick plank of crusty Tuscan bread; cooked whole, the peppercorns add a spicy zing to the finished dish.  If Italy had rainy-day pub fare, this'd be it.  

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 lbs of beef stew meat or, alternately, pot-roast / brisket cut into stew-sized cubes. 

(Note: don't bother with pricy meat; the slow cook time & acid in the wine break down the fibrous beef) 

* 1 bottle of red wine (750ml); table wine is fine

* 8 - 10 whole cloves of garlic

* 1.5 tablespoons of whole black peppercorns (about 15 peppercorns); you could also add 1 tbs. of whole juniper berries or whole allspice

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  Combine the beef, peeled garlic cloves and peppercorns together in a dutch oven.  The wine should cover all the meat. Bring to a boil over a high flame / heat, skimming off any fat that accumulates on the surface.   Add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir.

Remove from the heat and cook covered in the oven for 3-4 hours.  Stir every hour to make sure the beef does not stick to the pan bottom. When done, almost all of the wine will be gone.  The beef should fall apart if touched by a spoon.  Serve over warm polenta or on a toasted slice of Italian bread. 

TOMATO SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

* Extra virgin olive oil
* 2-3 cloves of garlic
* 3 cans (28 oz) of whole plum tomatoes -- I like Trader Joe's or Muir Glen Fire-Roasted
* A handful of fresh basil and fresh parsley
* 1/2 cup - 1 cup of red wine
* Salt / pepper to taste

Sautee 2-3 whole cloves of garlic in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil; when they start to brown, you can remove them from the oil or leave them in for a "garlickier" sauce.  Add the 3 cans of plum tomatoes to the oil that's been flavored with garlic.  Bring to a boil over medium / high heat, stirring to keep the tomatoes from burning.

Simmer plum tomatoes, olive oil and garlic over medium high heat for 10 minutes. Stir, stir, stir.

Once the sauce has started to thicken, crush any remaining whole tomatoes with a potato masher or
the bottom of a wooden / slotted spoon.  Continue simmering over medium heat while squashing the 'maters.  Crushing the tomatoes will temporarily make the sauce a bit soupy.  Simmer for another 15-20 minutes but now over low heat.  The lower heat helps develop the tomatoes natural sweetness.

If desired, add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of red wine and increase heat to medium.  The sauce should bubble and steam until most of the wine burns off.  For a lighter sauce, keep simmering but don't add any wine. Depending how "wet" you want your sauce, stir-n-simmer for another 5 minutes.  Adjust for salt and pepper.

Remove the sauce from the heat.   Pour half into a food processor and puree.  (DO NOT BLEND BAY LEAVES). Leave the rest of the sauce unblended in the covered pan.  While the sugo is blending, pour in a steady stream of olive oil -- about a quarter cup in total.  The olive oil will help the sauce to emulsify, adding a creaminess and velvety texture to your final sugo.  If you like your sauce with chunks of tomato, skip this step.  You can also add fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley to the puree.  

Combine the pureed sauce with what's in the pan.   The blended sauce will be much "wetter" than the mixture that you don't blend.  For a thicker sauce, simmer once more over medium heat for 5-10 minutes.  For a thinner sauce (good for serving tons of people), mix together and ladle out as is.