Salvation on Thursday Night / Pasta and APOP

Thursdays are a such a beating.

I'm tired.  I've spent four days fighting the good fight (which is what we small business owners do).  Jousting with difficult clients, difficult employees, incompetent vendors amid a stream of never-ending interruptions - I'm exhausted. Late nights and early mornings only compound my state.

I live in Colorado and on this late Thursday in May, mother nature has given us a persistent cold rain.  My lawn and flowers are quite content.  Me? Far less so.  Add a good chill to my malaise.  To make my situation a complete tragicomedy, I've just gone back to crossfit.  I can barely move. Fat old guys shouldn't go to crossfit.  Deep down, I know this.  My thighs cry out with protest as I hobble to the fridge.  I lift my right hand to the refrigerator door (supporting it by my trembling left hand) only to take my exhausted, cold, tired, depressed and aching body to a new low.  After prying open what must be a one ton refrigerator door, I find that my stash left from Sunday's culinary endeavors are now all gone. Curse you, Wednesday! There is no braised pork chop in buttermilk gravy.  Nary a drop of grilled salmon in a maple-soy glaze.  And the primavera? Not a chance. Nada. Not. Nil. Nein. Nicht.  I am shutout.

Dejected, I turn to the cupboard. In my current state, it's a 3 minute walk.  Nearly 15 feet. I rummage past the tuna, the broth, and the tortilla chips with little but despair in my heart.  Wait.  What is that? And there calling out to me like the Holy Grail of canned goods, I see it.  There before my eyes, I see a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes.  It's going to be ok. I'm going to make it. For I know that this one of the five key ingredients I need to turn my night around.  And the remaining four are always on hand.

I grab a box of penne pasta.  Now moving more fluidly, I grab garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Olive oil is already by the stove.  After putting on a pot of water, spirits lifted, I put on a little music. I think my Sinatra playlist will do nicely.  And as "That's Life" comes on, I smile.  Tomorrow is Friday. There's good stuff on the DVR.  I pour a glass of red.  And I get to work.

I realize that many of you still live with jars of store-bought tomato sauce.  Today, we'll fix that.  Today, I give you my simplest recipe and yet one of my favorite comfort foods.  Try this.  I'm begging you.  You'll never procure another jar of ho-hum tomato sauce again.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the house pasta sauce; aglio,  pomodoro, olio e pepperoncino (APOP).

Heat the oil, red pepper flakes and chopped garlic together for just a minute until the oil is fragrant.  Add the can of tomatoes.  Let it simmer for five minutes.  Done.  Toss the pasta into the pan and coat.  Maybe top with a little freshly grated Parmigiana Reggiano?  Serve.  Crazy fast.  Crazy good.

Oh, and please - get yourself a chunk of Parmigiana Reggiano and keep it in the fridge, just for nights like this.  You can do a hundred things with it and it keeps well for weeks.  We'll take about parmesan chips at a later date... for tonight we're talking about sauce.

Can you use fresh tomatoes in the summer?  Of course.  Add basil?  Absolutely.  A touch of white wine?  Yup.  I used this base sauce for an tapas meatball dish a few weeks ago, but added beef broth and let it cook down for an hour.  It was fabulous.  But this basic sauce is the very core of greatness. Add some crusty bread and a nice glass of red wine and as I sit down with my piping hot bowl of life, it dawns on me...  Hey - tomorrow is Friday!  The weekend is upon us!  Farmer's market on Saturday! And perhaps my thighs will unlock by Sunday!  It's going to be ok!

APOP Recipe

Ingredients
2 ounces nice extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (good quality please!)
1 lb pasta of choice, but I like penne with this recipe
2 TBS butter
Parmigiana Reggiano
salt to taste

Directions
While the pasta is cooking in salted water, warm the oil with the garlic and red pepper flakes together in a sauté pan over medium heat.  The key to this recipe is to not burn the garlic.  Brown is bad people.  Tan is even bad.  Slightly off-white is good.  Have the tomatoes ready so that you can toss them in the pan and arrest the garlic's frying before good goes to oh crap.  Let it simmer and slightly reduce for about 5 minutes.  Season to taste with salt.

Drain the pasta and toss with a little butter.  Add the pasta to the sauté pan and toss to coat.  Shave (use your vegetable peeler) or grate a little parmesan over the top and you are good to go.

Next time you decide... more garlic? Less? More red pepper?  Make notes and tweak to your taste.

As for jars of bland sauce? You'll never look back. Trust me.

Summertime is Limoncello Time

It's been a great night around the table with friends.   We had a sunny summer evening with cocktails and appetizers outside.  There was a great sunset, fun music, lots of laughs (often at my expense), a good meal, and now the evening is winding down.

We're all still sitting at the table.  Or maybe we're sitting outside around the fire pit.  We're all a little tired, but the conversation continues, just slightly less vibrant than before. As we're winding down - it's time for one last little surprise.  Something sweet.  Something savory.  Just a little taste...

Our House Limoncello

I reach into the freezer and pull out a favorite bottle.  Frosted on the outside.  Ice cold, thick, and syrupy on the inside.   I fill small aperitif-style glasses with bright yellow nectar. The intense lemon scent hits you long before the glass meets your lips.  Yes, its limoncello.

If you haven't had limoncello, go get some.  It screams of summertime.  Adult lemonade.  It's special, just like your guests.

One of our favorite restaurants, The Wooden Table in Greenwood Village, CO pours guests a complementary glass after each meal.  It is so civilized.  

Limoncello has it's origins in and around Napoli and on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.  The giant lemons, raised in volcanic soil, produce vibrant fruit that someone figured should be used in alcohol.  I believe that clever person(s) is at the forefront of natural selection. 

John, my brother-in-law, introduced me to limoncello many years ago.  John is my very Italian, north-Jersey-born friend, brother, and Italian food guru.  I remember sipping my first limoncello and was struck by the icy-cool of the frosty syrup, the bright fresh taste of lemon, followed by the warmth of the alcohol.  It was the perfect after-dinner summer sip. 

Shortly thereafter, I purchased limoncello at the local liquor store.  I tried several different varieties but nothing struck me like that first taste with John.  They were ok, but for the price, they just weren't all that great.  

So shortly thereafter again, I found a recipe and made my own limoncello.  Fear not. This isn't like making bourbon, kids.  This is shockingly simple.  There are just three ingredients - lemon peel, sugar syrup, and alcohol (either grain alcohol or a good neutral vodka).  My first experimental batch sat steeping on the counter for a full ten days.  As the days wore on, my son took it upon himself to make daily inquiries about the "specimen" jar on the counter.   Nice.  He was 14.  That's what you get for being creative.  

I strained the mixture, mixed in simple syrup and bingo!  My boy proved wrong.  The flavor was fabulous.  I've kept some on hand ever since. 

And it isn't just a great drink.  It's a great addition to a host of cocktails.  It's also a killer marinade.

Here in Denver, Marco's Coal-Fired Pizzeria (recently renamed Racca's Pizzeria Napoletana) uses it to marinade chicken wings.  You let the wings bathe in lemon greatness for 24 hours and after a high-heat baking, you get a wing with a great blackened edge as the sugars caramelize to create a magical lemon chicken wing.  I don't have a high-heat pizza oven (yet) but my grill does a great job.  And the smell of these wings cooking will lift the spirits of everyone in the neighborhood. 

I've got two recipes for you; one for limoncello and another for Racca's limoncello chicken wings.  You have friends coming over this weekend?  Do this. Your friends will thank you.  Your palate will thank you.  And once again - you'll be living large with simple but great rustic fare.  

p.s.  Thank you, Susan S. for requesting this topic!

Limoncello

Ingredients:
1 bottle (750 ml) of grain alcohol or a good quality, very clean vodka.
10 medium to large organic lemons. If they're small, get a few extra.

For the lemon simple syrup:
3 1/2 cups of of filtered tap water or spring water
3 1/2 cups of white granulated sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (strained of pulp)

Rinse and peel the lemons with a vegetable peeler.  Be sure not to get any of the bitter white pith.  You just want the oil-rich peel.  Put the peels in a large mason jar along with the alcohol.  Let it sit on the counter for three days.  Some say one day is sufficient.  I want to ensure that I get all the oil out of the peel.  I do think there are diminishing returns waiting more than a few days. Besides, the kids will start to freak out.

Make the simple syrup by combining water and sugar in a pot.  Heat without stirring (so it doesn't crystalize) until the sugar dissolves and you have a nice syrup.  Add the strained lemon juice and let it cool.

Combine the syrup and the strained lemon alcohol mixture.  Toss it in the freezer and leave it there until you're ready for some fun.  Drink very cold.

Don't feel constrained by the lemons. Oranges and limes would also work. I have heard of others doing this with cantaloupe or melons but I have no experience with this.  Yet.

Limoncello Chicken Wings by Racca Pizzeria Napoletana via Pizza Today

Ingredients:
5 pounds chicken wings

3 whole lemons
½ cup limoncello
¼ ounce fresh thyme
3 ounces fresh rosemary
¾ ounces fresh oregano
2 tablespoons
kosher salt
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil

Blend the quartered lemons, limoncello and rest of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Marinate 5 pounds of chicken wings in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Remove from marinade and bake at 450 F until browned and cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve with roasted Vidalia onions.

Or do as I do and cook them on a hot grill.  I like to get a char on them over an open flame, and then turn off the center of the grill, move the chicken to the center of the grill, close the lid and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 450 degrees.

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