Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It (8 page)

Dried •
In a glass jar, dried rosemary will last several months to several years.

Best in:
Sautés, stews, stuffings, dressings, and marinades, also with chicken, lamb, pork, and seafood; great with potatoes, and even in desserts.

Fun fact:
Rosemary is called the “herb of remembrance,” and was used in both weddings and funerals as a sign of love. Brides used to give rosemary to their grooms to ensure their fidelity. Apparently, if the groom couldn’t smell the rosemary, he wasn’t capable of being faithful. Ladies, get out your herbs!

R
OSEMARY
P
OTATOES

So quick and easy—especially with the microwave shortcut. We make this at least once a week.

6 small red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1.
Pierce each potato a couple of times with a fork. Place in a single layer in a microwave-safe baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on High until the potatoes are about half-tender, about 5 minutes. Carefully remove the plastic wrap (watch out for the steam!), and let the potatoes cool until easy to handle. Cut the potatoes lengthwise into quarters.

2.
Heat the oil and rosemary in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is hot. Add the potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy and golden brown, about 8 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and serve hot.

Sage -
SALVIA

Looks like:
Oval, flat, fuzzy, silver-green leaves.

Tastes like:
It has a very strong, musty, peppery taste. Use it sparingly, or it will take over the whole dish.

Dry or fresh:
Dried sage is another herb that is actually more potent and flavorful than when it’s fresh. For that reason (and because then I don’t have to use as much, it’s easier, and it still tastes great), I use dried sage.

Where to get it:
At the grocery store in the produce section, or with the jarred spices.

How to prep it:
Wash and pull the leaves off. Cut and go! Or just shake from the jar.

How to eat it:
It can be eaten raw, but I’m not sure why you would. It’s best used in recipes mixed with other flavors.

How to cook with it:
Be careful how much you add since it’s a powerful flavor. Cooking over long periods of time does diminish the flavor, so keep that in mind (if you want more flavor, add sage at the end of cooking; if you want it milder, add it in the beginning).

How to store it:

Fresh •
Wash and dry and store in a plastic bag in the fridge (although it will only last about four days).

Frozen •
Like parsley, you can just stick the leaves in a freezer bag and use them as you need them.

Dried •
They’ll last in dried form for six months or more in a dark cabinet.

Best in:
Fatty meats (because sage is supposed to help digest fat) and to even out really strong flavors, like game. Also great in stuffing, ravioli, eggplant, fish, chicken, and roasts.

Fun fact:
Centuries ago, when things were much less clean and hygienic than today, everyone smelled really bad. Especially when a plague came to town or something. Women used to pick little bouquets of fragrant herbs and flowers to hold over their noses when they went out in public—not just to stop the smells, but also hopefully to stop them from catching any germs. The little bouquets were called “nosegays,” because in the Middle Ages,
gay
was a word that meant “an ornament” or “pretty” (it still kind of means “pretty,” doesn’t it?) and the bouquets made things nicer for the nose. A typical nosegay included herbs with strong smells, such as sage, rosemary, thyme, and lavender.

P
ORK
C
HOPS
ALLA
S
ALVIA

In Italian cooking, we almost always cook our pork on the bone. It gives you much better flavor.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Four 8-ounce center-cut pork loin chops, on the bone

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried sage

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup “The Quickie” Tomato Sauce (
page 117
)

1.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork with the salt, ½ teaspoon of the sage, and the pepper and rub in the seasonings. Add to the skillet and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes.

2.
Add the tomato sauce and remaining ½ teaspoon sage and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer until the pork is opaque when pierced at the bone with the tip of a knife, about 15 minutes. Serve hot, with the sauce.

Thyme -
TIMO

Looks like:
Small green leaves on thin stalks.

Tastes like:
Lemony, slightly minty, and peppery.

Dry or fresh:
You can use thyme either way: dried or fresh. Fresh has a more subtle, green flavor (and, like rosemary, is super easy to buy, grow, and freeze), but dried thyme holds its flavor really, really well. If you have space and time issues in your kitchen, I’d go with dried. (Unless I were cooking fish, then the green thyme leaves look so much prettier on the dish.)

Where to get it:
From the produce section of your grocery store. Or grow it up there on your windowsill, right next to your rosemary.

How to prep it:
Wash it. Hold a sprig at the top with one hand and run the pinched fingers of your other hand down the stem. The leaves will fall off.

How to eat it:
You can use the leaves directly on salads or in any of your cooking.

How to cook with it:
Thyme actually releases its flavors slowly, so it’s an herb to add at the beginning of the cooking process.

How to store it:

Fresh •
In the refrigerator, but it will only last a couple of days. Wash before you use it.

Frozen •
Very similar to rosemary; in fact, I have my little jar of thyme right next to the rosemary in my freezer. Wash the thyme and dry it thoroughly. Then stick the whole branches in a plastic bag in the freezer. Once it’s fully frozen, take the bag out and shake the leaves off (they fall off the stem much easier when it’s frozen). Throw the stem away, and put all the leaves back in the freezer bag; or do a bunch at once, and put all the leaves in a glass jar in your freezer.

Dried •
In a glass jar, dried thyme will last several months to several years.

Best in:
Sauces, dressing, stuffing, salads, meat dishes, and seafood.

Fun fact:
Thyme was thought to give courage, so women often presented a sprig of thyme to knights going off to battle. It was also placed under pillows to ward off nightmares. (I might have to try that tonight. I’m still trying to get the images of Danielle screwing up my Shore house out of my mind. Literally, she screwed the place up . . . in front of my kids, no less.)

C
HICKEN
B
REASTS
WITH
L
EMONY
T
HYME
M
ARINADE

This is Gabriella’s favorite dinner. It’s very light and sweet, just like her!

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper

Four 9-ounce chicken breast halves with bones, skin removed

1.
Whisk the oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, salt, and hot pepper in a glass or earthenware shallow baking dish until combined. Add the chicken and turn to coat with the marinade. Refrigerate, turning the chicken occasionally, for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. (Or let stand at room temperature for no longer than 1 hour.)

2.
Position an oiled broiler rack about 8 inches from the source of the heat and preheat the broiler.

3.
Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Place the chicken on the rack, skinned side down. Broil for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over and baste with the reserved marinade. Broil until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chicken reads 170°F, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer to a platter and serve hot.