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2004

TODAY's CASES:

Maggiano's House Dressing

Maggiano's House Italian Dressing:

1 oz. Colemans dry mustard
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 oz. garlic -- finely chopped
1/4 cup red vinegar
1 cup white vinegar
salt -- to taste
1 qt. corn or canola oil
1 cup virgin olive oil
2 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp fresh oregano

Combine mustard, sugar, water, red and white 
vinegar, and salt in food processor.  Mix 
until smooth.  Slowly drizzle in the oils, 
continue to blend for 2-3 minutes. Transfer 
to bowl and add remaining ingredients with 
wire whisk.  Store in sealed containers in 
refrigerator.  This makes 2 quarts of 
dressing.

Maggiano's Crispy Fried Zucchini

Crispy Fried Zucchini 

Main Recipe 
Ingredients: 
1)   Zucchini - Washed and stems removed. Cut zucchini into 6 1/2" length and 1/4" wide 
2)   Batter (see recipe below) 

Preparation: 
1)   Dip each individual slice of zucchini in batter and allow batter to briefly drip off 
       zucchini.  Dip zucchini into Japanese breadcrumbs pressing into crumbs to coat 
       well. 
2)   Carefully place onto a parchment lined sheet tray sprinkled with Japanese crumbs. 
       Place zucchini side by side.  Do not overlap. 
3)   You can put a second sheet of parchment on top and repeat...creating a second 
       layer.  Do not stack higher than two layers. 
4)   Fry the breaded zucchini strips in a 350 degree fryer until crisp and golden.  Drain 
       on a napkin lined half sheet tray to absorb grease. 
5)   Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and (optional) 1 tbs. of cheese of choice. 
6)   Place zucchini on napkin lined sandwich plate...off-setting strips to create some 
       height. 
7)   It can be served with a side cup of 4 oz. Lemon Aioli (see below) and 1/2 Lemon.  You can also 
       sprinkle with 1/2 tbs. chopped parsley. 

The Batter 
Ingredients: 
1)   1/2 quart of seasoned Flour 
2)   1/2 quart of Corn Starch 
3)   2 1/2 cups Soda Water 
4)   Salt and Pepper mix (1/2 tbs. and 1/4 tsp.) 
5)   Japanese Breadcrumbs 

Preparation: 
1)   Measure soda water into a stainless steel mixing bowl. 
2)   Combine seasoned flour with cornstarch and salt and add to soda water 1 cup 
       at at time...incorporate with a whisk. 
3)   Do not overmix batter.  (Batter should be the consistency of thin pancake batter.) 
-------------------------------------
----- Original Message ----- 
  From:  Julie,  
  To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
  Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 11:44 PM
  Subject: REQUEST: Follow up to 2005 posting...

In 2005, you posted the Maggiano's Little Italy Crispy Fried Zucchini recipe mentioning 
the Lemon Aioli dipping sauce -- however, no recipe was known (or giving if it was known) 
for the Lemon Aioli.

On a recent trip to Maggiano's (it's a chain -- all over the country), the server mentioned 
the Lemon Aioli having mayonesse in it...

  But I can't find ANYTHING about a specific Maggiano's Lemon Aioli...

  Any thoughts?

  Thank you in advance,
  Julie

Hello Julie,

You probably never will find anything about a specific Maggiano's Aioli. Restaurants usually don't give out their recipes. The few "Maggiano's" recipes that I have are, as far as I know, copycats, not actual recipes from the restaurant. Besides, chains like Maggiano's use a lot of prepackaged ingredients. The people who work at the local Maggiano's or other restaurant don't even know exactly what's in them. That's probably true of the lemon aioli. It's probably either something that is pre-prepared and sent out to the local restaurants by Maggiano's, or it may be a pre-prepared mix that the local restaurant mixes with mayo to make up a batch or aioli daily or as needed. Nobody at the local restaurant would know what's in the mix; the mix would be made up at a central location in big batches and shipped out to the local restaurants.

Traditional aioli is a sauce made with raw eggs. Sorry, but I don't give out recipes made with raw eggs anymore because of the danger of food poisoning.

Below are two lemon aioli recipes starting with mayonnaise instead of raw eggs. The first one in particular is an attempt to duplicate the taste of the Maggiano's aioli. Be sure to use Kraft or Hellman's mayo. They are made with lemon juice, which fits with the aioli ingredients well. Sweet mayonnaises or "salad dressings" are too sweet, their use will not result in an aioli with the right taste.

Phaed

  Lemon Aioli Recipe

  3/4 cup mayonnaise (Kraft or Hellman's works best. No Miracle Whip - it's too sweet!)
  1 teaspoon lemon juice
  1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or 2 tbsp dried parsley)
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  1/4 teaspoon dry mustard(plus a little extra as desired)
  1 tablespoon olive oil (optional to thin sauce)

  Combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper, cayenne and mustard with a whisk. 
Let chill for an hour or so to soak up flavors of seasoning.
Add olive oil as desired to thin sauce if desired.
  ---------------------------------------------
  Lemon Aioli

  1 1/2 cups Hellman's or Kraft Mayo (no substitutes)
  1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  3 tablespoons Roasted Whole Garlic 
  1 lemon, juiced
  1 tablespoon lemon zest
  2 teaspoons chopped thyme
  Salt
  White Pepper

Blend well.

Maggiano's Roasted Fish

Roasted Fish With Tomato-Glazed Eggplant, Garlic, And Capers 

Main Recipe 
Ingredients: 
1) 6 oz. of the Fish of your choice 
2) Salt and Pepper to taste 
3) Eggplant Batons 1 1/2" by 3/8" 
4) 1 1/2 oz. Oil of choice 
5) 2 oz. stewed Tomatoes 
6) 1 tsp. Garlic - freshly chopped 
7) 1 tsp. Capers 
8) 1 tsp. Parsley 
9) 1/2 oz. Basil Oil 

Preparation: 
1) Season fish with salt and pepper.  Saute on griddle for 2 to 3 minutes evenly 
coloring on non-skin side face of fish.  Finish roasting on sizzler platter in 500 deg. 
oven...approximately 8 minutes for a 1 inch thick piece of fish. 
2) In a saute pan, heat oil of choice over a high flame.  Add eggplant batons.  Evenly 
brown on one side and then finish browning on the other side.  Season with salt and 
pepper. 
3) Add garlic and lightly toast.  Add stewed tomatoes and then finish with capers and 
parsley. 

To Plate: 
1) Place fish on white oval platter. 
2) On a diagonal angle...place garnish over fish. 
3) Drizzle basil oil around fish. 

Note: 
Eggplant should be cut so that there is skin in contact with each piece of eggplant. 
(Use smallest eggplant.) 

Maggiano's Chocolate Zucotta Cake

Chocolate Zucotta Cake 

Main Recipe 
Ingredients: 
1) 1 Chocolate Cake  (No recipe available for the cake itself)
2) 45 oz. of Chocolate Zucotto Filling (see recipe below) 
3) 5 oz. (3 1/4 cups) Chocolate Zucotto Frosting (Sorry, this was not included)

Preparation: 
1) Line a 2 quart stainless steel bowl with plastic wrap. 
2) Cut round top off the cake to make a flat surface.  Save cake scraps. 
3) Using a turn-table...cut cake into 4 equal layers. 
4) Press 1 layer into the bottom of a lined stainless steel bowl. 
5) Place 15 oz. of zucotta filling on cake...place another cake on top and repeat, 
creating a total of 3 layers of filling and 4 cake layers.  Note...put the smallest 
layer of cake in the bottom of bowl and finish with the largest. 
6) Using a palette knife...frost cake completely and evenly with chocolate frosting. 

The Chocolate Zuccotto Filling (2 quarts) 
Ingredients: 
1) 1 Bittersweet Chocolate piece. 
2) 3/4 cup Sambucca (Samballa) 
3) 1/2 quart of Heavy Cream 

Preparation: 
1) Cover chocolate with plastic wrap.  Melt and keep hot (a hot box is best). 
2) Put all of the cream in a large mixer with the Sambucca.  With whip attachment, 
whip for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes on speed 3...no peaks. 
3) When cream is under whipped (cream just begins to stick to sides of bowl) and 
chocolate is hot to the touch...pour chocolate quickly into the mixer. 
4) On speed 3...whip until incorporated.   Scrape bottom and sides.  Add remaining 
cream and whip until incorporated on speed 2 for approximately 30 seconds. 
Then scape sides and whip on speed 3 for 1 minute. 
5) Do not over whip cream and chocolate. 

Sorry, neither the cake recipe nor the frosting recipe were included, and they do not appear to be available.


Smoothies

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "christine" 
To:    phaedrus
Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 10:08 PM
Subject: A recipe or two for a smoothie...

> Hi Phaedrus.  My name is Christine and I was wondering
> if you could give me a recipe or two for a good
> smoothie.  I always enjoyed Orange Julius's and would
> like something that resembled that.  Maybe the orange
> and the strawberry flavored ones?  Any help or
> direction in which to turn would be appreciated.  Love
> the site and appreciate the time you devote to it!!
> Thanks in advance for your help...Christine
>

Hello Christine,

Try these.

Phaed

Orange Julius

Ingredients:
1/2 of a 6 ounce can (or 1/3 cup)  frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup  water
1/2 cup  whole milk
1/2 tsp  vanilla extract
5 or 6 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender, cover, and blend until smooth. About
30 seconds. Serve immediately.
(Instead of milk, use a few scoops of vanilla ice cream. This will make the
mixture smoother and creamier. Three Servings.)
-------------------------------------------
Strawberry Smoothie

1 package (10 ounces) frozen strawberries, thawed
4 cups milk
1 pint (2 cups) strawberry ice cream
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
In an electric blender, combine half of the strawberries, milk, ice cream,
and lemon zest. Blend at high speed for 1 minute; transfer to pitcher or
tall glasses. Repeat for second batch.
Strawberry smoothie recipe makes about 8 cups
-------------------------------------------
Orange Smoothie

1 cup milk
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 large scoops of ice cream
Mix milk, orange juice, sugar, and ice cream in a blender or put in a large
jar; cover and shake. Serve orange smoothie immediately.
Makes about 3 cups of orange smoothie.

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