The Literate Chef

Archive for April, 2011|Monthly archive page

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Pasta e Fagioli alla Veneziana

In Pasta on April 18, 2011 at 3:31 PM

Preparation time is 30 minutes. Cooking time, exclusive of soaking the beans, is approximately 3 ½ hours. This recipe produces about 8 quarts of fairly thick soup. If you like it soupier, add more water before serving. I use Borlotti beans, which are also known as Cranberry Beans. However, if they are not available, use white Cannelini beans. The correct ratio of beans to pasta is 3:2.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Pasta e Fagioli alla Veneziana

1 ½ lbs. of Borlotti Beans
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium sized onions, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
2 sprigs of rosemary, stems removed and discarded, chopped.
6 sprigs of sage, stems removed and discarded, chopped
1 prosciutto end, about 1 lb.
1 cup of dry white wine
1 lb. of Ditalini
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt
16 sage leaves, chopped

Steps:

1.    Soak the beans overnight for 12 hours, then drain and rinse them and set them aside. As an alternative, cover the beans in an 8 quart pot with 4 quarts of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil the beans for 2 minutes and remove from the heat, let stand in the pot, covered, for one hour, then drain, rinse and set aside. Rinse out the pot and use it to prepare the soup.
2.    Heat olive oil on medium heat in an 8 quart pot.
3.    Add garlic and stir for two minutes until translucent.
4.    Add carrots, onions and celery, stir for an additional two minutes.
5.    Add beans and mix well.
6.    Add 4 quarts of water.
7.    Add chopped herbs and mix well.
8.    Add prosciutto, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered for 1 hour. Stir at 15 minute intervals.
9.    After 1 hour, cover pot, reduce heat to low and simmer an additional 2 hours. Stir every 30 minutes.
10.    Remove beans, vegetables and meat and set aside.
11.    Add the wine to the broth. If it is too thick add some water and bring to a boil.
12.    Add the Ditalini and cook for only 6 minutes, as it will continue to cook.
13.    While the pasta is cooking, chop the meat discarding any bone and gristle.
14.    There should be about 8 cups of beans and vegetables. Mash, or puree in food processor, about 1/4 (2 cups) of the beans and vegetables.
15.    Return mashed beans, whole beans and chopped prosciutto to the pot.
16.    Add pepper and salt, as well as 2 more cups of water and the chopped sage. Mix everything well and continue on low heat to blend flavors until ready to serve or save.
17.    Serve in soup bowls with extra virgin olive oil, freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and Dorothea’s Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce.

Pasta e Fagioli alla Veneziana

See Related Article at: Pasta Fagioli or Pasta Fazool?

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Pasta Fagioli or Pasta Fazool?

In General Articles on April 18, 2011 at 2:17 PM

In June 2000, my wife and I along with two other couples, friends of many years with whom we had traveled extensively, spent a glorious week in a rented villa called Solaria, which is located in the Tuscan hilltown of Vagliagli. Vagliagli is a small town about 9 miles north of Siena on the road to Radda in Chianti and Castellina in Chianti, two larger and better-known towns. Each day, we piled into our rented van and explored the numerous hilltowns in the vicinity, beside the two mentioned above, and the city of Siena. These included: Colle di Val d’Elsa, Cortona, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Volterra and, of course, Florence (Firenze). We never had a bad meal or bad wine in any one of them and the weather was perfect the entire week.

When the rental was over, one couple went on to Germany and the other returned to the States, while my wife and I took off for Venice by train, where we planned to stay for a full, glorious week. We had been to Venezia on two previous occasions, both for very brief visits. One was in the summer of 1970 on our first trip to Italy, and at that time, we stayed for only two days. The second was even shorter; one bleak wintery day in November 1997, when we took the train up from Florence, where we were visiting our younger daughter during her semester abroad. On that occasion, we left Santa Maria Novella Station on a 5:30 am train and returned there about 1:00 am, having spent only 10 hours in Venice and either on trains or waiting for them the remainder of the time.

Visiting Venice the first time, we fell in love with the La Serenisima and afterwards read extensively both fiction and non-fiction books centered around its people, history and architecture. This longer third visit provided us with the perfect opportunity to explore many of its treasures at a leisurely pace. On one of those excursions, through the alleys of Dorsoduro, we came upon an unexpected treasure which resulted in another favorite family recipe. We had spent the morning at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, which fronts on the Grand Canal. I had read a review in Gourmet Magazine on a fabulous Venetian seafood restaurant, Antica Trattoria La Furatola located at 2870a Calle Lunga de San Barnaba, Dorsoduro, less than ½ mile from the museum. We were hungry after touring the museum and from the map thought this close by. However, after a frustrating 45 minutes of innumerable twists and turns through alleys and piazzas, crossing and re-crossing canals, we finally came upon the restaurant, only to discover that it was closed for lunch on Wednesdays.

But our disappointment quickly turned to serendipity, as we discovered a tiny, unassuming treasure just down the alley from La Furatola. We had walked right past it earlier but failed to take notice, as we were so focused on finding La Furatola. When we walked through the door of Enoteca Osteria – Sandro and inhaled the aromas emanating from the kitchen, we wondered if it would be a suitable place for lunch. Any hesitation we might have felt was quickly removed by Sandro’s warm welcoming smile. He asked if we would like to sit in the back courtyard, which we welcomed since it was a beautiful sunny, blue sky day. I asked him what smelled so good; he said it was his Pasta Fagioli, which may be known more familiarly as Pasta Fazool!

We shared a bottle of chilled white wine from the Friuli region and I ordered the Pasta Fagioli, while my wife ordered pasta with gorgonzola and zucchini. Sandro’s Pasta Fagioli was unlike any Pasta Fazool I had ever eaten prior to that revelatory day. First, it lacked the tomato base that was such a prevalent ingredient in my mother’s recipe; second, it was redolent with herbs, which seemed to me to be sage and rosemary; and third there was a distinct salted pork flavor, which I thought might be prosciutto. Later, after much experimentation and consulting of several cookbooks (ones which were focused more on Northern Italian style cooking, rather than the Southern Italian style that I had grown up with) I developed my recipe for Pasta e Fagioli alla Veniziana. I hope one day to return to Venice and to thank Sandro for inspiring me to try to develop this version of Pasta Fazoole, which is a favorite meal among our family and friends.

Another big favorite in our home is a pasta dish that I developed after a visit to that ‘famous city by the bay’. Read all about it in: I Found This Dish in San Francisco, High on Russian Hill it Called to Me.

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Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

In Pasta on April 17, 2011 at 9:37 PM

This recipe will easily serve 8 people with leftovers.

Ingredients:

1.25 lbs. sweet Italian sausage (about 5 links)
1.25 lbs. hot Italian sausage (about 5 links)

2 bunches (approx. 2lbs.) broccoli rabe

Ingredients for Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

½ cup + 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
12 cloves of garlic, chopped coarsely
½ cup of dry white wine
2 lbs. of orecchiette pasta

Freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated Locatelli Romano cheese

Steps:

1.    Bring a large (8 quart with a removable strainer) pot of water to boil for blanching the broccoli rabe, as well as for cooking the orecchiette.
2.    Remove sausage meat from its casings and discard the casings.
3.    Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy frying pan on medium heat.
4.    Add sausage meat to the hot oil, continuously breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until it loses its pink color and is lightly browned-about 20 minutes. When sausage meat is cooked remove it to a bowl.

Lightly Browned Sausage Meat

5.    While the sausage is browning, rinse the broccoli rabe and discard the thick stems, cutting about 3 inches off the bottom. Then blanch the broccoli rabe in the boiling water for about 60 seconds.
6.    Remove the broccoli rabe, strain it and plunge it immediately into a bowl filled with ice and cold water to retain its dark green color. Reserve the blanching water for cooking the orecchiette, but remove about 4 cups to thin out the sauce later, if needed.
7.    When broccoli rabe is cool, chop it into pieces about 1 to1.25 inches in length.
8.    After removing the cooked sausage meat from the frying pan, add the ½ cup of olive oil to the pan, then add the chopped garlic and quickly sauté it on high heat. As the garlic begins to brown on the edges, add the hot pepper, then the broccoli rabe and sauté it for about 3 to 5 minutes so it does not lose it dark green color. Remove it from the pan and set it aside with the sausage meat.

Sauteed Broccoli Rabe

9.    Bring the blanching water to a boil once again, add the orecchiette and cook according to the directions on the package.

Completed Sauce

10.    In the meantime, turn the heat under the empty frying pan to high, add the ½ cup of dry white wine stirring up the solids on the bottom of the pan.
11.    Add back the cooked sausage and broccoli rabe to the pan mixing them together with the wine and solids; add some of the retained blanching water to thin out the sauce according to your preference. (I usually add about 2 cups.)

12.    When the orecchiette is al dente, drain it and mix it well with the sauce, adding more blanching water if necessary.
13.    Serve orecchiette, broccoli rabe and sausage in pasta bowls and sprinkle liberally with freshly ground black pepper and the grated cheese.

See Related Article at: Eat It! It’s Good for You

Mangia

 

 

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Eat It! It’s Good for You!

In General Articles on April 17, 2011 at 9:06 PM

‘Eat it,’ my mother insisted, ‘broccoli rabe is good for you. It is full of iron and vitamins and it will help you go to the bathroom.’ Words any child with sense would immediately cringe at; almost as bad as ‘eat your liver’ because you won’t be able to leave the table until you do. As a child and teenager, I recoiled from eating broccoli rabe because it was bitter, smelly, soggy and overcooked. Then one day, when I was in my twenties, attending the Feast of San Gennaro, which is held annually on Mulberry Street in Little Italy, downtown Manhattan, I was drawn to a sausage stand by the aroma of freshly grilled sausage, fried peppers and onions. They had the usual hot sausage and sweet sausage, plus a third kind, which I had never seen before. The cook told me it was made by mixing chopped broccoli rabe with pork and spices before stuffing it into the sausage casing. Being adventurous, I tried one and was pleasantly surprised at how the spiciness and sweetness of the sausage meat provided a perfect counterpoint to the bitterness of the broccoli rabe.

As time passed, I began to notice in the pasta section of the menus at several Italian restaurants, Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage. It had probably been there all along, but I am sure that my brain never noticed it because of my earlier aversion to the vegetable. Remembering the delicious sausage from the Feast, I worked up the courage to finally order it from one of those restaurants. The combination of chopped broccoli rabe and sliced sausage was the perfect accompaniment to the al dente pasta. As I mentioned earlier in Everybody has a Story, trying to re-create a dish that was first consumed in a restaurant is challenging and fun. This was one of them. I first tried making it with sliced sausage, then with cubes of cooked sausage, but neither of these seemed to appeal to me. After several variations I finally hit upon the best method to my taste, which is removing the sausage meat from the casing, blanching, chopping and then sautéing the broccoli rabe in garlic, adding some hot pepper and white wine, and mixing it all together.

I hope that you, your family and friends enjoy this recipe as much as I and mine do. Mother was right as usual, broccoli rabe is good for you, it is full of iron and vitamins, and when mixed together with sausage and pasta, it is irresistible. So, all of you mothers and fathers out there, this is a good way to get your child to eat his or her veggies! Mangia!

My mother also made a delicious one dish meal that she called Pasta Fazool. Actually many Italian-Americans refer to this macaroni and bean dish similarly. But it wasn’t until I spent some time in Italy that I found out that over there, particularly in Northern Italy, which has a totally different dialect from that of Southern Italy, it is called Pasta e Fagioli. Please read Pasta Fagioli, or Pasta Fazool? to find out more about this controversy.

Alphabetical Recipe Index

In Recipe Index on April 16, 2011 at 10:59 PM

APPETIZERS

BAKING

BRUNCH

EGG DISHES

DESSERT

MEAT

    Beef

    Chicken

    Lamb

    Pork

   Turkey

   Veal

PASTA

RICE

SALADS

SAUCES

SEAFOOD

    Clams

    Fish

    Mussels

    Scallops

    Shrimp

SOUPS

STEWS

THANKSGIVING

VEGETABLES

VEGETARIAN MEALS

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Crispy, Fried, Leftover Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce

In For Moms on the Go, Pasta, Recipes on April 10, 2011 at 10:50 AM

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Ingredients:

Leftover Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground Locatelli Romano cheese

Steps:

1.    Heat the olive oil in a heavy sauté pan
2.    Add the leftover linguine and cauliflower, frying the pasta and cauliflower.
3.    Sprinkle the cheese on the pasta and cauliflower and stir and turn until fully blended.
4.    Keep frying and stirring until the pasta noodles become crispy.
5.    When done to your taste remove from the heat and enjoy.

See the Related Article at: Another of Big Mike’s Favorites


Dorothea’s Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce

In Recipes, Sauces on April 9, 2011 at 3:23 PM

Dorothea 1943

(Warning: Be sure to turn on the exhaust fan or open the window when preparing this sauce)

Ingredients:

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup of Crushed Red (Chili) Pepper

Steps:

1.    In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil on high heat.
2.    When it is shimmering, add the garlic, stirring constantly until it turns a medium almond color.
3.    Quickly add the Crushed Red Pepper, remove the pan from the heat and keep stirring as the pepper continues to brown.
4.    Before it begins blacken and burn, pour the sauce into a container to let cool. When fully cooled transfer it to a small jar.
5.    Top off the jar with olive oil so that there is at least a quarter of an inch of liquid on top.
6.    Refrigerate the sauce. Before using in the future, bring it to room temperature and stir it well.
7.    Use sparingly on your pasta dishes, whenever extra spiciness is desired.

See Pasta Memories

Dorothea's Hot Pepper Sauce

Dorothea’s Hot Pepper Sauce

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Big Mike’s Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce

In Pasta, Recipes on April 9, 2011 at 3:21 PM

Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce

Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
12 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 head of cauliflower, separated
1 pound of Linguine
Kosher salt or sea salt
Freshly ground Locatelli Romano cheese
Dorothea’s Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce

Steps:

1.    Fill a six quart pot with water, bring to a boil.
2.    Add the cauliflower and cook until fork-tender.
3.    In the meantime, pre-heat a large cast iron frying pan on high, then add the olive oil.
4.    When the oil is shimmering, reduce the heat; add the garlic and sauté lightly, do not let it brown.
5.    Remover the cauliflower from the boiling water, remove 4 cups of the water for developing the sauce and reserve the rest for cooking the linguine.
6.    Add the cauliflower to the oil and garlic, and mash it in the pan continuing to break it down until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes.
7.    Raise the heat, allowing the moisture from the cauliflower to burn off and the cauliflower to begin to brown.
8.    Continue this process, by pushing the cauliflower to one side of the pan while adding some cauliflower water; scraping  up the burnt fond on the bottom of the pan and let it burn off again and again, until the mashed cauliflower takes on a nut brown hue.
9.    In the meantime bring the remaining cauliflower water to a boil, add the linguine and cook according to directions on the box.
10.    After tasting the linguine to determine if it is al dente, drain it in a colander.
11.    Add the cooked linguine to the cauliflower sauce and mix thoroughly, adding some of the reserved water if too dry.
12.    Serve in bowls for people to add their own grated Romano cheese and Dorothea’s Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce.

Note: This pasta dish is best accompanied by a loaf of fresh, crusty, Italian bread to sop up the leftover sauce and a chilled bottle of white wine, perhaps a Soave or a Verdicchio.

LEFTOVERS: This dish lends itself to a great leftover, if there is any – Crispy, Fried, Leftover Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce.

Please see the Related Article at:  Another of Big Mike’s Favorites

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Another of Big Mike’s Favorites

In General Articles on April 9, 2011 at 3:15 PM

Another pasta dish that was a memorable staple growing up in my family, one which we introduced to our children and they loved as well, was Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce. With this pasta dish the memory is olfactory. First, the less than pleasant smell of boiling cauliflower, quickly, and thankfully, followed by that of sautéed garlic, then the exquisite aroma of the finished product, which of course contains both Locatelli Romano cheese and Dorothea’s Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce.

This pasta dish (sorry Dad – macaroni dish) was another favorite of my father and was great during those meatless Fridays when Catholics had to ‘suffer’ by abstaining from meat. When it comes to food, Italians have a knack for turning suffering into a joyful feast; just think La Vigilia the Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes!

See the recipe for Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce for the technique of preparing this delicious dish.

If you have any of this pasta dish leftover, which is highly unlikely in my house, then you are really lucky and you can use ‘the leftovers’ to make Crispy, Fried, Leftover Linguine with Cauliflower Sauce.

Of course my father was not the only cook in the house, my mother also had her repertoire, which was frequently focused on what was good for you. Please read Eat It! it’s Good for You!, to get a better understanding of what I mean.


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Spaghetti with Del Monte Sauce

In For Moms on the Go, Pasta, Recipes on April 9, 2011 at 3:06 PM

Ingredients:

¼ cup + 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
2 12 oz. cans of Del Monte tomato sauce
1 pound of spaghetti
Kosher salt or sea salt
Freshly ground Locatelli Romano cheese
Dorothea’s Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce

Steps:

1.    Fill a six quart pot with water and bring to a boil.
2.    In the meantime, pre-heat a mid-sized sauté pan on medium then add the ¼ cup of olive oil.
3.    When the oil is shimmering add the garlic, sauté until it becomes light gold in color.
4.    Add the oregano and stir quickly.
5.    Reduce the heat to low, add the tomato sauce, return heat to high and bring to a boil.
6.    When the water is at a full boil, add a dash of kosher salt or sea salt plus the tablespoon of olive oil.
7.    Add the spaghetti and cook according to the instructions on the box.
8.    After tasting the spaghetti to determine if it is al dente, drain it in a colander.
9.    Transfer the sauce to the large pot, return the spaghetti and mix thoroughly.
10.    Serve in bowls for people to add their own grated Locatelli Romano cheese and Dorothea’s Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce.

Note: This quick, easy to prepare dish is best accompanied by a simple salad with Homemade Italian Dressing, a loaf of fresh, crusty, Italian bread and a bottle of Chianti Classico.

Please see Pasta Memories

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Pasta Memories

In General Articles on April 9, 2011 at 3:00 PM

My earliest Pasta Memory, one filled with nostalgia for the simpler times in life, is Spaghetti with Del Monte Sauce. This was a ritual many Friday nights in our 3½ room apartment in the Inwood neighborhood of northern Manhattan, when I was growing up in the 1940s and 50s. First came the savory aroma of sliced garlic sautéed in hot olive oil, then the pungency of dried oregano added to the pan, finally the sizzling sound of canned Del Monte tomato sauce as it hit the hot oil and the fragrant aroma of tomato was released into the apartment. With the water for the spaghetti already at a boil, dinner was less than 15 minutes away.

My father, Big Mike, the designated Friday night cook, (he learned to cook from his mother, but I suspect that he perfected this meal while serving with the CCC out West) would sample the macaroni (he never called it ‘pasta’) after about 9 minutes of boiling and announce that it was al dente; that was the signal that we should take our seats at the table. After draining the spaghetti in a colander, (a ‘skoola pasta‘, in the Sicilian dialect he learned from his immigrant mother) he would return it to the pot, mix in the sauce, stir it well and scoop it into bowls. The spaghetti was always accompanied by freshly grated Locatelli Romano cheese, which was to be sprinkled liberally over it, by all. All that is, except my mother, Dorothea, who disdained cheese on her macaroni, as she claimed it detracted from the flavor of the sauce. Instead, she would heap one or two teaspoonfuls of her homemade Hot Pepper Sauce onto her bowl, as if that did not detract from the flavor of the sauce! She then proceeded to cut the spaghetti with a knife and fork and eat it with a spoon, so as to ‘get the spaghetti together with the sauce in one mouthful’.

Big Mike working for the CCC (circa 1934)

After my wife and I married, Spaghetti with Del Monte Sauce became a regular meal in our household, though not every Friday night, as it was quick, easy, inexpensive and delicious. Big Mike had another pasta dish that he enjoyed cooking and eating, and Another of Big Mike’s Favorites was also a regular Friday night dinner.

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Everybody Has a Story

In General Articles on April 9, 2011 at 2:52 PM

Everybody has a story. It is how these stories are conveyed that determines the ability of the storyteller to attract the attention of the listeners. The same may be said of food. Everybody is capable of preparing a meal, but it is how the food is prepared and presented that attracts those for whom it is prepared and whether or not it will be memorable.

Growing up in my family, mealtime, primarily dinner, was always a special time for us. When my father came home for work at the Post Office, we would sit down together to eat and to discuss the day. On Sunday’s, after Mass, invariably we would gather with my aunts, uncles and cousins at Grandma & Grandpa’s apartment off of Webster Avenue in The Bronx. We called it ‘Grandma & Grandpa’s’, but the apartment was actually that of my aunt and uncle, the building superintendent. Those meals were the most memorable!

Grandpa & Me in Inwood Park

Grandma with Cousin Bobby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those memories actually begin with the anticipation and excitement of being all together, eating delicious food, hearing new and often repeated family stories, as well as the jokes and laughter that accompanied each anecdote. Upon walking into the building lobby, taking that first breath and inhaling the aromas emanating from their apartment, we knew that an enjoyable time awaited us.

As my wife and I began to raise our own family and entertain relatives and friends, we first learned to cook basic meals. Then we began to experiment with more elaborate ones. The ones I liked best were those where we tried to re-create a dish, after experiencing something in a restaurant. We would play the guessing game: What ingredients made this particular dish unique? What spices were added? What cooking method did the chef employ? How did he prepare that sauce? Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, well if that is the case then we flattered a lot of chefs over the years.

What follows are stories from some of those meals, both original meals, as well as those which we re-created, accompanied by recipes for one or more of the dishes that comprised the meal and made it so memorable.

Please Continue to: Pasta Memories

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How to Cook Like an Italian Grandmother

In General Articles on April 9, 2011 at 2:48 PM

Food, from its raw state to its ultimate consumption, is a sensual journey. From the acquisition of the ingredients, through the process of preparation, presentation and consumption, the senses of sight, smell and taste, almost always come into play. However, the two other senses, sound and touch, are no less important to our overall enjoyment of food, even though they are not always present during each food experience.

As more of us dine out, or purchase prepared foods, the sense of sound usually experienced in the preparation of food is lost, unless of course, you are eating in a restaurant with an open kitchen. Similarly, in many dining out experiences, formal or otherwise, unless it is finger-food like passed hors d’oeuvres, or hand-food such as barbecued ribs, the sense of touch is not necessarily evident.

Certain foods frequently take us back through time to our childhood, or to particularly memorable moments in our lives. Who among us having grown up in a large city, has not, when walking past a ‘Jewish’ deli, and inhaling that heady aroma of a combination of grilled frankfurters, steamed corned beef and pastrami, mixed with the pungency of dill and new pickles, recalled a time from their childhood when they were treated to a similar experience?

Having grown up in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood in the 1940s and 50s, living with my parents and younger sister, I, like many of my friends and contemporaries was fortunate to have had those food experiences, as well as others, many times over. I can still recall hot summer afternoons and the Jewish deli that used to be on the southwest corner of Vermilyea Avenue and 207th Street. Its aroma would hit me full in the face as I walked into the store, awakening my salivary glands in anticipation to the treats ahead. Then the crunch, the heat, the powerful salty taste, moderated by the yeasty freshness of the bun, as I first bit into a sizzling hot dog, just off the grill. To be followed by the greasy yet crisp feel of French fries served in a paper cup, each of which was coated with salt grains that clung to it and ketchup that cooled its heat. As I savored this combination of flavors, all five senses were certainly going strong!

Equally vivid in my memory bank  is walking into the Pizza Haven, inhaling the aroma of garlic, fresh basil, tomato sauce and yeast. I can still recall the sensation of that first slice of ‘fresh from the oven’ hot pizza, as the mozzarella clung to and burned the roof my mouth!

My forays into the pizza parlor were a secret kept from my grandmother and mother, each of whom took great pride in her ability to create a memorable meal for her family.

What we have attempted to do with theliteratechef.com is to entertain and share with you some of our memories while giving you some cooking ideas to introduce to your family and friends. Hopefully you will find them easy to implement and they will become part of your memories as well.

Please Continue to: Everybody Has a Story   


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