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The Well-Tempered Approach:
Dishes That Cool Down Are Full of Flavor and Easy on the Cook
By Domenica Marchetti
The
Washington Post
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
School’s hardly out and already my grill has
been working overtime. That’s what happens as soon as summer heat
descends upon us. We head straight for the flame at mealtime and
straight for the freezer for dessert.
But now is also the right time to step away
from either extreme and take a cue from Italian summer cooking
traditions: meals that are made to be served at room temperature.
I’m thinking about the sorts of selections you might find in a
trattoria: platters of fried eggplant, stuffed vegetables,
colorful strips of roasted peppers, rice and grain salads, lightly
stewed fish, and roasted or grilled meats that have been given a
little time to lose their heat and gain flavor as they cool.
Dishes served at room temperature—or slightly
warmer or cooler—are appealing for several reasons. For one thing,
you can tasted food better at room temperature than you can when
it is hot or cold (ice cream being the exception, of course). It
makes perfect sense, therefore, to seek out good-quality, fresh
ingredients. And what better time than summer to take advantage of
the bounty of vegetables and herbs—tomatoes, peppers, eggplant,
basil, mint and the like—already starting to show up at local
farmers markets?
Room-temperature dishes take well to assertive
summer flavors. A plate of fried zucchini slices splashed with
good wine vinegar, garnished with mint and garlic and allowed to
marinate for an hour or so at room temperature—a classic southern
Italian preparation known as Zucchine alla Scapece—seems
perfectly designed to stimulate the appetite no matter how
sweltering it is outside.
As a cook, I also appreciate the convenience
of a dish that can be made in advance and left to rest for a
spell, giving me a breather.
A note of caution seems in order here: Serving
food at room temperature does not mean letting it sit for hour
upon hour, thus allowing germs to grow, especially when
ingredients such as eggs and meat are involved. What I’m talking
about is giving the dish just a little time—30 to 40 minutes—to
compose itself; this allows the heat to dissipate and the flavors
to come together.
I like the variety of food that can be served
at room temperature. My first cookbook, which was on Italian soups
and stews, included a chapter on summer recipes. Italians love
rustic soups made with vegetables, legumes and grains or bread at
any time of year, and in summer they serve these soups slightly
warm, sprinkled with freshly grated cheese and drizzled with their
best olive oil. As a soup lover, I can’t imagine not taking
advantage of the wonderful flavors that fresh summer vegetables
add.
When I want to take a break from grilling, I
make a light but really flavorful fish stew that calls for
marinating a single large piece of swordfish overnight in the
refrigerator with a mix of herbs, tomatoes, and olives. The next
day, the stew is simmered gently on the stovetop until it is just
cooked through. In cooler months I serve the stew hot. But these
days I let it sit off the heat for 30 to 45 minutes and then spoon
it over grilled bread, such as bruschetta. The fish turns out
moist and succulent and is infused with the flavors of its
marinade. To anyone who is used to dry, over-grilled swordfish
kebabs, this stew is a revelation.
Perhaps my favorite dish to serve at room
temperature is a rice salad that was a specialty of my mother’s
eldest sister, Gilda. She never considered herself much of a cook,
but my sister and I adored (and still do) her Insalata di Riso,
a simple salad of Arborio rice mixed with tuna, olives, capers,
and other piquant ingredients. I usually toss everything together,
cover the salad and let it rest for about an hour before serving.
At that point, the rice is just slightly warm and all the flavors
seem to be at their fullest.
Often, I will serve one or two
room-temperature dishes as part of a meal: fried or roasted bell
peppers alongside a steak, for example. But sometimes it’s fun to
serve a whole meal in that way. The recipes included in the
section today give you the option to choose. Served in generous
portions, the rice salad is practically a meal in itself. But it
also makes a nice first course, followed by fish stew, with either
a stuffed pepper or some fried zucchini (or both) on the side.
You can carry the theme through dessert with a
fresh fruit tart, such as the Apricot Crostata I’ve included,
served barely warm—though because it is summer, you certainly
could not be faulted if you chose to top it off with a scoop of
cold vanilla ice cream.
RECIPE:
Overnight-Marinated Swordfish Stew with
Bruschetta
Adapted from The Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy (Chronicle
Books, 2006)
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
2
pounds swordfish steak, in one piece
Kosher
or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1
large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 pint
(12 ounces) cherry tomatoes, cut in half
5
cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 cup
pitted Gaeta or kalamata olives
5
fresh bay leaves
1
tablespoon minced fresh oregano
1/2 to
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4
slices Bruschetta (recipe follows)
Place the swordfish in a Dutch oven or other
heavy-bottomed pot with a lid. It should fit comfortably but
snugly. Season the fish generously on all sides with salt and
pepper. Cover the fish with the onion, tomatoes, garlic, olive,
bay leaves, and oregano. Drizzle the olive oil over everything,
cover, and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.
To cook the fish, remove the pot from the
refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for 45 to 60
minutes. Place the pot on the stove top over low heat and cook,
covered, without stirring, for about 1 hour, or slightly longer,
until the fish is just cooked through. Check by inserting a knife
into the fish and looking at the interior flesh.
Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit
for about 30 minutes. It should be warm but not piping hot at
serving time. Discard the bay leaves before serving.
To serve, place a slice of bruschetta at the
bottom of four shallow rimmed soup bowls. Using a large serving
spoon, scoop out chunks of fish into each bowl. Spoon the broth,
onions, tomatoes, and olives over each serving.
Bruschetta
1/4
cup extra-virgin olive oil
1
clove garlic, pressed
4
large slices Italian country bread, each 3/4 inch thick
Kosher
or sea salt
Heat the broiler.
In a small bowl, mix together the oil and
garlic and let sit for 10 minutes. Arrange the bread slices on a
rimmed baking sheet and brush the garlic oil on one side of each
slice.
Broil the bread slices for 1 to 2 minutes, or
until the slices are slightly charred around the edges and golden
in the middle.
Copyright 2007 The Washington Post |
