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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Potatoes and Escarole

It's been awhile since I last posted. We've been busy here with life issues and while we have been eating, many of our meals have been repeats of other things you've seen me do. But, now that Father's Day is past and weekends are less busy, I've been thinking about writing again.There's a lot to write about. Last Tuesday, my wife  swore allegiance to the United States and became a spanking new citizen. That is a milestone for both of us. Since I've known Neeta, her immigrant status has been a factor in our relationship. I have sat with her through meetings with lawyers, court appearances and interviews with Homeland Security officials, and have spent countless hours filing documents, gathering evidence, writing letters and traveling to different federal buildings. Particularly after we dropped our lawyer (to save cash), our life has been about waiting to hear about our latest appointment, and then scrambling to get finger prints, tax papers and other stuff together for the next round. And, government bureaucrats being who they are, we have had to correct mistakes on documents which always entailed new forms to fill out and regathering and/or updating old information. When she was finally called to take her civics test a few weeks ago, there was a file about eight inches thick on the immigration officer's desk containing, believe me, about 1/3 of the actual documentation we have had to provide. Particularly irksome to me, was having to prove again and again that our marriage was not fraudulent. I'm sure if the shoe were on the other foot and Neeta was sponsoring me, I would have long ago told them to keep their freakin' citizenship! But she hung in there and now, she tells me, she can "talk back to anybody" which is pretty funny if you know my demure, sweet wife. We will be married five years on Thursday. I swore it was seven years. She had to actually show me our wedding license to prove to me it was only five. It occurred to me (later) that some women might be angry that their husbands couldn't remember how long they were married. But not my girl. Take note, grasshoppers. When you have a guy who loves to cook for you, and does a pretty decent job, you can forgive a lot of crap. I hope.

So, today's meal came about because I felt like eating potatoes. I had just been food shopping and had the fixings for one of my greens and beans dishes which I usually make with pasta, but this potato thing came over me and since it's a "bachelor day", I was leaning towards pork and potatoes.

To begin with, I put two small new potatoes on to boil, starting them in cold water. They need to boil about 15 minutes or so till a fork can pierce them,  but  not so easily that I could serve them at that point. Meanwhile, I diced two cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary and a slice of pancetta. I had time to also wash and rip a handful of escarole (about 4 or 5 leaves).




To hasten their cooling, I sliced the potatoes. They can be handled rather quickly while you brown first the pancetta, then the garlic and rosemary. The potato slices should be skinned and cut into cubes. In the foreground is the diced pancetta and the rosemary. Oh, and save the potato cooking water for later on.






I added the cubed potatoes to the pan with the pancetta, garlic and rosemary, salted them and added some red pepper flakes. After the potatoes absorbed the oil in the pan, I added about a half ladle of the cooking water.






Next, I added the escarole to the pan with a little more of the potato cooking water, stirred everything and covered the pan till the escarole was tender (about 5 minutes).






This is how it looked after 5 minutes. Most of the water has been absorbed and the potatoes and escarole are tender. Off the heat, I add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and taste for seasoning. Perfect! Now it's inside to eat and watch the Met's game!


14 comments:

  1. Congratulations to your wife. She sounds like a wonderful woman and the good old USA is lucky to have her as a citizen! I just found your blog and I love it. I will be checking it often.

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  2. Thanks Linda, and I appreciate your comments and hope to see you around more!

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  3. Congratulations to the both of you! I am sure that is a huge burden that has been lifted off of both of your shoulders. Funny that you mention your anniversary. My youngest sister and her husband got married on his birthday so he would never forget their anniversary. Well, Brian cooks for me quite a bit, but if he forgot how long we have been married I'm not sure I could let that go. :) Hang on to that lady, she sounds like a keeper! :)

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  4. Really? I'm glad to hear that. I have very few saving graces, but I am loved!! Thank God.

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  5. holy potatoes that looks delicious!

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  6. Yay! Congratulations to your wife on becoming a citizen of this great nation! It is so nice to hear someone speak so kindly about their spouse and I am sure she appreciates your words and especially your cooking. Nice dish too! I have never used escarole before, don't know why, I'll have to give it a try. Look, I'm a poet and didn't even know it :)

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  7. What a big day for your wife and what a big day to come for both of you. Your family has much to celebrate. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  8. As always Amy and Mary, thanks for your kind words. Amy, get with the program -eat more Italian vegies and fewer enchiladas!

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  9. Congratulations to you and your wife, now all of that is behind you, what an ordeal to go through!
    Your wife must be so happy!
    I love your dish here Joe, this is pure comfort food! yumm

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  10. I think I have used escrole once before and just did not know how to use it properly! This recipe looks fantastic with it and I will have to try cooking with it again!

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  11. Sook,

    Type greens and beans into the search box on the top left of my page and you will find another escarole recipe.

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  12. Congrats to your wife Joe! Your words about your wife are so nice :-) that's Amore!

    I like potatoes and escarole, but never tasted together, I'll try the recipe.

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  13. Hi Joe,

    I'm truly happy for you and your wife. After living in Queens and being surrounded by non-citizens, I'm sympathetic to your plight. We wrote several letters for neighbors stating that yes, they did indeed live together! I'm sure we are somewhere in that stack of paperwork. Congratulations to both of you, and your potatoes and greens looks and sounds lovely. You always write such sweet things about your wife. She is a lucky gal to have someone that will stand beside her through it all as her husband and her private chef!

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  14. What a sweet and patient man you must be to deal alongside her with the citizenship issue. I know firsthand what a pain it all is. So glad to hear she stuck with it and is now happily a US citizen. Congrats to her! You write so lovingly of her and that speaks volumes. I love it.
    I love the potatoes and escarole together. What a great idea! I will have to give this one a go.

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