Peperonata

After checking the photo above, you are probably wondering if we eat actual food around these parts.  Especially since my latest post have been about sweets, dips and spreads.

Nothing of substance, as in a meal.

Would you believe me if I told you I have never cooked so much food as I had in the past 2 weeks? I have made fresh past to build lasagna (not once, but twice!), I have made Bolognese sauce, and a béchamel sauce all to help built that before mention lasagna.  I have cooked a risotto and some shrimp scampi.

Yeah, I have.  

So to respond to your next question, “where in the hell are the post to those?”

Let me enlighten you:

The lasagna and everything that took to built it (pasta, bolognese and béchamel sauce) got cooked in the middle of the night – meaning not enough light to take good pictures, so that means it has been put on the redo list.  The risotto is coming, since its part of the Daring Cooks February challenge, which I’m so totally late on the posting.  And the shrimp scampi, was such a last minute thing, I totally forgot to take pictures of the whole thing before my family wobbled up the whole dish.

But, I do have this recipe and like the Eggplant Dip that I posted a couple of weeks ago, this one comes from “la Nonna” as well, except with a couple of different twist here and there that I have added over the years to bring the original to such a high standard, that the whole family adapted to it.

Ingredients

3 red (or combinations of yellow, red and orange) bell peppers.
1 large yellow onion
3 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoon sugar
Lime zest – about 2 teaspoons (optional)
¼ cup of lime juice (about 2 limes, if small, one if large)
Salt (to taste)
Cracked pepper (to taste)
Fresh herb of choice roughly chopped/shred (Basil, thyme, mint, oregano)

Wash, stem and seeds the peppers.  Cut them in julienne fashion or in squares (this is really up to you, I like the long strings)

Peel the onion and slice thinly.

In a deep frying pan over moderate-high flame, melt the butter and olive oil together for about 2-3 minutes just to the point where the butter is foamy (don’t let the butter burn).

Add the onions and peppers. Add a bit of salt and pepper at this point and cook another 2-3 minutes. Pour the lime juice, stir and cover.  This will help sweat the peppers and coat them with the acidity of the lime juice.  Leave for about 2-3 minutes.

Uncover, add the sugar and stir. At this point, you can see a bit of sauce at the bottom of the pan, if the dish is a bit dry, you can add a bit more of olive oil and butter. (About 1 tablespoon of each).  Lower the heat to low flame and cook until the pepper are soft, about 12 minutes or so.

The last step is to add your choice of herb to the cooked peperonata. I always tend to use basil or thyme which pairs nice with the freshness of the lime.  I also add the lime zest as well at this stage.

Pour into a serving platter, and set aside.  The dish is usually served lukewarm.

La Nonna’s Sweet and Sour Eggplant Dip

My paternal nonna (grandmother) was the quintessential Italian cook.  She was short, a bit on the round side and everything she cooked in her kitchen was Italian, even after living in a Latin American country for over 30 years.  I always thought she missed Italy so much, that was the only way she could stay connected to the mother country - By refusing to change her cooking style and adapting new ways.  She stayed true to her Italian ways.

And that is how I learned to cook Italian food.  The old way.

We use to spend most of the summers with my grandparents.  To me it was 3 whole months of cracking eggs, baking, stirring, cutting and writing down the recipes to take back home as my nonna cooked them up.  She never cooked with precision, it was always a “Little of this.. a dash of that”.  My 20+ year old cookbook still has those recipes, meticulous written in my 11 year-old handwriting and with little doodles and markings all over the margins.  Most of the ingredients are written in Spanish and Italian, because that is how she will be dictating them back to me…

“dos melanzana es sufficiente” 
Translation: “two eggplants is enough”

“una cebolla, tritatta piccolina”
Translation: “one onion, cut up very small”

And on and on. 

I do miss cooking in that kitchen. My love of cooking comes from these lessons.

She was knows for tons of signature dishes.  And their ranking order was establish by how many people in the family would request them and how often.

This eggplant dip was one of my favorites.  Even at that young age, with all the grown up ingredients, I loved this dip.  It’s perfect to eat with toasted bread, or smoother on French bread or on top a steak, or mix into scramble eggs.  As you can see the application is endless.  It’s not a complicated recipe, and as always in Italian regional cooking, simplicity rules the day.  Plus it keeps well in the refrigerator, which gives me an excuse to make a big batch and eat it for days.

The only tip I can give you on this is the type of eggplant to use.  You can use any type of eggplant. But, I like the Chinese or Indian variety.  Mainly because they are both sweeter and tender than the American eggplant, helping the dish hit its sweet & sour point to its full potential.

Ingredients
(enough for about 4 or a small jar)

2 Eggplants (if using the big American variety) if using the Indian or Chinese, you will need about 5 or six.
1 to 2 cup of olive oil
2 medium yellow onions
2-3 tomatoes chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of drained capers, rinsed and chopped
3 tablespoons of pitted olives, chopped
¼ cup of red wine Vinegar (you may use less than this)
¼ cup of sugar (you may use less than this)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut eggplant into small cubes (about ½ inch) and transfer to a colander. Toss with 2 teaspoons of salt. Let drain 1 hour.

While waiting for the Eggplant, prep your other ingredients by chopping your onions, tomatoes, garlic, capers, olives and measuring your vinegar and sugar.  Put everything aside.

After an hour, gently squeeze (I use a potato ricer to do this task) eggplant to remove excess moisture and pat dry (they need to be very dry). Heat about 1 ½ cup of the oil in a heavy skillet over moderately high heat until very hot.  You can test the oil by adding one of the eggplant cubes, if it rapidly bubbles up, the oil is ready. Fry the eggplant in batches (don’t crowd the pan, you want the eggplant to crisp up) stirring and turning constantly with a slotted spoon, until browned and tender, 3 to 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a tray lined with paper towels to drain and cool.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil from skillet, then reduce heat to moderate and cook onion, until translucent.  Add the garlic and cook until golden, season with salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes of so.

Add the eggplants and tomatoes and stir to coat. Then add the olives, cappers and cook for about 2-3 minutes more to mesh all the flavors together.

Now the tricky part, building the sweet and sour flavor.

I usually start by adding the vinegar and sugar in increments of 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring and cooking for about 1-2 minutes after each addition and tasting it as you go along until you get the right amount balance to your taste. I’m also at the same time, adjusting the salt and pepper if needed.

Remember taste, taste and taste some more, as you are cooking along.

Once you find that right sweet and sour punch, simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally for about 15 more minutes.  Cool to room temperature and served.

You can also store it in a jar and chill in the refrigerator.  It usually keeps up to a week.

In my house, we finish this up by the third day, we cannot seem to keep it around for much.

Some notes: 

• Go easy on the seasoning of the salt, since you salted the eggplants during the soaking period. And the Olives and cappers are already on the salty side… so make sure you taste each step of the way.
• You can replace the red-wine vinegar with Balsamic, but you need to reduce the sugar as well.
• You can also add herbs to it, like oregano, or thyme.  Be sure to do this as the last step.

Petit-Pois [Baby peas] sautéed with Ham and Onions

When you are a food snob like me, baby peas are called “Petit-pois” at my house.  I really don’t have a answer as to the why.  As far back as I remember that is what my mother called them and well that is how they stuck in my head.  Even when I learned English, when I think of baby peas, I immediately translate them in my head to “Petit-Pois”.

But, there is nothing snobbish about the quick, easy way of making this sweet, bright green ingredient. Plus, I always seem to have the needed ingredients on hand.

When I need a side to any dish this, this is my sure go-to ingredient. It pairs with everything: Meat, poultry, fish, heck even alone in a bowl!

I dare you to prove me wrong.

Ingredients

2 cups of petit-pois (ok, uhm…baby peas!) frozen is good, if you can find them fresh even better!
1 onion (cut into strips)
1 cup of ham or if you have prosciutto you can use that too. (Roughly chopped)
3 tablespoon butter
¼ cup of water (or stock) if needed
Salt (to taste)
Cracked pepper (to taste)

If baby peas are frozen, measure about 2 cups and put aside.

Cut the onions and ham, put aside

In a shallow sauce pan, over medium-high heat, melt the butter. When the butter is bubbling, mix in the onions, season with a bit of salt and cook for about 2 minutes until soft, then mix in the ham/prosciutto (if using prosciutto, go easy on the season moving forward since the prosciutto is cure and a bit salty to begin with).  Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Now it’s the baby peas turn. In the pan they go, move them around, season with salt and crack pepper.  If the pan seems a bit dry you can add the ¼ cup of water/stock (if needed). Cover, lower the heat to low and simmer for about 3-4 more minutes - I like my peas a bit “al dente” (not mushy) so after the time is up, I taste them, if peas are done, remove from heat and serve.