Dried Winter Fruit Cakelets

I’ve never counted how many cookbooks I own, but I do know that with many, I make one or two recipes and unfortunately, never revisit them for years because some other newcomer has captured my attention. I’ve got my tried and true cookbooks that I wouldn’t neglect for the world, but then there are some I’ve pushed to the back shelf over the years, including many that are written in Italian. Truth be told, it can be tedious to transcribe the quantities into the American measuring system when they’re written in metric. But the results are frequently worth the effort, like these little dried fruit “cakelets.” They’re from a cookbook called “Fantasie Da Forno” that I picked up in a Milan bookstore  years ago.

Winter is the perfect time for this recipe made with dried fruits. You can make it in small disposable paper cake pans, like these that I bought at a discount store, or make one larger cake in a round pan. There is a certain charm to these miniature cakelets though, and they are just the right serving for one person.

The small amount of cornmeal in the recipe gives the cake a darker look, but adds a bit of flavor and texture. If you want to eliminate the cornmeal, just substitute an equal amount of white all-purpose flour.

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From the Italian cookbook “Fantasie da forno”

Dried Winter Fruit Cakelets

Author: Ciao Chow Linda

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• 7 tablespoons butter, softened (100 gr. di burro ammorbidito)
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten (2 uova sbatute)
• 1/3 cup (50 grams) flour
• 1 teaspoon (un cucchiaino di lievito) baking powder
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cornmeal (100 gr. di farina di mais)
• 1 1/2 cups mixed dried fruit (225 gr. frutta secca mister
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, or other nuts (25 gr. di pinoli)
• grated rind of a lemon (la scorza grattugiata di 1 limone)
• 2 tablespoons milk (2 cucchiai di latte)
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice (4 cucchiai di succo di limone)

Instructions

1. Grease a 7″ or 8″ round pan (or use several small baking paper cake holders).
2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixer.
3. Add the beaten eggs, one a time, mixing each one thoroughly.
4. Add the flour, baking powder and cornmeal and mix until incorporated.
5. Add the dried fruits and nuts, the lemon peel, the lemon juice, and lastly the milk.
6. Spread the mixture into the pan and bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for one hour, but if using the mini pans, check after 30 minutes.
7. Test with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven, let it cool, then dust with powdered sugar.

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Peppery Beef Stew

Here in the Northeast U.S., we’ve been hit with winter’s full blast – more snow that I can remember in quite a few years, with still more expected in a few days. Lots of shoveling, but also lots of solid, comforting winter fare, like this beef stew recipe from Michele Scicolone in her cookbook, “The Italian Slow Cooker.”  The book is a gem, and in my case, really useful while my kitchen is undergoing a radical transformation. Cooking is relegated to another room in the house, where my table is set up with all manner of electric implements, from my rice cooker to my automatic polenta stirring pot.  You’d be surprised at how much cooking you can accomplish without an oven or a cooktop, as long as you’ve got electricity. Washing dishes and pots without a sink is another thing, but thankfully, my husband has become rather adept at bathroom sink dishwashing.I’ve been using a hot plate to cook most meals, and had to rely on it to brown the meat and prepare the sauce for this stew, before dumping everything into my slow cooker. I bought an induction-heating hot plate and I have to say, it works really efficiently, heating things quickly — almost too quickly, as I found out this morning after burning some orange peels I was candying.

Anyway, back to the beef stew. After you brown the meat in a skillet, you add the rest of the ingredients (including a tablespoon of whole black peppercorns) and scrape up all those flavorful bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Then dump everything into the slow cooker and forget about it.

Come back 6-8 hours later, and you’ve got a delicious, fork-tender beef stew, ready to serve over noodles or rice.

Add a green vegetable on the side, and dinner is served.

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Peppery Beef Stew

Author: Ciao Chow Linda via “The Italian Slow Cooker” by Michele Scicolone

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• salt
• 3 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 2 inch chunks (I used 1 1/4 lbs. beef cubes but all the rest of the proportions in the recipe for the sauce)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup dry red wine, such as Chianti
• 2 cups canned tomato puree (I used one 15-ounce can cherry tomatoes and 1/4 cup water)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped, plus 6 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

Instructions

1. On a piece of wax paper, stir together the flour and salt to taste.
2. Toss the beef with the flour and shake off any excess.
3. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add the meat in batches, without crowding the pan.
5. Brown the beef well on all sides.
6. With a slotted spoon transfr the beef to a large slow cooker.
7. Add the wine to the skillet and bring it to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan.
8. Add the tomato puree (or the cherry tomatoes and water), garlic, peppercorns, and ground pepper.
9. Cook for 10 minutes, orr until slightly thickened.
10. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker.
11. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until the beef is very tender.
12. Taste for seasoning before serving.

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Muffaletta

Are you wondering what to serve up for Superbowl Sunday? Admittedly, the pandemic has scaled back everyone’s plans, and you might not be gathering in a large group. But just in case you’ve got your own pandemic bubble to feed, or even if you want to make this and give some to neighbors, this sandwich is always a hit.

It’s said to have been created by Italian immigrants in New Orleans. However, many years ago, I was reading a classic Italian book called “Il Gattopardo” and surprisingly came upon a reference to it, when the protagonist, a prince, is on a hunting excursion with the local church organist. “Bevevano il vino tiepido delle borracce di legno, accompagnavano un pollo arrosto venuto fuori dal carniere di Don Fabrizio con i soavissimi muffoletti cosparsi di farina cruda che don Ciccio aveva portato con se.” In English, the title translates to “The Leopard” and the text is as follows: “They drank tepid wine from wooden bottles with a roast chicken from Don Fabrizio’s haversack, with the sweet muffoletti dusted with raw flour which Don Ciccio had brought with him.” If you haven’t read the book, it deals with the changes in Sicilian society during the risorgimento — Italy’s unification movement. It’s one of the most important novels in modern Italian literature and is widely translated in many languages, including English. It was even made into an excellent movie with Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale.

But I digress. Back to the muffaletta as we know it, which many say was first made here in the U.S. at Central Grocery Co. on Decatur Street in New Orleans by Salvatore Lupo, an immigrant from Sicily. My son-in-law and his wife, who live in New Orleans, sent us a jar of olive salad last year from Central Grocery, so naturally we needed to follow through and make our own muffuletta. This jar made enough for two muffaletta sandwiches. If you can’t find olive salad at a store near you, you can even order it from Central Grocery here or even from Amazon, here. 

I added some other ingredients to the olive salad, including fresh celery, parsley, marinated artichoke hearts, and roasted red peppers. You can choose to add more or less of whatever you like. There are no rules. Aside from the olive salad, you need good bread, Italian cold cuts, and cheese.  A muffaletta is traditionally made with a round loaf, and in fact, I’ve made it in the past with a round loaf as you see below. I used mortadella, Genoa salami, coppa and capicolla, but a finocchiona, prosciutto or soppressata would be delicious here too. I used provolone cheese, but feel free to choose fontina, mozzarella or whatever floats your boat.You can break with tradition and use a long ciabatta loaf instead of a round one, as I did the last time I made it. My local bread shop had a great assortment.

I came home with this beauty and sliced it in half lengthwise.

I scooped out some of the insides, but you can leave as much or as little interior bread as you like. Then I spread some of the olive salad on the bread.

I added a layer of the meats and cheese, then more olive salad, another layer of the meats and cheeses, finishing off with the olive salad next to the bread.

You’ll need to weigh it down with something heavy, so I covered both sides with parchment paper and placed a heavy cast iron grill pan on top. It went into the refrigerator for at least two hours. You can leave it even longer, but if you keep it weighed down in the refrigerator overnight, you risk getting the bread too soggy from the olive salad.

Last year I took it to my cousin’s Superbowl Party and the ciabatta sliced up easily into at least ten generous pieces. Or just enjoy Super-Bowl size portions with your own small family.

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Muffaletta

Author: Ciao Chow Linda

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• 1 large round loaf, or long ciabatta
• 1/4 lb. of Genoa salami
• 1/4 lb. of capocollo
• 1/4 lb. mortadella
• 1/4 lb. of coppa
• (orr use any combination of Itaian cold cuts you want, including soppressata, finocchiona, prosciutto etc.)
• 3/4 lb. provolone cheese (or fontina or mozzarella)
• 1 jar of olive salad
• POSSIBLE ADDITIONS TO THE SALAD:
• 1/4 cup sliced celery
• 1 small jar of artichoke hearts, chopped
• roasted red peppers, chopped
• a few tablespoons minced parsley
• chopped up jarred giardiniera

Instructions

1. Slice the bread lengthwise and scoop out some of the interior bread.
2. Mix the add-ons you like to the jarred olive salad, and spread some of it on the bottom of the bread.
3. Add a layer of each of the sliced meats, a layer of cheese, more of the olive salad.
4. Repeat with the meats and cheese, ending up with the olive salad.
5. Cover with the top portion of the bread, then place some parchment paper, or plastic wrap on top.
6. Press down with a heavy weight and refrigerate at least two hours to compact the sandwich and blend flavors.
7. Be careful not to leave it pressed more than six or eight hours or the bread may become too soggy.

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