Giambotta (Vegetable Stew) – My Childhood Summers in a Bowl

The night before I left New York, my mother and I were invited to my Aunt Joyce’s for dinner. When I heard she was making “Cha-bought,” I knew I had to bring my camcorder to film this unusual and delicious dish. As a child, I probably had this for lunch 3 times a week during the summer at my grandparents. Everyone (at least all the Italian-American families) had backyard vegetable gardens; so fresh green beans, zucchini, sweet and hot peppers, and herbs were always plentiful.

This simple vegetable stew was pronounced “Cha-bought” by my grandparents. I’ve always wondered what it meant, or what the actual Italian name was. Thanks to Scott from Boston I was informed that the dish I had grow-up on was really called "Giambotta." Scott says this translates to "everything/a mess," which makes a lot of sense due to the array of vegetables that can and were used in this stew. He said his mother dropped the “a” from the end, and called it "Giambott.” So, to make a long story even longer, what I called “cha-bought” was actually a mispronunciation, of a mispronunciation.

Now, what made this dish so unusual was that it was made with hot dogs! That’s right, an ancient Italian vegetable stew made with 100% pure American hot dogs. Why? Here’s my theory. This dish was originally made either with all vegetables, or with the addition of Italian sausage. Growing up, I do remember this being made with sweet Italian sausage occasionally, but most of the time it was hot dogs. I believe that hot dogs were simply the least expensive sausage available, and so my grandparents, needing to feed many mouths without many dollars, chose this lower cost alternative. The strange thing is, it really works! It tastes wonderful no matter what sausage you chose, and since I grew up on it I think I actually prefer hot dogs, even to this day.

For me, there is no better mid-summer meal than a large bowl of steaming Giambotta and a couple slices of Italian bread. Of course, that’s not all we ate that night. Aunt Joyce and her friend Steve also made grilled sweet corn, and a beautiful fresh mozzarella tomato salad (all pictured above). It was a great meal, and a great way to end my visit to New York, and to re-connect to my culinary roots. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
4 oz sweet Italian sausage (optional)
1/2 onion sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbl olive oil
Slowly sauté above ingredients on low heat until onions and garlic turn translucent (do not brown garlic)

Then add (as seen in the video)
about 36 oz. tomato puree (any combination of whole peeled tomatoes, plain tomato sauce, or canned tomato puree) ERROR ALERT: IN THE CLIP I SAID "JUST OVER 2 QUARTS" BUT I MEANT ONE QUART...OOPS
3-4 zuchinni
3-4 russet potatoes
2 bell peppers
1/2 pound green beans (*blanched)
2 pounds hot dogs (or any sausage)
1/2 bunch fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

*I’ve read that adding raw green beans to a tomato sauce can cause the beans to “toughen” as the acid in the sauce reacts with the fiber in the beans. So it may be better to blanch the beans for a few minutes before adding to the sauce. Having said all that, I have added them raw and they are OK, but I do think the texture is better if they are blanched first… someone get me Alton Brown’s phone number!

Chef John verses the Garbage Plate

Before I left New York, as promised, I experienced the legendary Garbage Plate. My biggest fear with this post is that someone visiting my blog for the first time, possibly during their lunch break, sees the photo on the left, loses said lunch, and never returns.

Anyway, that’s just a chance I’ll have to take. The first thing I’d like to say about the Garbage Plate is that it actually tasted way better than it looked. I know what you’re thinking… how could it not? The culinary logic behind the dish is pretty solid. If you like pasta salad, homefries, hot dogs, and chili, then you certainly will enjoy them in huge quantities all piled on top of each other.

I didn’t make it to the home of the original Garbage Plate, Nick Tahou’s in Rochester. I decided to try mine at a trusted lunch spot in Canadaigua, called Charlie Riedel’s. I have been coming to Charlie’s for years. They serve some of the best burgers around, and their fish sandwich (a huge, perfectly fried piece of haddock on a soft roll), is the best I’ve had anywhere. But, in all my visits to Charlie’s I had never tried a Garbage Plate. By the way, as you’ll see and hear in the video clip, they don’t call it a Garbage Plate.

I was going to give you the entire history of the Garbage Plate here, but then I found an old FoodTV clip on the subject, so I’m posting that below mine. There’s not much else to say, except that I hope you enjoy the clip. I’d like to thank the staff at Charlie’s, which could not have been nicer. Thanks Barb, Jessie, Andy and Noah! There was also another girl working the counter, but I never got her name. So, whoever you were, thanks to you too. Also, to Scott the Manager (who wasn’t there that day), your loyal staff did charge me full price for the plate. They were not about to be bought merely for the promise of Internet fame. Enjoy!



This clip from FoodTV explains the history behind this bizarre dish

This is What Happened to the Other Half of the Pie Dough

It was rolled out and filled with a pint of fresh blueberries. They were mixed with just the right amounts of sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. The dough was folded up and around, covering some berries, while leaving others exposed to be dotted with small pieces of butter. A light sprinkling of sugar rained down, and in the oven it went. After being baked golden, in a 33 cent pie tin, it was served with vanilla ice cream and my family. It was almost transferred to a pretty plate to be photographed, but that just didn’t seem right. Enjoy!

Chicken D’Arduini – Italian Home Cooking at its Best!

As promised, here is the chicken dish that my Uncle Bill served with the homemade fettuccine you saw him make a few days ago. This unbelievably flavorful recipe is a great example of the difference between home cooking and the way things are done in the professional kitchen.

If I were to watch this video recipe clip, the first thing I would have wondered was why weren’t the chicken pieces browned first before being braised in the wine. This would have been my former professional chef brain talking. In the restaurant we always brown off the chicken to give it a bit more color. But, at home, with a recipe this jam-packed with flavor, why bother? It would have taken an extra half hour to brown all those legs and thighs and we had wine to drink and stories to tell. So, in true home cooking style we just added the raw chicken to that amazing oil, garlic and anchovy base (as you’ll soon see) and went from there. If you want a darker brown sauce and chicken, then by all means brown off the pieces first. We had better things to do.

A few tips to keep in mind as you watch the recipe. Be sure NOT to brown the garlic. It was just simmered on low with the anchovies and olive oil for a few minutes before the chicken was added. As soon as the chicken and wine are added, and the pan is covered, there is no danger of the garlic burning. But, until those other ingredients go in, be careful! You should watch this clip a few times, to really see what happened. The heat was adjusted several times, and the wine went in at the beginning and the end. Basically the entire cooking time is about 45 minutes, half covered, half uncovered. At the end, once the chicken is starting to come off the bone, you are just reducing the sauce into a wonderfully sticky glaze.

Uncle Bill threw in some olives and mushrooms near the end, but you could just as easily put in peppers, artichoke hearts, etc. This is a very easy recipe to tailor to you own tastes. The basic foundation is the chicken, wine, vinegar, garlic and anchovies. After that anything goes. And, because someone will ask, no, you can’t use chicken breasts instead…this is strictly dark meat territory. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs (bone-in, but skinned)
8 chicken legs
6 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 tbl dried rosemary
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
2 oz anchovy fillets
1/2 plus 1/3 cup red wine
1/4 cup vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt

San Francisco, Here I Come

I'll be leaving New York for San Francisco this evening, but won’t be getting in until early Thursday AM. So I probably will not be posting again until Friday at the earliest. But, I do have some very cool stuff to share. Yes, I did have a Garbage Plate! I felt just like Michael Moore, going behind the scenes with my hand held camera to capture this legendary dish. How was it? You’ll have to stay tuned for that exciting video exposé.

You’ll also get to see Uncle Bill’s braised chicken recipe I already teased, as well as a video recipe my Aunt Joyce did of my all-time favorite summertime vegetable recipe that’s made with…(are you sitting down?)...hot dogs! It’s pronounced “Cha-bought,” but I don’t know the actual spelling since it’s another example of a family name that is an Americanized mispronunciation of an actual Italian term. I believe it comes from some Italian slang or term for the word “mixture.” If any of my Italian viewers can help with this culinary mystery after seeing that clip, please do contact me, or leave a comment.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and emails about my Mom. She is recuperating slowly, but surely, and appreciated all the kind thoughts. Also, thanks for your patience with my inability to post as regularly as usual. As I said, I should be back to regular production in a few days. Ironically, site traffic has been increasing steadily while I’ve been here in NY, and I want to welcome all the new visitors to this blog. As they say, “You aint seen nothing yet.”

Today’s clip is dedicated to anyone that’s never been to San Francisco. It’s a montage of some of the City’s most beautiful scenes set to Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” I try to never take for granted that I’m lucky enough to live in America’s most beautiful city. If you ever get a chance to visit, I’m sure you will agree. But, be very careful, you may not go back. I came to San Francisco for a 3 month visit, 24 years ago!

This clip was a promotional video made by the Union Bank of San Francisco, and features a surreal interpretive dance by some hula dancers. Why are Hula dancers interpreting a Tony Bennett song about the City to promote a bank? I have no idea, except to say, “That’s San Francisco for you.” Enjoy!

Chef William D’Arduini and What Happened to the “Homemades”

First of all, you’re witnessing some blog history here. Uncle Bill becomes the first member of the family to be seen by the public. My mother would have been shown in her Key Lime Pie post but she refused to sign the release.

So, as promised, here is what happened to the homemade fettuccine. After it dried on the wooden rack for a few hours it was transferred to a sheet pan, waiting to be boiled and devoured by eight very hungry Italians (was that redundant?). I watched carefully as my cousin Michael properly salted the water; at least 5 tablespoons for the large pot of water boiling away on the stove. The biggest mistake people make when doing any kind of pasta is under salting the water. The water should actually taste slightly salty for your pasta to not have that “flat” taste. A couple pinches of the salt is not going to do it. Taste it if you are not sure how much to add.

This fresh, yet dried pasta took about 9 minutes to cook. Uncle Bill told me that when it started to float to the top, start testing it. Many people that make fresh pasta don’t dry it. They cook it fresh. Personally I think this is a huge mistake. I think the texture of the dried fresh pasta is far superior.

The sauce Uncle Bill prepared for the pasta was very simple, consisting of butter, olive oil, anchovies, lots of garlic, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, and parmesan cheese. This pasta was made to be a side dish to an amazing chicken recipe (pictured here) that I also filmed him making. I will post that recipe clip soon, and trust me; it will be worth the wait. It was one of the most delicious chicken dishes I’ve had in a long time, and one you will want to try. Stay tuned!

“Homemades” – Making Pasta with Uncle Bill

If you’ve been watching my video recipes for a while you have probably heard me mention my Uncle Bill more than once. Several of the Italian dishes on the site are variations (or exact copies) of his recipes I enjoyed growing up. So, before I left New York I wanted to try and capture Uncle Bill in action. This homemade fettuccine was always called “homemades” around the house, and so I thought I would post this recipe with it’s proper family name.

I enjoyed this very basic, but delicious pasta recipe, which was made into either spaghetti or fettuccine every Christmas when Uncle Bill would cook an amazing feast for the family. There was always this homemade pasta (I mean “homemades”), as well as sauce, chicken and herbs, bracciole, salads, and countless other Italian delicacies (not to mention my Aunt Angela’s amazing pies).

I don’t have much time this morning, but I will add more to this post later today, including the ingredient list. Like I already said, this is a simple recipe that just uses regular AP flour. You can, of course, use a mixture of semolina flour like many pasta recipes suggest. But, this recipe is very user friendly, and if you’ve never made your own pasta before, this would be a good place to start. By the way, those pasta machines are surprisingly affordable at your local mega-store or Bed Bath and Beyond-type home-goods places. Get one! The white motor you’ll see attached to the pasta roller in the clip is also sold at the same stores, and made to fit almost any model pasta machine. It does make things a little faster, but I kind of missed hand-cranking the handle on the machine.

What did we do with this homemade fettuccine? You’ll have to check back later for the full story. Enjoy and stay tuned!



Ingredients:
2 1/4 to 2 1/3 cup AP flour (you can always add flour, but not take it out, so even though we started with 2 1/3 cups, it may be better to start with 2 1/4 and then add a bit more latter if it seems too sticky.
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tbl olive oil
1/3 cup water