Steak Night - Italian Style

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  Our McDougal Street group of friends has in the past few years cultivated quite a nice array of rituals and traditions that we adhere to. Rituals that have enriched all our lives, rituals such as our regular dinner parties which have never had any specific name or theme to them. Well yes a theme in that they are All pretty much Italian Meals (99%) and we always play lots of great music. It’s just that they were never labeled anything more than dinner parties, so we have these, then we started Mojito Mondays, and now the latest one that I’m about to tell you about. So, the main theme though is that we share times at the table, this is always behind our regular dinner parties, Mojito Mondays or other. That’s what it’s all about, spending time at the table with friends and family, eating, drinking wine, and chatting as we listen to great music (No Rap, Techno, or Metal are allowed, “Never!”). These get-togethers bring great joy to all of us, making living in a city as fast paced and sometimes un-homey as New York, that much more pleasant and livable, giving us all a better sense of family and togetherness. We all have own particular circles of friends. For some reason or another some of our closest friends have never, or rarely been to any of our meals and gatherings. Such has been the case of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Mr. Raoul Marti. Raoul has been to a few of our gatherings, but not nearly as much as we’d like him to be, and for the fact of being one of my closest and long term friend. He’s a great pal who’s always there no matter what. We all love him, Jimmy, Tanya, and I, so when Jimmy ran into him a few weeks ago they talked about getting together for dinner one night. Jimmy said, “Let’s do it!” Raoul says, “Let’s get Danny to cook, that Boy can Cook his Ass off. I’ll buy the Steaks and we’ll let Danny cook.” So it was set. We decided on the following Monday night, and Steak Night was on its way. We went to Ottomanelli’s and picked up some fine Prime Aged Sirloin Steaks, New York Cut, 2 inches thick. I picked up some potatoes and some good old Iceberg Lettuce and cucumbers for salad which we had as a starter with fresh roast red peppers dressed in olive oil and one of Mr. Marti’s favorites, Assiago Cheese. I started the sautéed potatoes first, just the way Raoul likes them, ever since we had them for lunch one day when we were in Paris with one of Raoul’s ex-girlfriends who was in Paris with some other friends working in the fashion industry during the Paris Spring Prete de Porte Shows. The girls were all working during the day, so Raoul and I went to a great little Bistro that our friend John Lee recom-mended to me a few years back, “La Palette” on Rue d’ Seine in Saint Germain de Pres. It’s a great little Bistro. We walked in there one day, and the place was packed. The owner, Jean Marie, has a reputation for be a little bit of a Hard-Ass. If he doesn’t like you, simply because he doesn’t like you, it’s not good. So I was a bit worried as to whether we’d meet Jean Marie’s approval or not. We walked in and he greeted us and telling us to wait at the bar and he’d have a table for us in a few minutes. “So-far-so-good.” La Palette is a real neighborhood place. Not a tourist in sight. Other than us that is, but hey, we’re not tourist, we’re Hip New Yorkers. Ha-Ha! It was lunchtime and the restaurant was full of businessmen, secretaries, hop girls, and elderly neighborhood l adies lunching solo or with a friend. The place was full of energy. It had a great Vibe and we were excited, and eager for a nice lunch. La Palette is your quintessential Parisian Bistro. It has a warm delightful feeling, as any good bistro should. It’s furnishing and décor fit the part. You know what I mean? The food is simple, delicious, and affordable. The waiters are dressed in the trad-itional Parisian Bistro Waiters Garb of; black pants with white shirts, Black Vest ( pockets filled with Pens and Corkscrew) Black Bowties, and long flow-ing white aprons, as is the proprietor Jean Marie, he dresses just like the waiters who work for him. So we sit down and look at the menu. I’m excited to see that they are serving one of my favorites that day, Pomme Daphinoise. I explain what they are to Raoul and he’s hopped-up to try them as well. We both order a couple steaks with Pomme Dauphinoise and when Raoul orders a ham and cheese sandwich as an appetizer Jean Marie looks at him sort of funny, but doesn’t say anything. He tells us that they have run out of Pomme Daupinoise, but they have Pomme Saute. We settle for them instead. Lunch was great! Our Steaks and the sautéed Potatoes were wonderful. One of the best Steak Dinners of ever had. Superb! When we finished eating, Raoul asked Jean Marie if we could smoke the Cuban Cigars that we had bought. “But of course,” beamed Jean Marie. We ordered a couple Cognacs, sparked-up the Cuban Cigars, and we were in Seventh Heaven; in Paris, at a great bistro, with tasty food, a cool vibe, and finishing up with some fine Cognac and a couple of Cuban Cohibas, and being accepted by Jean Marie. Now this was one fine day. We had a great time and were accepted by Jean Marie, so when it was time for lunch the next day and I asked Mr. Marti where he wanted to go for lunch, Raoul was quick to reply, “let’s go to La Palette.” I said suprisingly, “You want to eat there again?” “Why not? It was great,” Raoul retorted. And indeed it was. Raoul is smart enough to know that you stick with a winner, and La Palette is just that. When we walked into La Palette again that day, and it was packed as usual, Jean Marie beamed and said, “Hello my friends, I’ll have a table for you in a few minutes.” It’s good to feel accepted and wanted. Jean Marie gave us the same great corner table we had the day before. So Raoul and I sat down for another memor-able meal, a lunch at La Paltette on the Rue de Seine in the Great City of Light, Paris, France, Voila! “We had it made in the shade. Made in La Palette that is,” and all was fine in the World. Well, Paris anyway!  

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Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta, telling his Wife How to Cook the Steak.

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  See how you can bring up one subject and go on a tangent about it? I was talking about Steak Night and go off about Paris and La Palette. “Hey it’s a great little story, that is pertinent to this one about Steak Night.” So, let’s get back to our latest, greatest new tradition, “Steak Night.” It’s pretty simple and straight forward after I spent the time on Pomme Saute (sautéed potatoes). Here’s how it goes. We picked up some great Steaks from Ottomanelli’s. I make tasty sautéed potatoes, just the way my buddy Raoul likes them, as do I, along with Jim- my, and Tanya as well. Let us not forget my cousin Tony Bellino who once asked me, “How the Hell do you make the potatoes taste so good?” “Top Secret Tony.” Tony was once a little hurt and deflated one time when he asked his wife Debbie who is real Steak Lovers if she wanted him to cook a steak for her one night? Debbie said, “No thanks. Danny is coming over tomorrow, I’ll let him cook one.” Meaning, not that she doesn’t want Tony to go through all the trouble, but that she likes the way I cook a steak better than her husband Tony. “Sorry Tony, but Facts are Facts” Just kidding. In all fairness to my cousin Tony, he is actually an excellent cook. Of course he is. His mother, Fran Bellino was one of this country’s great Italian American Home-Cooks, and Tony’s Dad and Fran’s husband, Uncle Tony is as we’ve already mentioned, quite the good cook as well. But when it comes to Steaks, I cook one of the best, better than some famed Steak Houses. “No brag, just fact.” So there was a new tradition we started. We call it “Steak Night.” The participants will usually be myself and Raoul, Jimmy and Tanya will always be there, and we’ll invite one or two other guests, as well as any lady friends any of us happen to be seeing at the time sometimes. We get together with this close-knit group of friends, cook up some tasty Steaks, Potatoes, a Salad, and maybe some roast peppers and cheese. We listen to some good music, drink wine, relax, and chat about this and that, and we have the best time imaginable. It’s what we do, great times with friends and family around the table.




  EXCERPTED From La TAVOLA  by Daniel Bellino Zwicke    

La TAVOLA

LEARN HOW to COOK STEAK

ITALIAN STYLE

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My Neighborhood Butcher

Italian Butcher

PINO'S PRIME MEAT

GREENWICH VILLAGE

NEW YORK

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Clams Casino

 

CLAMS CASINO

Clams Casino was created in 1917 at the Little Casino at Narragansett, Rhode Island and has been a huge hit ever since. This dish has been a favorite Italian-American Classics, mostly in restaurants. The dish was hugely popular in the 1970’2 and 80’ s but has cooled off on popularity in recent years. It’s still quite popular, but not so much as in those peak years when it was on just about every single Italian Restaurant menu in America. Never the less, it’s tasty as heck, and still has a great place in the Italian-American Culinary World.   Recipe: 24 Littleneck Clams (or Cherrystones) 6 Bacon Strips. Cook till lightly browned ½ pound Butter, soft at room temperature 1 small Red Bell Pepper, cleaned and diced fine 1 Green Bell Pepper, cleaned & diced fine 4 Garlic Cloves, peeled and minced fine 6 tablespoons Fresh chopped Parsley Salt & Black Pepper 1/2 cup Plain Bread Crumbs Wash clams and place in a large pot with half a cup of water. Cover pot and turn on flame to high. Steam clams in covered pot just to the point that they have all opened. You need to mix the clams around in the pot with a wooden spoon while they are cooking. Cover pot after mixing. As soon as all the clams are opened remove from heat and set aside to cool. Dice 2 of the Bacon Strips fine and place in a mixing bowl with all remaining ingredients, except the bread crumbs. Season to taste with salt & black pepper. Mix all ingredients into the softened butter with a wooden spoon. After the clams have cooled, remove from pot and remove the top part of the calm shell while leaving the meat of the clam in the bottom half shell with any remaining juices from the clam (do not discard clam juice). Cut bacon into little squares that will fit into the clam shells. Place about 1 tablespoon of the butter mixture over the top of each clam.  







  This Recipe is Excerpted from SEGRETO ITALIANO  by Daniel Bellino Zwicke    

SEGRETO ITALIANO

SECRET ITALIAN RECIPES

and FAVORITE DISHES

by Daniel Bellino "Z"

 

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Marinara Sauce

 

"Tomato Sauce and Marinara are two completely different things. It’s all about quick, and light, and feeling the tomatoes in your mouth,” said Lidia Bastianich, who recently published her 12th book on the food of Italy, “Lidia’s Commonsense Italian Cooking” (Knopf).

Real marinara sauce has the taste and juice of fresh tomato, but also a velvety texture and the rich bite of olive oil: even the best jarred sauces can’t pull that off. And because it comes together from pantry ingredients before the pasta water even comes to a boil, it’s a recipe that home cooks should master.

   The trick to perfect marinara is to cook it at a vigorous simmer, so that the tomatoes are cooked through just as the sauce becomes thick. The tomato pieces hold their shape, the seeds don’t have time to turn bitter, and the color stays bright red. Done right, it explains why spaghetti with tomato sauce is a dish that a person might crave virtually every day.

When  making Marianara Sauce, the Tomatoes are cooked quick in a saute pan (frying pan) in Olive Oil that's flavored with a good amount of Garlic, a little bit of Hot Red Pepper Flakes, fresh Basil, and maybe dry Oregano (optional). The tomatoes are left chunky and not pureed. You cook the sauce in about 10-12 minutes time.

    When making Marinara Sauce, it's best to use whole San Marzano Tomatoes ( Plum Tomatoes) that you crush with your hands, breaking the tomatoes up so they are no longer whole, but in smaller chunky pieces. 

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One of The BEST MARINARA SAUCE Recipes

Is in SEGRETO ITALIANO

by Daniel Bellino "Z"

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