Fish in Crazy Water

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Though she never achieved the celebrity of Julia Child, Marcella Hazan was to Italian cooking what Julia was to French. She brought regional Italian cuisine to American kitchens and the breadth and depth of her work brought good Italian food to American tables. Marcella died in September and she will be sorely missed. If you'd like to learn more about her life and work, you can find more information here. I thought you'd enjoy the recipe I chose to honor her memory. The name is catching and the poached fish is simple to prepare and absolutely delicious. I've come across a fish substitution chart that those of you who do not have access to red snapper might find helpful. The link is here. I do hope you'll try this recipe. It really makes a wonderful entree. Here is how Fish in Crazy Water is made.

Fish in Crazy Water...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Marcella Hazan

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes—coarsely chopped, juices reserved
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1/8 teaspoon chopped fresh red chile, or more to taste
Salt
4 cups water
Four 6-ounce red snapper fillets, skin on
4 slices of grilled sourdough bread

Directions:
1) In a deep skillet that’s large enough for fish fillets to lie flat without overlapping, combine tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, parsley, chile, a large pinch of salt and water. Cover skillet and bring water to a steady simmer over moderate heat; simmer for 45 minutes.
2) Uncover skillet and boil liquid until it has reduced by half. Add fish, skin side up, and cook for 2 minutes. Using two spatulas, gently turn fillets. Season fish with salt and simmer until just cooked through.
Put grilled bread in shallow bowls and arrange snapper fillets on top. Spoon broth all around and serve. Yield: 4 servings.

If you have enjoyed your visit here, I hope you'll take a minute to...

      

One Year Ago Today: Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Two Years Ago Today: Pumpkin and Coconut Milk "Panna Cotta"

Three Years Ago Today: Dolmas - Stuffed Grape Leaves

Four Years Ago Today: Oatmeal Cake

Pasta with Abruzi-Style Lamb Sauce + Italian Hard Rolls

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...A front moved in today and what had been a glorious stretch of weather changed suddenly to a horizontal downpour with periods of hail. It was not a day to venture out and because I was housebound, I had the opportunity to try a pasta recipe developed by Marcella Hazan. It's been in my files for a while now and it happened that I had all the ingredients I needed to prepare it on hand. I did substitute the diced lamb she recommended with ground lamb that I had sitting in my freezer, but other than that, I followed her recipe to the letter. This turned out to be one of those pleasant surprises that occasionally happen in our kitchens. This is a delicious sauce and it will be moving into my regular menu rotation. The lamb and rosemary give this sauce amazing flavor and they take a fairly standard pantry red sauce to a much higher level. I think you are going to love this. It is fast and simple to prepare and you can have this pasta on the table in less than an hour. It was so effortless that I decided to make hard rolls to accompany it. The rolls require a 2 hour sponge, so I had to prepare them earlier in the day, but they still had a crisp and crackly crust when I served them with our dinner. It was a really satisfying meal. I do hope you'll try both these recipes. The lamb sauce is truly outstanding and I really think you'll enjoy it. Here is how the pasta and rolls are made.

Pasta with Abruzi-Style Lamb Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Marcella Hazan

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 pound boneless lamb, cut into very fine dice or ground lamb
Coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
One 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with their juices
1 pound penne
1/3 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving

Directions:
1) Put oil and onion in a large skillet and cook over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until onion is pale gold. Add pancetta and rosemary and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta fat is rendered but the pancetta is still soft. Add lamb and cook until browned, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Add wine and simmer until evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer gently, stirring from time to time, until fat begins to separate from the sauce, about 15 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, fill a large pot with 4 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Add 1-1/2 tablespoons of coarse salt, cover and return to a boil.
Add pasta to pot and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon. Cover and bring back to a boil. Uncover and cook pasta, stirring frequently, until it is al dente. Drain pasta and immediately transfer it to a warmed bowl. Toss with the lamb sauce and the 1/3 cup of grated cheese. Serve at once. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.



Italian Hard Rolls...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite adapted from A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:
2 Hour Sponge
1 cup warm water
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups bread flour
Dough
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour
Sponge from above
Finishing touches: flour, for dusting
                              melted butter or olive oil

Directions:
1) To make sponge: Mix ingredients in a large bowl, stirring until mixture has a pudding-like consistency. Cover loosely and let bubble and stand for 2 hours.
2) To make dough: Add water, honey, olive oil, salt, and flour to sponge in mixing bowl, stirring to  combine. Attach dough hook and knead on lowest speed of mixer,  about 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessarily to make a cohesive, elastic dough. Spray clean bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place dough in pan and turn to coat all surfaces with spray. Cover bowel with clean towel and let rise until almost doubled in bulk, about 60 to 90 minutes.Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate. Divide dough in 12 portions. Shape into oblong rolls.
Place rolls on preared baking sheet and let rise 20 to 30 minutes, until puffy. score rolls, leave them plain, or snip them with scissors for decorative effect. Dust with flour if desired.
3) To bake rolls: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray rolls lightly with water, spritz oven and wall. Bake until done and rolls are brown all over, 25 -28 minutes. For shiny rolls with less crispy crust, paint with melted butter or olive oil before baking. Yield: 12 large rolls.








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50 Women Game-Changers in Food - #6 Marcella Hazan - Cold Herb-Flavored Marinated Green Beans

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Marcella Hazan holds sixth place on the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game-Changers in food. Her name is well known to lovers of Italian food and her six best-selling cookbooks make her as important to Italian cooking as Julia Child is to French. She is credited with introducing American cooks to Italian regional food and ending the red sauce siege of American kitchens. Her background is very interesting. She was born in Egypt and survived the German occupation of Italy during World War II. As a young woman, she was a biology teacher whose credentials were supported by two doctoral degrees. Her interest in cooking did not begin until her marriage to an Italian-American. Much like Julia Child, she learned to cook in order to please her husband. She had no need or desire to cook in Italy, and had they remained there, we would never have heard her voice. Despite a lack of formal training, she had taste memories that she was able to translate to the Italian food she prepared for her husband in their American kitchen. Fortunately, she recorded her recipes and began to teach regional Italian cooking from her kitchen in New York City. She was discovered by Craig Claiborne, who was instrumental in finding a publisher for her first book, and Julia Child helped walk her through the vagaries of the New York publishing scene. She appears to be a woman of strong conviction but one without affectation. She considers herself to be a home cook and is offended by attempts to label her a gourmet, an expression she believes is pretentious.

Marcella and her husband, Victor, now live in Florida. Jaden Hair recently did a charming interview with the couple who are both now in their eighties. The interview can be found on Jaden's blog, Steamy Kitchen, which you can access here.

Selecting recipes that represent the work of the women who appear on the Gourmet list can be daunting. In all cases, I've made a conscious effort to choose recipes that can easily be made in home kitchens. One of Marcella's gifts to her readers is the balance of the herbs and spices she uses in her recipes. That gift is evident in today's recipe for marinated green beans. These are nothing like the ubiquitous bean salad that appears at potlucks and picnics. I really liked these. I hope you will too.

Cold Herb-Flavored Marinated Green Beans...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Marcella Hazan

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon fresh oregano
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 pound green beans
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste (Kosher or sea salt)
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Choose a large bowl and place parsley, basil, oregano and vinegar in it. let it steep for 10 minutes. Add onion and garlic and mix well. Let steep for another 30 minutes.
2) Snap off ends of green beans, rinse in cold water, and drop them into boiling salt water. Drain string beans while still very firm. Add warm green beans to bowl with vinegar and herbs. Marinate for a minimum of 1 hour and as much as 5 or 6 hours. Mix thoroughly from time-to-time. Serve beans at room temperature, adding olive oil and salt and pepper to taste just before serving. Yield: 6 servings.

The following bloggers are also paying tribute to Marcella this week. I hope you'll visit all of them.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets
Katie - Making Michael Poland Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen

Next week we will highlight the food and recipes of Madhur Jaffrey. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information. Everyone is welcome.