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Pollo alla Diavola

This recipe’s inspiration came from several sources. I wanted to make another recipe from The One-Dish Chicken Cookbook by Mary Ellen Evans, I wanted something satisfying and delicious that everyone would eat, and I wanted it to be easy. In order to make it a meal that everyone would eat I had to conjure it up as something Dexter might order in a restaurant. We ate at Mario Batali’s restaurant Lupa when we were in NYC this summer and it seemed reasonable that a dish like this would be served there. If I can conjure the name of the “Great Orange Clogged One” I know I can at least get Dexter to taste it. Yes it was easy and no it isn’t exactly like any one recipe in the One-Dish Chicken Cookbook, but it is good. I get my chicken from John Larson at Larson Green Farm.

Preheat the oven to 375

1 chicken cut into pieces
4 or 5 medium red creamer potatoes, sliced into 6-8 slices per potato
1/2 onion diced
4 - 5 cloves of garlic sliced
Whole Roma tomatoes cut into strips
olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
Italian seasoning
salt/pepper

Drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of a large flat baking pan. Lay the potatoes flat across the pan covering the entire pan with a single layer that overlaps slightly (like fish scales). Salt / pepper the potatoes. Layer the garlic and onions over the potatoes evenly. Layer the tomatoes on evenly but not solid (I use the ones I canned in August, but any canned Roma will do). Salt, pepper, and drizzle a bit of olive oil over it all. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on.

Place the chicken on top of all of this and salt and pepper each piece. I only used the legs, and the breasts, which I cut into four pieces, and the little drumsticks from the wings. I saved the thighs and back for soup or something. Drizzle some olive oil over the chicken (I have a bar pour spout on my olive oil). Pour 1/2 or so of white wine around the edge of the pan.

Put it into the oven for 30 to 45 minutes. I served this with freshly baked Focaccia.

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October 19, 2006 | Filed Under beef, fish, poultry, pork, eggs, cheese, dairy, food, vegetable | Leave a Comment 

Pasta Puttanesca


This recipe originally came from the Silver Palate Cookbook written by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. I’ve had this cookbook since 1987 and now that I have more resources I don’t use it as much as I once did but I still return to it for many fine recipes. You can tell its one of my most used books because the spine is broken and the pages stick together and are stained. It is a classic.

Puttane is Italian for whore. Don’t type it into Google because … well you can guess. Trust me, you don’t want to go there. Anyway, the book says it isn’t known if the ladies of the night gave this dish its name or it was named after them because it is fast, hot, and spicy. It makes a good story either way. I’ve made a few changes from the original so here’s my version.

Do all the prep work then put the pasta water on to boil. I use Linguine.

6 cloves garlic, chopped
12 pitted black kalamata olives, chopped
1 flat tin of anchovy filets packed in oil, chopped
2 tablespoons capers
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 quart or 32 ounces of ground, peeled tomatoes

Heat 1/4 cup of good extra virgin olive oil on medium low heat. Add the garlic and allow it to heat up but do not allow it to burn…that’s why the heat is medium low. Add the tomatoes and all the other ingredients and turn the heat up to medium to get a boil. Once it boils turn it down to an active simmer (just below a boil) and let it cook down while your pasta cooks. Serve and eat.

I bet you’re thinking…I’m not a big fan of anchovies so I’ll just leave it out. You really can’t taste it because all the ingredients are very powerful. Try it with it…take a chance.

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October 17, 2006 | Filed Under cookbook, food, pasta, pizza, noodles, vegetable | Leave a Comment 

Soup of the week: white bean pumpkin

We are obviously big soup fans in this house. The boys refuse to eat any soup that isn’t either chili or chicken noodle but I’ve learned to not let that deter me and I just keep on making soup and Dave and I eat it with pleasure. They’ll come around, they always do. The veggie delivery from Vermont Valley this week included a baking pumpkin, red onion and garlic and I had celery and carrot left from weeks past. Further digging uncovered a 1 pound bag of white beans in the pantry and there is currently a plentiful supply of Willow Creek bacon in the freezer. Ham or ham hocks would have been optimal but I chose a package of bacon that was mostly lean. With a product like Willow Creek bacon you really can’t go wrong. Note: a baking pumpkin is small, maybe an inch or two larger than a softball. If the pumpkins you see say they are baking pumpkins but they too large you should avoid them and use a butternut or acorn squash instead.

1 large red onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
4 slices bacon (as lean as you can get), diced
2 tbps olive oil
1 small baking pumpkin, split in half, and seeds scooped out
1 pound of white beans, picked over and soaked overnight, then rinsed and drained
red pepper flakes
sage
salt / pepper
white vinegar

Put your pumpkins halves on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 325 for about 30 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool.

Heat your soup pot on medium low and add the olive oil. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and allow to cook until soft and translucent. Add the bacon and the garlic and continue to cook. Add 1 tsp of sage and 1 tsp of red pepper flakes. Stir and then add the beans. Cover with water. Turn the heat up until you get a boil and then reduce the heat to a strong simmer. Cover the pot and allow to cook for an hour, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary.

Prepare the pumpkin by peeling off the skin and cutting the pumpkin into 1/2 inch chunks. Add to the soup, stir, adjust the seasoning and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes.

You can either eat this soup or wait overnight. It is one of those soups that gets better when the flavors have a chance to rest together and co-mingle.

Add about 1 tbsp of white vinegar as you heat it up. It will brighten the flavors. I’ll serve this with a baquette and some Pleasant Ridge Reserve I picked up at Willy Street Coop today. Dessert can be the Oatmeal bars I nabbed at the Co-op too.

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October 16, 2006 | Filed Under food, soup, salad, sandwich, vegetable | 4 Comments 

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