Recipe by Silvia Baldini — Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino is what Italians cook after a night out and it's a must when a bit of late night sustenance is required. It's astonishingly full of flavor and it takes literally 10 minutes or less to fix, plus it will cure any incumbent hangover. Every one I know makes a variation of this staple dish, I personally take the garlic out after I infuse it with the oil and chili flakes and I always discard it. Most italian, contrary to what you might have heard, don't like to bite in to a large piece of garlic. Plus if you are back from a night out you might be sharing this pasta dish with someone of importance and you might not have a tooth brush handy.
Recipe by Silvia Baldini — Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino is what Italians cook after a night out and it's a must when a bit of late night sustenance is required. It's astonishingly full of flavor and it takes literally 10 minutes or less to fix, plus it will cure any incumbent hangover. Every one I know makes a variation of this staple dish, I personally take the garlic out after I infuse it with the oil and chili flakes and I always discard it. Most italian, contrary to what you might have heard, don't like to bite in to a large piece of garlic. Plus if you are back from a night out you might be sharing this pasta dish with someone of importance and you might not have a tooth brush handy.
1/2teaspooncrushed hot chili flakesadd more chili flakes for extra heat
3tablespoonsflat italian parsley chopped
1/2cupgrated parmesan
1 1/2tablespoonssea salt for boiling water
Servings: people
Instructions
Bring water to the boil in a large pot, add sea salt and cook spaghetti al dente, according to packaging instruction.
Meanwhile heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté peeled garlic cloves and chopped hot red pepper. Cook until the garlic is golden. Make sure not to burn the garlic. Set aside and let the oil infuse.
Drain the pasta, remove the garlic cloves from the oil and toss the pasta with the oil and red chili flakes then add the chopped parsley and the parmesan.
Thank you for all the great comments and posts about why you would love to attend the Taste of Fairfield on Sunday October the 9th, the scrumptious event organized by TownVibeand Fairfield Magazine !
We worked hard to read through all the comments; Then we realized we have a bit of a soft spot for cute romantic couples, so Kirsten won the two free tickets and she will be celebrating with her foodie husband on his birthday at the Southport’s Delamar Hotel.
TRAY CHIC!
There is still time to buy your tickets online at tasteoffairfield.com General Admission tickets cost $50: including food, drink, and entertainment. VIP Admission—with access to the Black Rock Galleries Fusion Lounge costs $100 and includes ongoing food service, drinks from VIP bar, entertainment, private parking, and a TV.
For more information you can contact TownVibe at 203-431-1708 or Robin Phillips at rphillips@townvibe.com
After reading all your comments I got really hungry, so I decided to make a quick late dinner and wouldn’t you know it! my fridge was full of cheese. Tuesday, after listening to my wise foodie and glutton friend Alina, I had stopped by at Liuzzi in Hamden, Ct and loaded up and I mean, loaded UP, with fresh mozzarella.
So what does a hungry chef make late at night with a lot of fresh, gooey mozzarella in less than 15 minutes?
Mozzarella in carrozza is the ultimate italian, comfort food. Bread, cheese, salt, egg, bread crumbs, FRY. Yeassss! move over grilled cheese.I have attached the recipe below. It’s so easy and good once you make it and bite in to it, you will never go back. Carrozza means chariot. So even if this sandwich is perfect for a quick dinner or a cozy meal, I think it is truly a royal treat. You can also add some prosciutto for extra saltiness and substance, but I’m kind of a purist and I like to bite trough the crunchy and salty bread, in anticipation of a mouth full of the warm and melty mozzarella.
Arrange 4 slices of bread on a wooden board. Whisk the 2 eggs in a shallow dish. Prepare the bread crumbs on a piece of waxed paper. Cut the mozzarella in even thin slices.
Arrange the slices of mozzarella on the bread, sprinkle a little salt and pepper, then cover with the remaining four slices and press to close well.
Dip the sandwiches one by one in the egg mixture and then coat with the bread crumbs, making sure to shake the excess off.
Heat up a pan with the oil and then gently fry the sandwiches until golden brown and crunchy. The Mozzarella will be warm, almost melted and should form ribbons when pulled.
On Tuesday, September 27th at 7pm at the Hamden Library in CT I’ll share the real truth about working in restaurants, graduating from Cordon Bleu, the 7 things I wish I knew before I become a professional chef and my experience on Chopped, the award winning cooking show on Food Network.
If you are thinking of changing career or you love cooking and you are interested in knowing more about women in the food industry come by at the Miller Memorial Library, in the Friends room.
Just as I was getting ready to Spring forward—dreaming of alfresco lunches, planting
my tomatoes and getting a good dose of vitamin D—winter knocked back on my kitchen door in full force. Tonight I’m slow-cooking my go to veal stew, Guinness carbonnade, while making the last, hopefully, roaring fire of the season, then I’m finally updating my longtime neglected blog.
As we all know April showers bring May flowers, when the rain finally goes away,
we will all need a good dose of fresh, and some crunch on our table. Out they go the hot broths, the toasty cheesy sandwiches with the forever stewed tomatoes soups, in they come the beautiful iron and vitamins loaded green salads, the sweet plump strawberries and dare I dream,
the chin dripping juicy cherries.
In preparation for the farmer markets to burst with nature bounty, I’m sharing some of the stratagems I learned while working for years in the kitchen, to help you prepare quick and sunshine filled meals. You can read more of them in the article, written by the very talented Michael Catarevas, in the April issue of Ct Magazine, but since it’s raining outside I thought I would give you a preview here and save you from a bad hair day.
Choose Local And In Season Ingredients
Locally grown foods always better taste, fresher, longer lasting and more nutritious. I like to cook using seasonal ingredients not only because they are healthier for you and better for the environment, but also because I get stronger, bolder flavors in my dishes. For example, I use peaches and melons in summer, then chestnuts, cabbage, potatoes and citrus in fall and winter, and asparagus, cherries, strawberry in spring. At the end of winter I get excited for snap peas and peppery radishes!
Learn To Prep Ahead
I learned to plan and prep ahead at Cordon Bleu and working in professional kitchen. Prepping is probably the most valuable skill one can acquire when it comes to cooking. I wash and chop all my vegetables, herbs and most ingredients in advance. I think about recipes and what I will cook for the week on Sunday, I make a list of what I will need and I shop on Monday. I load the freezer with all I can prep ahead and cook in bulk. Dishes like soups, meatballs, stews, grilled vegetables are perfect for week-nights meals.
Keep Your Pantry Stocked
Keeping your pantry stocked it’s like insurance and money in the bank. You can make a meal anytime in less than 20 minutes by shopping in your cupboards. This is a basic list of what I have in my pantry:
Salt
Black peppercorns
Extra virgin olive oil
Vegetable oil
Apple cider vinegar
Red wine vinegar
Balsamic or sherry vinegar
Rice vinegar (unseasoned)
Flour: all purpose, 00, whole wheat or pastry
Baking soda
Baking powder
Cream of tartar
Cocoa powder (unsweetened)
Chocolate: chips or bar
Evaporated milk
Pure vanilla extract
Sweeteners
Granulated sugar
Confectioners’ sugar
Brown sugar
Maple syrup
Honey
Agave syrup
Coffee
Tea
Rice and Grains
Long-grain white rice
Brown rice
Grains: bulgur, quinoa, couscous or farro
Pasta: standard, whole grain, rice noodles or egg noodles
Polenta, Semolina
Breadcrumbs: plain or panko
Snacks and Cereals
Crackers
Tortillas
Cookies or biscuits
Pretzels
Popcorn kernels
Dried fruit: raisins, apricots or cherries
Seeds: sunflower, flax, chia or hemp
Peanut butter or almond butter
Applesauce
Old-fashioned rolled oats
Chicken broth
Beans: cannellini, navy, chickpeas or black
Vegetables: hominy, corn or green beans
Olives or capers
Chiles: chipotles in adobo or pickled jalapenos
Salsa
Tomatoes
Tomato paste
Roasted red peppers
Tuna
Anchovy fillets or paste
Keep Your Working Space Organized and Clean
Clean as you go. Really. In the end you wont have a pile of dirty pots and pans in your sink.
Know and Master 10 Basic Recipes
Have 10 or even 20 recipes you can make with your eyes close and with out cooking books. Master a couple of pasta dishes, some salads and sides. Think about what you have available at home and transform it in to a pantry dinner. Imagine you are on Chopped and you only have 30 minutes. Have fun, No Stress.
Don’t Start A Lengthy And Difficult Recipe If You Don’t Have Time
Keep it simple. If you only have 30 minutes don’t start cooking something overly complicated like a Baked Alaska. Leave the blow-torch in the drawer and instead go for a simple dish. For example I love baked apples. I learned to make them from my Italian mother in law Betta. They are delicious and beautiful! It’s what I love to do, simple a chic cooking. The recipe is below.
Don’t Cook Hungry or Angry
Cooking should be relaxing. I believe cooking is like therapy, actually I think it’s better than Prozac. If you cook in a bad mood your food will taste bitter and sad. Didn’t you see ‘Like water for Chocolate”?
Have Fun, Explore
Be a little adventurous. Explore new ingredients, taste new flavors, educate your palate. The more you learn and taste the better it gets. I always look for ingredient I’m not familiar with and challenge my self. I love shopping at Indian stores or in Chinatown and scare my kids with weird dishes. It keeps them on their toes.
Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes. You Can Always Order Pizza
We all make mistakes. Don’t feel bad, don’t get discouraged. If you cook a meal and things go bad, hang up the apron, pick up the phone and order a pizza then open a nice bottle of wine. Try your recipe again another time and give yourself an A for trying.
Enlist Help From Family And Friends
Put anybody you know at work in the kitchen. Kids can help and they should, so can your friends and family. Give them chores. Delegate. Form a family prep crew and be the head chef.
Last night I competed on Chopped, on Food Network, and guess what, I won.
I dreamed to be on Chopped since the time I decided to take a crazy leap, change my career, my life, and enroll at Cordon Bleu. I should leap more often, because I enjoyed every stressful second of it. The second I walked in to the Chopped Kitchen, the second I heard Mr. Ted Allen announced my name, the second I saw judges Maneet Chauhan, Marc Murphy, Chris Santos glare at me, the second I opened my first mystery basket. Then It’s all a blur. heart pumping, adrenaline going, knives action packed hour. And I won. Thank God! because the smile on my children face when I told them I actually won, was worth every heart pounding moment.
By the way if you had not noticed, it’s April 1st today, and wouldn’t you know it, the pantry in the Chopped kitchen was chock full of pranks and the ingredients in the mystery baskets were in disguise; but after enduring April Fools’ Day pranks, a mystery basket of duplicitous ingredients, and a grueling twelve hours of competition against younger, up-and-coming chefs from the hot culinary scene in Charleston, South Carolina, I think I impressed the judges with my dessert, sweet canederli.
I LOVE CANEDERLI! Canederli are bread dumplings, a regional specialty of northeast Italy where they are served as a first course or dessert. Considered part of ‘cucina povera’, they are made of simple and inexpensive ingredients including stale bread moistened with milk or cheese bound with eggs and a small amount of flour. They are not very known here in the US. But I grew up eating them. It’s a dish that comes from the north and the mountains of Italy, like me. They are a tasty treat, that exemplifies my love for “chic and simple comfort” cuisine. A style rooted in making beautiful food to share with loved ones.
The sweet Canederli I made on Chopped, are based on my very simple but elegant recipe: Balsamic Strawberry Soup and Sweet Canaderli. It’s a very easy recipe and it’s a great dessert to end a meal. I always shape the canederli in advance, but poach them at the last moment. The aroma of the cinnamon, cardamon, clove and lemon fills my kitchen, reminding me of my precious times spent back home, exploring my loved Alps and Dolomites, with my family.
Savory Canederli are even more popular than sweet one. Some of my favorite are the ricotta canederli and speck, and the semolina ones. Ricotta canederli are lush, soft and delicious, when drowsed in brown butter.
The speck and semolina’s are packed with flavor, saltiness and restoratives qualities, thanks to warm, rich broth they float in.
To make Canederli, you use what you have in your pantry, stale bread from the day before, a little semolina, flour or even old mashed potatoes. They are a great way to repurpose left overs. They are not hard to make, you just have to learn to shape them, it’s like making meatballs, fun for all.
I’m posting the recipes below. I hope you try to make them, perhaps you can then imagine you are in the Dolomites, rent the 1962 original “Pink Panther”, or Roger Moore’s “For your Eyes Only and make a movie night of it.
Me, I’m going to celebrate my victory tonight, with a big bowl of canederli and my grinning kids and husband.
