Q. At Max’s Grille in Boca Raton (Mizner Park), they serve a truly wonderful pasta dish with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese and pine nuts. I would love the recipe. — Debbie Abrams, Boca Raton
A. Chef C. Mennen Tekeli provided the recipe for his Radiatore, a luscious, complex-tasting dish served at Max’s Grille (404 Plaza Real; Boca Raton; 407-368-0080). We have adapted it for home use and also added our own variation to reduce fat and calories. This is quite a departure from the original recipe and not as rich as Tekeli’s, but it still has great flavor.
Radiatore pasta is an unusually shaped pasta — it looks like a radiator — that is sold in gourmet and Italian markets. Fusilli pasta (corkscrew- shaped) or other sauce-holding pasta may be substituted.
RADIATORE
8 ounces fresh radiatore or fusilli pasta or 6 ounces dry
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup pure olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallots
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh fines herbes* or 2 teaspoons dried
3/4 cup hydrated dried tomatoes**, drained and cut into thirds
12 ounces cooked chicken breast (grilled or roasted)
1/2 cups chicken stock (low-sodium if canned)
1/2 cup ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut in 4 pieces
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
Garnish:
4 florets steamed broccoli
2 ounces chevre (goat cheese)***
2 tablespoons pine nuts
Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until tender but still firm to the teeth (al dente); 2 to 3 minutes for fresh pasta, 5 to 6 minutes for dry. Drain pasta, place in a bowl or pan and cover to keep warm.
In a small saucepan over high heat, boil vinegar until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes; set aside.
In a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat, add oil. When hot, add shallots, garlic and herbes. Saute 1 to 2 minutes, until shallots are tender, not brown. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes, chicken, reduced balsamic vinegar and stock. Bring to a simmer. Stir in butter until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss hot pasta with chicken sauce. Divide between 2 wide, shallow bowls; garnish each with 2 broccoli florets, 1-ounce scoops of goat cheese and 1 tablespoon pine nuts. Makes 3 servings.
*Fines herbes is a traditional French mixture of herbs that varies by region of origin. Tekeli uses a mixture of chopped fresh basil, thyme, oregano, parsley and chives.
Per serving: 988 calories, 52 grams protein, 64 grams fat, 53 grams carbohydrates, 198 milligrams cholesterol, 204 milligrams sodium.
**If using dried tomatoes packaged in a cellophane bag, drop them in boiling water, remove pan from heat and allow to stand in water 2 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels and slice before using in recipe. For dried tomatoes packed in oil, blot with paper towels and slice.
***Chevre, or goat cheese, is a soft, strong-flavored cheese sold at some gourmet food markets and health food stores.
Variation: To reduce fat and calories, reduce olive oil to 2 tablespoons. Do not add chicken as directed above. Instead, after adding the dried tomatoes, vinegar and stock, simmer briskly for about 10 minutes to reduce. Then add the chicken and simmer gently for 1 minute. Reduce butter added to sauce to 2 tablespoons. Increase broccoli to 8 florets and eliminate goat cheese and pine nuts.
Per serving: 589 calories, 45 grams protein, 22 grams fat, 52 grams carbohydrates, 117 milligrams cholesterol, 138 milligrams sodium.
Q. Being from North Jersey, I have been used to those wonderful Italian bakeries and those round loaves (not high) of Italian bread, also in whole- wheat, with a close-knit texture. Do you have a recipe? — Albert Gentile, Fort Lauderdale
A. There are probably as many versions of Italian bread as Italian grandmamas. But since I don’t have one of those, I looked to my favorite bread baker, Bernard Clayton. This recipe, adapted from his New Complete Book of Breads (Simon & Schuster, 1987), is one of my favorites. I especially like making it with half whole-wheat flour and half bread flour.
For best results, use bread flour, a high-gluten flour that forms the framework for the bread — and creates the chewy texture.
PAIN ITALIEN ITALIAN BREAD
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon malt syrup* or molasses
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk powder
2 packages active dry yeast
3 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
7 to 8 cups bread flour or unbleached flour, approximately
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
in the yeast mixture; stir to form a batter. Add the oil. Beat with the flat beater at medium speed for 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary.
If by hand, beat with a large wooden spoon for an equal length of time.
Stop the mixer. Add additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring first with a spoon and then working the flour into the dough by hand. When the dough is firm, take it from the bowl. Knead dough 10 minutes.
The dough hook of a large, heavy-duty mixer is fine for working this dough, but be mindful that it’s a large amount of dough. Some of it may work up and over the protecting collar and into the spring mechanism. Push the dough back by holding a rubber spatula between it and the collar while the dough hook revolves.
If kneading by hand, occasionally break the kneading pattern or push-turn- fold by throwing the dough down hard against the work surface. Do this a half dozen times and return to push-turn-fold.
By food processor: Attach the short, plastic dough blade. The order of ingredients differs from above. Measure 3 cups of flour, then the other ingredients into the work bowl. Pulse several times to blend thoroughly. Add more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, pulsing in between additions until the dough becomes a mass that is carried around the bowl by the blade. Let the machine run 45 seconds to knead.
For both methods: Return the dough to a large, washed and greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until the dough has tripled in volume, about 2 hours. (If prepared with fast-rising yeast, reduce the rising time by about half.)
Turn back the plastic wrap, punch and deflate the dough with extended fingers. Turn the dough over, cover and allow the dough to rise 30 minutes more.
Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead briefly to press out the bubbles. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Form each into a ball and cover with a towel. Let dough rest 20 minutes.
Grease 1 large or 2 small baking sheets.
Shape the dough into a ball, gently pulling the surface of the dough taut with your cupped hands. Place on the baking sheet(s) and press dough into a flat loaf, about 8 inches in diameter and 1/2 inches thick. Repeat for each loaf.
Loosely cover with a light towel. Leave at room temperature for about 1 hour.
About 20 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Using a razor blade or a very sharp knife, cut a tic-tac-toe pattern in the top of each loaf. Brush with water and place in the oven. If 2 shelves are used, rotate the baking sheets 2 or 3 times after the loaves begin to brown. Bake until the loaves are golden brown and the bottom sounds hard and hollow when tapped with forefinger, about 20 to 30 minutes.
If the oven is too small to accept both loaves at one time, cover the second lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.
When done, place loaves on a wire rack to cool.
Makes 2 loaves, about 10 inches in diameter; about 32 servings.
Per serving: 105 calories, 4 grams protein, .73 grams fat, 20 grams carbohydrates, .2 milligrams cholesterol, 229 milligrams sodium.
*Malt syrup or barley malt syrup is a thick liquid sweetener sold in some health food stores.
Variation: For bread with whole wheat, substitute 3 cups whole wheat flour for 3 cups of bread flour. Bake until golden brown and the bottom sounds hard and hollow when tapped with forefinger, about 25 to 35 minutes.
Per serving: 105 calories, 4 grams protein, .72 grams fat, 21 grams carbohydrates, .2 milligrams cholesterol, 229 milligrams sodium.
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