Venetian Warm Escarole

Here we go again, simple ingredients, and fantastic flavor. It is the gift of the Italians that they can create these amazing dishes.  Call it cucina povera or peasant food. No matter what you call it, it is delicious!

My memory fails me as to why I suddenly needed to have escarole, but there it was, the urge was strong, it was in the store and I bought it. Searching the web this recipe caught my eye and I gave it a whirl. Wow! Really, really, good! I guess I will be adding escarole to my list of veggies going in my new garden. And trust me, if you think you do not like so called bitter greens, just try this dish out. You will be amazed! I only wish that I had made two heads instead of one (and thank the gods that I was the only one eating because I ate the whole plate!

Venetian Warm Escarole
from this recipe at In My Box

1 head escarole, destemmed, washed, dried and sliced in 1/2 inch ribbons
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt

Heat oil and butter over high heat in deep skillet or cast iron pan. Add and cook until softened but not browned. Add escarole, red pepper flakes and sugar and saute for 3-5 minutes until escarole is wilted and turns bright green, stirring up the garlic. Season with salt remove from pan. Allow to rest 3-5 minutes before serving (the flavor really marry well during the rest). Serve.

Hugs!

Recipes currently inspiring me:


Chu Chee Eggplant at Chez Cayenne
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookies at 101 Cookbooks
Guanciale for Charcutepalooza at Honey From Rock

Fusilli with Pistachio Cream Sauce

I have been enamored of simple Italian preparations lately - the really traditional ones. Take this one for instance. Onion, pistachios, cream and cheese. Just basic stuff, but amazingly delicious and satisfying!

Use whole wheat pasta if you can, it has a slightly nutty flavor and really holds up to the pistachios and cream. I purposely only made 1/2 a pound of pasta because I knew I would easily eat it all in one setting, given the chance.

Pumpkin Pineapple Walnut Bread

The other night I was in the mood for muffins but imagine my shock to find no muffin tin in the kitchen! What's a gal to do? Make a bread (and when there is no bread pan, improvise!) Yes, the mother of invention is necessity and if you do not already know that a round shaped bread tastes no different than a rectangular one, let me be the first to tell you, they do not.

This bread was originally inspired by a ginger beer recipe that a friend from Jamaica told me about - making ginger beer with the rind of a ripe pineapple and and a little added sugar. So then what to do with the remaining pineapple fruit? I realized that it would go wonderfully in a pumpkin walnut muffin/bread. Without the muffin tin, bread it was!

Raw Turnip and Dill Salad

At Co-opportunity I wear many hats. In addition to managing the Cheese, Wine and Specialty department I also write for the store's blog and conduct product trainings for new staff, which I have been doing lately. Part of that training involves ensuring that everyone knows what's what in the produce department. Since it is the middle of winter (even in Southern California) we have an abundance of root vegetables. Talking about turnips inspired this salad.

Too often turnips get short shrift when foodies are making roots. Roasted root vegetable plates usually include celery root, beets, and parsnips, but too often the lowly purple topped turnip does not get an invitation to the party. When I was living in the Midwest, too many people associated turnips with austerity and old fashioned food without flavor, all of which probably had a nugget of truth to it. Since turnips are a vegetable that will keep well in a root cellar and are full of great nutrition including vitamins C and B6, potassium, folate and copper, they were grown extensively in kitchen gardens. I'm sure older folks who grew up eating them throughout the winter probably were tired of them come spring!

Fusilli with Romanesco

I have written about romanesco here (almost to the day!) and since it is back in season, I am cooking with it again. I wanted to find a new way to eat it besides roasting. So turning to my trusty Food Blog Search I came across this recipe on a food blog written by the son of Marcella Hazan, the queen of Italian Cookbooks in America.  Apparently he just began writing it late last year, and while this looked too simple to be true, it followed the adage that the Italians know how to make magic with only a few ingredients.

Boil or steam Romanesco, saute it with a little garlic and some red pepper flakes and toss it with fusilli and some parmesan cheese and presto, magic in your mouth! Guiliano used pecorino cheese and he called it broccoflower, but from the picture it was clear that he was talking about my own true love, romanesco.

The romanesco that I had was really small, only about 2 cups once it was broken up, and that was enough for 1/2 a lb of pasta. But you will want to double it because this is so amazingly good! This is a super quick meal that just needs a salad to round it all out.

Sardine Rillettes

Sardines - they're usually NOT what's for dinner. But, packed with good stuff like Omega 3s, calcium, vitamins B12 and D, not to mention protein, these little nuggets are worth getting to know better. To top it all off, they are one of the most sustainable fish you can buy because they are so plentiful and multiple so quickly, being at the bottom of the fish food chain.  I have enjoyed them in salads but was thrilled to see that Around My French Table made them into Rillettes, perfect for snacks, light dinners or a party.

Traditionally rillettes are made from slow cooked pork, duck or goose, cooked in its own fat. When I was volunteering at Three Stone Hearth in Berkeley we made some amazing pork rillettes and I have been hooked ever since. But Dorie Greenspan in Around My French Table pointed out that people are making rillettes from not only sardines but salmon as well. It's a whole new world!