Keep reading for the recipes from Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. But first, here’s a look at the Sweet Ricotta Dumplings with Strawberry Sauce. Mmmm…

Celebrating Mom This Mother’s Day
By Lidia Matticchio Bastianich,
Author of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes

In my family, favorite dishes are always being altered according to what is available in the market and what is the best in quality — especially when I’m cooking. Family meals together are near and dear to my heart, and I am always looking for a reason to cook a big meal to share with my grandchildren, children and with Mother’s Day just around the corner, my mother Erminia, who we all fondly call “Grandma.”

Growing up, my brother and I loved our mother’s Chicken & Potatoes, fried together in a big skillet so they’re crisp and moist at the same time — this was my mother’s, or “Grandma’s” specialty, and it was our favorite! This simple and delicious dish has now been passed down through the family, and my grandchildren are always asking me to make it. When I am at the stove — and though I follow my mother’s basic procedures — I can’t resist playing around with the recipe and adding my own flair to it. However, here I’m sharing her Classic Chicken & Potatoes recipe. Maybe you can make it for your mother this Mother’s Day. And for something sweet, I have the perfect recipe that “Grandma” absolutely loves — my Sweet Ricotta Dumplings with Strawberry Sauce. These delicate and creamy morsels sit beautifully in a crimson pool of fresh strawberry sauce.

So this Mother’s Day, why not get into the kitchen with mom? Cooking, eating and laughing together is a wonderful way to celebrate your mom this Mother’s Day and all year round.

MY MOTHER’S CHICKEN AND POTATOES (WITH MY SPECIAL TOUCHES)
From Lidia’s Family Table
Serves 4 or more

For the Basic Chicken and Potatoes:

• 2- ½ pounds chicken legs or assorted pieces (bone-in)
• ½ cup canola oil
• ½ teaspoon salt, or more to taste
• 1 pound red bliss potatoes, preferably no bigger than 2 inches across
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium-small onions, peeled and quartered lengthwise
• 2 short branches fresh rosemary with plenty of needles
• For My Special Touches — Try Either or Both:
• 4 to 6 ounces sliced bacon (5 or 6 slices)
• 1 or 2 pickled cherry peppers, sweet or hot, or none — or more! — cut in half and seeded

Prepping and Browning the Chicken (and Bacon) and Potatoes:

Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels. Trim off the excess skin and all visible fat. Cut the drumsticks from the thighs. If using breast halves, cut into two small pieces.

Make the bacon roll-ups: Cut the bacon slices in half crosswise and roll each strip into a neat, tight cylinder. Stick a toothpick through the roll to secure it; cut or break the toothpick so only a tiny bit sticks out (allowing the bacon to roll around and cook evenly.)

Pour the canola oil into the skillet and set it over high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with ¼ teaspoon salt on all sides. When the oil is very hot, lay the pieces in it, skin side down, and an inch or so apart — watch out for oil spatters. Don’t crowd the chicken: if necessary, fry it in batches, with similar pieces (like drumsticks) together.

Drop the bacon rolls into the oil around the chicken, turning and shifting them often. Let the chicken pieces fry in place for several minutes to brown on the underside, then turn and continue frying until they’re golden brown on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes or more. Fry breast pieces only for 5 minutes or so, taking them out of the oil as soon as they are golden. Let the bacon rolls cook and get slightly crisp, but not dark. Adjust the heat to maintain steady sizzling and coloring; remove the crisped chicken pieces with tongs to a bowl.

Meanwhile, rinse and dry the potatoes; slice each one through the middle on the axis that gives the largest cut surface, then toss them with the olive oil and ¼ teaspoon salt.

When all the chicken and bacon is cooked and out of the skillet, pour off the frying oil. Return the skillet to medium heat and put in all the potatoes, cut side down in a single layer, into the hot pan. With a spatula, scrape all the olive oil out of the mixing bowl into the skillet; drizzle over it a bit more oil if the pan seems dry. Fry and crisp the potatoes for about 4 minutes to form a crust, then move them around the pan, still cut side down, until they’re all brown and crisp, 7 minutes or more. Turn them over, and fry another 2 minutes to cook and crisp on their rounded skin sides.

Cooking Everything Together:

Still over medium heat, toss the onion wedges and rosemary branches around the pan, in with the potatoes. If using cherry peppers, either hot or sweet, cut the seeded halves into ½-inch wide pieces and scatter them in the pan too.

Return the chicken pieces — except breast pieces — to the pan, along with the bacon rolls; pour in any chicken juices that have accumulated. Raise the heat slightly, and carefully turn and tumble the chicken, potatoes, and onion (and bacon and/or pepper juices), so they’re heating and getting coated with pan juices — but take care not to break the potato pieces. Spread everything out in the pan — potatoes on the bottom as much as possible, to keep crisping up — and cover.

Return the heat to medium, and cook for about 7 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, then uncover and tumble the pieces and potatoes (and bacon rolls) again. Cover, and cook another 7 minutes or so, adding the breast pieces at this point. Give everything another tumble. Now cook covered for 10 minutes more.

Remove the cover, turn the pieces again, and cook in the open skillet for about 10 minutes to evaporate the moisture and caramelize everything. Taste a bit of potato (or chicken) for salt, and sprinkle on more as needed. Turn the pieces now and then; when they are all glistening and golden, and the potatoes are cooked through, remove the skillet from the stove and — as I do at home — bring it right to the table. Serve portions of chicken and potatoes, or let people help themselves.

SWEET RICOTTA DUMPLINGS WITH STRAWBERRY SAUCE
From Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy
Makes about 18 canederli, serving 6

• 3 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered (about 6 cups)
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice for the canederli
• 1 tablespoon plus ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 pound fresh ricotta, drained
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Put the cut strawberries in the saucepan (or cut them right into it), pour the sugar and lemon juice over, and toss together. Set the pan over medium-low heat; stir occasionally as the berries release juice and it gradually starts to bubble. Adjust the heat to keep the juice simmering, and cook for about 8 minutes, until the berries are soft and the juice is slightly syrupy. Turn off the heat, and cover the pot to keep the sauce warm.

Meanwhile, fill the big pot with about 6 quarts water, add 1 tablespoon salt, and heat it to a boil. Put the butter in the big skillet and melt it over very low heat; turn off the flame, but leave the skillet on the warm burner.

For the dough: Dump the ricotta into a large bowl, and stir to loosen it and break up lumps, then blend in the eggs and ¼ teaspoon salt. Sprinkle all the flour on top, and fold it in gently, just until it is all incorporated, with no small clumps of dry flour. The dough will be stiff and somewhat sticky.

Adjust the heat so the cooking water is bubbling gently. Fill a glass or jar with cold water to moisten the scoop, so the dough doesn’t stick. Dip the ice-cream scoop into the water glass, scoop up a round of dough, level it off (scraping excess back in the bowl), and dispense the dumpling into the cooking pot. Scoop up all the dough in the same way, and get the dumplings cooked as quickly as possible. If you don’t have an ice-cream scoop, use a ¼-cup measure. Empty each portion into your hand (both hands must be lightly floured!), and quickly roll it into a ball, then drop the dumpling into the pot.

As you form the canederli, keep the scoop moistened (or your hands floured) and the water at a gentle simmer: don’t let it boil vigorously, which can break apart the canederli.

After all are in the pot, let the dumplings cook, without stirring, until all have risen to the surface of the water. Simmer them another 5 minutes, and then scoop one out and test it for doneness. First, press it gently: it should feel solid and spring back to the touch. If it feels soft at the center, return it to the pot and cook the batch a minute or two longer. Scoop out another dumpling, and cut into it to check that the center is not wet and oozing and that the dough looks uniformly cooked through.

Meanwhile, have the big skillet with melted butter warming over very low heat. Lift out the cooked dumplings with a spider, let them drain over the pot for a few seconds, then gently drop them in the skillet. Roll the dumplings gently so they’re coated all over with butter, then turn off the heat and leave them in the warm pan for a few minutes to firm up.

Serve the canederli on warm dessert plates, spooning a pool of strawberry sauce in the center of each plate and setting two or three canederli on top. For family-style serving, arrange the canederli in a large, rimmed platter and drizzle some of the strawberry sauce around them in a colorful border. Pass the remaining sauce at the table.

© 2010 Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, author of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes

Author Bio
Lidia Matticchio Bastianich – coauthor of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes – is the author of five previous books, four of them accompanied by nationally syndicated public television series. She is the owner of the New York City restaurant Felidia (among others), and she lectures on and demonstrates Italian cooking throughout the country. She lives on Long Island, and can be reached at her website, www.LidiasItaly.com.

Quick, Healthy, Springtime Dishes — Featuring Herbs!

By Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, author of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes

The use of fresh herbs has exploded in the American kitchen today. I recall that as a young apprentice in Italy — at my great-aunt’s apron strings — for every herb we had in the garden, there seemed to be a pot on the stove to match.

Some herbs were better to cook with while others were better added at the end to a finished dish. For example, rosemary, bay leaves and thyme are mostly used for long cooking where their oils are extracted slowly out of their leaves. Sage, oregano and marjoram need very little cooking time, and herbs such as basil, parsley and mint are great to toss in raw at the end — just enough to release their refreshing aromas.

If you have small children a wonderful way to introduce them to the enticing aromas of herbs is to gently crush the herbs in your hands and let them smell. I did this with my grandchildren when they were very small and it’s a great way to get them excited about the world of herbs and food at an early age.

In fact, once you get your small children excited about herbs, introduce them to your own dishes. Here I’m sharing some of the quickest, and most child-friendly. Enjoy!

HERB PESTO
Makes 1 ½ cups

• 1 cup packed fresh Italian parsley leaves
• ½ cup packed fresh basil leaves
• ½ cup packed mixed fresh sage, thyme, and marjoram leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Wash the herb leaves in cool water and dry them thoroughly, preferably in a salad spinner. Combine the herbs and garlic in a blender and blend on low speed, slowly adding the oil while the machine is running, until the pesto is smooth and all the oil is incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Keep in a sealed jar in the refrigerator and use as needed. Pesto will keep refrigerated for up to 4 weeks or it may be frozen for up to 3 months. Make sure there is a thin film of oil over the pesto to keep its flavor and color bright.

HERB FRITTATA
Serves 2 as an appetizer, 1 as a lunch dish
From Lidia’s Family Table (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004)

• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and fresh herbs until just blended together.

Heat the butter and oil in the small frying pan until it just starts to sizzle, then pour in the eggs and turn the heat down very low. Cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes. The eggs will start to puff up and sizzle at the edges. Lift a corner of the frittata with a spatula, and check to see if the bottom has browned in splotches. When it has, flip the frittata over by giving the pan a firm, quick shake up and over toward you so that the egg mass dislodges and flips over in one piece. Or, if that unnerves you, turn the frittata over with a spatula. Cook the second side for 1 ½ to 2 minutes, again checking to see if the bottom has browned to your liking. Serve right away, or let cool to room temperature and cut the frittata in wedges.

BAKED FISH WITH SAVORY BREAD CRUMBS
Serves 6

Landlocked Umbria does not have a seafood cuisine. But its mountain lakes, rivers, and streams abound in freshwater fish, like the tasty tench. This simple preparation is one I found in Umbria, and it is excellent for fillets of our sweet-water varieties, such as carp or whitefish, or even light ocean-fish fillets like sole.

• 2 pounds whitefish fillets
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of a large lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
• ½ cup white wine
• 6 plump garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
• ½ cup fine dry bread crumbs
• Zest of a large lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste, chopped fine
• Fresh lemon slices, for serving

Recommended equipment: A 4-quart shallow rectangular baking dish; a heavy-bottomed skillet or saute pan, 12-inch diameter or larger, with a cover.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly salt the fish on both sides, using about ¼ teaspoon salt in all. Pour 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lemon juice, white wine, and another ¼ teaspoon salt into the baking dish, and whisk together well. Drop in the garlic cloves, and stir with the dressing. Lay the fillets in the dish, turn and swish them in the dressing so both sides are thoroughly moistened, and arrange them, skin side down, in one layer.

Toss the bread crumbs in a bowl with the lemon zest, parsley, oregano, chopped peperoncino, and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Drizzle with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, and toss the crumbs well until evenly moistened with oil.

Spoon the seasoned bread crumbs on top of the fillets in a light, even layer. Bake, uncovered, until the crumbs are crisp and golden and the fish is cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Lift the fish out with a spatula, and set on a warm platter to serve family-style, or on individual plates. Spoon over it the juices left in the baking dish, and serve right away, with lemon slices on the side.

© 2010 Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, authors of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes

Author Bio
Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, coauthor of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipe, is the author of five previous books, four of them accompanied by nationally syndicated public television series. She is the owner of the New York City restaurant Felidia (among others), and she lectures on and demonstrates Italian cooking throughout the country. She lives on Long Island, and can be reached at LidiasItaly.com.

(Sage image at top via sxc)