It was a small gathering of friends with a big meal. My friend Brendan and his fiance Mabelle showed up, and two old friends Kathleen and Charles. They're all foodies so I figured if they liked what I prepared then I was on the right track.
Charles's family owned and operated a pizzeria in Syracuse New York for years. All the kids worked in the restaurant, just like my cousins and myself at my Aunt Dollie and Uncles Jimmy's place, the Wagon Wheel Inn, in Brookfield, CT. If Charles liked the pies, then it was a hit.
Kathleen, Charles wife, is a chef in her own right, and operated a catering business for quite a while.
Brendan is a great cook also.
I cranked the oven up at about 10:00 AM for a 5:00 PM meal. Possibly a little overkill. It does need to warm up at least 3 hours prior to operation or the ceramic floor of the oven will not be hot enough. You also need to build a good base of coals.
If the food is good then people will ask for seconds, it's that simple. That is always my benchmark of success.
I cooked three pizzas, two of which we ate, and I saved the other one for tonight. The crusts were crispy, the bottoms of the pies were cooked, but not overcooked. When the pies hit the oven floor you could hear a sizzle right away as the raw dough made contact with the hot ceramic tile. You can just reach in the oven ever minute or so and turn the pie with your hands to keep the crust that's facing the fire from burning . I had the oven at about 650 degrees. I got nice bubbles on all the pies, The fire was in the back of the oven of course.
I was very happy with these pizzas.
Second course was a salad of dandelions greens, radishes, julienne cucumber and onion. The dressing was made from the juice of 4 lemons, juice of 1/2 orange, 1/2 teaspoon of herbs of Provence, salt, pepper, 4 tablespoons olive oil.
The third course was Pappardelle pasta with braised oxtail ragu. This recipe makes enough ragu to dress at least 32 ounces to this particular pasta.
Pappardelle is a thin delicate broad egg noodle pasta. This dish is highly addictive, and just blogging about it brought me back to the fridge for some leftovers. I'm eating it right now. I got this recipe from a man named Mike Lee via A.G. Ferrari's Foods. The one tricky thing about this dish is combining the noodles and the ragu because Pappardelle is so delicate. It cooks aldente' in 4 minutes. Gentle tongs are needed to mix the ragu and the pasta without breaking the noodles.
The other two things about oxtail is that when they are cooked properly, that is, low and slow, the meat just falls off the bones, and those bones, especially at the end of the tail are very small. You want to be sure that you get all those little bones out, and secondly to separate all the fat from the meat . You can only do this with your hands. Take your time. Got over and over it because you don't want one of your friends or customers going to the dentist the next day with a chipped a tooth. That will ruin your whole dinner.
The vegetable of the meal was asparagus lightly coated with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cooked on the gas grill. This takes about 10 minutes tops. This is how I always cook asparagus and this is that time of year for one of my most favorite vegetables.
The fourth course was rabbit with pearl onions and dates. This was the big hit of the affair. This recipe comes from Jacques Pepin, and I modified it to my liking. Jacques recipe calls for prunes but I used dates. It also calls for a caramel of red wine vinegar and sugar to pour in the dish. Personally I think it was sweet enough without the caramel sauce. This was the first time Mabelle had eaten rabbit, and she loved it. None of the rabbit survived, and all of it was all sent home in dogie bags with the guests.
As a side dish to go with the rabbit I made a pound of white Casa beans with panchetta, onions, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. I let these sit overnight in the fridge in a large pot of water. Next day I drained the water, and cooked them for a about an hour and a half with two cups of chicken stock and just enough water to keep them covered.
I prepared all these dishes the day before the dinner. This gave them time for the flavors to marry themselves in the loving safety of the refrigerator.
Last but not least was Geraldine's blackberry cobbler, which as I predicted would be a huge hit. Everyone had seconds, and only the baking dish survived this course.
The one problem with this meal is we were so busy eating we didn't take any photos, with the exception of the pizzas so I'm going to cook the pasta again because I have leftover ragu, and I will photograph it.
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| Sharp Cheddar, Romano, Basil and Genoa Salami |
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| Mozzarella, Feta, Kalamata olives, and capers |
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| Pappardelle Pasta with Braised Oxtail Ragu |
If anyone reads this and is interested in the recipes for any of these dishes just write, and I'll send them to you. Peace.
That it....Make Food, Not War
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