Sicilian Garlic And Caper Sauce Food

GARLIC-CAPER GRILLED PORK CHOPS WITH SICILIAN SAUCE RECIPE

Garlic-caper grilled pork chops with Sicilian sauce Recipe image

I am not a cook. I am, in fact, the only person I know who's as passionate about food as I am who doesn't cook. Oh, I can broil a piece of meat or fish or chicken and -- like any red-blooded American male -- I can grill on the barbecue. Because I'm the first one up in the morning, I'm also the de facto Mr. Breakfast in our household. But I've never baked, roasted, stuffed or sauteed anything, never made a sauce, never followed a recipe.So when my wife decided that instead of going to a restaurant for her birthday, she wanted a home-cooked meal, she didn't have much choice in the chef department.She turned to Lucas, our 13-year-old son, and said, "How would you like to cook my birthday dinner?"Undaunted -- well, maybe a little daunted -- Lucas immediately smiled and said, "OK, Mom."I realize that stories and personal columns about kids cooking can be a bit precious. In some high-end homes, the Cuisinart has replaced the Xbox as the adolescent toy of choice. Lucas even has a 14-year-old male friend who's going to France with his mother this summer to spend a week studying French in the morning and taking cooking lessons in the afternoon.Lucas? He'll probably spend a good part of his summer playing tennis and basketball -- and Xbox and War Hammer (if you don't know, don't ask) -- and when I told him I was writing this column, he said, "All I did was make dinner for Mom on her birthday. Don't make it seem like I'm a serious chef."OK. But great enthusiasm for food -- at home, in a restaurant, on a picnic, wherever -- has always been a big part of our family's daily life. Both Lucy and I thoroughly enjoy the dining experience -- I've even been accused of being a bit obsessive about it -- and Lucy is a superb cook.Not surprisingly, we introduced Lucas to the pleasures of the table (gastronomic and social) at a very early age.He was on the floor -- in a baby seat, adjacent to the dinner table -- while we ate dinner on his very first night home from the hospital as a newborn, and we've eaten dinner together when we're all home virtually every night since, no matter how late Lucy and I work.Lucas had his first serious restaurant meal -- complete with seafood sausage and foie gras -- at the now-defunct Citrus when he was 9 months old, and he's since eaten in the best restaurants here and wherever we've traveled, from Napa to New York to Europe.But being a kid, Lucas also likes hot dogs, hamburgers and pizza -- not to mention candy, ice cream and doughnuts -- and for his own birthday, he's more likely to pick a Dodger game or an amusement park than a nice restaurant.Over the last year or so, though, he's shown a growing interest in cooking; he's baked cookies and brownies for various school and sports events -- both alone and with his mother's help -- and for our last several grown-up dinner parties, he's made the desserts and helped with a few other dishes, at his request.So Lucy's suggestion that he cook her entire birthday dinner didn't come completely out of left field. On the other hand, he'd never actually made anything all by himself other than dessert, salad dressing (balsamic vinegar and oil) and a few simple pastas.The day before his mother's birthday, Lucas started poring through her cookbooks, much as Lucy does before a dinner party."How does this sound?" he'd suddenly ask me while I was reading or writing or paying bills. Again, it was much like his mother's questions when she's narrowing the field of choices for our about-to-be guests."Just don't pick anything too complicated," I said, repeatedly. "You want to have fun with this, not turn it into an ordeal."I also reminded him that, on the big night, he would be on his own."That's OK, Dad," he said. "You can be my sous-chef."Because he'd never attempted anything so ambitious, Lucas decided on a few ground rules: "I can ask Mom a question and she can tell me how to do something, but she can't actually do anything herself."As it turned out, except for "How do you mince an onion?" and "How do you know when the potatoes are done?" his only questions were more along the lines of "Do we have any red wine vinegar?" and "Where are the canned whole tomatoes?"The night before Lucy's birthday, Lucas made the garlic and caper marinade for the pork chops.On the afternoon of her birthday, he went shopping with her for the other ingredients, except for the pork chops, which I was dispatched to the butcher shop to pick up. Lucas did most of the preparation and cooking in the late afternoon and early evening of her birthday.The pork chops took a little longer to cook than he'd expected -- my fault, no doubt, since I bought slightly thicker chops than the recipe called for -- and Lucas had a little trouble getting the chocolate cake out of the pan. But he didn't panic when his announced dinner hour of 7 came and went. In fact, when we sat down to eat at 7:30, he seemed a lot more relaxed than several dinner party hostesses of my acquaintance.That's probably osmosis. Friends have often commented on how calm Lucy always seems, even while in the final stages of preparing a multi-course dinner for demanding guests.Lucas' dinner was delicious -- and I think Lucy enjoyed it a lot more than she would have if we'd gone to yet another fancy restaurant. Smiling happily, she toasted Lucas with her first glass of wine and again with her last -- at which point it was Lucas' turn to smile.His daily chores include washing the dishes, but on this night, he told me, "Since I did the cooking, you have to do the dishes."Deal.So last week, I asked if he'd like to make Mother's Day dinner."Sure," he said.On Saturday, he'll probably start looking through Lucy's cookbooks again. And on Sunday, I'll probably have to do the dishes. Again.

Provided by David Shaw

Categories GRILL, MAINS

Time 50m

Yield Serves 4

Number Of Ingredients 19

Ingredients

3 tablespoons salted capers, soaked 10 minutes in cold water, or capers in vinegar
3 large cloves garlic
1 tablespoon tightly packed, fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon fruity extra-virgin olive oil
About 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 (1-inch-thick) rib or loin pork chops
Salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
Grated zest from 1 large orange
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup whole canned tomatoes, drained

Steps:

Drain the capers. Mince together, in a food processor or by hand, the capers, garlic and rosemary. Blend in the oil and pepper. Coat both sides of the chops, set on a plate, cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, heat an outdoor grill to medium-high and grill the chops, or cook on a grill pan or in a 12-inch skillet, lightly filmed with oil, over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chops with salt, and grill or cook until the chops are barely firm when pressed and lightly blushed with pink inside (150 degrees on an instant-read thermometer), about 6 to 8 minutes per side. Serve hot, with a large spoonful of sauce.
Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, rosemary and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook until the onion begins to color, then add the sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon as the sugar melts and bubbles (taking care not to burn), then finally turns pale amber, while the onions remain light-colored.
Immediately add the oregano, basil, zest and garlic. Standing back to avoid splatters, quickly add the vinegar. Stir and boil down until the vinegar is a glaze, coating the onion and barely covering the bottom of the pan, 8 to 10 minutes. Continue to scrape down the pan's sides, to bring the developing glaze back into the sauce; watch for burning.
Stir in the tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as they go into the pan. Boil, scraping down the sides and stirring, until the sauce is almost sizzling in its own juices. It should be a thick jam that almost mounds on a spoon. Finish seasoning with a few grinds of pepper, turn out of the pan and cool. Serve at room temperature or warm. Store covered in the refrigerator. (Makes about 1 cup.)

ITALIAN SALSA VERDE WITH PARSLEY AND CAPERS RECIPE

Italian Salsa Verde With Parsley and Capers Recipe image

This bright green sauce made from parsley, olive oil, and garlic is thick and rich, with a briny kick. It's delicious with poached and simmered meats, eggs, and on sandwiches.

Provided by Daniel Gritzer

Categories Salsa

Time 10m

Number Of Ingredients 8

Ingredients

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems (3-ounce; 80g), roughly chopped
2 tablespoons salted capers (3/4 ounce; 25g), soaked in cold water for 10 minutes to remove excess salt
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets (about 1/2 ounce; 15g)
2 medium cloves garlic
1 large hard boiled egg
2 tablespoons (30ml) fresh juice from 1 lemon
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (90ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

Steps:

In a blender jar, or using an immersion blender, purée together parsley, capers, anchovies, garlic, boiled egg, and lemon juice until creamy; scrape down sides as necessary to blend everything evenly. Add olive oil and pulse briefly to emulsify. Season with salt.
Salsa verde can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 63 kcal, Carbohydrate 1 g, Cholesterol 12 mg, Fiber 0 g, Protein 1 g, SaturatedFat 1 g, Sodium 85 mg, Sugar 0 g, Fat 6 g, ServingSize Makes about 1 cup, UnsaturatedFat 0 g

PACIFIC HALIBUT IN A SICILIAN SAUCE

Pacific Halibut in a Sicilian Sauce image

Sometimes this is called pesce spada all ghiotta, sometimes alla stemperata. Regardless of the name, it's that offbeat Sicilian combo of garlic, pine nuts, raisins, capers and olives, sometimes combined with tomatoes, and sometimes not, that seduces me every time.

Provided by Food Network

Categories main-dish

Time 45m

Yield 1 serving

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (1-inch thick) Pacific halibut fillet (about 8 ounces)
About 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes, optional
2 tablespoons green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons raisins, plumped in hot water
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup dry white wine or water

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Lightly oil a baking dish that will accommodate the fish fillet. On a flat plate, stir together the flour with a little salt and pepper, then dredge the fish in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess.
In a saute pan, heat about 1 tablespoon oil, or as needed to form a film in the pan, over medium-high heat. Saute the fish on both sides until lightly colored. With a slotted spatula, remove the fish to the prepared baking dish.
In the same saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until soft and pale gold, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, if using, and simmer for 3 minutes to thicken slightly. Add the olives, pine nuts, raisins, capers, garlic, and wine and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Ladle the sauce over the fish. Bake until the fish tests done with the point of a knife, about 10 minutes. Eat while hot or warm.
Variation: You can also make this dish in a saute pan. Just place the sauteed fish in the sauce in the pan, cover, and simmer gently over low heat until the fish cooked through, about 10 minutes.