Posted by Loulou on Jul 15, 2014 | 5 comments

My tip: Smack garlic cloves with the flat of a heavy knife to help peel them.  I just jump on them after playing around with them in the kitchen…

Well, I’m in the kitchen watching mama put down notes about little things she comes up with that are tricks that could save time or little tweaks that could make things you cook taste better or ways to cook, period, that one might not have thought of. For example, I smelled grilling almonds and that always makes me salivate, so while I sat there drooling next to mama’s foot, she said, “Loulou, just look at all the salt left in the almond pan after I take out the almonds to store them. There must be about a teaspoon of fine salt, FLAVORED with almonds!” And so she put the grilled salt (haha) in a little dish next to the stove and is cooking with it, just for fun. I’m not sure there is a real strong taste in the salt, but mama likes the idea of it.

Then she really wanted a soft-boiled egg since our generous neighbor had just come over with treasures from his musical chickens (!) and mama didn’t want to wait for water to boil or eggs to get to room temp and so she put the eggs in a little pan of warm water and put it on the stove to come to a boil and put the timer on 10 minutes and when the timer went off, voilá, the eggs were done. This might not work for everyone because some people keep their eggs out in the open, as they do around here, but the eggs have to be VERY fresh to keep them out of the fridge. I learned that keeping them in the fridge is great for me, because those places in refrigerators where you keep eggs often seem to make people drop an egg. And when mama is trying to put the eggs from the carton into those little cutouts in the plastic holders, sometimes, rarely but SOMETIMES, that egg falls right on the floor and guess who is called to clean up? Boy, do I work around here.

Mama also adds lemon to many dishes to add a little acidity to soups, sauces and salads, and she just put lemon peel, grated fine, in her caponata, a dish the Italian kids love. Caponata can also be used on pasta, and here’s what you do:

Chop in small dice (or use a food processor, cutting everything into chunks before pulsing, but do not chop too fine):

1 large eggplant

1 large sweet onion

3 stalks celery

3 garlic cloves

4 tablespoons capers

Sauté everything in 1 cup extra virgin olive oil until nicely browned

Add:

1 1/2 cups plain tomato sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar and a dash of balsamic vinegar, if you have it

Juice of a lemon

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Cook slowly until everything is soft and then add a handful of toasted pine nuts and mix well. Serve on crackers or pasta or just eat it with a spoon! You can sprinkle fresh chopped basil or mint on top before serving… Now here’s the thing—mama got the pasta ready but gave me mine WITHOUT THE CAPONATA!

WHERE IS IT?

What is she smokin’?