Spaghetti All'Amatriciana - January's Cover Girl Dinner

On June 1, 1907, a 20-year-old young woman was left at Battery Park. It was damp and and an all-time low temperature of 28 degrees F would be posted for that late spring evening. Possibly illiterate, speaking no English and in peasant garb, she had few possessions. She clutched a piece of paper in her hand that said: "Francesco Laviano, 30 Thompson Street." Francesco did not meet her at Ellis island. The powers-that-be sent her alone into Manhattan. She stopped a couple and showed them the address in her hand. "Scusi...." They pointed at her and laughed and went on their merry way. So began my grandmother's first day in America.
`
After an emotional week of digging through records, arguing about the age of my grandmother and nagging my mother, I decided that an exact age wasn't important. What was and is important is the humanity in my heritage - in your heritage. What shaped us. What continues to be with us.
`
Why I decided on the spur of the moment to cook the "Cover Girl Dinner" at the end of the week is beyond me. Perhaps because the cover recipe for Bon Appetit was spaghetti and meatballs in a spicy, smoky tomato sauce. The kind of sauce that my family has been making for generations. My thru-line.

I'll start with the dessert - because it didn't come out. In-between combining the 47 ingredients needed for the meatballs (yes, I exaggerate - but just a tad), I made a ricotta pound cake. Simple and not too heavy. It fell. In the middle. Around the time I was browning 72 meatballs (and that is no exaggeration), I watched my ricotta pound cake cave in. I combined some blueberries I had frozen last July with a little sugar and dumped it over the cave-in spot. I then moved it so I wouldn't have to look at it. I knew I would serve it.
`
Meanwhile, I am pureeing tomatoes, browning meatballs, adding a little bit of garlic and a touch of marjoran. I am fierce. I am my grandmother - only five inches taller. Three hours later, I am tired. Appetizers would be thrown together. These biscuits are at my grocers. Raisins, almonds and a spicy cracker base - perfect for a tangy cheese.


I mindlessly eat a couple as I make a small cheese torte.

Try them - they are sweet, spicy, tangy, chewy, crispy delectables.

I combined leftover goat cheese with leftover mascarpone (oh how I threw this dinner together). I put half into a small ramekin, topped it with some olive tapenade and covered it with the other half of the cheese. And put it into the fridge to set.

I threw together some lettuces, toasted some pecans, sauteed a pear and combined it all. A little bit of Minnesota's own Northern Lights blue cheese was crumbled on top for the salad. Grandma and Grandpa liked their fruits and cheeses. A tbl of white balsamic with a few tbls of olive oil and the salad was set.

`

One hour later, the cheese was served and demolished. Cracker bag lays empty. Salad's on the table being a temptress and the dishes of spaghetti went out.

The 47-ingredient meatball was worth the time, the forming, the browning, the simmering. Grandma smiled. Ladies and gentleman, I bring you Bon Appetit's Spaghetti All'Amatriciana. Find the recipe here. It was worth every stir.

Spicy without being instrusive, smoky, tomato-sweet, herb-infused meatballs. Harmony. On the plate and on your palette. Dancing in synch.

I'm digging out a forkful for you. Trust me, after this dish, you wouldn't care what the ricotta pound cake looked like.

`

Last year's New Year's resolution was to make the cover recipe of Bon Appeit each month - no matter what. It was such a success, it continues. I do not know if I should stick with Bon Appetit only. Add a new magazine or add a host of magazines? What do you think?

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Gravy - Bon Appetit's October Cover Recipe

My resolve to keep my New Year's resolution 2008 to cook all 12 cover recipes of Bon Appetit has been successful. (There's just the little matter of baking the peppermint chocolate cake on December 2009's cover...) My procrastination is in posting the Cover Girl dinners - well - this, that and the other thing occurred. There was the sprained ankle.... and my six weeks directing a rodent (Stuart Little- a holiday show), a few deadlines and then this decision (which I declared in print) to bake 24 holiday Italian cookies in December.... which will definitely go into my "what was I thinking" file folder....
`
Enough! Below is Bon Appetit's slow-cooked short ribs dinner. Smothered in a red wine, sun-dried tomato gravy with mashed potatoes and braised greens, it was a hit.


I bought my ribs from a local producer at St. Paul Farmer's Market - Otis Family Farms. His ribs were meaty and tender. Another plus for buying local and from someone you know.

The Swiss chard was briefly sauteed in olive oil.

The ribs were braised for two hours in red wine, herbs, sun-dried tomatoes and other aromatics.

Potatoes were mashed and the melding of flavors was delectable. Comforting, autumn, with the fresh taste of the Farmer's Market shining through. It can be made a day ahead, it does not need babysitting and it guarantees smiles at the dinner table. Conversation ceased for awhile as everyone savored the meal. Don't let the list of ingredients intimidate you - the meal is very easy to execute and once your ribs are braising, you are free to dance in your living room, take a bubble bath, check Facebook, read food blogs, or nap. The recipe is here: Braised beef short ribs.

`

Dessert was "Cake with three milks." The cake is drenched in three milks and just - soaks it in - marinates and is the tenderest, milkiest, whitest, creamiest cake know to come out of an oven that does not contain buttercream. You will find yourself thanking cows. It will be part of your repertoire. Find the recipe for Pastel de Tres Leches at Girlchef's blog here.

Looks like a simple sheet cake.

But the clouds of milk tells you there is something special going on in that cake. It's inviting.

Is it September already?

Almost October? Are you serious? Here I was feeling so very virtuous - did the August's Bon Appetit cover recipe last day of August. Post the photos on September 1. All set to blog on September 2nd ... and 3rd ... and well - you get the idea. I think it was the late Labor Day that threw me off. Or the three weeks of eighty-degree days in Minnesota - in September! All the pools closed and it finally got warm enough to swim. But the dinner - was pretty tasty. The cover recipe was a turkey burger stuffed with smoky aioli and topped with grilled peppers, grilled onions and cheese. I paired it with purple potatoes (just because...) and some fresh corn ... wanting to keep the summer grill thing going as long as Minnesota lets me!

I received a box of 2008 Black Box New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and used it for quite a few dinners. It's crisp and just a wee bit fruity and paired just swimmingly with the grilled meals. It received approval from all at the table (who were of drinking age). At $24.99/box ($22.99 in Minnesota), it's a bargain to be sure - it averages to be about $6.25 per 750 ml bottle. We poured it with our appetizer - caprese salad. As long as the tomatoes are fresh and my basil holds up - I make this salad ad nauseum. I want my fill of it because when the tomatoes are gone - I don't make it until they return! No hothouse tomatoes for this dish!

The Moroccan-spiced aioli was put into the burger and then also served over it. I found this very tasty.... and could have been found guilty of eating spoonfuls of it if I didn't have guests...

The grilled peppers and grilled onions topped the burger. They had me there....

... but alas and alack I found the burger not very flavorful. They are turkey burgers and it seemed the aioli should have brought this quiet meat to new heights... but it seemed rather bland. I couldn't taste the aioli in the burger (note to self: stuff a lot more into it?). Try it and see what you think: the recipe is here.

The roasted purple potatoes with creme fraiche were a hit. The potatoes were sort of eyed and there were some comments made about their color ("they're purple, get over it!") but in the end they were all amazed that - they - tasted - like white potatoes! I tossed them with rosemary, garlic and thyme and threw them in a 400 degree F oven for 40 minutes. Easiest part of the meal. (All right, maybe boiling the corn for three minutes was easier.)
`
The ginger-peach pavlovas brought smiles and busy dessert forks.

I made the meringues and peach part earlier so after dinner - all I needed to do was assemble. All in all - it was a fine summer meal! It utilized all that was still fresh in Minnesota (well, the peaches came from Michigan - so not too far). The syrup that the peaches were in were not too sweet (I'm not good with cloying fruit syrup - I want the fruit to be the star). The late summer raspberries were sweet and tart - and I tend to jam them in my mouth like candy. It was all I could do to save some for the dessert. And I happened to have some extra meringues. Which disappeared later that evening. When there are no leftovers, I am thinking it was a successful meal. Of course when one of the participants is my starving-graduate-student-son - I need to put all in perspective. For he gratefully eats whatever I put on the table.

`

But the biggest success of the cover girl meals so far is bringing family and friends together at least once a month - knowing full well I probably have never made most of the meal before. That's living dangerously.