Sweet Home Alabama

Many years ago a native of Boston’s North Shore I landed in Gadsden Alabama, helping a friend open a seafood restaurant.  I had no idea of the troubles that were about to ensue, one of the biggest bits of trouble I ran into was a southern girl.  Many of you know her from Lucia’s (how can you miss someone who greets you with “Bueno Sera Yall”}… yep that’s my wife.

But before the wife and kids, one of my biggest troubles was “Banana Pudding”, doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to a “Hot Shot Italian Chef”, well let me tell “Yall” the proof is in the banana puddin’.

The staff at this newly opened “New England Seafood Restaurant” kept suggesting a dessert be added to the lunch menu, you guessed it banana puddin’.  Me being the “Hot Shot Italian Chef” finally gave in to their trivial request and ordered a case of banana flavored pudding mix, and prepared it according to package directions. In an attempt to camouflage this atrocious mixture I carefully spooned it into champagne flutes and proudly topped it with a dollop of whipped crème.  

l

Thinking I would wow them with my presentation, I presented the little flutes of pudding.  To my surprise my dessert was met with blank stares, followed by a chorus of “what’s that, where’s the cookies and where’s the bananas?  Who knew Southerners were so big on garnish?

I reluctantly snatched the little flutes of pudding back and placed a nice lady finger and sliced banana garnish on each one, confident of my grade manger skills I presented the puddings to the staff once again. And once again my creations were met with blank stares, only this time followed by giggles, laughter and pointing.  Seems it’s not about the garnish, it’s all about the puddin’. Oh and by the way it’s not until now I learn the pudding is not supposed to taste like banana.

Confused Yet?

So was I, however at this point my future wife stepped in and explained the intricate composition of “Banana Puddin” and offered me her Mother’s recipe.  This recipe was legendary among the members of the “Spring Garden Homemakers Club” and was often made with pineapple instead of banana.

Confused Yet?

So was I, however later I learned that the pineapple substitution was due to my future wife’s aversion to bananas and is not very common, but is actually quiet delicious and does not require a garnish.  

Who knew a “Hot Shot Italian Chef” could learn so much from the ladies of the “Spring Garden Homemaker’s Club”.  This was the beginning of my adventure into Southern cuisine and explains the occasional addition of things like Crawfish Etouffee, Savannah Shrimp and New Orleans Style Bread Pudding to the specials list at Lucia’s.

As many of you know, the south was recently hit with a major tornado outbreak and the hardest hit areas were portions of Alabama.  While our family, farm lands and homes were spared, others were not so lucky and many families are devastated.   Our thoughts are with our neighbors, wishing them the best and hoping for better days to enjoy Sweet Tea and Banana Puddin’ on the Porch.

If you would like to help the residents of Cherokee County Alabama:

www.weis990am.com

www.redcross.org

Pets are also greatly impacted by natural disaster. Please Help

www.globalanimal.org

Granny Dobbs’ Sweet Tea

Mildred’s Banana Puddin’

Pour Boiling Water Over A Whole Mess Of  Tea Bags Whole Mess =  A Lot Let Steep For A Spell Spell = 20 Minutes Or So Stir In As Much Sugar As The Liquid Will Hold Keep Going … A Little More Fill Glass With Ice Pour Tea  ¾ Way Full Add More Ice Ice Must Reach Bottom Of Glass My Father-In-Law always said “No Self Respecting Southerner would ever offer a glass of Iced Tea unless the ice reached the bottom of the glass”.   Garnish:  Who Knew Southerners Were So Big On Garnish? Mint Sprigs and/or Lemon Wedges Head To The Porch!!!

3/4 cup sugar, divided 1/3 cup all-purpose flour Dash salt 4 eggs, separated 2 cups milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Most of a box of  vanilla wafers 5 ripe bananas, sliced (about 3 1/2 cups) or 1 Large Can Crushed Pineapple In heavy syrup 1. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler. Blend in egg yolks and milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. 2. Spread small amount of puddin’ on bottom of 1 1/2-quart casserole; cover with a layer of wafers and a layer of sliced bananas or pineapple. Pour about 1/3 of custard over bananas or pineapple. Continue to layer wafers, bananas or pineapple and puddin to make a total of 3 layers of each, ending with puddin’. 3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Spoon on top of puddin’. 4. Bake at 350°F in top half of oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Cool slightly or refrigerate. Garnish with additional wafers and banana slices just before serving. Who Knew Southerners Were So Big On Garnish? Head To The Porch!!!

That’s A Lot Of Gnocchi!

The expression used often among Italians is “Christmas with family, Easter with whoever you like”.  Easter in our family was often shared with old family friends, coworkers, neighbors, distant cousins, Irish cousins, in-laws and possibly a few outlaws.  Nanna diCicco’s house was filled past capacity, the men were telling stories and having “red coffee”, the older women were fussing in the kitchen and my Mom was taking turns with the other Moms yelling at me and the gang of siblings, cousins, and various other kids that were running wild.

All the kids were taking part is an American Easter tradition, which involves banging each other with baskets, spreading  pink plastic grass all through the house,  chocolate bunny theft and my personal favorite, hardboiled egg hurling.   This tradition is fueled by excessive sugar intake and often results in a wicked “Peeps Sugar Rush” for anyone under the age of 11.

At this point Nanna diCicco would intervene, calling all the diavolo bambini to the kitchen to make gnocchi.  I was older and spent a lot of time with my grandmother and knew the story, but she always repeated it for the younger ones and strays we had picked up along the way.  Everyone was to wash up as clean as possible and return to lend our tiny fingers to the gnocchi process, explaining that only our tiny fingers can make the perfect gnocchi and we needed a lot of gnocchi to feed all these hungry people, so we must be quiet, and work fast.  For whatever reason, my tiny blue haired grandmother calmed the “Peeped out miniof  mob’ and we all lined up on either side her giant pasta board and got busy,

Nanna showed us how to roll the little dough ball and make the perfect indent in each one..  I am sure the uniformity and technique may have left something to be desired, but Nanna assured us that only our little fingers could make such perfect things.  Seemed to be the perfect antidote for the “Peeps Sugar Rush” and soon the gnocchi were headed for the table. 

Nanna often served the little potato dumplings with a simple brown butter and some shaved parmesan cheese, sometimes with marinara or other sauces. However they were prepared they were always delicious and quickly disappeared..

Luica’s recently participated in “The Taste Of Nashoba” which was a great event sponsored by The Nashoba Valley Chamber with almost 1000 in attendance.   I made 4500 of Nanna’s gnocchi for the event, that’s a lot of Gnocchi! As I rolled and pressed, rolled and pressed and rolled and pressed some more, I though of Nanna and wished for help from little fingers.  The show was a great success and as always Nanna’s Gnochhi were delicious and quickly all 4500 disappeared.

This recipe will be featured in the upcoming episode of “Our Tavola To Yours” watch on your local cable or check our Facebook page.

This recipe can easily be adapted to feed 1000

Gnocchi

• 4 lbs Yukon gold potatoes
• 2.5 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup ricotta cheese

Begin by boiling the potatoes in water until fork tender (figure that takes 20 minutes, give or take). Drain and peel off the skins while hot.

While the potatoes are still hot, push them through a ricer into a large bowl. Do not even think of using a food processor or a blender or you’ll be making glue.

Meanwhile, in another bowl, mix all of the other dough items (flour, ricotta, egg, etc). Work this into the potato. Handle the dough as little as is necessary to make the dough somewhat homogenous

Divide it into 8 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece out to be roughly 1/2 inch diameter cylinders. Just like when you were kneading the dough before, try to keep the handling to a minimum (so don’t go balling it up, rolling it out, starting over, etc. Just roll it out and stop).

Cut into one inch pieces and roll and press your finger into make indent in each one.

Drop into boiling water, don’t over crowd, do in batches and watch for the gnocchi to float in around five minutes.

Remove – Sauce with your favorite sauce or just a little brown butter and parmesan.

Enjoy!

www.LuciasTavola.com