Stepdog (24 page)

Jim's Porcini Pasta

One package of dried porcini mushrooms.

Soak in a bowl of warm water for at least one hour. Once the porcini are resuscitated, remove and put them in a bowl and take the liquid they were soaking in—which should be dark brown and have a nice scent of porcini—and boil down by at least half to two-thirds in a small pot, and save for later.

Sauté some diced onion (one large onion or less) in olive oil until clear. Sauté in some chopped garlic, a few cloves, about 7 minutes or so in all. Do not overcook.

When ready, open up two 14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes. Pour off the liquid and then put the diced tomatoes in with the onions and garlic.

Stir and let the tomatoes mix well with the onions and garlic and cook down. About 7–8 minutes.

Once the ingredients are well cooked, put in the porcini mushrooms and some of the reduced porcini broth and stir well.

Let cook in an uncovered pot for about 7–8 minutes over medium-high heat, bringing the ingredients to a boil. Then lower the heat so the sauce is just slightly bubbling. Stir often to avoid anything burning or sticking to the pot. Cook for another 15–20 minutes or so.

Turn it off and let it sit on the stove for 15–30 minutes.

Serve over penne pasta.

Dinorah's Pernil

7 pounds pork shoulder, with fat (picnic cut).

Adobo—use mortar and pestle to mash 10 garlic cloves with oregano, pepper, half a cup of olive oil, one spoonful of vinegar, one envelope of Sazón seasoning, and salt to taste.

Make deep incisions in the meat with a knife and rub the adobo mixture into them and on the surface of the meat itself.

Marinate overnight.

Roast in a deep pan with the fat side up at 350°F for about 4 hours, uncovered, until brown and skin is crispy. (You can remove the crackling and put it back in the broiler for a few more minutes until extra crispy.) Break into serving pieces.

Titi Edda's Arroz con Gandules

Sofrito (a few square pieces of smoked ham, half an onion, three cloves of garlic, half a green pepper, and cilantro to taste)

4 spoonfuls vegetable oil

1⁄2 can tomato sauce

1 envelope Saz
ó
n seasoning

2 spoonfuls Goya “alcaparrado” (manzanilla olives, pimentos, and capers)

1 can Goya gandules (pigeon peas)

2 cups white rice (long or short grain)

Sauté sofrito in vegetable oil. Add tomato sauce, Sazón, and alcaparrado. Add
gandules
and rice. Add water to barely cover the rice and
gandules
, stir, and simmer over low heat, covered.

Stir occasionally after water is absorbed until done.

Mia's Tostones

Peel 2 green plantains and cut into inch-wide pieces.

Fry pieces in vegetable oil until soft enough for a fork to go through them.

Take pieces out, dry with paper towel, and flatten each one into a round chip by pressing down with a plate or hand over a brown paper bag (since they're hot).

Dip each chip in salty water and throw back in the pan to fry again until crispy golden.

Serve with dipping sauce of ketchup with garlic, hot sauce, and cilantro.

Levona's Plum Cake

Cream one cup of sugar and a half cup of sweet butter by beating the butter and then slowly adding the sugar until the mixture is light in color.

Add one cup flour, one teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, and two eggs and beat well.

Spoon the batter into a 9-inch springform pan.

Cover the top with 12 purple plums (pitted and halved).

Sprinkle lightly with sugar, lemon juice, and one or more teaspoons cinnamon.

Bake at 350°F for about an hour.

Cool and serve.

S
tepdog
started out as a personal joke, a way to deal with the stress of contending with a jealous dog, but people I respect convinced me that the voice in my head should be heard more broadly. My friend and colleague at the
Times
, Dana Canedy, was an early and constant cheerleader. She also introduced me to her agent, the incomparable Flip Brophy of Sterling Lord Literistic, who believed in the book and did not rest until she found the right publisher. That would be G. P. Putnam's Sons, where my editor, Kerri Kolen, and her team offered unbridled enthusiasm, thoughtful advice, and meaningful editing.

Also helping me keep the manuscript on the right path were my sister Mari Navarro, my girlfriends Tammerlin Drummond and Laura Rodriguez, and my friends and colleagues Jan Benzel and Bruce Weber. Another friend and colleague, photographer Monica Almeida, took the cover picture that captured a dog's spirit. And my childhood friend, Clemson Smith Muñiz, never tired of trying to get a dog's best side.

Thank you all, dog and cat people alike.

Most of all I thank my husband, Jim Sterngold, for being my true love and partner in life, and a really good sport. He nurtured this book as the labor of love it always was.

Lastly, I thank our dog, Eddie. He was always honest about his feelings, that's for sure, and he stuck around long enough to bring out the dog lover in me.

Couldn't have done it without you, mutt.

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