Flying Solo

I miss my Mom - and not because it's the holidays. I miss her cooking and baking experience, insights, how she used to be the taster for my savory and sweet dishes. I miss her telling me about family recipes and the stories that go with them.

Losing a mother is the worst pain anyone can go through.Losing a cooking buddy is also hard. I now have to ask my brother if he remembers certain steps in family recipes, handed down from our Italian and German great-grandmothers.Take for example pascoi. This was actually our great grandfather's dish, a stuffed cabbage roll from his area of San Maurizio Canavese outside of Turin. It is an elaborate cook. Savoy cabbage leaves are filled with raw or uncooked polenta and then tied up with simple sewing thread. They're then fried in a mix of garlic, butter and olive oil. My brother had forgotten this step. Luckily I remembered it, The polenta had to get cooked somehow before pickling. The  pickling itself requires red wine vinegar along with garlic and savia. The question is what is the ratio of the vinegar to the salvia, a cousin of sage. Could I use sage instead? Unfortunately there is noone to ask except maybe our cousins who still live in San Maurizio. That begs another question - do they make it?

The loss is also felt when I make her famed chili. This is a  recipe  that all her cousins wanted and made - none coming close to the perfection of hers.I have changed the recipe slightly - ever so slightly with the addition of dark honey to temper the tomatoes' tang.I also add more chili powder , a tablespoon more. It gives the chili a more vibrant color and amps up the flavor.My Mom had tasted it  as I took over the kitchen in the last few years.I would always ask jokingly "Is it better than yours?'
and she'd reply "What do you think?" I made a show of shaking my head no .and say "Nah. It'll never be as good as yours." The same with her tomato sauce. I made it last week and felt it didn't hit the mark . For one thing, I had to add granulated sugar because I didn't have any honey (and again dark honey works much better in a sauce than white sugar. it adds depth - but that's for another post). and used a larger can of tomato sauce. The ravioli were drowning in the sauce.If my Mom had been around she would have chided me for not using a smaller can  -which I now realize I have to do the next time I make sauce.

I miss my Mom more than anyone could ever imagine. I miss my cohort in the kitchen.It is a brave new world for me amidst the pots and pans, herbs and spice. She would want me to conquer it.

Winter Foods Cabbage Season

One of the brightest culinary spots in winter is cabbage.Its bright green leaves are a nice changefromall the canned veggies.Like those other winter foods, oranges and tangerines, it's full of Vitamin C and other good things.It can be eaten raw or cooked.Either way it's full of freshness and flavor. There are several different types of cold weather cabbage.they have smaller heads and are harder than the ones Grown in the summer.One of the most popular is the light green Danish Ballhead.This is mild tasting, perfecting for making sauerkraut and introducing kids to cabbage. creamy white Bentley is another winter variety.You can keep it for weeks without worrying that it will go bad.Most people know the January King, with it's flattened shape and deep purple marking on it's veins.A popular one in Northern Italy and my kitchen right now is the Savoy.It's cheerful yellow color is beckoning and it has an almost sugary taste.Any cabbage is chock full of beta carotene and Vitamins A and C.It's good to incorporate it in your diet now in the midst of cold and flu season.Cabbages also are full of iron and magnesium.It also becomes a pro biotic if fermented as in dishes like the traditional German sauerkraut and the Korean Kim chi. Cabbages are also easy for the novice home chef.They can made into salads and can be cooked into simple stir fries and braises. One of the best recipes is Cole slaw. this is a simple dish of shredded cabbage ,carrots and a mayo dressing.This is the most traditional, and the one everyone tends to make.Yet Cole slaw can be turned into something fun and zingy side dish, perfect with all those football party ribs and wings. Sub in oil and apple sider vinegar.Instead of carrots try wafer thin slices of Granny Smith apples(use a mandolin for this last), You could also create a Mexican influenced one with slivered jalapeño and garlic. cooked cabbage is wonderful.Wilting cabbage is easy.Take any kind ,cut into manageable pieces and then sauté in a blend of olive oil and butter( you can use margarine but it won't add to the veggies's flavor).Garlic and sea salt can be added for more flavoring. One of the best winter dishes is the Piedmontese pas coi.Translated from the dialect as not fish, (although the name could come from the shape or the way the cabbage leaves look kind of scaly after cooking and pickling).The leaves are first parboiled and then drained .This makes them more malleable to work with.Fill them with uncooked polenta and a small knovpb of butter.They are then rolled ,sort of like the Greek dolmades or grape leaves and tied with sturdy thread .They are they fried in olive oil until they turn brown. After this place them in a cassarole dish and purr a pickling brine over them.The brine is made from red wine vinegar and the herb savia.They're left to pickle for a few hours before eating. Cabbage is one of the best winter foods to eat.It's healthy and delicious, along with being veratile.Buy a head of it today for a tasty side whether cooked or made into a salad.It's a winter treat.

The Versatile Breadstick

Nothing beats the breadstick for versatility. It can be a great accompaniment to any soup or salad.It's perfect for dipping into tomato sauce It's great as part of an appetizer or hors oeuvre tray. These tasty little sticks can be used for almost everything, including just a low calorie snack.

Breadsticks were first invented in the 1400s in Torino Italy. A palace doctor, Don Baldo di Lanzo, a doctor was trying to tempt a Savoy prince into eating. He worked with the palace chef, Antonio Brunero and came up with grissini, feather light sticks made from ghersa, a Piedmontese bread‘ . The child so enjoyed them that they became a palace staple and later an Italian one. True grissini is different than the average breadsticks. They are still feather light and deliciously crackly.. They’re perfect, either dipped in olive oil or wrapped with a slice of salami or mortadella . Grissini are easy to make. They’re a mix of just wheat flour , olive oil, water , baking powder and salt. Baking time is just fifteen minutes. Save the stale ones for making “zuppa di montagna” a favorite Piedmontese winter dish. These are breadsticks baked in chicken broth with a topping of Swiss cheese.

Breadsticks grew fatter on arrival to the States. They also became rounder and more or less, resembled mini baguettes. This made them perfect for dipping into pasta sauces as well as a perfect light bread to be served with antipasto. Nowadays there is a soft chewy, version, drenched in oil and garlic. These are perfect for dipping into sauce or soup, These softer , larger ,variety can also be used as the base for sandwiches. You can even make this chewier kind at home, thanks to Pilsbury or just get them hot and fresh from any Pizza Hut or Target.

Breadsticks can be in any form and served any way. Have the original grissini, dipped in light olive oil or broken up in a minestrone. Try the American versions if you want a fun lunch, complete with a tasty, tomato sauce. Either way, they are a true treat.