Leone's Italian Cookbook- "Seasoning is an Art..."
"Seasoning is an art which goes with good cooking. Spices are necessary, but even more important is knowing what seasoning goes best with a certain food. This comes only with experience." Gene Leone
My mother too mastered the art of seasoning. She could, magically it seemed, create a depth of flavor from the simplest of ingredients and from her spice cabinet she could pull a vast array of both everyday and exotic flavors. She would have loved to sit down with Mama Luisa Leone, to whom this book is lovingly dedicated, and happily swapped recipes. This cookbook held a special place in my Moms heart.
Leone's Italian Cookbook, by Gene Leone, was published in 1967 by Harper & Row, New York, NY. It is a compilation of his mothers recipes from their family restaurant Leone's which was in the theater district of NYC from 1906 through 1959 before finally being sold to Restaurant Associates group. It was operated for another thirty plus years before closing in 1994.
Interestingly the forward of this book was written by Dwight D. Eisenhower who was a friend and fan of the restaurant. His photo along with the Roosevelt's, Harry Truman and General MacArthur to name just a few grace the pages.
Mama Luisa Leone, the book tells us, was encouraged to start a restaurant by Enrico Caruso, the famous opera star and a close family friend who was invited to her 32nd birthday dinner. Actually, as the story goes, the morning of her birthday her husband turned to her and said "oh, by the way, Luisa, for your birthday I've invited a few of our friends from the Metropolitan Opera House back here for dinner tonight after rehearsal." Just like a man! Anyway, she asked how many and he answered a few...50. She simply smiled and said "I'll prepare a magnificent dinner for you."
In a way though Luisa, who had always dreamed of having a restaurant, and whose husband would not hear of it, had the last laugh. Caruso came to that dinner and after a truly memorable meal once again he asked when she was going to open her own restaurant. She took him in hand and asked him to ask her husband who finally relented and said yes.
Her 20 seat restaurant opened in April of 1906. For 50 cents your dinner included antipasto, minestrone soup, spaghetti or ravioli with ragout sauce, roast chicken or Scaloppine Piccata, green salad, cheese, spumoni, and black coffee. In 1917 they moved and doubled their seating. Then after WWI they moved to West 48th St. By the 30s business was doing so well that they bought 3 adjoining buildings and tore them down to make more room. Mama Luisa passed on May 4, 1944. Her sons and their families carried on. In the 50s they bought the President Theater next door to make yet more room, a total now of 11 dining rooms. On one memorable night they served 6,000 dinners!
At one point Gene had 25 women assistants in the kitchen in the morning to help him do all of the prep work. At night there was over 100 in the kitchen. On an average evening they served over a ton each of shrimp, pastas, breads and wine. Eventually this pace got to Gene and he decided to sell. At this point the restaurant held 1500 seats.
This cookbook has eleven chapters which include history of the restaurant and recommendations of staples to have in your own kitchen; antipasto; salads and dressings; soups, pastas, rice and polenta and Luisa's famous sauces; fish and shellfish; poultry and game; meats; light meals; vegetables; and desserts. There is a section of photographs as well. It also has these comical illustrations on the front and back inside covers. Yes, the book is meat heavy.
My Mother's favorite recipe from this book was the baked and stuffed artichokes which are out of this world and which I make from time to time. In researching for this post I discovered an article praising a very simple recipe called Eggs with Zucchini. The author said it was truly a gift. It was a dish enjoyed with coffee for breakfast and was served to the kitchen staff. I'll have to try that recipe soon.
Growing up in the late 60s my mother would frequently take us kids to little Italy in Springfield, MA and she and I would always share eggplant grinders and whenever we returned to New England for a visit we had to get our "fix" of Italian food and of course eggplant sandwiches. We had many favorite Italian restaurants throughout New England that we enjoyed as a family.
So it was requested that I make my Italian inspired stuffed chicken breasts for dinner today and I needed some side dishes to compliment this dish so I leafed through this cook book for recipes to try. I came across Mashed potatoes alla Norma and sauteed spinach. (No reference as to who Norma was unfortunately.) Both dishes are iquite rich and I did follow the recipes exactly but in the future I would cut the butter in half. The potatoes are quite delicious and the spinach was good but a bit bland for me, I would add a hint of garlic next time.
Into mashed potatoes cooked with a clove of garlic you stir in butter, hot milk and 2 egg yolks.
Into this you stir in diced salami and mozzarella cheese.
All is poured into a buttered casserole dish. This is topped with a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. Then it is baked in a hot oven, I set the oven for 400 rather than under the broiler as directed. I baked it for 30 minutes until it had a lovely light golden crust on top. It is delicious and I expect it will taste even better tomorrow when the flavors have a chance to meld overnight.
The sauteed spinach recipe is quite simple. Again I would cut the butter in half.
A pretty and satisfying plate. My chicken breasts are stuffed with salami, provolone, sauteed mushrooms and baratta cheese.
Buon Appetito!!
 |
| Mama Luise Leone. |
My mother too mastered the art of seasoning. She could, magically it seemed, create a depth of flavor from the simplest of ingredients and from her spice cabinet she could pull a vast array of both everyday and exotic flavors. She would have loved to sit down with Mama Luisa Leone, to whom this book is lovingly dedicated, and happily swapped recipes. This cookbook held a special place in my Moms heart.
Leone's Italian Cookbook, by Gene Leone, was published in 1967 by Harper & Row, New York, NY. It is a compilation of his mothers recipes from their family restaurant Leone's which was in the theater district of NYC from 1906 through 1959 before finally being sold to Restaurant Associates group. It was operated for another thirty plus years before closing in 1994.
Interestingly the forward of this book was written by Dwight D. Eisenhower who was a friend and fan of the restaurant. His photo along with the Roosevelt's, Harry Truman and General MacArthur to name just a few grace the pages.
Mama Luisa Leone, the book tells us, was encouraged to start a restaurant by Enrico Caruso, the famous opera star and a close family friend who was invited to her 32nd birthday dinner. Actually, as the story goes, the morning of her birthday her husband turned to her and said "oh, by the way, Luisa, for your birthday I've invited a few of our friends from the Metropolitan Opera House back here for dinner tonight after rehearsal." Just like a man! Anyway, she asked how many and he answered a few...50. She simply smiled and said "I'll prepare a magnificent dinner for you."
In a way though Luisa, who had always dreamed of having a restaurant, and whose husband would not hear of it, had the last laugh. Caruso came to that dinner and after a truly memorable meal once again he asked when she was going to open her own restaurant. She took him in hand and asked him to ask her husband who finally relented and said yes.
Her 20 seat restaurant opened in April of 1906. For 50 cents your dinner included antipasto, minestrone soup, spaghetti or ravioli with ragout sauce, roast chicken or Scaloppine Piccata, green salad, cheese, spumoni, and black coffee. In 1917 they moved and doubled their seating. Then after WWI they moved to West 48th St. By the 30s business was doing so well that they bought 3 adjoining buildings and tore them down to make more room. Mama Luisa passed on May 4, 1944. Her sons and their families carried on. In the 50s they bought the President Theater next door to make yet more room, a total now of 11 dining rooms. On one memorable night they served 6,000 dinners!
 |
| Large Dining room. |
At one point Gene had 25 women assistants in the kitchen in the morning to help him do all of the prep work. At night there was over 100 in the kitchen. On an average evening they served over a ton each of shrimp, pastas, breads and wine. Eventually this pace got to Gene and he decided to sell. At this point the restaurant held 1500 seats.
This cookbook has eleven chapters which include history of the restaurant and recommendations of staples to have in your own kitchen; antipasto; salads and dressings; soups, pastas, rice and polenta and Luisa's famous sauces; fish and shellfish; poultry and game; meats; light meals; vegetables; and desserts. There is a section of photographs as well. It also has these comical illustrations on the front and back inside covers. Yes, the book is meat heavy.
My Mother's favorite recipe from this book was the baked and stuffed artichokes which are out of this world and which I make from time to time. In researching for this post I discovered an article praising a very simple recipe called Eggs with Zucchini. The author said it was truly a gift. It was a dish enjoyed with coffee for breakfast and was served to the kitchen staff. I'll have to try that recipe soon.
Growing up in the late 60s my mother would frequently take us kids to little Italy in Springfield, MA and she and I would always share eggplant grinders and whenever we returned to New England for a visit we had to get our "fix" of Italian food and of course eggplant sandwiches. We had many favorite Italian restaurants throughout New England that we enjoyed as a family.
So it was requested that I make my Italian inspired stuffed chicken breasts for dinner today and I needed some side dishes to compliment this dish so I leafed through this cook book for recipes to try. I came across Mashed potatoes alla Norma and sauteed spinach. (No reference as to who Norma was unfortunately.) Both dishes are iquite rich and I did follow the recipes exactly but in the future I would cut the butter in half. The potatoes are quite delicious and the spinach was good but a bit bland for me, I would add a hint of garlic next time.
Into mashed potatoes cooked with a clove of garlic you stir in butter, hot milk and 2 egg yolks.
Into this you stir in diced salami and mozzarella cheese.
All is poured into a buttered casserole dish. This is topped with a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. Then it is baked in a hot oven, I set the oven for 400 rather than under the broiler as directed. I baked it for 30 minutes until it had a lovely light golden crust on top. It is delicious and I expect it will taste even better tomorrow when the flavors have a chance to meld overnight.
The sauteed spinach recipe is quite simple. Again I would cut the butter in half.
A pretty and satisfying plate. My chicken breasts are stuffed with salami, provolone, sauteed mushrooms and baratta cheese.
Buon Appetito!!
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