Off-Season Tomato Sauce

I have a confession to make: I'm not a big fan of authentic Italian cuisine. Having sampled authentic Italian cooking in Rome and Florence, I've realized that my Americanized taste buds just need something more. I'm conditioned to over-seasoning, rather than appreciating the natural flavors that come from fine ingredients.

With that said, I also feel obligated to know something about authentic Italian cooking. Primarily for 2 reasons:

1. Most of our favorite Americanized dishes have roots in other cultures. In order to come up with my own spins on these dishes, it's important to me that I start from a traditional base.
2. Some traditional dishes (such as this tomato sauce) can serve as a strong base for other creations. While this may not be the world's most exciting tomato sauce, what happens when I turn it into Arrabiata? Stay tuned, and you'll see!

With that said, I give unto you, a reasonably authentic version of a Northern Italian tomato sauce. One that should serve you well when fresh tomatoes are not in season.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pasta
• 1 lb canned San Marzano tomatoes
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 tablespoon carrot (minced)
• 1 tablespoon celery (minced)
• 3 tablespoons Italian parsley (minced)
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil (minced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Parmigiano reggiano

Method:

You should be able to prepare the entire dish in the time it takes the pasta to cook.

While the salted pasta water is coming to a boil, heat the olive oil in a pan. Once it’s warmed up, add the mirepoix (onion, celery and carrots). Sauté until onions are translucent. Add parsley and garlic, and continue to sauté for another minute.

When the water starts boiling, add the pasta (I like linguini).

Crush the tomatoes (by hand) as you add them to the mix. Include the juice that the tomatoes are packed in. Add the basil. Bring to a boil, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Once the pasta and the sauce are finished to your liking, mix the two together and top with fresh grated parmigiano reggiano.

To learn more about authentic Northern Italian cooking, check out The Splendid Table.

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Pizza Napoletana Margherita

A nice compromise between uber-authentic, and actually being able to find ingredients in your home town. Other than the dough, this is about as authentic as you’ll find anywhere on this side of the pond.

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

• 4 cups sifted flour
• 1 package dry quick-rise yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon soft shortening
• 1 1/2 cups + 1/4 cup of warm water

For the Pie:

• 1 can San Marzano tomatoes
• 8-15 oz fresh buffalo mozzarella
• Extra virgin olive oil (high quality)
• Sea salt

Mix the yeast with 1/4 cup of water and set aside. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add shortening, water and yeast mixture. Mix, then knead for a minute or two. Set it in a bowl, and set that bowl in the sink with some warm water. Cover with a towel, and let it rise for 30 minutes. This should make 3-4 pies, depending on how thick you like them.

While the dough is rising, place a pizza stone in the oven, and preheat 500. When the dough is done rising, break off a chunk about the size of two handfuls, and put it on a piece of wax paper that is covered with a little bit of flour and cornmeal. Spread it out to make a shape that somewhat resembles a circle. Transfer that dough to the crust, and mbake the crust for 6 minutes.

Pull it out, and start topping! Using your hands, crush 3-4 tomatoes onto the dough. Season with sea salt. Top lightly with mozzarella, then drizzle with olive oil. Bake until the cheese is melted (another 3-4 minutes). Serve.

Variation: Try it with lightly smoked provelone cheese instead of mozzarella (as pictured above).

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Fresh Chipotle Salsa

Fresh salsa is always a favorite around the Doody house. Here are instructions and a video that demonstrate how I make my chipotle salsa.



Ingredients:

• 1 white onion
• Tomatoes (2-3 times the amount of onion, in mass, keeping in mind you’ll be removing the seeds from the tomatoes
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 2-4 dried chipotles (depending on desired heat level)
• Juice from 1 1/2 to 2 fresh limes
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

Process:

Grind the dried chipotles in a coffee grinder until you have a fine powder.

Run the leaves of the cilantro through the food processor. Discard the stems. Run the onions through the food processor until diced. Remove 1/2 of the onion/cilantro blend, and set aside in a mixing bowl.

Remove the seeds from all but about 1/5 of the tomatoes, and cut them into a size that travels well through your food processor.

Squeeze the limes into the food processor. Add the ground chipotles, a few pinches of kosher salt, and the cut tomatoes. Blend well.

Pour the tomato mixture into the bowl of onions, add fresh ground black pepper (to taste), stir, and refrigerate for a few hours.

Serve with fresh, hot tortilla chips.




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Fettucini Alfredo

I’ve never been a fan of alfredo sauce. To me, it’s just plain boring. But, add a little chicken bullion and this otherwise authentic Italian pasta dish turns into a mountain of flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons chicken bullion granules
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 lb fresh Fettucini

While your pasta is cooking...

Melt the butter in a non-reactive pot. Add minced garlic, salt and chicken bullion, and cook for about a minute.

Gradually add milk and stir. Gradually add parmesan cheese, and stir to melt.

Add to pasta and top with fresh ground pepper and/or Italian parsley.

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How to Dice an Onion

There's no use crying over diced onions, but most of us do. I've tried everything known to man to eliminate this, including wearing ski goggles! Believe it or not, that didn't work.

The only way to reduce the tears shed, that I know of, is to get through the process as quickly as possible. The longer your eyes are exposed to the open onion, the more you will resemble my niece at the end of a chick flick.

Try the method in this video to get the job done quickly. Ignore my technique. I'm not a formally-trained chef and have no knife skills. But if you follow the same steps, you'll get the onion diced quickly.



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Angel Hair Pasta with Butter Garlic and Parmesan

This is quite possibly the easiest authentic Italian pasta dish known to man. If you’re in the mood for a quick Italian fix, it doesn’t get much faster than this.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz angel hair pasta
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
• 3 fresh basil leaves (chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

While your pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and salt, and cook for about a minute. Turn the heat completely off and add the cooked pasta and Parmigiano Reggiano. Toss to coat. If it gets too gloopy, add a little pasta water to smooth it out.

Garnish with fresh-ground black pepper and fresh-chopped basil.

Serve with salt and additional Parmigiano Reggiano.

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Pulled Pork in Cookshack Smoker

Read the recipe or, better yet, watch the video. This is episode 1 of The Heavy Doody Show!



Ingredients:

• Boston butt, bone-in
• Your favorite BBQ rub (recipe for Boogie rub)
• Yellow mustard
• Cheap white bread
• BBQ sauce (optional)

I use an electric Cookshack smoker for all my barbecuing, but use whatever you have available to you.

Apply a thin coating of mustard to one side of your butt. Get it on all 4 sides as well. Cover the mustard area with as much rub as you can pack on. Flip, and repeat the process on the other side of the meat.

Wrap the pork up in plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Unwrap, and place in the smoker, along with 5 oz of wood (I like to combine hickory and pecan). Insert your probe thermometer, close the door, and set the smoker to 225°. I set the probe thermometer temperature to 199°, but you might like it less or more done. It's all a matter of personal taste.

Once your meat comes to temperature, remove from the smoker and double-wrap in foil immediately. If you're going to be eating in an hour or so, you're done. Let it sit for an hour. If you're not eating for a while longer than that, wrap the foil-wrapped butt in a beach towel and toss it in a cooler.

Pull your pork.

Serve on cheap white bread. I like to offer a wide variety of BBQ sauces for people to choose from, as well as extra rub for people to use.

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Roasted Garlic

One of my all-time favorite ways to season dishes is with garlic roasted in olive oil. The result is a garlicky paste that has many uses.

Ingredients:

• Garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil

This is a very simple process. Preheat the oven to 400°.

Leaving the root end of the garlic bulb in-tact, cut 1/4 to 1/3 off the other end. If you have any loose skin hanging off, remove it too.


Pour some extra virgin olive oil in a small baking dish. I'll typically try to eyeball a depth of about 1/16". Try to use a baking dish that's barely big enough to accommodate your garlic, so the olive oil has nowhere to run.

Drizzle some more olive oil over the top. Enough to thinly coat each bulb.


Cover the baking dish tightly with foil, and put it in the oven. We all know that "cooking times may vary", but that rule seems to apply more to roasted garlic than anything else. I've seen it take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Check it after 30 minutes, then periodically if it's not done yet. You're testing for a moderately squishy feel.

Once it's done, remove it from the oven and let it set until it's cool enough to touch.

From there, the possibilities are endless...

• Plunk 'em on a plate and let your guests squeeze it onto bread to create their own garlic bread.
• Mash it up with a mortal and pestle and add to your favorite dish.
• Come up with a new idea and tell me all about it!

Now, another option would be to use an actual garlic roaster. I have a Tagco Roasted Garlic Express Electric Roaster (pictured below), and I absolutely love it. Perfectly roasted garlic in 27 minutes. I'm not normally one to fill up cabinet space with "unitaskers", but this thing is a great exception. I really like the fact that it doesn't take up space in the oven when I'm cooking something.



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Sloppy Chicken

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup grated monterey jack cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons Boogie Rub
• 1/2 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
  

Liberally apply Boogie Rub to chicken, pat it in, then stack and wrap in saran wrap for 2 hours.

Once your chicken is done "getting happy", toss it onto the grill. A few minutes before the chicken is done, sautee the mushrooms in the butter, and heat your barbecue sauce up in the microwave.

When your chicken is done, slice it 3/4 of the way through, the short way. Top with grated cheddar and jack cheeses, dump the mushrooms on top of that, then pour your warmed-up barbecue sauce over the whole thing.

I like to serve this dish with a side of asparagus sauteed in garlic butter.

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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 lb) bag of potatoes
  
• 32 ounces sour cream
• 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
• 3 bulbs roasted garlic
  
• 1 lb butter (room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  

Process:

Scrub the potatoes clean. Feel free to peel them too, if that's your thing, but I like to leave the peels on.

Cut the potatoes into 3/4" slices, and boil, in a giant pot, until soft.

Put the potatoes back in the giant pot and mash by hand. Add the rest of the ingredients, then whip with an electric mixer. I like to leave them a little lumpy.

Serve with your favorite gravy, and fresh-ground black pepper.

Variations:

Adding a bag of thawed mixed veggies is a nice touch.

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