Wednesday, February 26, 2014

FRANK SINATRA 'S Favorite Foods




FRANK EATS With AVA

Frank Sinatra & Ava Gardner





FRANKS FAVORITE RESTAURANT
PATSY'S RESTAURANT
West 56th STree, New York, NY


FRANK'S FAVORITE FOODS  ... Excerpt from Daniel Bellino-Zwicke's SUNDAY SAUCE
When Italian-Americans Cook


Oh, and by the way, di you know Sinatra loved it? Loved what? Veal Milanese! It was one of Blue Eyes favorites, along with; a simple bowl of Spaghetti Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce), Clams Posillipo, Sausages, Meatballs, and of course Sunday Sauce. As many know, Patsy’s on West 56th Street in New York was Sinatra’s all-time favorite restaurant. He loved it, and ate there for more than 50 years. He loved his Veal Milanese at Patsy’s and he liked it a certain way, very thin and extra crisp. Veal Milanese is already pounded thin to begin with, but Frank liked his even thinner, and at Patsy’s they always granted Frank’s request and gave him what he wanted, good old, no-fuss Italian Food prepared to perfection. Basta!






RECIPES For SINATRA'S FAVORITE FOODS
Can Be Found
in
La TAVOLA

and 

SUNDAY SAUCE




MANGIA BENE !!!!






YOUNG FRANK









Sunday, February 23, 2014

PASTA alla VINCENT SCHIAVELLI



VINCENT SCHAIVELLI

1948 - 2005
R.I.P.



SCHIAVELLI PASTA

This is my version of Vincent Schiavelli’s Pasta cu Vraccula Arriminatu (pasta with cauliflower) that my  friend  Ada loves so much.  Vincent includes anchovies and  saffron,  which Ada  does not like so I have altered the recipe to suit her taste. I love Vincent’s recipe with the anchovies and saffron but this is just another version and it should illustrate to people that recipes in cookbooks do not have to be followed to the letter and you can change them around, because you may not have all the ingredients available or simply to comply with your own taste. So remember you can always experiment with recipes. Have fun, and explore.


Schiavelli Pasta Recipe

1 large head cauliflower, core and cut into
1-1/2” pieces
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
2-28 oz. cans crushed San Marzano Tomato’s
1 medium onion, minced
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
¼ cup olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

1.  Place half the oil in a large pot with the minced onions.  Sauté for three minutes. Add  five cloves of  garlic that have been thinly sliced. Sauté for 3 minutes over low heat. Add Red Pepper, sauté for 2 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.

3. While tomato sauce is simmering, place  remainder of olive oil  in a  large  frying pan and sauté the cauli-flower over medium heat for 12-15 minutes until it is slightly browned.

4. Add remaining 5 whole garlic cloves with cauli-flower.  Sauté for about 5 minutes.  Add salt & pepper
to taste.

5.  Add cauliflower to tomato sauce and cook for 10 minutes.

6.  You can use almost and pasta for this sauce, although short pasta such as rigatoni, ditalini,  orechietti, or cavatappi work best.

7.  Cook the pasta according to directions on package,  drain, pour sauce over pasta and mix.

8.  Serve with grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigianno Reggiano.

NOTE: If you’d like to use anchovies and saffon like Vincent does, you can add a pinch of saffron and three minced anchovy filets at step number (4), sauté’ for two minutes. Continue to # 5 .



BOOKS by VINCEBT SCHIAVELLI and DANIEL BELLINO-ZWICKE



FETTUCCINE ALFREDO & "PRIMAVERA TOO"





FETTUCCINE ALFREDO 

 Excerpted from Daniel Bellino-Zwicke's "SUNDAY SAUCE"  When Italian-Americans Cook


   In the 60’s and 1970’s Fettuccine Alfredo was one of  the great favorite dishes on Italian restaurant menus throughout the country. It was in the late 80’s that the popularity of the dish started to wane for a couple of  reasons,  one being  the Genesis of the health movement in  The United States and two being the start towards more authentic Italian dishes and  the almost  total  disdain of the so-called cliché dishes, Fettuccine Alfredo being one of them.
    Being in the restaurant business, I have people request this dish to me several times a week. Let me tell  you, “this is the sign of a great dish, regardless of  what  anyone thinks otherwise.” Fettuccine is quick and easy to make. Once you know how to make the sauce,  you  will be able to make  a number of  other  dishes simply by changing or adding different ingredients.
    You can make Tortellini Panna by substituting tortellini for the fettuccine, add a few cooked veget-ables like mushrooms, peas, carrots, and broccoli florets and you have another hugely famous dish of the 70’s and  80’s,  “Pasta  Primavera”,  supposedly invented at Le Cirque by Sirio Maccione and still a popular dish there.
    It’s not on the menu and you have to be an insider to  order it. When I was a Sous Chef at Caio Bella Restaurant, one of the hot trendy restaurants of the late  80’s,  I used to make a dish called “Fettuccine Lemone” that only the regulars knew about. It was not on  the menu,  but if you were in-the-know  you could get it. I used to make this dish for a rich Oil Baron’s daughter from Kuwait and you can make it too simply by adding the zest from a couple lemons to the basic Fettuccine Alfredo recipe, and a few leaves of Fresh Basil is nice addition as well. Buon Appetito!



Daniel Bellino-Zwicke



 RECIPE for FETTUCCINE ALFREDO

1 lb. fresh Fettuccine
1 pt. heavy cream, ½ stick butter
1 cup grated Parmigianno
2 egg yolks, salt & pepper

1. Put the cream in a large frying pan. Bring to the boil,  lower the flame and let  the cream cook. Season the cream with salt  and pepper to taste.  Reduce volume by One-Third, this will thicken the sauce.

2. Cook the fettuccine and drain it. Put the fettuccine in to the pan with the cream. Add butter and stir.

3. Turn the flame off. Add egg yolks and Parnigianno and stir. Serve and pass around extra Parmigiano.


Note: You can make Fettuccine Lemone by adding the zest of two lemons to this recipe. Fresh basil is also another nice addition for the Lemone Sauce.










LE CIRQUE'S ORIGINAL SPAGHETTI PRIMAVERA 


1/2 cup freshly shelled peas (about 1 pound in the pod)
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese or more heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 cup white mushrooms, caps only, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup zucchini, split lengthwise then sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup very small broccoli florets
12 pencil-thin asparagus, green part only, cut in 1-inch segments
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic, peeled and finely chopped
10 to 12 leaves basil, chopped or shredded
1 cup canned, peeled plum tomatoes in 1/2-inch dice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add a teaspoon of salt. Add the peas and boil for 3 minutes. Drain in a strainer. Run under cold water. Set aside.
In a small pot over low heat, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir well and let the sauce bubble gently until it thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
In an 8 to 10-inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the pine nuts, toss them in the oil, and toast until very light brown. Be careful not to burn them.
Add the sliced mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, and asparagus and toss for 5 to 7 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Bring 3 quarts of water to a rolling boil and add a heaping tablespoon of salt.
While the water is coming to a boil, in a small skillet, heat 2 more tablespoons of olive. Add the garlic and basil and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Do not let the garlic brown. Add the diced tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a few grinding of black pepper. Stir, then cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes.
Put the spaghetti into the boiling water. Stir and cook at a full boil until slightly underdone. Drain in a colander, then return the spaghetti to the pot it cooked in or to the pan you will be tossing it in at table. Place over low heat.
Add all of the cheese sauce, all of the chives, and half the peas, half the sautéed vegetables, and half the tomato sauce. Toss well for 2 minutes over low heat. Add a little more Parmesan if the sauce needs thickening (or more to taste), or a few tablespoons of hot water if the mixture gets too thick. There should not a lot of sauce, just a coating.
To present the dish, pour the dressed spaghetti into a warm serving bowl, or divide it between individual pasta bowls. Top with the remaining peas, sautéed vegetables, and tomato sauce. Garnish with basil leaves. Serve with more grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on the side.






Pasta Primavera alla Le Cirque






Thursday, February 6, 2014

Tre Bicchieri Italian Wine Tasting NY Bellino

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THE 2014 Tre Bicchieri Tasting in NEW YORK Today

Tre Bicchieri is the most improtant Italian Wine Tasting of the year for people like me, New York Italian Wine People, including; restaurantuers, Wine Directors (Me), Wine Jounalsit (Me), and lovers of the grape of Italy .. In Italy the magazine Gambero Rosso is the equivalent of Wine Spectator and Robert Parker's Wine Advocate combine .. Gambero Rosso publishes each year an extensive and exhaustive book Vini Italia every year and rates practically all of the wines of Italy, from North to South East to West .. Gambero Rosso unlike Parker, Wine Spectator, and Wine Enthusiaist rates the wine tasted and reviewed with 1, 2, & 3 Glasses (Bicchieri) as oposed to Parker, WS, and WE ... The Tre Bicchieri Tasting are of all the 3 Glass Winners (Tre Bicchieri) of the year, and these tasting are held around the World in appointed cities like; New York, Milan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Sna Fransisico, Chicago, and others ...

For me, yes the annual New York Tre Bicchieri Tasting is a great wine tasting, but for me it's more of a "Social Event" were I get to see many of my friends from Italy who are in town with their wine. As well as seeing my Italian friends, all the New York Italian Wine People are on hand, so you see a lot of people in one shot and accomplish quite a bit in a few hours time .. Anyway, I will sign off for now, go up to the tasting in an hour, taste wine, take notes, visit with friends, have a good time, and tomorrow or the next day I will report back on my findings, stories of friends, of Italy and my favorite wines of the day. All Italian. Basta !

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Sebeastiano Rosa (Winemaker of SASSAICAIA) Me, and Giovanni Folonari (Nozzole) at 2011 Tre Bicchieri New York ...

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The Annual Italian Wine Bible "Vini Italia" Published by Gambero Rosso

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SUNDAY SAUCE When Italian Americans Cook

by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke .. Available on AMAZON.com