Park City, Utah

April 6, 2008

Change of pace today! No food talk, no recipes ... well at least not for the moment—maybe later. Since this is "A Writer's Blog" right now I wanted to share a scenic view so you can see what inspires me to write when I've parked my duff in Utah for a bit. (John Dufresne’s First Rule of Writing is: “Sit your ass in the chair!”) While I was revising out west in February and March, for instance, I needed a winter scene for my novel.


This novel isn't set in the US west, it's actually in the East—the FAR EAST—China to be exact. But snow is snow and winter is winter and there you have it. I can look out any window and see splendid nature. As I was struggling with this snowy section of the manuscript, lo and behold if the Universe didn't conspire to give me precisely what I wanted—a view—actually several views, but for now this is all I'm posting.

Photo : Stefan Scimone

Leonard Nash & Nina Romano last Saturday night

On March 29th , Leonard Nash (the handsome athletic one, not the one who just lost 10 lbs and still looks chunky in PINK!) read from his short story collection, You Can't Get There From Here, winner of the 2007 Florida Book Awards Silver Medal; and yours truly read from her collection of poems, Cooking Lessons at Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore in Delray Beach to an amazing little crowd that posed evocative questions Leonard and I were happy to answer and made the small event memorable and fun!

Photograph courtesy of Emily Goldstein

Thank you, Leonard, for the lovely reading and and thank you, Joanne Sinchuk, owner of this delightful book shop. and a special, heartfelt thanks to all those who attended!

Meat Sauce (with photo) in the Wasatch Mountains

Okay, folks, you see I'm into posting pictures of late—no genius, I'm deficient technologically speaking, so I fudged and had help from the young attorney. (http://www.sakalaw.com/)

I’m confessing another truth—these blogerino recipes with ingredients, trust me, they ain't ever exact. I try is all I can say on that score. Proceed with caution.

(Photograph courtesy of Stefan Scimone)

So about the above snapshot—here I am in the new kitchen in the house tucked into the hills and trails of Jeremy Ranch in Park City, Utah, making a hefty pot of tomato sauce loaded to the brim with chunks of steak, hunks of fillet mignon, thick cuts of pork tenderloin, Italian sausage (both hot and sweet) meatballs (the way grandma used to make them—ours are never round golf balls but more like hockey puck disks) and hefty slices of country style pork chops. This is all stewing in a passato tomato sauce (about 6 lbs) that is, a liquefied sauce that has no pieces of tomato or seeds.

Please notice the gorgeous ceramics in back of my raised elbow all purchased from: Jane Brownley at www.plainjanescloset.com These lovely ceramics from Casafina in the background are not just show pieces but beautiful decorative dinnerware to grace any table.

For exact instructions for this sauce large enough to feed between a basketball team and a soccer squad, or several teenage boys, friends included, contact: ninsthewriter@gmail.com

HINT # 1: There’s enough sauce for a large baked lasagna and a large baked eggplant parmigiano, or a huge platter of two lbs. of pasta and then serve the meat separately with a mixed green salad.

HINT # 2: This sauce contains the following ingredients, besides the meat, if you want to brave it and have a go at it on your own. I say, be adventurous. TRY IT! You can't mess up if all the ingredients are good. Don't quote me on that.

Ingredients ... your own for measurements!
6 lbs of tomatoes—San Marzano
1 large chopped onion
7 cloves of garlic
fresh basil
fresh parsley
white wine
olive oil—by now you know the kind I use!
hot pepper
salt

Put it all togehter it spells: sugo di pomodoro!

Zuppa di Cozze (Mussels soup)

Yes, indeedy! If this looks delish to you--take my word for it, it is! This deep fry pan contains 5 lbs of fresh mussels. (Photo is courtesy of Stefan Scimone: Hall Custom Paint, Tuscon, AZ)

The important thing to remember when preparing with seafood is that it must be very fresh. So you pop the mussels into very cold water and wash them thoroughly, changing the water several times. Scrub mussels with a brush or a nylon sponge. If any are open--toss them. some have what I call a "beard" hanging out the side--you can yank this in a downward swipe from small to larger rounded end. Next you drain them of any water. Here's all you need to make a wonderful "zuppa did cozze"

Ingredients

2 to 5 lbs of mussels

1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

5 cloves of garlic (at least!)

1-2 hot peppers

a bunch of chopped parsley or cilantro

1 cup of white wine--for this one I used Chardonnay

one loaf of Italian bread to toast

Zuppa di Cozze

Open the mussels on high heat—no water, just cover. They kick out their own liquid.
Take the mussels out if they are too many and throw away one of the shells or clean of their shells completely and leave about ½ whole. Filter the liquid. I use a paper towel in a medium to small sieve. Conserve this liquid with the mussels.

In the same big fry pan—now clean because you rinsed it! pour in the olive oil add the garlic and hot pepper.

Variables: you may use chopped onion if you want a sweeter taste, or you may use lemon if you are opposed to cooking with vino. In case of the onion—put it in with the garlic and pepper.

When the garlic gives out its lovely aroma, perfuming your kitchen till you and your guests wilt with hunger, and turns a sepia golden brown—add the wine. On high heat, let the alcohol burn off. Add the mussels, juice, and all the chopped parsley or cilantro your little old hearty desires. Swoosh the mussels all around still they're steaming hot and serve with brushcetta—toasted Italian bread. Hearty appetite!