Nosh: Rewind

Rewind

It is a bit late to be talking about Christmas dinner but cooking was really what got us through the whole thing. At that time, I was aware of Christmas as a vague spot at the end of many days that seemed the same. My family decided on no presents for the adults and only a small tree for my sister's kids. Our main focus was going to be Christmas Eve dinner. So we set about making a menu and trying to replicate a few of my mom's traditional recipes, those dishes she made for us every year, because we could never make ALL the stuff that she made. Man, she used to cook for weeks. We were only going to cook what we could handle.

Christmas Eve is a no-meat affair in our family. Accordingly, our menu was centered around the following: stuffed calamari, flounder oreganata, shrimp (cocktail and also fried), baby eggplant rolatini, and the pi�ce de r�sistance: Cardune, a rare vegetable dish that takes so long to prepare, we were left in amazement at how she could have done this in addition to everything else on her own. We didn't have her actual recipes for any of this so it was mostly guess-work and tapping into memories.

The day before Christmas Eve, I went to my brother Frankie's house to prepare the calamari. The whole calamari bodies need to be checked over to make sure they are clean. Then you make the filling, and stuff them! We then refrigerated them until Christmas eve, when we cooked them in our pot of sauce.

stuffed calamari with sauce

You will need a little more than a kilo (2 lbs) of cleaned calamari bodies, intact. Also ask for the tentacles.

Chop 6 or more cloves of garlic very fine and saut� with olive oil. Add a good amount (3 or so stalks) of finely chopped celery and the zest of 1 lemon. Cook until softened. Chop tentacles very fine as well, and add to the pan. When they have just cooked through, add a few handfuls of fresh breadcrumb until the mixture comes together. Season with salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a few handfuls of freshly chopped parsley.

With a small spoon, put 1 or 2 tablespoons of the stuffing into the calamari bodies but don�t overfill because everything will expand once you cook them. Close each calamari with a toothpick. Reserve some of the calamari and cut into rings for the sauce.

To cook, drop all of the calamari, including the rings, into the sauce. Allow them to cook in the sauce for 10 � 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. To serve, remove the calamari from the sauce and put in a covered bowl. Serve the sauce over the pasta and place one or two calamari on each plate.

fried cardune
(people will fight over these!)

Cardune are artichoke stalks; it looks like a very large fuzzy celery. Use gloves to peel them (or they�ll make your fingers black), making sure to remove all the stringy stuff. Cut each into a few pieces and boil gently until just tender.

Once cooked, dip them in beaten eggs and seasoned breadcrumb, and fry until crisp.

Drain on a paper towel and transfer to a cookie sheet. Do this well ahead of time and then heat them in the oven when you're ready to serve them to crisp them up again. It is well worth all of the effort! But get someone to help you peel because it is a tough job. Make sure to set some aside for yourself as these will disappear before you blink.
I started on them with my sister at around 8 a.m, and wasn't done until 11:30-ish.

simple flounder oreganata

Lay your flounder filets on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon zest, and lots of chopped fresh oregano. If you want, you can also sprinkle with finely chopped garlic. Place a thin slice of lemon on each piece of flounder. Season the lot with salt and pepper. Bake in a pre-heated 350F/175 C for 10-15 minutes, depending upon the thickness of your fish.
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I don't have a recipe for the baby eggplant rolatini -- that's my brother frankie's expertise. As far as I can see, he slices them and lays them out on paper towels, sprinkling them with salt to release the bitter juices.

I guess that he then fries the slices, cools them, and rolls them with a filling of seasoned ricotta. Place in a baking tray with tomato sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake until bubbly, I'm guessing around 20 minutes since they are baby. I will try to get an official recipe from my bro.

Here also is a shot of our shrimp cocktail.

I was so exhausted (thankfully) by the time we ate that I didn't get any pics of the fried shrimp. As for the cocktail, I boil a pot of water with a few bay leaves and some peppercorns, then drop the shrimp in and take it off the heat. When they're juuuust done, take them out and chill them. The biggest rave was about the cocktail sauce, which I snagged from epicurious.

1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons grated onion (tough but worth it)
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Cover and refrigerate sauce at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Makes 1 1/2 Cups.
Bon App�tit
July 1997

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Hey, from my home to yours, with love.