Spago's - Canadian Restaurant

This was really fun- we drove to Canada to get some mussels from this restaurant, all the while Anna kept telling us that it was the chicken that she liked the best. The mussels were fabulous....especially the ones in the red sauce but Anna said that the sauce wasn't right; just a little too thick. The flavor was fabulous though!
But the chicken was a whole 'nother story!! I never order chicken in a restaurant. It just never works because most chefs over cook chicken....it's just the way of the world. But Anna was insistent that we try it. When we arrived at the restaurant Marc discreetly pointed out the head chef. A red-headed woman with a slight build running the coal-fired stove in the back of the dining area. After the mussels, bread and pizza - all of which was very good, the chicken arrived. It looked like a good chicken Parmesan with mushrooms to the untrained eye but it was so much more! We took one bite and Gary and I began to moan! It was incredible. Probably the best chicken I've very eaten out!! About half way through I talked Gary into going to talk to the chef to see if he could get any information out of her.... He got the technique for cooking the chicken but not the sauce. Marc talked me into going up there with Anna to see if we could get any information about the sauce. We took pictures with her Anna spoke Italian with her the whole time. She found out that Chet's husband was from the same area in Italy as where Anna was born. Chef never gave out the recipe for the sauce. In fact she didn't tell the whole truth about it in the midst of the conversation- it was obviously a guarded secret. Anna and Marc explained that this was a common occurrence within the Italian community. Many people don't share their recipes, even with close relatives. They told us a story about a good friend whose mother never gave her own daughter a recipe and for years the daughter kept trying to make the product without success. She finally realized years late that the mother had withheld some ingredients ON PURPOSE!! Wow!! The mother was scamming her own daughter for years so that her version of the recipe tasted better. So the red-headed chef lied to us to protect her incredible chicken recipe....I can totally understand why!
Anna gave me some Panna (cooked cream) and I'm going to attempt to make it when I get home.

Maybe I'm just a little too cocky but I just dont think the recipe was that difficult. Until I get home here is the Red-headed Chef's chicken recipe without tweaking:

8 oz.Panna
3 T. Butter
1 cup chicken broth
2 tsp. tomato paste
2 chicken breasts
Italian bread crumbs
Flour
2 Eggs, beaten
1 cup fresh, sliced button mushrooms
Mix the bread crumbs and flour together. Dip the chicken breasts in the egg wash and then the bread crumbs. Fry quickly in heated EVOO on both sides and finish cooking in the oven. Meanwhile, make the sauce by melting the butter and spooning in the tomatoe sauce (I may need to use a little flour at this point- whisked in and cooked for just a minute or two). Pou in the chicken broth, stir and cook the sauce until thickened. Add in the mushrooms and allow them to cook but not too long. (You don't want the moisture from the mushrooms to make the sauce too thin.) Pour the Panna into the sauce and stir until warm. Plate the chicken and pour the sauce on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately. We'll see if this doesn't work but I think I'm close!

Sights and Rhythms of Detroit - Vito's Bakery

Vito's Bakery- a neighborhood wonderland

Banana's Foster

1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
3 bananas, cut into3" slices
1/3 c. Banana Liquor
1/2 cup rum

Melt the butter in a skillet and add the brown sugar. Stir until blended. Add the bananas and allow them to cook down a bit. Stir in the banana liquor and cook a minute more. Pour in the rum and flame. Pour the sauce and bananas over a scoop of vanilla ice cream and serve immediately.

Chicken and Sausage Jambayala

1 whole, cooked chicken, deboned and cut into 1" pieces
1 lb. beef smoked sausage, cut into 1" slices
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 large bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
3 pods garlic, minced
3 T. Corn oil
3 T. Flour
2 T. Tomato paste
5 cups chicken broth
2 c. Long grain rice
Salt, black pepper, dried thyme, cayenne and TABASCO Louisiana hot sauce (5 shake minimum)

Sauté the onion, bell pepper,celery and garlic in the oil until the onion becomes translucent. Stir in the flour and cook for about 1-2 minutes, browning slightly. Add in the tomato paste and whisk. Cook for ~3 min on medium low heat. Turn the heat up and add the chicken broth until it comes to a boil. Stir in the rice,chicken and sausage and all the seasonings. Stir to combine and place a lid on the pot. Cook for about 5 minutes and then stir, scrapping up anything that is on the bottom of the pot. Cover and cook for about 10 min and stir again, adjusting the water if necessary. Cover for another 5 min, turn the heat off and let the jambayala rest for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Our Dinner to Anna and Marc

On our last night with Anna and Marc, Gary and I made dinner for them. Of course they asked us for a real Cajun dinner and we were happy to oblige. Marc called last night and asked for help with the fried green tomatoes before I could post this so I'm thinking they enjoyed our dinner!

The menu included:
BBQ Shrimp
Fried Green Tomato Salad
Stewed Chicken
Chicken and Sausage Jambayala
Banana's Foster  

BBQ Shrimp

2-3 lbs extra large shrimp, heads on preferably
1 1/2 - 2 sticks butter
Salt and black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Line a jelly roll pan with foil or parchment paper making sure that the foil/ paper goes up the sides of the pan. Place the shrimp on the pan in a single layer and divide the butter into small cuts. Sprinkle the seasonings on top- as much/little as you want. Broil in the oven on the top rack for 3-4 min depending on the size of the shrimp. The meat of the shrimp will pull away slightly and the shrimp will turn pink when they are cooked. Try to pull them out 30 seconds before you think they are completely cooked so that they don't over cook. Serve immediately by pouring the butter juices over the top of the shrimp. Serve with warm or toasted bread.


Fried Green Tomatoes

3-4 green tomatoes
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
1 cup yellow corn meal
Salt, black pepper, garlic powder and dried parsley to taste
Slice the tomatoes in 1/4" slices. Set aside. Mix the flour and corn meal with the seasonings and set aside. Com oil the eggs with the buttermilk in a bowl and whisk together. Just before serving dip the tomatoes in the egg/buttermilk mixture then pat them in the cornmeal/ flour mixture. Finish breading all of the tomatoes before frying. ( at this point the tomatoes can be refrigerated for up to an hour before serving.) Heat some corn oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet until the oil begins to "dance". Test the oil to make sure it's hot enough by sprinkling a pinch of flour in the oil - if it sizzles its hot enough to fry. Fry the tomatoes on one side until you see the bottom edges of the tomatoes turning brown. Flip the tomatoes and brown on the other side. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

We served this on some of Marc's soft lettuce freshly picked from his garden with a homemade buttermilk dressing.

Ranch Dressing

1 cup buttermilk
2 green onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 c. Real mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
Blend the buttermilk,onions and garlic in a on high speed until the onions and garlic are completely blended into the buttermilk. Add the mayo and seasonings and blend only until the dressing comes together. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Here's one that we didn't get a chance to try but the way Anna described it I can't wait to try it when I get home! She serves it with field greens, thin red onion (cut on a mandolin) bacon bits, blue cheese, candied walnuts and fresh raspberries. She uses ONLY real maple syrup. She makes only one recipe at a time- you can't double this!!

Raspberry Vinaigrette

1/2 c. Raspberry vinegar
1/2 c. EVOO
1/2 c. Corn oil
1/2 c. Maple syrup
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. Tarragon leaves
1 tsp. salt
Mix all ingredients and whisk until well blended.

The Bread

Gary made bread with Anna. I know of no one who makes bread like Anna. Most people follow a recipe first of all and Anna would have none of that. She feels her way through the bread! So once again the measurements aren't exact....but Gary did a good job of getting close. I really think he'll be able to duplicate this. I really want to because it's such a versatile bread! We used it for the rest of our meals with Marc and Anna. It freezes well and it has a great flavor and perfect texture!

Anna's bread

2 packs of yeast
1/2 cup warm water

6 cups water
2/3 c. Corn oil
3 T. Sugar
2 T. Salt
10-12 c. Flour
Allow the yeast to bloom while your gathering the other ingredients. Add all of the other ingredients in a very large bowl using your hands to mix. Continue mixing and kneading, adding any extra water or flour for the right consistency. She divides the dough into small batches and then cuts it in a food processor. It looks grainy at this point but its still holding the ball shape. She places those small grainy balls back in the bowl and allows the dough to rise for about an hour or until doubled.
After the rising has finished she makes rolls by cutting "fist-sized" balls and placing them on oiled heavy baking sheets allowing them to rise for another 30-45 min. She then bakes them at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
Now the absolutely cool thing about this recipe is that she freezes the rolls and pulls them out a few minutes before  using them for the next meal. She warms them in the oven for a couple of minutes and then serves them warm. We did this and served them the very next night and they were wonderful!!! This is a must-have recipe for anyone who likes bread with their meals! It's easy as bread goes....if you can get the dough to the rt consistency!

Gnocchi

When we were with Anna and Marc in New Orleans one of the first things I asked her was to show me how to make gnocchi. I have tried before and it's very tricky. She was so sweet because on the same night that we were making gnocchi she also made pasta with the extra egg yolks!!! They were both incredible. With the pasta dough she had me dry and fold the pasta so as to cut it thinly- a trick that I found to be a stroke of brilliance!!!

For the gnocchi she takes 8 medium- small Idaho russet potatoes. They have to be from Idaho or this recipe will not work! She boils the potatoes until just fork-tender. She drains them and peels them and presses them through a food mill being sure not to over- work the potatoes. She gently works the eggs into the potatoes again being sure not to overwork the starch out of the potatoes. She pours in about 3-4 cups of flour and pulls the dough together, kneading all the while. She kneads the dough on a piece of plywood until the dough begins to stiffen a bit. She rolls small portions of the dough into a rope and then cuts the rope into 1/2" pieces. She then presses them onto a gnocchi board to form the ridges and finally she boils the gnocchi until soft. It's not an easy process but it works if you get the "feel" of the dough. I would recommend having Anna come to your house and show you....

The Red Sauce

So lets talk sauce. All these years I've made and taught the same tomato sauce. It is simple and flavorful but it's heavy. It's made with a half bottle of red wine, sugar and soda. Anna's sauce is fresh, not only because of Marc's vine ripened tomatoes but also because she doesn't use a lot of ingredients. It's very basic allowing the tomatoes to shine through. If you are a person who has to has exact proportions, you will not enjoy this recipe because every ingredient varies depending on the time of year that the tomatoes were harvested and their acid content. 

After the tomatoes are cooked down and ready to can, Anna will take 6-8 cups of the stewed tomatoes to make a sauce. She purees them in a food processor first. She then begins cooking the sauce by sautéing 1/2 of a small onion. (For those who need a measurement -try using about 1/3 cup of medium diced onions.) She then uses 2 large cloves of garlic. Anna almost always uses a garlic press but if you don't have one try mincing then crushing the garlic with a knife. She uses about 1/2 cup of olive oil to sauté the onion and garlic. This is a very slow sauté. It takes a good 20-30 minutes on very low heat to gently cook the vegetables until the onions are translucent. Anna then adds about 2 splashes of white wine to the veggies and cooks them a little longer. She adds a pinch of red pepper flakes and the pureed tomatoes and cooks the sauce down until the liquid is reduced and the sauce is slightly thickened. She will add one whole carrot if the sauce isn't    sweet enough and a few sprigs of sage for depth of flavor. She serves this sauce with gnocchi, spaghetti noodles or anything that might need a red sauce. It's so fresh and light you won't believe it until you try it! I can't wait to make it when I get back home! 

The Pantry

We need to stop and talk about the importance of a well-stocked pantry. Marc and Anna spend weeks preparing their pantry for the following year.

Marc has to patiently a deal with whatever weather God sends to his area and just a limited conversation with him on the subject will tell you just how difficult this can be. Too much wind at the wrong moment and he could loose all the tomato blossoms. Too much rain and the tomatoes could rot. Too much heat, they would burn up. Marc is just like any other farmer that is dependent on God's hand to help him produce a decent crop. He toils through all sorts of conditions for production. Some years are better than others. He is one of the most patient, gentle people I have ever met. He has the perfect demeanor for being a farmer.

Anna works hard cleaning, cooking and preparing food for the year. Just for tomato sauce alone she goes through an enormous amount of work. She has to cut and pre-boil the tomatoes, peel them and then cook them down to remove the excess fluid. She sterilizes the jars and lids, pours the hot tomatoes into the jars and then boils them as for storage. This is just one of the many preservation recipes that she makes. I am bringing home canned tomatoes, relish, cherry tomato jam, pickled eggplant... She makes my head spin with the amount of cooking that she does at harvest time. She has an enormous amount of energy and stamina!! She wore me out in 2 days of cooking and if any of you know me, I'm fairly good at hanging in to get a cooking project completed! She showed us an incredible amount of recipes in just a 48 hour period!! Most off the top of her head. And most she was able to can or freeze for the coming year!! In the world of Godly homemaker's, she is my hero.

Anna's Amaretti Cookies

I never have understood the appeal of the crunchy, pungent cookies served (usually as lagniappe) at the end of Italian dinners. What is up with those and why do people like them? Your first bite into the hard crust of the cookie usually finds you with crumbs all over the front of your clothing. The bite itself has overwhelming almond alcohol flavor, intense crunch and then nothing. It's completely hollow. All you're left with is an unsatisfying void and a bunch of hard crumbs wondering between your cheeks and molers (the ones that aren't on your clothing) while bits of meringue dissolve at different rates around the roof of your mouth. The experience leaves you feeling extremely frustrated, begging to ask "why did I try that again? I know how this will all end and I just shouldn't have done it."

If truth be told, I enjoy the Amaretti flavor but without substance the cookie should not even be called a cookie! It cannot withstand the framework definition of what a cookie should be and therefore, technically the parchment paper with pastel writing wrapped around the hard sphere should not label them cookies. My suggestion is to label them as a "hollow crunch ball" and just get it over with.


Anna told us her Amaretti cookies were different. She said that there were many who thought her cookies were the best they've eaten! I totally agree!! Gary agreed!!! Anna's cookies have a wonderful, chewy texture on the inside with a slightly crunchy "meringue" texture on the outside. It's the way a cookie should taste!! The almond flavor is there without the strong alcohol flavor. Really incredible little gems!! This was one of my favorite recipes that she gave us. I held a very negative predjustice against Amaretta cookies. Anna completely converted my opinion!!

Amaretti Cookies

12 egg whites
5 c. Lady Fingers, crushed in a food processor
5 c. Almonds, finely ground
3 1/2 c. Sugar
3 1/2 T. Almond extract
Sugar for rolling dough

Beat egg whites until stiff. (Anna beats the egg whites very stiff before adding any sugar.) Fold in the almond extract and sugar carefully. Alternate the ground almonds and the ground Lady Fingers, folding the very gently into the egg whites. This takes a while and the dough becomes very sticky. The dough will deflate extincively. Gary even made the comment that he would've thrown it out had Anna not been there to tell him that it was supposed to look like that. All of this folding and combining into the dough needs to be done without breaks. ( I stopped just to take a picture and she immediately picked up the spatula and began folding, explaining that you really shouldn't stop. I'm sure it has to do with egg whites deflating.)
Wet your hands and roll the batter into 2" balls. Roll the balls in the sugar and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 min.
This recipe makes ~100 cookies. They freeze really well! Do not try to freeze the dough, only the baked cookies.

Squash Blossoms

One of the best most intriguing foods that I've ever experienced is fried squash blossoms. They are fresh and wonderful and so rare that there are very few people that have ever tried them....much less know how to cook them! My precious Chef Anna is one of those rare few!

Fried Squash Blossoms

Pick the blossoms first thing in the morning. Typical blossoms used are zucchini but you can use pumpkin blossoms as well.Pick the male blossoms without the fruit if possible. Use only opened blossoms, washed the inside of the flower gently and then pull the stamen out and the sticky petals from the outside of the flower at the base near the stem. Drain on a paper towel. Place in the refrigerator at this point if your not going to use them right away. Place an 8th of an inch of anchovies into the center and then 1/2" cube of mozzarella.  Alter the cheese size depending on the size of the flower.

The batter ingredients are as follows:
1 cup water
1 egg, beaten
1 heaping cup flour
A generous amount of salt

Whisk the batter until smooth and let the batter rest for at least 1/2 hour. While holding the base of the blossom gently twist the top so as to close. Dip the flower into the batter still holding the base and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Drain. Sprinkle with salt. Fry in EVOO until brown. The oil will pop if there's any water on the blossom at all so be careful! Eat immediately!!

Breakfast with Chef Anna and Molto Marco

This morning we awoke to a very special surprise! If I could back up a little, the night before we had realized that we were pretty tired. Gary fell asleep almost immediately while I stayed up a bit to write some of the recipes for this blog. I fell asleep thinking that Gary would wake up long before me -he is an early riser....well apparently he was extremely tired and neither of us woke up until just before 7:00. We were due downstairs at 7:00!!! We looked at one another and quickly began getting dressed. We looked like the Keystone cops running this way and that- we didn't want Anna starting without us! We ran downstairs and she was just Reaching for the coffee. Whew! We made it!

She had warned us that there would be dough involved this morning....so basically that meant that I could enjoy the cool Michigan morning sitting outside on their beautiful patio. Gary is the dough man in our family! Anything to do with yeast is his specialty! And quite frankly I was more than happy to bask in the warmth of the morning!

And then he came out with this!!! Oh my gosh!!! I'm not even a sweet lover but fried dough can NEVER be bad!! Anna and Gary had made frittelle- fried dough with sprinkled sugar!!!!

Frittelle

2 c. warm water
1 c. Warm milk
1 egg,beaten
Salt
2 envelopes yeast
2 T. Sugar
5-6 c. Flour
Mix the water and milk together, keeping the liquids warm. Add the beaten egg.  Stir in the sugar and the yeast. Wait until the yeast begins to bloom. Stir in 2-3 cups flour along with the salt. Add enough flour to form a very soft dough. Pick up the dough with a spoon; if the dough is too runny add more flour. Otherwise continue to let the dough rise for 30-45 min.
Heat some corn oil. Fry the dough until brown. Drain and roll in sugar. Serve immediately.

Like I said- I don't like sweets in the morning.... But this was incredible with my coffee, great friends and the warm Michigan sun!!

Spiedini

So Gary and I have been making braciole for a while now. We discovered it while watching Molto Mario one morning. Braciole is made with flank steak. It is a piece of beef that has been tenderized and stuffed- we like to stuff them with Parmesan cheese and parsley and braise them in a tomatoe sauce. We have been known to add cooked carrots or even asparagus. The roll is tied together and braised until very tender.

Spiedini, on the surface seems very similar but they're not! Spiedini is made with eye of round, sliced very thin and then stuffed and rolled but instead of braising we grill them.

This recipe is a traditional Spiedini but I'm sure, like everything else in Italian cooking ingredients can change. A friend of Anna's (Roseanne) taught her how to make spiedini. Anna's family always made braciole. Anna has perfected this recipe!

 Anna's Spiedini

20 slices do eye of round, cut very thinly
20 Julianne slices of caciocavallo
20 Julianne slices of Polish Ham
3 cups of dried Italian bread crumbs (Anna makes them herself- no Progresso for her! She adds Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano)
2 cups of Big boy bread crumbs, seasoned (these are large bread crumbs made from inside of a baguette. She seasons them with basil, oregano and parsley. She lets the bread crumbs sit in her refrigerator for a couple of days before using them.)
~2 cups of EVOO
garlic, crushed
Chopped parsley
Pepper
Mix the big boy bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese, garlic, parsley and pepper and some olive oil just enough to hold the mixture together.
Meanwhile dip each slice of the beef in olive oil and then the bread crumbs. Set aside.
Place a small amount of the bread crumb mixture at the end of the beef round. Place a piece of cheese and a piece of ham on top of the bread crumbs. Add a piece of parsley and a sliver of tomato. Roll the rounds and lay them on parchment paper. You can make these a few weeks in advance.
When you're ready to grill take the spiedini out and bring to room temperature. Skewer one cherry tomato, one spiedini roll, a dried bay leaf, sliver of onion, another spiedini and another cherry tomatoe. Grill the spiedini until browned and cooked through, making sure that the cheese melts.

Grilled Eggplant

Anna asked me to help with this dish and I'm so glad I did!! It is a dish that I will be using extensively from now on! So simple and easy!! A little time consuming but with a hint of planning its wonderful!

Grilled Eggplant

6 medium eggplant
EVOO
salt and pepper
Red pepper flakes
Dried oregano
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic,crushed
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 c. EVOO
Peel the eggplant and slice them in 1/2" rounds. Salt them and allow them to drain their fluid at least an hour. ( Anna puts them in a sieve and places them over a sink)
Brush each slice with olive oil and grill on a high heat. Place them in a bowl as they are cooked and allow them to continue cooking as you finish the rest of the slices. When all the eggplant has been grilled pour ~ 1 1/2 c. of olive oil over the top. Add the vinegar and spices and toss. Some of the slices will get really soft and fall apart adding to the consistency of the dish. Serve while still warm.

The Salad

I guess when you grow your own arugula you can't go wrong! So when you start with very fresh ingredients your dish honestly will be exceptional! This was a dried cranberry and feta salad that Anna made with a fresh vinaigrette.

Arugula Salad with Feta, Toasted Pine nuts and Cranberry Vinaigrette

3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2cup boiling water
 3 T. Fresh orange juice
1 1/2 T. Cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
6 T. Canola oil
3 T. Chopped flat leaf parsley
Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
10 oz. arugula
1 1/4 cup Pine nuts
5 oz. Feta
Put the dried cranberries in a small bowl and pour the hot water over the top. Let them seep for 10 minutes. Drain.
In another bowl, whisk the orange juice, vinegar,and mustard. Slowly whisk in the oil. Fold in the cranberries and parsley and season with salt and pepper.
Put the arugula in a bowl and scatter the nuts and feta over the top. Drizzle with cranberry vinaigrette
.

Cannelloni

The best cannelloni I've ever eaten looks like this:

Anna makes the cannelloni with her own tomato sauce (with freshly picked tomatoes) and her homemade pasta- both of which we will be making later today and discussing. So this recipe will just be about the filling in cannelloni.

The filling:

1 lb. spinach

2 lbs. Italian Ricotta cheese (Anna buys it fresh from a nearby Italian market)

Kraft Italian 5 cheeses

Mozzarella

1/4 c. Cream

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. butter

 Melt the butter and stir in the cream. Add the spinach and then the Parmesan. The spinach has to be cooked,drained and chopped through with a knife. Stir in the ricotta and season with salt and nutmeg. Place a dap in the center of the prepared noodles.