Tommaso’s Sinful Delights

After enjoying a relaxing weekend in The Hampton’s, and having an amazing dinner ready in under an hour,  I thought I’d let you in on some of my secrets.  If presented the right way (would Martha approve?) they’ll think you spent hours preparing.  This menu serves 4. 

Crab and Shrimp Cocktail

12oz fresh lump crab meat
20 peeled, deveined and cooked prawns
cocktail sauce
lemon wedges

Spoon lump crab in the center of a salad plate and arrange prawns on the outside.  Spoon cocktail sauce over crab or serve in a ramekin on the side.  Serve with a lemon wedge.

Grilled Steak

4 Prime cuts of beef (Filet Mignon, Porterhouse, Rib-eye, New York Strip)
salt and pepper
olive oil

Let the steak sit out for 15 minutes before grilling.  Prepare grill on high heat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Grill 6 -8 minutes per side for med-rare, rotating 30 degrees halfway into the cooking time for each side (this will create signature crossing grill marks.)  For me, cooking beef beyond med-rare is a mortal sin., but some worry about food poisoning.  Therefore, never cook a steak beyond medium!   Not only will it be tough, dry and tasteless, but consuming charred food is not good for your body (not to mention a waste of money — those prime cuts are not cheap!) 

Take meat off the grill and plate.  Tent aluminum foil over the meat and let it rest for ten minutes. 

*Note:  Never cut into meat immediately (I know how tempting it may be.)  You’ll have a mess from the juices.  By letting it rest, the meat will re-absorb all the juices.

Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary

6 small red potatoes
1 sweet potato
1 TBSP rosemary
2 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Prepare potatoes by cutting into cubes (leave the skin on.)  Toss in a bowl with rosemary, olive oil and salt.  Roast potatoes on a baking sheet or roasting pan for about 40 minutes or until brown and tender when pricked with a fork.  (Note: convection ovens will take less time.)

Caprese

2 beefsteak tomatoes, sliced
Fresh ball of Mozzarella, sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper

Arrange on a platter in this order:  slice of tomato, slice of mozzarella, basil leaves.  Continue to do this until you fill the platter.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Wallah!

*Note for dinnerware:  I always use plain, but elegant looking dishes to present the food.  If you use dinnerware with busy patterns and multiple colors, it takes away from the beauty of the dish you’ve just created.

 

Spaghetti and Meatballs is the ultimate comfort food!  When I make this, the entire house is filled with the wonderful aroma all day long.  This is truly a labor of love. 

 

It’s easier than you think to make homemade red sauce from scratch.  This recipe is easy, but it does take some time to make as it has to simmer for most of the day.  Now that you have been given this recipe below, you have no reason to go waste your money at the supermarket on sub-par pasta sauce in a jar (and some of you Italians out there should be ashamed of yourself for doing this.)  The great thing is when you have time to make it, you can freeze for later use.  Now you really don’t have an excuse not to make it, do you?  

 

Red Sauce

 

4TBSP olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

8 garlic cloves, sliced or minced

1tsp basil

1tsp oregano

1tsp Italian seasoning

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

½c red wine

2 -28oz cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed

1 -28oz can tomato sauce

3TBSP tomato paste

1tsp sugar

2c water

Optional: pepperoncini (read tips below)

 

Adapted from Emeril’s Basic Red Sauce

 

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in 8qt stock pot.  Add onion, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to pot and sauté for 2 minutes.  Then add garlic and cook until softened (about 3-4 minutes longer.)  Deglaze pan with red wine until boiling and reduce (about 2 minutes.)  Add crushed whole-peeled tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar and water.  Add cooked meatballs and sausage.  Simmer for at least 3 hours.

 

Enjoy with your favorite pasta, topped with fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese!

 

Meatballs

 

1.5lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

1/8 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

¼ freshly grated Romano cheese

¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

¼ c fresh basil, finely chopped

¼ c fresh parsley, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

1cup seasoned bread crumbs or fresh bread crumbs

2 eggs

 

Preheat broiler to high and grease broiling pan.  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Do not overmix!  Shape mixture into meatballs and broil for 8 minutes, then turn meatballs over and broil another 8 minutes until brown.  

 

Sausage

 

6 sausage links (either sweet or spicy)

 

Sauté sausage links until browned on all sides (about 8 minutes total.)  Do not cook through.  

 

 

Tips:  

 

·     Sugar is a must in a good tomato sauce.  It cuts the acidity of the sauce.

 

·     When working with whole peeled tomatoes, I only use San Marzano from Italy.  They are the sweetest and will make the best sauce.  When breaking them up to crush, place in a bowl and squeeze them with your hands to crush.  Use the water the recipe calls for to clean out any tomato residue from the cans (we don’t want to waste all that goodness!)

 

·     When cooking with wine, always use something you’d drink.  Use the rest of the bottle as you cook or with your dinner if you wish.  

 

·     Garlic can be adjusted depending on your liking.

 

·     To spice it up, toss a few pepperoncini in the sauce.  Leave out if you don’t want the heat.

 

·     Grana Padano is a fantasic, less expensive substitute for Parmesean Reggiano.  (We’ll get to these pantry must-haves in another post.)

 

·     It’s imperative that you use fresh herbs for the meatballs.  It makes a world of a difference.

 

·     Basic red sauce recipe works great if you’re a vegetarian, making lasagna or need it for other recipes that calls for a basic sauce, just omit the meat.  This will freeze well for later use.

 

 

Kathy Thomas (Suze Orman’s partner) was tweeting about Asian-Style coffee not too long ago. Being a coffee connoisseur and addict, I had to investigate what this was.  I Googled a recipe and found out that Vietnamese and Thai coffees are made with sweetened condensed milk and espresso.  If you like sweet, strong coffee, you’ll love this. 

 

Asian-Style Coffee

2 double espressos
1TBSP sweetened condensed milk

Serve hot or iced.

Courtesy of: Chow.com

 

Caffeine content:

1oz espresso – 40mg

16oz coffee – 80-130mg

Source: Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

When I see bottles of store bought salad dressing in people’s refrigerators, it bothers me. Half the ingredient names you can’t even pronounce, let alone know what they are. You’re also throwing your money away buying them. And, in this economy, who can afford to throw money down the drain?

Homemade salad dressing is just about the easiest thing to make and takes no time at all. You don’t even have to turn on the stove! Most, if not all of the ingredients, are already (or should be) in your pantry.

So without further ado, here are two basic recipes that you’ll thoroughly enjoy:

Dijon Mustard Dressing
1TBSP white vinegar
3TBSP good olive oil
1TBSP Dijon mustard
1tsp sugar
pinch of salt and pepper

Whisk vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add olive oil and whisk until emulsified.

Drizzle over salad and serve.

Credit: recipe was on Martha Stewart’s show a few years back.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
1/2c olive oil
1/4c aged balsamic vinaigrette
1TBSP Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1TBSP honey
pinch salt & pepper

Whisk vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add olive oil and whisk until emulsified.

Note: General rule of thumb for vinaigrette is 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil. Use good olive oil for dressings.

A late family friend who taught me the ins and outs of gourmet cooking always told me, “Good is good.” The saying especially holds true when it comes to the proper cookware.

I read an article in the NYT a year or so ago that went on to say no chef needs to buy über expensive cookware. A $15 frying pan is good enough. I beg to differ with that, especially if you’re not a professional chef. Yes, as some of you know I am a pot snob, but I swear by All-Clad and Le Creuset. The polished stainless steel of All-Clad is certainly beautiful to look at, but it’s also functional. All-Clad is fantastic for sautéing, providing even heat distribution (Farberware doesn’t hold a flame to All-Clad — quite literally.) The All-Clad can be put in the dishwasher too! The less hand washing, the better.

A cast iron skillet and dutch oven are also must-haves for any chef. Le Creuset is a well-made product that will last a lifetime. Some of my Le Creuset dutch ovens that were handed down to me, have been around for decades. A cast iron pot is essential for simmering soups, sauces and for braising as well.

You do pay for what you get. A small investment in the proper cookware will last you a lifetime and will pay for itself in the long run.

Here is a reccomended list of cookware every home chef should have:

1-8qt cast iron stock pot
1-3qt stainless steel saute pan
1-10″ stainless steel frying pan
1-8″ nonstick omlette pan
1-4qt stainless steel sauce pan
1-2qt stainless steel sauce pan

*Note: You don’t have to spend alot and purchase your cookware at luxury kitchen boutiques such as Williams-Sonoma. They can be found at any outlet store and on eBay for much less (nobody has to know!)