Canned Tomato

I love olives. If they had no calories, I would eat them by the bucket. Again, though, they are another ingredient that when eaten in moderation provides good fats our bodies do need. Here, I’ve used them to make pizza, another of my favorite foods. This throw-together meal will take significantly less time than waiting for takeout. And it’s especially great because you can stock the ingredients in your kitchen for that night when you just don’t have time to cook.

Rarely do I shock myself with how great a made-over dish can taste. I’m pretty realistic. Apple pie is pretty much an impossibility if I want it to taste like traditional pie and be lower in fat and calories because of all of the butter. There really is no substitute for butter in a traditional pie crust. I thought this dish would be an impossibility as well. But when we pulled the chicken out of the oven the first time, everyone in my test kitchen was shocked at how fattening it tasted. We knew it would be good, but we had no idea it would actually be great, especially given how much quicker it is than the traditional version! Just be sure you don’t overcook the chicken. If you do, not only will the chicken be dry, the breading will fall off.

Gina: Like many of our favorite recipes, this one comes with a story, and, girl, I’m not about to let you down, because this is a tale of seduction. This is one of the recipes I made for Pat when I was courting him (and, most important, his stomach). The key to this dish is the scent it gives off while simmering on the stovetop. The minute your man walks in the house and gets a whiff, well, it’s game over (you may not even make it to the dinner table, hon!). It’s not a typical Southern dish—the chicken is essentially poached in tomato sauce and fresh herbs—but the end result is chicken that’s as tender as any rib that has been smoked for hours over a hickory pit. I use chicken thighs, because the dark meat is flavorful and moist, but you can also use chicken breasts if you are cooking for a breast man (who said that?!?). The result—well, we’re still married, aren’t we? We’re not courting anymore, but I still turn to this recipe when I need to get Pat around to my way of thinking—like when he discovers that Gucci bag I’ve splurged on! Ladies, handle your business and rule the house. Your man will never look at you the same.

Pat: This is a third-generation Neely dish. Grandma Rena used to cook it for my dad. Then she taught my momma how to prepare it. Now, you know Grandma Rena was a smart woman, showing Momma how to cook for Dad. Gina: Ladies, this is a very old Southern tactic. My suggestion, if you want to keep your man happy, is to spend some time in the kitchen with his momma and have her teach you a few things. Pat: I always listen to Gina. You should, too. My momma cooked this dish for my dad and for the kids. Kept us all happy. Now I’m cooking it for my girls (it’s one of their favorites on cold-weather days). And I’m sure someday they will cook it for their children.

Pat: This is another one of those dishes that take me back to my childhood. I loved my momma Lorine’s lasagna, and to this day, I crave the molten layers of gooey cheese, rich tomato sauce, tender noodles, and beef. The pleasure of this dish is not just in the eating, it’s in the making and baking. When Momma’s lasagna is in the oven, our entire house smells like an Italian grandma has moved in. Lucky for me, my family loves this dish as much as I do, and Gina has learned to make this lasagna as well as my mom does. We like to make ours with cottage cheese, because we love the tangy flavor, but you can substitute the traditional ricotta if you prefer.

Pat: Few flavor combinations sing “summertime in the South” more than okra and tomatoes. Some people find okra intimidating to cook, but it’s really very simple. If okra is cooked for too long over too low a heat, it can turn slimy and limp. The secret is first searing the okra over a very high heat, then finishing it for a few minutes in the piquant tomato sauce. This method prevents the okra from getting gooey (frying okra does the same thing). Okra and tomatoes are great alongside fried fish, or any roasted or grilled meat, and they also pair well over a creamy starch like grits or spoonbread.

Gina: Every once in a while, my girls and I get on a little veggie kick, and they convince me to take a break from meat (amazing what a cheerleader uniform—theirs, not mine, hon—can do to you). This hearty, spicy chili is so satisfying that even Pat—my steak-and-potatoes man—loves it. The secret ingredient, bulgur (also called cracked wheat), thickens the stew when cooked and helps create a “meaty” texture. The addition of canned fire-roasted tomatoes and an unusual mix of spices gives this chili an exotic aroma and plenty of depth. More often than not, this chili is a family affair—Spenser and Shelbi help me cut up all the colorful vegetables and tell me about their respective days, while Pat makes the cornbread that goes so well with the stew, sets the table, and privately mourns the meat that he will not be having for dinner!

Pat: Texas style chili is all about beef, but since Memphis is all about the pigs, we give our pot a little love by adding ground pork as well. The combination of the two meats is, well, paradise for a guy like me, and it gives this chili a robust flavor and satisfying depth. Plenty of garlic, pure ground chile powder, and a bottle of beer make this one kicking combination. We call for kidney beans, but you can use black beans instead. A dollop of sour cream helps cool the fire.

Pat: This is our kind of tomato soup—it has plenty of attitude! A double dose of heat (crushed red-pepper flakes and chipotle-pepper purée) gives it a smoky undertone; a garnish of avocado relish balances the flavors and provides an appealing texture. This soup is delicious with hot cornbread or grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches.

Gina: This appetizer—a Neely Señoritas’ Night favorite—couldn’t be easier to prepare (or more satisfying to eat). I use the meat from a store-bought roasted chicken, and combine it with tortilla chips and a homemade version of that molten guilty pleasure, cheese dip made from processed cheese (hola, Velveeta!). I also add Southwestern flavors, like green onions, pickled jalapeños, and cilantro, and a Neely finish, Barbecue Pico de Gallo, which gets its sweet, tangy undertone from our sauce (and comes together in minutes in the food processor). Chicken nachos are a great appetizer, especially when there’s a game on television, but they also make a fun end-of-week dinner with a couple of cold beers. So, whether the occasion is Señoritas’ Night (put on the salsa music, girl) or game day, these nachos are always a hit.

You know how I feel about wasting food; everything in my kitchen gets used, even old bread. I’d like you to try this dish, so, even if you don’t find yourself with a leftover loaf of bread, buy a fresh one and let it dry overnight. Think of this side dish as a bread lasagna and serve it as a contorno to fish or meat. For a different and delicious brunch dish, top each serving with a poached or fried egg.

I’m sure this dish will take you back, whether you make it with “Italian” string beans (those flat wide ones), regular string beans, or the more expensive, thinner haricots verts. It isn’t necessary to start with a long-simmered tomato sauce for these beans; in fact, the flavor will be fresher with this quick-cooked marinara made right in the pan. The acidity of the tomatoes will turn the string beans a sort of olive green. That doesn’t bother me at all—it reminds me of the way my grandmother cooked vegetables. Maybe they weren’t the brightest-green vegetables I’ve ever seen, but they certainly were the most delicious.

If you’re starting with a whole head of celery, choose the right-size stalks for this dish: Use the larger, outer stalks and leaves for stock or soup, and the celery hearts as a snack or as part of an antipasto spread. Those medium-size stalks in between are ideal for baking. What you’re doing here is making a small amount of marinara sauce to bake the celery in. If you have on hand a little leftover marinara, you can certainly use it instead.

The traditional zuppa di pesce that you most likely encountered in Italian-American restaurants was based on garlic and tomato sauce, which was simmered along with assorted fish to make a savory dish. Sometimes the sauce was used to dress pasta, and the shellfish and fin fish would be enjoyed as a second course. This version is more in a brodetto style, lighter and clearer than the traditional version, with saffron as a flavoring ingredient. This kind of preparation can be found with slight variations along the entire coast of Italy from Liguria to the Adriatic coast to the heel, Puglia, and the island of Sicily. I have given you the recipe with fish fillets, although traditionally zuppa di pesce is made with slices of whole fish with bones and skin intact. But it is tricky to eat that way, even though the flavor is more complex.

It is a good idea to roll up and fry one of these fish balls before forming the whole batch. You can check the seasoning and add a little salt and pepper if you like before you cook them all. Cooking a little sample is a good thing to keep in mind when you’re making meatballs, too.

Wild-caught striped bass are the best for this recipe, but you can use fillets from any firm-fleshed ocean fish. Whatever fish you choose, the shape and thickness of the fillets is important. Each fillet should be about 1 1/2 inches thick and narrow enough so you can fit all six fillets in the pan with the sauce. If your pan isn’t large enough to hold all the fillets, cook the sauce first, then divide between two skillets of fillets. As with any dish, you can take this recipe in a lot of different directions. I sometimes prepare it using scallions in place of the onions, or black olives and capers in place of the green olives. Rather than add the olives and capers to the tomatoes, I like to cook them along with the onions for a minute or two to bring out their flavor. This “layering”of flavors is one of the little tricks we professional chefs use to get the most out of our ingredients.

I prefer olives with the pits—I think they have better flavor. Adding the olives directly to the oil after the garlic has browned will give you a more pronounced flavor of olives. If you like a milder flavor, add them to the sauce once the tomatoes have come to a boil. Baccalà has a tendency to curl up as it cooks. If yours does that, press on the fillets lightly with a metal spatula so they caramelize evenly. In order to keep the sauce light—as its name says—spoon in a little hot water from time to time as the sauce simmers.

This dish is excellent served as a main course or as a dressing for pasta. (Toss the pasta with the sauce and top the plates with shrimp.) It is also delicious spooned over hot Soft Polenta (page 346).

The caccia in cacciatore means “hunt,” so I guess this is chicken hunter’s-style. Somewhere along the line—probably on its trip from Italy to America—the hunter’s pheasant or guinea hen in this dish was replaced by chicken. If you don’t want to cut up a whole chicken, you can buy pieces—get all legs and thighs, if that’s what you like; they are very good in this dish. It can be made using only chicken breasts, if that’s your preference, but to keep the chicken from drying out, you should cut the cooking time in half, and reduce the wine to 1/4 cup and the tomatoes to 3 cups. Best of all, though, is to make this dish with an older hen. In that case, increase the cooking time by 20 minutes, adding more water or stock as needed to keep the hen pieces covered as they cook. When you cut up chicken, or anything for that matter, your knife should glide along. If you’re struggling, stop for a second and take a look at what you’re cutting; you should be cutting between the bones at the joints, not actually cutting through the bones. If you’re off target, just wiggle the blade of the knife to get a feel for where the joint is, then make another cut. With practice, you’ll get a sense for where the joints lie.