City Cuisine

Mary Sue and Susan’s groundbreaking cookbook City Cuisine is based on their first restaurant. This critically acclaimed overview of world cuisine from two of America's most celebrated chefs is a must for collectors of quality cookbooks looking to expand their culinary vocabulary to include eclectic and adventurous recipes from India, Italy, Thailand, France, and China, not to mention Mexico, Greece, and America.


Rigatoni Stuffed with Chicken and Fennel

Makes 4 entrees or 6 appetizers

3/4 pound rigatoni
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 pound ground chicken, white meat only
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, roughly chopped
1 egg white
1 1/4 cups heavy cream, cold
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 dashes of Tabasco

Cream Sauce
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives for garnish

Cook rigatoni in a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain in a colander and chill in a large bowl of iced water. Drain chilled pasta until nearly dry and toss with olive oil to coat. Reserve.

Puree chicken, fennel, and egg white in a food processor until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl nested inside a larger bowl half-filled with iced water. Stir until evenly chilled.

Add cream, a quarter cup at a time, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon after each addition, until all is added. Stir in salt, pepper, and Tabasco. (At this stage, the stuffing can be stored in the refrigerator up to 24 hours.)

To stuff rigatoni, fill a pastry bag fitted with a #4 plain tip with chicken mixture and stuff rigatoni from both ends. Reserve.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

To make sauce, combine cream, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper in a medium ovenproof skillet. Bring to a boil. Add stuffed rigatoni, return to a boil, then transfer to oven. Bake until sauce is thick and bubbly, and rigatoni is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Spoon into serving bowls or plates, sprinkle with chives, and serve hot.


Potato Pea Curry

4 entrees or 6 accompaniments

3 large baking potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup clarified butter*
2 large onions, diced
1 tablespoon pureed garlic**
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger***
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon dried red pepper flakes
3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced****
3 cups chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen peas, thawed
1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar*****
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Cut potatoes into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a bowl and rinse with cold running water until water runs clear, to remove excess starch.

Heat 1/4 cup clarified butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté onions until brown. At same time, heat remaining clarified butter in a large skillet over moderate heat. Fry potatoes until golden and add sautéed onions.

Add garlic and ginger, and cook just long enough to release their aromas. Remove from heat and add cumin, turmeric, coriander, and pepper flakes. Return pan to moderate heat. Stir in tomatoes, chicken stock or water, and salt.

Simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook until peas are heated through. Adjust seasonings and serve immediately.

* Clarified Butter has a higher burning point than ordinary butter because the milk solids are removed. To separate the solids, melt butter in heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Simmer until the butter foams, then skim and discard the white froth that forms at the top. Carefully pour the remaining butter through a cheesecloth, allowing white sediment to remain at the bottom of the pan. By clarifying the volume is reduced by one quarter.

** To puree garlic in quantity, break the bulbs apart and peel, by first flattening the cloves with the flat side of a heavy knife or cleaver, then removing skin. Puree with a small amount of olive oil in a food processor fitted with a metal blade or blender. Store in the refrigerator for as long as 2 weeks.

*** To grate fresh ginger in quantity, first peel the root, then cut into thin slices. With the machine running, drop through the feed tube of a food processor fitted with metal blade. Combine with a small amount of rice wine vinegar and store in the refrigerator as long as 2 weeks.

**** To peel tomatoes, remove the cores and score an X on the underside. Blanch for 15 seconds in boiling water and immediately plunge into iced water to prevent cooking. Peel with a paring knife. Cut in half across width and squeeze to remove the seeds or scoop them out with a spoon.

***** Palm or Coconut Sugar is a very sweet, hard-packed brown sugar made from the coconut palm tree. Imported from Thailand, it is available in cans in Oriental markets. Brown sugar may be substituted.