I thought it might be nice to post a few of Charlie's recipes/posts/notes. Care to join me?

Yes, another keeper. He said of late he used whole wheat pasta. There

are a couple of brands at Whole Foods he liked: Bionature is one.

 
Hot brie kisses - I'm making for the first time this w/e.

I see that they are very popular on this site.

Betty

 
I too...

had a near miss a few years ago on a trip from Pennsylvania to New York learning later from Charlie that we went right by his freeway exit. I so wish now we could've made it happen to meet.

 
Charlie's hot brie kisses are GREAT! I've served them time & time again + used them for

catering gigs, and I always receive rave reviews.

 
Our favorite too--I had a hard time duplicating my Mom's recipe til I saw Charlie's

it's spot on and my family looks forward to having it every year, it takes us all back "home."

 
Neapolitan Biscotti

Neapolitan Biscotti

Recipe By: Bon Appetit
Serving Size: 18

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole almonds
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel

Directions:

1. My variation included a few turns of nutmeg, orange flower honey instead of plain honey,1-1/2 teaspoons almond oil in place of 1-1/2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil, and 1-1/2 teaspoons of finely grated orange peel rather than the 1 teaspoon listed above (I like intense flavor).

2. Position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line large baking sheet with buttered foil - or - parchment paper - or vegetable spray and flour the baking pan.

3. Finely grind 3/4 cup almonds in food processor. Transfer to large bowl. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. In a separate small bowl, whisk honey, oil, egg, egg yolk, and orange peel until blended. Add to dry ingredients and stir until dough just begins to hold together (if dough seems firm and dry, let stand 10 minutes, uncovered, to soften).

4. Turn out dough onto lightly floured work surface. Add remaining 3/4 cup whole almonds and knead to distribute evenly (alternatively, make logs, punch almonds into dough, reshape logs). Divide dough in half. Roll each half by hand into 12-inch-long, 2-inch-wide log. Place logs on prepared sheet, spacing 4 inches apart. Bake until firm to touch and dark brown (logs may crack), about 40-50 minutes.

5. Cool logs on sheet on rack 15 minutes. Transfer logs to work surface. Using serrated or very sharp knife, cut logs (diagonally, if desired) into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place on same baking sheet (I stand them up, as they're baked, alternating the slices so they're apart as far as possible), and bake until light brown and dry, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheet on rack. Can be made 1 week ahead, store airtight at room temperature.

6. Makes 3 to 4 dozen

 
Lasagne Bolognese

Lasagne Bolognese--and a toast at the end smileys/smile.gif

The magic in this dish is the nearly one quart of besciamella (nutmeg spiced white sauce) that is not only the topping for the lasagna, but the moisture absorbed into each layer of fresh (make your own or purchase) lasagna noodles. There is no ricotta, only a sprinkling of parmesan on each layer which infuses the pie with a nutty pungence. Delicately thin fresh pasta of your own making should may result in five to seven layers, but if you use storebought (as I went out for yesterday afternoon, the extra hour on my feet to make my own would have killed me) your noodles might be a tad thicker and restrict you to five layers in a 2" deep pan. Your pan should be approximately 9 x 12 or 13, and the finished pie will serve 6 - 8 (the piece shown above was 1/6th).

For the meat sauce/filling:

EVOO and butter
2 carrots, finely diced
2 celery ribs, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
five cloves garlic, minced
About 3 ounces pancetta
1 lb ground veal
1 lb ground pork
3 ounces (half a typical can) of tomato paste
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry white wine
3 basil leaves, finely chopped, or 2 pinches dried
salt and pepper to taste

For the besciamella:

5 tblsp butter
3 tblsp flour
3 cups whole milk
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Also:

1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
2 tblsp olive oil

First, make the meat filling. Put enough butter and olive oil in a 6-8 quart pot (Dutch oven is perfect) to sweat the vegetables until tender, about ten minutes. Then add the ground meats and pancetta and cook until the meat cooks through and begins to crumble. Break up any lumps and add the milk, wine, basil, pepper and tomato paste. Simmer for at least one hour, then salt to taste and allow the sauce to reduce if neccessary, uncovered, to make a thick, but not dry, sauce.

While the meat filling is cooking, prepare the besciamella per classic white sauce methods: make the roux (melt the butter, add flour), let it cook for a few minutes, then add hot milk (scald it first and it won't form so much skin), nutmeg and salt. Simmer on low heat for about ten minutes to completely cook the flour, then set aside.

Blanch the pasta: bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 tblsp of vegetable oil to help prevent sticking (purists will tell you that this is an unneccessary step if you don't crowd the pot, but I've always found it useful). Drop in a few leaves of pasta at a time and fish them out in a minute or less, laying out on towels to drain and dry.

A note about pasta quantity: My pasta sheets were longer than my pan but half a sheet was about the width, so I cut the sheets in half and planned to use three overlapping pieces per layer. I ended up with four layers needing 12 pieces.

Assemble the lasagna: put a ladle full of meat sauce on the bottom of the pan with 2 tblsp EVOO and about two tblsp of parmesan. Top with the first layer of pasta, then cover the pasta with a ladle (about half a cup) of the white sauce. (You basically need to reserve one cup of white sauce for the topping and divide the remainder among the number of layers you expect to make.) Now top the white sauce with the meat filling: if you're making five layers of pasta, then distribute one fourth of the sauce now), and two more tablespoons of the parmigiano. Repeat, topping the last layer of pasta with the final cup of the besciamella and the remaining parmesan. If you like (I liked), sprinkle more basil on top and black pepper.

Bake lasagna uncovered at 350 until golden and bubbling, about 45 minutes if you bake it immediately after assembly when the ingredients are room temperature or warm. It will take more time if the lasagna is chilled before baking. Allow the pie to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

We enjoyed this with a 99 Monti Barbera from Italy

 
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