Gerry Canelli's Meatballs and Sauce

Gerry was asked for his amazingly simple and delicious meatballs and sauce recipe this week. He sent me a copy in an email. Here it is in his own words!

• 1 lb+ hamburg

• 1 egg

• milk

• garlic

• oregano

• basil

• fennel seeds

• seasoned bread crumbs

• tomato sauce (15 oz)

• tomato paste (12 oz)

• diced tomatoes (16 oz)

• salt and pepper to taste

• Start by making the sauce … put the tomato sauce, tomato paste and diced tomatoes (drained) into a sauce pan … using the tomato paste can as a gauge, add 1.5 cans of water … add fresh garlic (I use 2 or 3 cloves – minced or through a garlic press), fennel seeds,  liberal amounts of oregano and basil … put on medium heat and stir occasionally

• Make the meatballs – start by breaking the egg, mix in some milk (about equal to the ¼ volume of the egg) … add pepper, and 2 cloves of pressed or minced garlic … whip together.

• Mix in bread crumbs until it pretty much absorbs all of the liquid … actually it becomes the consistency of a wet paste

• Add the hamburg … mix thoroughly with your hands …

• Form meatballs  by rolling them between your hands and drop into the sauce

• Cover the saucepan and allow it to come to a boil at medium heat … stir occasionally to avoid burning the bottom of the pan

• When the sauce really begins to boil … wait 5 min and then lower the heat to the low setting … cook for a minimum of 75 - 90 minutes.

• Remove meatballs to separate dish, use the sauce over the freshly cooked pasta

Basil Lemon Pesto

With the abundance of basil in my garden deck rail planter this summer (and a recent onslaught of teeny critters), I figured I'd better get some pesto made. We've used the basil in ice cream and on top of mozzarella and ripe tomatoes, but another delicious use will be on homemade angel hair pasta or vermiccelli.

I poured through a couple of my favorite cookbooks (Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman, In Season by Sarah Raven, the Silver Palate bibles by Julie Rosso, and Sheila Lukins and The Sprouted Kitchen by Sara Forte).

      I settled on Sara Forte's recipe and even though I didn't have a Meyer lemon, I'll be sure to next time! The recipe is actually for Lentil Meatballs with Lemon Pesto. (The Silver Palate recipes always include walnuts instead of pine nuts.) My search brought me to some delicious ideas (cilantro pesto) and I think I've got some work cut out for me next weekend.

1 clove garlic (I used two minced)
1/4 c. pine nuts (I used 1/3 cup)
Zest and juice of one Meyer lemon (I used a regular lemon)
Pinch of sea salt
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves (I really packed them in)
1/3-1/2 c. olive oil
2 T. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used an Asiago mix)
2 T. water (my basil was still wet from the rinse so I didn't add water)

I used an immersion blender (my small processor was broken and it wasn't enough for the Cuisinart food processor) and blended the garlic, nuts, lemon zest and juice, salt together. Then I added the basil leaves a handful at a time.

I then added 1/3 c. olive oil and a bit more during processing with the cheese.

New Orleans Feast

When in New Orleans in June, childhood friends Karan and Betsy joined me for a 2-1/2 hour cooking extravaganza at the New Orleans School of Cooking. From the special aprons to the tablecloths, individual cooking stations, and personal attention, no wonder this place is the one of the two favorite travelers' food experiences in the country, according to Trip Advisor.

I worked hard to duplicate the experience for neighbors - even sending home seasonings, grits, pickled snap beans, and Fleur de Lis* glasses.

*a stylized lily composed of three petals bound together near their bases. It is especially known from the former royal arms of France, in which it appears in gold on a blue field.

We started with Bloody Marys topped off with pickled snap beans, olives, okra and sprinkled with celery seed. Others had champagne, red and white wine of a local craft brew. Then we moved to our cooking stations with induction cooktops and an array of ingredients.

I've doubled the recipes (except for the Bananas Foster).

Sweet Potato and Crabmeat Bisque
1 T Rex's Crab, Shrimp and Crawfish Boil
1 pound of crab meat
8 cups of diced sweet potatoes/yams
4 T. butter
4 T. diced onions
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 c. green pepper, diced
1 T dry sliced garlic
4 T flour
8 c. chicken stock
1 c heavy cream
1 cup diced green onions, sliced
1/2 c. parsley, chopped
Joe' Stuff to taste
Big Kevin's Creole Blend to taste
dash of nutmeg

Melt butter over medium high heat. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until a blonde roux is formed. Turn off heat and add onions, celery and pepper.

In another pot bring chicken stock and garlic to a boil, then whisk in roux, stirring constantly until soup consistency is achieved. Add Rex's boil. Stir in 6 cups of sweet potatoes, reserving the remaining cups. Bring to a rolling bowl, reduce to a simmer and cook approximately 30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.

Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth.  Add heavy cream and return to a low heat. Saute remaining sweet potatoes in butter until tender. Season the potatoes with nutmeg and green onions. Once tender, add sweet potatoes to the soup. Finish with crab meat parsley and Joe's stuff to taste.

Beef Grillades and Stone-Ground Cheese Grits
3 pounds of round steak
2 T Joe's Stuff
1 cup flour
4 T vegetable oil
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
2 T sliced garlic
4 c. beef stock
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 T Worcestershire sauce
3 bay leaves
2 C. tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
4 T sliced green onion
Garlic sauce to taste and Big Kevin's Creole Blend

Pound out round steak until 1/4 inch thick and then julienne the beef. Combine flour with Joe's Stuff and dust the pieces of meat in the flour, shaking off excess.

Heat oil in a skillet and brown the meat on each side. Lower heat and add onion, pepper and celery and cook until translucent. Stirring constantly, add remaining flour and cook on medium heat until flour starts to brown. Add garlic, bay, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, tomato and beef stock. Bring to a boil and simmer and cook 30-40 minutes until beef is tender.

Add red wine vinegar and more seasonings to taste before serving. Serve over warm grits with a poached egg and green onions.

Stone Ground Cheese Grits
10 c. water or milk
2 c stone ground white corn grits
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese
2 tsp. salt
4 T buter
4 T cream cheese

Combine water/milk and salt. Bring to a boil and slowly whisk in the grits and reduce heat to low. Cover. Cook for 15-20 min, stirring occasionally.

Remove grits from heat. Add butter, cheese and mix well. Keep warm.

Poached Eggs

Bananas Foster
2 sticks butter
2 c brown sugar
2 bananas
2 oz banana liqueur
4 oz dark rum
ground cinnamon
ice cream

Melt butter and add brown sugar to form a creamy paste. Let this mixture caramelize over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Stir in the liqueur, bananas and rum. Heat and ignite. Add magic dust (cinnamon) to the flame.

Serve over ice cream with crumbled pralines.

Roasted Sweet Cherry Ice Cream with Vanilla Bean

Cherries are everywhere in New England grocery stores right now. I used sweet red this weekend but have roasted a batch of sweet red and white cherries for the freezer.

Roasted Cherries
2 cups pitted cherries
2/3 c sugar
2 tsp cornstarch

Mix the pitted ripe cherries and sugar and cornstarch well. Place on foil on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 min.  Remove from pan and place on a plate to cool. Place in freezer on a plate (if using soon) or in a Ziploc bag if saving for future use. Save thickened cherry juice along with cherries.

Make either Goat Cheese Ice Cream or use a Vanilla Ice Cream base. I added ground vanilla bean to the base in the Sweet Basil Ice Cream (leaving out the basil leaves.)

When the ice cream is done freezing, mix in the frozen roasted cherries and freeze four hours.

Sweet Basil Ice Cream with Pine Nut Pralines

Well, ice cream has become a habit in the Canelli house. Jeni's has become our bible.

Sweet Basil Ice Cream with Pine Nut Pralines

Ice cream

An hour or so before making ice cream base (and five hours before you will be serving) set aside:

2-2/3 c whole milk at room temperature
1-1/2 c heavy cream at room temperature
2 T cream cheese at room temperature

When ready to cook the base, fill a large bowl with ice and fill with water.

Take 2 T of the milk and mix it with 1 T plus 2 tsp cornstarch to make a slurry. Set aside.

Mix the cream cheese with 1/4 tsp sea salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine the milk, cream, 3/4 c. sugar and 1/4 c light corn syrup in a large saucepan. Heat until it reaches a boil - stirring often. Boil in a rolling boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the cornstarch slurry mixing well so that the milk/cream mixture thickens. Place over heat for 1 more minute. Remove from heat.

Tear a large handful of basil leaves into small pieces.

In the large bowl with cream cheese and salt, pour in the hot milk/cream mixture and mix vigorously. If it is lumpy, use an immersion blender and blend until smooth. Pour ice cream mixture with the basil leaves into a Ziploc bag (double-bagged for protection). Seal and let stand in ice water for at least 30 minutes.

Remove basil by straining. Pour the ice cream in the ice cream maker/machine. Spin 60 min. Add pine nut pralines at the last minute or fold in when placing in a freezer container. Freeze four hours or more before serving. Add a small praline bunch and a sprig of fresh basil and serve in individual bowls (using about 1/2 cup ice cream!)

Pine Nut Pralines
1 cup pine cuts (or any other nut)
2 T light brown sugar
2 T honey
1 T butter
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
 Mix all together and spread on a buttered baking sheet OR parchment. (Not foil).  Bake for 8 min and stir. Bake 350 degrees for another 5-6 minutes, stirring twice. The nuts should look bubbly and dry. Remove from the oven, cool until pralines break off of parchment or baking sheet and use or store breaking into small bits.

Beet Ice Cream with Mascarpone, Orange Zest and Poppy Seeds

Another from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. This one has a gorgeous flavor and is a favorite with granddaughters Phoebe Harper Rabbitt and Maeve Hunter Rabbitt. The lovely PINK screams delicious! Serve for adults with chunks of fresh orange or candied orange peel.

Remember that homemade ice cream takes about six hours before eating. 1/2 hour to prepare ingredients and 5-10 minutes to make the base. One hour to freeze and 4 in the freezer!

Roast 4 small or 2 medium large red beets in a 450 degree oven. Wrap the beets in a sheet of foil and bake until very soft, about one hour. Let them cool slightly before removing their skin. Cut into chunks and puree. Then force the puree through a sieve. Combine 2/3 cup of warm beet puree with 2 T sugar. Set aside to cool.

Measure out 1-1/2 cups heavy cream, 2-2/3 cups whole milk, and 1/3 mascarpone cheese. Set them out to sit at room temperature.

Measure out 1/4 tsp. sea salt. Measure 3/4 cup sugar. Measure 2 T plus 2 tsp. poppy seeds. Measure 1/4 cup light corn syrup. Set aside.

Fill a large bowl with ice and some water. Set aside.

Zest one orange with a peeler into long strips. Set aside.

Whisk the mascarpone cheese with the cooled beet puree. Set aside.

Make a slurry of 2T milk and 1 T plus 2 tsp. cornstarch. Set aside.

Now you are ready for some quick action making the ice cream base with the milk, cream, sugar, light corn syrup, and the orange zest. Bring to a rolling boil in a large saucepan (4-qt) and boil for 4 minutes. Take off the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Boil one more minute until slightly thickened and take off the heat.

Gradually mix in some of the hot ice cream base with the beet puree/mascarpone until smooth, adding more until you have a cup. Then add this mixture gradually to the rest of the ice cream base. Pour it all (with orange zest) into a 1 gallon freezer bag and then another, zipping up the interior one and leaving the other open to the air to release the heat. Place in the ice water bath, submerging the bottom of the bag. Let cool about 30 minutes. Take out the orange zest.

Pour into ice cream maker or compressor and freeze about one hour. If you have a slot in your ice cream maker to add ingredients, add the poppy seeds while ice cream is still creamy. Or stir in while you are spooning out.

Spoon out into a container and freeze for four more hours.