STEAMED MUSSELS & POMMES FRITES

I would never would have thought that people eat Mussels with French Fries, but it is a delicious combination. This is common on French & Belgian bistro menu’s. This dish pairs perfectly with a nice light white wine or a crisp Belgian beer. I plan on serving this with some Hoegaarden or Leffe, depending on what I can pick up. I just had fresh mussel’s this past weekend on Montauk, NY and now I am craving them again. They are one of the easiest things to make, they basically have a built in timer once they open, they’re done.

I would urge you to make sure you get them from a trusted fish source, you want to make sure these little guys are alive.

Ingredients:

• 1 large fennel bulb with fronds, base trimmed, bulb & fronds roughly chopped

• 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

• 1 lemon, sliced

• Few Sprigs of fresh thyme

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 tsp black peppercorns

• 1/4 cup white wine

• 4 lbs mussels, debearded and scrubbed

• 4 TBSP butter

• 1 small shallot, peeled and chopped

• 3oz prosciutto, large diced

• Crusty French Bread

POMMES FRITES

• 6 Russet Potatoes

• 3-4 qts Corn Oil / Peanut Oil (depending on what you’re frying them in)

• Salt

• Old Bay

FOR THE MUSSELS

Put fennel, three-quarters of the onions, one-third of the garlic, lemon, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, wine, and 4 cups water into a large pot with a tight-fitting lid and boil over high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add mussels, cover pot, and give pot a good shake to mix mussels and the aromatics together. Steam mussels, giving pot a good shake occasionally, until shells just open, about 10 minutes. Discard any shells that don’t open.

Strain mussels through a colander set over a large bowl. Set aside 1/2 cup of the strained broth, then serve remaining broth, if you like, in cups, adjusting seasonings with a little salt, or save broth for another use. Cover mussels with a clean dishcloth to keep them warm.

Melt butter in same pot over medium heat. Add remaining onions and garlic, shallots, and prosciutto and cook until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Discard aromatics from pile of mussels in colander, then add mussels to pot. Add reserved 1/2 cup broth, cover pot, and shake several times to mix mussels and ham mixture together. Heat mussels over medium heat until warmed through

Cut bread in half, drizzle with olive oil and throw on the grill or place under the broiler to crisp up. Cut up into strips to serve with the Mussels

Place the bread at the bottom of the bowl or off to the side and scoop the mussels on top of it, making sure to spoon some of the broth into the bowl as well.

FOR THE POMMES FRITES

Wash & scrub the potatoes. You can peel them or choose to leave the skin on them for a rustic look.  Cut them into batons that are about the length and width of your index finger. I used a potato cuter that I had recently purchased. It ended up being very cheap and it was not worth the $20.00 I spent on it. I plan on upgrading to a commercial grade potato cutter

Preheat a deep pot of oil to 325 degrees F.

For the first fry, deep fry potatoes in the oil for 5 to 6 minutes, or until a light golden color. Do not over load fryer. Fry in 3 batches if necessary. Remove the potatoes using a slotted spoon, and allow them to cool to room temperature.

Raise the temperature of the oil to 375 degrees F.

For the second fry, deep-fry the potatoes for 2 minutes, or until crispy. Remove potatoes, and transfer into a colander or bowl. While still hot, salt the potatoes & sprinkle with old bay

Serve along side the mussels and a nice glass of white wine or a beer

Mussels recipe- courtesy of Saveur.com

Pommes Frites recipe- courtesy of Pommes Frites in New York, NY

FROSTED FLAKE CRUSTED FRENCH TOAST

They’re GRRRRRREAT! Tony the Tiger is missing out on how good these are, but you don’t have to. I first saw someone make this with Corn Flakes, but I wanted something a little sweeter, so I decided to try it with Frosted Flakes. They really are a treat, I wouldn’t suggest eating them everyday. since you would probably weight more than a tiger, but its nice to treat yourself sometimes.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups crushed Frosted Flakes

• 6 pieces of bread (the thicker the better)

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 TBLS melted butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F

Place the frosted flakes into a zip lock bag and crush them with the back of heavy pan or a rolling pin. 

Place the crumbs into a shallow dish/plate. Next, mix the eggs, salt, vanilla and milk in a bowl. Dip the bread into the mixture and then into the crushed frosted flakes, flip to coat both sides

Place onto a greased & foiled baking sheet. Drizzle with melted butter and bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

FRAN'S FRIDAY PIZZA

Who doesn’t love pizza? Well I am sure the Atkins diet doesn’t, but that is just silly. Being from New York, I was born to eat pizza, being Italian, I was born to make it. 

Every Friday night at my parents house, there is bound to be a pizza in the oven. If there isn’t a pizza in the oven, then we are in the car on our way to Vermont, and stopped for pizza along the way. 

Everyone has their comfort food, be it fried chicken, cupcakes, taffy, mine is pizza.

Now that I am on my own, I need to keep the tradition alive and make pizza every Friday night. 

Once you see how easy it is to make your own pizza, you will think twice about ordering in delivery. Now you can certainly make your own dough and I have several times, but I would rather focus my attention on the toppings and let the dough be made by the pros. Believe it or not, a pizzeria will sell you plain dough. The prices can range anywhere from $2.00 to $4.00 for a large dough, it depends how much they want to rip us off. I purchased 4 large dough’s and then cut 2 of them in half to create 4 small ones.

This Friday I cooked 2 large pizza’s in the oven and 4 small pizza’s on the grill. You can go either way here, but I would suggest trying to grill your own pizza sometime. It tastes like it was cooked in a brick over, without the investment of Italian bricks. I will show you the basics of both methods and then you can get as creative you would like with the toppings.

Ingredients:

PLAIN CHEESE PIZZA

• 1 large dough

• 2 cups shredded mozzarella

• 1-2 cups tomato sauce (home made or store bought)

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

• Fresh Basil torn into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F

For this pizza, I decided to bake it in the oven, just like my mother would do every Friday. Using a rimmed baking sheet, whether it be round or square, drizzle the pan with oil. Then you need to stretch the dough to fit the pan. There is no need to throw the pizza in the air, you can certainly try. I grab the edges and hold it up so the dough naturally starts to stretch. You can also make fists and put the dough over it and slowly expand it.

Since I am using a rectangular baking sheet, I need to stretch it a little more one side then the other. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to fit inside the pan. The imperfections are what makes this pizza yours.

Now that the dough is in the pan, I spread the sauce onto the dough with a spoon. I leave about an inch or so of the edge un-sauced, so there is a crust.

Once the sauce is on the pizza, you can place is in the pre-heated oven and bake until the bottom is golden brown. It takes 10-15 mins to get the bottom golden. Depending on your oven, the time can vary. The easiest way to know, is to take a fork and lift the dough up to see the bottom. Once it’s golden brown. Take it out of the oven, sprinkle it with the grated parmesan cheese and then sprinkle with the torn basil. Then evenly sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the pizza. Place back into the oven until it reaches the desired crispiness. 

I like my pizza well done, so I leave it in a little longer.

HUEVOS RANCHEROS

Do you speak Spanish? Well I don’t, but this translates to eggs ranch-style or eggs country-style. You’ve got to love Mexican food. Here is breakfast with eggs, beans, tortillas and cheese. It doesn’t even have to be limited to breakfast, it can be eaten anytime. I woke up this morning and decided that I needed to eat this. I’ve ordered it out at restaurants several times and it’s really hit or miss. It’s either really good, or should never be served to humans. I decided to step it up and make it myself.

Ingredients:

• 1 TBLS vegetable oil

• 1 cup chopped onion

• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp cayenne

• 1 TBLS minced jalapeno

• 1 tsp minced garlic

• 1 cup chopped tomatoes and their juice

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 3 TBLS chopped cilantro

• 2 tsp vegetable oil

• 4 large corn tortillas

• 1/2 cup warm refried beans

• 2 TBLS unsalted butter

• 8 large eggs

• 1 1/2 cups shredded pepper Jack

RANCHERO SAUCE:

in a medium pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the cumin, salt, cayenne, jalapeno, and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add the broth and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning, to taste, and cover to keep warm.

In a large skillet, heat 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 tortilla and cook until warmed through and just starting to brown about 30 seconds. Turn and cook on the second side. Remove, cover to keep warm, and repeat with the remaining oil and tortillas.

In 2 medium skillets, melt 1 tablespoon of butter each, over medium-high heat. Break 4 eggs into each skillet and fry until beginning to set, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the eggs with the cheese and cover to finish cooking, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Place 1 warm tortilla on each of 4 plates and spread each with 2 tablespoons of warm refried beans. Place 2 eggs on top of each tortilla and top with the warm Ranchero Sauce. Serve immediately.

Enjoy.

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

OLD BAY GRILLED CHICKEN

Who would have thought that the word Old Bay and Chicken would be in the same sentence. It is typically associated with eating crabs, since that’s where it had originated. It was created by a German immigrant in the 1940’s as a seasoning to be used on crabs. Similar to how you can find peanuts up for grabs at most bars, at those times in Maryland, they would offer free crabs to encourage people to drink.

If you’ve never tried it, then you need to pick it up next time your at the store. The little yellow can is a unique blend of: mustard, paprika, celery seed, bay leaves, both black and red pepper, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, salt and ginger. It’s full of flavor and I am sure you will find many more uses for it.

On the back of the can they have a few recipes suggestions, this chicken being one of them (I adjusted it slightly).

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 Lemon

• 1 TBLS of Old Bay Seasoning

• Handful of fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley

• Salt & pepper to taste

In a glass dish or plastic zip lock bag, combine all ingredients. Add some fresh cracked pepper and salt to your preference. I personally don’t add any pepper, I add a pinch of sea salt. Give the lemon a good roll on the counter to get the most juice out of it. Squeeze the whole thing in, don’t worry about the pits.

Now, seal up the zip lock bag and work all the ingredients together to make sure the chicken is evenly coated. Refrigerate this 20-30 mins and then grill on a medium-high grill. You can also broil in the oven until no longer pink inside

Grill 5-10 mins a side, until fully cooked through.

Serve with some veggies and rice. I grilled some corn for this meal and made some brown rice. 

For only marinating 20 minutes, this chicken has a ton of flavor.

MOM'S GNOCCHI

Imagine having a few too many drinks at your uncle’s 50th birthday party and then your mother invites you over the next day to learn how to make gnocchi. I woke up and don’t remember the night, but I do remember the promise of fresh pasta. 

I wanted to share the experience I had while watching my mother take just flour and ricotta and turn them into something that sauce perfectly adhered to and melted in your mouth, all while not leaving you stuffed.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of Ricotta (we used Poly-O original)

• 6-8 cups of All-purpose flour

Tools: (optional)  certainly makes it easier

• Bench Scrapper  knife can be used

• Gnocchi Board  fork will work just fine

Makes approx 2 lbs (extra to freeze)

Make sure you have a clean stable work surface. My mom has a special board she had made for pasta and struffoli’s (honey balls). This is not required, but makes for an easy, low hassle working surface. Scoop out the ricotta into a pile and make a well in the center by taking a spoon and going in a circular motion.

Then you just need to add the flour in increments, mixing with your hands, until the right consistency in formed. Very similar to other pasta dough’s, it can’t be too sticky. If it continues to stick to your fingers, keep adding flour. The reason you add the flour in increments, is that you don’t want it to become too dry.

You’ll notice the dough is sticky, but not forming together. Keep adding flour and kneading it with your hands.

The dough is finally starting to come together and resemble a log. With an un-floured finger, try poking the dough and it you don’t stick, then the dough will be ready for rolling out.

Now comes the fun part. Place the dough in the corner of your workspace, since you are going to need plenty of room for rolling out and cutting. Cover the dough with a clean towel and using your bench scrapper or a knife, cut a 2 inch piece off at a time. Roll this into a 1/2″ thick log, you can make them as big or small as you would like.

Next, using the bench scrapper or a knife, cut them into 3/4″

You can cook them if you wanted to now, but traditional gnocchi have ridges. To create the ridges, press each piece of dough against the front of a fork then gently roll up and around the back of the fork. If you the dough is sticking to the fork, dust the fork lightly with flour. If you happen to have a wooden gnocchi board, then you just press the dough at the top and roll it down.

After each rope is cut and formed into gnocchi, using your bench scrapper or a spatula, place them onto a lightly floured baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. This makes it easier to transport them to the water, once you’re ready to cook them.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and gently add the gnocchi, they will cook very fast. Approx 5-6 minutes and they will start floating to the top. Make sure you have an official pasta tester who has agreed to judge the doneness. That would be my dad. He’s the most picky eater and he loves his pasta, so were not done until he says so.

Once Big John says the pasta is done, then drain them and toss with your favorite sauce. We’ve got mom’s homemade sauce of course.

Enjoy. Not only is the pasta delicious, its fun to make and brings everyone together. That has to be the most rewarding thing about food.

Thank you Mom.

Love,

your Son