Veal or Chicken Maria

Cooking with Propane

"There is something about Mary"

The Casa Bianca where I grew up was a wonderful place if you liked great food, lots of aunts, uncles and cousins and plenty of drama! It was reality TV without the TV. It was truly extended family living in-house, as a result, there was always somebody in crisis. Growing up in our house there was Uncle Peter, Uncle Gigi, Aunt Esther, Aunt Teresa, Mama Lee, my brother and me. Then there was the staff at the restaurant; Anna and Pauline two polish sisters  who worked in the kitchen for twenty plus years with my mother. They were like family but then there was Mary.

Well that group was truly old school; they saw the world different, they ate different, they didn't value their time, it was their gift to everyone. We were the first group of children to really protest the old ways. I was relieved when we broke from the tradition of waking the recently passed in the living room of our home.  The Italian women were professional mourners it was epic when we said goodbye.

Mother was a tough cookie with a mind of her own, it is well documented her distrust for almost everybody; doctors, lawyers, bankers even the catholic priests that frequently dined with her. She was translucent about her feelings.. I find myself from time to time invoking the same skepticism, distrust fostered by our mother. Is it inherited? I catch myself and think that's Mom talking. The very same response from her used to make my skin crawl.

That being said Lee had a heart of gold, if you were hungry she would feed you, her true passion in life, if you needed a room because you may have had one too many she put many guests to bed in our 10 upstairs bedrooms over the years. Her life was built from the sacrifice she made for her children, her brother and her sister. She was what is all good in people.

Mother was stubborn, I hear the story that the night I was born mother was on the stove cooking when her water broke. Her cousin and OBGYN Dr. Bove was just finishing dinner in the dining room and he was alerted of the situation. He got up and went to the kitchen. Lets go Lee, "Doc you just sit yourself down until I put out the rest of these dinners"! He had no choice. My mother only left the building under duress or to go to the hair dresser. My brother would have to take her and pick her up she hardly ever drove but claimed she was an accomplished wheel woman. My brother was late picking her up one day and she hated to spend any more time than necessary listening to the women at the parlor. Angry with Peter the next day she bought a car, maybe she drove it twice.

Lee was kind, and loving but mean as a junk yard dog when she was riled. She was plum impossible to reason with if she had made up her mind. Thankfully there was Mary she subscribed to a whole different perspective about most everything. She would say Lee "let them be" Lee was a control freak. Mary somehow could see into the future, she was like having our own palm reader. For instance she would always maintain that she could tell when a girl who my brother brought to dinner was crazy about him. Oh yah I can tell she would say "she's crazy about him". Generally she was wrong on this account!

Mary was always there to be the voice of reason and was about the only person who could tell my mother to chill! Mary worked at the restaurant full time from her late twenties and on into her sixties. She spent a lifetime with us. I think her 5 children gave her a better view into the real world and she at least left her house!

Mary had a way with the guests at the restaurant all those years, many people thought she owned the place. We didn't advertise so all of our business was word of mouth, Mary was social media old school style, she communicated with our guests face to face. If you were sent to the Casa via word of mouth, it was normal for people to show up at the front door on their first visit and ask for Mary. They would say 'so and so sent me' and Mary in one smooth movement would acknowledge the sender and give them a hug at the door and sit them on the stairs to wait for a table. She owned them right out of the gate even if she had no idea who the people might have been who sent them.  

It was rare that we didn't sit at the round table in the back room at some point each night and discuss the overall problems of the group. (The table now in my kitchen) Mary had five children and they are, each of them extremely diverse. It seems like she had one of each, kind of her own Gilligan's Island. The oldest was somewhat like Thurston a business man, then a jet setting movie star type, beautiful, sultry and a hand full like Ginger, there is the professor, ethereal, musical, clever and quietly a real ladies man, the little sister like Maryann beautiful but more reserve and a bit less precocious no flying about, a bit more grounded than her older sister. Then came the restaurant guy who would if allowed have been the "Skipper" he inherited his mothers engaging personality.

There was always an issue with one of them, or the favorite topic, my brother. Somehow the madness of it all gave Mary a sense of decorum and just made her stronger. Mary could shift through the BS of most situations and leave you with an answer that would satisfy the group. As a result her children are all fiercely dedicated to her, she is still the glue that holds them all together.

People still like to talk about the Casa Bianca, fond memories for most. I always hear "I loved your mother" and then they ask me about Mary. We talk once in a while... not enough, she is still putting out the fires alongside her children, still the rock she always was. I just answer "There is something about Mary"

This is a dish my brother named after Mary at the Casa in 1982. It became our best seller and was on the menu until the end. Use the stove or your new Saber Grill from Proctor Gas.

Veal or Chicken Maria

Serves 4

4 chicken breast

4 paper thin slices prosciutto
4 slices  eggplant cut lengthwise/ brush with olive oil and S&P grill on both sides
8 thin slices of fresh mozzarella
flour for dusting the chicken
4 tablespoons good basil pesto
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 stick cold butter cut in small pieces
olive oil to pan sear the chicken

 Dredge the chicken lightly in the flour shake off any excess. Pour olive oil in a saute pan and heat. Place the chicken into the hot oil and brown on both sides lower the heat. Deglaze the pan with the wine and let the wine cook out. Add the chicken stock and marinara sauce let it simmer covered until the chicken is tender and cooked through about 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the breast.

Take the cover off and build the chicken breast:

spread a spoon full of pesto sauce over the top of the chicken
place a slice of prosciutto over that
place the grilled eggplant on top of the breast
place the two pieces of cheese on top

Place the lid back on the pan and let it simmer just to get hot and melt the cheese. Remove the chicken from the pan, dish it up...turn the heat to medium and add the cold butter to the sauce and simmer together, pour over the chicken

Mrs. Tom's Secret

I like to use my gas grill to cook this. It does take a pan on the grill but you use the grill same as a stove and the grill lid acts as a cover, just close it. Also be aware for your guests, that there are no nut allergies in the group. The little spoon of pesto to the wrong person can be a real bummer for all. Serve with a nice wild mushroom risotto.

How Should You Choose an Oil and For What? (Pt 2)

Mrs. Tom is barefoot in Tuscany

Continued: FROM 5/15/12

Cooking with propane gas from Proctor Gas the propane people

As we emerged out the back end of the tunneled walls a steady rain continued to fall. The walls led way into a cobble stone courtyard about the size of a basketball court. There appeared to be about four stone buildings nestled around the courtyard and it was desolate, nobody in sight. We stopped to survey the scenario that Linda had charted us into. Just when it seemed as though we needed to turn around and high tail it out of there, a small sunken door, round at the top, resembled a hobbit hole opened and a young girl who had to crouch over to exit, appeared and took the one step up to the courtyard..

 As we sat in the middle of this courtyard and the young girl approached the car, I heard my brother say three words "thank you Lord". They were not words of relief about the concerns that we harbored thinking would be meet by a shotgun. Instead as the girl approached the car she was wearing a white apron and carrying something in it. She was holding the apron from the bottom up forming a pouch like a marsupial. Once my brother got a closer look at the  pouch...it was filled with fresh homemade sausage...game on...thank you Linda!

We asked the young girl about the town and she told us that Sofia would be glad to give us a tour. How would we find Sofia? The young lady pointed and yelled "Sofia". Mrs. Tom had to lean out the window to look up and there was a stone tower straight ahead some 40 feet in the air. A moment later Sofia appeared in the tower opening answering the call of her name. Her hair was long, midnight black and wet from a shower. Our little sausage making girl said these people would like a tour. "just a moment I will be right down". Just like that, we were amazed!

We had stumbled literally into the tiny village of Volpaia Italy famous for their olive oil. On this chilly rainy day we ate steaming hot sausage and peppers, sipped full bodied Tuscan wine and toured their olive oil production. Deliverance...I think not, we had discovered a little piece of heaven.

There are hundreds of varieties of olives and they vary from year to year as do grapes. Weather and soil will affect the crops from year to year as does the time when you choose to harvest the olives and the method of trimming the trees. When you see that olive oil is green it indicates that the olives were raked by hand early before they ripened on the tree. This process is labor intensive and hard on the hands. Pickers will tape their fingers to protect them. So when you pay for the oil and it seems expensive think again about what it takes to get that pure gold from the tree to the bottle.

How should you choose an oil and for what?

There are many kinds of oil out there and can be confusing when you are trying to select one. The truth is you shouldn't choose one but have a few different kinds on hand for different uses.

The kings are the extra virgin and virgin olive oils the difference being the acidity levels. Extra virgin must be less than 1% acidity and virgin can be up to 3%. Olive or Pomace oil is less pricy and has a great flavor profile without over powering what you are cooking with it. I suggest it for all your infused oil needs.

"Light Oil" according to Michael Chiarello (our oil guru) is not healthier. It is just a marketing gimmick he says, it's nonsense to pay more for less. I get it Michael thanks for the heads up!

Michael's book Flavored Oils  is where much of the research on infused oils and cooking with them has come from.

How Should You Choose an Oil and For What? (Pt 1)

Mrs. Tom is Barefoot in Tuscany

Now that grilling season is upon us let's turn our attention to grilling light with infused olive oils. Now is the time to put them up and let them develop their intense wonderful flavors for the summer grilling season. We will talk about a number of ways to infuse oils, cold infusion and warm. Always remember that fresh pungent herbs and vegetables will bring your infused oils to life the quickest and with optimum flavor profiles. Use ingredients at their peak of season and your oils can be ready in as little time as a week.

In 2000 Mrs. Tom led a excursion to Tuscany, a few friends and brother Chef Peter. It was a culinary journey to say the least, we all made a pact that we would not stay in the cities but explore the countryside in pursuit of the peasant foods and cultures of Italy, most explicitly Tuscany. We referred to it as Barefoot in Tuscany because we were exploring the country off the beaten trail followed by most tourists.

One of the party brother Peter's wife Linda fashioned herself an expert map reader and arguably an expert at most things!. An expert for our purposes at finding the roads less traveled. Like three blind mice, we followed Linda's directions on a rainy gloomy day, during one of our journeys into Tuscany. It appeared to all of us in the car that we were smack dab in the middle of a farmer's field...we were sure it was not a road at all and everybody's patience began to strain a bit! Linda held her ground saying we were in fact on a road to someplace fun. Mrs. Tom was concerned but her best friend Ron was driving and she trusted him to deliver us from harms way. After about 20 minutes of uncertainty and thinking we might be greeted abruptly by a double barrel shotgun we noticed some tall stonewalls lining both sides of the dirt road we were on. The stone walls were ten feet high and there was room for only one car at a time, yikes where are we, surely we were headed into some type of peril. We thought  we might be about to experience the Tuscan equivalence to deliverance?

 To be continued on the next blog happy grilling

Over the next few weeks Mrs. Tom is going to take into the world of infused oils for your backyard cooking.

Roasted garlic paste and oil

Ingredients

12 whole heads of garlic

1 and 3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper

Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees F

With a sharp knife cut the tops of the garlic off exposing the white very top of the garlic. Peel off the outer layer of loose skins. A ceramic covered baking dish is the best but any roasting pan covered with foil will do. Place the garlic cut tops up tightly into the pan. Cover with oil and season w/ S&P.

Let the garlic roast for about an hour and or until the garlic is popping through the skins. Uncover for about 10 more minutes a to let the garlic brown. Remove the garlic and squeeze the garlic from the skins. Use the garlic paste as you would butter spread it on bread, pizza and use it when sautéing. Roasting it gives it a much more mellow flavor.

Store in the refrigerator covered with a bit of oil on the top that you used to roast it. Best used in 3 days.

Reserve the oil in a sealed glass jar use it within 10 days.

Rosemary & Garlic Corona "Beer Can" Chicken

The Tent Sale on Cinco De Mayo

It's here today the Proctor Gas Tent Sale and guess what campers... it's Cinco De Mayo.  Don't expect to find a cold tray of Margarita's , what you will find is the Proctor Gas senorita's ready to help with your summer entertaining dream grills, fireplace inserts and outdoor kitchens.

Mrs. Tom spent  a week South of the Border spring break while in college a few short years ago. After passing on the worm in the tequila bottle she was treated to the most unusual sight and taste. It was in fact Cinco De Mayo and some of her new friends were making the most unusual whole roast chicken.

At first it seemed as though the chicken might have drunk the tequila as it sat perched up on the grill on a can of Corona Beer surrounded by fresh limes. This has become a favorite with Mrs. Tom's southern friends.

Rosemary and Garlic Corona "Beer Can" Chicken

Ingredients

1 4lb chicken

1 small metal surface for under the beer can for stability on the grill
   meat thermometer

serves 2 Mr.Toms or 4 Mrs. Toms

5 cloves chopped fine fresh garlic

2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons John Henry's cilantro lime seasoning available at the tent sale
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon course cracked black pepper
   juice of two fresh limes...1 slice for the beer
1 12 oz can of Corona Beer

Step one pull the beer from refrigerator insert a slice of lime and drink about half of it. Set aside and let it come to room temperature.

Place garlic, rosemary salt, John Henry's seasoning, pepper, olive oil and lime juice in a food processor and pulse to a paste don't  overdo it.

Prepare the bird discard any inners and rinse the chicken well. Pat the bird dry. Now rub the chicken with the seasoning mixture all over and then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours. Take it out and let it come to room temperature.

Turn the grill on high for 10 minutes. Then turn the middle grate to medium on a three burner or two grates if you have a four burner. If you have a two burners then turn both back to medium.  Poke a few extra holes in the top of the beer can and place the chicken cavity on the beer can and find a balance.

Take your small metal surface and place the beer can and chicken standing up on the grill. Tuck the wings behind the back of the chicken and balance using the legs to help. Close the lid on the grill and tend the chicken every 15 minutes for about 1 hour and a half. After an hour start checking the internal temperature with your thermometer, 180% internal temp at the thick part of the thigh. Let the chicken rest for 20 minutes.

 Mrs. Tom Secret

Trim any excess fat from the chicken to keep the fire flare-ups down. Keep rotating the chicken. Wrap the chicken in plastic wrap when you put it in the refrigerator to seal the seasonings in, remove before cooking. Beware of the beer when you take it off the grill, hot.