Snacko Backo

Dear Readers,

Today marks the Snacko Backo one year anniversary!  I had a tough time coming up w. an anniversary post… but in the end, I thought I might as well go back to the beginning. Recreating a dish that my mother used to make. I loved my mother’s tomato sauce… with its unmistakable orange color and a touch of sweetness. I would come home from college or california, and my mother would have made this sauce… and I would just eat it from a mug, like soup. (Sybil had a strict no double dipping policy- I would try my best to cheat). Sometimes, I’d have it w. bocconcini that she would buy for me from Citarella (and not allow my father to eat).. or maybe with a couple tortellini or pasta noodles– all secondary to the sauce itself.  My first attempts to recreate it were unsuccessful because I didn’t know where the recipe came from. I tried Silver Palate etc… but as it turns out, it was right where I started– just like the first post Zucchini Risotto— a Marcella Hazan.

Anyway dear reader, i hope you have enjoyed this past year as much as I have. On this occasion, I am also unveiling a new Index section to help in the navigation- let me know what you think. Recipe suggestions and requests for posts are also always welcome– and I do love hearing when you try recipe from here.  Feel free to share this blog with friends, bookmark this page- and if you haven’t already- you can subscribe here —-> on the right hand bar of this homepage- and have updates emailed to you.

Thanks for reading!

From the Tiny Kitchen,
~Tessa

P.S. Did Anonymous really just reveal his/her secret identity in the last post’s comments? Shock and awe.

Fresh Tomato Sauce- a Marcella Hazan recipe

I doubled the recipe below- would recommend doing at least that
2 pounds fresh ripe plum tomatoes
2/3 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped carrot
2/3 cup chopped celery [i left this out]
1/2 cup olive oil
salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar.

Wash tomatoes in cold water. Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise. Put in big stockpot, over medium heat. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add carrots and onions [and celery], 2 teaspoons salt, and sugar and cook at a steady simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. [i picked out the tomato skins w. a pair of tongs- not all together necessary, but thought i might as well.] Puree everything through a food mill [i used an immersion blender.]  Add olive oil and cook at a steady simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes. Taste and correct for salt.
If using canned tomatoes: use 2 cups tomatoes and their juice. Start recipe at step 2. adding in w. the carrots, onions etc.

The other night Sam and I had Randi and Marty over for dinner.  Sam requested this dish- which I love and long looked for a recipe but did not know its proper name.  I made a huge heaping bowl of it and we ate almost all of it before I remembered to take a picture- so my apologies- it was way more gorgeous than this image suggests. There are  tons of recipes for this- but for Italian cooking- I trust Marcella Hazan.   I love her recipes because they are so simple– and she has my favorite risotto recipe.  Marcella fries her eggplant and while  I am sure that would be super delicious,  I decided to be healthier and bake the eggplant- I put both ways in here so you can choose.  We were having an early dinner- so I salted (this draws out moisture and bitterness- otherwise eggplant will soak up oil like a sponge and take forever to cook– a lesson I learned the first time I tried to cook eggplant parm w. Juan Carlos in my philly apt) and baked off the eggplant the night before.  I used ricotta salata- a classic cheese for this dish- it is ricotta that comes in a block sort of resembling feta.  Fresh ricotta or mozzarella (ooh or even smoked mozzarella maybe?) would work well too.  And by the by, Marcella calls this dish Eggplant and Ricotta, Sicilian-Style.

1 to 1-1/2 pound eggplant
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup onion, sliced very thin
1-1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 cups fresh ripe plum tomatoes, skinned, peeled and seeded cut into narrow strips or when tomatoes not in season use a 25oz can of whole plum tomatoes- drain then chop.
3 tablespoons freshly grated romano (I subbed parmesean)
3 tablespoons fresh ricotta (or ricotta salata or mozzarella)
8 to 10 fresh basil leaves
1 pound pasta- rigatoni
Vegetable oil (if frying eggplant)

Cut off eggplant stem.  Peel (optional) eggplant and cut into 1-1/2 in cubes.  Put cubes in colander, set over big bowl, sprinkle liberally w. salt.  Let eggplant sit for about an hour so salt draws out bitter juices (you’ll be able to see brown liquid in bowl).  (Yes, this is a necessary step).
Take a handful of eggplant, rinse under cold water to get off excess salt.  Wrap them in a dry paper towel and squeeze to get out as much moisture as possible.  Spread on another dry towel and continue until you have rinsed all eggplant cubes.
If frying:  Put enough veg oil in a large frying pan to come up 1/2 inch side of the pan- turn to med high.  When oil is hot, slip in as many eggplant that fit loosely in the pan- might have to do batches.  When eggplant feels tender when prodded with a fork, transfer it with a slotted spoon or spatula to a cooling rack or to a platter lined with paper towels to drain.  Pour off the oil and wipe the pan clean with paper towels.
If baking: Preheat to 350. Line a baking sheet with foil. Brush w. olive oil.  Spread out eggplant in single layer.  Bake until it looks done– I’d say between 20-40 mins- it starts to looks shrunken, browning and tender.
Start making your pasta.
Put olive oil and onion in pot and turn to med high.  Saute until onion becomes light gold colored.  Add chopped garlic- and cook for a few seconds, stirring as you cook.
Add the strips of tomato, turn up the heat to high, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the oil floats free from the tomato.
Add the eggplant and a few grindings of pepper, stir, and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for just a minute or two more, stirring once or twice. Taste and correct for salt.
Toss the cooked and drained pasta with the eggplant sauce, add the grated romano, the ricotta, and the basil leaves– mixing thoroughly– and serve at once, with the grated Parmesan on the side.

This is seriously good mac & cheese.  I’ve tried other fancy mac & cheese recipes- and you know what? I don’t need gruyere & goat cheese in mine.   I love that this recipe features Cheddar, Monterey Jack & breadcrumbs.   You basically just make this super creamy cheese sauce, put the bread crumbs on top, and broil for 3-5 mins.  No real baking time.   I spoke to Jenna, the chef, who confirmed that a rue (flour and butter) plus cheese is the way to do it.  Special thanks to Beezy (aka Chrissy B.) for requesting a mac recipe for her Thanksgiving potluck.

America’s Test Kitchen Recipe
Notes from those folks: Recipe can be halved and baked in an 8×8 broiler safe pan.  Be sure to cook your pasta until tender, just past al dente. Actually better to err on side of overcooked than undercooked here. And any kind of milk- whole, skim, low-fat works.  [I think go hard or go home- so went whole]  Btw, you apparently cannot put pyrex in the broiler.  I used a porcelain baking dish.  If you have nothing broiler safe, a quick bake at 500 degrees should be able to get you that browning.   I was stressing about what size pan to use… and I ended up fitting the whole recipe in maybe a 9×9.

***** NOTE: dear tessa, why do you always forget this? This makes a fuck ton of cheese sauce. Enough for 1.5 pounds macaroni at least. So scale up on the pasta amount or can cut down on the cheese/milk mixture if you’d prefer.

Breadcrumbs
6 slices white sandwich bread (good-quality, about 6 ounces), torn into rough pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 6 pieces

Mac & Cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon table salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
5 cups milk (see note)
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese , shredded (2 cups)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (2 cups)
1 teaspoon table salt

For Bread crumbs:
Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.
For mac:

This is the fastest, easiest, best recipe ever.  Like crazy delicious.  I bought the gnocchi at Murray’s- great to just have on hand in your freezer.  Then all you have to buy is the sage- and your set.  Dinner in 10 minutes.

gnocchi
sage
butter
Parmesan

Cook gnocchi according to directions.  As always, check a few minutes before time prescribed on box– it seems to take like 3 minutes less than they say.  Put butter (I’d say about 1 tablespoon per serving of pasta maybe) in a small skillet.  Saute until browned- about 3 minutes.  I chopped a few leaves of sage, and left another couple whole.  Add sage into butter.  Let it saute another minute– watch it fry.  Add gnocchi back in- stir around to coat.  Take off heat.  Salt & pepper to taste.  Add a couple grates of Parmesan.