Rice Pasta Salad with Raw Tomato, Walnuts and Raw Garlic

Fresh raw tomato, walnuts and raw garlic mixed with hot pasta creates a perfect late summer dish.

I used to make this dish once a week. It fell out of my repertoire a few years back. When these lovely tomatoes showed up in my weekly fruit and veggie delivery box, I was reminded of this recipe.

If it wasn't already apparent, I love to photograph food. I had a great time working on this pasta salad. Maybe it's my back-to-school attitude, or the changing light now that Fall is around the corner, but something shifted when I was shooting this week.

I've become more confident in what I'm shooting, how I'm shooting it and what is ultimately ending up on this site as final images. It has freed me from worrying whether or not I got the shot because I now know that I need to trust that when I download the photos to the computer, the right images will be there.

This version of Non-Reactive Pan was launched the first week in September of 2011. I had 468 visitors that month. Right now, I'm averaging 1500 visitors a month. It has been a good year. I'm excited to see what this next year will bring and so happy to have found my groove while shooting, cooking and of course eating.

Thanks for visiting!

Rice Pasta with Raw Tomato, Walnuts and Garlic

INGREDIENTS

• 1 to 2 cups tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup walnuts
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Red pepper flakes to taste

PREPARATION

1. Place olive oil, tomatoes, roasted peppers, garlic, walnuts, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
2. Prepare enough pasta for two people, drain and pour into the bowl.
3. Mix well, let the mixture sit for five minutes, to help soften the tomatoes and mellow the garlic flavor.

Cook’s Notes: Quinoa, barley or couscous works well with this recipe, instead of pasta.

Memorial Day Gluten-Free Pasta Salads: Pasta with Romanesco Cauliflower, Pasta with Olives and Walnuts

Going to a Memorial Day BBQ? Pasta salads are an easy made-ahead side dish that can feed a crowd. These are just two examples of pasta salads that you can make. Improvise some, add in some cheese for an extra rich variety. Or, some bacon instead of the tuna in the Romanesco cauliflower pasta salad.

Whatever you do, make these ahead of time, kick off your shoes and enjoy the BBQ.

Ingredients:

• 1 head Romanesco Cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 can Solid White Tuna, drained
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 2 cups Pasta, cooked (I used gluten-free rice pasta like this one from Tinkyada)
• 3 Tbsps Capers, drained
• 4 Pickled Italian Cherry Peppers

Method:

• Boil a large pot of salted water.
• Chop the peppers into small pieces, removing the stems.
• Once the water has boiled, add the pasta and a steamer basket on top of the pasta to parboil the romanesco cauliflower.
• Cook the romanesco for 3 minutes with the lid on.
• While the pasta/romanesco is boiling, heat a large skillet over high heat.
• Put the olive oil and the tuna in the saute pan and cook for 1 minute on high heat.
• Add the parboiled romanesco to the saute pan and cook for five minutes, or until beginning to brown.
• Put the capers and peppers in with the romanesco and cook for three minutes.
• Drain the pasta, rinse in cool water and  put in a large bowl.
• Mix the pasta and the tuna/romaesco mixture together and enjoy!

Pasta with Olives and Walnuts

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cupLindsay chopped black olives, drained
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 lb pasta spirals (I used gluten-free rice pasta like this one from Tinkyada)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 diced red onion
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 4 tbsps Olive Oil, divided, plus some for drizzling at end

Method:

1. Set a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil for pasta.
2. Put drained, chopped olives in a bowl, add 2 cloves minced garlic, salt, pepper and *red pepper flakes.
3. Leave to marinate while pasta water boils, and pasta cooks.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Add 2 tbsps olive oil to pan, swirl to coat.
6. Lower heat to medium, add remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic, and chopped red onions.
7. Sautee until golden, then reduce heat to low.
8. Add chopped walnuts, moving them around in the pan so they brown evenly.
9. Cook pasta according to directions on box.
10. Just before it’s cooked through, add marinated olives to the onion, garlic, walnut mixture.
11. Raise heat to medium. Heat until olives are just warmed.
12. Drain pasta and place in large bowl.
13. Pour onion, garlic, walnut and olive mixture over pasta and mix.
14. Drizzle olive oil over mixed pasta, add a pinch of salt and *red pepper flakes.
15. Serve and enjoy!

Chili-Mac: Gluten-Free

I love chili. When my daughter was home sick with a stomach bug, I took the opportunity to break out the chili fixin's for myself.

Weird thinking, I know, but when there is a bonus day off from work (not saying her being sick was a bonus, mind you), I feel inclined to go big with my cooking. She doesn't eat chili and said the cooking smells wouldn't bother her, so I figured since I had to make really bland stuff for her to eat, I'd make myself something extra spicy. I also made oven-roasted jalapeno peppers (recipe will be appearing shortly, needs some adjustments...). Clearly, I was not having any of the bland food myself.

For years now, I've been using a mix for the spices, from Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit, which I highly recommend. There are no chemicals or weird fake-foods in the box, just cayenne pepper, corn masa flour, cumin, garlic, ground chili peppers, onion, oregano, paprika, salt. It's just easier to have everything put together for me, especially since I may not have all the ingredients on hand, most importantly, the corn masa which you use towards the end of cooking to thicken the chili.

I'd like to talk about chili-mac now. It's not a dish I grew up with. Maybe it did exist in NY, but it never made its way to me. The first time I encountered it, I was in southern Illinois with my then in-laws at Steak 'n Shake. It seemed to me like an ingenious combination. Why not use pasta as your vehicle of choice for chili? It's a pretty good combination of textures, and the cheese just sinks into the pasta every so nicely.

While I cooked the chili, I looked around for some corn tortillas to serve it with, only to come up empty. Instead, I chose a rice pasta as my base for the chili, making this the first time I've made chili-mac in my own kitchen. There is no cheese in this version, as I'm primarily dairy-free (except for butter, can't leave that behind), but you should feel free to add some nice sharp cheddar and maybe even some sour cream to finish off this great dish.

Gluten-free Chili-Mac

Ingredients:

• 1 box  Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit (or the chili spices of your choice)
• 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Shallots, finely minced
• 1 pound Ground Beef (or Ground Turkey)
• 1 8 ounce can Tomato Sauce
• 1 cup Water
• 1 can Black Beans, drained
• 1/2 pound cooked Rice Pasta (I use Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta)

Method:

1. Heat a large non-reactive pot over high heat.
2. Add the olive oil and half of the minced shallots.
3. Cook for 1 minutes. Add the ground meat.
4. Brown on all sides, about 15 minutes of cooking time.
5. Drain the fat from the pan.
6. Add the tomato sauce, water and spices.
7. Cook for ten minutes. Add the drained black beans.
8. Slightly cover the pot. Cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. While the chili is cooking, take the masa flour and mix with 1/3 cup warm water.
10. Add to the chili to thicken it. Make sure the corn masa flour is not clumping in the chili, break it up with a fork as you stir it into the mix.
11. Cook for five more minutes.
12. Place the prepared pasta into individual serving bowls.
13. Top with chili (and cheese, if you're into that).
14. Serve and enjoy!

The Day After: Pesto

I know, you've probably all eaten your body weight in treats, ham and gooey goodness by now, but I had to share a-not-so-light recipe with you. It's traditional, I guess, to start off the post-Christmas season with light, healthy foods, but it's so darn cold, I still think we need these stick-to-your-bones dishes to get us through.

Remember how I mentioned that my sister and I made a book for Gran Fran with her recipes and my photos? Well, here is another

recipe from that project, Lasagna Geonvese. I've not made many lasagna's in my time, but figured I should give this one a go since it's different than any others I've had.

I, of course, don't eat gluten or dairy, so I only had a small taste of this. It was superb. You could adjust this easily with gluten-free noodles, but I'm not a fan of non-dairy cheese, so can't recommend anything on that front.

OK, back to the recipe. It was really fun to make. Lots of steps, as I've mentioned before, but the potatoes and pesto really made this dish stand out from your traditional lasagna. I love the colors, too, since it's a little unexpected to see a green lasagna. I do have to say, though, I don't recall when Gran Fran may have made this for us.

I do remember her excellent Pesto, and know that when we were in Italy in 1989 we did have a lasagna with pesto and potatoes in it. Yes, that's right, I (and probably Gran Fran, too) can probably recall every dish we ate that month in Italy. The fried bread (savory and salty) is one thing I have yet to be able to recreate in my own kitchen.

Enjoy a piece of this right out of the oven.

original recipe courtesy of Fran Claro of The Italian Pantry

Lasagna Genovese

Serves ten

Pesto

• 3 cups basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, roughly grated
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2   teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Dried red pepper flakes to taste

1. In blender or food processor, pulse all ingredients, until sauce is thick and creamy.
2. Add more oil if necessary.
3. Set aside.

Lasagna

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

• 1 pound curly edge lasagna noodles
• 10 fingerling potatoes, scrubbed, salted, thinly sliced, steamed until tender
• 1 pound green beans, sliced on the bias, salted, steamed 5 minutes
• 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, coarsely grated
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, diced
• 2 cups whole milk ricotta, drained
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, minced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Pesto

1.  Boil noodles in salted water, according to package directions, drain well.
2.  Blend mozzarella, ricotta, and eggs with parsley;  salt and pepper to taste.
3.  Layer pesto, noodles, green beans, pesto, grated cheese, potatoes, blended cheeses, pesto.
4.  Continue stacking ingredients in the same order, ending with noodles, pesto, and a sprinkling of Parmigiano.
5. Cover loosely with aluminum foil; bake 35  minutes; remove foil; bake 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Let rest 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Olives

Gran Fran sent me a link to a site with a list of all sorts of cooking and food related contests. For the most part, they ask for a recipe, usually including a food or spice from a particular vendor and a little story about your recipe.

As you know, I likes me a little story, especially when it has to do with my cookin'. I've entered three recipes today in two contests, one of which was for Lindsay Olives. Here is my entry. It truly is delicious.

I grew up eating this kind of dish in my parents' home. It takes me back to grade school, doing homework in the kitchen, while my mom cooked. We'd trade stories of the day, and she'd help with my homework while mincing and browning the garlic.

I especially loved taking the olives from the can and "wearing" them on my fingers. It was a handy way to eat a little pre-dinner snack, too.
The richness of the walnuts against the tang of the onions and salty, warm flavors of the olives create a nice counterpoint of flavors. I choose to use brown rice pasta these days, no gluten for me, but my mom used a whole wheat pasta. Any pasta will work here, even rice noodles, if it's what you have on hand. The sauce is the key, the depth of the flavors and crunch of the walnuts.
This dish is also great cold, as a side dish for a picnic, or holiday potluck.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup  Lindsay chopped black olives, drained
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1 lb pasta spirals (whole wheat or brown rice pasta is nice)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 diced red onion
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
4 tbsps Olive Oil, divided, plus some for drizzling at end

Method:

• Set a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil for pasta.
• Put drained, chopped olives in a bowl, add 2 cloves minced garlic, salt, pepper and *red pepper flakes.
• Leave to marinate while pasta water boils, and pasta cooks.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add 2 tbsps olive oil to pan, swirl to coat.
• Lower heat to medium, add remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic, and chopped red onions.
• Sautee until golden, then reduce heat to low.
• Add chopped walnuts, moving them around in the pan so they brown evenly.
• Cook pasta according to directions on box.
• Just before it's cooked through, add marinated olives to the onion, garlic, walnut mixture.
• Raise heat to medium. Heat until olives are just warmed.
• Drain pasta and place in large bowl.
• Pour onion, garlic, walnut and olive mixture over pasta and mix.
• Drizzle olive oil over mixed pasta, add a pinch of salt and *red pepper flakes.
• Serve and enjoy!

(*red pepper can be omitted for more tender palates.)

dinner and a movie

Last night, I had a lovely, homey evening with my daughter, Ms. Iz. We ate linguine with butter. This does not sound spectacular, but it was because it gave us a meal fast and simple and satisfying enough to fill us, and left us with plenty of snuggle time.

To be honest, I hadn't had pasta with butter until very recent times. Gran Fran thought it a sin to use anything other than olive oil on all things pasta. As a matter of fact, she cooks her scrambled eggs in olive oil, too, so to this day, I gag at the taste of eggs cooked in butter. While Gran Fran just about passes out when she hears of said atrocity.

The butter pasta was a direct result of Julie & Julia. You know, how the butter is the queen in all of her recipes. As the movie progressed, Ms. Iz asked for a bowl of pasta. Whilst making it, I asked her if she prefered butter to olive oil (which I rarely do). She said, well, since Julia is using butter let's have butter. And, I'd also like to point out, this was her second viewing of the movie, and that she has proclaimed it her new favorite movie.

For anyone who has read my blog in the past, you know about the love affair I've had with Julia for pretty much my whole life. And, so, to be able to see the movie once again, have my daughter love it, and get to eat a bowl of butter pasta (mine with walnuts, red pepper flakes and garlic), it turned out to be a very nifty evening.

As for this evening. I'm back on romance (see previous post) as well as a childhood favorite. First in the queue was Love Actually. A sappy and beautiful movie about 7 different love stories in Britain that are somewhat intertwined. Lovley characterization of all kinds of love...first love, broken love, unrequitted love...and all perfect. The best part is when the little 10 year old girl is singing "All I Want For Christmas is You". Apparently, I 'm a sucker for a good romance.

Right now, it's High Society. There is no way to describe the beauty of this film. It is funny, sweet, smart and best of all a musical! You get Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Celeste Holmes. Cocktails are in order (many mixed drinks and much champagne is consumed), but I can't do that when I'm on my own, so I'll just watch and imagine.

Somehow, before VCRs or DVDs, we watched this movie many atime when I was little. Maybe it wasn't as often as I thought. More likely, it's due to the soundtrack being played over and over again.

All 5 of us (and Gran Fran and Joe, as well) can still sing every song in this movie. I remember putting on shows with my sisters and brother (5 of us in 7 years, we had enough voices fora pretty good chorus) in the living room. We used a piece of drywall (who knows where it came from) as a dance floor. There are Super 8 movies of this somewhere, I think.

Thanks to Joe, there was plenty of Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Gran Fran leaned more towards Motown and Latin music. And both of them love a good musical. So we had quite a variety, always singing along, no matter if you knew the words, just get out there and sing it!

So, my friends, here is the recipe for my butter pasta, and please do make yourselves some and watch a couple of my faves along with a nice glass of wine!

Linguine with Butter and Walnuts
serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb best quality Linguine
1 large pot of salted boiling water
3 Tbsps Butter
3 Tbsps Olive Oil
1/4 cup chopped Walnuts

• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
  1 leaf fresh Sage, minced
  To Taste: Salt, Red Pepper and Pepper

Method

• Boil Linguine to your liking (I prefer mine a little on the soft side for this recipe).
• While pasta is cooking, heat a small non-reactive saucepan over medium heat.
• Add butter, olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
• Once the butter has melted, lower the heat to low-medium and all the garlic and walnuts.
• Saute until the garlic is browned slightly and the walnuts glisten.
• Remove from the heat and pour over the cooked pasta.
• Sprinkle the sage and a bit more pepper and red pepper flakes over the pasta.

Enjoy!

Fake Bacon.....Or How I Made Vegetarian Carbonara Sauce

Yes, your heard me, (or you read that right) I have crossed over to the fake bacon realm.

I'm not sure I've mentioned this, but I've given up meat for the next few months. Oh, believe you me, it's not easy, especially since I would be happy to eat half of an entire roast beef for breakfast every day. Oh, but I digress.

So far, I have learned to make quite a few interesting full vegetarian dishes without missing the meat. Many eggs, fish and much cheese and beans have been consumed over these past 3 weeks. I even managed to avoid meat at our Chinese New Year Dim Sum luncheon (albeit, *that* event did make me a little sad, what with the roast duck and all).

Then, I saw this post for Spaghetti alla Carbonara on the blog A Chow Life. I was sunk. The need for bacon (which, I will have you know, I passed up at a brunch last weekend) reared its ugly head. There was no way around, it I needed to make this....fast.

I turned to my friend Ms. A, a long-time vegetarian. We headed to our fabulous organic veggie emporium, Rainbow Grocery, and she schooled me in the non-meat bacon options. We settled on Smart Bacon. Though still skeptical, I knew this was my only option.

When I returned home, I readied the ingredients and reviewed the recipe. The Smart Bacon was not at all like *real* bacon. When I opened the package, the tell-tale hickory smoke smell did not assault my nose. Nor, when I touched it, was the texture at all what I had anticipated. Since it is so thin and without the grooves of real bacon, I decided I would chop it up really small into a dice. Also, I realize now, that I did this as much to keep myself from feeling the weird texture in my mouth as for presentation.

I fried it up (had to use quite a bit of oil to make up for the missing fat), followed the instructions and sat down to eat. What a fabulous surprise I had, upon that first bite, of the bacon essence mixing in just-so with the egg, cheese and spices.

The apologies I owe to everyone and their brother (not my brother mind you, the biggest bacon eater of us all) for putting down their fake bacon are vast and cover years. Accept my apologies, and this recipe as a thank you for putting up with me.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

serves 4

Ingredients:

• 5 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pkg meat-free Bacon (like Smart Bacon), diced
• 1 lb. spaghetti
• 1 and 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
• 4 eggs, separated
• Freshly grated black pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Method

• Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, add 2 tablespoons salt.
• In a saute pan or skillet, combine oil, red pepper flakes, and meat-free bacon over medium heat.
• Heat the meat-free bacon through, and long enough to get the red pepper flakes to pop.
• Remove from the heat and set aside. Do not drain the oil.
• Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until just al dente.
• Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside, then drain the pasta.
• Add the reserved pasta water to the pan with the meat-free bacon.
• Add the pasta and heat, shaking the pan, for 1 minute.
• Remove from heat.
• Add 1 cup of the cheese, the egg whites, and pepper to taste, and toss until thoroughly mixed.
• Divide pasta among 4 warm bowls.
• Make a well in the center of each one, and gently drop an egg yolk into each well.
• Season the eggs with more pepper and sprinkle tops with remaining cheese.

Adapted from A Chow Life

mashed potatoes…i don't think so.

Here’s the deal, sometime around Junior High, Gran Fran began adding leeks to the mashed potatoes. Even though I was a fairly easygoing pre-teen and teenager, for that matter, but the addition of leeks brought out my full-fledged wrath of pre-teen-dom in all its glory.What in the heck was she thinking? How could you improve upon the creamy goodness of a nice batch of russet potatoes, boiled, dried over the flame, salt, butter and milk added, and mashed? Now, she had added some soft, green things, that made the potatoes taste downright wrong.

The bigger issue was, you had to eat what was on your plate, which should be expected. Now, I know in my heart this is wrong, but with my own daughter, we’ll call her Iz, I make modified versions of what I’m eating, with less spice, or none at all. This was an okay solution when she was small, but she has just turned 10 and it is sort of crazy to serve two meals in a household of two.

To be fair, Iz will always try new things and sometimes discovers dishes she likes. But, this is only at other people’s houses, not mine. Yes, I know, it’s my own doing, but I still like to talk about it. And, the odd thing is, she loves to cook and will make all sorts of things that she will not eat. Final thought on Iz is that she has a good palate and will eat lots of different things, including sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and all manner of veggies, meats and carbs, just not with any sauce or spices. But, how could I not love a kid who counts bacon as a food group?

Last night, a friend showed up to cook dinner and brought along potatoes and leeks. I cornered him and grilled him on how he was going to prepare them, warning him that he’d have to leave if he planned on making them into a smushy mess of mashed-like potatoes. He assured me that he would be making a gratin of some sort, and was then allowed to stay.

Gran Fran was kind enough to share her recipe with me, which, as now that I'm an adult, actually sounds like something I might like. But, I don’t have the courage to make it, for fear that Gran Fran’s look of disappointment (from back in the ‘80s) will come back to haunt me. And, I’m probably just a little bit too stubborn to admit she might be right on this one.

Mashed Potatoes with Leeks and Vegetables

Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 5 Russet Potatoes, peeled, washed, and cubed • 3 cloves of Garlic • 2 Leeks, white and light green parts only, thoroughly washed, dried, and diced • 4 Carrots, peeled, washed, sliced into discs • 4 Stalks of Celery, peeled, washed, and sliced • 4 Tbsps. Butter • 1/2 cup milk or cream, slightly warmed • Salt to add to water

Method:

1. • Place potatoes and vegetables, garlic and salt in a non-reactive pot; add enogh cold water to come to the top of the vegetables, cover pot, and cook until they are soft, about 25 minutes.
2. • Remove from the heat, strain the water out and put the vegetables back in the pan.
3. • Place the pan back over high heat, to dry the ingredients out, for 4 minutes. Then turn off the heat.
4. • Add the butter and milk (or cream) and mash them all together until they are the consistency you like (the more you mash the mixture, the smoother it becomes).
5. • Taste the mixture and add salt to taste.

Mashed Potatoes Without Leeks

(the right way, as far as I’m concerned) Serves 8/Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 5 Russet Potatoes peeled, washed, sliced • 4 Tbsps Butter • 1/2 cup milk or cream, slightly warmed • Salt to add to water

Method:

1. • Place potatoes in pot; add cold water to some to top of potatoes, add salt; cover pot. Cook until they are soft, about 25 minutes.
2. • Remove from the heat, strain the water out and put the vegetables back in the pan.
3. • Place the pan back over a high heat, to dry the ingredients out, for 4 minutes. Then turn off the heat.
4. • Add the butter and milk (or cream) and mash them all together until they are the consistency you like (the more you mash the mixture, the smoother it becomes).
5. • Taste the mixture and add salt to taste.

pasta fa-what now??

Ok, when you grow up in Queens, NY, you hear accents that you may not hear everywhere, which, I guess is true of any regional accents. You know the herb basil, you hear BAY-sil instead of BAH-sil, you get the idea. Well, who knew that the name of one of my favorite Italian dishes would open up a whole world of regional dialect discussion?

The dish in question was always known in our house as Pasta Fazool. Essentially, it’s a nice mix of garbanzo beans (chick peas) or cannelini beans, garlic, and pasta. Being quick, inexpensive, and easy to make, it was a family pleaser that appeared often on Gran Fran’s table.

The first time I realized there was some sort of issue with the name, was in my Italian language class in 11th grade. I was sitting there when Signora asked me what the word “Fagioli” meant. Immediately, I answered “Beans”, having studied the vocabulary list the night earlier. Good work, I was told, and class ended.

That night, we had Pasta Fazool for dinner. I told Gran Fran about Italian class, and she said, “Oh yes, that’s what we’re eating.” Huh? “The word I learned in school was Fagioli,” I said, somewhat bewildered. “Right,” she said, “Fazool.” Okay, now it was becoming an Abbott and Costello routine and I was waiting for my Dad to chime in with “What’s on second!” As the meal progressed and I became more befuddled, Gran Fran finally got to the root of the issue, which was really the root of the dialect, I should say.

Gran Fran’s family emigrated from the region of Campania, from towns near Naples, in Italy in the early 1900’s. They brought along with them a Neapolitan dialect, which was then mixed with Brooklyn English. Hence, words like fagioli became “fazool.” Making the soft “gio” sound into a harder “double z” sound. For some words, they left the end off completely: mozzarella became “mozzarel”; ricotta, “ricot.” Who would have thought that high school Italian would shed light on this, and shatter a family-wide identifier for a much-loved dish?

The years have gone by now, and we all still call it Pasta Fazool, when we’re together, but have given in to calling it Pasta Fagioli if in public, so as to be better understood. I know Gran Fran’s shoulders are raised and she is slightly abashed at my admitting the above, but someone had to tell her.

Pasta Fazool (or Fagioli)
Serves 6
(You can use fresh beans for this recipe, but allow an extra 24 hours for soaking and rinsing. If using canned beans, look for ones with little or lower sodium.)

You will need 1 heavy non-reactive skillet and 1 pasta or stock pot with a lid

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pasta (elbows, ditali, or any small pasta)
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can beans (cannelini, chick peas, or kidney)
• ½ cup olive oil
• generous sprinkle of dried rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:
• Bring five quarts of well-salted water to a boil in a covered pot.
• Heat olive oil in a wide, shallow non-reactive skillet. When oil is hot, add carrots, garlic, celery, salt pepper, and spices. Sauté over medium heat until all ingredients turn golden.
• Toss the pasta into the rapidly boiling water and stir. Do not cover.
• Drain beans in a colander (use the same one to drain the pasta) and rinse under cold, running water. Shake colander to remove excess water from beans.
• Gently fold beans into carrot/celery sauce. Cook over medium heat until beans are heated through.
• Test pasta for doneness. Add 1/4 cup pasta water to bean mixture. Drain pasta and fold into the bean mixture. Cook about 4 or 5 minutes over medium heat, shaking the pan until all ingredients are distributed. Serves 4 as a main dish, 6 as a side.

The Pasta Fazool can be served warm or cold. It’s great with salad, and also with broccoli rabe on the side.

It’s 2 AM, Pot Roast Anyone?

There is a trend with at least three members of my family. We like to cook at odd hours of the day and night. Actually, I don’t know if “like” is the right word; for me, at least, it is a habit borne of necessity. The habit does, though, make it possible to create full-fledged meals any day of the week, but at the expense of less sleep than a normal person should require. And, Gran Fran is the reigning queen of this domain.

As far back as I can remember, I heard the sounds of pound cakes being whacked out of baking tins, Kitchen Aid mixers whirring, and caught the smells of roasting meats at any hour of the day or night. If there was a need for a big dinner on a Friday, for instance, Gran Fran would stay up the night before until at least 3AM and then get up again at 6 AM to leave for work. She was always pleasant about it, but with a bit of “…No, no, that’s ok, I can do it myself,” whenever she was asked if she wanted help.

The results were always great, and made all five of us the envy of our friends, since we got food cooked from scratch that was better than you could get in most restaurants. As the years went by and most of us moved out, the cooking marathons became less frequent, usually revolving around homecomings of the older kids.

Being the youngest, I got to see the preparations for these events firsthand. The most memorable was one night when I was in college (yes, I lived with my parents through most of college, bless them for taking me in), I came home late with a friend, around 2AM. There was Gran Fran sacked out on the couch, still wearing her apron and headscarf (circa 1973 by home textile designer, Vera), glasses on, “watching” TV. Once I closed the kitchen door, she was roused enough to utter these two statements:
“I was just resting my eyes. The pot roast on the stove is ready. Want some?”

The friend I was with had not experienced the Gran Fran way before and was astounded to be asked this not only at 2AM but by someone who was seemingly asleep. Of course, the pot roast (served with steamed potatoes, naturally) was fantastic and my friend stated she would come back any time of the day or night to see what Gran Fran would produce.

So, in an effort to continue Gran Fran’s legacy of cooking all-nighters, I now do the same. Mine are usually at 6AM before my daughter wakes up and we have to go to school and work, but the results are the same. And, I hope that Gran Fran will see that for me, it’s also just a little bit of trouble, but that’s ok, I can do it myself.

Pot Roast a la Gran Fran
Serves 8
(You may have noticed by now that all of the recipes on the site “serve 8”. Think about it; we were a family of 7, so this was the necessary serving size for everything we made. You can’t imagine how hard it was to relearn how to cook all of this stuff in smaller batches when I moved out!)

You will need 1 heavy skillet and 1 heavy, deep Non-Reactive stew pan with a lid

Ingredients:
• 3 to 3 ½ lbs Bottom Round Beef, whole
• ¼ lb double smoked bacon, diced
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Carrots, sliced into small pieces
• 1 White Onion, diced
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 3 cups Dry Red Wine
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• ½ Tbsp Thyme (dried or a little less if using fresh)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 2 Tbsp Flour

Method:
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Boil diced bacon in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes.
• Refresh bacon under cold water by rinsing it briefly. Then, pat dry.
• Heat Olive Oil in large skillet.
• Add bacon, browning well on all sides.
• When bacon browns, remove from pan and set aside.
• Dry Beef well. Add to pan of hot oil.
• Brown well on all sides.
• In heavy stew pan, add some oil from the skillet.
• Sauté onions and carrots until golden.
• Sprinkle the vegetables with flour.
• Brown until golden over medium heat, 3 – 5 minutes.
• Add the browned meat to the vegetables.
• Pour wine into the empty skillet, bring to a boil, while scrapping the browned bits off the bottom.
• Add wine and vegetable scrapings to the Beef stew pot.
• If there is not enough liquid to cover the Beef, add water to barely cover the meat.
• Stir in tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf and garlic.
• Bring to a boil once more on the stovetop.
• Cover closely (Hi, Gran Fran)
• Place on lower rack of oven. Leave pan undisturbed in oven for 1½ hours, stir, put cover back on and simmer another 1½ hours.
• Before serving add braised pearl onions (see below) and sautéed mushrooms

Braised Onions a la Gran Fran
To be served in Pot Roast

Ingredients:
• 1 lb Tiny Onions
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Bay Leaf
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• ½ cup Red Wine

Method:
• Peel onions by dipping in boiling water for 1 minute to loosen skins. Slip skins off.
• Heat olive oil in sauté pan and add Onions.
• Toss until golden brown.
• Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf.
• Add wine and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 35 minutes.
• Remove from heat, add to Pot Roast and enjoy!!

The Pot Roast is best if served a day after you make it, since it absorbs all of the lovely flavors the spices and wine broth have let off. Serve with mashed or steamed potatoes.