EGG PLANT PIE (Joe’s)

31 Oct 2010 1 Comment

by nonnax9 in Joe's Recipes

This takes a lot of preparation and cooking time – and a lot of olive oil,
and the way you guys eat it amounts to substance abuse.

INGREDIENTS:

Eggplant
Tomatoes, either canned or fresh, to make a sauce, about 4 cans pureed
and a can of puree as well. (The sauce needs to be thick).
Small onion finely chopped
Couple of cloves of garlic – crushed
7 or 8 slices of bread – crumbed
Heaps of PECORINO cheese – or parmesan or romano – but preferably
pecorino
Peel 3 or A large eggplant and slice about 5mm. thick, and soak in a large bowl of water, sprinkling salt between each layer. Leave for about half an hour or so, and then drain and wash all the salt off and pat each slice dry with paper towel – uses a lot of paper towel.
While eggplant is soaking make a sauce with the tomatoes and onion and garlic – the usual way – saute the onion and garlic in oil, then add the tomatoes and puree and leave to simmer until you finish the eggplant.
After you pat the eggplant dry, fry It in olive oil until both sides brown.
This takes heaps of olive oil but if you prefer you can brush both sides with oil and grill it. This takes about a third of the amount of oil but isn’t quite the same. As the eggplant cooks drain it on paper towel.
When you have finished cooking the eggplant put some extra oil in the pan and fry the breadcrumbs. This is important, and make sure the breadcrumbs all pick up a bit of oil. Fry them until they start to brown and crisp.
NOW – start assembling. In a pyrex dish put a layer of eggplant, a layer of sauce, a good sprinkle of cheese, and a layer of breadcrumbs. Then repeat until the dish is full or you run out of ingredients. Finish with a layer of breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of cheese over the lot.
Bake in a moderate oven until top browns and you can see the layers
bubbling.
While it is baking you can clean up the mess.

CHICKEN SOUP WITH MEAT BALLS

31 Oct 2010 1 Comment

by nonnax9 in Pop's chicken soup, Uncategorized

This is a dish that is hard to make in small quantities as it takes a lot of
chicken to get the flavour in the soup.
I use chicken pieces so that I have only the bits that everybody wants.
Several chicken pieces – say 4 drumsticks
6 wings
1 whole breast ( the bones are necessary )
and about 300 to 400 grams of giblets and
livers. These really give the soup a strong
chicken flavour.
2 carrots – sliced
couple of sticks of celery – sliced
couple of onions – finely chopped
couple of tomatoes – chopped ( I usually use canned tomatoes )
pepper to taste – just a sprinkle
parsley – several whole stalks
Put all ingredients in saucepan with plenty of water and bring to boil,
then reduce to simmer.
In the meantime, make the meatballs –
quantity of good minced beef – usually about 500 grams – this makes
about 18 meatballs.
About 4 slices of bread – crumbed.
About 1 or 2 cups of PECORINO cheese ( pecorino gives the best flavour –
not parmesan or romano although these will do in a pinch)
sprinkle of pepper
some beaten egg – 1 whole egg is usually too much and will make the
mixture too sloppy.
Combine all these ingredients well and make into meatballs – use your
hands.
When the soup is boiling well drop the meatballs into the pot carefully, a
few at a time and just give a gentle stir.
After about half an hour just try the taste and if necessary add some
chicken stock or about a dessert spoon of Vegemite if required.
About half an hour before serving transfer some soup without the solids
to a big saucepan and when it comes back to the boil add some small
pasta. Simmer well, stirring frequently, until pasta is cooked al dente.
Serve with meatballs etc.
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POP’S CHICKEN SOUP – AND OTHER THINGS

31 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by nonnax9 in Pop's chicken soup

Writing these recipes down is a labor of love – my love of food, rough cooking, and you who will read them. They are the sort of dishes my mother and grandmother made without referring to recipe books, and without measuring any ingredients. Some I have developed over the years usually from books, but I never seem to have the right ingredients on hand, so I have had to modify and experiment, and sometimes adjust the ingredients to include what I like and exclude what I don’t like. Some recipes were developed with your mother, and I am pleased that everyone has grown up liking them although you really didn’t have much choice.
Don’t necessarily stick to the recipe, but add or subtract as you like. No dish I ever cook turns out the same way twice. If you don’t get the right result it will usually be edible anyway, or you can have beans on toast
You will realise that I don’t like Nouvelle Cuisine, and that most dishes are quick but traditional. Don’t be stingy when you cook or serve food, and use the best ingredients you can afford. Not much food ever got thrown out in our place so leftovers are not a worry – fry it up for breakfast, you know how nice vegetable fritters are. The pasta recipes are meant to be fast food, quick to cook. Pasta is religion with me and I like it with almost any kind of sauce (except seafood). My mother spent every Sunday morning making tomato sauce for pasta, boiling up kilos of tomatoes in a big boiler, and reducing the sauce until it was thick. And then she would often make fresh pasta which would be hung all over the kitchen and dining room to dry. Thank God for canned tomatoes and fresh pasta from the shop. (Although I don’t think it tastes the same).
And if we didn’t have pasta for Sunday dinner (lunch) we had baked
dinner – lamb or beef or we went for a picnic and had steak and breadcrumbs and salad. Always. And then we got to take the leftover steak and breadcrumbs to school for lunch the next day – woggy food – dagoes but the other kids didn’t mind scrounging it in preference to their soggy tomato sandwiches, after they had called you all the appropriate names of course. No way! But in fact a lot of the things we took to school for lunch weren’t woggy, just different, because my mother grew up in the bush and that was the way it was done. Cornish pasties, home made pies, bacon and egg sandwiches, pig’s trotters, and of course salami and mortadella, and Italian sausage and even bread and cheese. Beats peanut butter and vegemite. Although I did like grated Kraft cheese mixed with tomato sauce on my sandwiches. Still do, and Camp pie.

Just a few tips.

In general, the recipes that follow don’t give specific quantities – I don’t worry about this as I use whatever is available, and cook for the moment, i.e., I cook according to the crowd and conditions. If you have any leftovers don’t worry, it will be eaten tomorrow- or sometime, so buy a lot, cook a l0t, and eat a lot.

Where I mention pecorino cheese this is pretty important. Pecorino is made from sheep’s milk and is sharper and stronger than parmesan or other grating cheeses. It comes in several types but I always try and get soft fresh cheese if I can.
Try not to use packet grated cheese as it is not a nice. Some Continental deli’s will grate it for you, this is OK. Also pecorino cooks without going stringy.

When you make a chicken or meat soup try and make it the day before and leave it in the frig overnight. Then you can skim any fat off the surface before finally cooking it, and leaving it adds to the flavour. When you make chicken soup it is hard to trim all the fat off the chicken pieces so leaving it overnight makes it easy to skim the fat off.

Pop’s Chicken Soup and other things

30 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by nonnax9 in Nonna's Recipes, Pop's chicken soup, Uncategorized

While my brother says that writing down the recipes is a labour of love this is going to be a greater labor of love. How to get his book into my blog. My brother Joe loved food with a passion and really it was this passion the took him to an early grave. He wrote this book for the family. I don’t think Blogs were available when he was alive or if they were he didn’t know about them but I feel sure he would be pleased a punch having it put here for all and sundry to view and enjoy. I just have to work out how to do this. I am sure there is a way without having to type it out myself. I can’t get the scanned copy to come across but I will persevere. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
Stay posted….

You will might notice some of his recipes are similar to mine or have the same name. I have modified mine now to suit the busy cook and I don’t always have the same ingredients. They are still the family favourites, certainly my family anyway. I use Campbells chicken stock instead of boiling up bones etc to make stock. Joe is probably turning in his grave. It is your choice which way to go.

LENTIL SOUP WITH PASTA

30 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by nonnax9 in Cooking, Nonna's Recipes

This is ideal for the big family and these ingredients will do for 6 people.

It is my friend Diana’s recipe and is very yummy.

  • 185g brown lentils – Soak for 2 hours
  • 30grams of bacon or ham – sliced
  • 3 – 4 large chopped tomatoes
  • stick of celery cut into bits
  • 1 large onion finely sliced
  • several cloves of garlic
  • Bacon or ham fat for frying (go the cholestrol)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Parsley and mint

Method:

Fry onion in fat.  I prefer oil myself

Add tomatoes, garlic and celery.

After 10 minutes add strained lentils and mix well so that they absorb the fat.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cover with 31/2 (three and one half) pints of water and cook fairly fast for 1 hour.

Add little pasta and cook

Check the salt

Enjoy.

ZUCCHINI AND ONION FRITTATA

30 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by nonnax9 in Nonna's Recipes

This seems to be a family favourite.  I am always asked to bring this when there is something on.  Good for the family Vegetarian (Stephanie)

  • 3 tabsp of virgin olive oil
  • 1 large white onion finely chopped
  • 4 zucchini approx 550g unpeeled and finely sliced
  • 7 eggs
  • 100g grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
  • salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

Heat 1 tabsp of oil in a large non stick pan and add onions (23cm in diameter and rounded sides) and saute gently until soft

Add zucchinis turn frequently until they begin to wilt.  They should remain slightly crisp.

Lightly beat the eggs with a fork.

Add Cheese and fried zucchini and onion.

Mix well and add salt and pepper.

Heat remaining oil until hot but not smking.

Pour in mixture. Cook on medium heat 5 – 7 mins.  Finish under grill for a bit until set.

Turn out onto platter and serve warm or room temp with a crisp green salad

PUTTANESCA DI ANGELO

30 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by nonnax9 in Cooking

This is something I cook occasionally for a quick meal when I am running late as I alwyas have the ingredients in the cupboard.  It was a Joan Campbell recipes from Breakfast with Phillip Clark in 1977.

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 segment of garlic, chopped
  • 1 small dried chilli, chopped
  • 6 or so of capers chopped
  • 6 small anchovy fillets, chopped
  • 10 to 15 large black olives chopped in half and stones removed
  • 2 x 440 tins crushed tomatoes
  • 1/3 tin water
  • enought pasta for however many people you need it for.

Method:

Heat the olive oil with garlic anf chilli until there is a perfume.  It takes about 1 minute.  Add the capers, anchovies and black olives.  Cook for 1 minute stirring often.

Add the tomatoes plus the water.  Bring it to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 45 mins without covering.  Mix in with the pasta and scatter over with comtinental parsley if you have any however we have cheese on because I never have and continentinal parsley and can’t be bothered to go down stairs and get the curley kind from the garden. 

  •  This sause makes enough for about 5 people