Dayrecipe Food Community

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Makes 24 hors d’oeuvres.

INGREDIENTS

• 12slices firm white sandwich bread
• 1/4cup drained bottled capers, chopped
• 6oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices, at room temperature
• 1/4cup all-purpose flour
• 2large eggs
• 2tablespoons milk
• 1tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS Divide capers among 12 bread slices and spread evenly. Divide mozzarella among 6 slices and sprinkle with pepper to taste. Make into 6 sandwiches, then cut off and discard crusts to form 3-inch squares.

Coat sandwiches with flour, knocking off excess. Beat together eggs, milk, and a pinch each of salt and pepper in another small shallow bowl.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Meanwhile, coat 3 sandwiches, 1 at a time, with egg mixture. Fry, turning over once, until golden brown, about 5 minutes, then drain on paper towels. Coat and fry remaining 3 sandwiches in same manner.

Cut sandwiches into quarters and serve immediately.

You’ll find halvah—Middle Eastern sesame seed candy—in the refrigerated deli case at the supermarket.

8 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS

Culinary archaeologists Susan Lord and Danilo Baroncini named their cookbook Pani Caliatu (available from Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York), for the traditional Aeolian twice-dried bread. For this recipe, the people of the Aeolian Islands use totani (flying squid). The recipe works just as well with squid found in the U.S. Since squid is often sold cleaned and in parts, be sure to get one set of tentacles per squid body to ensure that there will be enough stuffing.

Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Makes 4 first-course servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 8(5- to 6-inch-long) cleaned squid with tentacles (1 1/2 lb total), rinsed
• 6tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1(14- to 15-oz) can stewed tomatoes, puréed in a blender or food processor
• 15fresh basil leaves
• rounded 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2teaspoon black pepper
• 1oz finely grated aged pecorino cheese (1/2 cup)
• 1/2cup finely ground fresh bread crumbs (from an italian loaf)
• 1/4cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4garlic cloves, minced
• 2large eggs, lightly beatenspecial equipment:8 wooden picks

DIRECTIONS Finely chop tentacles. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a wide 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté tentacles, stirring, until just cooked through, about 1 minute. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl and cool.

Stir tomatoes into oil in pot along with basil, sea salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.

While sauce simmers, stir together Pecorino, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, eggs, sautéed tentacles, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Gently stuff each squid body with a slightly rounded tablespoon of bread-crumb mixture and pat squid to distribute filling evenly. Weave a wooden pick horizontally across wide opening of each squid to seal. (During cooking, stuffing will expand and squid will shrink, forming a rounded, well-stuffed squid.)

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté squid, turning over once, until browned and any liquid given off is evaporated, about 6 minutes total. Add squid to tomato sauce and simmer, covered, turning occasionally, until squid is tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Discard picks and serve squid with sauce.

Steaming couscous may be a bit more time-consuming than the usual boiling method, but we feel the results are well worth it. Steaming makes the grains fluffier and much more tender. You’ll need a bowl-shaped steamer, such
as a basket steamer, or you could set
a metal sieve into the saucepan.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 50 min

Makes 6 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/4cups couscous
• 1cup water
• 1/2cup green (hulled)pumpkin seeds
• 1/2teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS Soak couscous in water to cover10 minutes, then drain. Steam couscous in a steamer (lined with cheesecloth if holes are large) set over 1 inch simmering water, tightly covered, 20 minutes.Transfer couscous to a bowl andfluff with a fork. Pour 1 cup water over couscous and season with salt. Let stand, uncovered, 10 minutes.

While couscous stands, toast pumpkin and fennel seeds in oil in a skillet over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until pumpkin seeds are puffed and
beginning to pop, 4 to 5 minutes.Season with salt.

Return couscous to steamer and steam, tightly covered, 20 minutes more. Transfer couscous to bowl and toss with pumpkin and fennel seeds.

Cooks’ notes:
• If you’re using the sieve steaming method or if your steamer doesn’t have a tight seal, cover pot with a kitchen towel, then with the lid.

•After first steaming and addition of water to bowl, couscous may stand, coveredand chilled, up to 1 day.

8 to 10 servings

INGREDIENTS