supper club: springtime italian

Photos by Lauren DeFilippo

After spicing things up in February with a Mexican supper club, March seemed a time for returning to the familiar. For me, that means Italian food and, in this case, an opportunity to put an innovative spin on the flavors of my youth.

For this back-to-basics occasion, it seemed fitting to invite the “family”, a rambunctious group of New York friends who have grown closer than most blood relatives. Silly, selfless and as indiscreet as they come, I knew we were in for a delicious and rowdy evening.

Greeting friends with friselles.

First came the friselles, little pepper biscuits that have become one of my signature dishes. I often give these savory, crumbly cookies as housewarming gifts, so they seemed the perfect greeting for my guests.

Homemade ricotta, oven dried tomatoes and DIY crostini

Next came crostini, sesame toasts layered with homemade ricotta and oven dried tomatoes. The tomatoes, simple as they come, were instant hits, which guests used to garnish everything from salad to savory dishes.

My grandmother’s famous walnut and anchovy pasta

Then came a simple escarole salad, dressed with garlic, oil and anchovy dressing. My favorite briny fish served double duty, tying the salad to my grandmother’s signature pasta dish: linguine with anchovy, walnuts and parsley.

Curiosity got the best of us in between courses.

Sicilian meat balls with pine nuts, currants and parsley

After pasta came the main course, Sicilian meatballs (ground pork with pine nuts, parsley and currants) baked over a bed of radicchio. Alongside it, I served spicy broccoli rabe with bread crumbs and thinly sliced, roasted-going-on-blackened winter white vegetables (cauliflower, celery root, fennel).

Broccoli rabe and winter white vegetables

Relaxing on the couch before dessert

Then came dessert, a blood orange olive oil cake topped with blood orange/honey compote and home-whipped cream. It was the perfect, bittersweet end to this especially nostalgic supper club.

Blood orange cake/compote, with home-whipped cream

Laughter and love on our notoriously comfy couch.

A last round of drinks, and it was nearly midnight. That didn’t stop the stragglers however, who challenged me to highly competitive game of Connect-4, the most intense (I’m sure) that my local dive bar has ever seen.

Thanks again to all who made this such a special night. You truly all are family to me, and I look forward to hosting you again and again.

eater’s digest: al di là

Photos by Lauren DeFilippo

One of the great misconceptions that people often have is that I’ve eaten at all the restaurants in my neighborhood. The truth is, if I’m near home, I’m usually cooking. Moreover, something nearby is no more likely of an edible destination than others, as I’ve never been shy about traveling far and wide for the perfect bite.

That said, moving to South Brooklyn has opened the flood gates to an entirely new world of local eats. Though I still spend a hefty chunk of my paycheck on groceries at the Coop, the unique culture of small business in this borough has inspired me to spend more time outside my kitchen. And so it was that on a recent weekend I arrived at Al Di Là.

Soup of the day.

Now, eating Italian food in restaurants is a tricky thing. Raised on la cucina della nonna, I typically opt to explore more obscure cuisines on my restaurant outings. To boot, if I’m dining with the discriminating palates of my parents and sister, the bar for a “pasta joint” is set pretty high. But as I’ve eaten in more and more of the excellent Italian establishments in NYC, I’ve come to appreciate the perfection of truly al dente pasta or the difference between everyday minestrone and a masterpiece.

In this ever-crowded genre of restaurant fare, Al Di Là inches ahead with grace and little fanfare. The dining room is a quirky spin on bistro chic, with a red/maroon and gold aesthetic that repeats in the wall paper, curtains and painted-to-look-vintage tin ceiling.  The dishes echo this unassuming – yet distinctive – charm, with slight details that consistently offer something more than expected.

Spaghetti carbonara.

A mild mandolined salad of white winter vegetables was refreshing, elegant and crisp. The soup of the day contained everything but the kitchen sink, and yet achieved a refined balance – in particular, the contrast of bright, just-wilted greens with the slow-built flavors of meat stock. The pastas, too, were an upgrade on the classics. The carbonara tasted distinctly grown-up, with pronounced, lingering notes of white wine and far-superior-to-your-average bacon. An indescribably delicious cavatelli with cauliflower ragu had me bartering “a-bite-for-a-bite” so often that I surely ate half of my sister’s plate.

Cavatelli with cauliflower ragu.

These are the meals that inspire me as a cook. The dishes that remind me that ingredients, timing and the tiniest dash of creativity are the difference between great and phenomenal. The days where we laugh ourselves silly, sopping up every last bit of sauce with our bread. The ones where we walk out of the restaurant not stuffed, but satisfied – knowing we’ve truly shared a meal.

Al Di Là
248 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718.783.4565

recipe: egg roll weekend

One of my favorite aspects of food culture is culinary traditions. In my Italian family, there were a number of dishes – like Christmas Eve crab sauce or St. Joseph’s Day zeppoli – that we prepared but once a year. It was these dishes that I dreamed of and still crave today. Yet when it comes the pinnacle of my mother’s cooking, many would point to her egg rolls.

Now, egg rolls are clearly not Italian. So it was always somewhat surprising and hilarious when, each New Years Eve, my mother arrived at the party with a tray of these freshly fried, mystery-meat-free Chinese treats. Over the years, I was inducted into the egg roll assembly line, but when my parents and I started spending our New Years apart, the tradition faded into the background.

That is, until my sister created “Egg Roll Weekend”. At some point, her college friends had gotten wind of the rolls’ lore and legend, and demanded that a tasting be arranged. This year, they celebrated their fifth annual festival of eating these homemade delicacies (while I celebrated my fifth year of cooking them).

If anything, the rolls get more delicious each year, and the word has spread. For the first time, we had to schedule two weekends to accommodate the hungry masses.

We fry the egg rolls in a small electric deep fryer and canola oil, but – in theory – we’ve heard a deep stove-top pan and peanut oil is as good, if not better. You can also bake them if you are scared of frying or trying to be healthy. I find them almost preferable to their greasier, fried cousins.

Egg Roll Wrapping, Step 1: Place 2-3 tbsp of filling inside the egg roll wrapper.

Egg Roll Wrapping, Step 2: Pull the filling toward you and roll forward, folding in the right and left corners as you go.

Egg Roll Wrapping, Step 3: Glue down the final corner of the wrapped egg roll with a bit of raw egg white.

Freshly Fried – or Baked – Egg Rolls

Ingredients

• 1-2 packages of egg roll wrappers
• 1 egg
• 1/2 lb shredded pork
• 1 1/2 lb shredded cabbage
• 1 cup shredded celery
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 small package of bean sprouts
• 1 can water chestnuts, chopped fine
• 1 can bamboo sprouts, chopped fine
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped fine

Marinade for pork

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tbsp corn starch

Stir-fry seasoning

• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 cups canola or peanut oil

Instructions

1. Mix together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, canola oil and cornstarch. Marinate the pork in this mixture for 20 minutes.
2. Slice all veggies accordingly (in Cuisinart or food processor is easiest) while pork marinates.
3. Mix together sesame oil, salt, sugar and black pepper (“seasoning mixture”).
4. Heat 5 tbsp of oil in a wok, and stir-fry the pork in small batches, adding a bit of seasoning mixture to each batch, as well as chopped veggies.
5. Repeat until all of the pork and veggies are cooked. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
6. When mixture has cooled, set out egg roll wrappers as well as a bowl containing a cracked egg.
7. Lay the wrapper flat, and fill with 2-3 tbsp of the pork/veggies (“filling”).
8. Pull the filling towards the corner closest to you, and begin to roll the egg roll, folding in the sides like a small envelope.
9. When you have finished rolling the egg roll, seal the final corner with a bit of egg white.
10. Bring oil to a steady simmer.
11. Fry egg rolls carefully, so as to not overcrowd the pan or fryer.
12. When removing egg rolls from oil, place on a cookie sheet lined with absorptive paper, such as that of brown paper bags.
13. Serve warm with hot mustard, soy or sweet and sour sauce.

Notes

If you are trying to be healthy, you can actually bake the egg rolls at 375 degrees until golden brown and crunchy. (Start checking them and flipping them over to evenly brown after about 15 minutes. Bake for 20-25 minutes total.)

catch of the day: interview with honest cooking

I’ve had the pleasure of contributing to the website Honest Cooking – winner of the 2012 Saveur award for “Best Group Food Blog” – over the past six months, and was recently interviewed for HC’s “Meet the Team” column. You can check out the original article here, or read it in full below.

  —

Learn more about Carly DeFilippo, one of Honest Cooking’s New York based contributors.
By Kalle Bergman

Carly is a Contributing Writer at Honest Cooking. Her interest in “food as culture” led her to Paris, where she studied French culture and culinary criticism. Currently living in New York, she works in the field of holistic nutrition and has contributed to publications including Vingt Paris Magazine and Daily Food and Wine.

When and how did your passion for food start?
I’ve been interested in food traditions and odd ingredients as long as I can remember. Growing up in an Italian family, my favorite moments were always the holidays on which we indulged in once-a-year treats, like St. Joseph’s Day sfinge. My eyes really opened however, the day I was offered Scandinavian reindeer jerky. I was about eleven, and it sparked an insatiable curiosity for the foodstuffs of various cultures. Studying culinary criticism and food culture in Paris only reinforced these passions.

My favorite quick breakfast – smoked salmon with labne spread on rye wasa crackers.

Do you think you have a specific cooking style or philosophy?
My style of cooking is ingredient-based, i.e. finding exceptional ingredients and developing recipes to feature them – even if it’s something I’ve never seen before! I also take a genuine interest both nutrition and the pleasure of eating, and enjoy developing recipes for “healthy(er) indulgences”.

What’s your favorite restaurant, and why?
This is an impossible question to answer – but I will tell you about my most amazing restaurant experience in recent memory. I was in Italy with my family, and we were sitting at wood table on a hilltop in Frascati (outside Rome), as the sun was setting. The restaurant was Belvedere 1933. The food was simple, but inspired: zucchini flowers, exceptional pizza bianca and a smattering of perfectly al dente pastas, followed by pistachio semifreddo and tiramisu. But despite the amazing food, I recall the sensation of eating moreso than specific flavors and textures – the pleasure of passing shared plates, sipping on local wine and laughing with my family as sky darkened, streaked with breathtaking hues of fuchsia, blue and gold.

What’s your favorite holiday from a food perspective?
Christmas Eve, without a doubt. Growing up Italian, we always celebrated the feast of the seven fishes. I’m fairly certain we never made it to seven, but I love the preparation and anticipation that always surrounded this meal. Not to mention that I am a huge fan of fish – the fishier the better.

My kind of market – the catch of the day in Kotor, Montenegro.

What do you think or hope will be the next big food trend?
I would hope that home cooking becomes increasingly popular, but – in lieu of that – I am a big fan of alternative dining. I would like to see more chef’s tables or special dining events at accessible prices, as well as interactive supper clubs, where groups of strangers get to know each other by cooking a meal together.

What’s your best tip for anyone who wants to improve their cooking?
Take an interest in practical skills – read up on how to stock your pantry, how to steam vegetables, how to cook a steak, etc. – and then practice! There is a wealth of information on the various food blogs and websites addressing technique. Also, try to find a cooking-mentor: a friend who loves cooking and who will let you watch them in action. There is nothing like learning directly, in-person, from a seasoned home cook.

Read more from Carly DeFilippo here.

 

eater’s digest: sorella

New York City isn’t lacking for good Italian cuisine.  Millions of Italians passed through Ellis Island, leaving behind a cultural and culinary trail of delights.  And while Little Italy may no longer be the tight community it once was, new champions of regional cuisines have taken up the mantle, pushing back against the Italian-American classics of spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, and fill-in-the-blank parmesan.

That said, there’s more to the experience of Italian food than what’s on the table.  There are plenty of restaurants that will fulfill your Italian Mafioso fantasies – white table-clothed joints with tile floors and plates overflowing with red sauce.  But an intimate, cozy Italian cucina – one that evokes Slow Food moreso than the Sopranos – that, is a rare find indeed.

It was, appropriately, my sister who introduced me to Sorella, just east of Little Italy’s traditional borders.  She couldn’t stop talking about broccoli – not broccoli rabe but plain ol’ broccoli – which didn’t sound particularly Italian to me, but off we went.

The instant delight of Sorella is that it is completely unassuming.  Low-key customers mingle around wine and cheese in the front hall, while those lucky enough to grab a reservation will be led back to the back dining room – a sort of living room-meets-greenhouse space that seats maybe 20 people.  It is a refreshingly elegant, but simple space, with a slanted glass ceiling and soft, dangling lights.

The menu hails from Piedmont, a region known for its red wine, white truffles and rich traditional cooking, yet home to one of the most innovative culinary scenes in Italy.  Sorella follows suit, utilizing traditional ingredients, but updating them with a creative twist.

The first sign that Sorella is not your average Italian restaurant is the quality of the cocktails.  In fact, some regulars will tell you to head straight for the caramel-rimmed “honey pot” and forego the red wine.  But for the traditionalists among us, I can attest that my Valpolicella was excellent.

At this point, my sister’s raving about the broccoli fritto had reached a frenzied pitch.  So we ordered two broccoli fritto for our party of four – the bare minimum really, because we scarfed those surreal, crunchy, morsels of delicious so fast that we probably could have each eaten our own serving.  I’m a big fan of anchovies, so we also ordered the acciughe al verde, a lovely mild and nutty take on the notoriously briny fish.

For dinner, it was pasta all around.  Beef short rib agnolotti – tiny fresh pasta pockets of robust, savory meat.  Porcini & pancetta pici – absolutely heavenly (salty umami) but I’d struggle to eat a whole plate alone.  The special, venison and chestnut stracci with hen of the woods mushroom & brussel sprout leaves – a hearty dish, ideal for anyone coming in from the bitter cold.  And the pièce de resistance, impossibly fluffy pearls of gnocchi tossed with bright, sweet pears in nutty brown butter.

To have lived through two such gorgeous, surprising, and savory courses should be enough to make any diner content – but I couldn’t leave without trying the dessert.  Sorella makes gelato in-house, and the coppa di gelati does the restaurant proud.  My favorite scoop contained chocolate covered pretzels, a non-traditional but irresistible take on the creamy treat.  We also chose to share the ‘bicerin’, a light chocolate pudding topped with rich espresso fudge (and accompanied by homemade whipped cream).  As an adult who still fantasizes about the Jello chocolate pudding of my youth, this was a revelation – an elevation of simple childhood indulgence.

To say I am fond of Sorella is an understatement.  (In fact, I selfishly toyed with the idea of not writing about the restaurant, in hopes that there will always be an open table left for me.)  But as with all good things, Sorella should be shared – eagerly and often.  Except for the grissini (hand rolled breadsticks) that is.  You can get your own cornetto.

recipe: friselle (italian pepper biscuits)

Growing up, friselle were the edibles of family lore and legend.  My father once came to pick up my mother for a date and discovered my uncle in a trance at the table, gnawing on these crunchy biscuits, as a pile of “sawdust” grew beneath his chin.  My mother, herself, would keep a secret stash of these friselle “bracelets” in the cupboard, and as my sister grew older, she too developed an addiction for these savory treats.  Yet despite the growing friselle fanbase, no one in my family ever attempted to make these seemingly simple biscuits – that is, except my great aunt.

My great aunt – who worked for one of the most renown Italian pastry shops in the Northeast – is famous for her inability to accurately relay a recipe.  From struffoli to pignoli, her hand-me-down, anecdotal instructions have never ceased to thwart my mother’s most dedicated attempts at recreating traditional family dishes.  I thus decided that the only way to save these favorite recipes would be to observe my great aunt in action – noting what she did, rather than what she said.

I learned to make friselle during the first of these heirloom cooking lessons, and they have since become my signature housewarming gift.  Deemed “addictive” by their enthusiastic recipients, a few friends have gone so far as to throw parties just so I will re-stock their stash.

Old-Fashioned Italian Friselle

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour (unbleached all-purpose is best, but you can use 50% wholegrain flour as well)
• 1.5 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup cold water

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Whisk together oil and water and add to dry ingredients. (Tip: Measure 1 cup of oil in a liquid measuring cup, then add cold water until it reaches the 2 cup line.  You can whisk them together in the measuring cup itself).
4. Use a spatula to gently fold the liquid into the dry ingredients.  (When everything is properly mixed, you should have fluffy dough that is still moist but does not stick to your hands.)
5. Roll a handful of dough into an inch-thick log (don’t overwork the dough, be gentle!).  Then, cut into half-inch slices.
6. Line-up cut biscuits on a greased baking sheet (I use olive oil to grease mine.  They can be lined up very close together as they do not expand much).
7. Bake for about an hour, rotating trays after 30 minutes.  (When complete, the biscuits will be hard but still light in color – though they may be toasty brown on the tray-side).

Note : Friselle can be made in all shapes and sizes, but I prefer this bite-sized version for gift giving.