Chef Patti Anastasia
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Serving Southern New Hampshire since 2003
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Chef Patti Anastasia Serving Southern New Hampshire since 2003 |
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Table Talk » June 2007 Archives« May 2007 | Table Talk Home | February 2010 » June 30, 2007Cherry HeavenYesterday I picked 12 pounds of cherries at my favorite farm: 8 pounds of sweet cherries and 4 pounds of sour cherries. For me, the day that I pick cherries is the official start of summer. I usually pick only sweet cherries, but after hearing Jeremy Jackson talk about his Little Meatballs with Cherry Sauce, I've been waiting for sour cherries to be ready to pick. When I got the announcement that the theme for the June meeting of the Massachusetts chapter of Personal Chefs Network was picnics, I selected this recipe to make for our meeting. Last night I pitted a pound of cherries for the recipe (not a whole lot of fun) so I could make the recipe in the morning. I made the meatballs this morning with some minor modifications to the recipe. The lamb meatballs filled the house with a wonderful aroma. My husband Tom came looking for lunch when I took the meatballs out of the oven. He had his before I added them to the cherry sauce. This isn't a great picture because I was in a hurry when I plated them and took the picture. There were 10 hungry personal chefs waiting to dig into them.
The bright and sharp flavor of the sour cherries is a perfect match for the lamb meatballs. Tomorrow I'll pit the rest of the sour cherries and freeze them. Then I'll be looking for more savory recipes that use sour cherries. My reward for pitting them will be a big bowl of sweet cherries. Continue reading "Cherry Heaven" » June 21, 2007The Best Oven-Fried ChickenToday is the first day of summer, the perfect time for fried chicken. I've had a recipe called The Best Oven-Fried Chicken on my menu for a while, but I've never made it for anyone. I want to make it next week for one of my clients, so I decided to test it today. The recipe is from Pam Anderson, a contributing editor for Fine Cooking magazine and former executive editor of Cook's illustrated.
I made a few changes to the recipe. I used 4 ounces plain melba toasts and 4 ounces onion melba toasts. I also doubled the herbs and spices. I put the spices in the egg wash as specified in the recipe, but I also added the same amount of herbs and spices to the melba toast crumbs. The recipe calls for chicken legs and thighs, but we don't like chicken legs, so I used all thighs. The chicken was very easy to prepare; I don't think it took the 35 minutes specified in the recipe. And best of all, it was delicious. I'm glad that I added the extra seasonings. It was flavorful and crunchy. Both Tom and I declared it a winner. Continue reading "The Best Oven-Fried Chicken" » June 13, 2007Have you seen the Globe today? I'm in it!In March, I attended a food writing seminar at Boston University with three of my personal chef buddies. Sheryl Julian, the Boston Globe food section editor and one of my favorite food writers, was one of the speakers. After the seminar we met Sheryl and chatted with her about our businesses. A few weeks ago, a Globe correspondent called to interview me for a story about personal chefs. That story was published today. June 10, 2007Pizza NightMy mom made pizza every Friday night and still does. Some of my earliest cooking memories are helping her make pizza. When I got home from school, she would let me help her make the dough. After the dough had risen, I'd help her form the pizzas and bake them. I loved punching down the dough! Pizza that you make yourself always tastes wonderful. These days, I use Eating Well's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe for my dough. It goes together very quickly in the food processor, uses a 50/50 mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, and is ready to use in 20 minutes because it uses quick-rising yeast. This dough is also easy to roll out. I roll it onto parchment paper then place the parchment paper on my pizza stone. My mom's pizza hails from before I was born. Her dough recipe comes from a Fleischmann's cookbook, but her toppings come from a bar and grill in Malden, MA that my parents frequented when they lived in Everett, MA. In 1959, when my family moved to Peabody, MA, my mom asked the pizza guy if he would share his secrets because she loved his pizza. She's been making his pizza every since. One of the surprising things is the sauce. It is simply Pastene ground peeled tomatoes. Pure tomatoes, nothing else. His cheese was a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella, but my mom switched to all cheddar after consulting with my dad's cousin Rose, who owned a pizza parlor in Falmouth, MA. Although I don't use my mom's dough recipe, I do use Pastene ground peeled tomatoes for the sauce. Just spread them lightly over the rolled out dough. Not too much sauce. At Christmas, a friend gave me some fair trade Sonoran oregano from the Seri Indians. I've reserved this oregano for my pizzas. So, I crumble some of the Sonoran oregano on top of the sauce. Then spread grated cheddar cheese over the pizza. I sometimes add other cheeses, like parmesan or provolone. My husband Tom loves sausage pizza, so that is what we usually have. He grew up on pizza from Stan's Chitch's Cafe in Bound Brook, NJ. What's different about Chitch's sausage pizza is that the sausage is ground and covers the entire pie. When we visit Tom's family in NJ, we always go to Chitch's for pizza. If you like thin-crust pizza, it is the best that there is. For our pizzas, I bake hot Italian chicken sausages and then grind them in the food processor. I sprinkle a bit more of the oregano over the top of the sausage. I don't have time to make my mom's pizza dough, but with the Eating Well dough recipe, it is easy to keep our family tradition of homemade pizza.
June 9, 2007Herbed Cheese Eggplant RollsA few months ago, a client left me her well-loved copy of The Victory Garden Cookbook and asked me if I could make a recipe for eggplant rolls from this book. The eggplant rolls are stuffed with a seasoned ground beef recipe. My client wanted me to make these with the ground beef filling from the recipe and also with a cheese filling. They love my cheese-filled eggplant rolls and have requested them for the past few months. This week was no exception.
2 large eggplants Wash eggplant, but do not peel. Remove the cap and stem end. Cut into thin slices, no thicker than 1/4". For 6 servings, you need 12 slices. Arrange the eggplant slices in a colander, sprinkling salt between the layers. Let eggplant drain for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the farmers cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, oregano, and 2 eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Place about 1/2 cup flour on a plate. You'll use this to coat the eggplant slices. Add more flour as needed. Pat the eggplant slices dry. Beat the remaining eggs with 2 tablespoons water. Dip the eggplant sliced into the eggs, then into flour. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Shake the excess flour from the eggplant slices and cook 2-3 eggplants slices until browned on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices, adding more oil to the pan as needed. Preheat oven to 350. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce on the baking sheet. Lay an eggplant slice on a cutting board or plate. Place a large spoonful of the cheese mixture on the eggplant slice. Using a fork, spread the cheese mixture over the eggplant in a thin layer. Roll the eggplant over the filling like a jelly roll. Place the eggplant roll on the baking sheet, seam side down. . Repeat with remaining eggplant slices. Spread 2 tablespoons marinara sauce on each eggplant roll. Notes: To make these gluten-free I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour and a gluten-free marinara sauce such as Muir Glen. Friendship Farmers Cheese is a low-lactose cheese and works wonderfully as a replacement for ricotta cheese.
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