Eileen’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookie will undoubtedly become one of your favorite cookie recipes after first bite! This scrumptious cookie has 3 kinds of chocolate, stands tall and is slightly chewy in the middle. The recipe makes 30 plus cookies and believe me, you’ll be lucky to have any left over if you’re making these for a party.
My kids and I have been devouring Eileen’s cookies for years and getting you this recipe was on my bucket list! Eileen herself, receives cookie requests throughout the year for parties, benefits, fundraisers and backyard BBQ’s. This is an easy and uncomplicated recipe as you saw in the “how to” video above where Eileen’s daughter, Molly, has mastered the recipe!
WARNING: Addictive Candied Bacon Recipe on CT STYLE with Teresa & Sarah!
Love, love, love cooking live on “CT Style”! Truly an exceptional group of people that work here at WTNH, Channel 8. I feel very fortunate to be able to come here and share creative and delicious recipes with all of you on a regular basis! “CT Style” is such an informative platform while entertaining us all at the same time. This time around I had double the fun with both Teresa Dufour and Sarah Cody. Ryan Kristafer, was away handling the Travelers Championship coverage at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT.
Who doesn’t go crazy for bacon and making it candied pushes it right over the top! After sampling my batches of candied bacon for CT Style my kids asked, “can you make this every day”! I think you’ll love the simplicity of my recipe. Some recipes for candied bacon have you fussing with the strips every 5 minutes during the baking process while others have you melting a concoction to brush on. Both these steps are unnecessary. The whole idea behind my recipe testing over the years is to eliminate all the extra fuss yet still arriving at an exceptional finish.
One of my pet peeves with salad dressing is being served bottled blue cheese when I’m out at a restaurant when it’s a really easy thing to whip up! Making blue cheese dressing is one of my favorite things to make and my recipe couldn’t be any easier. It’s luscious and mild all at the same, it will rock your world! Roasting the creamy blue cheese makes it more flavorful and that much easier to whisk by hand.
As for my garlic croutons, these are a no brainer! Crispy & garlicky little morsels that will keep you wishing for more. Your guests will be reaching for the bowl of these to snack on, so it’s wise to tuck some away in the freezer in a ZipLoc as soon as they cooled when making them. You should always have these in your freezer ready to go! You don’t even need to thaw, go directly from the freezer to your plate.
10 Slices of good bacon (Oscar Meyer or Boar’s Head)
¼ cup real maple syrup
¼ cup light brown sugar
Cookie rack
Cookie tray
Parchment paper
CANDIED BACON DIRECTIONS:
Pre-heat oven to 350º
Place a full piece of parchment paper covering entire cookie tray
Lay cookie rack over tray
Lay 10 full bacon strips onto cookie rack and bake for 12 minutes
Put out tray, flip bacon over, brush bacon strips with maple syrup & sprinkle 3/4 tsp brown sugar on each one
Put bacon back in oven for 12 minutes
Pull bacon out of oven and repeat step #4, then bake 12 more minutes more (if you are using THICK bacon you’ll need to cook for longer …13 min., 13 min., 13 min.)
Remove hot bacon strips to a plate covered with parchment and let cool at least 30 minutes
NOTE: If you let bacon cool on rack they will harden & stick and you won’t be able to take them off
ROASTED BLUE CHEESE DRESSING INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup Creamy Italian Blue cheese (If using the food processor you can make with Danish or Maytag)
PLUS 1/3 cup blue cheese extra for sprinkling on top of dressing when you plate the salads
2/3 cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise (I ONLY use Hellman’s)
2/3 cup sour cream
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. “seasoned” rice wine vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp Siracha (Asian hot sauce you can find at local Stop & Shop with all “hot Sauces”)
1/2 tsp Coleman’s Dry Mustard
1/4 tsp salt each and finely ground pepper
3 tbsp. buttermilk or ½ & ½
2 heads Iceberg lettuce cut into 3”-4” wedges
1 basket Cherry tomatoes sliced in ½
1 recipe Candied Bacon
1 recipe Homemade Garlic Crouton
¼ cup fresh chopped chives
ROASTED BLUE CHEESE DRESSING DIRECTIONS:
Pre-heat oven to 400
Place Blue Cheese in a small baking dish and bake for 8 minutes, then cool slightly
Put warm roasted blue cheese and above ingredients into a large glass bowl and whisk until you get the desired smoothness
Arrange Iceberg & tomatoes on a platter then pour dressing over the Iceberg wedges and top with fresh chopped chives, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, candied bacon and garlic croutons
GARLIC CROUTONS INGREDIENTS:
1 large loaf Ciabatta approx.14-15 cups
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 stick butter (salted) melted (For 10 cup of bread cubes….1/4 stick, 2 tbsp olive oil per tray)
CT Style with Ryan & Teresa Making Fresh Shrimp and Chive Rolls!
Making fresh shrimp and chive rolls with Ryan and Teresa was a blast yesterday on CT Style! When Teresa walked into the studio at WTNH, Channel 8 with a pink and blue dress on I couldn’t believe my eyes. Teresa, Ryan and I were color coordinated in our pink dresses and Ryan in his blue and pink tie and we hadn’t planned any of it!
These delicious little shrimp bundles are so fun to be creative with and a total make ahead dish, you can make them the night before! You literally roll up these moistened rice papers with what ever you favorite ingredients are. I was craving Chinese dumplings from a restaurant called Dol Ho that I used to frequent in San Francisco, CA years ago and that’s how I came up with this particular recipe with the sautéed veggies giving the rolls a creamy, flavorful texture.
It may take a few trys to get used to handling the moistened rice paper, but you get many of them in a package so you’re are able to get in some practice rounds! The ginger-soy dressing in a no brainer, it’s so easy to make you could do it blind folded. The flavors of the fresh ginger, slightly salty soy, a bit of sweet with the seasoned rice wine vinegar and a hint of nutty with the toasted sesame oil is a go to Asian dressing/dipping sauce you will want to keep in your cooking repertoire. This dressing makes a wonderful cold asparagus side dish!
I will be posting the recipe for those Game of Thrones, Sansa’s Lemon Cakes, or should I say my version of lemon cakes that I featured on CT Style next week. My version of lemon cakes are mini pound cakes with lemon curd filling, and topped with lemon cream cheese frosting that melt in your mouth…mmm!
CT Style Making Braciole with Ryan Kristafer & Teresa Dufour!
Spring is in the air and family gatherings for graduations are right around the corner so I wanted to share my recipe for Italian Braciole on CT Style this week. It’s a great make ahead recipe allowing you more time with your guests and less time in the kitchen. As always, it was an amazing time with Ryan and Teresa. Not only are they true professionals making all their hard work appear easy but they are wonderful people too. I am fortunate to be able to continually work with such a great duo!
My Italian Braciole is made with thinly sliced flank steak stuffed with fresh and dried herbs, Reggiano Parmesan & Asiago cheeses, rolled up and sautéed, then simmered in tomato sauce for 2 hours. There are many different versions of braciole depending on your Italian family traditions. Some families put raisins in their braciole, others put sliced hard boiled eggs. That’s what makes this dish so fun, you can be creative and add what ever your heart desires. I do love the German version as well where the beef rouladens are stuffed with mustard, onion, pickles and bacon! Who wouldn’t love that?
Italian Braciole is traditionally made with flank steak but you can also use top round or bottom sliced thinly and pounded out a little. Simmering these beef bundles in Tomato-Basil Sauce for a couple of hours makes for a very tender and flavorful braciole. I like to serve them with rigatoni pasta and a dollop of ricotta. I’m certain that Italian Braciole will become one of your favorite dishes too!
Thank you toA’s Unique Boutique for their endless selection of gorgeous dresses to wear on CT Style! If you haven’t been to the boutique yet I don’t know what you’re waiting for. They have an enormous selection of stunning designer dresses and help you through through the whole process.
1 cup red wine or white (I actually prefer to deglaze here with red)
1 lb rigatoni
Directions:
Start sautéing the veggies for thetomato-basil sauce and use the same pan for sautéing the braciole bundles
Slice your 2lb. steak in half
Then have your butcher slice each side into 3 horizontal layers
Now have 6 semi-equal pieces
Sprinkle 1/2 tsp dried-ground Italian seasoning on each piece of flank
Sprinkle 1 tbsp each of Reggiano and Asiago on each piece
Lay whole basil leaves or chop basil and parsley and sprinkle onto flank slices
Roll up starting at the small end so that you are rolling up with the grain of the meat
Cut approx 30″ of cotton string and tie a knot at one of the ends
Then keep wrapping string all around the length of the rolled up flank til you are at the other end
Now come back tucking under each row of string going across like shown in the video til you get to the end and tie off a knot with the original piece of string you started with
Add 2 tbsp of olive oil a large pan and a few large cloves of garlic kept whole for extra flavor and sauté 3 rolled up pieces of braciole at a time
Brown on all sides on medium/high heat about 3-4 minutes each side (remove the garlic coves when golden and smear on a baguette and dip into the tomato-basil sauce when you start to simmer with braciole…YUM!)
After browning the second batch of (3) braciole add back in the first 3 and de-glaze with red wine (I used white in the show but prefer to use red here)
Add in puréed tomatoes and simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours
Take braciole rolls out, REMOVE the string with a kitchen scissors and slice 3/8″-1/2″ thick
Serve with pasta (rigatoni) and a dollop of ricotta on top with a few slices of braciole and grated Reggiano…mangia, mangia.
My favorite part of the live cooking segment on the “CT Style” show might very well be the fun gathering we have afterwards, eating and catching up. It’s just like if I were home having family and friends over except we are in The Bender Kitchen at the WTNH Channel 8 Studio! This is a special group of people that work here. It was also exciting to meet a recent addition to Storm Team 8 yesterday, Ashley Baylor. She is warm, funny and genuine. Ashley came over to have a bite of the Guinness braised beef short ribs with the rest of us and said “It smells so good in here, I was worried I would say it’s raining beef!”
Ferraro’s Meat King contributed to my cooking segment on CT Style with their gorgeous beef short ribs. They offer first class customer service with amazing butchers who will help you to figure out anything you need. You can even call up or order online to be delivered to their Madison location for pick up!
One of the reasons I love making Guinness braised beef short ribs is you can totally get this done the day before. This dish gets even better when you reheat it and now you have more time with your party guests.
The very fun dress I wore for this cooking segment came from A’s Unique Boutique in Guilford, CT. Their selection of gorgeous dresses is huge and they help you from the moment you walk in to find that perfect dress.
5 lbs. Beef short ribs English & Flanken Cut – Half of each cut in 2” pieces
2 bottles STOUT
1 cup red wine, cabernet and more to add to reduced sauce at the end
2 cup beef stock, and more to add to reduced sauce at the end
½ cup whole peeled tomatoes
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 lg onion coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks coarsely chopped
1 lg carrot coarsely chopped
4 lg garlic cloves coarsely chopped
1 leek coarsely chopped
1 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
1-2 bay leaves
1 recipe Yukon Mashed Potatoes, plus 1 sm. head steamed broccoli pureed added to mashed potatoes for St.Pat’s, place the cooked broccoli into the food processor with the cream you would add to the potatoes to help puree smooth, then add to mashed potatoes
DIRECTIONS for Beef Short Ribs:
Pre-heat oven to 350º
Rub spice mixture all over ribs and marinate for 30 min.-2 hours
Pat dry ribs without removing all the spices
Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pan
Begin to sear beef short ribs in pan with olive oil, do this in two batches so you don’t crowd the pan
Sear the ribs 3-4 minutes on each side until browned
Remove 1st batch of ribs, set aside in a lg bowl and brown 2nd batch of beef short ribs
Remove 2nd batch of ribs to bowl
Then add in mirepoix with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper to Dutch oven
Add all of the beef short ribs back into the Dutch oven
Add in 2 bottles stout, 1 cup cabernet, 2 cups beef stock, 2 tbsp. soy sauce, 1/2 cup whole peeled tomatoes and 1 bay leaf to Dutch oven- it may seem like a lot but I will reduce considerably while braising
Bring to a simmer on the stove for 15 minutes and skim off any foam
Cover Dutch oven and place into a pre-heated (325 convection) 350º oven for 2 ½ -3 hours
Every 60 minutes check on the ribs to flip over and make sure you don’t need to add more liquid – it shouldn’t be dry (if it is you can add a splash of water, red wine, or more beef broth…all will work great)
Remove beef and set aside, then begin to remove oil lay from the pan
Tilt Dutch oven pan to the side to skim oil off the top of braised veggies
Push all the braised veggies thru a strainer set over a bowl to catch all the juices
Make sure to scrape juices on bottom of the strainer into the bowl too
Add the strained gravy juices to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer on low for 5 minutes
If it gets too thick you can add in a ¼ c. of red wine or beef broth
Place the Flanken Cut pieces and English Cut short ribs on top of pile of mashed potatoes with a drizzle of gravy and a sprinkle of chives
NOTE: If you are not eating ribs right away, and want to re-heat add to a heat proof dish, add 1/4-1/2 cup of red wine and beef stock and re-heat on a 350º oven for 30-40 minutes
Mini Beef Wellington’s for the Oscars on CT Style!
Making Mini Beef Wellington’s for the Oscar’s on CT Style yesterday was a blast! What’s more fun then cooking in the kitchen with friends and family? Well, that’s how it is with Ryan Kristafer and Teresa Dufour! I feel like I’m with my siblings, me being the elder of the trio, as we joke and banter back and forth. I can’t describe to good feeling I get when I leave the WTNH studio at Channel 8. Every single one of them are such great people.
This Mini Beef Wellington recipe is very easy to make and tastes like a bite of heaven! A piece of filet mignon topped with a mushroom reduction, called Duxelles, Truffle Mousse Paté, pastry dough, brushed with egg yolk and baked until golden…mmm! I make Beef Wellington, a bit more work, but the mini’s are like taking a short-cut to the same perfection! I have had these mini’s served at gala events years ago in San Francisco and forgot how amazing they are until my friend Chef Marco made them for New Years Eve. When he and his wife, Sheryl, served these Mini Beef Wellington’s at their New Years Eve party I new right away that I needed to show everyone how to make them on CT Style!
Heat large sauté pan on med/high and season filet with s&p
Add olive oil to the pan and sear whole filet pieces on all sides for 1 minute total
Remove and set aside to completely cool, then cut into 1” approx. cubes
To make Duxelles add mushrooms and shallots to food processor, pulse until very fine mash
Add butter, mushroom mixture, thyme & sherry to the same lg. sauté pan & sauté for 50-60 minutes on med/low to remove moisture until you get more of a crumbly texture
Set aside mushroom mixture to cool completely (you can do this the day before)
Simmer ¼ cup Italian Blue Cheese with 2/3 cup heavy cream in a small sauce pan
Whisk to get to a smooth consistency as the cheese melt then keep on a low simmer to thicken slightly
When duxelles is cooled, add ½ at a time to a small bowl, then mix in 2 tbsp. pate
NOTE: you can freeze this wonderful Mushroom Duxelles mixture without the paté for future use so only mix ½ at a time
Put 1 tbsp. flour down and roll out to thin pastry dough a little, then cut 2 1/2 “ squares with a knife
Put 1 tsp. Duxelle/pate mixture in the middle of each square, then place a cube of filet on top
Begin to pull up the sides wrapping the filet cube like a present
Put seem side down on cookie tray and brush the tops with egg yolk mixture
Then bake on Convection 425˚ for 10 minutes until golden
Pour the warmed blue cheese sauce onto a platter and then place golden Mini Beef Wellington nuggets on top and serve…yummmm!
This Eggplant rollatini recipe that I demoed at Page Hardware is the BEST recipe out there! It’s light and luscious all at the same time! Like anything in life you have to be able to evolve with the times and that’s what has happened here with my gluten-free recipe. I swap out the all-purpose wheat flour for rice flour and instead of a bread crumb coating the eggplant slices are dredged in rice flour, dipped in egg and then fried. This makes for a lighter eggplant with a soft, silky texture!
As always, it’s so much fun at the Page Hardware food demo’s. We had a large crowd this past weekend who were very attentive and excited to sample my eggplant rollatini. There weren’t any left overs! We had regulars at the demo and some new faces too. Page is having a huge red-tag sale with 75% off so we all went into the store before the demo began to see some of the great deals. Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 12-2, you can come and sample delicious foods at Page Hardware while I demo how they’re made. There is a Traveling Epicurean calendar on the home-page side bar of this website so you won’t miss out on up and coming events. See you next on Saturday, 16th of March!
I used to watch my mother fry eggplant when I was little and have been frying eggplant now for over 30 years. Eggplant rollatini is one of those delicious Italian comfort foods and is always better the next day when re-heated. It is a little bit of a process but if you just organize yourself like I’ve shown you in the photo’s below you’ll get it down to a science.
You should try to fry up at least 2 large eggplants. I like to cook 3 eggplants because I freeze the ones I don’t use. I layer the fried eggplant slices in between durable Bounty paper towels and place into the freezer in Ziploc baggies. This way all your base work is done and now you’re able to pull them out of the freezer and make eggplant rollatini, eggplant Parmesan, or eggplant lasagna in no time at all.
1 whole roll of Bounty Paper Towels (it’s important to use quality paper towels)
DIRECTIONS:
Slice the ends off the eggplants
Using a potato peeler peel off all the skin of the eggplants
Slice up eggplants length wise into 1/4″ slices
Layer the eggplant slices in a large glass bowl
In between each layer sprinkle 1/4 Tsp of salt, and keep layering eggplant, salt, eggplant, salt…
Cover with Saran wrap and place a small plate on top and then some heavy fry pans or large tomato can to weight down the eggplant and into the frig for 2 hours up to 1 day
Drain the purple juice from the bowl
Take the eggplant and pat them dry in layers between Bounty paper towels
Whisk eggs and add ½ cup of grated Reggiano cheese
Get your line-up of bowls in order: eggplant slices – rice flour – whisked eggs
Add 3 1/2 cups canola oil to a large sauce pan and begin to heat up on medium/high heat
The oil needs to be around 350º
Lay out 2-3 cookie racks covered with layers of paper towels to absorb oil for frying
Add slices of eggplant to the rice flour then dip into the egg bowl in batches
Put 4 slices eggplant of egg dipped eggplant into the oil at a time…
They will fry for about 2-3 minutes per side til golden then flip the slice over
While the 1st batch is frying get the 2nd batch ready to fry dusting in the rice flour then dipping into the egg and have them sit briefly until they are ready to go into the oil
Once the eggplant are golden place onto cookie racks with paper towels and dab them with fresh paper towels, flip and do the same to the other side to remove all excess oil
Re-place with a new set of paper towels for the next batch and replace with each batch there after
Then place the eggplant onto the wire cookie racks without paper towels to cool immediately after
Finish frying the rest of the eggplant going thru the same procedures
Get out your favorite baking dish and cover the bottom with sauce
On a cutting board lay 1 slice of honey ham on top of a fried eggplant slice, & add a dollop ricotta (1/4 cup)
Place a 1/4″ slice of mozzarella onto ricotta and roll up
Place the rollatini into baking dish and repeat with the remaining eggplant slices
You should allow for about 3″ room for each rollatini (they expand when they are baked)
When you baking dish is full top with more pasta sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cover with foil
At this point you can either put into the frig until you are ready to bake them or put them into a pre-heated oven at 350º for 55 minutes and then remove foil and 5 minutes more in the oven
OPTIONAL: Remove the foil and add a sprinkle of grated mozzarella and pop the baking dish back into the oven for an additional 8 minutes
Fat Tuesday Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya on CT Style!
Planning for a Fat Tuesday celebration with this 1 pot dish of Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya was the theme of my cooking segment on CT Style recently! As usual, I love cooking for everyone at the Channel 8 studio. They are all such great foodies and enjoy eating what ever I’m cooking up not to mention all the fun I have with Ryan and Teresa, it’s never a dull moment! How lucky I am to be a part of this duo that brings CT Style to life every day! Teresa is a firecracker and Ryan with his boundless good energy…priceless!
March 5th is just around the corner and sometimes it’s a good thing to plan for your party. “Marti Gras” is actually french for “Fat Tuesday” and it’s a big celebration, the last night of indulgence before the Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday.
This shrimp & sausage Jambalaya is a rice based dish made Creole style which means it’s has tomatoes. I use 2 different smoked sausages, Andouille and a smoked kielbasa. There’s extra large shrimp, chicken stock, peppers, onions, garlic, fresh herbs and Creole spices! Oh my goodness, there’s flavor bursting out from every where! My last but not least favorite part about this amazing Jambalaya recipe is using only 1 pot!
Can’t wait for you guys to try this scrumptious shrimp & sausage Jambalaya. Since this is a night of indulgence you’ll to end you night with some irresitable sweets like Pavlova, Baklava, Drunk Blondie Bars or Cinnamon Rolls-Sticky Buns!
INGREDIENTS:
8 oz. Andouille Sausage OR smoked ham (Tasso if you can fin it) cut into ½” cubes
4 batches of Turkey Chili were eaten during my Food Demo at Page Hardware in Guilford, CT last Saturday! That’s a lot of chili! This chili has the right amount of spice so as not to be too spicy or too bland but packed with tons of flavor. I do like my chili extra hot but I kept the amount of spice to a minimum so all could enjoy it.
There is a secret ingredient in this chili, cinnamon, and it’s in such a small quantity it should not be left out! This 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon gives it a warm, underlying flavor that your guests won’t be able to figure out. I test a lot of recipes in terms of spice quantities and this recipe has the perfect combination of smokiness and heat! I think it may become your “go to recipe” once you give it a try. Food for thought, If you were to have any leftovers, highly unlikely that is, it freezes really well.
As for my monthly food demo at Page Hardware in Guilford, CT it’s a win-win no matter how you look at it…free sampling foods and free demo on how to make the dish! I am there every 3rd Saturday of the month. If you haven’t become a regular yet I don’t know what you’re waiting for. We have so much fun during these demo’s you and you get to eat all the delicious dishes while I am demonstrating how they’re made. Can’t wait to see you next month! You can call Page Hardware to confirm the dates or look on my Events Schedule on the side bar of my website. After my demo you can always shop Page for what ever gadgets your kitchen is missing, they have everything you can think of.
2.5 lbs. ground turkey (I used Perdue dark turkey meat in the demo, but both light & dark meat work great)
1 can small red beans
½-1 can black beans
1 28 oz. whole peeled tomatoes chopped up
1 3/4 cup red wine, 1/4 cup each time you deglaze the turkey 3x
1 cup beer
1 lg. red/orange or green pepper diced
1 lg Vidalia sweet onion diced
1/4 cup finely diced celery
1-2 jalapeno finely diced
3 garlic cloves grated or garlic press
1 tbsp. chipotle chili powder
1 tbsp. pink Himalayan salt
½ tsp white pepper (black pepper if you don’t have the white pepper)
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
½ tsp cinnamon
A few splashes of Tabasco
Shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and sliced scallions for topping
DIRECTIONS:
Add olive oil to a large pan and sauté on med/high ground turkey, deglazing a few time with ¼ c. red wine each (Note: turkey meat is moist, it won’t brown as well as beef and that’s ok!)
Keep mashing turkey with a fork to break up clumps as you are cooking it
Remove turkey into a bowl and set aside
Add in 1 tbsp. butter and the chopped peppers, onions, celery and jalapeño and sauté on med/high for 5 minutes more until veggies are soft
Add in grated garlic, diced up whole peeled tomatoes, beer, wine, cooked ground turkey and all the spices
Bring to a low boil on med/high, TURN DOWN heat and simmer for approx. 25-45 minutes
Stir in the rinsed beans, then simmer for 20 minutes more on low
Serve with shredded cheddar, a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of sliced green onion and a squeeze of Siracha…yummm!
Zuppa di Pesce on CT Style with Ryan, Teresa & Bella!
What an exciting day at the WTNH studio with Ryan, Teresa and my daughter Bella! Bella and her TV Studio class came in as guests to watch my cooking segment. Ryan, himself, gave them a tour making their experience extra special! It was a busy day in the studio so Bella’s class got to see a lot of action. Ryan and Teresa then invited them on camera for the finally of my segment! It was so nice to share what I do with my daughter and have her there first hand.
Zuppa di Pesce or The Feast of 7 Fishes was the theme of this cooking segment. I know we are already planning for the next holidays so wanted to share this really delicious Italian Christmas Eve tradition with you. Many families cook up a variety of fish and some have a specfic number to which there is a significant religious meaning. For example, the number 7 is the most frequently used number in the Bible, Earth was created is 7 days, there are 7 deadly sins, 7 sacraments or it could represent the 7 hills that surround Rome. Some families have 10 fishes for the 10 stations of the cross, and some have 13 fishes to represent the 12 Apostles and Jesus. What ever the number of fish you have it is supposed to serve as a lighter fare the night before the feast on Christmas day.
Serving this Zuppa di Pesce over linguine is my favorite way to eat it. It is also scrumptious served with garlic bread or sour dough toasts. Don’t get this dish confused with Cioppino. The tomato/wine sauce base is the same between the two dishes but the fish are different. Cioppino has Dungeness crab and Zuppa di Pesce has the lobster. Basically, you use what ever fish is native to your area.
½- ¾ lb. halibut, cod, snapper, salmon or similar cut into 2 “ cubes
1/4 lb. calamari rings
1 1/4 lb. pre-cooked lobster, shelled and sliced up into 1” pieces- NOTE: this is the only fish that is pre-cooked
1 can chopped Snows Canned Clams
1 -28 oz. can peeled whole tomatoes
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 c. white wine
1 c. red wine
2- 8 oz. bottles clam juice
½ c. finely diced Vidalia onion- 1 small onion
¼ c. finely diced celery (1 stalk)
¼ c. grated carrot (1 carrot)
4 lg garlic cloves, smashed to sauté
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper for flavoring flour, plus ½ tsp salt to taste
1 bay leaf
½ c. freshly chopped parsley
¼ c. chopped basil
½ tsp ground, dried Italian seasonings
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste
1 lb. linguine pasta cooked to al-dente
Directions:Approx. 45-60 minutes to prep and cook
Add 2-3 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter to large pot and begin to sauté crushed garlic cloves for 3 minutes
Add in onion, celery and carrots and sauté until translucent approx. 7 minutes on medium heat
De-glaze with 1/3 c. red wine and let reduce 1 minute
Put these sautéed veggies into food processor with the whole peeled tomatoes and puree
Add back to large pan with 2 tbsp. tomato paste, Italian seasonings, sugar and red pepper flakes, mix to combine
Add in white wine, red wine and clam broth and bring to a simmer for 25-60 minutes on low bubbling simmer, the longer you simmer the more the developed flavor
Begin to add fish to the simmering tomatoes …first the cod, simmer 2 minutes
Then add in the raw shrimp, scallops, calamari and top with mussels
Stir to combine before the fish begins to cook thru then…DO NOT STIR as the white flaky fish will fall apart
COVER to help the steam cook all the fish
Bring back to a low simmer for 3-8 minutes until all the mussels open
Then add in the pre-cooked sliced lobster just to warm thru
Garnish with parsley and basil and a drizzle of olive oil and serve with linguine or serve in a shallow bowl with garlic bread or slices of toasted sour dough…mmmm!