Toast

Spaghetti for a Summer Day

There's some rule-breaking involved, but I think you might approve . I'm not certain how I know this, but I'm almost sure that it is a firm rule of traditional Italian cookery that cheese and fish do not belong together. It is not even the thing to grate a little parm over your linguini with clam sauce. In this case, though, it's all for the best- I promise. What we have here is a more summery version of pasta with tomato sauce and "meatballs", wherein the meatballs are made from fresh tuna. And there is a little bit of parm in there. Unlike the sturdy, traditional winter version of spaghetti and meatballs, which it closely resembles, it is suitable for making, and eating, when it is 90F. I speak from experience; it's been damn hot.

I think this is a tasty combination- nice and unusual, not strange or off-putting. I've messed around with the underlying ideas to the point that I believe I have may have actually made something novel. Which I haven't done all that often, ever. Probably someone has already made it elsewhere- there's not all that much new under the sun food-wise and pasta sauce is a big area for fooling around. But I think it is pretty good, and that's the important thing, no? It's got that make-ahead feature, too- you can reheat the sauce when you are boiling the pasta. And even the leftovers were nice.

The "meatballs" would be good in a plainer homemade tomato sauce too. As you can see, the resemblance is-well I can hardly call it uncanny, since they are both spheres in a red sauce- but, well, close.You should probably tell any guests that it's tuna, so they won't be weirded out, expecting a meat taste, when the mouth says, "fish."

Here's how you make it:

Spaghetti with Tuna Meatballs in Fennel-scented Tomato Sauce with Chard and Raisins

First, you make the "Meatballs". You need:

1/2 lb fresh tuna
an egg
3/4 cup panko or homemade dried breadcrumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated parm
salt, pepper
chopped fresh fennel fronds, parsley and mint, about 2 Tbsps all together
pinch fennel pollen (optional, but very good)

Put everything in a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped, but not pasty. Make into as many meatballs as you like, and place them on a parchentlined tray or pan. This will make enough to serve three. If you are two, you can make 2/3 of the mixture into meat balls, and one into a patty, to saute or bake, and have on a bun. This is an extra-nice lunch for a cook making dinner for two. Chill in fridge until sauce is ready, at least an hour, to be sure they are firm.

Then you make the sauce:

olive oil
3/4 cup chopped fennel bulb
a chopped garlic scape (they were in my farmbox) or a large clove of garlic, chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup onion, leek, shallot, or combo thereof
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp fennel seed
pinch fennel pollen (optional)
28 oz or so of chopped canned tomatoes (I like Muir Glen fire-roasted organic tomatoes, which I buy by the case these days)
1/2 dry red or white wine
few leaves fresh oregano if available
handful of raisins
1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 bunch spinach, black kale, or swiss chard, cut into ribbons
juice of a lemon

Cook the fennel, garlic and oniony items until soft, in a bit of olive oil. Add everything else, except the chard, lemon and meatballs, bring to a boil, turn to simmer, and cook about an hour, until the sauce begins to darken. add the chard, and stir until it wilts. Add the meatballs gently, and poach until done through, about ten minutes, sirring in the lemon juice after about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning, and serve with plenty of spaghetti. You can cook the spaghetti while you finish the sauce, or cool the sauce, refrigerate it, and gently reheat it.

I haven't tried freezing it yet, but I'm going to soon. when you serve it, you can set the meatballs on a plate, or on the outside of individual pasta bowls, toss the sauce with the cooked spaghetti to coat, and then put the spaghetti in the middle of the plates, nudging the "meatballs" on top. It looks pretty sprinkled with fresh fennel fronds. IMHO. Once I added some capers, and that was nice, too.

A Little Lesson Relearned

Well, here was a wonderful idea, which, in the execution, was not so slick. I thought about doing it over, so you could see what it is supposed to look like- but hey, you could read the book for that, no? Next time, it will look much better, and taste the same. In the meantime, it is an illustration of a principle I try to stick to, and abandoned here to ill effect. It wasn't fatal, but I wished I hadn't done it.

And this is the (sadly disregarded) motto: The first time I make something I've never made or eaten before, I should follow the recipe as written.That way I will know what it is meant to taste and look like in the original, and can vary it later with some idea of what I'm doing. I thought I was being clever, as one does. This is a tasty and handy idea for a make ahead buffet thing, and would have looked lovely too, had I done what I was supposed to.

It is a savory kugelhopf, made into a pile of really nice sandwiches, and it can look exactly like a bundt cake for serving, if, instead of slicing up the whole thing willy nilly, you cut a tidy thin slice right off the top and one off the bottom, to keep it all together when you reassemble it.

As you can see, I didn't do that; hence the leaning tower effect. Also, I should have tried for more, and thinner, horizontal slices. It was all very tasty anyway, and we pretty much ate it up for father's day brunch, along with some scones, strawberries and cherries.

I am going to give you the recipe for the "kugelhopf au lard". You bake it, slice it horizontally, spread it with delicious, thinnish sandwich fillings, stack it (but for the top and bottom slices) and then cut through vertically, to make individual sandwiches. When you put it back together, top and bottom on again to maintain order, you can wrap it up snugly, and refrigerate it for 24 hours. This make-ahead factor is very good for parties. The traditional filling for this bacon and onion egg bread is thin slices of proscuitto and an herby creamy cheese. Very tasty, and goes down well with coffee and/or tea.

Here's what you need:

A Kugelhopf pan, or similarly styled bundt pan, well buttered or sprayed with a neutral cooking oil. Be sure to cover all nooks and crannies.

3 1/3 cups AP flour
2 tsps instant type yeast
1 tsp sea salt
10 Tbsps nice unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
scant cup of milk
1/4 lb bacon, cooked crisp and finely chopped
either 1 small onion, chopped and cooked until soft in the bacon fat, or 2 Tbsps freeze-dried onion bits- the nice toasted ones from Penzey's, or the like
12 walnut halves

This is what you do:

Place a walnut half in each of the runnels at the bottom of the pan, top down. Chop any leftover nuts, and mic with the onion and bacon. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer combine flour, yeast and salt. With the paddle going slowly, add the butter, bit by bit. Add the eggs, one at a time. when well combined, add enough of the milk to form a soft dough. If it gets too soft, you can add a bit of extra flour. When the dough starts to come away from the sides, switch to the dough hook. Knead with the hook for 10 minutes. Cover, and let it rise until about doubled...this should take about 1 1/2 hours.

Lift the dough out of the bowl, and push your thumbs through the middle of the mass, as you set the dough into the prepared pan, with the hole over the center tube. Using the side of your hand, make a channel in the center of the dough all around. Push the bacon onion combo into the little tunnel, distributing it evenly around. Now, pinch the edges of the dough firmly together, covering the mixture, and sealing it inside. Let it rise for another hour, while preheating your oven to 400F

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and hollow sounding if tapped. Set a rack over the top, upending the kugelhopf. Cool it thoroughly on the rack.

As is, this is a really nice companion for cheese and/or soup. To make the party dish properly, slice a thin horizontal slice, walnuts intact from the top, and set it aside. Slice the rest thinly, and horizontally, into an even number of slices. Make big round sandwiches, two rounds each. spread the insides with soft herby goat cheese and thinly sliced proscuitto, or the filling of your choice. Stack them to reform the kugelhopf, without the top, and cut through the lot, top to bottom, making a stack of wedge shaped sandwiches all round. Set on your serving dish, set the reserved top on it, and wrap it tightly. chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or up to 24.

This recipe is adapted from A Taste of Alsace by Sue Style. I am endlessly attracted to the cuisine of Alsace, and am amazed at how few cookbooks are available on the topic. I have a small ,old pamphlet, which was intended for tourists, and one other cookbook. That's about it. Anyone have any suggestions for other sources?

Hooray, my banner suddenly reappeared.

Update, a Winner, and News for Gardening Pittsburghers

A report from the bad blogger: So where is the roundup? Why haven't you heard from me? Where's my banner?
The shortest, truest answer is sloth, on the part of the undersigned.

In more detail: There was insufficient response on the Terrinereama front to warrant much of a roundup. I think I picked a topic which may have appeared fussier and more complicated than it actually is, putting people off. In any event, I do have a winner of the cookbook. She is Solange, of Just Baking. Her terrine can be found here, and her book will be on the way in short order.

You haven't heard from me because I'm having a lazy patch. I expect to have a new post up within the week, as I'm making something I hope will be fun. I love writing this blog, and have never viewed it as a chore. I don't intend to start treating it like work...so if I don't feel like writing it..I don't. There are an awful lot of old posts available if you feel like browsing the categories...unlike my banner, they have not mysteriously disappeared.

Typepad assures me that they are working on the mysterious disappearing banner issue. I really hope that they can restore it..I don't have it backed up anywhere, because I m a fool. I patched it together with inadequate software, no experience, and some good luck, on my old (late) computer. I was very attached to it, despite its inadequacies.

Good News: If you live in the Pittsburgh area, and have a garden that's not all planted up yet, the Urban Farm in Wilkinsburg still has a good selection of naturally grown seedlings available. This is a great boon, because it's getting really hard to find what you want at this late date. They have heirloom varieties and seem very interesting indeed- I hope to go visit them soon. You can find out more about them and proprietor Mindy Schwartz through their website.

See you soon.

Every once in a while, I suffer a setback in my ongoing battle with myself to keep from posting pictures of my cats in this inappropriate forum. It's a slippery slope, as I am totally non-objective on the issue of how delightful and fascinating they are. Once I get going, there's a major danger of overkill. This would be Archie, who is unimpressed with the excuses cited above.

Technical Problems

Having some Typepad technical problems. Wha? No banner? Hope to be figured out soon.