Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola

On December 12th of 2021, we meet my son, John, and his wife Mary, at Oracle Park (Home of the SF Giants) for a Holiday photo shoot.  Afterwards, we visited their home for an early dinner. While the Artichoke and Spinach soap was tasty, the true winner was the main dish, Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola.  This recipe found in Ina Garden's Cookbook "Foolproof", but actually came from Joe Realmuto chef at Nick & Toni's in East Hampton.  This is one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had.  While Puttanesca and Cacio E Pepe are my favortes this one come very close.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Good Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Spanish Onion, Chopped
• 3 Cloves of Garlic, Diced
• ½ teaspoon chrushed red pepper flakes, use ¼ teaspoon for a less spicy pasta finish.
• 1-½ teaspoons dried Oregano
• 1 Cup Vodka
• 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled plum tomatoes
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black peppe
• ¾ Pound Penne Pasta
• 4 Tablesoons Fesh Oregano
• ¾ to 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• Grated Parmesan Cheese

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large oven proof saute pan over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add the red pepper flakes and dried oregano and cook for 1 minute more. Add the vodka and continue cooking until the mixture is reduced by half.
3. Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes through a sieve and crush them into the pan with your hands. Add 2 teaspoons salt and a pinch of black pepper. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and place it in the oven for 1-1/2 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente. Drain and set aside.
5. Place the tomato mixture in a blender and puree in batches until the sauce is a smooth consistency. Return to the pan.
6. Reheat the sauce, add 2 tablespoons fresh oregano and enough heavy cream to make the sauce a creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and simmer for 10 minutes. Toss the pasta into the sauce and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan. Serve with an additional sprinkle of Parmesan and a sprinkle of fresh oregano on each plate.
   
   
   
   
   

Bacardi Rum Cake

 Mary Ann found this recipe years ago.  Not sure what the source was.  But, this cake is a real winner.  Enjoy

Ingredients

• 1 Cup chopped Pecans or Walnuts.
• 1 18-½ oz. Package of Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 3-¾ oz Package of Jell-O Vanila
• If you are using yellow cake mix with pudding already in the mix, omit instant pudding, use 3 eggs rather than 4, and ⅓ Cup oil instead of ½ Cup.
• 4 Eggs
• ½ Cup Cold Water
• Wesson Oil
• ½ Cup Bacardi Dark Rum (80 proof)
• Glaze
• ¼ Pound Butter
• ¼ Cup water
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ Cup Bacardi Dark Rum (80 proof) 

Procedure

• Cake
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. Grease and flower 10 inch or 12-cup Bundt pan
3. Springle nuts over bottom of pan
4. Mix all cake ingredients together
5. Pour batter over nuts
6. Bake for 1 hour
7. Cool
8. Invert on serving plate
9. Prick top
10. Spoon and brush glaze evenly over top and sides
11. Allow cake to absorb glaze
12. Repeat until all of the glaze is used up

• Glaze
1. Melt butter in sauce pan
2. Stir in water and sugar
3. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly
4. Remove from heat
5. Stir in Rum

• Optional 
1. Decorate border with sugar frosting or whipping cream

Espresso Gelato

Some years ago, I purchased a cuisinart ice cream machine. At that time, my kids gave me a book, The Ultimate Frozen Dessert Book.  While I have not made a lot of the stuff in the book, I have made the Espresso Gelato which has been a favorite.  I did alter the recipe by adding Heath Bar pieces at the very end.  One more note, the cuisinart ice cream machine is not a good device.  Ice cream once churned needs to freeze guickly.  It just can't with the Cuisinart I purchased.  A friend, Megan Costello, loaned me her machine, a Breville unit that pre-chills the machine's canister, which is perfect.  So, my advice, purchase a high end machine to make your ice cream.   So, here we go.

Ingredients

• 5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• ⅔ Cup granulated sugar
• 2 TB packed brown sugar (I use dark not light)
• 1 Cup Whole milk
• 2 Cups Heavy Cream
• 2 TB instant Espresso Powder (I use - Medaglia D'oro, espresso instant coffee)
• 1 Teaspoon Good quality Vanilla extract
• ¼ Teaspoon salt
• 2 Heath Bar candy bars, chopped into ⅛-¼ inch sized pieces (set aside)
• 2-3 plastic freezer containers

Procedure

1. Beat the room temperature egg yolks, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a medium bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer at medium speed until the mixture has the texture of beaten batter, about 3 minutes.  Set aside.  I use the whisk and it works great.  When the mixture turn to a pale yellow, its done.
2. Heat the milk and cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles frizzle all around the pan's inner edge.  Whisk in the espressor powder and desolve.
3. At this point, you need to temper the egg mixture with the hot milk.  To do so, whisk about ⅓ of the hot milk into the beaten egg-yolk mixture and stir until smooth.  Turn the heat to very low.
4. Then add another ⅓ of the milk to the egg mixture stir until smooth.  Finally, add the remaining milk to the custard.  
5. Please note: If you have an electric stove, use a second burner when you start to combine the milk and egg mixtures and set the stove to low. 
6. To continue, stir the mixture constanly until a few puffs of steam rise from its surface and it's thick enough to coat the back of a wood spoon, about 5 minutes.
7. This is a very important step.  Strain the mixture, through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl to remove any bits of egg that have inadvertently scrambled, taking care not to scrape out any solids that may have cooked onto the bottom of the pan.  
8. Stir in the vanilla extract and salt.  
9. If you have an ice cream machine that DOES NOT pre-cool the ice cream canister (in the machine), you will need to chill the mixture in the refrigerator over night.  Also, these types of machines, require putting the machine's canister (used to make ice cream) in the freezer for at least two days.  If your machine, like the Breville pre-chills the canister, you are good to go once the custard is ready.
10. Follow the instructions for your machine for making ice cream.   
11. My Breville machine alerts me when I can add other ingredients.  At that point, I add my Heath Bar pieces and churn for about 2 more minutes.  At which time, I put the soft mixture into freezer containers and into the freezer for at least one day.  If your machine is a Cuisinart or another brand that only churns the custard and does to alert you as to when to add other ingredients, you will need to add the Heath Bar pieces once the mixture starts to look like soft serve ice cream.
12. Put the containers in your freezer until ready to serve.  Serve and enjoy.  

Veal Scallopini Alla Marsala

I have a friend, Madelon Montobbio, who recently had us over for dinner. She served Veal Scallopini which was great. Below, is the recipe, which was contributed by Jeannette Bastiani.  Two of the most important things about any Veal recipe are: 1) getting good quality Veal and 2) do not over cook the Veal.  Madelon gets hers from Rossotti Ranch who have a booth at the Farmers Market behind the Marin County Civic Center on Sundays.   Enjoy

Ingredients

• 1-½ pound thin Veal Scallopini.  
  
• Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
• 2 stick salted butter
• ¾ cup of Marsala wine
• ¾ cup of Beef broth
• 10 medium sized button mushrooms (remove stems), sliced thin (1/16 inch)
• ¼ cup Veal demi-glace
• ½ cup Parsley (optional)

Procedure

• The Veal from Rossotti Ranch is already very, very thin (1/32 inch), therefore there is no need to pound it thin.  However, if yours is thicker, you should pound it to about ⅛ inch.  
• Place the Veal Scaloppini between sheets of waxed paper and pound them.
• Add the salt and pepper to the flour.  Then dredge the Scaloppini in the flour.
• Melt 1 cube of butter in a large skillet over medium heat (do not burn the butter).
• Brown the veal very carefully, no more than 15 second per side).  
• When you see a lttle blood on the surface of the Veal take it out of the pan and set aside. 
• Add the second cube of butter as needed to keep enough liquid in the pan.
• Pour the Marsala wine and the Beef broth into the pan.
• Add ¼ cup of Veal demi-glace.
• Stir the mixture until smooth.
• Add mushrooms and stir gently for several minutes until tender. Cook until the sauce (wine and stock) is slightly thickened. Add the veal to the pan and serve immediately.
• Garnish with Parsley (optional)

Juicy Baked Pork Tenderloin

Well, I'm not a real fan of Pork dishes.  However, Mary Ann found a great recipe for Pork Tenderloin which we cooked last night.  They recommend cooking the Pork to an internal temperature of 145, but I took it out at 135.  It was perfect. 

Ingredients

• 2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb each)
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons EACH: onion powder and garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon EACH: oregano, salt, and pepper
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• ½ cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Minced parsley, to serve

Procedure

This is the juiciest baked port tenderloin recipe ever.  It's coated in an easy spice rub, quickly browned in a pan which creates a lovely crust, then baked in a simple pan sauce to keep it incredibly tender, juicy, and delicious. The melt-in-your-mouth tender pork tastes amazing as leftovers, too!

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Dry the prok tenderloin well with paper towels.
2. Mix the paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl.  Rub the spic mix over all sider of the pork and let stand for 10 minutes. 
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add the pork, working in 2 batches if your pan is not big enough to fit both tenderloins withou them touching.  Sear the pork on all sides until it is brown, about 6 minutes total. Take the pan off the heat.
4. Move the pork to a baking dish.  Return the pan to the heat and add the beef broth (see not below).  Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any fawn and then cook for about 1 minute until the sauce reduces to ¼ cup. 
5. Important note:  If the sauce has black bits, tip the pan and remove the black bits with a spoon.  
6. Pour the sauce over the pork.
7. Pour the apple cider vinegar over the pork and then dot the top with butter. 
8. Cover the baking dish with foil.
9. Bake the pork for about 20 minutes, or until it reaches and internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees.
10. Let the prok rest for 5 minutes before slicing into ¼ to ½ inch thick rounds.
11. Sever with a little parsley for color.

Two Great Books - One on Smoking Meat and One on Meat

Today, I was having my hair cut at Manny G's Barbershop in Novato, California.  We started talking about BBQ and cooking.  I mentioned that I use two great cookbooks for doing meats.  One is a complete cookbook on Meat while the other focuses on Smoking Meat.  So, here are the two reference books.  Enjoy.

The Complete Meat Cookbook by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly.

Of particular interest to me are these recipes.

• Prime Rib
• Rack of Lamb
• Veal Scallopini

The Essential Guid to Real Barbecue Smoking Meat by Jeff Phillips

Of particular interest to me are these recipes.

• Brining
• Smoked Chicken
• Smoked Salmon