Remembering Thanksgiving, Family, FRiends, and FReedom..

The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 from Plymouth England, to Plymouth Rock started as a journey to find peace and justice in a new world. It began as a fervent prayer to give freedom a chance, and remains today as the promise each year for a new beginning. Thanksgiving Day is a celebration of hope, and remembrance.

Today, we bring our families and friends together to share our tables and our hearts, and give thanks for all that we have to be grateful for in our new and glorious country. From this grand experiment and it's courageous settlers, to the greatest nation of the world, we have a lot to be thankful for, indeed.

My earliest memory of Thanksgiving was the fuss of preparation of the wonderful food being prepared in advance of our holiday feast. Being a traditional Italian American, midwestern home, a full cornucopia of cookies of every ethnicity was in abundance. Thanksgiving morning was a special treat with a home filled with the scent of baking bread, and roasted turkey which transformed our tiny cold water flat in "Little Italy" on the lower East side of Chicago into a 3 room palace. Everyone was involved, family and friends, young and old, with 4 generations of our own majestic women.

An unspoken but respected hierarchy prevailed, with the eldest women in control, and a dance like rhythm appeared to take charge of this traditional and noble endeavor. It didn't take long before our small kitchen and dinning room filled, and every flat surface was covered. People scurried into the hallway, where neighbors shuffled pans and pots in and out of their homes to their own kitchens to make room for more, always more so everyone could share in the abundance.

Preparation started days earlier, with the making of the pasta. I recall my great aunt bringing in the clothesline from our back porch, the one that strung across the small yard to the adjacent porch and back. She washed and bleached this cord to string across our living and dining rooms, from sconces to chandelier, and doorjambs to windowsills. It was strung as tight as possible to hold the pounds of lasagna noodle, and spaghetti needed to hang dry, to satisfy the hearty Italian appetites. I recall as if it were yesterday listening to our nightly radio programs with the shadows of stringing pasta on the faded floral wallpaper, lending an eerie overtone to the Green hornet, or Gangbusters.

How could I ever forget opening my eyes in the morning with the sight of hanging pasta overhead, but then, why in the world would I want to forget that magical moment after all, and what it meant to a young boy that a wonderful and glorious holiday was just around the corner?

Each family was represented in the choice of menu items. Every wonderful cook in each branch of the family offered to prepare their own special version of the chosen food. This made for a memorable feast indeed, there were at least 4 successful individual restaurant owners in our family. The competition was playful and fun filled, with chunks of bread, ladles, and spoons dipping into everything, testing, tasting, and teasing.

It should not be construed that the food preparation was the exclusive province of our family women, to do so would be to underestimate the culinary contributions of some of the finest cooks in the clan. A few of my uncles, cousins and grandpa were cooks in the Army, Navy, and Marines, as well as in their own restaurants.

My great uncle served as a cook in the Italian army, then captured and recruited to cook in the prisoner-of-war camp, when upon his release, served 2 tours as a cook in the US Marines during The Korean War. However, whatever greatness the men may have achieved in the outside world, the kitchen was ruled by those formidable, yet diminutive, strikingly gorgeous, black clad matriarchs of the family. Great grandmothers from both sides of the lineage, grandmothers, great grandmother-in-laws, and great great aunts. Man I'll tell ya, it was a sight to behold at best, and an Italian culinary rivalry at least. Although sharing an Italian heritage, the 6 uncles married outside the Calabrian niche, creating a scrumptious provincial food fight.

Children weren't immune from the holiday chores. Chairs were pulled up to the stove for short perpetual stirrers. The teens were given the sink, for the neverending pots and pans, and preteens were runners for last minute fetches and food deliveries. I was honored almost exclusively with the delivery of food for the church and hospital shut-ins because I had the bike with a giant basket.

Trying to describe my cousins and most of the local kids wasn't hard, the first thing I recall was, hair, lots of black hair, big doe eyes, dozens of beautiful children with wide grins. At least one kid, sometimes more, was forced to bring his or her accordion, and at every holiday gathering some poor child was browbeaten into playing "Lady Of Spain"!

Serving 30-40 people, in a one bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor, rear, walkup, was a challenge, but doable. It took the coordination of most of our wonderful neighbors, and the cooperation of all of the residence, which were always invited anyway. Everyone brought pots, pans, dishes, and utensils, at least a chair, and some brought their kitchen tables.

Everyone brought something eatable, most were prearranged as in bread, but some were heirloom dessert recipes, enough for at least a good spoonful, for everyone to get a taste. Older adults, always got a chair at the table, all adults got a seat, and kids sat at the card tables, on the stairs or on a carpet in front of the radio in one of the neighbors homes.

All kids had to be within earshot of the saying of the formal Grace before dinner. Then everyone recited their own prayer in various languages of their native tongue. Our family and friends were of many faiths and nationalities, the overwhelming majority of coarse were Italian. Most remembered a loved one not present, and the names of every absent serviceman and woman were individually read aloud. With all heads bowed, everyone gave thanks for the wonderful gifts of food and health, and each and every person present, gave a special thanks and how grateful they were for being in the United States of America.

Any good excuse to gather the clan in our family was and still is, paramount. Weddings, holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, births, baptisms and unfortunately funerals are used as good excuses to get together and, you guessed it.... eat. This is usually done at the familial home of eldest member of the family. The Italian family circle is close and tight, and many families still living within their hometown, even today, live within walking distance of one another.

In our family, as in many, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins grow as one family unit. The elders live within the homes of their offspring or siblings. The hierarchy is established by the ability of the surviving parents to have living arrangements central to the greatest number of kids and kin. Love of family is the reason, and love of food is the cement. Thanksgiving is one of the most popular days of the year, and has been since my earliest memory. Even today as I did with my parents in my youth, I talk to each of my 5 children and grandchildren, almost everyday, and have even when we lived thousands of miles away... I am truly blessed.

Food for an Italian holiday is second to only to the family. Present at every holiday feast were several types of entree, lasagna, ham, veal, and one or more specialty pasta and of course the giant stuffed Turkeys. There were Kosher dishes aplenty for our many Jewish friends. Our next door neighbor kept a Kosher kitchen and always shared their wonderful food with us as we did in return.

Not counted as entrees were homemade sausages, meatballs, and grilled peppers. A strange calzone, one I recall with nuts and octopus was always somewhere on the table as was braciole (Italian beef rolls, and great cannoli desserts were always compliments of our Sicilian side of the family).

Salads and antipasto were a mainstay, with favorites cellentani con Insalata di Peperoni (cellentani with pepper salad), and the ever popular soups, usually a bean, as in minestrone. Breads, rolls, pizza and a mixed variety of biscotti, were always in abundance. Side dishes were a meal in themselves.

A vast array of vegetables prepared as specialty items, like artichoke and bacon frittata rounded out every holiday meal. Even our popular lasagne, the recipe that created a chain of famous restaurants, has broccoli or spinach as a principle ingredient to the recipe. Desserts... oh my, great custards, and pastries, ice creams and cakes such as lemon berry tiramisu or frittelle di zucca (pumpkin fritters)

My grandfather sat at the head of the table, and next to him sat a gallon jug of his homemade Italian red wine. Almost everyone seated for dinner were given a glass of his wine, if only for the many toasts that were posed, to the cooks and a milieu of other celebrations. The moment of truth came when he would call the name of the boys that he felt were to be worthy of manhood, a scholarship know only to him, usually by some unknown merit method.

If you attained that status in his trusted eye, he would invite you to accept a glass of wine and he would toast your new position and with everyone's applause you drank a glass and thanked him.

When my moment came, I had just turned 10, and having worked with him on his paper stand in downtown Chicago for 3 years and to my surprise he felt I was ready! Proudly I swallowed a huge gulp, and felt the heat go down my throat and explode at the core of my stomach and began to rush back up. I forced a smiled and swallowed again and hugged him as tight as I could, until my uncle secretly handed me a chunk of bread, which I bit into and forced down before I let my pa loose, perhaps in the nick of time because he slapped me on the back and everything went back down... I never drank another drop of his wine, but accepted his offer to take a glass, each time he offered it until he passed a year later. How I loved that man.

The Carving At each end of the long tables were placed huge turkeys. The head of the households were given the honor of carving these beautifully prepared, golden trophies. It was a ritual and with surgical skills each bird was sliced and distributed to all in attendance until nothing remained but the bare bones.

At the conclusion of this wonderful occasion, the men stood and with glasses raised toasted the blushing ladies as we sang... in our best voice, and in Italian, a song dedicated to our wonderful women, .. "Mamma"

I'm not Jewish, but Catholic. When my brother made this, I thought it was the BEST sweet potato recipe I had ever tasted. I've always wondered about the meat and cheese that he omitted.

Tsimmes

40 minutes to assemble; 4-6 servings

2 hours to bake (Depending on what else gets served)

Tsimmes is a festive Jewish dish that combines vegetables and fruit, savory and sweet......all baked together. This versions is 98% traditional; its 2 points of departure are the omissions of a few chunks of meat, and the optional addition of cheese in the topping. Serve it with the Spinach Kugel(see opposite page), and a freshly-baked challah (p. 97) for a warming winter supper.

2 lbs. sweet potatoes

2 large carrots, sliced

1 large (3-4 inch diameter) tart apple, sliced

1 heaping cup chopped onion

20 large pitted prunes

juice of 1 large lemon

1 tsp. salt

1/4-1/2 tsp. cinnamon (to taste)

2/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

II.

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup wheat germ, matzo meal or fine crumbs

1/2 tsp. salt

(optional: 1/2 cup [packed] grated mild cheddar)

3 Tlbs. butter, cold, and in thin slices.

1.) Take half the sweet potatoes and grate them coarsely. Set these aside. With the other half, cut bite-sized slices or small chunks.

2.) In a deep-dish casserole, combine the sweet potato chunks with all the other ingredients in List I. Toss until nicely mixed.

3.) Mix together the grated sweet potato with the other ingredients from List II. Pat this into place on top of the first mixture in the casserole. Dot the top with the butter slices.

4.) Cover tightly and bake for 1 hour. Remove the cover, and bake another hour, until the top is brown and crisp.

p. 204 Casseroles & Melanges

Thank you my FRiend.. I hope these fit your taste, if you would like a special recipe, Ping me.. LOL

Cinnamon Swirl Egg Bread, the sequel
.....shuffling away, kickin a can

2 1/4 ounce packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water — (110 to 115 degrees)
1 cup warm milk — (110 to 115 degrees)
2 eggs — lightly beaten
1 cup sugar — divided
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened, (I hate to admit it, I really prefer margarine in this recipe)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1) In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water.
2) Add milk, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, salt, and 2 1/2 cups flour; beat until smooth.
3) Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
4) Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 - 8 minutes.
5) Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.
6) Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
7) Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll each half into an 18 x 8-inch rectangle.
8) Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over the dough.
9) Roll up each rectangle from a short side; pinch seam to seal. Place seam side down in 2 greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans.
10) Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
11) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden brown.
12) Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.
Yield: 2 Loaves

Chocolate Torte with Buttercream Frosting

1/3 cup butter (do NOT substitute margarine)
1 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
5 eggs separated
1 whole egg
3 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
3/4 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup apricot jam
2 cups whipped cream

Combine butter, sugar and salt and cream until light. Stir in 5 egg
yolks and 1 whole egg, mixing well. Melt chocolate and combine with
almonds. Add to egg mixture and beat well. Beat 7 (seven) egg whites
until stiff but not dry. Fold into chocolate mixture. Pour into 3 round
eight-inch layer pans lined on bottom with paper and greased. Bake at
350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Cool on rack for 25 minutes before
carefully removing from pans.
Filling: Fold apricot jam into whipped cream and spread between
layers and over top of torte.

Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/8 t. salt
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 egg yolks, unbeaten
2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted & cooled
1/2 t. vanilla

Cream butter and salt . Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add
egg yolks, beating well after each. Add cooled chocolate, beating
well. Add vanilla. Spread on sides of torte.
Chill about 2 hours or overnight before serving. About 12 servings.

Lasagna, House Of Carlo
Ingredients:

1 box lasagna noodles
1 ½ lbs of hamburger
16 oz ricotta cheese
8 oz Mozzarella cheese - grated
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
14 oz of your favorite marinara sauce(* This is mine)
1 onion - diced
4 cloves garlic - chopped up very small
4 sliced fresh mushrooms
2 eggs
1 tablespoon parsley
dash pepper
dash basil

Instructions:
In a large pot, set water to boil. Meanwhile, brown burger, onion, mushrooms and garlic. Add marinara and set aside.
Mix cheeses and eggs in a separate bowl with parsley and spices. Save back about ¼ of the Mozzarella for the top.
When water in pot is boiling add the lasagna noodles. You typically do not need to wait until the noodles are edible because they will be cooked in the oven as well. When noodles are ready (8 minutes or so) begin layering the various mixtures in a 9X13 pan. Start with the burger mixture; then add the cheese, then the noodles. Keep layering until you run out of ingredients. Add the reserved Mozzarella last.
Cover dish with foil and pop into oven at 375 degrees for an hour or so. If you want to harden off the top, pull off the foil for the last 15 minutes.

*Quick MUSHROOM PASTA SAUCE
Ingredients:

1/2 a medium sized onion, chopped
1/3 cup dried porcini mushrooms that have been soaking in about 1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 cup regular white mushrooms, chopped but not too finely
1/2 cup cream
2 tblsp butter
1/4 cup tomato paste
salt to taste
Marsala to taste (optional)

Instructions:
Soak porcini mushrooms in water for about 1/2 hour until re-hydrated. Remove from water and chop them. SAVE the water they soaked in and run it through a filter to filter out dirt or other “foreign” object that may have been stuck on the porcinis. Melt butter in pan and saute onion until translucent. Add regular and porcini mushrooms and saute with onion. Add porcini water and cream and simmer until sauce begins to thicken a bit. Add salt. About 5 minutes before it’s done, add tomato
paste. Also, now’s the time to add the marsala if you want it, but the sauce will need to simmer a bit longer to boil away the extra liquid.

GREEN GODDESS SALAD DRESSING
(4 servings)
Rub the salad bowl with a garlic clove, then add

2 cups of freshly made mayonnaise
4 minced anchovy fillets
1 green onion, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped flat Italian parsley
2 teaspoons chopped chives
1 Tablespoon tarragon vinegar (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon dried OR 1 teaspoon cut, fresh tarragon

Stir well and pour over salad greens, watercress, or seafood salad.

Broccoli Lasagna
This is the home version of our family restaurant recipe... really creamy, and a wonderful change if you have never had a vegetarian lasagna.

12 oz lasagna noodles — (wide)
2 Tbls salad oil
1 1/2 ts salt
1/4 ts pepper
20 oz frozen broccoli, or spinach
2-3 c tomato sauce
16 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 Tbls fresh parsley, chopped, or 1/4 dry
1/4 c sour cream
12 oz mozzarella cheese, grated

Cook noodles according to directions on package. Drain, then toss with oil, salt and pepper until well coated. Cook broccoli according to package directions. Drain. Combine ricotta cheese, parsley and sour cream.

Arrange half of the noodles in a 12 x 8 baking dish. Cover with half of broccoli and sauce, then a layer of cheese.

Add another layer of noodles, topped with broccoli, sauce and cheese., then add all of the cottage cheese mixture. Top with remaining noodles and add sauce to cover.

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and refrigerate.

About 30 minutes before serving, heat oven to 350 F and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese melts and is golden on top.

Gnocchi alla Italiana

2 1/2 c. mashed potatoes (or use a ricer), I like using baked potatoes
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. flour
1 recipe tomato sauce
1/4 lb of butter
1 c. Parmesan cheese

Place potatoes, eggs, and salt in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Add 1 1/2 c. flour. Place dough on floured board and add rest of flour.

Knead dough for 3 to 4 minutes until all flour is mixed in. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with more flour.

Cut dough into 6 pieces. Roll dough into long sausage like strips and cut into pieces 2/3 to 1 inch long. Sprinkle dumplings lightly with flour. You can roll each dumpling across a floured dinner fork to make crinkle marks if desired.

Have ready a large pan with 4 qts of boiling water to which 1 T. salt has been added. Place gnocchi in water and remove with a strainer when they come to the top.

Place in a hot serving bowl. Add sauce to gnocchi and 2/3 of cheese, mix well. Sprinkle rest of cheese on top.
Serves 4 to 6.

Variation sauce: Heat butter to browning stage and add 1/2 cup of cream. Pour over gnocchi and add Parmesan cheese.

I get asked quite often how can two people make the recipes that are often calibrated to sever 4-8 folks..
As a result I am finishing a cookbook that will feature Dining for two, but you girls might have a bit of a problem with the Title.. SOUP, SEX, and the SINGLE MAN.. Ha!

Living with a Gnocchi... for two..

Gnocchi are a potato and flour dumpling.. Gnocchi, is the Italian name for a dumpling from the northern areas of Italy. They are often listed as a pasta, and although not a classic pasta, they are perfectly matched with all of the typical Italian pasta sauces..

INGREDIENTS

2 large russet potatoes (about 1 pound)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Bake the potatoes in a 350°F oven for about 1 hour, until tender.

While the potatoes are still warm, peel them and put them through a food mill or a ricer. (Do not process in a food processor; they will get gummy.) Place the potatoes in a large bowl and gradually stir in the flour until a sticky dough forms. Add the salt.

Knead the dough for about 3 minutes. It may require a bit more flour if it is too wet. The finished dough will be a bit sticky.

Flour your hands and divide the dough into 2 equal balls. Roll out the balls into long snake-shaped lengths about as thick as your finger. Cut the “snakes” into 1-inch pieces.

Press each gnocchi with the tines of a fork to put ridges into the dumplings. (These will help capture any sauce you pair them with.)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi and cook until they rise to the surface.

Toss the gnocchi with your favorite sauce, and enjoy your hard work!

Delicious, Kale and Collards, Tomato Soup

A hearty soup that brings together the rich flavors of kale and collards and the sweetness of tomatoes
Ingredients

3 medium tomatoes (cut in half, seeded, and diced)
3 cloves fresh garlic (cloves peeled and thinly sliced)
1 red barrel onion (peeled and diced)
2 cups chopped kale (cut into bite-sized pieces)
2 cups chopped collards (cut into bite-sized pieces)
2 cups chopped mustard (cut into bite-sized pieces)
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil (optional, you may use any vegetable oil)
1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock (low boil 1/2 gal water, and all the trimming, an extra bunch of greens, and an onion, about an hour)
Sea or kosher salt
Fresh milled pepper

Directions

Heat grapeseed oil in a soup or sauce pot over medium heat.
Add sliced garlic and “fry” until golden.
Add onions to pot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add chopped greens and sauté until wilted.
Add vegetable stock, tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.

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