RogueChef
“It IS all about the TASTE”
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Peperonata Rustica
Peperonata [pehp-uh-roh-NAH-tah] An Italian mixture of sweet peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic cooked in olive oil. It’s served hot as a condiment with meats or cold as an antipasto.
While dining out with a business partner, I was presented with a very seasonal and very local Italian dish. The mix of colored peppers (red, yellow, and green), sauteed in olive oil with sweet onions, tangy vinegar, garlic, and then finished with ripe tomatoes, fresh basil and oregano is wonderful as a side dish hot, or mashed and spread over toasted bread as a appetizer, or as a “dressing / sauce” for a bowl of pasta.
Since this was such a splendid dish, and a slow night, one can guess what happened. Yes, a couple of bottles of wine shared with the staff, some chit-chat, some flattery, some bragging and off to the kitchen to prepare this dish with the chef. (A BadWolf ball cap, T-shirt and doll will win you many new friends …
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Basil Dressing
My hanging garden is rampant with Basil and Parsley. The heat and the rain have generated a monstrous explosion of leafy green herbs. I suppose I will need to do something about that.
Basil is a tender low-growing herb. Basil is a culinary herb prominently featured in Italian cuisine, and also plays a major role in the Southeast Asian cuisines of Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The plant tastes somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent, sweet smell.
There are many varieties of basil. That which is used in Italian food is typically called sweet basil, as opposed to Thai basil, lemon basil and holy basil, which are used in Asia. While most common varieties of basil are treated as annuals, some are perennial in warm, tropical climates, including African Blue and Holy Thai basil.
Basil is originally native to Iran, India and other tropical regions of Asia, having been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years
Basil is commonly used fresh in cooked recipes. It is generally added at the last moment, as cooking quickly destroys the flavor. The fresh herb can be kept for a short time in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or for a longer period in the freezer, after being blanched quickly in boiling water. The dried herb also loses most of its flavor, and what little flavor remains tastes very different, very weak.
Basil is one of the main ingredients in pesto—a green Italian oil-and-herb sauce. Its other two main ingredients are olive oil and pine nuts. The Chinese also use fresh or dried basil in soups and other foods. In Taiwan, people add fresh basil leaves to thick soups. They also eat fried chicken with deep-fried basil leaves. Basil (most commonly Thai Basil) is commonly steeped in cream or milk to create an interesting flavor in ice cream or chocolates (such as truffles).
I’ve done a pesto post prior, perhaps a Basil vinaigrette suitable for a salad dressing, an Italian sauce or a marinade for fish or meat.
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Sausage, Peppers and Onion Pasta Rustica
It’s summer, it’s hot, and I do not want to cook anything on top of the stove.. But I have such a wonderful slow cooker, maybe I can try that to make a hearty, tasty, pasta sauce.
Background
A sausage sandwich is a sandwich containing cooked sausage. Outside the United Kingdom, it generally consists of an oblong bread roll such as a bagette or ciabatta roll, and sliced or whole links of sausage, such as hot or sweet Italian sausage, Popular toppings include mustard, peppers, onions, and tomato sauce.If I take that concept, chop everything roughly (“a rustica”), then simmer every so slowly in in my slow cooker, with a tomatoes and lots of fresh basil from the market, I would have a pasta sauce fit for a king.
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Meatless Mondays – Sautéed Courgette Parmesan
Yet another recipe from a most excellent dinner at Il Vicolo.
Courgettes, (zucchini), are chunked, sauteed with garlic, chilli’s, basil, and then are placed on a sizzling plate, dusted with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and broiled to melt the cheese.
This was an absolute dream of a dish, I will be preparing this for the Lady of my house, as soon as I return.
Wikipeida says:
The zucchini or courgette is a small summer squash. Along with some other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. Zucchini is the more common name in North America, Australia, Germany and Italy, while courgette is more commonly used in Britain, New Zealand, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and South Africa. Zucchini can be yellow, green or light green, and generally have a similar shape to a ridged cucumber, though a few cultivars are available that produce round or bottle-shaped fruit.
In a culinary context, zucchini is treated as a vegetable, which means it is usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, however, the zucchini is an immature fruit, being the swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower.
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Oil and Vinegar – Not just for salads
After several meals, that while I am sure are not the best that can be offered, but we far better than most I have been offered, it is time to start looking at what made them so memorable… And as will as with all things, LITTLE THINGS are HUGE…..
Let’s take bread. So in the great American restaurant, you get rolls and butter, maybe you get sliced bread and semi-stale olive oil that has dried herbs in it. (Which herbs, I do not know and neither does the chief …..)
Now just down the lane from my clients new office, is a hole-in-the-wall, that turns into an alley, in the alley are various little coffee shops, a wine bar / restaurant, and an Italian restaurant, I think I’ve eaten at them all. Il Vicolo in the Crown Passage has a number of memorable dishes, (all of which I will attempt to recreate and post the results here). But from the very start you know there is a difference.
As you are seated, there is a dish of oil and a dark substance, for dipping bread with. The hot bread slices with oil and rubbed with garlic is exquisite when dipped into the primo olive oil and dark balsamic vinegar.
The real trick is to float the oil over the vinegar is such a way that there is a bulls-eye effect to the dipping bowl. DO note they do not use herbs here in an attempt to passed older oil off as newer.
Bread dipping is the new, healthy alternative to crackers and cheese which have been a staple, but often overused, appetizer. A tasty trend, filled with breads and flavored oils and sauces in the olive oil dipping dish will be an instant winner.
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Meatless Monday – Basic Marinara sauce
Think of a luscious, sensual, marinara sauce, slowly simmered, and ladled over a bed of al-denti pasta, perhaps with some mushrooms, bell peppers, and celery chunks to provide a taste and texture contrast. One may also go whole hog wild adding broccoli, zucchini chunks, minced carrots, and peas to make a Primavera sauce.
The bottom line is with a good tomato, garlic, and herb pasta sauce, the limits are in your imagination, not in the kitchen….
Wikipedia says:
Marinara sauce is an Italian red sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs (such as basil), and onion. However, there are many variations. Some of these include the addition of capers, olives and spices.
Traditional Italian cuisine utilizes this sauce to add flavor to pasta, rice and seafood. However, in recent years, Americans have found use for it as a dipping sauce for other foods as well. Italians refer to marinara only in association with other recipes. For instance, spaghetti alla marinara literally translates to mariner’s spaghetti.
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Meatless Monday – Pita Pizza
As I have a number of projects rapidly reaching conclusions, I have little time to spend on preparations today. But then again I must eat, and if I settle for something mediocre, I might as well go whole hog and eat fast food…
So something with taste, something with texture, and something to match a meatless meal. I have some fresh pitas, and I always have tomatoes and cheese. Perhaps a quick sauce slathered on the pitas, topped with some cheese and basil for a wonderful pita margherita.
Do remember to dock (perforate the skin with a fork or knife) the pita to make sure it does not puff up and dump all your toppings onto the hot stone. For a taste twist, perhaps using blue cheese, or feta, or adding sliced olives, perhaps a ring of pickled jalapeno or roasted red pepper. But as always the fewer toppings, the better the pizza, and any toppings need to be bone dry..
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Hearty food for wet weather … Sausage and Pepper
It’s cold, wet, rainy, just out and out miserable. I want hearty food, but I’ve done so many stews, soups, Asian noodles, etc that I want to yark at the thought.
So let’s look at some pub favorites, sausages are good, bangers and mash is a start, as is Toad in the Hole, but I do want a good mix of veggies, and something that is less fattening… Maybe Sausage and peppers, but for a kick I’ll mix them 1/2 sweet Italian, and 1/2 hot Italian. with a good mix of red and green bell, as well as sweet vidella onions, perhaps add a bit of broccoli or zucchini. To kick this up a bit, and move it from the street cart and into the Bad Wolf Lair’s kitchen, I’ll server it on plates with a nice garlic cheese bread and a side salad. Serve it hot, and wash it down with a cold beer.
Background
A sausage sandwich is a sandwich containing cooked sausage. Outside the United Kingdom, it generally consists of an oblong bread roll such as a bagette or ciabatta roll, and sliced or whole links of sausage, such as hot or sweet Italian sausage, Popular toppings include mustard, peppers, onions, and tomato sauce.
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