Sunday, October 26, 2008

Family-Style Nummy Italiano


Last night we had dinner for twelve at the N3 kitchen. It was a tight squeeze, but we love an excuse to put the leaf in the dining room table and break out the extra long linen. In the hustle and bustle of service, it was hard to get images of all the menu items. Everything was served in big bowls and platters, family-style. Here is the full menu along with the cannoli filling recipe.

Antipasto: Prosciutto, salami, sopressa, olives, roasted peppers and pepperoncini, figs, radish, provolone, and mozzarella.

Green Salad with cucumber, red onion, and tomato and a fig balsamic vinaigrette

Polenta

Lamb and Beef Meatballs with Marinara

Italian Sausage with Onions and Peppers

Baked Butternut Squash Parmesan

Roasted Golden Beets

Sauteed Kale, Spinach and Swiss Chard with Garlic and Olive Oil

Cannoli

Filling: Two small containers of skim ricotta; 1 pint heavy cream, whipped; 1/2c. powdered sugar; 1 tbsp. Cointreau; 1/2c. chocolate chips; 3/4c. dried apricots and rind of 2 lemons pulsed in Cuisinart until minced;1tbsp. lemon juice; 1tsp. cinnamon

Fold all ingredients together with a spatula and chill. Fill cannoli shells just before serving and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

5 Spice Baked Tofu and Acorn Squash


The secret to deeply flavored tofu is in the pressing, prior to the marinating. We always get the extra firm style for baking or broiling cutlets like these. After you open the package, rinse the tofu block and then layer between paper towels and two plates. Weight the top plate with a heavy cookbook and let it press for about 20 minutes. After most of the water is expelled, then slice and marinate. Here we used sesame oil, mirin, soy sauce, black pepper, chili oil, and Chinese 5 spice. I marinated in the refrigerator for 2 hours, then baked them off at 450° for 25 minutes or so.

We served the tofu along with slices of steamed and braised acorn squash, rice, and arugula with a sesame, garlic, and rice vinegar dressing.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Tart and Tangy Udon Noodle Salad


This fast and easy udon noodle salad (15 minutes start to finish)is a real party on the lips. While the noodles are cooking chop mizuna greens, tomato, and firm tofu, along with a few sheets of dried nori (I like to use kitchen scissors to cut the nori into strips). When the noodles are finished, drain them and rinse in luke-warm water, shake off most of the water, then toss into the other ingredients. To dress: sesame oil, fig vinegar and rice vinegar (umbeboshi would work too), a few shakes of chili oil, hot sauce, black pepper, and black sesame seeds.Yumbo deluxe.