Braised Sicilian Sausage with Fennel and Olives

 

My husband and I discovered this recipe while watching Lidia's Italy on television one evening as she made this humble dish of braised sausages with fennel and chopped green Cerignola olives. As we found out, fresh fennel is a natural companion to good Italian sausage, such as the handmade Sicilian sausages we buy at DiLiso's in Toronto's St Lawrence Market, made with pork, black pepper, fennel, white wine, and a pinch of chili flakes. 

In this recipe, the sausages are first cooked in a frying pan with a little oil until they're nicely browned then cooked with some white wine, and then set aside on a platter. The fennel bulb is sautéed in the same pan, separately then together, with crushed garlic, olives, wine and hot chili flakes, until the mixture caramelizes and the fennel becomes wonderfully sweet and tender. A celebrated cookbook author, successful restauranteur and one of television's best loved chefs, Lidia Bastianich holds true to her Italian roots, inviting everyone to experience the warmth, hospitality and passion of her simple but delicious cooking. 

Sausages with Fennel and Olives
Serves 2
Recipe courtesy of Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 sweet Italian sausages
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 plump garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/8 tsp hot chili flakes (pepperoncino), or to taste 
1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and halved
1 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/4 tsp coarse sea salt

Trim the stalks and tough bottoms off the fennel bulbs and peel off the outer layer. Cut in half lengthwise and trim out the bits of stalk that go down into the bulb, then cut into 1-inch chunks.

Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan large enough for the sausages and set over medium-high heat. Lay in the sausages and cook for 5 minutes or more, rolling them over occasionally until nicely browned. Pour in the wine and boil until it is reduced by half. Remove the sausages to a platter and pour the remaining wine sauce over them.

Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the empty skillet. Toss in the garlic cloves and cook for a minute or so over medium heat until they're sizzling, but don't let them burn. Drop in the chili flakes in a hot spot for a few seconds, then scatter the olives in the pan. Toss and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the fennel chunks and stir. Season with 1/4 tsp salt. Cover the skillet and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, tossing and stirring now and then until the fennel softens, shrinks, and begins to color. Add a bit of water to the pan if the fennel remains hard and resistant to the bite.

When the fennel is cooked through, return the sausages and wine to the skillet. Turn the meat and vegetables together, cook uncovered for another 5 minutes or so, until everything is deeply caramelized and glazed. Adjust seasoning to taste. To serve, arrange the sausages in two warmed dinner bowls and spoon the fennel and olive mixture overtop with a garnish of fresh fennel fronds.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Full of old-fashioned oats and semi-sweet chocolate chips, these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are one of my favourite. Crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle, these delicious cookies are full of texture and flavour. To ensure they come out just right, follow a couple of basic rules: space them at least 1 inch apart during baking, rotate the sheet pan half way through, and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 5 dozen

1/2 lb butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt, optional
2 1/2 cups Quaker Oats, quick or old fashioned, uncooked
2 cups / 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
2 large eggs

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla, and beat well. Add the combined flour, baking soda and salt, and mix well. Add the oats, chocolate chips and nuts, if using, and mix well. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9 to 10 minutes for a chewy cookie or 12 to 13 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets then remove to wire rack. Cool completely and store in a tightly covered cookie tin.

Beef Barley Soup with Mushrooms & Madeira

A hearty and satisfying winter meal, Beef, Barley and Shiitake Mushroom Soup is the perfect dish for the coldest of days. Excellent using leftover Roast Prime Rib of Beef or Braised Oxtail, this recipe is also very tasty using good quality sirloin or stewing beef. Browning the beef, then simmered together with sautéed onions, celery, carrots, fresh shiitake mushrooms, tomato paste, beef stock, pearl barley, fresh herbs and a lashing of Madeira and red wine, evolves into a richly aromatic and soul satisfying winter soup.

Beef, Barley & Shiitake Mushroom Soup with Madiera
Serves 6-8

4 tbsp canola oil
1 lb stewing beef or sirloin steak, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
2 onions, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch coins
2 tbsp tomato paste
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup each Madeira and day red wine
8 cups beef broth
1 cup pearl barley
3 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Sprinkle the beef with 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large soup pot over medium-high. Add the meat and and cook, stirring often, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes, the transfer to a bowl.

Reduce the heat to medium, and add the remaining oil to the pot. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot and cook 2-3 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato paste and cook while stirring, until the vegetables are coated with the tomato paste and are beginning to brown, about to 2-3 minutes.

Add the wine and Madeira, and simmer for a minute or so, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Then add the barley, browned meat, broth, mushrooms, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for an hour, until the beef and barley are both tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into warmed bowls, garnish with a sprig of thyme and serve immediately with some hot crusty bread.

Scaramouche Lobster'licious 3-Course Lobster Dinner

 

Tucked away on Benvenuto Place off Avenue Road and overlooking the dazzling lights of downtown Toronto, Scaramouche is a culinary institution, consistently ranked as one of the city's best since it opened in 1980. Long celebrated by customers and critics alike for its unwavering commitment to excellence and ensuring each dining experience is a truly memorable one, Chef-owner Keith Froggett’s sophisticated cuisine is consistently well-executed and crafted with finest seasonal local ingredients. The presentation is beautiful, the food is sophisticated and always absolutely delicious. 

Last year, Scaramouche began offering takeout for the first time in its 45-year run in response to the extended dining room closures, offering both an à la carte menu and in-house prepared grocery items from Tuesday through Saturday, and brought back its annual Lobster’licious event in take-out form. Running yearly since 2009, Froggett says Lobster’licious originally started as a response to Toronto’s Winterlicious event. “We didn’t feel that the parameters of that worked for us, so we tongue-in-cheek started Lobster’licious and it became the success it has been,” he explains. Froggett says that in years past, the event offered diners a choice of appetizers, mains and desserts, but to simplify Lobster’licious for takeout this year, they’re currently offering a single, three-course menu, including a lucscious Lobster Bisque, decadent Butter Poached Lobster with Cavatelli Pasta and silky Passionfruit Curd with Pistachio Crumble. 

Lobster Bisque with chopped shrimp and lobster, Armagnac cream and fresh chives

Butter Poached 1 1/2 lb East Coast Lobster with house made cavatelli pasta, Meyer lemon relish, caramelized fennel, roasted sweet peppers, spinach and lemon beurre fondue

Passionfruit Curd and Pistachio Crumble, with meringue, whipped cream, mango and lime

www.scaramoucherestaurant.com

Keith Froggett's Braised Leg of Lamb

Serves 4-6

Recipe courtesy of chef Kieth Froggett

1 large red or white onion, sliced

1 carrot, coarsely chopped

1 small fennel bulb

1/2 small celeriac, or celery root

1 head of garlic, cut in half

2 kg bone-in leg of lamb

olive oil

salt and pepper

2 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup dry red wine

4 cups chicken broth

2 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

14 gram package dried mixed mushrooms

sprig of fresh rosemary

sprig of fresh thyme

 

Preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare vegetables and garlic. Rub lamb all over with oil, then generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub into meat. Tie with butcher string, if you wish. Coat with oil the bottom of a roasting pan large enough to hold lamb. Place pan over two burners on medium-high heat. Add lamb. Brown on all sides, 4 to 6 minutes. Reduce heat to medium if oil smokes. Place lamb on a plate.

Coat pan with more oil. Add onion, carrot, fennel, celery root and garlic. Reduce heat to medium. Stir often until onion is light golden, 5 to 7 min. Stir in tomato paste. Sprinkle with flour and stir in. Add wine. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up and stir in brown bits from pan bottom. Gradually stir in broth. Bring to a boil, stirring often, then reduce heat to medium. Stir in tomatoes, mushrooms and herb sprigs. Add lamb and any juices collected on plate. Cover with a tight fitting lid or foil. Roast in centre of oven, basting and turning meat occasionally, until lamb is very tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Remove lamb to a cutting board and cover with foil.

Strain the pan liquid and vegetables through a sieve into a large saucepan. Using a ladle, press down on the vegetables to extract their flavourful liquid, then discard the vegetables. While this may seem a waste, their flavour has all been simmered into the sauce; they’re just mushy at this point. To intensify flavour, boil over high heat, stirring often, until thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. Slice the lamb and drizzle with sauce.

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie with Leek, Carrot & Peas

A delicious way to use up leftover roast chicken is to make a hot and comforting Chicken Pot Pie. The filling can be prepared in advance with any vegetables you have on hand, but I like to use carrots, celery, fresh thyme, a handful of green peas and sliced leeks sautéed in butter until soft and tender. A rich thick creamy béchamel sauce brings the whole dish together, so it's important to taste for seasoning as you go along, adjusting the flavour to suit your palate. The final flourish is laying a rolled out sheet homemade buttery pastry to cover the dish, using any extra pastry to decorate the top, and brushing the top with whisked egg and milk. Baked for about an hour at 400°F and you have a bubbling homemade chicken pot pie capped with a handsome crown of golden pastry.

Sliced leeks, carrots, celery and fingerling potatoes sautéed in butter for 10-12 minutes

Vegetables are combined with shredded cooked chicken, peas, béchamel, Madeira and thyme

A 9-inch pie dish is lined with pastry dough and filled with the chicken mixture

The second layer of dough is laid on top, crimped and trimmed of excess dough used to decorate the top, then the whole top is brushed with egg and milk

Baked at 400°F for 60-70 minutes until bubbling and golden brown

Chicken Pot Pie

Serves 4

3 tbsp butter
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/4″ pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped into 1/4″ pieces
1 leek, trimmed, cut length-wise and finely sliced
3 new potatoes, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 cup frozen peas
6-8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups cooked chicken meat
1/2 cup Madeira 

Béchamel Sauce:

2 1/2 cups whole milk

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne

Pastry: makes two 9-inch crusts

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/2 cup ice water

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 large egg

2 tbsp whole milk

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large frying pan set over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the chopped carrots, celery, leek, potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper, and sauté until the vegetables are just tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add the chicken, peas, fresh thyme and Madeira wine, and continue cooking until the liquid cooks off, then turn the heat to low.

Prepare the béchamel by heating the milk in a saucepan on medium heat. In a separate pan, melt the butter, then add the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon and cooking the roux until it becomes lightly golden, about 5-6 minutes. Add a ladleful of the warm milk at a time, stirring constantly so it doesn't form lumps. Continue until all the milk has been incorporated. Season with salt and pepper, nutmeg and pinch of cayenne to taste. Continue cooking and stirring on low heat for another 10 minutes. The sauce will thicken and become very smooth. Remove from the heat and pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables, stirring to combine. Pour the mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish.

With the rack in the lowest position, preheat the oven to 400°F. To make the pie crust, dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt and vinegar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the centre to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn’t stick to the board. Drape it over the 9-inch pie dish to extend about 1/2 inch over the rim, then spoon in the chicken filling. Roll out the other half of the dough for the top crust, large enough to cover the pie, about 10 to 11-inches, and lay it over the pie, cutting away any excess dough, then crimp the edges. With a fork, whisk the egg with the milk, and brush over the pastry. With the leftover dough, it's rather festive to create leaves, berries and fanciful shapes to decorate the top. Just wet the backs before affixing to the crown of the pie, then brush the whole top with the remaining egg and milk mixture. 

Bake for 60-70 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Spinach Ricotta Gnudi with Béchamel & Tomato Sauce

 

One of my favourite winter dishes is Baked Spinach & Ricotta Gnudi, which are delectable little dumplings 'naked' of their pasta wrapper. A kissing cousin to gnocchi, these fluffy pillows of loveliness are made with ricotta rather than potato, which makes them lighter and more delicate in ways gnocchi rarely are. The technique for making these ethereal clouds of ricotta begins with a simple mixture of spinach, ricotta, eggs and parmesan cheese that's shaped into oval egg-size dumplings, then coated with a light dusting of flour. Placed in a baking dish, the gnudi are arranged in neat rows, covered with a rich and creamy béchamel sauce, a splash of sweet tomato sauce and baked in the oven for about an hour. It couldn't be easier. Three or four gnudi make an impressive starter; six to eight, a dreamy main course that's damn close to food heaven.

Spinach & Ricotta Gnudi with Béchamel Sauce

Makes about 20 dumplings 

Dumplings:

2 10oz/300g packages frozen spinach, thawed and chopped

1 10oz/300g tub fresh ricotta cheese

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

Freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Fresh basil, chopped for garnish

1 tbsp butter, for greasing the baking dish

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups homemade or quality store-bought tomato sauce

Béchamel Sauce:

4 cups whole milk

7 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

Thaw the frozen spinach, then drain and squeeze dry, getting rid of as much extra water as you can, as it will make the dumplings hold their shape better.

In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, ricotta cheese, eggs, half the Parmesan cheese and a generous grating of nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper, and stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

While the oven is preheating, prepare the béchamel sauce by heating the milk in a saucepan. In a separate pan, melt the butter, then add the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon and cooking the roux until it becomes lightly golden, about 5-6 minutes. Add a ladleful of the warm milk at a time, stirring constantly so it doesn't form lumps. Continue until all the milk has been incorporated. Season with salt and pepper, and additional nutmeg to taste. Continue cooking and stirring on low heat for another 10 minutes. The sauce will thicken and become very smooth. Remove from the heat and cover.

Generously butter a large 9"x12" baking dish, and spoon enough béchamel sauce to cover the bottom. Pour the flour onto a flat plate. To make the dumplings, use your hands to form the spinach-ricotta mixture into the shape and size of a small egg, slightly elongated like a quenelle. Dust each dumpling very lightly in the flour and place them over the béchamel in neat rows. Continue until all the mixture is used up. Cover the dumplings with the remaining béchamel, dot the surface with tomato sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella .

Bake until the top is lightly golden, about 50-60 minutes. Serve piping hot with a garnish of fresh basil on top of each serving.

Rodneys Oysters: Our 2020 New Years Eve Treat

However you chose to spend the last night of this annus horribilis, whether in sweats or bedazzled, sober or otherwise, there’s something to be said for settling in for New Years Eve where it’s warm and cozy. The other silver lining? Receiving a special delivery from Rodneys Oyster House with a bottle of champagne from my brother and sister-in-law. As Canada's first oyster house, Rodneys specializes in a wide variety of raw oysters on the half shell, live shellfish, chowders, fresh fish and since Covid, offers pickup and deliveries of their delectable briny bivalves, including their special New Years Eve Oyster & Champagne box which included twelve unshucked oysters, an oyster knife, a half-bottle of bubbly and a live oyster shucking lesson. Being oyster aficionados, my husband and I skipped the lesson, chilled the champagne and proceeded to shuck the dozen oysters: 4 Sunseeker Xs from Baynes Sound B.C. and 8 Fortune Bay from Souris PEI. With the fireplace aglow and the champagne poured, we slurped back the twelve sensational oysters and bid a resolute good riddance to 2020. 

Classic Mignonette Sauce
Makes 1/4 cup

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appétit 

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp minced shallot 

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper


Stir vinegar, shallot, and pepper in a small bowl and serve with shucked oysters.