METHOD FOR THE STEAKS
Preheat the oven to 400°F, and heat a grill pan over medium-high heat, or a grill to High. Season the steaks with salt and pepper, and sear undisturbed to begin caramelization and to prevent tearing of the flesh, about 4 minutes on each side. Continue to cook until cooked to your desired level of doneness, paying attention to creating desirable “grill marks.” For medium-rare/medium, this will be to an internal temperature of 112°F to 115°F as measured with a meat thermometer, about 7 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the steak). Transfer to a baking sheet and cut small slits in the top surface of the steaks, tucking the Gorgonzola cheese into the slits. Place in the oven and let the cheese melt, for about 2 minutes but no more than 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest while you finish the sauce.
PRESENTATION
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the Barolo reduction into the center of each serving plate and place a steak on top of the sauce.
* * *
Pistachio-Crusted Salmon with a
Cointreau Glaze and Cranberries
* * *
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRANBERRIES
1 fresh lemon, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup Craisins (dried cranberries)
INGREDIENTS FOR THE SALMON
Four 4-to-6-ounce salmon fillets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 shallot cloves, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1 fresh lemon, micro-zested and juiced
¼ cup Cointreau liqueur (you can use the 50 ml airplane-size bottle)
½ cup shelled pistachios, rubbed in a clean towel to remove covering, toasted for 5 minutes in a 250°F oven, and crushed in a plastic bag with a rolling pin
ACCOMPANIMENT
Scalloped Potatoes
Fresh Steamed Asparagus with Lemon Butter
METHOD FOR THE CRANBERRIES
Add 3 tablespoons water, the lemon juice, and the sugar to a saucepot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the cranberries and lemon zest and return to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and allow to cool to room temperature.
METHOD FOR THE FISH
Season the salmon with salt and pepper, rubbing the seasonings into the flesh. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the canola oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté until they turn translucent, stirring frequently to prevent burning, about 1 minute. Transfer the shallots briefly to a utility plate. Increase the heat to medium high and add the remaining canola oil to the pan. When the oil begins to shimmer, sear the salmon with the skin side up, leaving the fish undisturbed for 3 or 4 minutes to allow caramelization to begin. This will prevent any tearing of the flesh or “crusting off” of the seasonings. Flip the fish to sear the other side in the same way. After 2 minutes, pour ¼ cup of the wine into the pan. Cook briefly (about 2 more minutes) to allow the flavors to integrate, then transfer the salmon fillets to a platter, drizzle the lemon juice over them, and cover to keep warm and to let carryover cook.
Return the shallots to the pan and add the remaining wine, allowing the liquids to reduce to ½ cup over medium-high heat, about 3 to 5 minutes, monitoring to prevent burning. Strain the liquid, wipe out the pan, and return the juices to the skillet. Add the liqueur and allow to further thicken to a approximately ¼ cup of glaze, about 2 more minutes.
PRESENTATION
Place a fillet in the center of each serving plate, spoon two or three teaspoons of the warm glaze over the entire surface of each fish fillet, and sprinkle each with 1 to 2 tablespoons toasted pistachios, covering all of the top surface. Place a tablespoon of the cranberries next to the fish and top with a pinch of lemon zest. Serve with scalloped potatoes and 3 or 4 asparagus spears as an accompaniment. For a treat serve with a French white wine. Try a Grand Cru burgundy such as Corton-Charlemagne, Louis Jadot 2005.
* * *
Toasted-Nut Chicken Breasts with Dried-Fruit
Wild Rice and Amaretto Sauce
* * *
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS FOR THE DRIED-FRUIT WILD RICE
2½ cups low-sodium chicken stock
1½ cups wild-rice mix (such as a blend of long-grain brown, sweet brown, whole-grain black, etc.), briefly soaked in 3 to 5 changes of enough cold water to cover and rinsed with clear water through a fine-mesh strainer
¾ cup mixed dried fruits (apricots, apples, pears, plums, and/or currants, such as Woodstock Farms brand unsulfured), cut into ¼-inch pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1½ teaspoons salt
½ cup cashews lightly crushed (place them in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin)
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN
1 cup dry-roasted walnuts (about 4 ounces), such as Emerald brand
½ cup millet or sorghum flour
Six 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup milk
2 to 4 tablespoons canola oil, as needed to sauté
3 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, as needed to sauté
Juice of 1 fresh lime
INGREDIENTS FOR THE AMARETTO SAUCE
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 shallot clove, minced
½ cup Amaretto di Saronno liqueur (100 ml or 2 airplane-size bottles)
1½ cups low-sodium chicken stock
¼ cup dry-roasted almonds (about 3 ounces), crushed, such as Blue Diamond or Emerald brand
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
METHOD FOR THE DRIED-FRUIT WILD RICE
Bring the stock plus 1¼ cups water to a boil in a medium saucepot. Stir in the rice, dried fruit, butter, and salt. Return to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook undisturbed for 50 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes, then stir in the crushed cashews.
METHOD FOR THE TOASTED-NUT CHICKEN
Through the feed opening of a running blender or food processor, add the walnuts and the millet flour and chop them finely. Set aside briefly.
Lay plastic wrap over a large cutting board, tucking the edges under the board to secure it. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place them in a single layer on the plastic wrap. Cover the seasoned chicken with another layer of plastic wrap, tucking the edges under in the same way to keep the mess down while you tenderize them. Pound the chicken with a meat mallet to integrate the seasonings into the surface of the chicken.
Spread the flour/nut combination in a shallow pie plate or on a clean, flat work surface. Whisk together the eggs and milk, using the mixture to moisten each piece of chicken before coating them with the flour/nuts.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat and sauté the coated chicken, curved side down first, leaving undisturbed for the first 4 minutes or so to allow the coating to integrate into the surface of the flesh and to prevent “Crusting off.” Melt another tablespoon of butter in a tablespoon of oil and flip the chicken breasts, cooking the other side in the same way. (You will probably have to sauté the chicken in batches.) Place the pieces of chicken into a roasting pan or onto a baking sheet. Bake in the oven until the flesh is fork tender and no longer pink, about 25 to 35 minutes.
METHOD FOR THE AMARETTO SAUCE
Make the sauce in the same pan in which you sautéed the chicken. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers and cook the shallot until it turns translucent, stirring frequently to prevent burning, about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the amaretto, allowing most of it to evaporate, about 3 minutes. Then, add the chicken stock and allow it to reduce by half, about 5 minutes. Remove this sauce from the heat, strain
it, and return it to the pan with the almonds, letting it reduce over medium heat to about ½ cup.
Remove the pan from the heat and use a small whisk or fork to gradually whisk the butter into the sauce, allowing each addition to melt before whisking in the next. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
PRESENTATION
Spoon ¾ cup rice into the center of each serving plate. Top with a chicken breast, spoon some sauce with almonds over it, and drizzle 1 teaspoon lime juice over each piece of chicken.
* * *
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Christmas Day
Delivery
THERE WAS NO Feast of the Seven Fishes that Christmas Eve. It would be a quiet holiday this year, not for a lack of festive spirit or reverence for the occasion, but because Everyone seemed to have other plans. Pettibone had gone to Leslie’s; Don Eddie and Phil went to visit the Don’s older sister, Ronnie, who was getting on and lived in a nice house in the suburbs; Johnny and Tina had invited Joe and Maria, Gia, and Mrs. C over for spaghetti and meatballs. They had invited Angelina and Francis, of course, but Angelina had decided to spend the last four days before Christmas exclusively with her son. The holiday fell on Thursday, so she closed Il Primo that Tuesday and got their tree up and decorated and all of her Christmas shopping done under the wire by Wednesday morning.
Angelina’s gift to herself was to spend Every waking minute with her little boy. She promised the family that she and the baby would come for a visit after dinner on Christmas Day, to open presents and such, but she keenly felt the need to play Santa on her own, maybe drink a mimosa toast to Frank, relax, play Christmas carols on the hi-fi, and celebrate with Francis. The best idea, it seemed to her, was to quit rushing after the future as if it were trying to get away from her and, for just one day, stop and think about what the future had to offer instead.
Basil had spent the day shopping for stocking stuffers and came home at twilight on Christmas Eve to an empty house, except for a note from Dottie letting him know that she had gone to pick up a ham for dinner and that Guy had gone over to the National. Basil put his hat and coat back on and decided to wander over to the diner for a nice piece of cake.
He had been worried about Guy for the last few weeks. He had gotten quieter and hadn’t been hanging around the house much. Whenever Basil asked him about it, he’d sigh or say that he’d been writing at the library or had gone for a long walk. So this, Basil decided, might be his chance to get to the bottom of it.
When he walked into the National, the place was un-characteristically quiet, seeing as it was Christmas Eve. He scanned the booths and saw Guy sitting at the counter in front of a napkin holder decorated with plastic holly, nursing a cup of coffee. Basil hung his jacket and hat on the coat rack.
“There you are,” said Basil, and clapped Guy on the shoulder as he took a seat beside him.
“Hey,” said Guy.
The waitress behind the counter dropped a menu in front of Basil. He opened it and scanned it with feigned interest.
“I haven’t seen you around very much these days,” said Basil.
Guy shrugged. “I’ve been spending a lot of time in the library—”
“—and walking, I know.”
Guy took a sip from his cup, but it had long gone cold. He pushed it away and signaled to the waitress.
“This is a funny place to be spending Christmas Eve,” said Basil, replacing his menu in the little spiral rack.
“I just wanted to sit and think for a while.”
The waitress came over and tipped hot coffee into Guy’s cup.
Basil nodded to her. “I’ll have a cup of coffee and a piece of that Bundt cake, please, miss.”
“Sure,” she said, and scuttled off.
Basil clasped his hands together professorially. “Sitting and thinking, eh? We have chairs at the house.”
“I thought I’d pick up a pie, too.”
“Now you’re talking. So, what are you sitting and thinking about?”
“Christmas, I guess. Baby Jesus. The future.”
“Ah,” said Basil as his cake arrived, “speaking of the future, I think you should try to get Angelina to come over for dinner tomorrow. Maybe you could stop by in the early afternoon and invite her. I already asked, but she might not turn down a face-to-face invitation from you on Christmas Day when she’s home all alone with the baby.”
Guy turned and looked at him. “She’s going to be all alone on Christmas?”
Basil took a forkful of his cake. “I don’t think it’s a good idea either.”
Guy went quiet and thoughtful, the way he so often did.
Basil pushed the cake aside. It was a little dry for his taste, but the coffee was strong and piping hot.
“You like Angelina, don’t you?”
Guy seemed to perk up at the mention of her name. “A lot. Basil, I’ve never known anyone like her. She’s mostly what I’ve been sitting here thinking about.”
“So …”
Guy’s mouth drew itself into a thin line of frustration. “But, I feel a pull, too. A pull back to the life I left behind. Being with her, especially the day her baby was born … I never told you, but, at first, we thought there was something wrong with the baby, that he wasn’t breathing. She asked me to baptize him.”
“Did you?” asked Basil, surprised.
For an instant, Guy was back in Angelina’s bedroom on that day, hearing her call out to him. “No. I didn’t have to. He was fine. But I could see how important it was to her. How important the condition of his soul was to her.”
Basil nodded; these were big issues that Guy was grappling with, and they were especially resonant tonight of all nights.
“Some men might not like seeing a woman, a widow, with a new baby,” Basil said, then sipped.
“That’s not it. Not even close. I just feel like I have more questions than answers in my head. I am attracted to Angelina and I think that helping to deliver her baby was the most moving and powerful thing I have ever experienced. But I have questions—questions about faith, and about myself. About where I belong, where I need to be so that I can do the most good. Maybe she deserves somebody who’s not questioning everything all the time. Somebody who will be there just for her, on her terms.”
Basil decided the time had come to speak frankly. “Guy, maybe what she deserves is a good man with a good heart who can be with her and love her and her child. Terms? They can always be negotiated. If you want my honest opinion, she needs to move on, and you need to move on. But nothing can happen until somebody makes a move. You need to make a choice, Guy. If you don’t, somebody might beat you to it.”
Guy nodded solemnly, knowing that Basil was right.
Their waitress came by with a white cardboard pie box tied with string and placed it down in front of Guy with the check.
“By the way. I was offered a job.”
Basil looked shocked, then tried not to. “Really?”
“Yeah. At a paper out in Bucks County, doing some writing and editing. Pretty good money, too, considering it’s not a big paper. All those hours at the library dusting off my writing skills might be paying off.”
“Are you going take it?”
Guy laughed, since he knew what kind of a response his answer was going to get. “I haven’t decided.”
Basil had to laugh, too. “Oh, and while we’re talking about money,” he said, “I have a question for you. At the wedding, Angelina mentioned to me that Jerry took her shopping for a crib and all the baby things and thanked us all for pitching in the money. I didn’t say anything to her, but I never put in any money, did you?”
“No. Jerry never asked me.”
“Me neither,” said Basil. “I asked the others if they chipped in, but he didn’t ask any of them either.”
“So, Jerry did it all on his own and paid for everything?”
“I guess so.”
Basil shook a little sugar into his cup and stirred it with the wrong end of his spoon.<
br />
Guy looked at the door and back at Basil, as though he’d just heard the bell ring and seen somebody he knew unexpectedly come in. A change seemed to come over him, something clicked, as if he’d just solved the toughest clue in a tricky crossword puzzle.
Without warning, Guy stood up and threw some money on the counter. “I have to go. I have something I have to do.”
Basil looked up, startled. “When are you coming home?”
“I’m not sure.” Guy put on his coat and picked up his pie box.
Basil turned on his stool to face Guy head-on. “Guy, if you’ll take some advice from an older man, let me just say that someday, somehow, you are going to have to make up your mind.”
Guy put his hand on Basil’s shoulder and looked him right in the eye. “Know what? I think I just did. Merry Christmas!”
Christmas morning came bright and clear, and Angelina could hear the church bells ringing off in the distance. She had bundled Francis up and had taken him to midnight mass the night before, which was her favorite mass of the year. The church always looked so marvelous, and all of the altar boys got the chance to participate at one time in their bright red cassocks and white gowns, and the singing was the most enthusiastic of the entire calendar year, by far. Francis slept right through the whole thing.
They woke up and had a little breakfast together, then Angelina carried him into the living room and his eyes opened wide when he saw the colors and shapes and sizes of all the boxes and packages that she had stayed up to lay under the tree the night before. They opened a few and saved some for later. She wanted to make the day last.
Angelina’d had a dream about Frank early Christmas morning, which surprised her. She hadn’t had one for a month or two, even though she thought of him at least a few times every day, most often whenever she looked at Francis. In her dream, Francis was older, about five she guessed, and he and Frank were down in the basement. They were building a child’s writing desk together, just in time for the start of first grade. Frank was teaching Francis how to hold a hammer and tap in a nail, how to drive it in straight and evenly. She watched them work for a while, then said to Frank, “I didn’t know you guys were down here.”
Angelina's Bachelors Page 27