Aglio e Olio a la Brad’s Swingside Cafe

I highly recommend Brad’s Swingside Cafe – it’s the small, homestyle Italian restaurant across and down Fremont a bit from Paseo.  I had their aglio e olio on my only visit, and it’s fantastic.  It is very unique – it has roasted peppers, anchovies, and hazlenuts.  This was my attempt at it, and it came out pretty good.  I didn’t add the anchovies, but maybe next time.

Aglio e Olio with Peppers and Hazlenuts

6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large shallot, minced

1/2 c. roasted red peppers, diced

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 c. lightly toasted hazlenuts, finely chopped

3 Tbs olive oil

Heat the oil on medium low and add the garlic.  Saute for about 1 minute and add the shallot.  Turn the heat to low and saute for about 5-10 minutes, until the shallot is translucent and the garlic is a nice golden color.  Add the peppers and red pepper flakes and cook for at least 5 minutes, and just leave on very low heat until ready to use.  Add the toasted hazelnuts a couple of minutes before using.  The sauce is good tossed with small pasta and some Parmesan cheese.  It would go great with some sausage, salami, or CasCiappo Brothers pepperoni (if only it still existed…).

Salad Dressings

Happy Holidays!

After a nice Christmas break I’d like to start posting recipes again, especially since the run from fall dishes to spring and summer ones is always great.  Dressings are a good place to start.  The general base is equal parts acid (vinegar, lemon juice) and oil, plus salt, herbs and spices, and condiments (mustard, horseradish).  Diane and I usually use the recipe below on beet salad.  The horseradish rounds out the lemon juice extremely well.

Lemon-Horseradish Dressing

juice of a lemon

equal quantity of olive oil

1/2 to 1-1/2 teaspoons horseradish

healthy dash of salt

dash of garlic or garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon oregano

Some crumbled feta mixed in works well.  The proper way (so I hear) to make a dressing is to mix everything but the oil together, then whisk in the oil in a slow stream to create an emulsification.  Alternatively, just mix everything together vigorously – we have a bottle to store dressing, and it works great.

Eggplant Tomato Sauce with Tortellini

This sauce pairs very well with cheese tortellini – the sauce has some bitter (eggplant) and acidic (tomato, capers) flavors that go with the richness of the cheese.  I could see this dish be great with some pork roast cooked with plenty of garlic until it was falling apart, but that’s where the lazy part comes in…

Ingredients

1 eggplant

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T Italian parsley, minced

2 T basil, minced

1 T capers

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

2 T olive oil

cheese tortellini

To Do

1.  Peel and cube the eggplant.  The eggplant has excess moisture that is best removed before cooking, so either salt it – generously sprinkle salt on the eggplant and let sit between paper towels for ~15 minutes, brushing any excess salt away after – or microwave it for a few minutes first.  I’ve never tried to microwave it, but apparently it works.

2.  Saute the eggplant in the olive oil over medium heat for ~10 minutes, until soft throughout and golden.  Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.  Add the garlic and let simmer for ~5 minutes until you’re ready to serve.

3.  Meanwhile, cook the tortellini.  A couple of minutes before serving, add the parsely, basil, and capers to the sauce.

Greek Yogurt Sauce

This sauce is great with a lot of dishes – I put it on everything from grilled vegetables and meats to barbecue sandwiches.  Tonight Diane and I had it on falafel.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cucumber

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 t mint, minced

1 t olive oil

salt, to taste

To Do:

1.  Peel the cucumber, scoop out the seeds, and finely dice.

2.  Mix the ingredients together.  Add more mint to taste – for some dishes, much more mint (1 T+) may go better.