Super Bowl Recipe Countdown (Day 3)

Rosemary-Lemon Chicken Wings (From Little Meals, Little, Brown 1993) Move over, Buffalo; here's a Tuscan-style recipe for chicken wings bathed in olive oil, rosemary and garlic, resting on a bed of escarole. The marinade makes a quick dressing for the crunchy, bitter greens.

16 chicken wings (about 2 1/2 pounds) 1/2 cup fruity olive oil 1/2 cup lemon juice 3 bay leaves 3 tablespoons whole fresh rosemary leaves 5 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons sea salt 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce 1 head of escarole 8 thin lemon slices

Remove wing tips and discard. Cut chicken wings in half. In a bowl, mix oil, lemon juice, bay leaves, rosemary, garlic, salt, and Tabasco sauce for marinade. Add chicken wings and cover. Refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove wings from marinade. Pat dry. Put on baking tray and cook in oven for 25 minutes. Put under broiler for 5 minutes until golden brown.

Heat marinade just until it boils.

Line platter with escarole leaves. Pile chicken pieces in center. Drizzle platter with warm marinade and garnish with lemon slices.

Day 2: Lamb Shanks Provençal with Cabernet & Rosemary

Lamb shanks are a fabulous way to feed your guests during the holidays. You can prepare the recipe one to two days in advance allowing the flavors, and textures, to deepen. Just yesterday, a colleague told me she made this recipe, tossed the lusty leftover sauce with basmati rice, and ate it in bed while reading the rest of the cookbook. She then decided to make her entire New Year's Day menu from Radically Simple. (Last year she used the wonderful Jerusalem cookbook.)  I like to serve this with creamy polenta (and open a bottle of Barolo) or with a rich potato gratin layered with Gruyere (and raid our cellar for an old Côtes du Rhône.)  For the Christmas table I poach tiny kumquats in simple syrup until they collapse: They make a festive accompaniment and taste amazing with the lamb. Lamb Shanks Provençal with Cabernet & Rosemary This is nice and easy for a complicated-sounding dish. I simplify the process by quickly searing the seasoned shanks under the broiler. The lusty flavors come from dried porcini mushrooms and herbes de Provence. At the last minute, I dust the hot dish with freshly grated orange zest -- the aroma is wonderful.

6 tablespoons olive oil 6 large lamb shanks, 12 to 14 ounces each 2-1/2 cups chopped leeks, white and green parts 6 large cloves garlic, finely chopped 2-1/2 cup Cabernet sauvignon 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes with puree 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms 1-1/2 tablespoons herbes de Provence 1 pound slender carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch batons 1 tablespoon arrowroot

Preheat the broiler. Rub the lamb with 3 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a broiler pan; brown several minutes on each side. Wash leeks and pat dry. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoon oil in an 8-quart Dutch oven. Add the leeks and garlic; cook over high heat until softened, 5 minutes. Add the shanks, wine, tomatoes, mushrooms, and herbes de Provence. Stir to coat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer 1 hour. Add the carrots, cover, and cook 30 minutes.  Uncover and simmer 15 minutes, until the lamb is tender. Spoon off the fat. Dissolve the arrowroot in 1 tablespoon water and stir into the sauce. Season to taste and simmer several minutes until the sauce thickens. Serves 6

Tortellini Gratinati with Parsnip "Bechamel"

I've invented a lot of recipes in my day.  Thousands.  A portion of those were for restaurant consulting projects around the world -- including hotels and supermarket chains.  The others were for the hundreds of articles and twelve books that I've published since 1993.   I was the first to create olive oil ice cream, pesto-pistachio salmon, had the first watermelon-feta salad published in the New York Times, became famous for cooking short ribs in a concoction of prune juice and teriyaki sauce, and for frying capers in olive oil to pour over roasted asparagus.  There are too, too many to mention here:  Some have become signatures and others have been hijacked.  No matter.  But this month's article  published in Bon Appetit --that featured my five baked pastas -- has received more attention than most.  Permission was just given to publish the story in an upcoming issue of South Africa's House & Garden, and I was just asked to be on Martha Stewart's radio show to talk about baked pastas using seasonal ingredients. Several  blog readers have also made requests:  one in particular was keen to try my Tortellini Gratinati with Gorgonzola, Rosemary & Parsnip Bechamel.  For some reason, the title was changed in the magazine to Tortellini Gratinati with Mushrooms and Parsnip "Bechamel. " For me, some of the romance and appeal of the dish had to do with the flavor profile of the gorgonzola and rosemary.  No matter.  The most exciting component of the dish is my parsnip "bechamel."  I was thrilled that this nascent idea came to life and was so delicious.  This original spin, based on the classic French bechamel sauce, is as creamy and rich as the authentic recipe (ever more so!) but is fashioned from boiled parsnips which give a luxurious mouthfeel, a bit of sweetness, and lots of good nutrition.  The parsnip puree takes the place of the traditional butter and flour used in making bechamel.   It has already become a "new favorite" in my repertoire.  This "bechamel" can be used as a warm cushion for roast chicken, poured over roasted eggplant and mushrooms for a great vegetarian main course, or used as a filling for a big baked potato strewn with bits of crispy bacon.  Loosened up with a bit more milk or chicken stock, it becomes a wondrous soup.

Tortellini Gratinati with Gorgonzola, Rosemary & Parsnip “Bechamel”

The recipe can be made in quick stages then put together right before baking.  I use a combination of large and small cheese-filled fresh tortellini from the supermarket.  Small ravioli or fresh cavatelli may be substituted.

2 large parsnips, about 12 ounces 2 cups milk ½ cup heavy cream 1 cup freshly-grated parmigiano reggiano 3-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, in small pieces 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped 12 ounces baby portabellos, thinly sliced 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh rosemary 1-1/2 pounds fresh cheese-filled tortellini or tortelloni, or a mixture 6 ounces imported gorgonzola dolce, in small pieces

Peel parsnips.  Cut into 1 inch pieces.  Place in small saucepan with salted water to cover by several inches.   Bring to a boil and boil 20 to 25 minutes until very soft.  Drain well.  Put in food processor with 1 cup milk and heavy cream and process until smooth.  With motor running, slowly add remaining milk.  Add ¾ cup parmesan, ½ to 1 teaspoon salt (depending on cheese) and pepper. Process until very smooth.  Return to saucepan.  Cook 5 minutes over low heat or until reduced to 3 cups.

Melt 2-1/2 tablespoons butter in large skillet.  Add garlic, mushrooms and rosemary.  Cook 6 to 7  minutes, stirring, over medium-high heat until soft.  Add salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook until just tender, about 9 minutes.  Drain well and toss with remaining tablespoon  butter.  place in a 10-cup overproof soufflé dish or casserole.  Scatter mushrooms over pasta.  Pour béchamel over pasta to cover completely.  Dot with gorgonzola and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup parmesan.  Bake 18 minutes until bubbly, then broil 2 minutes until golden brown.  Serves 6

Recipe Hijack

Last week when I was honored at New York University for donating Gourmet's cookbook library to the esteemed institution, the subject of a missing recipe came up. Zanne Zakroff Stewart, who was the executive editor of Gourmet magazine for decades, said that she was in possession of all of Gourmet's recipes -- except one. That recipe happened to be mine: Candied Ginger and Rosemary Squares that Zanne said she has loved for years but simply could not find in her extensive files.  The next day, I ransacked my office looking for the recipe.  I, too, could not find it, nor could I remember what issue it was in.  I did, however, remember some of the other recipes in that article.  It was a time of great creativity I suppose, for in that same article were recipes such as Curried Onion Baklava; a savory cheesecake made with feta and mascarpone cheese in a black and white sesame crust, and an Arabic orange salad.  I sent an email to Zanne hoping that would help her in her search. In the meantime, I went to Google.  I was curious whether the recipe had landed on Epicurious, as so many of my recipes have.  Well, there it was. My exact recipe.  Except it had someone else's name on it! Now they were called Paul's Candied Ginger and Rosemary Squares and they were submitted to Epicurious two years ago by a certain chef Paul Boyami.  I laughed. This happens all the time -- some cases more extreme than others. Once a chef plagiarized 13 of my recipes and sent them, with his own photographs, to a major newspaper in Miami!  And...the recipes were in the exact order that he copied them from my Recipes 1-2-3 Menu Cookbook.  That cookbook even won a James Beard Award.  What was he thinking?!  The issue of recipe theft and plagiarism in our industry is monumental and getting worse given the instantaneous kleptomaniacal nature of the Internet.  Zanne wrote to me later in the day.  With the hints I had given her, she was able to find the recipe.  It was from the November 1994 issue of Gourmet!  Here's the recipe and here's what they look like.  I made them yesterday, with great excitement, for my brunch guests -- for I haven't had them since 1994.  The photo was taken by my husband, Michael, who just popped one in his mouth.  Enjoy!

Candied Ginger and Rosemary Squares

1 3/4 cups sugar 4 sticks unsalted butter 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped (3 tablespoons if using dried) 1 cup candied ginger, chopped 1 tablespoon water 4 cups all purpose flour, sift with salt 2 each large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Into a medium bowl sift together flour and salt and gradually beat into butter mixture with three fourths of eggs. Beat in ginger and rosemary and press dough evenly into a 13" x 9" baking pan.

In a small bowl beat water into remaining egg to make an egg wash and brush on dough. With back of knife score dough (about 1/4 inch deep) in a crosshatch pattern and bake in middle of oven 35 to 45 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool pastry in pan on a rack and cut into 24 squares. Pastry may be made 5 days ahead and chilled covered. Let pastry come to room temperature before serving.

Garnish pastry with rosemary sprigs. Serves 16 to 20

Arthur Schwartz

Several days ago, Food & Wine Magazine deemed "Radically Simple" their favorite cookbook of 2010 and cited a recipe inspired by my dear friend Arthur Schwartz, who is, undoubtedly the reason many of you are reading my blog this morning. The recipe for Chicken Thighs with Rosemary and Two Paprikas, says Kristin Donnelly in the F&W blog, is "the perfect weeknight dish.  Besides the minced garlic that's rubbed all over the thighs, the recipes only contains the ingredients in the title but tastes amazingly complex." (recipe below)

I owe a lot to Arthur.  As I write in the acknowledgments page of "Radically Simple," there are two men who stand out among all the others in influencing my mind and heart--two who have caressed and challenged me to become a better writer, a deeper thinker, and a better cook. One is my husband; the other is Arthur Schwartz.  Arthur, the food writer, critic, and radio personality known for his extraordinary culinary expertise, has been one of my very best friends since 1978 when we met in the kitchen of Gracie Mansion.  I had just become chef to Mayor Ed Koch, and Arthur was the restaurant critic of the New York Daily News.  We have spoken almost daily ever since then.  Arthur's cooking style has influenced mine for decades.  He is the master of simplicity and authenticity -- specifically in Italian regional cuisine, but he also possesses great knowledge of the foodways of many other cultures.  It is a joy to have him in my life.   In the case of the said chicken recipe, Arthur uses chicken legs (with thighs) and no garlic at all.

In addition to Arthur's many award-winning cookbooks which you can purchase online, Arthur has recently created an "on-line" store which you will enjoy shopping in!  It should be your go-to place this holiday season to buy cookbooks and presents galore.  He has a dynamite seltzer-making kit, a chrome 4-slice toaster with 50's styling, an instant-read thermometer, and a meat-grinder attachment for your KitchenAid.  You can also purchase "Radically Simple", and our cookbooks, through his site.  Arthur, since I've known him, has always wanted to have a store...not a restaurant!  Wise man.  He has superlative taste in all things related to food, cooking, design, culinary history, and tabletop wares.  Simply go to the foodmaven.com.

In short, Arthur is a treasure with a treasure chest.

Enjoy the chicken.  Serve it with a pan full of garlicky sauteed broccoli rabe and open a bottle of retro, but not forgotten, Chianti or Soave. And how about a radically simple dessert?  Peeled sliced pears tossed with a bit of grappa and sugar and topped with lemon sorbet.

Chicken Thighs with Rosemary & Two Paprikas This is among our family's favorite emergency meals, inspired by food maven Arthur Schwartz.  Arthur says that placing the chicken on the top rack of the oven is an important step in the recipe's success.

8 very large bone-in chicken thighs, skin-on 2 large garlic cloves 4 teaspoons sweet paprika 4 teaspoons smoked paprika 16 large sprigs fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Make 2 deep slits across the width of each thigh.  Push the garlic through a press and rub into the chicken.  Season with salt and pepper.  Mix the paprikas with 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Sprinkle the mixture into the slits, then place a rosemary sprig in each slit.  Arrange the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet.  Roast in the top oven rack for 40 to 45 minutes until firm and cooked through but still juicy.  Serves 4