Compari John, we would like you to be
our guest on the SHAGBAG show. We do it LIVE from Old Del Monte Golf
Course every Saturday morning. We also want to invite you to play golf
with us. Please contact me. Grazie Tanto.
David Marzetti Via e-mailThank you so much
Dave, however, I am failing to see the pleasure of playing golf at this
time - Roma wasn’t built in a weekend. I will persevere so, until a
later time, I will keep practicing.
Q). Can you send me your recipe for Italian
Spinges--Holiday Style! Joe Mancuso , Via e-mail
A). Hi Joe, a.k.a. Italian donuts,
sfingi or sfinci di San Giuseppe,
the real ones are a raised dough |
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(with the
use of yeast) rolled out, deep-fried and sprinkled with cinnamon and
sugar. The name comes from the Latin “spongia” or sponge and these are
donuts with no hole. The ones my Mom and sister still make are made with
left over pizza dough, bread dough or frozen bread dough (or you can
call Losario at Palermo Bakery) - that's it! Served up with hot coffee
(hot chocolate for the grandkids) and that's a nice-a-family scene.
Sfingi Recipe Makes 3 dozen donuts. 2 teaspoons dry active yeast 1/2 cup warm
water (about 100 degrees F) 1/4 cup granulated sugar 5 cups pastry flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature 3/4 cup warm milk
Pinch of salt 2-3 cups Nutella (optional cooked custard) Powdered Sugar
for dusting Place the yeast and water in a small bowl |
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and whisk together let stand until creamy.
Place the sugar and flour in a bowl of a mixer and add the butter and
mix just to incorporate the butter. Add the dissolved yeast warm milk
and salt and mix just until the dough comes together. The dough will be
very soft. Grease a bowl well with butter and place the dough in the
bowl and let rise about 1-1 1/2 hours or until doubled in volume. Spread
the dough on a lightly floured board to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut the
puffs into rounds and let rise on a lightly flour board loosely covered
for about 1 hour. Heat the oil until it reaches 350 degrees F. Fry the
puffs and drain on paper towels, then quickly sprinkle with sugar. Cook
the remaining puffs. When cool enough to handle, fill with Nutella using
a pastry bag fitted with a small straight tip |
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A big world of food. Have you ever
wondered what people in the Midwest are eating? I was recently given a
cookbook while hosting a charity dinner. These folks dined at my house
beginning with smoked Alaskan salmon, fresh Hawaiian tuna, buffalo
mozzarella and tomatoes, all served as tastes on Chinese spoons. The
next course was Monterey Bay abalone – escargot style, followed by fresh
lobster Thermador with a side of lobster bisque. The entrée was grilled
American Kobe New York steak with sugar peas, stuffed heirloom tomatoes
and gratin potatoes. A five-selection cheese course with fig jam and
white truffle oil, was followed by petite fours, pure Valrhona chocolate
mousse and pineapple |
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carpaccio. All courses were served
with appropriate wines, and I sent them all home with bags of sugar
plums. After a closer examination of my gift cookbook called “101 Things
To Do With A Casserole”, I hope my menu wasn’t too exotic. Here is my
favorite recipe from that book:
Tuna-Tater Tot
Casserole Recipe
Serves 6
1
package (32 ounces) frozen tater tots, 1 can (6 ounces) tuna, drained
(canned chicken or ham may be substituted) 1 can (10.75 ounces) cream of
chicken soup, condensed ½ cup milk, 1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tater tots in a greased 2-quart
baking dish. Combine tuna, soup and milk. Pour over tater tots and then
sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake 1 hour. |
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Q). Where can I buy real pork
lard? I want to try using it for frying and pie crusts, but I can’t find
anyone who sells it. Amy Via e-mail A).
What do you mean by real, Amy? I make my own using fatback. Cut into
small pieces and put into a low oven - 250 degrees or hot enough to make
the fat melt (render) and keep pouring it off. When there is nothing
left, you’ re done. Store in a covered container in the fridge and it
will solidify. Use it for cooking, pie crusts or whenever you need fat.
Pure lard is not as bad for you as you may think. It is my understanding
that it is the processed lard that is not that good for you. Processed
lard is available at almost any market that sells Latino foods. |
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My wife’s Pilates teacher, Heidi, told
my wife about a chuck roast cooked with beer for 24 hours in a Dutch
oven at 250 degrees (after cooking for 24 hours, diesel truck tires
would be tender). Chuck roast - boned or boneless. Place in Dutch oven,
fill with beer, some garlic and bouillon cubes or beef stock and let her
rip – 24 hours at 250 degrees. Well, I tried it not bad, not bad at all.
Had it with herbed boiled potatoes. Q).
Dear John, We are from Palm Desert (Palm Springs) to meet and see you.
Sorry to miss you! I watch Monterey’s Cookin’ almost everyday. My wife
and I like your style of cooking. Last year we were at Abalonetti’s on
Fisherman’s Wharf. Tonight we had the pleasure to have dinner at Blue
Moon. Both dinners were wonderful, a solid “10” in our books. The
service was also outstanding. On your
television |
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show, can you do a hearty beef soup? As that
is one of our favorites.
Jerry and Roberta Wiley
Via e-mailA). You bet –
hearty beef soup is almost a beef stew. Try this one made with barley.
Barley Beef Stew Recipe
1
bowl and you will be able to dance all night! 4lbs. boneless chuck cut
into 2” squares 2 large onions diced large 4 carrots peeled & diced
large 4 stalks of celery diced large 1 whole head parsley chopped 2 T.
tomato puree 2 cups barley 3 turnip peeled and cubed 4 to 6 quarts of
beef stock or water salt and pepper to taste 1 T. thyme 2 bay leaves 6
cloves chopped garlic olive oil to cover the pot 3 cups frozen peas 2
cups red wine Sauté meat, onion and garlic until browned well (seasoned with salt and
pepper) for about 20 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and
lightly brown for
another 20 minutes. Add wine and |
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deglaze the pot. Add liquid so that it
is 2 inches above the ingredients. Bring to a boil, add herbs cover and
lower the heat to medium-low. Cook and stir for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or
until meat falls apart. Serve with grilled bread. Note: Instead of beef
stock or water try some dark beer as the liquid.
Those sugar bombs, oh, I mean sugar plums, that I
talked about last week are actually grown organically up in the valley
by Heller Estates. When Gil Heller turned the vineyard organic he
brought in prune trees to play host to predatory wasps. These wasp
attack the eggs of undesirable insects thus helping to eliminate the use
of pesticides (that’s not all they eliminate Gil). Wine tasting in the
village is well-worth a try folks, especially if you want to try
certified organic. |
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