Wascally Wabbit

After celebrating our one year anniversary last week, Mario and I conferred with our Captain and charter a new course for this new year. We wanted to start off on the right foot and show our Captain how far we have come along. We decided on the Coniglio ai Peperoni - Braised Rabbit with Red and Green Peppers (Molto Italiano- Page 378).

We started our new adventure at Eataly in NYC and purchased the two whole rabbits at the Marcelleria. The butcher informed us that because it was almost closing time and the tables had been cleaned, she would not be able to break them down for us. This actually worked in our favor and gave us the opportunity to learn ourselves. As we walked out and felt the cold NYC air, we joked how Elmer Fudd would have been so proud of us, we finally caught that "wascally wabbit"!

I think we all joked about it because we were somewhat hesitant at actually eating a rabbit for the first time. For one, we all know them as those cute, furry, cuddable creatures and secondly, poor Angela owned rabbits as a kid. But we collected ourselves and wanted to make sure we respected the rabbit and did our best breaking them down. We had to view a couple of videos before we dove in, and found one that we could use as a guide.

I broke down the first rabbit with Mario watching closely. It went very well and we were very excited on how well it went. Mario stepped up to the plate and started the second rabbit. He was a champ, and out did me! We marinated the pieces of rabbit in a white wine vinegar mix for one hour and then dried them off with paper towels.

Earlier that day we decided to treat ourselves to a new knife and a stainless steel pan. We were like two kids in a candy store and as he read through all the comparisons and warranty info I was happy to see how involved he was in the selection process of our new tools. "We" decided on a 5 quart Calphalon stainless steel pan and an 8" Calphalon chef knife.

We browned the rabbit, removed from the pan, added in the onions, browned with white wine and replaced the rabbit for about half an hour. While the rabbit and onions cooked we fired up another pan and slowly cooked the red and green bell peppers. We combined all ingredients and seasoned with salt and pepper. We rang the dinner bell and served up the rabbit with a side of Angela's mushroom risotto.

It was delicious, and Mario and I couldn't believe how much confidence we had in the kitchen. We reminisced about our first attempt at following our Captain and were proud of how long we have come.

Ciao,
Mario and Mario
The Three Tocayos

It's Our Anniversary

Above is a collection of photos over the past year ending with our celebration lunch at Tarry Lodge this past weekend. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our one year anniversary. We've come a long way from that first attempt at lobster risotto and as we scanned through these photos Mario and I had a blast, we hope you enjoy them as well.

The whole family would like to take our hats off to our Captain for providing guidance throughout our journey and providing us the opportunity to sit down at least once a week (no matter how crazy it gets) as a family and enjoy one great meal after another.

We'll be back next week with some new cookbooks in hand as we and our Captain continue our journey with some special surprises along the way.

Ciao,
Mario & Mario
The Three Tocayos

O Tannenbaum

It's the start to the most wonderful time of year and The Three Tocayos and family headed out last Saturday to a tree farm and cut down a Christmas tree for the first time. The day before, we had to decide what meal would accompany our busy evening of decorating. Mario and I both agreed it had to be simple and quick and picked the Pollo Aceto e Funghi - Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Balsamic Vinegar (Mario Cooks! App). I purchased the ingredients at Chelsea Market on Friday and pulled out the frozen chicken thighs from the freezer when I arrived home later that evening.

Late Saturday morning, with the temperature cooling down we bundled up and with some coercion, I agreed to take our smallest (and cutest) member of the family, Roxanne. We set our course to Battenfeld Christmas Tree Farm in Red Hook, New York and in a couple of hours we arrived at our destination and were quickly swept up into the Christmas spirit with a bagpipe marching band providing the soundtrack and Clydesdale pulled sleds providing the transportation! Mario and Mariesa picked our tree and Mario got to work chopping (or should I say "sawing") it down.





On the way home both kids changed the menu and requested a family favorite, Pozole, a Mexican soup that is perfect on a cold evening. I obliged and we cooked the Pollo Aceto the following day. We all loved the chicken and mushrooms and thanks to our Captain it was a simple, quick, but savory dish.

Ciao,
Mario & Mario

The Three Tocayos

Happy Thanksgiving

Did you know that turkeys have heart attacks and can drown if looking up while it's raining? When the kids were younger they would ask what happen to the turkey before we bought the bird at the store. So, I would come up with all sorts of elaborate tall tales and they would feel better before eating our Thanksgiving feast. Now, they just ask "Is it ready Mom?"

This week Mario and I gave our captain a well needed break and handed over the helm to Angela. Knowing that the ship was in good hands we assumed the role of sous chefs, gave the deck a good swabbing and began to prep the kitchen for the bounty of food.

The night before Thanksgiving Erica and Angela put on their orange Crocs and commenced to baking. The exact count, 2 pumpkins, 1 cherry, and 1 pecan pie... and all were homemade.  I was very impressed with the fortitude at which they displayed their pastry skills. Mariesa even commented that she could not believe that these were the same pumpkins that were just in the pumpkin patch weeks ago and could not wait to taste a slice.

The next morning Angela got up early and made the stuffing using the onions and celery that Mario and I had diced for her the night before. She placed the turkey in the oven, timed it  perfectly to be ready an hour before the Dallas Cowboy football game (she knows how to make these sous chefs feel loved) and a few hours later the rest of the menu was completed with the traditional fixings of mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and Nana's cream cheese. The sounds throughout the house were filled with conversation and laughter. With tummies filled we gathered around the big screen and watched our Boy's win the game with seconds left on the clock!
 
We are thankful for all the blessings in life and the precious time shared with family. We thank all of our current and past heroes fighting overseas who have sacrificed so much allowing us to enjoy this holiday.

Ciao,
Mario & Mario
The Three Tocayos

P.S. Although we have not blogged the past two weeks we did prepare two delicious meals. The Zuppa Veloce di Fagioli - A Fast White Bean Soup (Mario Cooks! app) and Dry-rubbed Rib-eye steaks (The Babbo Cookbook page 227) with Patate al Forno - Potatoes roasted with garlic cloves (Molto Italiano page 440).

Snowtober

Fall, a favorite time of year for The Three Tocayos was interrupted by, believe it or not, Old Man Winter! With trees just beginning to color the landscape with hues of orange and red, we received about 10 inches of snow last weekend. Sadly, there were plenty of downed trees that could not handle the weight of the collected snow on their leaves. This led to many homes losing electrical power and unfortunately we were among the many to go dark.

But there is no snow in the forecast this weekend and we have power, so off to the galley Mario and I went to see what our next creation would be. We agreed on the Osso Buco con Gremolata di Pignoli - Osso Buco with Toasted Pine Nut Gremolata (page 363). Now you may remember back in March we were unable to purchase the veal and replaced it with pork. Although we enjoyed it and gave it four crocs, we knew that we would revisit the recipe with the veal.

The past few weeks we have had the advantage of seeing our Captain prepare his meals on the iPhone/iPad with his Mario Batali Cooks! app. This week we went back to the Molto Italiano cookbook with great confidence that we could pull off another five croc meal. While I seasoned the osso buco with salt and pepper on all sides, Mario chopped the carrots, celery and diced the Spanish onion. We heated up the olive oil in our dutch over and placed the meat inside then browned it on all sides. We were both amazed at how delicious the meat looked as we turned it over. Mario removed the osso buco and set them aside on a plate while I added in the carrots, celery and onion into the dutch oven. We tossed them until they were golden brown and then added in the tomato sauce (only half of what the recipe called for - Mario and I had commented when we made the porko buco that we should have used less sauce) and wine. We brought it up to a boil and added in the browned meat. We covered the dutch oven and placed into our preheated 375° oven for 2 and 1/2 hours.

Mariesa requested a side of risotto and we had to retain the services of our in-house expert - Angela! As the timer on the oven counted down to zero Angela timed the risotto to be ready with the main course. I know we have said this before, but it merits repeating, the house smelled terrific and it was a great compliment to the crisp chill of the air outside.


Ciao,
Mario & Mario
The Three Tocayos

Three for Three

The Captain, Mario and myself have a perfect batting average for the past two weeks and this week we continued the streak with another "out of the park" home run. Once again we consulted with our Captain via his app – although this time we were able to utilize an iPad. We selected the Spigola alla Livornese - Wild Stripped Bass in the Style of Livorno and an appetizer of Asparagi con la Pancetta - Pancetta-wrapped Asparagus on the Grill.

I purchased the fish and other ingredients at Chelsea Market. Our captain's app has a great "market" feature that provides you with a shopping list that enables you to check off items as you add them to your cart. The only problem was my phone died and I had to try to purchase the items from memory. I did fairly well but I forgot to purchase the caper berries and bought green Provencal pitted olives in sea water instead of the Gatea Olives. These errors were not detrimental to the final finished dish, verified by all the smiles around the dinning table.



The evening went smoothly, we hit our groove as we fried the fish, and served everyone a beautifully plated dish. It was a simple, clean, fresh dish that will be added to our growing repertoire.

Ciao,
Mario & Mario
The Three Tocayos

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