Almost Italian

As the 1970′s gave way to the 1980′s, Italian-American dishes began to flaunt their dark side. Allow us to explain: Having enjoyed great success with “lighter” dishes like Chicken with Ziti and Broccoli, Pasta Primavera, and Chicken Florentine, during the early 80′s, chefs and ambitious home cooks were drawn to dishes that were, quite literally, dark… Very dark.

Copyright © 2011, Skip Lombardi

It is probably no coincidence that it all began in New Orleans, where black magic is part of the cultural fabric. Chef Paul Prudhomme burst onto the culinary scene with Blackened Redfish. Suddenly, everything from a swordfish steak to a slice of toast was photographed with grill-marks. And in Italian-American restaurants, charcoal-colored fettuccine colored by squid ink and black risotto with porcini competed with red-sauce dishes. Red wine vinegar—a staple in salad dressings everywhere—was supplanted by the mysteriously dark and viscous aceto balsamico, balsamic vinegar. It wasn’t long before “balsamic” became a salad-bar choice along with ranch and honey-mustard. And then, the vinegar with antecedents in Italy’s medieval pharmacopoeia found its way into mainstream American dishes.

One of the earliest American references to balsamic vinegar appears in the original Silver Palate Cookbook (1979) by take-out titans and caterers, Sheila Lukens and Julee Rosso, who urged us to anoint our salads with a balsamic vinaigrette. At that time, most of the balsamic vinegar available to their readers was nothing more than pasteurized red wine vinegar sweetened and fortified with caramel. Nevertheless, a trend was born, a trend that has persisted. However, the use of balsamic tends to be more nuanced as it has been joined by artisanal red wine vinegars, both domestic and imported.

The New York Times first mentioned balsamic vinegar in 1981, when the ever-practical Marion Burros wrote her article Specialty Food Explosion: Where Will It End? about exotic condiments crowding the shelves at tony gourmet shops. Paying scant attention to balsamico, Ms. Burros devoted more ink to Dessaux red wine vinegar, which Julia Child considered sine qua non for a proper French vinaigrette.

La vera aceto balsamico tradizionale is the real stuff, whose production and name are limited to the towns of Modena and Reggio Emilia in the Italian province of Emilia-Romagna. The real balsamico requires some ten to twelve years of aging in successively smaller casks until is pronounced fit to drizzle sparingly over strawberries. When the acetaio, or vinegar-maker, has determined that his vinegar is ready for market, he must still submit a sample to a rigorous examination—much the way a new law school graduate must take the bar exam. If his product passes, the Consortium of Producers of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena conveys the coveted DOP, Denominazione d’Origine Protetta, certification that will enable American importers to sell his nectar at approximately $50.00 per ounce.

Copyright © 2011, Skip Lombardi

At that price, the real stuff has never had much market share in the U.S. But once the name “balsamic” had been bandied about amongst Silver Palate fans, the floodgates were open. Restaurants in Little Italys everywhere began serving anything from filet mignon and salmon with orange to chicken drumettes “in a rich balsamic glaze.” Some chefs went so far as to concoct Pasta with Meatballs in Balsamic Tomato Sauce. Dark days indeed.

As with so many American adaptations of Italian ingredients, the adaptations themselves have gone back to Italy. Eventually, chefs with surer senses, among them celebrities like Lidia and Mario, brought balsamico under control. Rest assured, no sane chef worth his whites is using the 12 year-old vinegar to deglaze a frying pan.

Our Chicken Balsamico, with its deeply flavored sauce, is our tribute to that zany period of American’s fascination with anything “blackened.”

Ingredients:

3 – 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 Medium onion, peeled and quartered
1 Stalk of celery, coarsely chopped
1 Medium carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 oz. Pancetta, coarsely chopped
4 Tbs. Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
Olive oil
4-6 Chicken thighs, skin left on (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 Tbs. Fresh rosemary leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 Cup dry white wine
2 Tbs. Balsamic vinegar (an ordinary supermarket brand is fine)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped for garnish

Preparation:

Place the garlic, onion, celery, carrot, pancetta, and parsley into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse approximately 10 times at 1 second for each pulse. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. This mixture is known as a batutto.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, then add enough olive oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Add the batutto, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook—stirring occasionally—for approximately 10 minutes.

Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper and add them to the pan, skin-side down. Cook over medium or medium-low heat for approximately 12-15 minutes, until they have become golden brown.

Turn over the thighs and sprinkle with the rosemary. With the heat at medium-low, add the wine, pouring slowly so it does not spatter. Cover the pan and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until the thighs are done.

Remove the lid and raise the heat. Boil for a minute or two in order to reduce the liquid. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper as necessary, and gently shake and stir the pan occasionally for approximately 5 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Test one thigh with the tip of a knife. (the bone should feel loose).

Serve with boiled new potatoes. Spoon a little sauce over the chicken and potatoes. Finish each plate with chopped parsley.

Serves four.