Frittata

Yes, I love to make and eat the "Frittata" or what is know as the "Italian Omelette." This is the way I get the kids to eat the leftovers next day for breakfast. Leftovers such as pasta, vegetables and meats can easily be an ingredient for the Frittata. Coupled with scrambled eggs and of course, grated cheese, you just can't go wrong.

To start, heat up a deep sauce pan with butter and garlic, (enough butter to coat the entire pan or use a non stick pan.) Then add you leftover meats or vegetables. Cut or dice up the vegetables and meats and saute in the pan. What I used this morning was ziti, red pepper, and some zucchini. I thought I had some leftover bacon or sausage, but they ate it all. Next add the pasta and cook everything until tender or hot if they already have been cooked. Beat about 6 eggs so you are able to get air into those puppies. (the eggs) Pour the eggs into the pan and slowly cook on low heat. Now, add my favorite ingredient grated cheese. I believe that the grated cheese and the pasta make it Italian. Or is it just what we always have on hand to cook with. Also, if desired add basil or Italian seasonings and salt & pepper.

Slowly cook on low heat and try not to burn the bottom. The best thing to do is when it starts to get firm on the sides, place the pan in the oven at about 350 degrees and continue to check and see if it is cooked throughout.

When it is done, take it out of the oven and flip that bad dog (the Frittata) onto a serving plate. That's why you need to use a non-stick or well grease pan for the Frittata. Garnish the top with parsley and more grated cheese.

Max, as usual, stalks around the table waiting for the kids to drop a morsel or when no one is looking, swipes it off the table. Bad Dog!

Zucchini

When I was going up, my father had a vegetable garden. One year he planted a row of zucchini. We eventually found out what everybody else knows, that zucchini grows like a weed and we had zucchini as large as base bats, growing out of our ears. Thus, we ended up having some kind of zucchini every night for dinner that summer. My favorite dish that my father cooked a lot as well as myself over the years is a sauteed zucchini.

Start with oil and chopped garlic in a deep saute pan. Add one sliced onion and three small to medium sized zucchinis cut in to 1/4 to 1/2 slices. The size of the zucchini is about 12" long and about 1 1/2" to 2" in diameter (not baseball bat size.) Fry up the zucchini, onion and season with garlic and Italian seasonings. Let saute uncovered for about 20 minutes until the zucchini is tender and translucent. If you put a lid on, you will end up with zucchini soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

One thing that I never understood is when Italians fry or saute vegetables they always like to add scrambled eggs. If anyone knows why, please comment but maybe the answer is, it just tastes good. So, pull the zucchini to the side of the pan and add two eggs to the other side to be scrambled. Don't pour mixed liquid eggs over the vegetables, cook them to scrambled separately then fold in. Prior to serving, jack it up with grated cheese. Also, a neighbor of mine told me to add fresh mint to the zucchini which adds even more flavor to the dish.

Max is a meataterian, however he loves the grated cheese.

Irish Potatoes

Okay, I'll let the Irish be Irish for this week. Us Italians are Italians all year round.

Irish Potatoes are very simple to make. I assisted my daughter in making a batch. Using a hand blender, mix 4 oz of cream cheese and one stick of butter. Then add a tsp of vanilla extract, 4 cups of confectioners sugar and blend till smooth. Fold in 2 1/2 cups of coconut. Next, form little tiny potatoes and then roll in Cinnamon. Refrigerate for one hour before serving.

I brought 2 dozen of these to our neighborhood poker social and before I even had one they were gone.

To clarify, we did not get a new dog, Max just had his spring shaving. Hopefully it will keep the hair out of the food.

Sausage & Rice

Sausage is a great food that is second only to bacon. Italian Hot Sausage is what I grew up on. After marriage, my wife insisted that I use the sweet sausage for the kids instead of hot. In my opinion , the sweet sausage has no taste. In order to have taste in my meals, I started to use sweet and hot sausage. Eventually, only the sweet sausage was left in the dish. Now, I only cook with the Italian Hot Sausage.

This dish is just a simple type of Paella without the expensive seafood and saffron (I once received saffron as a Christmas Gift.) In a deep saute pan add oil, minced garlic, 1 cup chopped onion, and one cup of red or green pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add to the pan about 1 to 1.5 pounds of Hot Italian Sausage cut into one inch pieces. Continue to saute until the sausage is almost done. Don't drain the juice. Next add 1 cup of rice and saute for a minute then add 2 cups of chicken broth. Yes, I am cooking dinner, note the steam rising. I wish I could share with you the smell of this cooking, but they are still working on that computer technology.

Always use chicken broth when cooking rice, it simply adds more flavor to the dish. Bring to boil then lower the heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Taste the rice to see if it is done, if not add more broth or water. Salt and pepper to taste.

I usually worry about Max getting a hold of the leftovers, but my family will snack on this and there won't be any left for my lunch the next day.

Hamburgers

Hamburgers are an entree usually reserved for picnics and fast food, however a burger in the Winter time needs to be huge, moist and "jacked up." To achieve this ultimate burger, one must start with about 6 to 8 ounces of real ground meat. The lean stuff can be used if desired.

In a bowl mix the ground meat with anything that you usually put on top of the burger and any other liked ingredients. For these burgers, I have used hot sausage, minced pepperoni, ketchup, Romano cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Granted, you can experiment and use items such as salsa, diced tomatoes, pesto, hot sauce, mustard, soy sauce, horseradish, and any seasoning that you may have in the spice rack. The amount of these ingredients can vary depending on what taste you would want you burger to finally be.

Proportion the meat and form the patties making sure the center is thinner than the ends, by doing this the the patty retains it shape during the grilling process. I heard one chef would put a pat of butter in each burger just to guarantee the moistness.

Since the path to the grill on the patio was covered in about 2 foot of snow, I used my pan grill. Just in grilling , one must sear both sides in order to retain the moistness. Once you have lined each side, either turn down the heat in the pan, or place the pan in the oven to completely cook the burger so that the outside does not burn. At this time any type of cheese can be put on the burger for melting.

Don't turn you back on Max because he would eat one of these burgers in one gulp.

Manicotti

When I have a coupon or see Ricotta Cheese on sale, I always buy it. Then, I need to do something with it before it goes bad. Making homemade Manicotti is relatively simple but everyone will think you spent a lot of time and effort. It is broken down to the crepes, ricotta cheese and wrapping it up with tomato sauce. This was the first meal I made for my wife and the rest was history.

For the crepes, mix in a blender 4 eggs, 1 cup of milk and a little oil. Then add 1 cup of flour. Blend and set in the refrigerator for one hour. To make the crepes, heat and spray oil a small sauce pan. Pour a little of the crepe mixture and coat the bottom. Remember, these are thin crepes, not thick pancakes. Cook on one side then flip, it should only take about a minute for each crepe. To flip, I just grab an edge and turn the crepe over. Now the ricotta cheese needs to be jacked up with one egg, parsley, Romano or Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. I usually use about a cup of cheese for 32 ounces of ricotta, tablespoon of parsley, and the rest of the ingredients based on taste. Then take a completed crepe and spoon some of the ricotta filling into the center and roll to form a log.

Place the filled crepes into a baking dish dish in which the bottom has been covered with tomato sauce. Then cover all the filled crepes with sauce so no parts are exposed. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Pesto Sauce

Pesto is that green stuff that us Italians like to use when we get a hold of some fresh basil and we do not have any tomato sauce/gravy around to put on our pasta. (Maybe in another post I will discuss the proper terminology of "tomato sauce" or "tomato gravy.") In reality we always have some tomato sauce or gravy around either in the refrigerator or in the freezer. Pesto is a sauce that adds that great basil aroma and flavor to any pasta dish or seafood. It is also used as one of the three spreads for Bruchetta. We even use it on hamburgers and it is delicious. For the consistency of this sauce, I like using a thin paste for pasta and a thicker paste for Bruchetta or to top fish such as swordfish or tuna. The Basil can be bought at any super market, but I like to get it at the local produce stores (the ones that only take cash) because they are fresher and inexpensive.

Pesto can be made quick and easy with the following basic ingredients: Fresh Basil, Olive Oil, Pine Nuts (Walnuts can be used because they are cheaper), Garlic, Romano or Parmesan Cheese, Salt and Pepper.


Wash the Basil and discard the stems and place the leaves into a blender. Add a little bit of Oil and start to pulse and mash the leaves. Continue to drizzle the Oil while the blender is running to achieve the consistency that you desire. More Oil for a thinner sauce and less Oil for a thicker paste. Then add the about 1 tsp of fresh chopped garlic, 1/4 tsp of salt and a 1/8 teaspoon of pepper. Once these ingredients are blended well, the cheese can be added. The amount of Cheese and Oil that is needed is based on the amount of Basil that you are using. For about 2 cups of Basil leaves, I usually use about one cup of Cheese. Thus, a 2 to 1 ratio. To me there is no exact measurement, therefore taste testing is a must if you need to add more of the listed ingredients.

This is the consistency I prefer for pasta.

Max likes his Pesto Sauce with Rotini Pasta, the cork screw type.