Retired Naperville salesman builds relationships with food

Tony Casciano is planning ahead. Way ahead, we hope.

He's plying friends and neighbors with veal osso buco and penne with vodka sauce so he can develop long-lasting relationships. But he has a hidden agenda.

"You need somebody to come to your funeral," he chortles. "You need pallbearers."

That's been a work in progress for decades for the 66-year-old former traveling salesman.

"I've always done a lot of cooking, since I was 12 years old," says Tony, who retired about 16 months ago.

For the past eight to 10 years, after he "came in from the road," Tony has presided over the day-to-day cooking for him and his wife, Mary Ann.

On weekends Tony makes entertaining look easy with dinner parties for four to 30 in his Naperville home.

"Tony's Sunday dinners are legendary in our neighborhood," says friend and neighbor Jeanne Buddingh, who wholeheartedly recommends his eggplant Parmesan and "clams casino."

No big deal, says Tony. "We just like to have people around us, good friends and their families."

Hearty fare is typical. He often jump-starts appetites with small plates of shrimp scampi and moves on to the coup de grace with short ribs with mashed potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus. Veal scaloppini and grilled pork tenderloin with pasta or potatoes are mainstays.

"Luckily enough we converted my family room into a dining room opening into the kitchen," he says. "When we set up tables we can put as many as 30 people around them."

Keeping everyone together promotes easy conversation and camaraderie.

Tony started cooking with his mother back in Buffalo, N.Y., mostly Italian food, of course.

"When you're in an Italian family you're going to eat what your father eats," says Tony.

At college he discovered a world of exciting new ethnic foods like Irish stews, Hungarian goulash and Polish kielbasa.

Later, traveling through a 25-state sales territory from Ohio west to Hawaii and Alaska, Tony refined his taste buds at some of the country's finest restaurants, an experience akin finishing school.

At some restaurants he became a regular customer, schmoozing with staff and chefs so he could cadge recipes and even the names of suppliers. That's how he learned about "Mr. Brisket" in Cleveland, his go-to butcher for meats even now that he doesn't travel. Orders come to the house via Fed Ex.

"I used to pick up meat orders in Cleveland" to take home in coolers for himself and his neighbors.

"Sometimes I would bring back $1,000 of meat, all prime," he says.

His culinary style runs from fine dining, like this week's appetizer, Scallops in Raspberry Cream Sauce, to Sunday-football-fare like Tony Baloney.

For that he grills or broils thick slices of the humble sausage, adds cooked banana peppers and serves with simple homemade mustard.

Mediterranean Pasta with Chicken borrows fine ingredients for a familiar dish: shiitake mushrooms and kalamata olives are stirred into white wine sauce with hot pepper flakes for the adventurous.

Serve them to your friends. It's never too late to plan for the future.

Scallops in Raspberry Cream Sauce

4 large sea scallops (10 to a pound)

½l pint heavy cream

1-2 half-pints raspberries, divided

Salt

White pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

Flour

Place one-third of raspberries from one half-pint package into microwaveable bowl. Place remaining berries in refrigerator. Microwave berries on high for 30-45 seconds or until very soft. Whisk into a puree.

Pour the cream into a heavy sauce pan and stir in pureed raspberries. Heat to a simmer and reduce until sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 7 to 8 minutes (see note).

Strain sauce to remove seeds. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Keep on low heat.

Pat scallops dry with paper towels. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Dust top and bottom of each with flour. In a sauté pan heat the butter and olive oil; saute scallops until nicely browned on both sides, about 3 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the other side.

Remove raspberries from refrigerator. Heat soup bowls.

To serve: Spoon sauce into individual serving bowls; place scallop in center. Garnish with cold raspberries. Serve immediately.

Serves four.

Cook's note: To thicken sauce faster, blend 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 2 teaspoons of the heavy cream, add rest of cream in pan and heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.

Mediterranean Pasta With Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

4 tablespoons olive oil

⅓ stick butter

½ pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced or quartered

3 green onions, sliced

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

⅓ cup white wine

1 pound pasta, such as penne or rigatoni

1 cup kalamata olives or dried Moroccan black olives*

Salt

Pepper

Hot pepper flakes (optional)

2 Roma tomatoes per pound of pasta, diced

Olive oil for drizzling

Parsley or chives, chopped for garnish

Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Season chicken with salt and pepper, bake for 30 minutes. Place in bowl and cover. When cool, slice into bite-size chunks, return to bowl and cover. While chicken cools begin boiling a large pot of salted water for the pasta.

Heat olive oil and the butter in large frying pan. Saute mushrooms and onions until softened. Remove with slotted spoon. Into the pan whisk in flour and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook to your liking.

Add chicken, mushrooms, onions and olives to the sauce over low heat. Season with salt, pepper, and, if desired, hot pepper flakes.

Drain pasta, place in pan with sauce and mix well over heat. Turn into large pasta bowl.

Season diced tomatoes with salt and pepper, drizzle with a little olive oil. Scatter tomatoes over the top; garnish with parsley or chives.

Serves six.

Cook's note: Dried Moroccan black olives add tremendous flavor; they will plump up in the sauce.

Tony Baloney

1 pound bulk baloney

3 banana peppers

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

4 tablespoons powdered mustard

Warm water

Slice baloney 1-inch thick. Broil or grill until you see grill marks or it is slightly scorched, about 3 to 5 minutes. Cut into bite-size chunks and set aside.

Slice banana peppers. Heat a thin film of oil in a fry pan and cook peppers until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Add baloney to peppers in pan and heat.

In a bowl whisk together dried mustard and 3 to 4 tablespoons warm water, a little at a time, until smooth and to the consistency you like. It will thicken as it sits; add more water as needed.

Serve baloney and peppers on a platter with toothpicks; dip into mustard sauce. Serve with sliced bread if desired.

Serves four.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=14&type=video&item=19">Clip of Tony Casciano in action</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>