2 pounds Haddock or Cod
3 TBS. olive oil
2 TBS. finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut coarsely 1 pound Italian style canned tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, coarsely ripped
1/4 cup fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup fish stock or water
Red pepper flakes to taste

In a large frying pan, add olive oil, shallots and garlic.
Cook over low flame for five to 8 minutes after it starts simmering. Do not let shallots and garlic brown.

Add white wine and reduce over high flame by half. Add tomatoes stir and cook over medium flame for 10 minutes, uncovered after the tomatoes come to a simmer.

Cut haddock or cod into 4 inch squares, season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Lower flame to a simmer under tomato sauce and add fresh herbs and seasonings. Place fish in a single layer gently into tomato sauce, cover and cook about 10 minutes or until fish is no longer translucent and is cooked through.
Spoon some sauce over the top of the fish while it is cooking. If too dry add a little fish stock. Taste for seasoning and plate using a soup type bowl. Garnish with sprigs of parsley or fresh basil.

Serves 6

Bon Appetit,
Chef Carol Frazzetta

Apple Brandy, Apple Creme
By Chef Carol Frazzetta

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Macintosh Apples
1/2 cup sugar or to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Freshly ground nutmeg to taste
About a 1/4 cup apple brandy
Optional: Orange or Lemon zest to taste

Peel apples and remove core. Cut apples into 3/4 inch squares. Sprinkle apples with sugar to taste, cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg
Melt butter in a cast iron pan or heavy skillet and when hot add apples. Cook just until apples are barely ender and flame with brandy.
Taste for seasoning and make adjustments if necessary.
Spread apples out on a cookie sheet and place in freezer, until just cool.
Make Creme Brûlée custard, adding, 2 tablespoons Apple Calvados Brandy to mixture. Taste for seasoning.
Sprinkle apples into 10 individual Creme Brûlée Cups and pour custard over apples.
Place cloth towels on two 18 inch cookie sheets. Place Creme brûlée cups on towels and place in a preheated 325 degree oven. Pour water halfway
up the sides of cups and bake for 35 – 40 minutes. Insert a small metal spatula into custard. It should come out clean and shiny. Carefully remove
cups with a large metal spatula and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating.

Creme Brûlée
6 to 8 portions
4 cups heavy cream
8 egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

Adjust rack to center of oven. Preheat oven to 325 degree
In the top of a large double boiler over hot water on moderate heat, or in a heavy saucepan over low heat, scald the cream, with the vanilla bean, if using, uncovered, until it forms a thin, wrinkled skin on top or tiny bubbles around the edge.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl stir the egg yolks briefly with a fork or a wire whisk just to mix.
When the creams scalded, add the sugar to it and stir to dissolve. Very gradually, just a spoonful at a time at first and then in a slow stream, stir the hot cream into the yolks. Do not beat the mixture and it should not be foamy. Mix in the vanilla if not using a bean. Strain and reserve. Taste for
seasoning and adjust if necessary.
The custard should be baked in a wide, shallow, ovenproof casserole with a 6-cup capacity of 10 individual Creme Brûlée cups. An 11-inch Pyrex pie plate about 1 inch deep is very successful. Pour the custard into the casserole, or individual cups. Place it into a large, shallow baking pan. Pour hot water into the baking pan to half-way up the sides of the custard plate or individual cups. Bake for about 30 minutes in the pie plate, or longer if the custard is deeper, until a small sharp knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from hot water and place on a rack. If the custard was baked in a shallow pie plate it might be difficult to remove from the hot water. If so, use a bulb baster to remove most of the hot water first.)
Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
Use a scant 3/4 cup of light brown sugar for a 12-inch pie plate; less for one smaller diameter. With your fingertips force the sugar through a strainer held over the custard to make a very even layer about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. There should not be thinner spots or thin edges – they will burn. Also the sugar should not be too thick or the caramel will be coarse instead of delicate. Cover the sugar with a large piece of wax paper and, with your fingertips and the palm of your hand, pat to make a smooth, compact layer. Remove was paper. Wipe the rim of the plate clean.
Preheat the broiler for a few minutes, then place the custard about 8 inches below the heat. Leave the door open slightly so that you can watch it.
Do not take your eyes off the sugar. Broil until the sugar is completely melted. It will take only a few minutes.
If a few spots start to burn, cover them with small pieces of aluminum foil. When completely melted remove from broiler immediately. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate from, 1 to 6 hours.
Cooled any longer than this, the caramel will start to melt; although it will not be as crisp, it is still delicious. Many people prefer it after standing about 12 hours when the caramel has partially melted.
Creme Brûlée is best very cold. It should be placed in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes before serving on well-chilled plates. At the table, tap the caramel with the edge of a serving spoon to crack it.

Bon Apetit!
Chef Carol

By Carol Frazzetta

This special recipe that my Sicilian family made every Christmas Eve is in my first book Carol’s Café Pasta Sauces that I worked on for two years. It was a very sentimental undertaking, working on family recipes, stories and special sauce recipes that my customers loved at Carol’s Café.

Ingredients
3 dozen little neck clams
4 – 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 large shallot, finely minced
2 to 3 red dried chili peppers minced, or red pepper flakes to taste or fresh Chile, minced to taste 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Fresh oregano to taste (optional)
Fresh basil to taste (optional)
Reserved clam juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound linguine or spaghetti
1/2 cup reserved pasta water or fish stock

Wash clams in cold water, scrubbing well with a stiff vegetable brush. Carefully shuck clams over a bowl and reserve all the juices (your fishmonger may do this for you) Reserve several clam shells for garnish.

Dip clams into clam juice to clean them of sand. Never dip shucked clams in water, because it washes away the flavor. Chop coarsely and set aside. Strain clam juice into a bowl through a double layer of rinsed cheesecloth placed over a strainer. The clams and clam juice must be cleaned thoroughly so there is not a speck of sand. Set aside.

In a 2-quart saucepan, place garlic, shallots and fresh Jalapeno or Serrano or dried red peppers (if using) in cold olive oil and very slowly sauté ingredients until garlic and shallots are pale gold in color and chili pepper is softened. Watch carefully, stir occasionally. Do not brown. This can take as long as 10 minutes.

Add parsley, red pepper flakes or finely chopped fresh Chile (if using) and strained clam juice. Set aside. Just before linguine or spaghetti is finished cooking, al dente, remove and reserve 1⁄2 cup of pasta water.

Heat the sauce until hot, add clams and heat for just a minute. Do not add clams until you are ready to serve, or they will become tough. Add pasta water or fish stock and serve immediately over hot pasta. Taste for salt, pepper, fresh oregano or basil (if using) and season to taste).

Bon Appetit, Chef Carol

Clam Shucking: Wash clams in cold water, scrub well with a stiff brush. Place in a large saucepan with 2-3 tablespoons white wine and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Cover pot and cook clams quickly over a high flame, stirring occasionally, just until clams open. Be careful not to overcook. Remove clams immediately with a slotted spoon. Strain juices through a coffee filter or washed cheesecloth; set aside. Remove clams from shells and coarsely chop.

By Carol Frazzetta

Don’t be intimated by Roasting a Duck; It’s easier than you think. If you can roast a chicken, then you can roast a duck.

1 whole duck, 5 to 6 pounds

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large onion, quartered

1 fresh lemon, quartered

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Remove neck and giblets from the cavity, reserve for stock.
Rinse duck in cold water and dry well.
Trim excess fat from neck and cavity areas.
Using a fork, lightly prick the duck skin all over, being careful not to pierce the meat. Season the cavity with salt and pepper, and a squeeze of the lemon. Place lemon and onion inside the cavity.

Skewer the legs closed.
Using a sharp paring knife, make shallow cuts in the skin over the breasts and legs being careful to only cut through the skin, not the meat.
Place the duck breast-side-up on a rack in a roasting pan. Pour about 2 cups of hot water, just off the boil, over the skin to tighten it up. Leave the water in the roasting pan. Pat duck dry with paper towels and let cool. Season duck all over with salt and pepper and if you like a little spice, Ancho Chile, not hot, available in the super market.

Roast breast-side-up for 25 minutes, then remove from oven and turn duck over. Roast back-side-up for another 25 minutes, then remove from oven and turn breast side up again.
Finish roasting breast-side-up when the meat at the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F on an instant read thermometer, about 15 – 30 minutes more.

Gently tip duck to drain any liquid from the cavity then remove to a cutting board to rest for at least 15 minutes, loosely tented with foil.
Carve and serve.

Bon Appetit, Chef Carol

A favorite entree at Carol’s Cafe.

Serves 3 to 4

3 tablespoons dry red wine of good quality.
3 tablespoons golden blossom Honey
4 large garlic cloves, minced or to taste
1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper, plus more as needed
1 1/2 to 2 pounds steak (ribeye, porterhouse, T-bone, top loin, or NY strip, cut 1 1/4- to 1 1/2 inches, thick and trimmed only of excess fat)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt or Sea Salt

Combine the wine, honey, garlic, and pepper in a shallow dish. Add the steak, turning to coat it with the mixture. Let it stand at room temperature while you set up the rest of the meal.

Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch saute pan over medium-heat. Pat the steak dry, add it to the pan, and brown it quickly on both sides, sprinkling salt and grinding more pepper over both sides as they cook. (A splatter screen will protect the stovetop from being a total mess.)

Turn the heat to medium low and cook, turning the steak often, for 10 minutes, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 125 to 130 degrees (for medium rare). Remove it to a rack set over a platter and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. The steak finishes cooking, collects itself, and is much juicier for the wait.

Bon Appetit,
Chef Carol