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The Mamma Meets the Cucina: COOKING WITH SPIRITS!

So the holidays have come and gone and our liquor cabinets are pretty much cleaned out. But don’t write off those nearly empty bottles yet! With less than a cup of some of the most common spirits, you can have an awesome meal on the table with a huge wow factor. And the Mamma & the Cucina are battling again to show you just how to do it!

Be sure to let us know which spirit YOU prefer to cook with by using our voting poll below. MANGIA!!

FROM THE MAMMA

Sambuca is one of the liquors I remember from my childhood. After dinner my parents and grandparents would have a small glass over ice, or even put some in their coffee. I, personally, never liked the stuff, but I find that the naturally sweet flavor really enhances savory dishes for a sweet & salty effect! Sambuca is often used in cooking with prawns or lamb, but I went with shrimp. So myfood-blogging brain did a little talking with my Italian stomach and I invented the following recipe:

SAMBUCA SHRIMP

INGREDIENTS:
12 shrimp, trimmed & deveined
1 TB olive oil
4 TB butter
3 TB minced shallots
juice of one small lemon
1/4 cup Sambuca
salt, pepper, crushed red pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
Saute the shallots in 1 Tablespoon olive oil and 1 Tablespoon butter until transparent. (You want to sweat the shallots, meaning you cook them without any color or browning). Add in the shrimp and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and plenty of crushed red pepper. Cook for about 1 minute on each side. Remove the shrimp. Add the sambuca and cook for 5 minutes on medium-high heat.

Then add the lemon juice and the remaining TB of butter and simmer lightly until you get kind of a thin glaze. Then, throw the shrimp back in and toss it all together. Turn the heat off (you do not want to overcook the shrimp,a s the heat alone will finish the cooking process). Serve immediately over rice pilaf, or alongside roasted veggies. I served mine with brown rice since we are trying to keep that New Year’s resolution of eating healthy!

FROM THE CUCINA

Of all the liquors that I keep stored in my house (and aside from a variety of rums, there aren’t many others), tequila seems to be the least used. Just a nice margarita on Cinco de Mayo and maybe a grill-out or two is all the time that I usually have for tequila. Yes…my Cuervo ‘shot’ days are way behind me. So when I started to plan for our Cooking with Spirits post, I figured it would be a good time to dust off the tequila bottle and put it to some good use!

This recipe is very simple and only uses a handful of ingredients. The the tequila lime marinade leaves a refreshing, zesty flavor that, although screams for a summer grill-out, can be enjoyed all year round and makes for a terrific party appetizer.

TEQUILA LIME CHICKEN BITES

INGREDIENTS:
6 uncooked skinless chicken tenders, cut into 2″ pieces
1/3 cup silver/white tequila
juice of 4 limes, plus zest of 1 lime
1 tspn honey
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
2 tblspn butter

PREPARATION:
Whisk together the tequila, lime juice, lime zest, honey and cilantro. Place the cut chicken pieces into tequila mixture, let sit in fridge for at least two hours (a plastic baggie works well for this).

Remove chicken from marinade, discard marinade. Quarter each piece of the prosciutto (adjust size accordingly to fit around each chicken strip). Wrap each chicken strip with one piece of the prosciutto and secure with a toothpick.

Melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Place the prosciutto wrapped chicken in pan, cooking the chicken evenly on each side, until chicken is fully browned and prosciutto is slightly crisp.

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Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle Cookies

We’re heading into the home-stretch of the holiday madness. But there is still some time to get your cookie-baking on! And thanks to my fellow foodie, Emma Caperelli Loerky, we have a great recipe for Gluten-free Snickerdoodle Cookies! These look just like the snickerdoodle cookies that my Grandmother used to make, so I am sure that Emma’s recipe is sure to please!

GLUTEN-FREE SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES
By Emma Caperelli Loerky 

While deciding which recipe I should share with you all next, I realized that not only has it been about 3 months since my last post (how did that happen?!), but it has also been quite some time since I shared a gluten-free recipe with you. So, I suppose it is only fair that my next recipe be GF. Which, by the way, is very convenient since I just baked up a fresh batch of gluten-free Snickerdoodle cookies for my husband.

I adapted this recipe from here: http://www.bakerella.com/snickerdoodle-duo/. I have not tried making the cupcakes gluten-free…yet. I promise to report back if/when I get the chance. In the meantime, you will be happy to know that these cookies turned out great and are super easy to prepare – which is a good thing because I have a feeling my husband is going to be requesting them often.

Makes approximately 20 cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix 

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (Note: Check to see if your flour mix includes xanthan and/or guar gum. If so, omit the xanthan gum)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together gluten-free flour, xanthan gum (if using), cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Or, if you’re like me, place all the dry ingredients in the bowl and whisk together well.

In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, shortening, and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Add the egg and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture and beat until combined.

Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Use a small 1 1/4 inch ice-cream scoop to form balls and roll it in the cinnamon-sugar until it is coated. If you do not have a small ice-cream scoop, simply use a tablespoon to scoop the dough and gently roll it in the cinnamon-sugar until it is coated and formed in a ball. Place the balls at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet to allow room for the cookies to spread. These cookies spread A LOT during baking so be sure to leave ample room.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies begin to crack.

Remove and let cool on a wire rack.

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Hot Pepper Salad

December 18, 2011 Appetizer, Menu, Salads 1 Comment

Like the star that led the Wise Men to the stable, it’s the hot pepper salad that leads my family to the table! Hot pepper salad, which is a staple Condo family recipe, has been served at many graduation, confirmation and communion parties, and at every major holiday dinner for as long as I could remember. However, Christmas Eve is the biggest meal that features the hot pepper salad. To this day, I still think back with a warm smile to when I was a child, helping my Grandparents mix up the salad, days before my family all gathered together to celebrate our biggest meal of the year – the Feast of the Seven Fishes. It was also for this meal that we would add one additional ingredient – anchovies (filette di alici) – which would then allow the salad to count as one of the Seven Fishes.

 

 

THE INGREDIENTS
Because we would serve the hot pepper salad at the  beginning of our holiday meals, I would classify it as an antipasto. The recipe is very simple, consisting of just six basic ingredients.
Equal parts of the following:
• cherry peppers, stems removed
• jumbo pitted black olives
• jumbo pitted green olives
• marinated artichoke hearts
• marinated eggplant
• marinated button mushrooms
Again, you can also add anchovies to the salad for extra taste and to count it as one of your Seven Fish dishes. Shrimp would also work very well!

You can adjust the amount of each ingredient to your liking. For example, if you’re not a big mushroom fan, but if you love black olives, double up on the olives! Or you could do what many in my family do…just pick out what you like, and trade up with someone else for their favorite ingredients. Whatever preference you have will work well here.

All of the above ingredients are available in most major supermarkets, jarred and marinated. You can also buy the fresh ingredients at any Italian specialty shop, if that is what you prefer.  One jar of each ingredient combined will make enough salad to serve 6-8.

THE PREPARATION
The preparation of this dish is very basic and easy. Simply drain and mix all ingredients in a bowl, maybe add a little Italian seasoning and red pepper flake for some extra flavor and heat if you prefer, stir and refrigerate for at least 24 hours to allow all of the flavors to marry together. Be sure to remove from the refrigerator at least an hour before serving. Stir well to mix up the oils (don’t worry if any of the oils solidified while chilled, it will all liquify when brought back to room temperature). You can add a quick drizzle of olive oil too, if needed.

TO CHOP OR NOT TO CHOP?
My family has served the pepper salad both chopped and whole, depending on the meal. For Christmas Eve we would keep the pieces whole, which allows it to work well as an antipasto. Rough chopping it allows it to work better as a topping, especially on sandwiches or pasta. If you have a food processor, you can give the mixture a few quick pulses. Be sure to keep the pulses quick and short, because the oils that are incorporated will cause the salad to become a pasty puree if chopped too fine.

Whichever method and ingredients you prefer,  I hope that you find this special dish to be as tasty and enjoyable as my family and I do for every holiday meal.

Buon Natale!

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Upcoming Appearances and Other Fun Stuff!

December 9, 2011 Menu No Comments

Although the year is quickly wrapping up, there are still some fun things planned here at Cucina Domenico before we dip our toes into 2012. This past year has given me the opportunity to share with you some tasty and interesting recipes, not only from myself but also from my fantastic co-bloggers, Una Mamma Italiana and Emma Caperelli Loerky. I am very excited to tell you that Una Mamma and I have one more ‘battle’ planned before the end of the year that is sure to add some spirit and cheer to your holiday menu! More details to come in the next week. You can also look forward to more fantastic recipes from Emma in the near future!

I am also very happy to announce that you can now catch me and the rest of Lorraine Ranalli’s Cucina Chatter cast every Tuesday morning at 10:00AM EST on WWDB 860AM. You can hear both Una Mamma and myself in the Upstairs Kitchen segment during the second half of the show! Be sue to tune in! You can also hear rebroadcasts of the show every Tuesday afternoon at 1:00PM EST on WBCB 1490AM, and archived weekly at The Delaware County Daily Times.

And finally, be sure to tune into The Delaware County Daily Times’ Video Podcast on Wednesday night, December 14th at 7:00EST, as I join Lorraine Ranalli, Chef Jacquie Peccina Kelly and Chef/actress Natalie Stone as we discuss The Feast of the Seven Fishes! Pull up a chair and watch as we offer some real-deal, Italian-American kitchen table warmth and humor!

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