Well it's been two weeks since since the Kentucky Derby which means only one thing - The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, is today. Plans fell through to have the first Derby Party here at La Cucina Castano two weeks ago - an all day middle school lacrosse tournament the same day put the kabosh on that idea - but a few friends did stop over to watch the race and yours truly certainly had quite a few mint juleps in honor of the race. Since a Derby party was not to be we decided on the next best thing - a Preakness party.
The Preakness, while not my favorite TC race (that would be the Belmont), it is the closest race to us here La Cucina. It is is run about an hour down interstate 83 in Baltimore at Pimlico Racecourse and lo and behold also has an official drink - The Black Eyed Susan. Guess I'll be whipping up some Black Susans then for the shindig today. Except there is one small issue. There doesn't seem to be any one single recipe for this drink. A quick search of the internet yields varying recipes with quite different ingredients. All seem to have vodka but then it diverges from there. Orange juice seems to be a common theme in almost all the recipes I've read, though it is not an ingredient in the recipe on the official Preakness website -
http://www.preakness.com/preakness-tradition/black-eyed-susan-official-drink-preakness
Some recipes have rum, some have whiskey, a few add triple sec or grand marnier. I've seen both pineapple juice and lemonade listed in some recipes. Limes, lemons, oranges, cherries, simple syrup, you name it it's probably been in a Black Susan recipe at some point. Google the drink recipe and you'll be amazed at how many versions you come up with.
This inconsistency of recipes and ingredients, I think, makes this drink a perfect fit here at La Cucina Castano. Cooking and mixology are all about the creative process. Take something standard or simple and then riff on it until you come up with something unique and fun .... and tasty. Kind of like jazz in the kitchen or behind the bar. So that's what I'll be doing today as friends gather here for our first Preakness Party. Taking what I think are the best elements of the various recipes I've found and getting into some serious mixology until I come up with my own best version of this drink, which will then become the standard bearer of Preakness parties to come. I'll let you know what I come up with.
Until next time .... Enjoy the weekend. Enjoy the race if you will be watching. If not enjoy whatever endeavors you set forth on. And as always - eat well, have fun and enjoy a tasty cocktail.
Cheers,
Glenn
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
It's Mint Julep Time!
A Mint Julep is a refreshing concoction of bourbon, sugar, mint and ice. Here'a recipe for a traditional Mint Julep: http://www.esquire.com/drinks/mint-julep-drink-recipe
I make mine a little differently. It takes a some preparation beforehand but I think it's worth the effort.
Step 1 - infuse your bourbon with mint. For a mint julep I go a little old school with my bourbon, nothing fancy or top shelf, just some good old Jim Beam. Chop up a whole lot of mint and put it in a big mason jar with a bottle of bourbon. Let it sit in the fridge for about a week or so. Strain so you get all the mint out and your ready to go.
Step 2 - mint infused simple syrup. Simple syrup is easy. Equal parts sugar and water. Boil the water until the sugar dissolves. While it's boiling add a bunch of mint. Once the sugar has dissolved turn off the heat and let it cool, leaving the mint leaves in. Once it's cooled, strain the mint out, pour it into a container and stick it in the fridge until your ready to use.
Stpe 3 - ice. Shaved ice is best, crushed ice will do in a pinch (and what was used in the picture up top, since I couldn't generate any shaved ice). I have found that a snow cone machine works best. Just get a small portable one for $20 bucks or so. Ours is broke so I need to go get one before post time.
Step 4 - prepare. Fill a glass to the brim with shaved ice. Pour a little bit of the mint infused simple syrup in and then fill the rest of your glass up with your mint infused bourbon. You can make it as sweet or strong as you want - just adjust your ratio of bourbon to syrup. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig.
Step 5 - drink. It really is a tasty, refreshing drink. I generally only drink this once a year on Derby day. I think that this year it may become a staple at the poolside bar here at La Cucina Castano.
Have a great weekend, enjoy the Derby, pick a winner and enjoy a delicious cocktail (if not a Mint Julep then one of your favorites).
Cheers,
Glenn
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Scarpiello and Eggplant Parm Redux
It was a fun time last weekend here at La Cucina Castano. Some old hockey friends made their first appearance here. The Toll's (Rick, Lori and Braden) and the Amsley's (Todd, Beth and Conner) came over for some food, drink and fun. As always, tried to keep the menu simple but tasty in order to kick back and enjoy some time with our guests.
The main course was Chicken Scarpiello, a tasty Italian-American dish made with chicken, sausage and peppers. I say Italian-American because there is no history of the dish in Italy. It was developed by Italian immigrants here in America. Chicken Scarpiello translates as 'chicken shoemaker style'. There are several theories about the etymology of this name. It could be because the meager ingredients are all that a poor shoemaker could afford. Some think that the name is a take on simple ingredients being 'cobbled' together. No matter how it got it's name it an easy and delicious. Here a link to a good recipe for this dish -
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/chicken-scarpiello-recipe/index.html
I varied it a little for a few reasons. It's better to cook this chicken on the bone for this dish but I had some boneless chicken breasts that had been marinating for quite a few days and I needed to cook them so they went in the oven and cooked by themselves (in the marinade). I also had some boneless thighs. These were also cooked separately (dredged in flour and sauteed on the stove top). The sauce I made pretty traditionally though I added roasted peppers along with the hot peppers. It still had some kick, though.
The side was simple pasta - linguine - with lot's of garlic and olive oil, a little clam juice and a little of the salted cooking water. Lot's of basil, as always. The drink of choice for your's truly were Bombay Sapphire East martinis with piri piri stuffed olives, which Rick and I enjoyed thoroughly, as attested by the fact that I had no gin left Sunday morning! It was great seeing some old friends and very much looking forward to the their next visit here to La Cucina.
This coming weekend many of the Cucina Castano regulars will be here and the main course will once again be eggplant parm. Apparently I really nailed it last time so this will be a meal by request, which I don't do all that often, but I love to cook for my friends so if they all want eggplant parm this weekend that's what I'm cooking! Since this meal will be Friday night, and I have to work on Friday, the eggplant, since it's so time consuming to prepare properly, was put together last night. I spent a good two hours frying eggplant to make the biggest dish of eggplant parm I've ever made. All I've got to do tomorrow is pop it in the oven. Of course there will be pasta, maybe something "puttanesca-ish". Lot's bread, beer and wine ... and of course a martini for the chef. I'm sure there will also be some serious singing and kitchen dancing too.
Until next time, enjoy the weekend. Treat yourself to a great meal and a well made cocktail. You know you deserve it!
Caio,
Glenn
The main course was Chicken Scarpiello, a tasty Italian-American dish made with chicken, sausage and peppers. I say Italian-American because there is no history of the dish in Italy. It was developed by Italian immigrants here in America. Chicken Scarpiello translates as 'chicken shoemaker style'. There are several theories about the etymology of this name. It could be because the meager ingredients are all that a poor shoemaker could afford. Some think that the name is a take on simple ingredients being 'cobbled' together. No matter how it got it's name it an easy and delicious. Here a link to a good recipe for this dish -
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/chicken-scarpiello-recipe/index.html
I varied it a little for a few reasons. It's better to cook this chicken on the bone for this dish but I had some boneless chicken breasts that had been marinating for quite a few days and I needed to cook them so they went in the oven and cooked by themselves (in the marinade). I also had some boneless thighs. These were also cooked separately (dredged in flour and sauteed on the stove top). The sauce I made pretty traditionally though I added roasted peppers along with the hot peppers. It still had some kick, though.
The side was simple pasta - linguine - with lot's of garlic and olive oil, a little clam juice and a little of the salted cooking water. Lot's of basil, as always. The drink of choice for your's truly were Bombay Sapphire East martinis with piri piri stuffed olives, which Rick and I enjoyed thoroughly, as attested by the fact that I had no gin left Sunday morning! It was great seeing some old friends and very much looking forward to the their next visit here to La Cucina.
This coming weekend many of the Cucina Castano regulars will be here and the main course will once again be eggplant parm. Apparently I really nailed it last time so this will be a meal by request, which I don't do all that often, but I love to cook for my friends so if they all want eggplant parm this weekend that's what I'm cooking! Since this meal will be Friday night, and I have to work on Friday, the eggplant, since it's so time consuming to prepare properly, was put together last night. I spent a good two hours frying eggplant to make the biggest dish of eggplant parm I've ever made. All I've got to do tomorrow is pop it in the oven. Of course there will be pasta, maybe something "puttanesca-ish". Lot's bread, beer and wine ... and of course a martini for the chef. I'm sure there will also be some serious singing and kitchen dancing too.
Until next time, enjoy the weekend. Treat yourself to a great meal and a well made cocktail. You know you deserve it!
Caio,
Glenn
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Friday Night Pasta
Friday's have been pasta night lately here at La Cucina Castano. Of course, if it were up to me, every night would be pasta night! But Friday night's are all about cocktails and pasta. Not a better way to end a stressful week as far as I'm concerned.
A few of the regular crew - Kathi & Michael, Mick & Troy - were over for some food, drink and hockey - Rangers lost to the Pens in a shootout :-( . Being a Friday and having to work all day there was not a lot of time for preparation. The idea was to keep it simple. So, after a quick stop at Wegman's on the way home for some olives (Wegman's has the best olive bar) and fresh bread (tuscan garlic loaf, still warm out of the oven - perfect timing!) it was time get home before anyone arrived to mix a cocktail and start the water boiling.
For some reason I wanted to do a cajun inspired sauce. Not sure what brought that inspiration on but I just rolled with it. Due to time constraints it needed to be quick and simple. Mission accomplished. I started with olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper, like I do with just about any sauce I make. Once the garlic was simmering nicely I added tomatoes (peeled, canned), some clam juice, chopped green onion and andouille sausage (cut into slices). I didn't have a cajun spice mix readily available (forgot I had used it all up last time I was on a cajun bent) so I added garlic powder, cumin and chili powder. Also some worcestershire sauce. Normally this type of sauce I would let simmer for quite a while but as the guests were arriving soon I cranked up the heat to get the sauce to a boil. I needed the wonderful flavor of the andouille sausage to infuse the sauce and fairly quickly. As the sauce was reducing too much - great for intensifying flavors but not so great when you have a lot of pasta to coat - I added more liquid in the form of clam stock. I was originally planning on adding some file powder at the end as a thickening agent but I had cooked two pounds of pasta and had just enough sauce to coat the pasta so I passed on that idea. For the pasta I used fettucine (Lidia's, a very good, not too expensive brand). Once the pasta was cooked it was quickly removed from the water into the sauce and raw shrimp was added. The shrimp then cooked as it was stirred into hot pasta and sauce. Everyone seemed to love it.
Since I was cooking a cajun inspired sauce I decided cajun martinis were in order. Pepper vodka, vermouth and some of the juice from a bottle of Trappey's peppers. Tasty and spicy, just the right amount of kick.
Tasty cocktails and cooking for my friends. What a great way to kick off the weekend. Hope your Friday was as good as mine.
Ciao.
A few of the regular crew - Kathi & Michael, Mick & Troy - were over for some food, drink and hockey - Rangers lost to the Pens in a shootout :-( . Being a Friday and having to work all day there was not a lot of time for preparation. The idea was to keep it simple. So, after a quick stop at Wegman's on the way home for some olives (Wegman's has the best olive bar) and fresh bread (tuscan garlic loaf, still warm out of the oven - perfect timing!) it was time get home before anyone arrived to mix a cocktail and start the water boiling.
For some reason I wanted to do a cajun inspired sauce. Not sure what brought that inspiration on but I just rolled with it. Due to time constraints it needed to be quick and simple. Mission accomplished. I started with olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper, like I do with just about any sauce I make. Once the garlic was simmering nicely I added tomatoes (peeled, canned), some clam juice, chopped green onion and andouille sausage (cut into slices). I didn't have a cajun spice mix readily available (forgot I had used it all up last time I was on a cajun bent) so I added garlic powder, cumin and chili powder. Also some worcestershire sauce. Normally this type of sauce I would let simmer for quite a while but as the guests were arriving soon I cranked up the heat to get the sauce to a boil. I needed the wonderful flavor of the andouille sausage to infuse the sauce and fairly quickly. As the sauce was reducing too much - great for intensifying flavors but not so great when you have a lot of pasta to coat - I added more liquid in the form of clam stock. I was originally planning on adding some file powder at the end as a thickening agent but I had cooked two pounds of pasta and had just enough sauce to coat the pasta so I passed on that idea. For the pasta I used fettucine (Lidia's, a very good, not too expensive brand). Once the pasta was cooked it was quickly removed from the water into the sauce and raw shrimp was added. The shrimp then cooked as it was stirred into hot pasta and sauce. Everyone seemed to love it.
Since I was cooking a cajun inspired sauce I decided cajun martinis were in order. Pepper vodka, vermouth and some of the juice from a bottle of Trappey's peppers. Tasty and spicy, just the right amount of kick.
Tasty cocktails and cooking for my friends. What a great way to kick off the weekend. Hope your Friday was as good as mine.
Ciao.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Quick restaurant review - Vino, Harrisburg, PA
It's not often Sara and I get a chance to eat out together. With our busy travel schedule, plus the fact we like to entertain and I love to cook for our friends, it's not often we get out for a nice meal. Last weekend we had a few kid free hours and decided we needed to get out and enjoy a nice adult meal together. Italian was in order, and on the suggestion of a friend of a friend we decided to try Vino, located in Harrisburg PA.
I'll start off by saying it was an excellent choice. Service was great, as was the food, and the prices were quite reasonable.
The food was top notch all around. I had the fried calamari for an appetizer. Some of the best I have ever had. We both got the tomato basil soup. Sara loved hers. I'm not a huge tomato soup fan but wanted to try it. Salads were good, I had the Caesar, Sara had the house salad that was nice mix of greens. She loved her salad. I thought the Caesar had too many hearts and not enough leafs of Romaine, but hey, I'm not a big salad guy so no big deal. For the main entree Sara had Chicken Parm with pasta on the side. Very healthy portion and she loved it. I had a small taste and would have to agree. For my entree I gave it the litmus test - Linguine with Clam Sauce. White of course. Linguine with clam sauce is my favorite dish in the world. It's a very simple dish to make. If a restaurant can't nail this dish there is simply no use even thinking about going back. The dish I got was very good. They did it justice. The pasta was very al dente. I prefer my pasta cooked softer so when we go back I'll have to specify that. Desert was great. I had Tiramisu that was served in a martini glass. Sara had some sort of chocolate cake thing. Both were excellent, as was the coffee. A nice dark roast. As a coffee fiend I had no complaints.
Both our waiter and the owner were very friendly and attentive. The restaurant itself is very small. I counted the tables and chairs and came up with forty diners max that could eat at any one time. That being said, the bar, which takes up a rather large portion of the room, could seat at least twelve, maybe more. I don't know about you but I kind of like when the bar has a significant place in any establishment. I'd much rather have too much bar and not enough dining room than vice versa.
All told, two meals (salads included, plus one soup), two deserts (with coffee), one appetizer, one extra soup, two beers, a Kettle One martini plus a glass of Sauvignon Blanc came to $70. A most excellent deal for a great meal with great service.
Will I be going back? For sure. Maybe next time I'll just sit at the expansive bar.
Ciao for now,
G
I'll start off by saying it was an excellent choice. Service was great, as was the food, and the prices were quite reasonable.
The food was top notch all around. I had the fried calamari for an appetizer. Some of the best I have ever had. We both got the tomato basil soup. Sara loved hers. I'm not a huge tomato soup fan but wanted to try it. Salads were good, I had the Caesar, Sara had the house salad that was nice mix of greens. She loved her salad. I thought the Caesar had too many hearts and not enough leafs of Romaine, but hey, I'm not a big salad guy so no big deal. For the main entree Sara had Chicken Parm with pasta on the side. Very healthy portion and she loved it. I had a small taste and would have to agree. For my entree I gave it the litmus test - Linguine with Clam Sauce. White of course. Linguine with clam sauce is my favorite dish in the world. It's a very simple dish to make. If a restaurant can't nail this dish there is simply no use even thinking about going back. The dish I got was very good. They did it justice. The pasta was very al dente. I prefer my pasta cooked softer so when we go back I'll have to specify that. Desert was great. I had Tiramisu that was served in a martini glass. Sara had some sort of chocolate cake thing. Both were excellent, as was the coffee. A nice dark roast. As a coffee fiend I had no complaints.
Both our waiter and the owner were very friendly and attentive. The restaurant itself is very small. I counted the tables and chairs and came up with forty diners max that could eat at any one time. That being said, the bar, which takes up a rather large portion of the room, could seat at least twelve, maybe more. I don't know about you but I kind of like when the bar has a significant place in any establishment. I'd much rather have too much bar and not enough dining room than vice versa.
All told, two meals (salads included, plus one soup), two deserts (with coffee), one appetizer, one extra soup, two beers, a Kettle One martini plus a glass of Sauvignon Blanc came to $70. A most excellent deal for a great meal with great service.
Will I be going back? For sure. Maybe next time I'll just sit at the expansive bar.
Ciao for now,
G
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Eataly, NYC
I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to visit a truly amazing place - Eataly in New York City http://www.eataly.com/. It is the only Eataly location in the USA. There are currently eight locations in Italy, the first of which opened in Torino in 2007, as well as four in Japan. There is a second US location scheduled to open in Chicago this year as well as several more in Italy. If you are a foodie, love Italian food, love food shopping, appreciate the finest and freshest products or just enjoy a great atmosphere you have to visit this place if you ever find yourself in NYC.
I remembered reading about when it opened in 2010. Of course having Mario Batali along with Lydia Bastianich and her son Joe as partners in the NY location helped the place get a lot of press. I thought at the time that this would be a cool place to check out the next time I had some free time in NYC. A busy schedule the last few years meant I hadn’t had the chance yet. Fortunately, Grace’s hockey team had their district playoffs in Hackensack, NJ and a game schedule favorable for a jaunt in the city - Saturday morning game and then nothing until early Sunday morning, meaning a whole afternoon and evening free to head into Manhattan. Piling Grace, two of her teammates (Sarah and Paige) and their mom’s (Dana and Amy) into the Camry we headed into the city. After lunch and the obligatory Times Square/midtown shopping excursion Dana suggested we check out Eataly. I am grateful she did because I hadn’t really thought of it. So we headed downtown to 5th Ave and 23rd St. to check it out.
Walking in and around Eataly I felt like a kid in a candy store, or maybe like a kid walking into FAO Schwarz the week before Christmas. 50,000 square feet of Italian foodie heaven. Besides seven restaurants where you can sit down and eat (which we didn’t do) there is just the most amazing shopping. You can find the freshest meats, cheese, fish, produce, pasta and bread as well as an amazing variety of oils, vinegars, spices, and dry pasta, much of it from Gragnano, home to the best pasta makers in Italy. Oh, and wine too. While we didn’t drink I saw numerous people shopping with glasses of wine in their hand. There is a kitchenware section, where I found some great little 3oz martini glasses, and a whole section of cookbooks. My only regret was not being able to buy any fresh products (as I had not way to keep them refrigerated until we got home on Sunday). I did splurge, however, and came home with lots of incredible dried pasta, which I’ve been eating since, as my waist line can attest. Oh, I can’t forget to mention the gelato, which the girls wanted to get on the way out. I wasn’t going to get any until I saw they had tiramisu gelato. I’d never seen that before so I just had to try some. It was sooooo good.
For someone living in Central PA having all these top quality products available in one place was mind boggling. I’m not a huge on-line shopper. I actually enjoy food shopping and find it relaxing. I can tell you one thing, though. This excursion to Eataly and enjoying all the amazing pasta these last couple of weeks has made me realize that I will be ordering all of my dry pasta online from now on. Barilla just don’t cut it anymore (though they did sell Barilla at Eataly). Also, it reinforced for me that when cooking, or eating, always start with the freshest, best ingredients you can get your hands on. You can’t go wrong if you start with the best.
The bottom line? If you find yourself in NYC and have an hour or two follow 5th Ave or Broadway until they intersect and stop into Eataly, you won’t regret it.
Ciao for now,
G
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Don't Screw Up The Beef
Things haven’t been too crazy here the last month at La Cucina Castano. Well, things have been crazy, just not in the eating and drinking way. Hockey, hockey, hockey (the coolest game on earth) was keeping us busy and didn’t allow us a lot of time for indulging in food and drink with friends here at la cucina. However, I did have time for a small birthday dinner with some friends. Nothing too fancy and of course I did the cooking (wouldn’t have it any other way!).
The menu was beef and pasta. Beef mainly for everyone else, pasta mainly for me, not that everyone else doesn’t love it too, at least it seems that way when I cook it.
The meat portion of the meal was a whole beef tenderloin. I was a little worried, to be honest. Here’s the thing - I am totally not a carnivore. If you told me I could never eat steak again for the rest of my life I wouldn’t be all that upset. I’m all about seafood and pasta. However, whenever I cooked steak, be it NY strips, filet mignon, flat iron, you name it, I could pretty much nail it. On the grill, in the oven, whatever. No special tricks or methods. Just instinct I guess. And then we moved here and redesigned the kitchen from scratch and got a nice new grill for the deck and I couldn’t seem to cook a steak right to save my life. It’s like I lost my touch. I certainly didn’t want to screw up a prime cut of beef like tenderloin, especially for guests. Fortunately it came out great. Just some seasoning, seared the outside in a pan with olive oil then finished in the oven. I did use a meat thermometer, which I never do, which probably helped. Often it’s best to just keep it simple, which is easy t do when the ingredients are top quality.
I kept the pasta simple too. Just some olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, a little butter and fresh basil. Oh, and some shrimp (of course). I cooked it using a method where you finish the pasta in the pan you are using to cook your sauce. You don’t cook the pasta all the way in the water, you let it finish cooking in the sauce you are making. The sauce is very simple and uses some of the water you cooked your pasta in. Simple and delicious. Of course use good pasta as this type of sauce really let’s it shine. As I’ve stated before I’m not really that good at giving recipes since I tend to wing it most of the time in the kitchen but this article gives a good idea of what I’m talking about - http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/perfect-pasta-bowl-0313
Of course martini’s for chef and some good dry wine to wash it all down. Good crusty bread, don’t forget that. All in all a great way to spend a birthday, cooking for friends. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ciao,
Glenn
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