Tonite had fajitas -- not at chilis or taco bell, but at home.. its easy grill food... chop up your onions and bell peppers, put in a skillet on the grill with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, and stir till soft, then add your marinated skirt or cube steak... worstecher & soy sauce, salt, pepper, maybe a squeeze of lemon or lime... cook for 2-3 mins on each side, let it it REST (its a must), slice thin against the grain, fill your favorite flour tortillas with the peppers, onions, meat, and avacado, cheese or tomatoes if you have them on hand... beats the HELL out of chilis and tastes far better

Do you deliver to Long Island??

LOL... tonite i attempted home made pizza, my mother would make it every night... i figure it was finally a cool enough friday to put the oven on high... still can't get it like she used to make it, but its good to keep the tradition alive... i hear other italians would always have fish on a friday nite (clam sauce mostly), for italians, it wasnt only no meat on friday in lent, it was no meat on friday EVER... i can live with that since i love fish and pizza lol

Do you have a pizza stone, JR?? I made pizza at home for years before realizing that a stone was really essential for the crust to cook properly.

Yea, i had one, but gave it to my brother, I thought it was a hoax/myth, my brother said no, but you know my mother never used one... so I am trying to do it the way she used to, no stone... just tin pans... i know the best dough to use from local bakeries, i just have to work on the rising and handling of the dough

I buy my dough from a local bread factory that has a small retail store attached to it. Very good stuff. Their bread is also quite good, especially the semolina.

Well, i found some GREAT fococcia -- I was in a great place for italian specialties, AAfinefoods.com, they even carry ravioli (considered one of the best in NJ) from my client Vitamia (pastaboy.com) -- i any case, i was disappointed they were out of the extra virgin olive oil they once had that mario batali uses (Frantoia) but i bought 2 others that were out of this world... got some grilled green olives, corozza (didnt care for the marscapone in it), but they have lots of great prepared, imported and ready to cook foods... this isnt a plug for them, just a great find - i grilled up some of their broccoli rabe sausage, but didn't think it was "all that" -- needed more brocoli rabe in it i think... i will test out their fresh ground burgers tomorrow.

Just about the only leftovers i savor are homemade meatballs & sauce -- had some tonight, i usually make a batch of meatballs/sausage/braciole about once a month and then store/freeze them so i can have them on sundays and tuesdays and/or wednesdays... never get tired of that, even after 40 years... its the primary, quintissential dish, or however you spell it...

Lasagne, too, is always better the second or third day, after the sauce has plenty of time to absorb into the noodles...

Spaghetti Carbonara alla Dontomasso

One package of spaghetti (regular size not too thin)

Four eggs

Grated Parmasean or Peccorino Cheese

1 lb sliced Pancetta

whole milk or half and half

Butter, Salt, pepper


Fry the pancetta until crisp, crumble them and set aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and while the water is boiling scramble the eggs in a large bowl, and line everything up near the pot of boiling water. When the water is boiling put the spaghetti in. Cook about 10 mins until it is al dente (it will cook a little more as this goes on, so if you err, do so on the side of undercooking it). When the spaghetti is cooked turn off the burner, drain spaghetti in a colander in the sink. Return the spaghetti to the pot and put it back on the Stove. If you have a gas stove put it on the same burner. If it is electric, that burner will be too hot, so use another one, but turn it on to medium high.

Add the eggs and stir with a wisk. Add in some half and hald to make sure the eggs do not become srambled aggs. Add about a cup of cheese and continue stirring. If it is too "watery, add mnore cheese. If too dry add more half and half. Keep tasting, and when the sauce is the right consistency, throw in the pancetta, and then sale and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Serves four

I love Carbonara

Fettuccine is a great alternative for Carbonara. Add a cup or two of frozen peas (not the canned shit), and perhaps some mushrooms (never tried it, but some Campbell's condensed Cream of Mushroom mixed in there might work) - mmmmm!

FWIW - As far as spaghetti goes in general, I was raised on Vermicelli (a thinner spaghetti) so I prefer that, or even Capellini (Angel Hair) over standard spaghetti... it rolls up so much easier!

List of Pastas

Spaghetti Carbonara is my favorite. The timing and accuracy of combining everything with the eggs in that hot skillet is what can make or break the dish.

If you screw up, you get scrambled eggs with macaroni!

The best that I ever had was at La Bougainville Ristorante in Taormina, Sicily. An outstanding dish in a fantastic restaurant.

Locally, you can buy a great dough directly from Addeo. It's the same one they make their famous bread with. If you can't get to the Bronx, they actually sell it in a lot of local markets, in the dairy section. Another great alternative is to make friends with your local pizzeria owner, as they're usually happy to sell you a dough for a couple of bucks. They view it as all profit, because the only real expense is in the cheese, and there's no labor involved.

Yes, the whole trick is not to have scambled eggs. The second best one I had was in the Piazza Novona in Rome. The best is one I made about six months ago.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard this in Italy...the origins of the dish are that it was invented by the caribinieri during the fight for Italian independence in the mid 1800's. The story goes that the caribinieri (who are still part of the Italian national police) were guerrilla fighters who had to eat and run very often. They carried salted pork of some kind and hard cheese with them, and from town to town they could always scare up some pasta and eggs. Because you can cook it in one pot it was easy, fast, delicious and full of carbs (no pun intended) for energy. Accordingly they ate it all the time, and could cook eat, clean the pot and move out relatively quickly.
Supposedly it became known originally as Spaghetti alla Caribinieri, and later basterdized to Carbonara.

Another favorite story (this I know for sure is true) that the great Calvin Trillin, long time New Yorker writer, and generally a great humorist campaigned for years to make Spaghetti Carbonara America's traditional Thanksgiving dish. He thought the whole turkey think was too much of a hassle, that everyone loves Carbonara, and that it would be easy to make and very filling.

Agreed. Pasta carbonara is a great fave (AKA "Coal Miners Dinner because of the black pepper and eggs for protien)... plenty of cracked black pepper, add the egg when the heat is off... its the italian version of "breakfast" because its got bacon, eggs, and of course, pasta... i bought some pasta from AAFineFoods.com this weekend, been a long time since i have had it but its deliscious.

JR, Have you ever shopped at Corrado's in Clifton? I used to work in Fairfield, NJ many moons ago and did the majority of my food shopping there. Their produce dept. alone is to die for. And although they have some great Italian stuff that I rarely get locally, they had a wonderful ethnic mix of foods. They make wonderful luganiga sausage.

Linguini and white clam sauce alla Dontomasso:

Take dozen of the smallest little-necks you can find per person. and soak them in very cold water(put some ice cubes in it if necessary)with sea salt, for about a half hour. This will allow the clams to flush all the sand out of their systems. Don't leave them in too long because it will kill them. This will also reduce your need to add a lot more salt at the end.
Chop up about three tablespoons of fresh parsley per person and one or two cloves of garlic per person. In a skillet, warm up the oil and garlic. Bring your water to a boil for the pasta, and keep it near boiling. Put the clams and parsley into the skillet, turn up the heat and cover. When the first clam pops open (you can usually hear it but just in case take a peek avery two mins... put in your pasta...cook the pasta al dente and continue to cook the clams etc in the skilet. When the clams open they will produce a lot of water. Add more olive oil, and about a cup of white wine. When the pasta is done, drain it, and
put it into a large bowl. Dump everything from the skillet into the bowl...shells and all. Add coarse ground pepper and serve.

Hi, I have been to Corrado's in patterson, last time they had a wide array of ethinic foods, including asian. My neighbor buys the grapes he crushes for wine, all different kinds... he just brought me another bottle, if any one is local, come over and share it with me! Its close enough, i have to get back there soon to check it out...

Vitello Marsala Alla Don Tomasso

Hammer as many veal cutlets (thin sliced) as you are going to need until they are flat and almost transparent. Set them aside in a bowl.

Slice enough tomatoes (thinly and) get enough sliced provolone
to cover the veal eventually. Put the sliced tomatoes in the mocrowave for about 60-90 seconds. Set aside. In a large skillet sear the veal for about 30 seconds, remove and put in a bowl. While the skillet is still hot add Marsala wine to clean off the browned veal left behind, and reduce it for about five mins. Add portabella mushrooms (you can either slice up a couple of big ones or use the pre sliced from the grocery). turn down the liquid and carefully put down the veal in the wine, and then put the cheese and tomatoes on top. As soon as the cheese melts, its done. Serve...best veal in the city. For a great touch you can add a layer of thin sliced prociutto over the veal, and under the cheese and tomato. Spoon out appropriate mushrooms.
Use the extra marsala sauce and mushrooms as gravy.

Serve with fresh Spinach stir fried in olive oil and lots of fresh garlic.

I just made some fresh Paninis for lunch.

Bought some fresh Prosciutto Di Parma, a fresh buffalo Mozzarella, a couple of fresh ripe Tomatoes, a couple of sun dried tomatoes and a loaf of freshly baked Panini Bread.

Put everything on the panini bread, added some olive oil, a little pepper, some parsley, some fresh basil and cooked it on my panini press.

Mmmmmmmm.....So what time's lunch?



TIS

I grilled a few steaks today. I marinated two top round London Broils in soy sauce, red wine, onion powder, garlic powder, ketchup and freshly ground black pepper. They came out so tender and juicy. They were delicious.

We enjoyed them with some stuffed artichokes, a salad, and tomato salad and cucumber salad, the tomatoes and cucumbers fresh from the garden. Perfect summer dinner.

I ordered out.... Pizza with artichokes and black olives, washed down with a Coppolla Claret.

Tonight I had a gourmet meal...

Rosina's Celentano Eggplant Rollettes ...I'd've made them myself, but, I can't find Xanthan Gum at the market BTW - it's not as good as it looks on the package (does anything??) -- and it doesn't even look that good on the package!