MEATLESS CHUNKY, CHEESY TOMATO SAUCE

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped well

2 garlic cloves, minced
2 ribs of celery, chopped well
1 sweet Italian frying pepper, chopped, seeds removed 

2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 cup water

7 fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, chopped 

or 1 can (28-ounces) whole tomatoes 
2 teaspoons dried oregano
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, a few basil leaves and a little parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions:

• In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the onions, celery, pepper and garlic. Sauté until soft. 
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
•  Add the tomato sauce and water and stir to deglaze the pan.
•  Add the oregano and thyme. 
• Add the tomatoes. 
• Mix, season with salt and pepper to taste, bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cover and let simmer. 
• After half an hour check the sauce. It should be pretty thick.  At this point add the grated cheese, stir well and cook for another 15 minutes. 
• Chiffonade the basil leaves and mix them into the sauce. Turn off the heat. 
• The tomato sauce will be thick, sweet and fragrant: use it up!

ROMAINE LETTUCE AND FENNEL SALAD: A GREEK SPRING GREENS SALAD

A very nice salad, light, refreshing, simple and quick to make but with lots of flavour. It's a popular late spring-early summer salad at the Greek table. That's the time of year when the ingredients in it can be found at their best and freshest in the garden.  Of course, if your vegetable garden is at the supermarket, as is mine, you can enjoy this salad anytime. Try it in the summer though, because it makes really refreshing hot weather fare.  Here's how it's made:

Ingredients: 

3 romaine lettuce hearts, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
1/2 of a fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
5 scallions chopped, use white and light green parts 
about 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Here's a picture of the salad right before adding lettuce and dressing. 

Directions: 

Mix the fennel, dill, mint, and scallions.  

Add the lettuce and mix to combine. 

Season with salt and pepper. 

Toss with the oil and lemon juice, then sprinkle the grated cheese on top.  

Easy!

PIZZA DOUGH, GREEK STYLE: Pizza Shop Pizza Dough!

Wish I had one slice left. Even half a slice. I would settle for half of a slice. Unfortunately, it's all gone and I am left only with pictures and memories. Ah, the taste memories! I am eulogizing this pizza because it's not store bought, I made it myself. Made the dough, arranged the toppings, even used zucchini from my garden, and handpicked the basil leaves from the plant that grows on my patio. So I had special feelings about this pizza.  We had a relationship. It's over now. The pizza has been eaten. 

What can I say? I'm Greek and Greeks love bread! I would wager it's every Greek's favourite thing to eat. So just about any Greek who cooks knows how to bake bread with homemade dough. And they all like to argue about whose dough is the best. 

Now we come to the subject of pizza. Can you have pizza without dough? Perhaps in an alternate universe, it could be possible ... but hardly worth the experience. Since pizza depends on dough to become pizza, the pizza with the best dough makes the best pizza. Perfect the art of making dough, and you will have perfected the art of making pizza! 

Another important thing in pizza making is to have a flavourful sauce. Not a bland unseasoned sauce, nor a strong over-seasoned one, not a runny sauce, and not an extra thick and heavy sauce. Pretend you are a politician who has to tread in the middle of the political spectrum, then make your pizza sauce accordingly. But you will not have created a middle of the road sauce, instead, you will have a balanced sauce!

I'll tell you how I make my pizza; the recipe is tied and true and it makes an amazing pizza! 

Ingredients:

4 cups bread flour

1½  cups very cold water 

¼ cup smooth extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons instant yeast

a little more flour, cold water and oil

Directions:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer add the water, salt, sugar, oil and yeast. Using the paddle attachment, mix until the ingredients are incorporated. 
• Switch to the dough hook and add the flour in 8 batches (1/2 cup increments), mixing after each addition. Mix until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl. 
• Be patient and let it mix, but if it looks as though it's going to stay a little too wet, sprinkle more flour into the bowl and mix until done. If the dough starts to wrap itself around the dough hook and looks as though it’s heading out of the bowl, add some water. You want a dough that is soft and just a little sticky.
• Sprinkle flour on your work counter and place the dough on top. 
• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and lightly oil the parchment. 
• Cut the dough into pieces and weigh it: 14 to 16 ounces/400+ grams are good for a large pizza that will serve about 4 people, and 8 to 10 ounces/230+ grams are good for a smaller one that will serve about 2 people. 

• Form each piece of dough into a round and place it on the sheet pan. 
• Cover the dough with flour and then cover the pan it's on with a plastic bag. Make sure it's well covered.  
• Place the pan in the refrigerator. It should stay there to rest overnight. 
• Any dough that will not be used the next day can be individually wrapped in plastic, placed in a freezer bag and frozen. It can be kept in the freezer for 2 to 3 months.

To make a pizza:

• Place a dough ball on the counter. If frozen, let it come to room temperature. Cover it with flour and flatten it with the palm of your hand. Let it rest for 20 minutes and then flatten it to the appropriate size by using a rolling pin.

• I don't like to bake my pizza directly on top of a pizza stone. I use a pizza pan, and I place the pan on the pizza stone. So at this point, I place the dough in its pan and I stretch it with floured hands until it has reached the sides of the pan. If the dough shrinks back from the sides, let it rest for a few minutes and it will become pliable and stay put and do what you want it to do.  
• I use a pan with a 14-inch diameter for a large pizza and a pan with a 10-inch diameter for a small pizza.

• Once the dough is stretched out in the pan, it's time to spread on the sauce. Two tablespoons of sauce for the small pizza, or four tablespoons of sauce for the large one. After that, I sprinkle on the cheese.

The type of cheese I like to use is shredded mozzarella mixed with a good shredded cheddar. In my opinion, this combination tastes best and in addition, gets rid of the problem of dealing with an elastic cheese which is what mozzarella turns into when left to its own devices. I like a 60/40 blend: 60 percent mozzarella, 40 percent cheddar.

• At this point, the dough has to rest again so that it can rise. Cover it with plastic and let it rise for about 2 hours. If the pizza will not be cooked after the 2 hours, it can wait in the refrigerator.

Zucchini and olive pizza! Use what you have on hand. I had all those vegetables in my refrigerator - no need for a trip to the grocery store. A nice touch was the fresh mozzarella on top and the sesame seeds around the border of the pizza. Actually, I hesitate to make pizza without that sesame seed border ... It's kind of my signature, I think. 

• When ready to cook add any toppings that will be used. The oven should be preheated to 450ºF/230ºC. Place the pizza in the oven, on top of the pizza stone. Baking time will be approximately 8 minutes.
• If the top cooks before the bottom, next time move the pizza stone to a lower shelf. If the bottom is nice and crisp before the cheese and toppings are browned, then next time the stone should be placed on a shelf that sits higher in the oven. 
• Always check: before starting to bake the pizza make sure the oven is nice and hot. 

Ready!

• Take the pizza out of the oven and with the use of a long knife or spatula transfer it to a cutting board. Don’t slice it yet. Inhale all the different aromas arising from it! You will smell the freshly baked dough, the melted cheese, the fragrance of roasted vegetables if any have been used. You will feel the heat rising up from the pizza, and the heat will spin all those fragrances around the room. Then look at all the lovely colours. Admire the golden dough, the redness of the sauce ... is it any wonder pizza is the world’s favourite food? Is there anyone who does not love pizza? 
• Okay, now it’s time to stop admiring. Your pizza, she is ready to be eaten! It needed a few minutes of admiration so that its beauty could be thoroughly appreciated, but also so that the cheese could slightly set, becoming easier to slice. Well, what are you waiting for? Slice that baby and… you know what to do after it's sliced, don't you? Don't you?  

PIZZA QUATTRO STAGIONE for 'A VERY PRIVATE GENTLEMAN"

I thought I knew all there was to know about pizza.  After all, I can make really good pizza, and I have been making it for years. (The secret to good pizza is in the dough.  If you have a good dough, chances are you'll have a good pizza). But, surprise, I found out something new about pizza.  here exists a topping I didn't know of. No, it's not ham and pineapple. It's Quatro stagione, or four seasons pizza.

Marinated artichokes for springtime...

Tomato slices and fresh mozzarella for summer.  Sliced basil goes on after the pizza comes out of the oven.  I enjoyed slicing the basil, it gave off such a wonderful aroma...

Autumn, represented by sauteed mushrooms and onions...

Ham, for winter. Or, if you prefer to have no meat on your pizza, choose olives and rosemary as a winter topping. Perhaps some of those pepperoncini peppers or some capers ...  

Make the pizza.  Dough, sauce, cheese. Visually divide the pizza into four sections, and top each section accordingly.  The toppings can vary, as long as each section they are placed on represents one of the four seasons.

Bake it, and enjoy it.  Whoever thought of the concept of a four seasons pizza is a certified genius as far as I am concerned. Scrumptious. A wonderful excuse for having a multi-topping pizza. Except, this way, the toppings are not piled one on top of the other, which truthfully, I find unappetizing. Here, the toppings are artfully arranged on the pizza, giving it an air of sophistication.   And I like sophistication. That's why I really liked reading the thriller A Very Private Gentleman, (1990), written by Martin Booth. As far as thrillers go, it reeks of sophistication. As do I. 

This is my contribution to Novel Food, the literary-culinary event hosted by Simona from Briciole. Read it, and then cook something that the reading has inspired you to prepare.  For this edition of Novel Food I enjoyed reading A Very Private Gentleman.  

In one of my favourite chapters, the main character takes his paramour to an out of the way restaurant where the two enjoy a bottle of wine and a "pizza quatro stagione." I loved the description of the event so very much that I wanted to be a patron at the very same countryside restaurant, ordering along with the protagonists. 

a VERY private gentleman

This is a thinking person's thriller, with an unforgettable protagonist. He is Signor Farfalla, thus called by the locals of the small town where he lives. He is an artist who paints rare butterflies. Or so he pretends. That's his cover.  In actuality, Signor Farfalla leads a life so secretive that even we, the readers, don't know his real name or nationality. He is well educated though, a man of fine tastes. He knows how to appreciate nature, art, architecture, good food and wine, good music and books, and he loves good company. He always moves from place to place, sometimes because of work, sometimes to evade capture. His real work is done in secret: he is a gunsmith who crafts made-to-order weapons. They carry a very high price tag because they are used for high level assassinations. And Signor Farfalla feels that he has helped to shape history. However, he is getting old and would like to retire. When we meet him, he is promising that he's working on his last commission. He likes the small Italian town where he's taken up residence, and he would like to settle there, in the company of Clara, a young student who moonlights as a prostitute in order to make ends meet. Unfortunately, just as Signor Farfalla makes up his mind to settle down, he becomes aware that someone is after him. And so the cat and mouse game begins... Booth's writing is clear, intelligent, tense and thought provoking. 

A Very Private Gentleman is a first rate psychological thriller, a book that is hard to put down. 

The movie The American (2010), staring and produced by George Clooney, was based on this novel. The script has some significant differences from the novel, but both movie and book are first rate. With the release of the movie, the novel was republished under the same title as the movie. Therefore, a very private gentleman was forced to become an American. I don't think Martin Booth (who died in 2004), would have liked this change; he didn't give his character a nationality, and I enjoyed trying to guess where Signor Farfalla could have come from.  

And yes, I find George Clooney aesthetically pleasing. 

CORN ON THE COB GRILLED WITH FRESH HERBS

Corn on the cob on the grill.  A great way to enjoy summer sweet corn! This corn was as fresh as could be. I bought it just a few hours after it was picked, and at a really sweet price too, 4 for $1.00. I often grill corn: I love eating it hot, crunchy, and slightly charred, but with kernels that are still juicy and sweet below their crispy coat. My way of grilling corn is to wrap it in parchment paper, then in aluminium foil and toss it onto the coals; I have been cooking it this way for more years than I can count.

 

I never considered improving on the taste, not until I came across a picture on the Food Network website of corn grilled in foil but with lots of herbs added for extra taste. 

Well, go figure. I grow herbs and I have a clear view of my little herb garden right from where the grill is set up. Yet, never once did I consider adding some of those herbs I stare at to the corn grilling in front of me. OK, thank you Food Network for kicking my brain into gear. 

This is kind of a no recipe-recipe but here is what I do these days when I grill corn: 

I place a piece of foil on the counter. I top it with parchment paper. Then I begin seasoning the corn with spices and herbs. Use any herbs you love or have on hand. I usually incorporate rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram, chopped garlic, olive oil combined with a little butter, and salt and pepper. I wrap the corn securely and place it on the grill!  

The corn package should be rotated every three to four minutes to keep it from getting scorched. Total grill time is usually about twenty minutes. When the corn is ready, I unwrap the package and wait until the corn cools down a little. Sometimes I like to top the corn with grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Then I serve it on a bed of basil. The taste imparted by the herbs is not overpowering. The corn flavour is still dominant but the herbs add to it a subtle, excellent note. This method of cooking corn has won me over; there is no going back! Corn grilled with herbs is where it's at!

 

Broccoli Mushroom and Potato Soup

Creamy but without the addition of cream, this healthful soup is made with a base of potatoes: buttery-tasting Yukon gold, my favourite. Mushrooms add a woodsy, earthy flavour, and the broccoli contributes green notes. Some broth, some herbs, a little grated cheese, and in about half an hour, soup's on! A delicious soup, a "make you happy" kind of soup.  

I pureed the ingredients until they reached a smooth consistency. Leaving them chunky would have been good too, but maybe next time. This time I was in the mood for smooth textures. Too many sharp edges in my hurried life, therefore I was yearning for a bowl of nourishing soup, some warm and comforting soup to smooth, albeit temporarily, life's sharp edges. I chopped, sauteed and boiled, breathed in the aroma of the broth, and anticipated my first serving of hot, thick, smooth soup. 

Eat this soup when it's really hot. That's when the flavours are at their best. And crunch on some crackers when you're between spoonfuls. Slurping is optional.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

5 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets 

6 cups vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1 bay leaf
about 10 sprigs of parsley

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

For the garnish, to be prepared while the soup is cooking:
Save a few sliced mushrooms and some broccoli florets. Have some chives on hand. Chop them up.

The mushrooms should be sauteed and the broccoli can be boiled, but it needs to be blanched so that it can retain its green colour.

Directions:

In a large pot heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, broccoli, mushrooms and potatoes.  Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the broth, salt, and pepper, bay leaf, parsley, and thyme. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about to 20 minutes.

Using an immersion blender puree the soup. 

Stir in half the cheese and mix well. Serve garnished with chopped chives, sliced mushrooms, tiny broccoli florets and the rest of the grated cheese.