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Q). I missed the
beginning of a delicious looking squid and pasta dish you prepared on
your TV show that aired in August. I turned the show on just when you
were pouring the squid over the pasta and sauce. Would you please send
me the recipe?
Thank you
Keith
Via e-mail
A). If you really want to cook squid like me, make sure you use
the heads. They add so much to the dish, both texture and eye appeal.
Recipe for 6 people to 1 lb. of pasta: Sauté 2 lbs. of squid
tentacles and rings in olive oil
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with only salt and pepper to taste. Cook for
10 minutes and no more. Add to your favorite
marinara sauce. For extra flavor add a few capers.
Q).
Now that Dungeness crab season is in full swing, how do I cook and eat
crab? I've never done it myself.
Via e-mail
A). Start by buying live crabs and plunging them into a large
pot of boiling heavily salted water. Cook for approximately 15 minutes
then let them cool. You can always buy an already cooked crab, but give
this a try once. Pull the body from
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the shell and eat everything inside that
looks like custard (I'm not kidding). Cut the crab into 4 pieces and
figure one crab per person. Using a lobster cracker and pick, start
cracking, eating and dipping in butter. Another way is to toss cleaned
and cracked crab in vinaigrette. I can go on and on, but you had better
taste it to make sure you even like it. If this is too much work, come
see me at Abalonetti's - I'll do the work and you can just eat. Along
with cold dry white wine, a Caesar salad, some
thin cut French fries and crusty bread, this is about as good as it
gets.
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Boy did I get a response from Glenn
Hammer. Glenn is a nice Jewish boy. Let me tell you this big boy knows
his food - especially Jewish food. Here is Glenn's list for smoked fish
and other Jewish food products, all from New York. Marshall's Smoked
Fish (800) 654-6682; Russ & Daughters (212) 475-4880; Murray's Sturgeon
Shop (212) 724-2650; Sables (866) 662-6400. With all of this info you
can open up a shop - OK Harry? By the way I plan to do some shows with
Glenn featuring Jewish foods. Stay tuned!
Another Jewish food response: In your column on 11/24/04 you had an
inquiry about whitefish and lox. Tell Harry to go to Zabar's Deli
on-line at
www.zabars.com or call
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800-697-6301, to get the best kosher food
Fed-Exed the next day from NYC. He can get all he desires including
fresh corned beef, pastrami, lox, whitefish, corned rye, kosher mustard
and other delicacies such as babka, rugalach, black & white cookies,
blintzes, knish, etc. You do not have to order the prepared baskets, but
can order just what you want. As an Italian from New Jersey, I cannot
get good kosher or Italian (also available at Zabar's) on the Monterey
Peninsula. ("Niente" John, "Niente".)
Lucille Toscano
Pacific Grove
Q). Hey, Chef Pisto. Love your show.
You look so comfortable in the kitchen but I really get nervous when
it's time to prepare food. |
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I'm interested in cooking and I'm just a
beginner. What are the best menu items to start off with? What are some
good simple entrees that a beginner could do?
John
Via e-mail
A). Overcome your fear, Johnny. What's the worst that could
happen? First of all, cooking should be fun, so don't be scared off. So
that you don't starve, you should learn to make a simple marinara sauce
or pasta with some sweet butter and Reggiano served with a simple salad
and some seasonal fruit. Also, go out and buy yourself a good cookbook
(like mine, for instance). Who knows where it might take you next.
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Speaking of pasta, here is the best pasta
sauce recipe I have tasted in a long time. 6
slices of bacon, 1 large onion and 6 cloves of garlic, all chopped and
sautéed in olive oil. Add one cup of chopped Tasso (Cajun smoked pork),
a 28-ounce can of Italian plum tomatoes, 4 tablespoons of sugar,
2 Tbsp. Sensational Seasonings, and salt
and pepper to taste. Cook for 30 minutes on medium then serve over 1 lb.
of linguine with grated Romano cheese - unbelievable!
Good news / bad
news: David |
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Arora's Mendocino mushroom foray in
Albion this past weekend was a smashing success. In the many years that
I have attended, this was the best. He had two great gals from Canada as
camp cooks and they were terrific. There had to be at least 100
varieties of shrooms and in abundant supply. We ate Porcini, Matsis,
Beef steaks, white truffles and Chanterelles, just to name a few.
Driving home between Fort Bragg and Willits, there were so many edible
mushrooms it looked like a supermarket. So the good news is there are
plenty of mushrooms in Mendocino and the
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REALLY good news
is there are plenty of Coccora (amanita
calyptrata). Unfortunately, the bad news is they look exactly
like the "death cap" (amanita phalloides) - sorry about that. Folks,
this is my annual start of the season
reminder, do not eat wild mushrooms unless you are positive of their
identity. If you only think you know, don't bet your life on it! Just
make sure to triple identify. I am available at 786 Wave St. Please call
ahead, don't put your mushrooms in plastic bags and remember to wash
your hands. |
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