Crouton's Kitchen

Ditalini brought several secret family recipes to our marriage (her wonderful Italian meat sauce is one), but one I never quite got was the recipe for Uncle Art’s beans.

Legend had it that Uncle Art made a mean pot of pinto beans, but the few times I used Ditalini’s recipe I was unimpressed with the results.  The beans just weren’t anything special.  One day I glanced at the recipe that came on the package of a pound of dried pintos, and it was basically the same as Uncle Art’s recipe.

Uncle Art’s been gone for years, so I couldn’t ask him about it.  Then, a couple of months ago, we went to a family gathering in Northern California, and one of the cousins brought along a pot of beans for the potluck dinner.  “These are Uncle Art’s beans,” said Ditalini.  I immediately tackled the cousin, but couldn’t get the recipe out of him.

But persistence (and whining) pays off, and now the real Uncle Art’s beans recipe is in my hands.  As soon as I find all the ingredients I’ll make a batch.  If the beans pass Ditalini’s taste test, I’ll post the recipe here, so check back.

More soon, fellow tooters!

Perhaps served with fava beans and chianti?

Created by Recipe Star

What is this “redux?”  I blogged about preparing and smoking beef brisket once before, but am doing things differently this time around.  Ditalini and I hate fat, so I cut away a lot of the fat you’d normally leave on the top side of a brisket. Mindful that the fat is necessary in keeping the meat moist and tender during smoking, I’m using a mop to compensate.  Cutting off the fat may well turn out to be a mistake; I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I prepared the brisket three days ago, covering it in dry rub, wrapping it in foil, and putting it in the fridge.  Our dry rub is made of the following ingredients, mixed together:

• 3 parts brown sugar
• slightly less than 1 part kosher salt
• 1 part chili powder
• 1 part pepper
• 1/3 part garlic powder

Brisket coated with dry rub

Wrapped in foil, ready for the fridge

This morning I set up the smoker, making sure everything needful was close at hand.  When you smoke something for several hours, you need to add charcoal and moistened wood chips from time to time.  My technique is to check the hot charcoal bed once an hour, adding charcoal and wood chips.  I check the smoker’s water pan and add water as necessary every two hours.  I start checking the internal temperature of the brisket after four hours, looking for 180 degrees F at around the six-hour mark.

Man bliss: smoker, mop, wood chips, extra charcoal

Hourly, when adding charcoal and wood chips, I take the lid off momentarily to brush on more mop.

On the smoker, brushing on the mop

Our mop is made with the following ingredients, mixed together:

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup beer
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Ready to serve

The brisket turned out fine, and wound up taking 6 1/2 hours on the smoker.  As far as moisture goes, I couldn’t tell the difference between leaving the layer of fat on or using a mop, but I did notice the mop, along with the dry rub, made for a spicy crust.

Our wives and girlfriends spent the day getting massages and pedicures; dinner was on the guys.  I smoked the brisket and boiled sweet corn on the cob; my friends Ed and Darrell brought over salad, chicken & salmon (which we grilled), and dessert.  Everyone raved about dinner, and I had Fathers’ Day one day early: total man bliss.  What could be better?

Digging in

Yeah, I know, I’ve posted about these things before, here and here. But I felt like photoblogging last night’s dinner and, this time around, presenting it in recipe format. My method is to put the peppers on the grill first, since they take the longest to cook (about 15 minutes), then the sausage (about 5 minutes), then the polenta (about 5 minutes). Here goes:

Polenta Ingredients

• 6 cups water
• 2 cups polenta
• salt

Polenta Directions

Bring salted water to boil in a heavy pot. Slowly add polenta, stirring it in as you go. Reduce heat to low, stirring polenta frequently for about two hours (fig. 1). The polenta is ready when it forms a crust on the bottom and sides of the pot. Spoon the polenta into a lightly-greased rectangular pan, packing it down firmly (fig. 2). When the polenta cools, invert the pan over a cutting board, then pull the pan away. Slice the polenta as shown (fig. 3). Grill just long enough to crisp the outsides, flipping halfway through (fig. 4).

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Italian Sausage Ingredients

• 5 or 6 Italian sausage links, hot or mild

Italian Sausage Directions

Slice links lengthwise (fig. 5), grill for about five minutes, flipping halfway through.

Fig. 5

Pepper Ingredients

• 1 each green, red, yellow bell pepper
• 1 medium yellow onion
• garlic cloves
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Pepper Directions

Slice peppers into 1/4-inch thick rounds, removing the pulp & seeds. Slice the onion the same way. Peel a few cloves of garlic. Place all into a grilling pan, add a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss all (fig. 6). Grill for 15 minutes on a medium hot grill, turning frequently with a spatula (fig. 7).

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Serving

Arrange polenta slices on plate, top with grilled peppers.  Serve grilled Italian sausage on the side (fig. 8).  We like to place slices of Monterey Jack cheese on top of our polenta, then grate fresh Parmesan cheese over all.

Fig. 8

More years ago than I care to admit, Armenian-American friends shared their family recipe for stuffed grape leaves and pilaf with us.  Ditalini’s been making sarma and pilaf ever since, and whenever our kids come to visit they always ask her to cook some.  The recipe serves 4-6 and can be doubled for more.

Sarma & pilaf

Sarma Ingredients

• grape leaves (fresh or from a jar)
• 1 lb lean ground beef or lamb
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup raw rice
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 tsp chopped fresh mint leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 3/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce (or use 50/50 mixture)

Sarma Directions

Sarma, simmering

If using fresh grape leaves, soak in hot water for 5 minutes to soften, dry on paper towels.  If using grape leaves from a jar, rinse in warm water, dry on paper towels.

Mix beef or lamb with egg, onion, rice, parsley, mint, olive oil, and 1/4 cup water.  Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Place grape leaves shiny side down and place a spoonful of meat mixture on each leaf.  Roll leaves, folding ends in as you roll to contain the meat mixture.  Place stuffed grape leaves seam side down in a saucepan, layer by layer.  Add stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce and remaining water.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Pilaf Ingredients

• 1 cube butter or margarine
• 6 coils of coil vermicelli, crushed
• 3 cups raw rice
• 6 cups hot chicken broth (canned or home made)

Pilaf Directions

Rice & vermicelli pilaf

Melt butter in heavy pan.  When it begins to froth add vermicelli, stirring constantly until dark, golden brown.  Add rice, stir until thoroughly coated with butter.

Add hot chicken broth, bring to a rolling boil, cover tightly and reduce heat to the lowest possible simmer.  Let simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

Not Gazpacho

. . . but close!

Ingredients

• 46-ounce can or bottle of Clamato
• hot sauce (Texas Pete or similar), to taste
• 2 lemons, chopped, w/peel
• 12-14 large shrimp, peeled
• 1 red onion, chopped
• jalapeños, chopped, to taste
• 1 avacado, peeled & chopped
• cilantro, chopped, to taste
• 2-4 stalks celery, chopped

Directions

Combine all, refrigerate overnight.

Notes

The basic recipe can be doubled or tripled for a crowd.

Crouton’s Kitchen has grown large enough to have it’s own recipe index.  Just click the tab at the top of the page to see all our recipes, listed by category.

Who loves ya, baby?  Crouton, that’s who!

Our friend Mary Anne cooked dinner for us in honor of Ditalini’s birthday.  I swear, I’m going to have to feature some of her recipes on Crouton’s Kitchen, particularly her Brussels sprouts, which she prepared with bacon (bacon makes everything better, and I love Brussels sprouts to begin with).

Prime rib, salad, Brussels sprouts, blackberries & strawberries, baked potatoes, rolls

Ditalini with friends (Darrell, Lorri, Mary Anne)

Photos from the Memorial Day barbecue we enjoyed at Cousin Dino’s house in Las Vegas the other day:

Dino at the smoker

Ditalini, Escargot, Rudy, Dino

Dino’s a wet rib guy who prepares his own secret sauce (hint: it incorporates a can of Coke). He smokes exclusively with mesquite. The ribs were brilliant, the company great, and all I have to say is Viva Las Vegas!

Which stands for “To the grill . . . it’s Friday!” around maison deMenthe.  Friday’s menu: grilled veggies, grilled zucchini & squash, grilled boneless ribeye steaks.

My old Coleman grill, ready for the scrapyard

I’ve described grilling veggies before, here.  Last night I used small potatoes, chopped carrots, a quartered yellow onion, and peeled garlic cloves, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with dried rosemary.  It takes about half an hour to cook the veggies on a covered grill at medium heat, opening the lid every ten minutes to flip them with a long spatula so they don’t get black on one side.

I sliced the squash & zucchini lengthwise and brushed them with olive oil, and didn’t put them on the top rack until it was time to put the steaks on.

The steaks were marinated in Aloha Barbecue Sauce for a couple of hours, with plenty of fresh ground black pepper and garlic powder. Ditalini likes her steak rare, about five minutes per side; I like mine medium well, about six minutes per side.

We enjoyed an action movie on DVD with our red meat dinner.  What could be better?

I was on deck for dinner last night so I decided to prepare one of Ditalini’s favorites: Parmesan chicken. Sautéed green beans and tomato/mozzarella salad seemed like they would go well with the chicken, and you know what? They did. This is an easy little dinner to prepare, and one I’ve long promised to add to this blog:

Ingredients

Parmesan Chicken

• 3 or 4 skinned chicken breasts
• 1/3 stick butter, melted
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp seasoned bread crumbs

Sautéed Green Beans

• 2 cups green beans
• 3 strips bacon, cut up
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, sliced

Tomato/Mozzarella Salad

• 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• Fresh basil, chopped
• Basalmic vinegar dressing

Directions

Parmesan Chicken

Preparing the chicken

Melt the butter in a bowl. Mix Parmesan cheese & bread crumbs, spread on a sheet of waxed paper. Rinse the chicken breasts & pat dry. Dip each chicken breast in melted butter, roll in cheese/bread crumb mix until coated, place in oven-proof dish. Drizzle leftover butter and sprinkle leftover cheese/bread crumb mix over top of chicken . Bake in 425-degree oven for 25 minutes.

Sautéed Green Beans

Bacon, onion, garlic

Cook the bacon in a frying pan. Don’t drain the bacon fat; leave it in the pan. When bacon is close to done add chopped onion & sliced garlic, then add the green beans. Toss and sauté until beans are tender.

Sautéeing the beans

Tomato/Mozzarella Salad

Ready to serve

Layer cheese on top of tomato slices, top with chopped basil, drizzle basalmic vinegar dressing over top.

This is Ditalini’s adaptation of a Giada De Laurentiis Food Channel recipe.  The original recipe called for mixing chopped prosciutto in with the ricotta/spinach mixture, but since Ditalini uses Italian meat sauce rather than meatless marinara sauce, she skips the prosciutto.

We usually have a few containers of Italian meat sauce in the freezer, so we don’t need to make a fresh pot for recipes like this.

Ingredients

Bechamel Sauce

• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tsp flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagne

• ricotta cheese
• 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
• 1 egg
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt & pepper to taste
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 2 cups Italian meat sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Sauce:

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat, add flour, whisk.  Add milk, whisk.  Increase heat to medium, continue whisking sauce until it thickens, then whisk in salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Whew, enough whisking already!

Lasagne:

Brush the inside of a baking dish with butter or olive oil.  Pour the bechamel sauce into the bottom of the dish.

Make a mixture of the ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, egg, salt & pepper.  Boil noodles until al dente; drain.  Arrange noodles as shown.

Spreading ricotta/spinach mixture on noodles (bechamel sauce in foreground)

Spread ricotta/spinach mixture on noodles.  Roll each noodle, then place in baking dish, seam side down.  Space them out so that they don’t quite touch each other.  Spoon meat sauce over the rolls, then cover with shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan.

Lasange rolls arranged in baking dish, meat sauce on top

Adding mozzarella and Parmesan

Cover with foil and bake in preheated 450° oven for 20 minutes, until sauce bubbles.  Uncover and bake another minute or two, until the cheese on top is golden.  Remove and let stand a few minutes.  Serve with extra Italian meat sauce on the side.

Lasagne rolls, ready to serve

This is an original Crouton DeMenthe recipe, a simple pasta dish that’s easy to make with around-the-house ingredients (well, our house anyway).  Don’t be squeamish about the anchovies . . . they add flavor to the dish, but without the strong salty taste people associate with anchovies on pizza.  You can make the sauce with or without tomatoes.  If you want to make a fancier meal, serve it with salad on the side.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4-5 garlic cloves, sliced thin
• 2 cans anchovies, drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• salt & pepper to taste
• pinch of dried basil
• pinch of dried oregano
• pasta (your choice)
• Parmesan cheese

Directions

Drain the anchovies.  In medium frying pan, heat butter and olive oil.  Add garlic and anchovies, sauté lightly.  Break up and mash anchovies as they cook.  When garlic and anchovies are ready, add tomatoes (with juice from can) and spices.  Let sauce simmer for about 20 minutes.  Boil pasta in separate pot, drain.  Return pasta to pot.  Add the sauce and toss until the pasta is coated.  Serve with crusty French or sourdough bread and freshly-grated Parmesan.

Notes

Donna and I have prepared this dish with all kinds of pasta.  For some reason it’s better with a chunkier pasta — we prefer penne or farfalle.  If you don’t like tomatoes, just leave them out.

We took a spiral-cut ham to an Easter party and had a good amount left over.  Monday I used some of it making scalloped potatoes; yesterday I used some more making navy bean soup.  The soup turned out so well I decided to write the recipe down before I forget how I did it.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg dried navy beans
• ½ yellow onion, chopped
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 1 cup cooked ham, chopped
• 1 can chicken stock
• 1 can vegetable stock
• 2 cups water
• salt & pepper

Directions

The evening before, put the beans in a pot, cover with water, soak overnight. In the morning, drain and rinse the beans. Return the beans to the pot, add ham hock, chicken stock, vegetable stock, 1 cup water, about 1 tsp salt and several grindings of black pepper. Bring the beans to a low boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cover the pot. Let the beans simmer, covered, for about two hours. Add the chopped ham and more water if required (use water to control the consistency, which should be that of a thick soup). Let simmer, uncovered, another hour. Serve with crusty bread. Serves six.

I didn’t live blog dinner (that would have been pretty rude, wouldn’t it have?), so I’m posting a final smokin’ update this morning, long after the big family meal.  Because we all deserve to see how it turned out, right?

Baguette, son of Crouton, prepares the beans

The table, with ribs, sauce, chicken, corn, and beans

Dinner en famille: daughter Escargot, daughter in law Truffle, son Baguette, sister in law Soufflé, Ditalini

Table des enfants (grandson Pesce, granddaughter Biscotto, niece Fagiolo)