Grab the Good Life with Rocco DiSpirito

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April 1, 2005 - April 1, 2005

Five Minute Flavor Friday's! WOR 4/01/05
Rocco's new cookbook coming out this fall, Five Minute Flavor, is all about 5 minutes, 5 ingredients, 5 dollars per portion.

Live Cooking lessons every Friday! Today's recipe is Shrimp Sate Saute

Shrimp Sate Saute WOR 4/01/05
Shrimp dish for only $19, yes you heard that correctly! It is possible to cook healthy, fresh food everyday for your family with simple everyday ingredients at reasonable cost!

Ingredients (four servings):
Pound and half of shrimp
Four cups of washed and chopped kale
Two jars of pad thai sauce (sold almost everywhere, try Food Emporium)
Three pieces of bacon cut into small pieces
8 ounces rice stick noodles (soak overnight and forget about it)

Here's how you do it: Get your pan very hot and add the bacon, once it has released some of the fat add the kale, and then add salt and pepper. Once the Kale has wilted, add the shrimp and cook for a minute. Add the rice stick noodles and cook until they soften then add the pad thai sauce. Add a bit of water to bring it all together. That's It!
EVERYONE you can do this at home!!

Iron Chef WOR 4/01/05

Don't forget to watch Kat Cora, the first female Iron Chef on the Food Network this Sunday at 10 pm.

Broccoli Rab and Spinach WOR 4/01/05
Broccoli rab is bitter which makes your mouth pucker. Cook it on very high heat and brown it, this will make it much sweeter. To cook spinach make sure your pan is very hot and cook them in smaller batches to give the water from the spinach a chance to evaporate. Make sure you buy very good quality spinach or baby spinach.

Re-heating Salmon and Pasta WOR 4/01/05
Salmon poached in orange and lemon juice tossed with cooked fuzzili pasta and basil. What's the best way to reheat this dish? Pull it out of the fridge one hour before you are going to serve to have it come to room temperature, then, toss it in a very large and hot pan on the stove with a drop of water on it, just until it heats through. Also, microwaving is great way to heat pasta, rice or grains. Rocco's mom would heat pasta and meatballs by using a double boiler method. Just put the food in a bowl covered with plastic wrap over a pot of boiling water. It takes longer, but is a great way to re-heat food.

Wine recommendations for pasta and salmon: Rocco recommends something sweet or very acidic such as Sancerre or Muscate. Pinot Grigio is also great.

Restaurants around MOMA and the MET WOR 4/01/05
Going to the MET? Try Via Quadronno, great Italian food with a great atmosphere. Lunch around MOMA? Go to Modern, the new restaurant by Danny Meyer, absolutely amazing. The bar is reasonably priced; the restaurant is moderate to expensive. Also try Aquavit, Marcus Samuelson's newly re-opened restaurant.

Via Quadronno
25 E. 73rd St. (Upper East Side)
Between Madison and Fifth Ave.
212-650-9880

The Modern
9 W. 53rd St. near Fifth Ave.;
212-333-1220

Aquavit
65 E. 55th St. (Midtown West)
near Madison Ave.
212-307-7311

Making Pasta WOR 4/01/05
When making fresh pasta (lasagna) at home how do you prevent it from curling during the drying process? Hang lasagna over a broom stick to prevent it from curling. The weight of the pasta will keep it from curling. Don't forget to wipe down your broomstick with some bleach water, 2 percent bleach 98 percent water. You can also dry pasta in the refrigerator. It curls when the humidity evaporates rapidly, so you want humidity, which your refrigerator has plenty of.

Turkey Bacon WOR 4/01/05
Yes, you can substitute Turkey Bacon in the Shrimp Sate dish. Get creative; you can use anything you like.

Rice stick noodles WOR 4/01/05
Soak them for as long as or little as you can. They will soften up more in the pan when you are cooking them. You can soak the rice noodles, drain them, and they will keep for weeks in your fridge.
Pinot Grie is the perfect compliment to the Shrimp Sate

Clams WOR 4/01/05
You can freeze live clams for months. Once you freeze them you kill all pathogens. Next time try cooking them first, and then freeze them. They will taste better.

Restaurant for Children WOR 4/01/05
Serendipity 3 is made for children. First thing you do is order hot fudge Sunday then a burger, they will love you! Remember you can't make reservations there will be a bit of a wait.

Serendipity 3
225 E. 60th St. (Upper East Side)
Between Second and Third Aves.
212-838-3531