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Arrabiata sauce with garlic-cheese bread for dipping

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Bowls of arrabiata sauce with large slabs of garlic-cheese bread on the side

The son and husband units wanted pasta and sauce. I didn’t want to cook pasta. So, a happy medium, courtesy of the slab o’ciabatta my Mom left for me, which was screaming to be turned into garlic bread.

I also happened to have a quart of frozen marinara and two pounds of fresh 21/25 shrimp on standby. They’d make a good sauce, thought I, particularly with a hit of heat and some extra umami.

It’s easy to turn any basic tomato sauce into spicy arrabiata via a couple of smashed anchovies, some pureed garlic and a decent quantity of red pepper flakes. Just simmer the whole business together for about 10 minutes.

Why do I say pureed garlic? Well, sir, it happens I do quite a bit of Indian cooking and have taken a major liking to jarred garlic paste, which is nice and mellow. No bitterness. This is especially helpful in a recipe where the garlic isn’t cooked long enough to lose its harshness. Pick up a high-quality brand from India at your local Indian grocery and then tell me what you think. I go through this stuff like wildfire. It’s a lifesaver.

This dish calls for quite a bit of garlic. Just saying. If you want to use fresh cloves, please do, but make sure you’ve broken them down to a super-smooth consistency.

Trader Joe’s arrabiata is respectable, by the way. Rao’s marinara is exceptional, but it’s dear. Pick it up when it’s on sale. It’ll still set you back upwards of $6 or $7 a quart, but when you arrabitize it — wow!

Add a salad and you’ll have a fine dinner. However, if you overcook the shrimp you will not have a fine dinner, so please don’t.

Arrabiata Sauce with Shrimp and Garlic-Cheese Bread for Dipping
 
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Individual bowls of this spicy, flavorful sauce chock full of shrimp and a side of garlic-cheese bread make for a comforting meal.
Author:
Recipe type: main
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 3 - 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 quart hot arrabiata sauce (or marinara sauce simmered for 10 mins with a tablespoon of pureed garlic, a squeeze of anchovy paste or a crushed anchovy fillet or two, and at least a teaspoon of red pepper flakes)
  • Two pounds deveined and shelled shrimp, no smaller than 21/25 (squeeze the tails off, too)
  • Olive or sunflower oil for sauteing
  • Three tablespoons garlic puree
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • Pinch or more of salt
  • One ciabatta loaf, cut in half lengthwise and then each half cut into four slices. You should wind up with eight flat trenchers
  • ½ cup good olive oil into which you have mixed two tablespoons of garlic puree, a little dried oregano and a bit of salt
  • ½ cup freshly grated or shredded parmesan cheese
Method
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Arrange bread slices on a sheet pan and brush olive oil mixture onto each
  3. Distribute cheese evenly onto bread slices
  4. Place bread in oven so it heats while you deal with the rest of the recipe
  5. Add olive or sunflower oil to a large saute pan and heat over medium flame until it's hot but not too hot, and then add shrimp
  6. Saute for about a minute, turn the flame down slightly and add the garlic, oregano and salt
  7. Saute until shrimp are just underdone, making sure the flame is low enough to keep the garlic from browning
  8. Add the hot arrabiata sauce to the shrimp, stir, put the lid on and turn off the burner
  9. Check bread. If tops are not slightly golden brown, turn oven up to broil or high convection for a minute or so. Don't burn the bread!
  10. Serve the sauce immediately in individual bowls with garlic-cheese bread on the side
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Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

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Locanda da Eva in Berkeley, CA

Locanda da Eva in Berkeley, CA

Locanda da Eva
2826 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley
(510) 665-9601
Details:  Mostly Italian; emphasis on sustainability and local ingredients; dinner only; full bar and great wine menu; street parking and pay lot nearby

Locanda da Eva opened in Berkeley in July, taking over a supposedly “cursed” space that housed Mazzini Trattoria, Zax Tavern and Maritime East in recent years.  Prior to that, Casa de Eva, a Mexican place and inspiration for the current name, was there for 37 years, so maybe the space just needs to find its legs again.

The other night I tagged along to a PR dinner with GraceAnn Walden of The Yummy Report, allowing me to give you a first-look review here in my modest venue.

The locale was pleasing to me, being a number of blocks from where Telegraph meets the Cal campus and away from serious parking mayhem.  There were few other diners that Wednesday evening, but it’s a bit far-flung to catch campus-related foot traffic.  Two of the few were Joanne Weir and her husband, so there was certainly quality if not quantity.

Locanda da Eva is what my father would have called “CALM-fter-bul,” which is “comfortable” for people of a certain age who grew up in New York City.

There’s plenty of medium-toned wood and the lighting is subtle.  I’m always grateful when I don’t see fixtures hanging at eye level over tables, being photosensitive.  It means someone is actually thinking about function.  The warmth blends with an airy feel due to the generous spacing of tables and chairs, and the kitchen is open to view.

Nude paintings a la Eve and olive branches hang throughout.

We spent a little time at the bar.  GraceAnn investigated cocktails and chatted up the bartender, while I indulged in a sweet and rich glass of Navarro Gewürztraminer grape juice.

I’m not qualified to talk about mixed drinks and bar culture, but I can tell you the seats are comfy and that I’d probably visit often to have a glass of wine if I lived in the immediate ‘hood.  It’s very civilized, and I love the wine menu, being a fan of Italian reds.  While it’s not a menu that caters to the masses, the masses would have a hard time going wrong here.  Wines have been carefully selected to complement the menu, and there are a number of reasonably-priced options.

An interesting thing about Locanda da Eva is that its owner, Robert Lauriston, is a food writer.  He’s blogged and written reviews for SF Weekly, and contributed to other Bay Area publications, like East Bay Express.  I know him mainly from Chowhound, though.

Some years ago I had a short but intense fling with Chowhound, which I threw over for a long-term relationship with Facebook.  As I recall, there was nary a Bay Area thread without Robert Lauriston commentary.  His well-stated contributions showed significant macro and micro-level knowledge of the Bay Area food scene and food in general, and were comprehensive in their attack of the subject at hand.  Knowing this made certain things about my dining experience at Locanda da Eva make sense.

Case in point:  words.  The wine menu is eight pages long, has an introduction, there’s a paragraph about each wine, it’s dated on the lower left-hand corner, paginated on the right, and perfectly formatted.  The daily dinner menu provides all you need to know, from practices related to values to the price of Locanda da Eva T-shirts.

I loved seeing “…complimentary Acme bread by request…,” thinking that perhaps one should not take bread service for granted.

Bread with fancy olive oil at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Bread with fancy olive oil at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The dinner menu had good variety in terms of apps and entrees, and there were several pizzas and pastas.  Provenance is king here, so adjectives, many of them formal, were peppered throughout.  It wasn’t just “kale,” but “wilted Dirty Girl kale,” on the second pizza down.

We had a nice young man as our server.  Efficient and friendly – he kept an eye on goings-on at our table and orchestrated the arrival of selections so that we were neither rushed nor waiting.

Locanda da Eva does not provide butter for bread.  Instead, they offer olive oil for dipping – for a $2 fee!  The oil was fruity, peppery and fine, but not worthy of a surcharge.

If you want to avoid dry bread, you have to pay.  Not in keeping with the generosity of spirit that should be at the heart of every eating establishment, is it?  Come on – provide butter and olive oil under that old “cost of doing business” saw.  Geez.

UPDATE – 9/15/10:  Robert Lauriston contacted me to let me know that olive oil would now be complimentary upon request.  Nice!

We selected several appetizers, a pasta and two entrees, and were able to choose a gussied up vegetable side with each entree – a nice touch, given that they listed at $5 to $6 each a la carte.

Execution was very good – and this with a meal involving several cooking styles and ingredients requiring a knowing hand, like albacore tuna.

Flavors were bright and distinct, and most things were well-seasoned.  You need to ask for salt and pepper here, by the way.

Pork trotters at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Pork trotters at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The fried pork trotters with roasted corn and Poblano peppers ($9) was wonderful.  You’ve never had them, you say?  Trotters, as the name suggests, are pork feet with part of the shank attached.  They’re cooked until the meat falls off the bone.  The meat is then used in a preparation that takes advantage of its gelatinous texture – a by-product of cooking down the tendon.  At Locanda, the trotter meat/jelly is formed into little blocks, coated and fried crisp.

The coating on my square o’trotter encased its deeply flavored, silky contents perfectly, and provided a textural contrast.  The corn bed added a sweet crunch.  If you order only one appetizer here, make it this one.

Bresaola at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Bresaola at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The house-made bresaola ($9), served with crostini and pickled veggies, was a little bland and too dry – even for an air-dried beef product.  You may want to have lemon wedges and olive oil handy.

Calamari at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Calamari at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The local calamari with avocado, garbanzo beans, lemon-herb vinaigrette and senise powder ($11) was tasty, but chick pea-heavy.  The fresh calamari – though cut incomprehensibly small – were nevertheless cooked perfectly.  The vinaigrette was nice and light, and everything in this salad – which is basically what it was – married well.  A bright, well-seasoned dish that lacked in its main ingredient.  By the by, I had no idea what “senise powder” was.  When I plugged it into Google, my first hit was Locanda da Eva!  A little more research showed it to be Peperoni di Senise – peppers from Senise, in Southern Italy, dried and ground into powder.

Strozzapreti at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Strozzapreti at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

It’s an Italian place, so we had to try a pasta dish, which they split for us.

The strozzapreti with roasted eggplant, chiles, tomatoes, lamb sausage, herbs and ricotta salata ($16) was a beautifully executed dish.  The “priest choker” pasta – like long cavatelli that twist and curl a bit when cooked – arrived perfectly al dente.  The sauce was a rich, thick ragu peppered with bits of mildly spicy sausage and eggplant.  There was lots going on here and it all melded perfectly – like a good Bolognese.  And, like a good Bolognese, it was not overly saucy or tomatoey.  GraceAnn commented on the moistness of the ricotta salata shreds, which seemed more like fresh mozzarella.

The glass of wine I chose to accompany my meal – Ricci Bonarda El Matt 2008 – worked spectacularly with this dish, by the way.

Albacore tuna at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Albacore tuna at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

I have to hand it to the kitchen:  they put out a well-seasoned and expertly cooked piece of albacore tuna.  If you’ve ever prepared this at home, you know there’s a  narrow margin between sashimi and Starkist – even when working with a fresh, beautiful piece of tuna.

The griddled local albacore with roasted Italian sweet peppers, basil, and grilled summer squash ($19) was GraceAnn’s entree, but I wished I’d ordered it – which is a first.  I never, ever, select salmon or tuna as my entree because I figure I can overcook them myself for less than half the price.

This was nice and rare, and the whole peppers were charred outside and tender and sweet inside.  I didn’t bother with the squash.

Fried corn at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Fried corn at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

The Brentwood (what the hell, when you got it, flaunt it, I guess) fried corn on the cob with salsa verde maionese ($6 a la carte, but you can choose this as a side with an entree) tasted like grilled corn.  I would not have guessed it was fried – not greasy at all.  I thought it needed a little salt, and the sauce was a little sweet for my taste, but I was happy with this rustic, straighforward side dish.

Chicken & ricotta meatballs at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Chicken & ricotta meatballs at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

I chose the braised chicken and ricotta meatballs with kale, onions, sumac, cumin and Grana Padana ($18), which was übersavory.  There were five cloud-like meatballs in a broth that was concentrated and salty and needed some kind of neutral, absorbent foil – like bread, potatoes or pasta.  While I liked the flavor and even the soft texture of the meatballs, I found the dish to be overworked, with the integrity of individual ingredients lost in a heightened state of umami.  I would order this again only as a “table” entree.

Fried potatoes at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Fried potatoes at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

I had hoped to use the side of fried potatoes with pickled cabbage and Calabrian chiles ($5, same bit about the entree) as a textural contrast to my meatball entree – envisioning a batch of crispy potatoes straight out of a sizzling frying pan.

The fried potatoes turned out to be more like tired roast potatoes that had been warmed over.  Bland, too, and a real letdown.

On impulse, I had a latte and the peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter gelato, bitter chocolate ganache and sea salt ($8) for dessert.  The ganache almost froze on the gelato, which I liked, and the cookies were buttery and light.  There was not too much salt here, which I appreciated, given the volume of fine-dining desserts these days with sea salt.

Peanut butter & choco chip cookie dessert at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Peanut butter & choco chip cookie dessert at Locanda da Eva in Berkeley

Our server noticed that I wasn’t drinking my latte, and apologized if it wasn’t up to snuff.  “No, it’s fine – just taking my time.” said I.  I like that he asked, though.  I liked it a lot.

Robert Lauriston is invested here in every way possible – you can’t help but see that – and Executive Chef Huw Thornton clearly runs a strong kitchen.

An interesting menu, forward-thinking food values, a well-thought out wine menu and a great space should add up to a win for Locanda da Eva – as long as there’s willingness to adapt to what their location may ultimately dictate.

I’d like to go back and try a few other things – if they stop charging for olive oil.  That olive oil thing sticks in my craw.

UPDATE – 9/15/10:  Robert Lauriston contacted me to let me know that olive oil would now be complimentary upon request, so my craw is officially clear.

Chicken Primitivo

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chicken primitivo in dutch oven

Here’s a really easy braise to toss together for a group – or for two meals for a family of 4 or 5.  Although it works well with pasta, I often serve it with crusty Italian bread, which you can dip into the sauce.

I get tired of plain old roasted chicken breasts, and a braise with wine provides richness and complexity.

Braising is often my cooking method of choice.  As long as you have a protein that lends itself to braising, like a tougher cut of beef or stewing chicken, you can put it together and let it go until the meat is fork-tender – usually a couple of hours or more.  If you use split chicken breasts (with the bones and back meat included) from a fryer or roaster, they don’t have to cook as long, but they are sufficiently large so they’ll usually need an hour or more and will develop nice flavor.

Along with your protein you’ll need some braising liquid, like stock; an acid, such as wine or tomatoes; and aromatics, like carrots and onions.  With nothing but these things and a little oil, salt and pepper, you can produce a decent braise.  The trick is to barely cover the protein and to let it just simmer in the oven or on a stove top, and to adjust the cover, which, for me, is usually some foil, so you wind up with a complex sauce at the end that is sufficiently concentrated but not devoid of liquid.

Chicken breasts give off liquid, so if you cover them the whole time, your braise will really be a boil, and the chicken will be swimming in liquid.  Conversely, if you braise some short ribs and don’t cover them at all, you may wind up frying them in rendered fat when all the liquid evaporates.

So, with split chix breasts, I keep them uncovered, and then cover them about 30 mins in – or when the top has some color and the liquid has reduced a bit.

Now, if you want to use fresh spices, feel free, but this is a great dish for dried versions, because they open up nicely.  For God’s sake, though, use fresh ground spices!

Chicken Primitivo
   Serves 9
9 large, split chicken breasts, on the bone/with back meat
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large white onion, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
3/4 teaspoon ground thyme
3/4  teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 bay leaves
20 ounces sliced brown or baby portabello mushrooms
1 large (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/3 bottle primitivo or zinfandel (or another decent red wine with acidity and spice)
Chicken stock, as needed (should need about 2 cups)

1).  In a heavy-gauge, oven-safe, dutch oven, heat the olive oil and add the onion.  Saute for about 5 minutes.
2).  Add the garlic and saute for another minute.
3).  Add the spices and salt and pepper and saute for 30 seconds.
4).  Toss in ‘shrooms and saute for a couple of minutes.
5).  Add canned tomatoes, stir, and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
6).  Add wine, stir, and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
7).  Add chicken by standing pieces on their sides, larger side down.  I use a huge dutch oven and have to do this so they all fit.  They will displace liquid, which is what you want.  They should be about 3/4 or more covered.
8).  Add enough chicken stock so chicken is barely covered.
9).  Stir in the stock a bit, using a spatula, getting between the pieces so the sauce surrounds each one.
10).  Bring to a simmer.
11).  Transfer to preheated 350 deg. F. oven, uncovered.
12).  When liquid has evaporated such that chicken is jutting out slightly, baste top of chicken with sauce and cover loosely (with foil or with lid slightly ajar).  Should be about 30 mins.
13).  Place back in oven until chicken is cooked through -but not overcooked.  Check now and again and add a little more stock if you need to, and/or cover more tightly.
14).  Allow to rest for 10 minutes, uncovered.
15).  Skim fat with flat spoon and serve chicken with plenty of sauce.

Tonina’s pignoli cookies

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Italian pine nut cookie

If I were being walked to my execution tomorrow morning and had to choose one type of cookie to eat tonight, it would be Italian pignoli (pine nut).  Soft in the middle and chewy outside with the strong flavor of almond paste that is its main ingredient, this cookie is special – and very much like a good macaroon.  As a German-American, I grew up eating marzipan in various animal and fruit shapes, and this is also close enough to that confection to hit home with me.

I used to buy these in Italian bakeries in Queens, and recently asked my friend, Tonina, who still lives in Astoria, if she had the recipe.  Lo and behold I am now able to enjoy pignoli cookies again – and without spending $18 a pound!

The downside is the cost of ingredients.  If you cannot make your own almond paste, you must find a reasonable source, because you’ll go broke buying those dear little packages in the supermarket.  If you live in my neck of the woods, know that Berkeley Bowl sells it in bulk for $6.95 a pound, which is an incredible price.  I buy the pine nuts at Costco and store them in the fridge.  You should do the same, else they will be pricey and go stale, respectively.  If you buy those tiny packs of pine nuts you’ll be spending a fortune, so do find a source of bulk nuts.  Also, this recipe has only a few ingredients, so make sure they are of a high quality!

Pignoli Cookies (courtesy of Tonina Derosa)

8 oz almond paste
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 medium egg whites, lightly beaten
8 ounces pine nuts
Extra confectioners sugar to finish (note that I don’t do this)

1)  Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2)  Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper, or use silicone linings
3)  Place the pine nuts in a bowl
4)  In a food processor, break the almond paste up into small pieces and then pulse with the sugars and flour until mixture is finely ground
5)  Add the egg whites a little at a time, until dough comes together.  Depending on the humidity, or the size of your egg whites, you may not always need the entire quantity of egg whites
6)  Using a teaspoon and slightly wet hands, scoop up a spoonful of the dough and form into a round with your palms
7)  Drop round into pine nuts and roll until lightly coated
8)  Arrange on baking surface 2 inches apart
9)  Bake 20 to 25 minutes and then cool (note that the baking time may vary depending upon the size of your cookies and how you like them)
10)  Dust with confectioners sugar, if desired

Pizza at Arinell in Berkeley

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Pizza at Arinell in Berkeley CA

Matthew and I had a couple slices of pizza at the only decent New York City-style place in the area, as far as I’m concerned, Arinell (2109 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley).  They make thin crust Neapolitan pizza topped with simple, high-quality ingredients.  There is a nice zesty sauce and real mozzarella cheese – and not too much of each, allowing the slice to remain rigid when you fold it over part way.  The crust has good flavor, too.  The sum of the parts equals a real East Coast experience when you take that first bite.

Some days they are off a bit, but when they get it right, it is REALLY right.  They sell slices and whole pies.  I cannot speak for any of the toppings, because I don’t bother with those, nor with the Sicilian pizza.

My final gripe is that they got rid of their lunch special.  Now, two plain slices and a drink will set you back over $6.00.  They need to be reminded that this is a good time to offer specials.