THE ITALIAN FOOD ISSUE

PASTA FRITTATA

Elizabeth and I were invited to a garden luncheon overlooking Lake Trasimeno in Casalini, a small borgo in the Commune of Panicale.

As people were arriving and Prosecco was being poured, a tray of antipasti was brought out, one of the items were thin slices of an omelette or frittata, neither hot nor cold, but just slightly warm. Inside the rich egg mixture was pasta. It was like it's own little egg sandwich.

LAST NIGHT'S CARBONARA

Elizabeth makes a fabulous pasta Carbonara and as usual there was a bit left over along with some asparagus. So, instead of standing in front of the open fridge pushing cold pasta in my mouth we decided to try a pasta frittata for lunch.

I beat four eggs with salt and pepper and a handful of grated parmesan cheese then tossed the pasta and asparagus in. I poured the mixture into a hot non-stick skillet and kept gently pushing the sides to cook the eggs.

Then, under the broiler  until it achieved that All -American Diner 

state of perfection called 'golden brown'.

Lunch!

Salute!

{week 42}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE FOOD ISSUE... Mid Winter Edition

WHAT!  LOBSTER AGAIN?

Lobster
James Aponovich
oil on panel, 10" x 8"


THE ELEGANT FIRESIDE DINNER
(or if you must, brunch)

The last time we encountered lobster ( blog post #6), it was stuffed into a hot dog roll, fun and delicious but definitely not elegant. It is my opinion that lobster meat does not lend itself to diverse
 preparations, ( unlike say, chicken), although they do refer to a small lobster as a "chicken lobster." The meat tends to toughen with prolonged cooking, so if you want to avoid the 'dunk in the butter' thing, there is......


BUERRE BLANC

White butter sauce, usually made with white wine, vinegar, shallots and of course butter. Since no drink goes better with lobster than Champagne (or Prosecco) and Meyer lemons are ripening in the atrium....This just might work. So combine-

1 small glass of Champagne or Prosecco
2 Tbs. lemon juice and some zest
2 Tbs. shallot, finely diced
2 Tbs. cream
Lots of Butter


Bring some champagne, lemon juice and shallot to a simmer and reduce to not much at all. Add the cream and zest and reduce some more, then add the butter until glossy and irresistible....salt, pepper. Done!

" Lobster Fired Over Cold is some wicked good"
                         - Basil Ladd, Bucks Harbor, Maine

A Downeast expression that some call 'Lazy Man's Lobster' But it is just lobster meat taken out of the shell and finished in a saute pan with butter, enhancing the lobster taste.



HOW TO SERVE

You could serve the meat by putting it back into the lobster carcass, but I find that a bit gross
( plus you can't eat he shell), so I turn to
 Elizabeth and ask," could you bake some profiteroles?
Please?"

Lobster and Cream Puff Pastry Shells (profiteroles)


Baseball size profiteroles are perfect, but nobody minds puff pastry shells from the supermarket.

Now, put a little buerre blanc sauce into the shell, stuff as much lobster as you can, then drizzle more sauce on top, pour a glass of bubbly, sit by a roaring fire, and as they say Downeast....
"Finest Kind! "




{week 25}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE FOOD ISSUE { Rome }

THE FOOD ISSUE

ROME

Rome From Quirinale

Elizabeth Johansson Aponovich

oil on panel,  10" x 8"

"When in Rome do as the Romans do."

                                                  - Saint  Ambrose (329-397), advice to St. Augustine

Q.  I am planning on visiting Rome and I am on the Atkins diet. Is there anything I can eat?

A.   No.

S. P. Q. R.

During the turbulent period of time after the assassination of Julius Caesar, Rome was thrown into a Civil War. Patrician Senators sought the restoration of the Republic while forces loyal to Caesar fought to establish a new Empire. Three men joined forces to oppose the Republic: Octavius (the mind), along with his future enemy and Cleo boy toy, Marc Antony ( the muscle)

 and the third, Marcus Lepidus ( the money). This alliance was known as the Second Triumvirate, the rule of three. But, as they say, that was a very long time ago.

Today there is another Triumvirate that rules Rome. This one is not built of military strength and political ambition, but of something much more simple, durham wheat and water.

" Adapt your dish of spaghetti to circumstances and your state of mind."

                                             - Guiseppe Marotta

Romans take their pasta very seriously and three dishes stand out as forming the nucleus of Roman cuisine, The Roman culinary hat trick:

CACIO e PEPE

Served in a beautiful ceramic bowl from Deruta

The quintessential Roman dish, spaghetti tossed with finely grated Pecorino Roman

 cheese ( no substitutions), and freshly ground black pepper. Straightforward, simple...easy? un-un.

Timing, heat, good pasta, good olive oil make this dish best left to professionals, order 

it at  AR Galleto and sit outside in the Piazza Farnese, a block and world away from the ordered chaos of the Campo dei Fiori.

SPAGHETTI alla CARBONARA

Spaghetti with fresh eggs, "bacon" and grated pecorino Romano. Forget the myth that this dish was invented for American G.I.'s who missed their bacon and eggs. Carbonara means 'charcoal burners wife' and probably came down from Abruzzo, but , lets face it, every farmyard in Italy has chickens and most raise at least one pig, for guess what? Pancetta ( cured pork belly) and 

guanciale ( cured pork jowl). Romans  insist on guanciale. Try this dish at Al Moro, quite close to the Trevi Fountain.

If you'd like a quick  lesson in making Spaghetti Carbonara, watch Elizabeth Minchilli's video from her Rome kitchen , November 13, 2014 post:
www.elizabrthminchilliinrome

BUCATINI alla AMATRICIANA

 This is a dish that no matter what you are doing, rest assured you are doing something wrong. There seems to be no definitive list of ingredients. The pasta is Bucatini, a thicker

 hollow spaghetti ( 'little hole '), but you may see it served on penne or rigatoni. There are ground tomatoes ( San Marzano), unless its 'gricia', no tomatoes. Onions? To some its a sin to add

 onions ( Queen Margherita, of pizza fame, is said to have insisted on onions.)

Some like to add wine, red or white? It depends. Others say wine ruins the acid balance. Oh, did I mention garlic? Mama Mia! The recipe does require meat....guanciale. Almost everybody outside Rome just roll their eyes and use pancetta. There remains only one ingredient that everyone can agree with.......crushed red pepper and of course a good appetite. We first had this pasta at Checchino dal 1887 in the Testaccio neighborhood, but go to La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali, in Monti and you will have the best in Rome.

" Everything you see I owe to spaghetti."

                             -Sophia Loren

"Buon Appetito"

~~~~

Post scriptum

You can take the boy out of New Hampshire......

Coffee Cups and ?

James Aponovich

pencil on paper

I was fortunate enough to be Visiting Artist at The American Academy in Rome. We had an apartment in the main building ( McKim, Mead & White Building) called 'Il Cortile' because it looked over the central courtyard. I was there to draw and immediately set up a still life of two espresso cups with a snazzy container that I filled with sugar and began drawing. Awhile later Elizabeth came in and looked at my drawing and asked, "what is sugar doing in the cheese server?"

Uhmmm........ah......duh........

THE FOOD ISSUE ( week 6 )

THE FOOD ISSUE

Basket of Fruit with Grapes and Morning Glories

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 26" x 26"

YOU WANT FRENCH OR ITALIAN TONIGHT ?

It is said that if you ask 100 professional French chefs to each make a Bearnaise  sauce you will get 100 sauces exactly alike. On the other hand, ask 100 Italian cooks to make a ragu and you most certainly get 100 versions along with some heated arguments. In Italy things change , not just from region to region, but even town to town..

So, when I speak of Italian food, I am referring to the places I am most familiar with, Umbria, Tuscany and Rome. When I speak of food from my native New England, the conversation

 gets kind of sparse.....what dishes most represent New England? bluefish and beans? New England boiled dinner? Boston cream pie?

THE ROGER SWAIN SIX

Roger Swain, the eminent Botanist, Horticulturalist, Public Television personality, listed only six indigenous edible crops in the United States, they are:

Fox grapes ( Concord grapes)

sunflowers

wild rice

cranberries

blueberries

pecans

"That's piss poor!"

                       -R. Swain

Throw in a roasted wild turkey and you got a pretty decent Thanksgiving dinner. My point is that we don't have much to work with here in New England......well, thinking about it, there is one thing we do have.............

Lobster
James Aponovich
oil on panel, 16" x 12"


HOMERUS AMERICANUS

The North American lobster abounds off the coast of New England. Purists say you must go Down East in Maine to where the frigid Labrador current is home to the best lobsters. Having lived there, I cannot disagree.
Although most people prefer to dunk their boiled lobster in copious amounts of melted butter, ( and yes the bibs you wear around your neck do make you look silly ) there remains an ardent group that searches out the quintessential New England lobster recipe.

Sanders Lobster Pound, Portsmouth, NH.

Inside Sanders Lobster Pound

THE ALL AMERICAN
NEW ENGLAND
LOBSTER ROLL

Some recipes are all the more difficult due to their simplicity.
 Try boiling an egg.....perfectly.
It  may be axiomatic that less is more, but what is most important here is balance.
If this were a painting ( and it is a work of art) I would be referring to proportion, how one area relates to and balances the other. So, I have chosen to profile the lobster roll not because of its "chefy" complexity, but  because of its seemingly infinite variations on a relatively simple list of ingredients.


INGREDIENTS

Lobster, freshly caught is best, preferably from waters on or above the 43rd Parallel. Boiled and cooled then diced or torn. If you can buy shucked lobster meat, make sure it is fresh.

Mayonnaise, yes, some is necessary, it is after all, lobster salad. The amount you add is up to you. 

Make your own mayonnaise or use Hellman's, or if you are a true New Englander, Cains.

Celery, crunchy and finely diced.

Scallion, only if you must.

Lemon Juice, for brightening

Salt & Pepper

New England Style Hot Dog Roll,  buttered and toasted.

A bag of Cape Cod potato chips, if you live in Maine, Humpty Dumpty potato chips.

Prepare the lobster salad, it should be chilled, but never cold. Keep the lobster pieces the right size to comfortably fit the roll. Reserve the claw meat to decorate the top. Brush the sides of the roll with melted butter and place on a hot pan until toasted a golden brown, open the roll to release some of the heat and fill with lobster salad mixture, do not overfill.

Lobster roll from Alisson's
Kennebunkport, Maine

There is a continuing controversy that never seems to be resolved....
What is the best thing to drink with lobster?
There is nothing wrong with a tall glass of Geary's Ale to have with your lobster.
But, our choice  of beverage is a cold crisp Prosecco when lobster is on the menu.
Our  favorite is Turina Lugana Spumante Brut.
CHEERS!