Taste of America

The baseball season starts next week and I’m hankering for some no-nonsense all-American food.

America gave the world jazz and baseball but not apple pie. Contrary to widespread belief, our most popular American dessert has its roots in England.

But as the Phillies prepare to open their second season at beautiful Citizens Bank Park, I’m inspired to cook authentic regional American dishes.

Italian, Chinese and French food can be found across this country, but when I travel somewhere, I tuck into the dishes that made the region famous.

I have looked to all parts of the country for culinary inspiration and found it in San Francisco, the beautiful city by the bay. Italian immigrants who settled there gave us cioppino, a rich, marvelous fish stew. Fishermen created the dish more than 100 years ago by using whatever fish and shellfish they caught on a particular day. A crusty boule, or loaf, of sourdough bread, which originated in San Francisco more than 150 years ago, is the perfect mate for cioppino. San Francisco-style bread can be found at Metropolitan Bakery and Le Bus Bakery.

We will begin dinner with a green salad in Green Goddess dressing. According to David Rosengarten, author of It’s All American Food, this American classic was created in San Francisco in the 1920s.

"An actor named George Arliss staying at the Palace Hotel was appearing locally in a play called The Green Goddess. The hotel chef created the dressing to honor the actor and the play," wrote Rosengarten.

Although the forerunner of ice cream was created in Sicily, I cannot think of a more American confection. To complete your meal, you might wish to use Edy’s ice cream because it hails from San Francisco. Offer chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, plenty of whipped cream, sliced strawberries, chocolate jimmies and cherries so your guests can make sundaes.

An oaky, buttery California chardonnay or crisp Sauvignon blanc would be perfect for this meal.

Here are all-American recipes from the city where Tony Bennett left his heart.

Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
From It’s All American Food by David Rosengarten

For the dressing:

1/4 cup white vinegar
Juice of 1 half-lemon
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 shallot, peeled
5 anchovy fillets
1 cup parsley leaves, loosely packed
1/4 cup tarragon leaves
1/4 cup dill leaves
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 scallion, white and green parts, chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Directions:

In a blender, combine the vinegar, lemon juice, shallot and anchovies. Blend until you have a purée.

If the herbs are at all sandy or gritty, wash them thoroughly and dry on paper towels or in a salad spinner. Add the parsley, tarragon, dill, chives and scallion to the blender and purée until the mixture becomes bright green. Add the mayonnaise and yogurt and purée until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the salad:

2 hearts romaine lettuce
1 head Boston lettuce
1 head chicory or escarole
1 small head radicchio or traviso
3 endive

Directions:

Wash the salad greens well and pat dry with paper towels. Cut each salad ingredient into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

Place the dressing in a large glass salad bowl. Add the salad greens and toss well.

Serves six.

Note: Rosengarten writes that one early tradition in preparing Green Goddess dressing was to rub a clove of garlic all over a wooden salad bowl before placing the salad in it. The early method of preparing Caesar salad, which was created around the same time, calls for an identical step.

Cioppino

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
2 fat cloves garlic, sliced
2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes, with their juice
1 cup dry white wine
2 bay leaves
24 littleneck or top-neck clams
1-1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled
1-1/2 pounds fillet of cod, cut into bite-size pieces
Good-sized handful of Italian parsley leaves

Directions:

Heat the olive oil on medium in a large Dutch oven or 5-quart stockpot. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for a few minutes or until the onions are translucent, taking care not to burn the garlic. Add the clam juice and tomatoes, using your hands to mush them up. Add the wine and bay leaves. Turn the heat to high and bring the contents of the pot to a boil.

Add the clams to the pot, lower the heat to medium-high and cover the pot. Cook the clams until they open, about five minutes or so. When the clams are open, remove them to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Discard any clams that have not opened.

Add the shrimp and cod to the pot. Cook over medium heat until the shrimp turn pink, about five minutes or so. Return the clams to the pot and simmer for about 10 minutes. When the cioppino is heated through, snip the Italian parsley leaves into the pot.

Serves six.

Note from Phyllis: You also can make cioppino with mussels, scallops and any other type of thick white fish such as halibut or haddock.