My Mom's Fish Sauce

1996. The year my Mom started to forget things. That was the year I asked her for her recipe for Fish Sauce. The one she made every Christmas Eve. Have you ever asked an Italian Mom for a recipe? They measure nothing! Timing, forget about it. You just know when and what to do.

Well, I had a list of ingredients. I had the memory of what she did. And with the help of the internet,
I had confirmation from a couple of different recipes that I was on the right track.

I knew my Mom did not pre-cook the lobster tails. She cooked them in the sauce. I found a recipe that confirmed my thought. Lobster Tail Tomato Sauce from All-Recipes.

Next, I found a recipe from Memorie di Angelina for Zuppa di Pesce alla Napoletana that explained the cooking time for the other fish.

I made a simple Marinara Sauce. I simmered it for about an hour. I put the lobster tails in and let them simmer for almost 45 minutes. I dropped the Cod and Scallops in the sauce.  That simmered for 10 more minutes.

I had not experienced that aroma since I was in my Mom's kitchen on Lettney Place.

My Mom's Fish Sauce

Ingredients-
1 clove of garlic. Yes I used a clove of garlic!
1 tbsp olive oil
2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes, quantity is determined by how many people you are serving.
1/4 cup white wine, quantity is determined by how many people you are serving.
Lobster Tails, quantity is determined by how many people you are serving.
Cod Filets, quantity is determined by how many people you are serving.
Sea Scallops, quantity is determined by how many people you are serving.

Method-
Make the marinara sauce. Brown one clove of garlic in olive oil. Remove clove when it starts to brown. Add tomatoes and wine, let simmer for an hour.
Drop the lobster tails into the sauce, simmer on low for 45 minutes. Add Cod and Scallops. Simmer for 10 minutes.
 

 I had to serve the pasta with homemade Fettuccini. The usual recipe from Tide and Thyme.

And yes I had to make homemade Italian Bread too! Usual recipe from Noshtalgia.

Mom's Pizzagaina and Some Bread

 

I did not make my Mom's Meat Pies last Easter. I was to busy or whatever but I had to make them this year. I did not double her recipe and I still ended up with 3 regular pies and one small pie.
Again I used the Pate Brisee recipe and added Black Pepper. This crust never fails me.

Pate Brisee - (this recipe is for 2 pies, top, and bottom crusts)
Ingredients
6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
22 Tbsp sweet butter, chilled

12 Tbsp vegetable shortening, chilled
1 cup of ice water

Sift the flour, salt, and pepper together into a bowl; add butter and shortening and cut them into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture is like a coarse meal.
Sprinkle on and blend in enough of the ice water to make a workable dough, mixing water in lightly with a fork.
Turn dough out onto your work surface and, using the heel of your hand, smear the dough away from you, about 1/4 cup at a time. Scrape up the smeared dough into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Eleanor Lombardi's Pizzagaina
Ingredients-
2 pounds baked ham, diced

1 pound pepperoni, skinned, diced and boiled, drained (boiling removes excess grease)
1 pound sweet sausage, fully cooked, drained
1 pound basket cheese, diced

Mix all ingredients. Roll out a quarter of the dough. Place the crust in a pie dish. Use a pie dish with handles if you have one. You will want to check the bottom of the pie to see if it is browned. Add half of the meat and cheese mixture to the dish. Break and mix 3 eggs (each pie requires 3 eggs) and pour over the top of the meat. Roll out another quarter of the dough. Place on top of the meat. Crimp edges. Cut 3 slits in crust. Bake 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. (I baked mine for an hour and 15 minutes). Repeat this for the second pie.

With the meat recipe, you may end up with enough for more than the two pies. Let just say it is one of those Easter miracles. I usually make enough dough for 6 pies just in case.  The crust recipe above is only for 2 pies. I prefer to make the crust in small batches. Making enough for 6 pies at once is more than my kitchen or I can handle.  The crust can go in the freezer so it is "like money in the bank."

When the pies are in the oven keep an eye on overflow. The egg might spill out the slits. It may be a good idea to put some foil under the pie dishes on the lower rack. As long as the egg does not spill over your house will smell amazing.

The bread was my go-to recipe for Italian Bread. The dough is amazing to work with and the Crust and the crumb are always perfect.
Interestingly I got a text from my nephew today asking if I had my mom or my Aunt Marie's Spinach Bread recipe. Sadly I did not but I think this dough would probably work. 
The recipe is from Noshtalgia. The recipe is called No-Knead French Bread but we use it as Italian bread. I let the dough rise longer than the recipe calls for. That is usually, because I have other things going on than just making the bread. The dough is beautiful to work with. Click here for the original recipe.

Bagel Dough, Bread Dough, Cookie Dough

To quote Homer Simpson, "Doh!" Sorry I had to do that. Today was a perfect day for me. I baked most of the day. Besides the Bagel Dough, Bread Dough, Cookie Dough, I also mixed Pie Crust Dough and Pizza Dough for tomorrow.

The bread dough was my usual Italian Bread recipe for Noshtalgia. The recipe is called No Knead French Bread but we use it as Italian bread. I let the dough rise longer than the recipe calls for. That is usually because I have other things going on than just making the bread. The dough is beautiful to work with. Click here for the original recipe.

The cookie recipe was a nice surprise.  I was flipping through a cookbook, The Silver Palate Cookbook, which is where the Pate Brise recipe can be found. Inside one of the pages was tucked a handwritten recipe of my Mom's. The Ice Tray Cookies. I have made these before and the recipe is already on the blog but I was thinking of making cookies so the timing was perfect. I cut the recipe in half so maybe by next weekend they will be gone and I can try another cookie recipe.

I tweaked the recipe a bit. I used 1/4 cup of chocolate shots. I forgot to pick up nuts at the store this week. Also, when the cookies were in the pan I sprinkled them with a little Raw or Turbinado Sugar and a little Fine Sea Salt.

Ingredients-

1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup nuts
3/4 vegetable oil
1/1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
Turbinado Sugar
Fine Sea Salt

Method-

Preheat oven to 350.
Beat eggs, add sugar, oil, flour, vanilla, and nuts. Grease ice cube trays.

Fill 1/2 full, and sprinkle the top of the cookies with Turbinado Sugar and Fine Sea Salt. 

Bake for 30 mins.

Slice on an angle when cooled. 

Bake again for 10 minutes or until toasted on top.

On to the Bagels. A girl I work with asked me this week if I ever made Bagels. She sent me this recipe and OMG it is amazing. No yeast. No boiling. Just easy bake Bagels. The recipe has suggestions of all sorts of toppings, but I am a plain bagel person. 

I made this tonight and I will report back on the taste tomorrow. Here is the link to the original recipe. They can also be made in an Air Fryer. Maybe if I get one for Christmas...

Vacation Day Baking

Today was a perfect vacation day. I baked 2 loaves of French Bread, a loaf of Rosemary Olive Oil Bread, and Ice Tray Cookies. And I made pasta for tonight's dinner.

One of my favorite bread recipes. 

Always a perfect crust and texture.

Recipe from Noshtalgia.

Rosemary and Olive Oil Bread. 

Recipe from Mark Bittman. 

Fresh Pasta. I love the recipe.

Recipe from Tide and Thyme.

Dinner was the homemade pasta along
with my favorite summer sauce recipe.

And last but certainly not least -

My Perfect Vacation Day

Yeah, vacation day! And it was cool out. Not what you are usually looking for in a vacation day. But I was able to make bread, pasta, and sauce. All three were part of very delicious dinner.

The bread was the No Knead French Bread. The recipe can be found on the Noshtalgia website. It is an amazing dough to work with.

The pasta was from Tide and Thyme. The only pasta recipe I use. I had more than enough for tonight's dinner and I was able to put some in the freezer.
 

The sauce was, of course, the Marcella Hazan Onion, Butter and Tomato Sauce. This time I diced the onion after it had cooked for almost an hour. I sauteed some Pancetta cubes and cubed zucchini and added that to the sauce. Wow!!!

Homemade Pasta with Chorizo Sauce

Homemade pasta + homemade sauce + homemade bread = Delicious!

The pasta recipe is from Tide and Thyme. Once you find a recipe that works for you stick with it. I love this recipe. I have tried others but this is still my favorite.

Homemade Pasta-
Ingredients-  
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surfaces
1½ cups semolina flour
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon water, plus more as needed

Method-

Combine the flours and salt in a bowl or on a work surface, creating a well in the center.  Crack the eggs into the well.  Using a mixer or by hand, slowly mix, incorporating the flour into the egg mixture a little bit at a time.  Once you have a dry, shaggy dough, mix in the olive oil and water and knead by hand until the dough is fairly smooth and homogeneous.  Divide the dough into four portions and cover with a damp towel.  Let rest for 20 minutes.  At this point, proceed with thinning and cutting as desired, depending on equipment available.

To cook, cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 3-5 minutes or until al dente.  Drain well and serve immediately.

The sauce, well do you have to ask? Marcella Hazan's Tomato, Onion, and Butter Sauce. I sauteed some chopped up Chorizo Sausage and added it to the sauce after I blended the sauce. I hate the idea of throwing out the onions. The sauce was perfect. Just enough spice to make you want one more bite.

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter-
Ingredients-
2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, prepared as described below, or 2 cups canned imported Italian tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
5 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt to taste

Method-
Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned in a saucepan, add the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until it is thickened to your liking and the fat floats free from the tomato.
Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.
Taste and correct for salt. Before tossing with pasta, you may remove the onion (as Hazan recommended) and save for another use, but many opt to leave it in. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for the table. 

The bread was in the freezer from my Monday vacation day when we had a little snow and I baked four loaves of bread. Okay, I really like carbs! The recipe is from Noshtalgia. I have not made this recipe in a while, not sure why.  It is a perfect bread, the no-knead variety.

No Knead French Bread
Ingredients-
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. soft shortening
4 c. sifted all purpose flour


Method-
Measure flour into a bowl, add water, then yeast. Let yeast dissolve thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Let set 10 minutes, then cut through dough with a wooden spoon. Do this 5 times at 10-minute intervals. Turn dough out onto a floured board and divide in half. Let rest for 10 minutes, then roll each ball into a loaf. Make several diagonal slashes across each loaf. Let rise double. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Radiatori with Chicken Sausage and Arugula and Spinach

I made this recipe for the first time back in 2013. I should make this more often. It is delicious. I had to force myself to stop eating. It was a "just one more spoonful" type of dinner. Easy? Yes. Fast? Yes. And the sauce was perfect. I was glad I made bread this morning. More on that later.

Radiatori with Chicken Sausage and Arugula and Spinach

Ingredients
1 pound radiatori
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound Al Fresco Chicken Sausage with Red and Green Peppers
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 lb baby spinach, coarsely chopped and washed
1/2 lb arugula, coarsely chopped and washed
1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1/4 cup grated pecorino, plus more for serving

Method -
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain well.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the sausage and cook over moderately high heat,  until browned, about 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate.

Add the crushed red pepper and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the spinach and arugula with any water clinging to the leaves and season with salt. Cover and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Uncover and cook until the greens are tender and the liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes longer.

Add the pasta to the skillet along with the sausage, chicken stock and pecorino and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid is slightly reduced and creamy, about 3 minutes. Serve right away, passing extra cheese at the table.

Today I worked from home and this morning I realized I did not have Italian bread for tonight's dinner. I did not want run to the store at lunchtime as I was planning on working through lunch. So I made bread. Not the Jim Lahey No Knead Bread. This recipe takes a lot less time! I made 3 loaves of bread which I started at 7AM and had in the oven by 12PM. The recipe can be found on Noshtalgia.

No Knead French Bread

Ingredients-
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. soft shortening
4 c. sifted all purpose flour

Method-
Measure flour into bowl, add water, then yeast. Let yeast dissolve thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Let set 10 minutes. Knead the dough 5 times letting it rest for 10 minutes each time. Turn dough out on floured board and divide in half. Let rest for 10 minutes, then roll each ball into a loaf. Make several diagonal slashes across each loaf. Let rise double. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Brioche, French Bread, Soup, Sauce and Dinner

Where to start? As I have stated previously I plan on making a lot of bread this year. The year starting with the cooler weather setting in. I have a cookbook which I have had forever, A Basket of Homemade Breads. I decided on the Brioche. The recipe makes 16 rolls. Seeing as it is just the two of us I cut the recipe in half. The dough has a fantastic texture. See the bottom of this post for the recipe.

Today I made the first large pot of my Mom's Meat Sauce. I needed some bread to go with the sauce. I remembered a recipe I found last year, No Knead French Bread. The big advantage of this recipe is that it does not take 18 hours for the dough to rise. I LOVE this recipe! Click Here to view  the recipe and visit the blog Noshtalgia.

Next we have the Chicken Soup. I used my sister Lenore's recipe. It simmered for over 3 hours and the cats were beside themselves when I was removing the meat from the carcass! Click Here for the recipe.

Seeing I had the soup simmering on the stove it seemed like the perfect time to make our first pot of meat sauce. I sauteed chopped onions and browned the sausages and ground meat. I added the crushed tomatoes and let that simmer. My sister recently reminded me that our Mom use to add chicken legs to her sauce. I opted for adding boneless chicken thighs. I let that simmer for about 3 hours, seasoning it with salt, pepper, oregano, basil and parsley. After it cooled it went into the fridge so tomorrow I will remove any fat from the top of the pot.

And now what did we have for dinner?

I decided on making my Mom's Chicken Cutlets when I was mixing the Brioche dough this morning. I ended up with 2 egg whites and a yolk (I only used an egg white for the glaze on the Brioche). Mom's recipe for Chicken Cutlets requires the egg whites to be beaten separately before adding the yolks so it seemed like a perfect way use up the eggs. The meat was so moist and the breading was the perfect color. Click Here for the recipe.

We have a new olive oil store in town, The Shoreline Vine. What an amazing place. You can taste every oil and vinegar... which made for an interesting lunch. I picked up these 2 small bottles and it seemed perfect for our side dish.

 

I think I may have picked the last of the green beans today. And we had a couple of small tomatoes. Those along with some tomatoes I from my brother-in-law, Ralph, were mixed together for one last tomato and green bean salad. Actually I think this may have been our only tomato and green bean salad of the summer! I steamed the beans and seasoned them along with the tomatoes with the vinegar and olive oil pictured above and salt, pepper, oregano, basil and parsley. Excellent.

And of course there was also my favorite - Roasted Potatoes!

Brioche, from A Basket of Homemade Breads. This recipe as shown here will result in 16 rolls.

Ingredients -
4 cups (1 lb) all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cake (1/2 oz) fresh yeast
2-3 tbsp warm water
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1- 1 1/2 sticks ( 1/2 - 2/3 cup) melted butter, cooled
2 tbsp sugar
beaten egg for glaze

Method -
1.  Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Make two wells in it.
2.  Cream the yeast with the water and pour it into one well. Into the other well pour the beaten eggs, yolks, melted butter and sugar.
3.  Beat together with your hands to form a fairly soft dough.
4.  Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 1 hour.
5.  Brush 16 cupcake cups with melted butter.
6.  Punch down the dough by kneading and cut into two. One piece being 2/3 of the dough. (See photo from cookbook below for clearer description!)
7.  Shape into 16 large and 16 small balls. Place a large ball in the bottom of each cupcake cup. Punch a hole in the center of the large ball and place the small ball in it. (See photo from cookbook below for clearer description!)
8.  Prove, covered with a dry cloth, until doubled in size.
9.  Brush gently with beaten egg, you don't want to knock off the small ball of dough. Bake in a very hot oven (450ºF) for 10 minutes.

My copy of this book has been used a lot as this photo will show!