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Chef2Chef Recipe Club - Volume 5 Issue 75 - October 10, 2003 Chef2Chef Recipe Club Member Forum: http://forums.chef2chef.net -------------------------------------------------- Hello Recipe Club, I've enjoyed Mike Rodman's Food Stories this week and invite him to share with us any time. My mailbox has been swamped with compliments and praises. Next week we'll have some of our favorite autumn recipes for you from myself and some of our past Recipe Club hosts. So, stay tuned for that. Now, on with Mike Rodman's last installment of his wacky food adventures. Have a great weekend! -------------------------------------------------- Got a Passion for Cooking or know someone who does? Make it your Career! Shop and compare TOP US Culinary Institutes that offer Financial Aid and Job Placement. Request Information today and get your Career cooking in just 15 months! Chef2Chef.Net/Culinary-Institute -------------------------------------------------- For our final installment of "Mike Rodman Cracks Wise About Food," we'll take a look at the man who motivated my love of foods most people wouldn't eat: Dick Cheney. Oops, that was supposed to be for a column about people I don't trust. Let me see here ... ah, yes -- I wanted to tell you about my father, before talking about today's meal, Scungilli Fra Diavolo. (And since you've been nice enough to put up with me all week, I'll also throw-in a Balsamic Caesar dressing that took me two years to perfect). Dad prided himself on eating things that would make my mother squirm: chocolate-covered ants, anchovies straight from the can, kippers that would make the house smell for days, etc. And since I could always eat twice my body weight, strange food was our form of father-son bonding. I ate so much, my dad was fond of saying, "I'd rather clothe him than feed him." But he got a kick out of my adventuresome attitude towards food, which was quite unusual for young kids. When I was a teenager in Maplewood, NJ, we used to go to a tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Newark, called "The Seacrest." The restaurant only had about eight tables, but they seemingly made anything that could be found in the Atlantic Ocean. The menu was on the walls, written with magic markers on those pieces of cardboard that used to come with laundered shirts. Everything was a-la-carte and made one order at a time, so the routine was to order one dish, and then, when it came to the table, order your next one. We'd always start with a bucket of steamers (soft-shell piss-clams - just take a look at the worm-like tail and you'll know what I mean), then maybe have a plate of smelts, then some eel, then who-knows-what, until we were finally full two hours later. The only problem was that the place was so small, weekend lines would often stretch around the corner. One day we were particularly hungry and decided we'd call-in a favor, to get seated. My older brother (ten years my elder) was with us and his best friend from college had married the daughter of a good fellow who owned "The Italian Tribune," in Newark. The man was known around Newark as "Ace," and everybody knew who he was. So faced with the long line to get in, we went to the front of it, got the attention of the owner and said, "We know Ace." The owner said, "You know Ace? Hold on, one second." He then turned to a table-of-four and said, "Youčre finished, right?" The people weren't quite done with their meal, but agreed anyway. Why? Because we knew Ace. Anyway, one day we had octopus and both dad and I were in heaven. It was served in a fra diavolo sauce and I never forgot it. About 14 million years later, I moved to Arkansas and started to cook things other than your standard fare. And once I learned how to make a decent tomato sauce, I wanted to make the octopus dish I had at the Seacrest. Of course, living in Arkansas was going to be a challenge, insofar as being able to even buy an octopus. Catfish Fra Diavolo just isn't the same. But I found a seafood merchant with a sense of humor and I was on my way. It took about five years to get it right, but it remains one of my favorites today. And if you're squeamish about eating octopus, this dish can also be made with calamari rings, shrimp or just about any shellfish, including lobster. -------------------------------------------------- SeafoodByNet.com With over 20 years of restaurant purchasing experience, now you too can have the same superior quality seafood reserved for the finest restaurants. We specialize in rare, hard to find items from our Jumbo Alaskan King Crab Legs which are twice the size as those found in grocery stores to Shrimp from the Gulf Coast that are over an ounce a piece and Lobster tails from Australia and Maine. Our salmon, tuna and swordfish steaks are immediately flash frozen, assuring you of the freshest product available. Choose from one of our standard seafood packs or design one of your own. We offer corporate rates. Visit Seafood Buy Net http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=164 -------------------------------------------------- Before the recipe, one note: Octopus is about one-half water weight, so don't be alarmed at the weight listed in this recipe for four large portions. I will give you detailed instructions on how to eliminate the water weight for this dish, allowing you to cook small pieces with your sauce (or as Italians say, "gravy"). SCUNGILLI FRA DIAVOLO 4 lbs. octopus (2 two-pounders work great) 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 small onion, minced (about 1/2 cup) 1/2 bell pepper, chopped (about 1/2 cup) 2 large cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbsp.) 1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained 1 8-oz. can tomato sauce 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried) 1/2 tsp. dried oregano 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper seeds (1/4 tsp. for mild) 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. fennel seed 1/8 tsp. black pepper 16 oz. linguine Dealing with the octopus: Most often, octopus come frozen in a bag. Thaw in the refrigerator or, for faster thawing, in a tub of a cold water. In all cases I've experienced, the octopus is already cleaned and the bulbous head has had all internal matter removed. So, DO NOT THROW AWAY THE HEAD - it's the most tender part of the octopus and why sushi chefs keep it for themselves. (Next time you're in a sushi bar, order "Tako Atama" and you'll blow the chef's mind. It's the octopus head and delicious when cut sashimi style and put in a Japanese salad with cucumber and seaweed. If the chef doesn't know what you're talking about, you can either explain it to him or do what I would do: leave.) Eliminate the water weight with a two-step process. First, add the octopus to a large stockpot of boiling water (this is really cool to watch, so gather the kids around; the long, slimy legs curl and become hard ... hey, it's better than letting them watch primetime TV). Boil for about 5 minutes and then remove to a bowl of cold water, keeping the stockpot full and at a simmer. After the octopus cools, cut into one-inch pieces. I do this by cutting off the head and then slicing the body like a pizza, giving you eight legs from which to cut pieces. For the second part of the water elimination process, put the pieces back in the boiling water and boil gently until they float, signifying nearly all the water weight has been removed, about 5 more minutes. Drain and set aside for the sauce. Dealing with the sauce: Heat olive oil in a three-quart saucepan. Cook the onion, bell pepper and garlic until it softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients -- including the octopus pieces. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until octopus is fork tender. (NOTE: Do not undercook the octopus because it will be the texture of a bicycle tire patch. Err on the side of over-cooked.) Cook linguine to package directions and toss with the sauce. Have plenty of Italian or French bread on hand to soak-up the remnants. -------------------------------------------------- The Chef2Chef.net Market Place is the one place to find all your Specialty Foods and Culinary Products and Services. If you are looking for anything culinary, support the quality companies that support Chef2Chef.net Market Place at Chef2Chef.Net -------------------------------------------------- I like a nice green salad before my fra diavalo. So here's a recipe for a thick and tasty Balsamic Caesar dressing. BALSAMIC CAESAR 1/2 cup olive oil 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 2 Tbsp. water 1 Tbsp. anchovy paste 1 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash (original) 1 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese 1 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. crushed garlic Put all ingredients in a cruet or other sealed container. Shake vigorously and pour immediately. Can be refrigerated, but bring back to room temperature before using. And since I would now be full, our moderator, Dave, will add a recipe for a nice Italian dessert. -------------------------------------------------- I've chosen a Tiramisu recipe that comes from my friend Chef Mike Elsner. I know you'll like it! Tiramisu Ingredients: 9 oz. sugar 10 egg yolks 24 oz mascarpone cheese Whipped cream Ladyfinger cookies Espresso Marsala wine Bing cherries Shaved chocolate Method: Whip egg yolks and sugar together until thick and pale yellow. Add cheese and mix thoroughly. Take the container that the cheese came in and fill it 3 times with whipped cream (Rich's topping base can be substituted). Fold cream into mixture. Pipe a small rosette into your bowls (A Margarita glass makes a wonderful presentation!). Mix equal parts of Marsala and Espresso, and submerge cookies one at a time. Place two cookies on each rosette and put two cherries on the cookies. Now pipe a large rosette on top encasing all of the other components. Garnish with shaved chocolate. -------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS, Comments, Technical Support: http://forums.chef2chef.net |