Recipe: Pork Loin Marsala

As I was preparing this dish last night and transcribing the final version of the recipe, I came to a surprising realization: In my house, we go through a lot of alcohol just for cooking purposes.

For instance, this recipe calls for 3 cups of Marsala wine. That is quite a bit of wine (but worth it!), and we tend to keep two big bottles handy. We also keep big bottles of Port wine for a couple of pork recipes we cook frequently. Then of course there's Penne à la vodka which doesn't earn a name like that for nothing! In fact it's the ONLY reason we keep vodka in the house.

This list goes on and on. Bailey's Irish Cream for French toast, Chinese wine for Chinese sauces. Two kinds of sake for teriyaki and tonkatsu sauce. Cognac for steak diane, as well as regular and cherry brandies for a variety of flambés. Portuguese cachaca for Azorean chourico bombeiro and surely more that doesn't readily come to mind. That's just the specialty stuff. I couldn't even calculate how many bottles of white or red wine we go through a year for marinades, deglazing and sauce building!

I wonder what chefs did during prohibition?

This is a great recipe. For the best results you'll want to use fresh pork and pay careful attention to how you build your sauce. The objective is too create a nice silky sauce that clings to the pasta. If it seems watery, simmer on!

Pork Loin Marsala

4 Pork loin cutlets (cut 3/4 to 1" thick)
1/2 cup of flour plus 2 TBS
1/4 cup olive oil
3 TBS sweet butter
8 oz. Portobello mushrooms chopped coarse
3 cups Marsala wine
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
2 medium tomatoes diced (the redder, the riper, the better)
1 lb. dried pasta (your favorite)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Start the water for your choice of pasta. While you are preparing the pork cutlets and sauce, time your pasta to be ready just as your sauce is finishing.

Season the pork cutlets with salt and pepper, dredge/dust the cutlets heavily in flour and set aside.

In a large dutch oven set on medium-high to high heat add the olive oil and butter. When the butter melts sauté the mushrooms until they are half-cooked. Remove the mushrooms from the pan with a slotted spoon. Be sure to save the butter, oil and mushrooms behind in the pan. It's okay to add more olive oil if necessary.

Sear all the cutlets at once in the reserved oil and butter mix. Don't worry about browning them, you just want a good sear on both sides of all the cutlets to lock in the juices and keep the pork moist and tender.

Once the cutlets are seared, add two cups of the Marsala wine and tomato sauce to them (don't mix). Bring to a simmer and then lower the heat until the mix is barely bubbling. Cover the pan and braise the cutlets for 20 minutes. FOR OPTIMUM TENDERNESS, BE SURE THE MIX DOESN'T BREAK INTO A SIMMER! You'll have to readjust the heat a few minutes after you cover the pan. Do not lift the lid more than absolutely necessary.

After the 20 minutes is up carefully remove the cutlets and set them aside in a covered bowl to keep them warm.

Add the chopped tomatoes to the Marsala mix and raise the heat to cook down the tomatoes and thicken slightly. Stir frequently. Lower the heat if necessary.

Whisk the 2 TBS of flour into the remaining 1 cup of Marsala wine. Add that mix to the Marsala mix stirring constantly as the sauce thickens.

Once the sauce thickens, reintroduce the mushrooms to the mix. Stir well, letting the mushrooms reheat and cook a little (about 3 minutes).

Taste the sauce and adjust for seasoning.

Reintroduce the pork cutlets. Gently stir in to coat with sauce and warm (about 1 minute).

Plate pasta, top with a pork cutlet and a generous amount of the Marsala mix over the cutlet and pasta.

Recipe: It-Doesn't-Necessarily-Have-To-Be-Sunday, Sunday Gravy

There's no bones about it, I found my cooking passion by making my own Italian food at home. It's not a recent thing either. It started when I was a teenager when I would "dress up" jarred sauces (often with chourcio - NATURALLY!), and it continued right on into my very first "from scratch" dinner recipes and it still goes on today.

I may cook all kinds of authentic world food for my family these days, but there's no world food I feel more comfortable preparing than Italian. It's one of the world cuisines I'm quite comfortable improvising with. Give me anything, as long as you include a few basic Italian ingredients, and I'm going to feel safe cooking something good for you. My cook's confidence is in Italian and to a lesser degree, Thai and Native American cuisine.

Which makes it kind of weird that I didn't have a proper, personal "Sunday Gravy" recipe after all these years. Anyone familiar with Italian cooking or gangster films (real ones not that Hip-Hop nonsense) knows what Sunday Gravy is. For those of you who don't know, allow me to direct you to Italian cookbooks and gangster films to find out. I'm not in a typing mood today.

Anyway, I never found a Sunday Gravy recipe that I really liked all that much. Everyone who is Italian or knows Italians or who cooks Italian is always going to crow about their Sunday Gravy or their friend's Sunday Gravy or their mom's Sunday Gravy or their aunt's or grandmother's Sunday Gravy and how it is the best in the world.

Well, as with most food, they are all right of course. The food you like best is the best in the world - to you! So up until a few days ago, I never had a Sunday Gravy that I could crow to the world about being the best. Then I flipped through the September 2009 issue of Esquire Magazine and I got an inkling.

The picture is what captured my imagination. I saw the photo of all that rich, glistening sauce with all those chunks of meat and well, it got my attention. I sought out the recipe on the following page. There, courtesy of Peter McAndrews (hey! He married an Italian!) I found the recipe and some important words that convinced me to try the recipe. Words like "spare ribs", "bones" and "hours".

That recipe was the basis for my own recipe below. I've made enough significant changes to the original recipe to confidently call this one all mine. (I'm not in the habit of changing recipes just to call them my own. If that were true, you'd see Giada De Laurentiis's Rosemary Roast Pork with Port Wine and Fig sauce in here under a different name! Search recipe out folks because it is FLAWLESS and delicious!).

Anyway, I made changes to suit my taste and preference. The most notable, was starting the whole thing with a onion-hefty mirepoix. Yeah, that's a French word in a classic Italian recipe, but trust me it helps make one hell of a good sauce. I also changed the kinds and amounts of tomatoes, added more garlic and tomato paste, as well as the addition of a pork tenderloin and a little GOOD QUALITY balsamic vinegar. Finally, the fact that your chucking in the World's Best Meatballs doesn't hurt either!

Without further adieu allow me to introduce my NEW, old-family recipe for Sunday Gravy:

It-Doesn't-Necessarily-Have-To-Be-Sunday, Sunday Gravy

1/2 cup olive oil
3 lbs. country-style or southern-style spare ribs
3 lbs. sweet Italian sausage
2 lbs. World's Best Meatballs
1-2 lb. pork tenderloin
3 lbs. large beef bones
4 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
10 cloves garlic chopped
3 6 oz. cans of tomato paste
3 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes (lightly crush the tomatoes with your hands)
3 28 oz. cans of ground tomatoes
3 large bay leaves
1 TBS turbinado or light brown sugar
1 TBS GOOD QUALITY balsamic vinegar (the syrupy type)
Sea salt to taste

Take a LARGE stock pot. A large one. A BIG stock pot. I mean BIG, like a 14 quart stock pot. Pour in the 1/2 cup of olive oil and coat the bottom and the sides of that stock pot really well. Place the stock pot on medium high heat. When the oil comes up to temperature and is hot and shimmering (not smoking), brown and remove all your meat in this order: spare ribs, Italian sausage, meatballs and tenderloin. Place the browned meat in a covered pan or dish and set aside.

If you need more olive oil at this point feel free to add it. Let it come to temperature and then brown your beef bones on all sides.

When the beef bones are browned, add your onions, carrots and celery and continue to saute until tender and starting to brown slightly. If the oil begins to smoke, lower your heat. You want the onions, carrots and celery to sauté evenly.

Add the chopped garlic and sauté along with the bones, onions, carrots and garlic for about 2-3 minutes. Be sure not to burn the garlic or it will turn bitter!

Add the tomato paste and mix it in well so that it coats the mix and bones. Continue to sauté until the tomato paste darkens. Again, be careful not to burn the mix.

Add the hand crushed whole tomatoes with their juice, the ground tomatoes, the bay leaves, sugar and the balsamic vinegar. Stir all together until it is well blended. Bring it slowly to a lively simmer. Special note: When you are cooking a quantity of sauce like this, it is always wiser to bring it up to temperature SLOWLY to avoid burning the sauce in the bottom of the stock pot.

When the sauce reaches a lively simmer and is an even, slightly thick mix, add your spare ribs and pork tenderloin. Reduce to a medium simmer and allow to continue like this for one hour stirring occasionally.

At the end of the first hour, add the Italian sausage and allow to simmer for another hour. Always be sure the simmer is low to medium to avoid any burning. Stir occasionally.

At the end of the second hour, add the meatballs and continue simmering for another hour. Stir occasionally.

At the end of that hour, you will notice a layer of red oil forming at the top of the sauce. If you're health conscious you can skim off some of this with a ladle. It won't reduce the fat all that much, but it'll give you a false sense of responsibility that will get you past the guilt of eating all this pork and beef fat goodness.

Season with the sea salt to your preference. Stir sauce well.

Remove from heat. Remove all the meat and bones to a separate serving platter and serve the sauce over your favorite pasta perhaps with a sprinkle of your favorite cheese (as long as your favorites are parmesan-reggiano or pecorino romano).

This sauce kicks ass and is the World's Best Sunday Gravy - TO ME, FINALLY!

Recipe: The World's Best Meatballs

Yup, you are reading right. The recipe below represents what are in my opinion THE WORLD'S BEST MEATBALLS. They are the result of over 2 years of tinkering and intensive dedicated meatball research. This recipe also has one hell of a pedigree, its origins having come from the hallowed halls of Rao's, one of the most famous and exclusive of Italian eateries in the world.

Even with those distinguished origins the resulting meatballs still didn't pass my personal taste test. They were good, but needed improvement and that took some trial and error and tweaking. This is not to say that I think I am a greater cook than those in great restaurants, only that I know what I like and want, and I am going to go to lengths to get it. I'm not like this with every recipe I prepare, but hey I'm talking THE WORLD'S BEST MEATBALLS!

When I finally came to the recipe I liked best, I prepared it a number of times to make sure it was consistently good and trust me, it is. You can even vary things a little and still get fantastic results. Sometimes when I want lots of meatballs I triple the recipe and use half ground turkey and half beef/pork/veal in the meat mixture. Then I fry them all, let 'em simmer a bit in sauce and then just freeze meatball after meatball after meatball knowing that I'll always have a few when I need them (and I need them often because, in case you have not figured it out by now, they are: THE WORLD'S BEST MEATBALLS).

If I have to warn you about anything, it would be the parmigiano-reggiano. Sure, its expensive cheese and you might be inclined to substitute its inexpensive cousin pecorino-romano for it. Do that at your own peril! These are THE WORLD'S BEST MEATBALLS and being such they demand parmigiano-reggiano! Oh, and that is PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO, it comes in a wedge, you can't shake it out of a green can. If you want THE WORLD'S GREATEST MEATBALLS you have to have parmigiano-reggiano.

The World's Best Meatballs

Sundried Tomato Marinara Sauce
1 lb. ground lean beef
1/2 lb. ground veal
1/2 lb. ground pork
2 large eggs
1 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 small garlic clove peeled and minced
2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
Salt & pepper to taste
2 cups warm water
1 cup olive oil

In a large pan, prepare the Sundried Tomato Marinara Sauce recipe. You may, as an alternative use any marinara recipe you like, but if you do, these will only be great meatballs, not THE WORLD'S BEST MEATBALLS. Keep on a low simmer.

In a large bowl thoroughly and evenly blend the beef, veal, pork, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, garlic, Italian style breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Add the water a little at a time as necessary to keep the mixture pliable and a little on the moist side. You may not use all the water or you may require a little more.

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil.

While the oil heats up begin making your meatballs by using an ice cream scoop to measure out each meatball. Roll the meat between your palms to firmly roll each meatball until round and well formed.

Place the meatball in the hot oil turning it occasionally until it is browned all over. You can do several meatballs at a time in this way.

When each meatball is browned, remove it from the oil. Allow any excess oil to drain from it and then place it in the simmering sauce. Complete this process with every meatball. Simmer for an additional 20 minutes.

Serve with pasta or in sandwiches. The flavor improves overnight.

The World's Greatest Meatballs from Chop Onions, Boil Water - World Food at Home by Henry Krauzyk http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Recipe: Rosemary-Fennel Sauce

I first prepared Rosemary-Fennel Sauce at a time when I was experimenting a lot with mirepoix. This sauce has since become a popular addition to my home cooking efforts because it is a versatile addition or starter for a variety of Italian dishes. I recently posted one of those dishes, you can find it here.

I prepare this sauce in a variety of ways. For instance, I'll create a thicker version for roasting with meats. To do that, I'll half the amount of crushed tomatoes. If it is being paired with something and needs a little more support, I will increase some, or all of the amounts of fennel seed, rosemary or red pepper flakes as necessary. It's not rocket science so don't be afraid to adjust this sauce to your needs.

As it is presented below it is the perfect accompaniment for cheese tortellini or any other pasta you may want to try it with. I'm not going to get all arty and poetic here and go into great detail regarding the texture and flavor contrast and balances, but they are in there. Give this sauce a shot, I think you'll really like it. Get a little daring with it and you'll soon be making your own mirepoix-based sauces. Do that enough and you'll never buy another jar or can of that prepared gloop in the market!

IMPORTANT NOTE: You'll need to boil down your own balsamic vinegar until it forms a thicker syrup, or you can drop a chunk of money on the expensive vintage stuff. If you want to make your own, just buy two bottles of the inexpensive stuff and simmer it down until you have less than one bottle left. The resulting syrup retains the balsamic flavor but is thicker, sweeter and far less "vinegary" than what you started with. Take a taste of that stuff and you'll understand why Italians put balsamic vinegar on strawberries and ice cream. DO NOT USE THE THIN, INEXPENSIVE BALSAMIC VINEGAR IN THIS RECIPE!

Rosemary-Fennel Sauce

2-3 TBS olive oil
1-1/2 cups celery (finely chopped)
1 1/2 cups carrots (finely chopped)
4 cups onion (finely chopped)
2 tsp fennel seeds (crushed)
2 pinches red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried rosemary (coarsely ground)
6 cloves garlic (sliced thin)
1-1/2 cups dry white wine
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 cups (16 ozs.) tomato sauce
4 TBS tom paste
Salt and pepper to taste
2 TBS balsamic vinegar


Place a large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil When the olive oil begins to shimmer, add the onions, carrots, celery, fennel, red pepper flakes and rosemary. Sauté until the the carrots and celery soften and the onions begin to brown.

Add the sliced garlic and stir in for 1-2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Allow the wine to reduce to form a thick sauce.

Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, black pepper and the balsamic vinegar. Bring the sauce to a low simmer and continue cooking. You want the sauce a little thick, not too thick, not too loose. Check for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Serve over cooked tortellini or any other pasta.
Recipe: Rosemary-Fennel Sauce from Chop Onions, Boil Water - World Food at Home by Henry Krauzyk http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Recipe: Roasted Italian Sausages in Garden Sauce

This is a recipe that I planned in my head today while doing other things. You see the chourico and polenta recipe of a few days ago, got me to thinking about the Italian dinner I had at Al Forno that I based it on. So sometime around 8:00 AM I decided to do something similar. I walked in the door at 6:15 PM and started preparing it.

It was done by 7:30 and I photographed it. Then I sat down to eat it. It worked out deliciously well so after dinner here I am writing it all down for the blog which I will post right now!

Oh, you'll notice I call for the "thick good" balsamic vinegar for this dish. Don't go spending $100 or more on the vintage stuff. Get a few bottles of inexpensive balsamic vinegar and boil them down until they are rich and slightly syrupy. Yeah, food snobs will scoff, but it works great in most recipes calling for the top shelf variety.

What do snobs know anyway?

Roasted Italian Sausages in Garden Sauce

6 links of Italian sausage
2 TBS olive oil
3/4 cup of celery (finely chopped)
3/4 cup of carrot (finely chopped)
1-1/2 cups of onion (finely chopped)
1 tsp fennel seeds (coarsely ground)
1 pinch of red pepper flakes (or more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp dried rosemary (coarsely ground)
3 cloves of garlic (sliced thin)
1 cup of dry white wine
2 large tomatoes chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
2 TBS tomato paste
1 TBS balsamic vinegar (read above)
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp crushed black pepper
3/4 cup of grape tomatoes
Pecorino-Romano cheese

Fill a pan with water and place over high heat. Pierce the Italian sausages with a fork. Place in the pan and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer until cooked through. Remove from heat.

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Place a large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil When the olive oil begins to shimmer, add the onions, carrots, celery, fennel, red pepper flakes and rosemary. Sauté until the the carrots and celery soften and the onions begin to brown.

Add the sliced garlic and stir in for 1-2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Allow the wine to reduce to a thick sauce.

Add the chopped tomatoes and continue cooking as they reduce and give up their moisture.

Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, sea salt, black pepper and the balsamic vinegar. Bring the sauce to a low simmer and continue cooking. You want the sauce a little thick, not to thick, not too loose. Check for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Get a large oven-proof casserole dish or cast iron skillet. Pour the sauce into the casserole dish or skillet and carefully place the Italian sausage in the sauce. They should not be immersed, but half exposed. Then take the grape tomatoes and distribute them around the sausages.

Place the casserole/skillet in the oven and keep and eye on it. You don't want it to thicken up to much. Cook like this in the oven until the sauce is just thick. Then transfer to the broiler to caramelize the top of the sausages, sauce and grape tomatoes. It's east to burn things in the broiler so keep a close eye on it.

When done, remove from the broiler. Shave some pecorino-romano over it and then serve with bread, over your favorite pasta or over polenta.

Recipe: Roasted Italian Sausages in Garden Sauce from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk
http://www.choponionsboilwater.blogspot.com

Recipe: Chourico and Polenta

Today's world food that you can prepare at home comes at you straight out of the Azores via some Italian inspiration. Chourico and Polenta despite its peasant leanings is a visual and taste sensation worthy of a place on the finest of menus.

I originally wrote this recipe the morning after I first made this dish. I usually reserve those times for informally jotting down recipes from the previous night if I've cooked something new. Sometimes there is an advantage of spilling my fresh memories via stream of consciousness, right onto the keyboard. Hell, my editor has to clean up that mess anyway! Since I first made this dish though it has gone through a great deal of tweaking and refinement and while it is a bit complicated, it is well worth the effort.

This dish was originally inspired by a dinner I had at the celebrated Al Forno Restaurant in Providence, RI. I was there celebrating my one-year wedding anniversary, (I highly recommend the restaurant, the food is excellent, especially the grilled pizza). That evening I had delicious homemade Italian sausages served on an onion, celery, carrot and tomato sauce, with an amazingly light polenta. All this was baked to harmonious affect in a casserole dish and served al forno of course! The resulting blend of flavors was subtle, impressive and well balanced. Of course I immediately thought it would have been better with chourico!

Now, I've obviously made some dramatic changes to the original dish. Principally, the sauce had to be more robust to stand up to flavor of the spicy chourico. I did this with the inclusion of a good amount of just-cooked onion and red pepper and the use of a similar but more robust mirepoix-based tomato sauce. The result is a hearty sauce and ingredient combination that complimented not only the chourico's flavor, but texture as well. The crunch of the red pepper and onion matched that of the baked chourico's casing.

As for the polenta, what I write three times is law:

DO NOT BUY PREPARED POLENTA
DO NOT BUY PREPARED POLENTA
DO NOT BUY PREPARED POLENTA

Sure, preparing homemade polenta can be a little labor intensive, but homemade polenta is going to be creamier, lighter and tastier. When you eat this you are going to get bursts of tart and spicy flavors that are pleasantly contrasted by the sweetness of the polenta. The polenta's cool, silky creaminess is also going to contrast with the crunch of the chourico casing and the green peppers.

It's a multi-tasking dish surely, but well worth the effort because it looks so colorful on the plate and the "Circus-comes-to-town" texture and taste experience makes it a home run.

Chourico and Polenta

For the polenta:

6-1/2 cups of water
2-1/2 cups of polenta
2 tsp salt

For the sauce:

2 TBS olive oil
1 carrot (chopped fine)
1 stick of celery (chopped fine)
1 onion (chopped fine)
1 bay leaf
1 cup of dry white wine
2 cups tomatoes (chopped)
1-2 TBS tomato paste
4 cloves of garlic (thinly sliced)
1 TBS parsley (finely chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste.

For the vegetable and chourico mixture:

1 TBS peanut oil
1 red pepper (cut into large 1" dice)
1 large onion (frenched)
1-1/2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
1 lb. (approx) of chourico
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Set the oven to 350°F

While the oven warms prepare the polenta:

In a large pan over high heat bring the 6-1/2 cups of water and 2 tsp of salt to a high boil.

Whisk in the polenta in a slow steady stream. When the polenta begins to thicken switch to a wooden spoon and continue constantly stirring until the polenta begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer the polenta into a large, square glass dish to a depth of 1 inch. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the fridge until it sets (about 1 to 2 hours).

Place the chourico in a lightly oiled oven-proof pan and place it in the oven for about 30 minutes. You'll want to keep an eye on it. You want it to roast so that the skins crisps up nicely without drying out the rest of the sausage. When done remove from the oven and keep warm. Do not shut off the oven.

To prepare the sauce:

Place a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and when it begins to shimmer add the carrot, celery, onions and bay leaf. Sauté well until the vegetables begin to brown.

Add the wine to mixture and deglaze. Allow the wine to boil off and let the mixture thicken.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley and garlic to the mixture and lower to a simmer. Check for, and adjust seasoning.

To prepare the vegetables and chourico:

Warm the polenta in the oven while you prepare and cook the vegetables and chourico.

Slice the chourico into 1/2" thick pieces. Set aside.

Place a large fry pan or wok over high heat. Add one tablespoon of oil and immediately add the red pepper, frenched onion and cherry or grape tomatoes. Cook them stirring frequently. You want them heated and cooked through, but still crunchy. Add the chourico at the end for a few moments to warm it further.

To serve, place the polenta on a plate. Spread some of the sauce over the polenta. Add the vegetable and chourico mixture and then top with a little more sauce. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley.

Recipe: Chourico and Polenta from Chop Onions, Boil Water - World Food at Home by Henry Krauzyk http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Recipe: Three-Cheese Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage

Today's world food you can prepare at home is a familiar one to many people. Baked Ziti comes in a myriad of styles and interpretations. That's because it's good and everyone takes their own angle at it. For many of my Italian friends it is one of their favorite comfort foods.

I'm not going to stretch the truth here, the recipe below is a little involved, but not really complicated, nor does it demand any special talents or tools. It's a large recipe that is suitable for a family dinner or even a party. Generally, this dish will get my family through three days worth of dinners. Correction: three days worth of welcome dinners!

Leftovers can make some folks groan, but there's a way around that kind of resistance. One restaurant trick I suggest using with this dish or similar ones like lasagna or chicken or eggplant parmesan is having a quantity of hot marinara sauce reserved for dressing the dish while placing it on individual serving plates. Sure, this may be common sense for a lot of home cooks, but I cannot count how many times I've been served similar dishes without the benefit of some fresh sauce! That's the reason I suggest the extra marinara first in the ingredients below.

Three-Cheese Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage

1 quantity of Sun-Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce
2 1 lb. boxes of ziti
3 TBS olive oil
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 lb. Italian sausage (skin peeled off)
1 lb. ground beef
1 28 oz. can roasted tomatoes (I use Muir Glenn Fire Roasted, see link at top of page.)
1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp ground fennel
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper (to taste)
2 TBS sweet butter
1 lb. ricotta cheese
3/4 lb. mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1/3 cup parmesan-reggiano cheese (grated)
1 large tomato (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Make the Sun Dried Marinara Sauce and keep it on a low simmer on your stove while you prepare the other ingredients.

Place a large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and when it begins to shimmer add the crushed garlic and cook it until it browns and softens. Remove the garlic and allow it to cool, then mash it into a paste and set aside.

Add the Italian sausage and ground beef to the oil and cook until crumbly and well browned.

Add the roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken stock, fennel, bay leaf, mashed garlic, salt and pepper to the sausage and ground beef mixture. Mix well, raise to a boil, lower to a healthy simmer and continue cooking for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. You want it to reduce and thicken.

While the sauce simmers cook the ziti in the normal way being sure to keep it al dente. When the pasta finishes cooking, drain it and pour it into a large bowl. Gently mix in the butter to coat the ziti.

When the sauce is done, check for seasoning and adjust, remove it from the heat. Add the finished sauce to the ziti and blend it well.

Take a 10 x 14 baking dish and spread the ziti and sauce mixture evenly within the pan. Take spoonfuls of the ricotta and slip the ricotta under the ziti at regular intervals throughout the ziti. Now firmly level and press the ziti into the pan. You are looking to get it to pack a little so it will hold it's shape like lasagna after baking and cooling.

Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top of the ziti, followed by the parmesan-reggiano. Then take the tomato slices and lay them out over the top of the mixture. Finally, sprinkle the bread crumbs over the mix and pop the pan into the oven for 35 to 45 minutes. You're looking for the top to get golden and bubbly here.

Remove from the oven and allow it to cool and set for at least 20 minutes.

Take your serving plates and spoon a generous portion of the marinara onto it. Carefully cut and remove a block of baked ziti and place it on the plate. Then add more marinara to the top. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese and perhaps some basil.

Red wine, crusty bread - HEAVEN!

Recipe: Three-Cheese Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Recipe: Penne a'la Vodka

At my house we go through about three to four bottles of vodka a year, none of which is ever used for drinks. All of it is dedicated for use in this sauce. We even keep a sizeable plot of parsley growing, again, almost exclusively for preparing this sauce and chimichurri. Now, if I can just find room for a cow, I'll have my own source of cream.

In life, few things are certain, in fact the certainties stand out and one of mine is this: If I ask my wife Michelle what she wants for dinner she's going to ask for penne a'la vodka. She always does. She'll eat it for two days in a row with some as leftovers for lunch. She loves the stuff. Here, I'll do an experiment right now and ask her... (asks wife what she wants for dinner...wife answers "risotto!"). Alright, so fewer things are certain than I thought. One of the beauties of this sauce is that it is quick to make. In fact if your ingredients are prepared, you can put your pasta water on to boil and this sauce will be ready at the same time you are straining the pasta. The other great thing about this sauce is its rich flavor and silky smooth texture.

I add crumbled Italian sausage most times I prepare this, and I encourage you to do the same. This will give you a good idea of how this sauce can enhance the flavor of the food it is coupled with. It will also couple well with boneless chicken breast (cubed). In fact, I have been toying with the idea of using this sauce to make a lobster and scallop lasagna. You can look for that one in a future book as I think the creaminess of the sauce is a sure hit with the flavor and texture of the shellfish.

Penne a'la Vodka

1 large can of ground tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 lb. of penne or ziti
4 Italian sausages (pre boiled and crumbled)
1/2 cup of vodka
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes (diced)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
10 cloves of garlic (lightly crushed with the back of knife)
3 Tbs of Italian parsley (chopped)
1-2 Tbs of unsalted butter
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of dried, crushed red pepper
1/8 to 1/4 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Place pasta water in pan to boil. Cook pasta in normal way.

Preheat a separate pan and add olive oil. When oil begins to smoke lightly and shimmer, add garlic and saute until lightly brown.

Add both cans of tomatoes, crushed red pepper and sun-dried tomatoes, bring to boil and then cover and place on simmer for 10 minutes.

Add vodka and mix in, simmer until pasta is done.

Fish out garlic cloves from sauce, discard.

Add crumbled Italian sausage to sauce, mix in well, continue to simmer.

Strain pasta (reserve some water in a separate container), fold in butter ensuring all the pasta coated.

Check sauce, add salt and pepper to taste.

Add cream to sauce, mix in well.

Add pasta and parsley to sauce, continue simmering to desired consistency. If mixture is too thick, add reserved pasta water.

Stir in cheese, let settle for a few minutes. Serve garnished with a little more cheese and parsley.
Recipe: Penne a'la Vodka from Chop onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Recipe: Chicken Parmesan

This recipe is a winner. It's something people will always remember you serving, it is something your family will request again and again. This is one of the recipes that really kicked off my passion for cooking for family and friends. People love it and they're not afraid to tell you.

The recipe finds its origin as one of my ex-wife's standard meals, (she had 3, I think). Hers wasn't bad at all, but when I got into it I just wanted to um, how do you say, kick it up a notch? Pounding out the chicken certainly helps, but the homemade marinara and the use of three premium cheeses makes this one great. It is a favorite of my family and friends and readily requested and seconds are never refused. It's also better the next day, so cook it in advance or always make more than you need for great leftovers!

Let's talk about cheese. No, allow me to rant about cheese. When you're home cooking, don't scrimp, don't cheap out, don't cheat yourself. In home cooking, scrimping never pays off. If I write Parmigiano-reggiano (and I do a lot), use it. You're not saving anything if you spend your good time to prepare a great dish at home with inferior or substituted ingredients. Hamburger will never be beef tenderloin, raisins will never be figs, canned or jarred marinara will never equal homemade and store-bought grated parmesan in a can or bottle will never, ever, ever, ever be a freshly grated Parmigiano-reggiano. The differences are not subtle, they are profound. One is sawdust the other is manna.

There's a reason so many prepared foods try to distinguish themselves with superlatives like "homemade", "home cooked" or "Just like mom's!" It's because crafty advertisers and marketers know that they have to try and create a superior and quality image of their food product in our minds. Don't be fooled by them in the grocery store and never fool yourself in your own kitchen. Quality counts and so does authenticity. The better the ingredients, the better the finished product. You can even make your own breadcrumbs if you like.

I also use this recipe as one of the components of my "Chicken Parmalasagna" which is a recipe I'll be adding at a future date. Yup, it's a lasagna made with layers of noodles, cheeses and chicken parmesan. Say it aloud as you read: "Chicken Parmelasagna", you read it here first!

Chicken Parmesan

3-4 lbs boneless chicken breast
1 cup of flour spread in a large plate
4 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1-2 cups of Italian style bread crumbs spread in a large plate
1/2 cup Parmigiano-reggiano cheese (grated)
1/2 lb. mozzarella (shredded)
1/2 to 3/4 lb. Provolone cheese (sliced)
Marinara sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Beat the eggs and the milk together until well blended. Place the mixture in a large shallow bowl.

In a work area near the stove, lay out the plate of flour, then the bowl of egg mixture and finally the plate of Italian Bread crumbs.

Place 1-2 cups of olive oil in a deep sided pan (oil should be about 1/2" deep in the pan) and preheat slowly to frying temperature while you prepare the chicken for frying.

To prepare the chicken: Take the chicken breasts, separate them and trim off any fat. Place them individually in a large ziplock bag or cover with plastic wrap and beat them with the flat end of a meat tenderizer until they are 1/2"-3/4" thick. If you use glancing blows and you can better control their shape and thickness. Season them with salt and pepper and put aside. Repeat with all the chicken.

Take a seasoned chicken breast and dredge both sides of it in the flour. Shake off the excess flour then place it in the milk and egg mixture being sure it gets well coated. Drain it a little and then put it in the bread crumb plate and be sure it gets well-coated with bread crumbs. Carefully add the breaded chicken breast to the hot olive oil and brown each side well. Remove from the pan, drain it well and place it in a medium to large baking pan. Repeat this step for all the chicken. Be sure you do not stack the chicken. Keep it all on one level.

Sprinkle the finished chicken with a decent amount of the Parmigiano-reggiano cheese. Then top that with the mozzarella and then cover with sliced provolone cheese. Try to cover the surface of the chicken as best as possible. Then coat the chicken with a good layer of the marinara sauce and slide the whole thing in the oven until the cheese is good and bubbly. Usually about 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove it from the oven allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes and serve it with the balance of the sauce served over your favorite pasta.

Again, this stuff is even better on day two or three. Don't serve this dish to people you don't want to see again.
Recipe: Chicken Parmesan from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

Recipe: Saffron Seafood Linguini

This recipe goes out to Karen and all the other folks from Newport Hospital, Newport, Rhode Island, who check out "Chop Onions, Boil Water." Hello everyone, thanks for reading my blog. Keep it up and you'll find yourself in the book coming out in 2010!

The lack of a proper name has kept me from adding this recipe, but tonight I've decided it's going on the blog and the name will come to me as I type. Of course I'm typing right now and nothing is happening. Nope, not yet.

You see, by all accounts, it would appear to be a seafood linguini, only it's really not. The basis of the recipe is a French bouillabaisse and then I commenced to twisting it to my desire and well when seafood is involved I just know I'm going to add something Portuguese in there. I just love chourico, but when that doesn't work its got to be linguica. Then of course there's saffron. I mean you cannot pull off this dish without the saffron. So many complications.

So, in the end, what seems Italian is really French and then it's got a South Coast New England and Portuguese twist that just complicates the whole thing! A name should reflect something important about the dish. As of this moment a name hasn't come to me yet.

It's not that my ego can't float calling it "Henry's Awesome Friggin' Saffron Seafood Bouillabaisse Linguini", my ego could certainly handle that. It's just not pretty or short enough. As Shakespeare said "Brevity is the essence of wit."

Well, it's crunch time and I'm just going to type out a name as the words pop into my head here goes: Saffron Seafood Linguini.

Okay, it's done. For the record, you need saffron for this. There's no substitute for it and you cannot omit it. It's not going to be the same dish without it. Also, mail order the saffron because the grocery stores sell horrible saffron for bewilderingly high prices.

Saffron Seafood Linguini

1 lb. linguica (cut in 1/4" slices and pan fried until cooked and firm)
1 lb. linguini
1/4 cup olive oil
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only, cleaned, split and thinly sliced)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1 cup of diced tomato (the redder, the riper, the better-ALWAYS)
3/4 tsp thyme
2 tsp fresh parsley (chopped fine)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 TBS tomato paste
32 ozs. chicken broth
2 lbs. littleneck clams (scrubbed and set aside)
2 lbs. mahi mahi filets (or similar fish)
1 lb. sea scallops
1 lb. medium shrimp (in the shell)
2 lbs. mussels (scrubbed, debearded and set aside)
1/2 cup of white wine (I use pinot grigio)
1 TBS sweet butter
Salt and pepper to taste.

For the pasta, place a large pot of water on high heat to boil.

Place a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the olive oil.

When the oil begins to shimmer, add the leeks and the garlic and sauté until the leeks become translucent.

Add the saffron threads, salt, pepper, tomatoes, thyme, parsley, orange zest and tomato paste and blend together well for about 2 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower to a low simmer and continue cooking for about 30 minutes.

Bring to a higher simmer. Add all the seafood and cover and simmer until the littlenecks and mussels open wide (5 to 8 minutes usually). Discard any that do not open.

Remove all the seafood and place it in a large bowl to cool. Return broth to a low simmer.

As soon as it's cool enough to handle, remove all the seafood meat from its shells and place it in a bowl. Discard shrimp shells, but reserve littleneck and mussel shells. Cut mahi mahi into chunks and place in the bowl with the shrimp, littlenecks, scallops and mussels.

Place all littleneck and mussels shells back into the broth and cook until the white abductor muscles attached to the shells fall into the broth or are easily removed. Don't worry, these will not be tough and they add a creaminess to the final product.

The pasta water should be boiling by now, cook linguini in the normal way, drain and set aside. Try to time everything to end at the same time. Yes, it can be difficult, but you can do it.

Raise the heat on the broth until it comes to a high simmer. Add the white wine and the butter and reduce the broth until it begins to thicken. You're looking for the consistency of loose melted ice cream. I know that is a strange analogy, but it works.

When it reaches the desired thickness, add the fish, scallops, littlenecks, shrimp, mussels and linguica and toss to coat and warm. Immediately add the cooked and drained linguini and toss well to coat. Be sure the seafood and the linguica is evenly distributed in the linguini. Remove from heat and allow it to set and cool a little before serving.

Serve with a good white wine (Pinot Grigio) and crusty bread.
Recipe: Saffon Seafood Linguini from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

Recipe: Red Pepper & Italian Sausage Ragout with Lemon Pepper Risotto Timbals

The first thing I ever cooked was a fried bologna sandwich. I can't recall exactly how old I was, but I remember having to stand on my toes to see what was going on in the pan. It's a pretty vivid memory. I remember that I was doing it on the front, right burner in a black pan that had been greased with a little butter. I had two pieces cooking and they were doming up nicely. I also remember that I wasn't supposed to be doing it, and didn't want to get caught. In any event, I didn't get caught and the resulting sandwich was delicious and hot, with the perfect amount of mustard.

In contrast, the recipe to the right is probably the most elaborate looking one that I prepare. No, I'm not huge on presentation. I grew up in a socio-economic bracket that mandated the practical and economical above the esthetic. In order of importance, food should taste great and then look good. Food should never look better than it tastes. Hell, it can even look bad and smell bad (like morcella or sardines, etc.), as long as it tastes good.

It's been my experience that regardless of how precariously high it is stacked or how creatively garnished, a steak is a steak, chicken is chicken, and yes, a fried bologna sandwich is just a fried bologna sandwich. It's the ingredients and what takes place with them before reaching the plate that most often results in how good food is.

This dish is a favorite of my wife Michelle. It is also the longest recipe in my cookbook, but it is not hard to prepare by any means. I do suggest that you use very fresh vegetables and be sure not to overcook the red pepper. It should offer a little "tooth" and that way it will retain its sweetness and crunch.

Red Pepper & Italian Sausage Ragout with Lemon Pepper Risotto Timbals

1/8—1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 onion (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 tomatoes (coarsely chopped)
1 large red pepper (diced)
10 baby bella mushrooms (sliced)
4 Italian sausages (boiled, fried and sliced)
10 basil leaves-cut into strips
Salt & pepper to taste

Set stove on high.

Add olive oil to preheated pan. When olive oil begins to shimmer, add onions and cook until tender and translucent, stirring occasionally.

Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Do not allow garlic to brown or burn!

Add tomatoes and peppers, cook for about 5 minutes.

Add mushrooms and sausage.

Cook until mushrooms are just done, do not overcook the red pepper!

Salt and pepper to taste.

Add basil and continue cooking for 3 minutes.

Cover, and set over a warming flame while you prepare the risotto (recipe below).

Center lemon pepper risotto timbal on plate (be patient, they take a moment to slide out) and serve with the ragout surrounding the timbal.

Garnish timbal with a few strips of basil and serve.

Lemon Pepper Risotto Timbals

1/8—1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 to 6 cups of vegetable broth
1 pinch of saffron
2 shallots (chopped)
2-3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 cups of Arborio rice
Juice from 1/2 to 1 lemon (to taste)
Salt & pepper to taste

In a separate saucepan prepare the vegetable broth, bring to simmer and add saffron.

Place another pan on another burner set on high.

Add olive oil to preheated pan. When olive oil begins to smoke, add onions and cook until tender and translucent, stirring occasionally.

Add garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes. Do not allow garlic to brown or burn!

Add rice and fold into oil, onion and garlic mixture. Toast for a few minutes.

Cook risotto in the traditional way.

Add lemon juice, continue cooking until rice reaches the desired tenderness and consistency.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Let rice sit for a few moments before packing into lightly oiled ramekins to form into timbal, let sit a few moments, turn over ramekins and remove rice timbal.

Red Pepper & Italian Sausage Ragout with Lemon Pepper Risotto Timbals from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

Recipe: Chicken Tomato-Marsala (for the bats)

This is a handy little recipe. It's preparation is easy and the result is very tasty. It's impressive even! Sometimes I have stories that I like to write about my recipes and this one was a little tough in coming. So, I'd like to break format a little here and offer this recipe as a dedication.

I'd like to dedicate this recipe to our much-maligned, night-flapping brethren of the skies: the bats.

I like bats. I always have. I even kept one as a "pet" for a few days when an uncle had rescued him from a public building he worked at. The management had tried to have a laborer dispatch it before my uncle arrived with his good farmer's sense and decided to save it. The injured little brown guy eventually settled down, healed and I released him one evening into the night sky.

Literature, television and the movies have given bats a bad reputation and many people react to them out of fear. While all wild animals shouldn't be handled unnecessarily, and they should all be treated with respect and caution. Ungrounded fear isn't intelligent or healthy and can cause both man and beast some grief.

Most species of bats are also beneficial. Did you know that one single little brown bat (the kind found most frequently in my area) can catch and eat more than 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour! Multiply that by a number of bats then by a number of hours over the course of days and weeks and then months and you have an impressive amount of mosquitoes -- GONE!

Did you also know that:

Mosquitoes infect 500 million people around the world each year with diseases such as West Nile virus, Dengue fever, encephalitis and malaria. That is half a billion people folks! 1/12 of the human population of the planet. One in 12 people! Mosquito-induced diseases also kill more than 2 million people around the world each year. Yeah, bats are good.

So please respect our little flying fuzzy friends of the night skies! Also, if you find that they've made a home in your attic, please investigate non-lethal ways of getting them to leave. We've made enough of a mess of our planet without making the way for beneficial animals any harder than we need to. Yeah, I'm a tree hugger WHAT OF IT? Also, I don't know about you, but I'd rather have more bats than mosquitoes.

This dish is great over rice or pasta. It is kind of one of those fancy-tasting things that really isn't all that hard to prepare. I suggest you use a marsala wine that you like the taste of. Sample a few, their all pretty good and the one you like to drink is certainly going to be one of the ones that make a great sauce. I chose an inexpensive Taylor marsala and coupled with the diced tomatoes it had a really subtle cherry flavor-EXCELLENT!

Chicken Tomato-Marsala (for the bats)

2 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
salt & black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbs unsalted butter
2-3 cups of Marsala wine
1 4 oz. can of tomato sauce
1-2 medium fresh tomatoes (diced)

Rinse and dry the chicken breasts. Place them one at a time in a large ziplock bag and GENTLY pound them about a 1/2" flat with the flat side of a meat tenderizing mallet. Glancing blows work best!

Dredge each breast in flour, cover them well and season with black pepper and salt, set aside.

Place a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and butter to the skillet and heat the mixture until the butter stops foaming. Do not allow butter to burn.

Place the chicken breasts in the hot oil/butter mixture and brown lightly on both sides. Do not overcook or the chicken will be dry.

When chicken is properly browned pour in the Marsala until the chicken is almost covered. Add the tomato sauce. Carefully blend the sauces around the chicken.

The sauce should already be simmering, if not, bring it to a simmer and then lower the heat until it is barely simmering. Cover and continue cooking (turning once) at a minimum simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. If the simmer picks up, lower the heat. You want this barely simmering.

Remove chicken breasts, add the diced tomatoes, set heat on high and stir sauce continuously until thickened.

Test for seasoning and adjust. Replace chicken, toss to coat and serve on rice or pasta spooning on extra gravy.

Chicken Tomato-Marsala (for the bats), by Henry Krauzyk from Chop Onions, Boil Water

Recipe: Sun-dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

I'm going to make a statement that may upset a lot of people (especially Europeans). As I live my life generally not caring about upsetting a lot of people, I don't care. This is just an advisory note that you should look past your initial feelings of instant resentment and open-mindedly consider what I'm going to write. Beyond that, I'm also saying that if you cannot do that, I just don't care if you're upset. It's how I roll.

Ready?

Here goes...

Without the contributions of the Native Americans, international cuisine as the world now knows it would not exist!

There would be no Italian, Spanish or Portuguese food as we know it. French, Indian and Chinese cuisines would also be greatly diminished. Strangely enough though, British food would remain completely unchanged and uninteresting.

Why do I proclaim this? Because without the contributions of the Americas there would be no dishes that contain potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, peanuts, chocolate, vanilla, sweet potatoes or corn. All of these ingredients in modern cuisine were introduced to the world by Native Americans to the early European settlers.

Think of any of the major cuisines available today without these important ingredients and you'll have to agree. Pasta without tomato sauce? Szechuan, Portuguese or curries without chili peppers? Satay without peanuts? French desserts sans chocolate and vanilla? The Irish without potatoes?

What about the sweet potato? One of the top 15 crops worldwide! The Europeans got their first taste of it in the Caribbean and then proceeded to distribute it worldwide! It helped thwart a Japanese famine in the 1730's and was so integrated by New Zealand's Maori into their mythology as to have eleborate rituals and ceremonies governing its growing and storage methods!

So next time you consider food, consider the contributions of the Americas and the Native Americans! Don't even make me bring up pineapples, cashews, strawberries or medicinal plants!

How does it all relate to the attached recipe? TOMATOES YO!

Sun-Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce

2 28oz cans of ground tomatoes
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (diced)
1/4-1/2 cup of olive oil
2-3 Tbs of fat back or equivalent (optional)
3-5 Tbs red onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
2 Tbs dried basil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 healthy pinch of dried oregano
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

In a deep saucepan add olive oil and place on medium heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Add fat back (if using) and cook until it is rendered. Remove the solids.

Add onions and stir often, cook until translucent.

Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Carefully add the ground tomatoes and the sun-dried tomatoes. Blend in well, simmer for five minutes then add the basil, oregano, salt and pepper, stir in well..

Bring mixture to a boil then lower to a low simmer and cook for 45 minutes stirring occasionally.

If sauce is too thin, continue cooking uncovered until desired consistency is achieved. If sauce is too thick, slowly add pasta water to desired consistency.

Serve over pasta topped with Parmigiano-reggiano cheese, or use as an excellent base for meatballs.


Sun-Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk

Review: Rao's Cookbook

You are looking at the most important Italian Cookbook of the fourteen Italian cookbooks I think are important enough to keep on hand. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, Rao's is a New York City institution as far as Italian cuisine is concerned. Reservations are impossible, and a year long waiting list keeps its ten sacred tables full. Some patrons have standing reservations, they own their tables!

If you want to eat at Rao's put your reservation in EARLY. Sure, you can eat at their Las Vegas location, but quite frankly, that's not Rao's. If you want the genuine Rao's experience you can find it in one place: Rao's, 455 East 114th Street, East Harlem, New York 10029. You want to make reservations? Here's the number: (212) 722-6709, be sure to tell them Henry K sent you!

The cookbook is worth the the price for the meatball recipe alone. The marinara recipe is simple and perfect. There's also a recipe in there for a sauce with savoy cabbage that is surprising. There are lots of great recipes and I've tried many. You will as well.

What also makes this a great book is what's behind the recipes. Stories and photos from the restaurant's history and more importantly, a lot of background info on how Rao's prepares the foundations for their recipes. Broths, vinegared peppers, flavored oils, batters and more, with tips on preparing garlic and beans and other things for recipes throughout the book.

If I had one suggestion, I would say that I would have liked to see photographs of every recipe. Apart from that, if you're looking for a great Italian cookbook, or of you're looking for ONE Italian Cookbook, Rao's is my suggestion.

8 months, 2 weeks and 4 days until my reservation...

Recipe: Rigatoni Pomodoro

There are a lot of reasons to love New England in Autumn. There are the brilliant colors, the warm days and the brisk nights and the smell of the air. Sunlight even takes on a warmer and more yellow character and the sunsets are works of art. It's my favorite season, my best kisses have always been in Autumn, it's a "thing" I guess.

Another reason I love Autumn in New England is the native harvest. Sweet corn, squash, acorns, potatoes and a host of other great things. Then there are the tomatoes. My dad keeps a sizable garden and grows a wide variety of vegetables, come Autumn, I get lots and lots of tomatoes and trust me, I have a use for every single one. Below, you'll find my newest Italian recipe that not only uses tomatoes, but show cases them wonderfully. Use extra-red, very ripe tomatoes and this humble pasta dish will transcend its humble ingredients. I've had it twice in the last few days and my wife and kids aren't complaining one bit!

Rigatoni Pomodoro

1 lb. fresh rigatoni
2-3 Tbs Olive oil
1/2 onion (chopped)
4-5 fresh extra-red, very ripe tomatoes (cut into pieces about 1/4"-1/2" square)
1 clove garlic (chopped)
4 Tbs tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp sea salt
Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
Chopped basil for garnish

Divide the chopped tomatoes into 4 equal parts.

Set water to boil for pasta.

Set a sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil. When it begins to shimmer, add the onions and sauté until translucent.

Add the first part of the tomatoes, basil, black pepper and allow to cook and reduce.

When first portion of tomatoes cook down and are reduced and beginning to thicken, add second part. Stir occasionally. Adjust heat as needed.

When second part of tomatoes cook down and are reduced and beginning to thicken, add third part of tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic and salt. Lower heat and allow to reduce slowly, stirring occasionally.

You are looking for a very thick and rich sauce.

By now pasta water should be boiling cook the rigatoni just short of your desired doneness.

Drain the rigatoni and add it and the last part of the chopped tomatoes to the thickened pomodoro sauce. Toss well until the pasta is well coated. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes and serve sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano. Garnish with a little chopped basil.