Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It (6 page)

T-S
IZZLE’S
B
ASIL
-L
EMON
D
RIZZLE

This is a great way to try your hand at using basil. This drizzle is really versatile. I usually make this to serve over grilled chicken breasts, but you can also try it over vegetables, steak, pork chops . . . just about anything but dessert.

½ garlic clove

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1.
Fit a food processor with the metal chopping blade. With the machine running, drop the garlic through the tube to mince it.

2.
Stop the machine and add the basil. Pulse a few times to chop it. With the machine running, add the lemon juice, oil, and 2 tablespoons water and process into a thin sauce. Season with the salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature until ready to serve, but no longer than an hour.

Capers
-
CAPPERI

Looks like:
Small green bud about the size of a kernel of corn, kind of like shriveled peas.

Tastes like:
Tangy, lemony, salty.

Dry or fresh:
Actually, neither. You get capers in a jar already pickled. They are the unbloomed flower buds of a prickly Mediterranean bush that are picked, dried, and then cured in salt or vinegar. You’ll have two choices: capers in salt or in brine. Capers in salt look drier and have big sea-salt crystals on them. Capers floating in brine (that weird colored liquid) lose some of their flavor and texture because of the brine.

Where to get it:
You can find small jars of capers in the grocery store, usually by the jarred pickles and olives. You can also get them at an Italian market or online.

How to prep it:
If you’re using capers stored in salt, soak them in water for 15 minutes and then rinse before using to get rid of all that salt. If you’re using capers in brine, some people rinse them once before using, but I think that gets rid of too much of the flavor.

How to eat it:
You can eat them right out of the jar, or put them straight into your recipes. They don’t have to be cooked, so they can be tossed onto salads.

How to cook with it:
Just add capers whole to the recipe as they’re required. No smashing or cutting needed.

How to store it:
Once the jar is opened, you’ll need to store them in the fridge. They’ll last six months or more in there, though, as long as they stay covered in brine.

Best in:
Sauces, salads, veal or chicken piccata, or served with smoked salmon or grilled swordfish.

Fun fact:
Capers are thought to help reduce flatulence. (I always add some to my Italian bean soup, just in case.)

S
EXY
S
WORDFISH WITH
C
APERS
AND
L
EMON

What makes swordfish sexy? I don’t know. It just is. My family loves fish, and we eat it all the time. This is one of our favorites.

2 garlic cloves, crushed under a knife and peeled

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

One 2 ¼-pound swordfish steak, about 1 ¾ inches thick,
cut into 6 portions

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons drained capers

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1.
Heat the garlic and oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is hot and the garlic is lightly browned and very fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove and discard the garlic.

2.
Season the swordfish with the salt and pepper. Add to the skillet and cook until the underside is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Turn and brown the other side, about 3 minutes more.

3.
Pour the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons water over the swordfish. Sprinkle the capers, parsley, and oregano over the fish. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the fish is just opaque when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 5 minutes more.

4.
Transfer the fish to dinner plates. Top with the pan juices and serve hot.

Garlic
-
AGLIO

Looks like:
A small, lumpier onion. This is because, unlike an onion, garlic actually has several different sections inside called cloves. Depending on the size, there can be anywhere from ten to twenty cloves in one bulb of garlic. You have to peel and smash your way down to the cloves, but recipes will tell you how many cloves to use. You can store the extras.

Tastes like:
It’s hard to describe because garlic is garlicky. I guess you could say it’s really pungent with a little kick?

Dry or fresh:
You can get it fresh, dried, jarred, or powdered, but since you can keep it in a dark cabinet for a real long time, there’s no reason not to always use fresh.

Where to get it:
Any grocery store, in the produce section. Look for a solid bulb that isn’t discolored and is really firm. While the stalk part can be soft, the bottom and sides of the bulb shouldn’t be soft at all. You want hard, hard, hard.

How to prep it:
Smash the entire bulb (with the palm of your hand or the side of a big kitchen knife) to release the individual sections. Now take each section and smash it again, and the peel will slide right off. Throw away the peel, and you have your clove. You can cut the clove a few times and throw it in your dish, or you can chop it up really fine in your food processor (the fancy word for this is
mince
). In sauces and stuff when you want the garlic flavor really smoothed out over everything, you can use a garlic press. It’s a little handheld tool that looks like a nutcracker mixed with a strainer. You put cloves in one side, squeeze, and the garlic spurts out like a juicy paste.

How to eat it:
You can eat it raw (sparingly), but most people cook it with their food or put it in dressings and sauces.

How to cook with it:
Don’t burn your garlic, or it will turn bitter. To keep this from happening, add olive oil and garlic to your pan at the same time, and heat them up together. As soon as the garlic browns, remove it.

How to store it:
A bulb of garlic can last several months if it’s kept in a dark place with plenty of air circulation. I keep mine in a cabinet under the sink. You can put garlic in a basket, or in a mesh bag, but not a plastic bag and not in the refrigerator because it will get moist and moldy. Once you’ve broken the bulbs to remove a clove or two, you can put the rest of the bulb back into storage, but it won’t last as long. And if you’ve minced garlic and have some left over, you can store that in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a few days.

Best in:
Sauces, seafood, and sausages, although some garlic fanatics put it in just about everything.

Fun fact:
If you chew fresh parsley after eating garlic, it’s supposed to help take away the garlic smell. I find it’s just easier to make sure everyone around you (especially anybody you’re going to be kissing later) eats garlic with you. Then all your smells cancel each other out.

G
ORGEOUS
G
ARLIC
S
HRIMP

If you’re a serious garlic lover (like I am), feel free to add more garlic to the recipe. I usually serve this with rice and steamed asparagus with a fresh lemon squeezed over the veggie.

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 ½ pounds large (21 to 25 count) shrimp,
peeled and deveined

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1.
Heat the oil and garlic together in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the oil is hot and the garlic is softened, about 1 ½ minutes. Add the shrimp and season with the salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the shrimp turns opaque, about 4 minutes.

2.
Add the lemon juice and parsley and stir well. Serve hot.

Oregano
-
ORIGANO

Looks like:
Green stalks with small leaves, kind of like mint. It also has pretty purple flowers when it blooms. Dried oregano looks like little flakes of green and brown.

Tastes like:
Aromatic, a little bitter, and kind of warm tasting. Really good oregano eaten plain will make your tongue a bit numb.