Pasta-Stuffed Roast Chicken
Pasta and Gizzards
Pasta with Chicken Liver and Artichoke Sauce
Broiled Duck with Rice Noodles
Pastitsio for a Party
Leon Lianides’s Leg of Lamb with Orzo
Peking Curry-Tomato Sauce on Noodles
Beef and Scallops with Cellophane Noodles
Beach Pâtè
Chilied Short Ribs over Corn Macaroni
Lasagne
Savory Tongue with Fine Noodles
Ossi Buchi with Orzo
Sausage-Tomato Sauce over Penne
Pork with Sauerkraut Noodles
Soft Noodles Sautéed
Tagliarini Verdi al Guanciale
Gnocchi à la Parisienne
PENNE OR ZITI WITH TOMATO-GROUND MEAT SAUCE
This is a good scheme to follow whenever you have some leftover meat in the refrigerator. It’s delicious made with chicken, beef, pork, veal, even brains. The seasoning will depend on whatever your meat was seasoned with when it was first cooked. If you have some meat juices left from underneath a roast or from a sauté pan, by all means add them to the sauce, too. And, if you don’t, and have a delicate meat such as chicken or veal, add ¼ cup cream to the sauce at the end. A wonderful way to use leftovers—let your imagination guide you!
6 to 8 servings
1 recipe Light Tomato Sauce (p. 67)
1 cup ground cooked meat
Pan juices or ¼ cup cream (optional)
1 pound penne or ziti
Make the sauce. When it is done, add the ground cooked meat and the pan juices or cream. Season to taste, and simmer for 5 minutes while you cook the pasta. Drain, and serve the sauce over the hot pasta.
VARIATIONS
Substitute ½ pound or more cooked shrimp for the meat. Add a touch more pepper and ½ cup finely chopped red or green bell peppers.
Steam clams as described on page 89. Remove from shell and add clam broth and clams to tomato sauce. Combine with pasta. No cheese!
You may do the same with mussels as with the clams. Remove shell before adding to pasta.
VERNA ROSS’S BAKED CHICKEN GOULASH AND SPAGHETTI
This is a very homely dish that I used to eat a great deal in the West. There was a time when everyone was making it. I think of it as very American, one of those things you can carry to a picnic or to a big buffet party. It’s quite unsophisticated, but it tastes just fine.
12 to 14 servings
4-to 5-pound fowl, cooked and cooled
4 to 5 onions, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 pound fresh mushrooms
2 pounds spaghetti
1 can whole-kernel corn, or 1 package frozen corn
1 28-ounce can tomatoes
1 package frozen peas
2 cups grated Cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
Remove the meat from the chicken and pull it apart into fairly large pieces.
Sauté the onions in the butter until just lightly cooked. Add the mushrooms and sauté a few minutes more.
Meanwhile cook the spaghetti in the broth in which the chicken was cooked. Mix the meat with the drained cooked spaghetti. Add the corn, onions, tomatoes, peas, and mushrooms, and turn the whole mixture into a large casserole. Cover the top with grated cheese, and bake in a 350° oven for 45 minutes.
OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN FRICASSEE WITH WAGON WHEELS
A wonderfully soothing dish, a great old favorite. If your family likes only the white or only the dark meat, you can buy your chicken in parts instead of whole, and no one will feel disappointed. Wide noodles are traditional, but I served a fricassee with wagon wheels recently, and it made an amusing change.
6 servings
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3½-to-4-pound chicken, cut in pieces
¾ cup sliced celery
½ cup finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 tablespoons flour
1½ cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 pound wagon wheels or other pasta
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet. When the foam subsides, add the chicken to the pan and cook it for 1 minute, until it becomes firm on the outside but has not yet browned. Turn and sear the other side, and remove the chicken from the pan.
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet. When it is bubbling, stir in the celery, onions, and shallots. When they are nicely coated with butter, sprinkle on the flour and cook it briefly, stirring all the time. Do not let it brown. Add the chicken stock gradually, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
Return the chicken to the pan with ½ cup of the cream, salt, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg. Shake the pan to blend the spices. Bring the sauce to a low simmer, put the cover in place, and lower the heat. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
Uncover the skillet and remove the chicken to a covered dish, putting it in a 250° oven to keep it warm. Tip the skillet and, using a flat spoon, skim off the surface fat from the sauce.
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ cup cream and the egg yolks. Slowly pour about 1 cup of the hot sauce into the egg mixture in a thin stream while you continue to whisk it. Then return the egg-sauce mixture to the pan containing the hot sauce. Cook it over low heat until it thickens to a light, creamy consistency that just coats the spoon. It must not overheat or begin to simmer, or it may curdle. Season with lemon juice and with more salt, if necessary.
Cook the noodles. Drain them, and combine with some of the sauce. Make a bed of noodles on a platter, and lay the chicken pieces on it, coated with the sauce.
Despite its Italian name, this is an all-American dish, probably invented in San Francisco to honor a famous singer. Now we remember her because of this dish. The whole point is in the chicken broth; if you have a good, rich broth, your sauce will be properly flavored. If it’s good it’s marvelous, if bad—a mess.
6 to 8 servings
3½-to-4-pound chicken, cooked
2 sweet red peppers, peeled
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons flour
2½ cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon Tabasco
½ cup sherry
1 pound spaghetti
¾ cup bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Remove the meat from the chicken and set it aside. Cut the peppers into dice. Make a velouté sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, then stir in the flour. When it is cooked and bubbling, stir in the chicken stock gradually, continuing to stir until the sauce is thickened. Add the cream, and season with the salt, pepper, Tabasco, and sherry.
Put the chicken and diced peppers into the sauce, and hold over low heat while you cook and drain the spaghetti and arrange it in a buttered baking dish. Spoon the chicken and sauce over the spaghetti. Cover the top with the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese and dot with butter. Place in a 475° oven for a few minutes until the topping is glazed and bubbling.
To make a lightly curried Tetrazzini, add 1 tablespoon or more curry powder to the butter when you first make the velouté. Let it cook for a minute before you add the flour.
If you are feeling rich and elegant, add a finely chopped black truffle to the chicken. Instead of a mixture of crumbs and cheese sprinkle toasted sliced almonds over the top.
NUTTED CHICKEN-RICE NOODLE CASSEROLE
I first had this in a Danish restaurant in Seattle at least forty years ago, and I just loved the crust of buttery, crunchy sliced almonds. I suppose we should offer it to some prima donna, because it’s very much like Chicken Tetrazzini. Perhaps, in honor of its Scandinavian origin, we should call it Chicken Nilsson.
6 servings
8 ounces rice noodles
3 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Cognac
1½ teaspoons salt; less, if you use canned chicken broth
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon tarragon
Dash of Tabasco
3 cups poached chicken, removed from the bone
¾ cup sliced almonds, toasted
Cover the noodles with cold water, and let them soak for 3 to 4 hours. If you use ordinary wheat noodles, cook them in boiling water, drain, and set them aside.
To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan. Mix the flour into the melted butter and cook it slowly, stirring all the time, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the roux is well blended. Stir in the chicken broth and cook until the sauce is smooth, thick, and at the boiling point. Add the cream, Cognac, salt, pepper, tarragon, and Tabasco, and cook briefly to heat through and blend the flavors. An additional tablespoon of butter swirled in at this point will give an even richer sauce. Add the chicken to the pan, taste, and correct the seasoning.
Arrange the noodles in a buttered baking dish. Spoon the chicken mixture evenly over them, and cover the chicken with a good layer of toasted almonds. Dot with butter. Bake in a 350° oven for 20 minutes, when the top should be brown and crunchy, an absolutely delicious finish.
Not at all what you think it is. In Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, “pot pies” are noodle squares that are added to rich chicken or beef broth. You serve them in a bowl, with a lot of broth and some of the chicken.
6 to 8 servings
4-to-5-pound stewing fowl or roasting chicken
1 leek, washed and trimmed
1 onion, peeled and stuck with 1 clove
1 carrot, scraped
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs parsley
3 peppercorns
Salt
NOODLES:
2½ cups flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon butter or chicken fat
½ teaspoon salt
Chopped parsley
Put the chicken in a large pot with the leek, onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaf, parsley, and peppercorns. Barely cover with water (or, for a richer broth, with chicken stock). Bring the liquid slowly to a boil and reduce the heat, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Cover the pot and simmer very gently, so that the surface barely moves, for about 1 hour for a young chicken and 2 or more hours for a stewing fowl. Transfer the chicken to a platter and, when it is cool enough to handle, take off the skin, pull the meat from the bones, and cut it into large pieces. Strain the broth, correct the seasoning, and put it back on the stove while you make the pot pies.
To make the noodles: Combine the flour, eggs, butter or chicken fat, and salt with enough water to make a stiff dough—around ½ cup. Make them as you would any noodles—by hand, in the mixer, or in the food processor. Let rest, knead, and let rest again. Roll out the dough on a floured board or through the smooth wheels of the pasta machine. With a knife or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. Use them immediately or dry them as you would any other noodles.
When you are ready to serve the pot pies, return the chicken pieces to the broth and simmer for a few minutes to heat through. Then lay the noodle squares in the simmering broth and cook them for about 15 minutes. Ladle broth, chicken, and pot pies into soup bowls, and sprinkle with lots of parsley.
This Alsatian specialty is a lighter, more delicate version of the Burgundian coq au vin. Any white wine will do, but for authenticity’s sake you should try to get a slightly sweet Alsatian Riesling. Noodles, of course, are important in Alsatian cooking, having entered with the German influence.
6 to 8 servings
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil
Flour
8 chicken drumsticks and thighs
¼ pound salt pork, diced small
1 pound mushrooms
8 shallots, chopped fine
24 small white onions, peeled
3 carrots, cleaned and cut in rounds
½ cup Cognac
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups white wine
1 pound fine noodles
Chopped parsley
Heat the butter and oil in a heavy skillet. Lightly flour the chicken pieces and brown them over medium-high heat, a few at a time, removing them to a large casserole as they are browned. In the fat remaining in the skillet, render the salt pork by cooking it until the fat has melted and the pieces of pork are brown and crisp. Add the mushrooms, shallots, onions, and carrots and toss them in the fat until they are lightly browned. Add them to the chicken pieces in the casserole.
In a small saucepan, heat the Cognac. Pour it over the chicken and vegetables and set it afire. Baste the chicken with the blazing Cognac until the flames have died down, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic. Add the wine and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. If the sauce seems too thin, thicken it with a beurre manié made of equal parts of butter and flour worked together with a fork and then dropped, bit by bit, into the simmering sauce.
Cook and drain the noodles. Make a bed of the cooked noodles on a heated platter. Arrange the chicken and vegetables on them, spoon on the sauce, and sprinkle everything with chopped parsley.
VARIATIONS
If they are available in your part of the country, cut up 2 guinea hens. Test for tenderness. Follow the rule for the chicken.
Several kinds of game hens may be prepared the same way. Game hens should, if they are large, be cut in half. You will need ½ game hen per person. They will cook in approximately the same time after browning in the skillet. Quail will take less time but they are most satisfactory in flavor. Gauge at least 2 per person. Watch them very carefully lest they overcook.
CHICKEN STIR-FRY WITH BOWKNOTS
This is a dish that tastes even better when you eat it cold the day after it is served. It’s a mad combination of Italian, Chinese, and American foods, and it’s just delicious.
4 servings
1 large or 2 small chicken breasts, boned
3 Italian sausages
Gizzard, heart, and liver of a chicken (optional)
¾ cup olive oil
3 medium onions, chopped
2 carrots, shredded
1 large clove garlic, chopped
2½ cups Light Tomato Sauce (p. 67)
1 teaspoon Oriental 5-spice powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon Tabasco
⅔ cup chopped parsley
½ pound bows or butterflies
Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes. Cover the sausages, and the gizzard, heart, and liver, if you use them, with water, and poach for 5 minutes. Take them out of the water, cut the sausages into ½-inch slices and chop the gizzard, heart, and liver.
Heat the oil in a heavy 12-inch skillet. Add the onions, carrots, and garlic, and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Add the chicken cubes, sausage slices, and chopped innards, and stir-fry for 5 minutes more. Add the tomato sauce, 5-spice powder, salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Blend and simmer for 3 minutes. At the end, mix in the chopped parsley.
Cook and drain the pasta, add the drained pasta to the pan, and toss everything together well.
PASTA-STUFFED ROAST CHICKEN
This is as good a roast chicken as I’ve ever had, and I am a fanatic about roast chicken. When it’s done at a high temperature, the bird stays tender and juicy, while the skin turns beautifully crisp. The stuffing was made with an interesting Italian double-elbow macaroni, but you could use plain elbows, penne, or twists instead.
4 servings
6 ounces pasta
2 small bunches scallions, sliced
⅔ cup chopped Italian parsley
2 tablespoons pignoli
1 cup Pesto (p. 66)
4-to-5-pound roasting chicken
2 tablespoons butter
4 slices bacon
Cook and drain the pasta. Combine the pasta, scallions, parsley, pignoli, and pesto in a mixing bowl. Stuff the chicken with the dressing and close the opening by placing a slice of bread over it. Truss the chicken and rub it lightly with the butter.
Place the bird on its side on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Cover with the bacon slices. Roast for 25 minutes at 425°. Remove the bacon, turn the bird onto its other side, and cover with the same strips of bacon. Roast another 25 minutes. Place the chicken breast up, and discard the bacon. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes longer, basting with the pan juices.
At this point, if the thigh joint moves easily—if you can “shake hands with the bird”—it’s too late, the chicken is overcooked and dry! A better test is to insert a meat thermometer into the thigh, avoiding the bone. It should register 160° when the bird is done. Take it out of the oven, place it on a hot platter, and let it sit for a few minutes before you carve it.
The lowly innards of a chicken have a wonderful taste and texture when they are cooked properly. This thrifty sauce has the surprisingly Chinese tastes of soy, sesame, and cilantro.
6 to 8 servings
1½ pounds chicken gizzards and hearts
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup scallions, thinly sliced
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Oriental sesame-seed oil
1 pound Chinese noodles
Clean and trim the gizzards and hearts. Parboil them for 30 to 40 minutes, until they are tender, and then cut them into thin slices. Sauté the onion in the oil until it is transparent. Add the gizzards, garlic, and scallions, and sauté them for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with the cilantro, parsley, soy sauce, and sesame oil, and toss the mixture until it is well mixed and heated through.
Cook and drain the noodles, and serve with the sauce.
PASTA WITH CHICKEN LIVER AND ARTICHOKE SAUCE
This rather old-fashioned sauce is lightly thickened with flour. Despite the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and oregano, it’s not Italian in feeling, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it had originated in this country. You might do it with some kind of long, flat noodles, or maybe with twists.
6 to 8 servings
4 tablespoons butter
3 onions, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
16-ounce can Redpack tomatoes in purée
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ pound mushrooms, sliced
8 canned or frozen artichoke hearts
½ pound chicken livers, trimmed
1 pound pasta
½ cup grated cheese
Melt the butter in a saucepan, and cook the onions until they are transparent. Stir in the flour, and cook it gently over medium heat until the roux is golden and bubbling. Add the chicken broth and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Add the tomatoes, oregano, and half the salt and pepper. Cover and cook gently over low heat for 1 hour.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and artichokes, and sauté gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the livers, raise the heat, and toss and turn them over high heat until they are well browned. Do not overcook, or they will toughen. Season with the rest of the salt and pepper, and pour into the tomato sauce.
Cook and drain the pasta. Pour the sauce over the freshly cooked noodles, sprinkle with cheese, and serve.
BROILED DUCK WITH RICE NOODLES
This is a nice mixture of flavors, but you can use your imagination when you choose vegetables for the stir-fry. I can see putting in some watercress, for example, or some slender new asparagus. The crisply fried rice noodles are fun. People think they have to fry them a long time, but that’s not the way to do it. You break them up, drop them in hot fat, and pull them right out. They take one minute, and you keep going until they are all nice and crispy. And excellent they are!
4 servings
8 ounces rice noodles
1 large duck or 2 small ducks
1 onion
1 rib celery
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Peanut oil
Plum sauce
¼ pound snow peas, sliced on the diagonal
2 bunches scallions, sliced on the diagonal
¼ pound bean sprouts
1 cup sliced celery
2 ounces dried mushrooms, Chinese or Italian, soaked and rinsed
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Soak the rice noodles in cold water for 3 to 4 hours. Remove the breast halves from the duck and set them aside on a broiling rack.
Put the rest of the duck into a pot with the onion, celery rib, 1 teaspoon pepper, and enough water to cover it. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 1½ hours. Remove the duck from the broth and, when it is cool enough to handle, remove the legs and set them on the broiling rack with the breasts. Skim the fat from the broth, bring it to the boil again, and cook it way down, until it is reduced to 1 cup. Blend in the soy sauce and set it over very low heat.
Brush the duck breast and legs with peanut oil and plum sauce. Place them under a preheated broiler and cook for 5 minutes. The breast meat will be quite rare. You can, of course, cook it longer, but it is tender and delicious cooked just to this point.
Now drain the rice noodles and dry them well on paper towels. Pour oil into a heavy skillet to a depth of 1½ inches, and heat it to 360°. Toss in a third of the noodles and fry for 1 minute. Skim them out, place them on paper towels, and fry the remaining noodles in two batches. Make a bed of crisply browned noodles on a heated platter.
In another skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil. Toss in the snow peas, scallions, bean sprouts, celery, and mushrooms. Stir-fry over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, another teaspoon of pepper, and the reduced duck broth, and toss until everything is blended. Spoon the vegetables over the fried noodles and arrange the sliced duck breasts and legs around the outside of the platter.
This is one of the best Greek dishes I know, a good oven dish that’s very rich and full flavored. It comes from Leon Lianides, the owner of the original Coach House, which is now closed.
12 servings
1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic
1½ pounds ground lean beef
2 pounds ground lean lamb
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups tomato sauce
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 bay leaf
½ cup finely chopped parsley
1 cup dry red wine
7 cups light cream
2 cups milk
1½ cups flour
Good pinch of nutmeg
10 egg yolks
2 cups fresh ricotta cheese
1½ pounds elbow macaroni or ziti
1½ cups grated Romano cheese
First make your meat sauce: In a large skillet, cook the onion in 3 tablespoons butter. When the onion is transparent, add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the meats and cook over high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until the meat is no longer red. Season with ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and the tomato sauce, oregano, cinnamon, basil, bay leaf, parsley, and wine. Cook the sauce, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has been absorbed. This meat sauce can be prepared in advance and kept in the refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to use it. I never think that far ahead about what I plan to eat, but it’s a useful idea if you are making the pastitsio for a party.
To make the cream sauce: Bring 6 cups of the cream just to a boil with the milk. In another saucepan, melt 1 cup butter. Add the flour, stirring with a wire whisk. When the roux is blended and smooth, pour in the hot cream and milk, stirring furiously with the whisk to keep it from lumping. Cook until the sauce is thick and smooth, about 15 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Turn off the heat and let the sauce cool for 10 minutes before you add the eggs.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the unheated cup of cream. Gradually add about 2 cups of the warm cream sauce to this egg mixture, beating all the while to make sure that the eggs don’t curdle. Then pour the egg mixture into the cream sauce, continuing to stir until everything is blended. Finally, beat in the ricotta.
Butter the inside of a large, deep baking dish. This recipe will need a dish at least 15 by 9 by 4 inches. Cook and drain the macaroni. Place half the macaroni in the dish and sprinkle with half the Romano. Spoon on half the cream sauce, smoothing it with the back of a large spoon. Spread on all of the meat sauce. Now add the rest of the macaroni, the rest of the cream sauce, and the rest of the grated cheese, and place in a 400° oven. Bake for 55 minutes, when the pastitsio should be covered with a golden-brown crust.
If you want to serve it in neatly cut squares, you should finish cooking the pastitsio at least 6 hours before you intend to serve it. Leave it out on the kitchen counter or, if the day is warm, place it in the refrigerator. Then cut the casserole into serving portions and reheat before serving.
LEON LIANIDES’S LEG OF LAMB WITH ORZO
Orzo is a kind of pasta that is rice-like in shape and, almost, in taste. It’s an especial favorite with the Greeks and lends itself agreeably to hot dishes, soups, and salads. Use it instead of rice or potatoes as a side dish, with just some butter and a good sprinkle of cheese. You’ll find that it won’t become gummy as rice may. In this preparation, the orzo soaks up all the wonderfully meaty juices that come from the lamb.
8 servings
5-to-8-pound leg of lamb
Juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
Pinch of oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried mint
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 onions, coarsely chopped
3-pound-3½-ounce can tomatoes, about 5¾ cups
7 cups beef or chicken broth
2 cups orzo
Grated kasseri cheese
Preheat the oven to 450°. Rub the meat with the lemon juice, garlic cloves, oregano, basil, mint, salt, and pepper. Place it on a rack in a large roasting pan, with the chopped onions underneath. After 20 minutes, turn the heat down to 350°. Add the tomatoes and 2 cups broth to the onions under the pan. Cook the lamb for another 60 minutes, until the outside of the meat is golden brown and the internal temperature registers 135°. The inside will be medium rare, but after it has been kept warm on a heated platter while you cook the orzo, it will be pink and juicy.
Take the lamb off its rack and put it on a heated platter. Scrape all the solids from the bottom of the roasting pan, and pour the juices through a strainer. Return the liquid to the pan with an additional 5 cups meat or chicken broth. Bring to the boil on top of the stove and gradually add the orzo. Stir well, and return the pan to the oven. Cook, stirring now and then, until the orzo is cooked and the liquid is all absorbed. When it’s nearly done, carve the meat.
Take the orzo from the oven, turn it into a bowl or onto a serving platter, and sprinkle it with grated kasseri cheese. I’ve also had orzo cooked this way with cubes of feta cheese mixed through it. Serve some of the orzo alongside the sliced lamb on each plate.
PEKING CURRY-TOMATO SAUCE ON NOODLES
This was a regular offering in Chinese restaurants when I was a boy in Oregon. I never see it on restaurant menus anymore, which is a shame: it has a strong tomato taste lightly flavored with curry. Use it on dried or fresh Chinese noodles or with the Japanese Udon Noodles on page 48. Cellophane noodles are too delicate to stand up to the sauce.
6 to 8 servings
½ pound butter
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder, or more to taste
Two 28-ounce cans plum tomatoes, or Redpack tomatoes in purée
1 pound chopped beef
Salt
1 pound Chinese or Japanese whole-wheat noodles
Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the onions and garlic and cook them, stirring, until they are soft but not brown. Add the curry powder and cook for a minute to develop the flavor. Then add the canned tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat, cover loosely, and simmer the sauce until it is thick, around 1½ hours. Break up the chopped meat, drop it into the simmering sauce, and cook very gently, stirring often, for another half hour. Add salt to taste.
Cook the noodles. Drain them, and serve with the sauce.
BEEF AND SCALLOPS WITH CELLOPHANE NOODLES
This recipe is derived from one that I taught during a series of classes on “Taste” with Barbara Kafka. The beef and scallops make an interesting combination, and are delicate enough in flavor to work with cellophane noodles.
6 servings
1 pound cellophane noodles
2 tablespoons oil
1 pound beef tenderloin, in strips 2 inches by ½ inch
¾ pound sea scallops
1 large clove garlic, minced
1½ cups scallions, sliced diagonally
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
Prepare the cellophane noodles early in the day. Do not soak them. Just break them apart and deep-fry in oil heated to 375° for a few seconds until they puff up. Drain on paper towels.
Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the beef, scallops, and garlic all at once and cook over high heat, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the scallions, salt, pepper, and dried red pepper. Cook for another 30 seconds, stirring furiously, and pour over a platter holding the fried cellophane noodles.
This is a meat loaf that has tiny pasta shells scattered through it. The shells make a pattern like the bits of tongue or pistachio nuts that are found in pâté de campagne. They’re fun, but if you can’t find them, try orzo, tubetti, funghini—any small, granular-shaped pasta. I’ve made this for years and years. It’s a perfect dish to take on a picnic and slice on the spot. Hence the name.
8 servings
4 ounces very small pasta
1 cup carrots, cut in 1-inch sections
2 medium onions
4 large cloves garlic
½ cup chopped parsley
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 pounds beef round, chuck, or rump, ground twice
1 pound pork shoulder, ground twice
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 strips bacon
Cook and drain the pasta. Put the carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt in the food processor and process for 30 seconds until they are well mixed. Turn this mixture into a large bowl and add the beef, pork, bread crumbs, eggs, and the pasta shells. I like to use my hands for this job, but if you are squeamish, use wooden spoons. Form the meat mixture into a firm oval loaf.
Make a bed in a shallow baking pan with 3 bacon strips. Place the meat loaf on the bed of bacon, and put the remaining strips across the top. Bake in a 350° oven for 1½ hours, and serve hot or cold. You will find that if you make your meat loaf free-form instead of in a loaf pan, you’ll get a firmer texture for slicing and plenty of flavorful outer crust.
CHILIED SHORT RIBS OVER CORN MACARONI
I’ve always been a devotee of ribs, no matter how they are done: boiled, braised, or barbecued. I like the combination in this treatment of corn, macaroni, and chili. It should be hot, but not five-alarm hot. If you can find corn macaroni, it makes a good addition to the dish.
6 servings
5 pounds lean short ribs
3 large onions, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons mild chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon salt
1 small chili pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
1½ to 2 cups beef stock
1½ teaspoons hot chili powder, or to taste
1½ cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 pound elbow macaroni, preferably corn
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup chopped parsley
½ cup grated Monterey jack cheese
Place the short ribs on their sides in a broiler pan from which the rack has been removed. Broil 6 inches from the heat until the meat is brown. Turn the ribs, and broil until the other side is brown and crisp.
In a casserole, mix the onions, garlic, mild chili powder, cumin, salt, chili pepper, and tomato sauce. Lay the short ribs over the mixture, and pour on enough beef stock to cover. Cover the casserole and place in a 350° oven. After 45 minutes, check to see if more broth is needed. Stir in the hot chili powder and cook for another 45 minutes, or until the meat is tender. Then add the corn kernels.
(If you prepare the ribs and sauce ahead of time, you will be able to chill the casserole and remove the fat that hardens on the top, before you reheat it.)
Cook the macaroni and drain. Toss with the butter, chopped parsley, a few spoonfuls of sauce, and the cheese. Make a bed of the pasta on a serving platter. Arrange the ribs on it, and spoon the rest of the sauce over everything.
Often baked pasta dishes are a bore, but this one holds up, I think, because all the different sauces are first-rate and the final cooking is brief. It looks like a long recipe, but once you have prepared the different elements, you can put it together in a matter of minutes.
6 to 8 servings
1 recipe Light Tomato Sauce (p. 67)
MEATBALLS:
½ pound ground chuck
½ pound sausage meat
2 onions, finely chopped
1 small chili pepper, seeds removed
¼ cup chopped parsley
2 teaspoons Pesto (p. 66)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces white lasagne
4 ounces whole-wheat lasagne
2 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
¼ pound Gruyère cheese, grated
¼ pound Parmesan cheese, grated
Make the tomato sauce and set aside. To make the meatballs: Put everything into a large bowl. Using your hands, blend the ingredients thoroughly and make small balls, around the size of large cherries. Refrigerate until needed.
To make the béchamel sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. Stir in the flour, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and golden. Remove from the heat while you add the chicken broth, stirring vigorously. Return the pan to the heat and stir with a spatula or wire whisk until the sauce is smooth and thick. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Season with the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Add the heavy cream, and keep the mixture just below the simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors.
To assemble the lasagne: Bring 4 quarts water to the boil. Cook the lasagne strips, 3 or 4 at a time, until they are just done. Remove them with a slotted spoon, dip in cold water to stop the cooking, and lay on a dish towel. Continue until all the pasta is cooked.
Melt the 2 tablespoons of oil and of butter in a large heavy skillet. When the fats have blended and are hot, but not smoking, add the meatballs. Cook over medium-high heat, shaking the pan constantly to keep the meatballs in motion, until lightly browned all over. Be sure to keep them hopping in the pan so they do not flatten.
Spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce onto the bottom of a 14-inch baking pan. Make a layer of white pasta over the sauce. Spread on more tomato sauce, and sprinkle with meatballs. Spoon on half the béchamel. Continue with a layer of whole-wheat pasta, tomato sauce, and meatballs and so forth until they are all used up, alternating white and whole-wheat lasagne and ending with the béchamel. Sprinkle with the grated cheeses and bake in a 450° oven for 15 minutes.
SAVORY TONGUE WITH FINE NOODLES
I love the delicate flavor of veal tongue. When I can get them, I will often simmer small tongues in seasoned broth, then let them cool and slice them thin to use in sandwiches, in salads, or in this assertive topping for pasta.
4 to 6 servings
1 recipe Light Tomato Sauce (p. 67)
½ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon Tabasco
2 cups finely chopped cooked veal or beef tongue
1 pound spaghettini or angel-hair pasta
Grated Parmesan cheese
Combine the tomato sauce with the chopped onion, seasonings, and tongue in a 2-quart saucepan. Cook gently for 10 minutes. Cook and drain the pasta. Then spoon the sauce over the cooked noodles and sprinkle with a great deal of Parmesan cheese.
I’ve always objected to getting big chunks of ossi buchi on my plate. If you can get your butcher to cut the long bones in pieces only 1 inch thick, you will find that they are still meaty and beautiful, and will cook very quickly.
4 to 6 servings
8 to 10 pieces veal shanks, cut in 1-inch pieces
½ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
4 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons basil
1½ cups orzo
Additional chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon saffron
GREMOLATA:
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
¾ cup chopped parsley
Zest of 2 lemons
Sear the veal shanks in the oil over moderate heat, turning each piece once or twice. Season with salt and pepper and pour in 1 cup chicken broth. Cover the pot and simmer the meat for 20 minutes. Remove the cover, add the basil, and simmer for another 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the orzo in the remaining chicken broth. When it is done, drain, reserving ½ cup broth to soak the saffron a few minutes.
Toss the orzo with the butter and saffron and its broth.
To make the gremolata: Chop the garlic and parsley together with a chef’s knife and grate the lemon into the mixture.
Serve the ossi buchi on a bed of orzo, and sprinkle gremolata over the top.
SAUSAGE-TOMATO SAUCE OVER PENNE
This is a hearty sauce and deserves a substantial pasta, something like penne, the little pointed quills, or ziti, or one of the twists. The seasoning depends on the seasoning of your sausages.
4 to 6 servings
I recipe Light Tomato Sauce (p. 67), without the butter
½ pound Italian sausages
1 pound pasta
Make the sauce. While it is cooking, cut the sausages into thin slices. Cook them for about 5 minutes in a heavy skillet until the fat has drained out and the meat is cooked through. Pour off most of the fat, and add the meat to the sauce, with a little fat. Simmer together for 5 minutes while you cook and drain the pasta. Serve sauce over pasta.
An admirable way to use leftover pork loin. If you don’t have leftover pork, you can start fresh with thin slices of pork tenderloin, boned pork chops, shoulder, or fresh butt. And, if you use smoked butt, you’ll get something else—but something very nice!
6 servings
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil
2 to 2½ cups thinly sliced cooked pork, or 1½ to 2 pounds fresh pork
2 tablespoons hot Hungarian paprika
1½ cups white wine
3 cups sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 pound egg noodles
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup heavy cream
Heat 2 tablespoons butter with the oil in a heavy skillet. Brown the pork slices on each side over fairly high heat, about 3 minutes to a side. Remove the meat, add the paprika, and cook in the fat for 1 minute. Pour in the wine and bring to a boil, stirring up the flavorful bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine is reduced slightly, then return the meat to the pan with the drained sauerkraut and caraway seeds. Simmer 10 to 12 minutes.
Cook and drain the noodles. Stir them into the pork-and-sauerkraut mixture and turn gently over medium heat, adding the heavy cream as you do so.
Because I live so near New York’s Chinatown, I can buy fresh Chinese noodles when I make this lo mein. You can do nearly as well with dried Chinese noodles. If you can’t find those, thin spaghetti makes an adequate substitute. The trick with this dish, as in most Chinese cooking, is to cook everything very rapidly. You get all the ingredients prepared ahead of time so that the actual cooking takes no more than 5 minutes.
4 servings
½ pound Chinese noodles
½ pound roast pork
1 bunch scallions
2 quarter-sized slices fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 pound bean sprouts
2½ tablespoons soy sauce
2½ tablespoons oyster sauce
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon dry sherry
½ cup chopped cilantro
Cook and drain the noodles. Slice the meat into matchsticks. Cut the scallions into 2-inch pieces and then into lengthwise shreds. Peel the ginger and cut the slices into matchsticks. Peel and mince the garlic. Rinse the bean sprouts in cold water. Pick them over, drain them, and set them aside. Combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and salt in a teacup and set aside.
Heat a wok or a large skillet until it is very hot. Pour in the oil. Add the ginger and garlic, the pork shreds and scallions, and stir-fry briskly for a minute. Pour in the sherry, continuing to mix rapidly. Add the bean sprouts while you toss furiously. Pour in the soy-sauce mixture as you stir.
Now add the noodles. Scoop them with the vegetables and meat, running your spatula underneath them, turning them over in the air, and letting them fall back into the fat. Stir-fry over high heat for 3 minutes, until everything is hot and colored with the soy sauce. Sprinkle with the cilantro, give one more stir, and pour into a hot serving dish.
VARIATIONS
Instead of the pork, you could substitute slivers of chicken breast, flank steak, or tiny shrimp. Instead of some of the bean sprouts you could use thinly sliced Chinese cabbage, pea pods, or bamboo shoots.
Where I live, in Greenwich Village, there is no end to wonderful Italian markets, and I have no trouble buying pancetta, the Italian unsmoked bacon. If you can’t locate pancetta, you can substitute prosciutto, unsmoked ham, or bacon that has been simmered in water for 10 minutes, drained, and rinsed with fresh cold water.
6 servings
8 to 10 medium leeks
6 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt
½ pound sliced pancetta or American bacon, rinsed and cut into ½-inch pieces
1¼ pounds green tagliarini or other pasta
½ pint heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Trim off the root ends and most of the green parts of the leeks. Slit the tops and wash thoroughly under running water to remove the grit. Cut into julienne strips and pat dry with paper towels.
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Add the leeks, pepper, parsley, nutmeg, and salt. Sauté briskly until the leeks are golden, and remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon. Turn up the heat and sauté the pancetta until it is nearly crisp. Return the leeks to the pan and turn off the heat.
Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan. Cook and drain the pasta and add to the pan. Stir as you add the leeks and pancetta. Blend in the cream and half the cheese, and cook gently for 2 minutes more over very low heat. Serve with the rest of the cheese and freshly ground black pepper on the side.
Years ago this was a regular feature on the luncheon menu at the Restaurant Madeleine in Paris. With a green salad, a dry white wine or champagne, and the raspberries to follow, it was sheer luxury. But, if you look closely at the recipe, you’ll recognize plain old dumplings, made, this time, with a cream-puff or pâte à choux dough.
4 servings
PÂTE À CHOUX DOUGH:
½ cup milk
½ cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ pound butter
1 cup flour
5 eggs
4 large patty shells, or one 9-inch vol-au-vent
7 tablespoons butter
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk, warmed
⅓ cup Madeira
2 cups diced smoked ham
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Grated cheese
First make the pâte à choux: Put the milk, water, salt, and butter in a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat. As soon as it boils, remove the pan from the heat and begin to add the flour. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon while you slowly pour the flour into the pan. When all the flour has been added, set the pan back over the heat and beat vigorously for another minute. As part of the water evaporates, the batter will become smooth and pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool for 5 minutes. Make a well in the center of the dough, and beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
When the eggs are absorbed and the mixture is smooth and glossy, spoon it into a pastry bag that is fitted with a no. 9 plain tube. Have a large pot of salted water at the boil. Twist the pastry bag tightly, forcing the dough to the bottom. Squeeze it out into the water, cutting it off in 3-inch pieces. If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can just take up spoonfuls of dough and push them into the boiling water with a second spoon. Let the gnocchi cook in the boiling water for 2 or 3 minutes. When they rise to the top, skim them off with a slotted spoon and plunge immediately into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Drain and dry on a paper towel.
Put the patty shells or vol-au-vent to warm in a slow oven while you make the filling. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Add the mushrooms and sauté them quickly. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and the flour and stir them over moderate heat for about 3 minutes. Add the milk and Madeira gradually, stirring all the time, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the diced ham and gnocchi and season with salt and nutmeg.
Fill the warmed patty shells with the gnocchi-mushroom-ham mixture. Sprinkle with cheese.
