Involtini

This is a fun five minute meal that is great for summer. I like the veal rolls grilled, but they are great fried too. I just make a simple salad and top the dish with the involtini. The secret to this dish is using the best quality pecorino romano.

In a food processor place 1 cup of grated pecorino romano, 1/4 cup of fresh bread crumbs, 1/2 of a cup of fresh Italian parsley, a half a clove of garlic and pulse. You will pulse until the mixture is a fine crumb. Now add 1/4 cup of lightly toasted pine nuts and 1/4 cup of dried currants to the mixture. This is your stuffing.

Now you will need  8 slices of veal top round. Using a mallet you will pound each slice until 1/10 of  inch. You can also just buy it already done at your butchers. Now lay the veal roll down on your board. Spread out the stuffing and roll up your veal. Secure the rolls with tooth picks. Season lightly with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil.

Now heat a grill or a sauce pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Serve with a garnish of salad and lemon dressing.

Lamala

Alsatian bakeries are already selling “L’agneau de Pâques,” often known in Alsace as
Osterlammele, Lamala or Lammele. It is traditionally baked in a lamb-shaped clay mold made in the Lower Rhine town of Soufflenheim. The cake is a rich egg batter, that is a kind of pound cake. The cake is usually generously dusted with powdered sugar and given to children the morning of Easter. It is to symbolize purity and innocence. If you don’t have access to an antique split mold, with a wire to hold the pieces together, you can get metal molds at local cooking stores. The clay molds are really expensive and the metal molds are a good alternative. Below is a fun link.

http://www.myelsass.com/blog/en/

This is a really easy cake. It can be served sliced, with whipped cream and fresh berries.

Fore the cake:

3 1/2 ounces of clarified butter
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch
4 eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 tablespoon of honey

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Treat your mold as recommended by the manufacture. Now sift the cornstarch and the flour on some parchment paper. Combine the whole eggs, sugar, vanilla and the honey in a mixer. Place the bowl of the mixer over a double boiler. The water in the double boiler should be at a boil. But the mixing bowl should not be touching the water. Using a hand whisk or a hand mixer, mix until the mixture reaches 165 degrees. The clarified butter must be at 105 degrees. Now hand fold in the flour mixture and clarified butter in batches. Being careful not to collapse the volume.

Now pour the batter into your prepared mold. Bake for about 25 minutes. Unmold onto a wire rack. When cool dust with powder sugar. Often the neck of the lamb will have a bow with a small bell tied to it. You can make a chocolate version by replacing the cornstarch with cocoa powder.

Calling all children !

Chicken Pot Pie

A quick skip on puff pastry makes this a easy make ahead meal. This recipe will make quite a few little pies,that you can stick in the freezer. You have to use chicken thighs for this recipe. I add grated parmigiana reggiano to the bechamel and the top of the crust. Bake these little pies in the bottom third of a 375 degree oven.

Quick Puff Pastry

2 1/2 cups of AP Flour
1 1/4 teaspoons of kosher salt
2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
5 tablespoons of ice cold water.

Place the flour, salt and butter into a food processor. Buzz for a minute and then add in the cold water. Shape into flat disks and refrigerate.

Filling

1 cup of Yukon gold potatoes diced
1 1/4 cups of carrots diced
1 small box of sliced mushrooms
1/2 of a large onion diced
1 1/4 cups of diced celery
2 cups of diced cooked chicken thighs
3 bay leaves
several long peppers or 24 regular black pepper corns
3 thyme sprigs and tarragon sprigs
3/4 cup of frozen peas

Note:  Long pepper's flavor closely resembles regular black pepper. It has a hotter taste with sweet and somewhat earthy, gingery undertones.

Bechamel

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
4 tablespoons of AP flour
2 cups of 2% milk
1 cup of cream
2 chicken bullion cubes
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg to taste
a handful of fresh parsley minced
1/4 cup of parmigiana

Roll out the chilled dough and place in the vessel of your choice. Chill again in the refrigerator. Put the potatoes, carrots, onion, bay leaves, long peppers, thyme in a large sauce pan of water. Cook for 8 minutes and then add the celery. Cook for a minute or two more. Now drain and remove the peppers, and herbs. Set aside.

For the bechamel place the butter and garlic into a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and toast for a minute or two. Now add the flour and toast again for three minutes. You need to have the heat a little lower, so the flour will not get any color. Now add the cream and milk whisking all the time. Add the bullion, mushrooms and rest of the bechamel ingredients. Check for seasoning. You will now add the chicken and vegetables to the filling mix. Allow to cool completely.

Preheat you oven to 375  degrees.

When the filling has cooled you can add it to your prepared pie shells. Cover the filling with a top crust, brushed with a beaten egg and topped with parmigiana.

Bake in the lower third of the oven for about 50 minutes.

Italian Wedding Soup

With a lot of luck, I was able to find fresh escarole. The flavor of escarole is lightly bitter and it keeps it's crisp snap for quite some time. You can use any type of ground meat for this dish. I would not suggest using sausage, as this would compete with the flavors of the soup. Chicken, beef, turkey or pork will work well.

 The Italians have a soup called " Married Soup".  It is a soup with bits of this and that you have in your refrigerator. I have seen it with beans, assorted vegetables and leftover dried pasta. It often has small pieces of beef in it too.

 Enjoy this soup !


For the meat balls, you will preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1 1/2 pounds of ground meat of your choice
2/3 cup of day old bread minced
2 small cloves of garlic minced
1 minced Fresno chile
1/2 cup of Pecorino Romano
2 teaspoons of lemon thyme
1/4 cup of white wine
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
2 large eggs

Mix all the above mentioned ingredients in a bowl and shape into small balls. Bake in a 350 degree oven until not quite done. You want them to release the fat and set. Now set aside.

For the soup:

1 onion minced
4 carrots minced
1 cup celery minced
12 cups of really good chicken stock
1 1/2 cups of Orzo Pasta
1 cup white wine
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of Balsamico Vinegar
2 small heads of escarole chopped
2 tablespoons of fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt an pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste

In a very large pan, heat the olive oil. Now saute your carrots, celery, and onion. The vegetables should be soft and just turning brown. Now add all the other ingredients with the exception of the meat balls. Bring to a simmer and taste for seasoning. Add this point add the meat balls. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with Parmesan.

This soup freezes well.

Stem Ginger Baby Cakes

This cake is bursting with the heat of Stem Ginger. I got mine from the Pike Place Market. You have to have the cakes with a side of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

 These cakes make me think of my childhood, when my mother would make them. She would always sing Patty Cake, Patty Cake, because my Grandfather loved nursery rhymes.

 I think the Amish children were taught to read with these rhymes. They stuck with him his entire life and I loved it when he would say them to us.






2 cups of AP four
3 tablespoons of unsweetened Dutch coca powder
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of fresh black pepper
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup of light muscovado sugar
2 cups of mild molasses
4 eggs
3 tablespoons of diced drained stem ginger
Garnish with finely grated lemon peel

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar until well mixed. Then add the eggs and mix again. Now add  the rest of the ingredients. You can use a variety of pans for these cakes or even bake in one big pan. It is fun to use the new silicon molds now. The advantage of the baby cakes is that they travel well and last for quite some time.

But remember you have to have them with the traditional ice cream or whipped cream. Garnish lightly with finely grated lemon peel.

Tortellini En Brodo

It started a thousand or so years ago, after a battle between Modena and neighboring Bologna. After fighting
one day, the gods Venus and Jupiter retreated to a inn to spend the night. The innkeeper was so overtaken with Venus’s beauty he spied on her through a hole in the door. The only part of Venus’s body the peeping innkeeper could see was her navel. The innkeeper then retreated back to the kitchen.  All he could think about is the shape of her belly button. And that’s why we have tortellini. Will thank you Venus, because this is the best soup I have ever made! It is a two day process. The labor is in making the Tortellini. I make them and then freeze them on a sheet pan. You can then add them directly into the broth. The broth freezes for a very long time. I portion out the broth and freeze. The broth in itself is wonderful.


If you do not want to make the Tortellini you can make Passatelli. This is simply Parmesan dumpling. You will need 1 1/2 cups of Parmigiano Reggiano, 2/3 cup of plain bread crumbs, 2 large eggs, 1 egg yolk and fresh nutmeg, Mix the above mentioned ingredients and force them through a ricer into the hot broth.

                                                                                      For the broth

One 4-lb. chicken, (traditionally it is a capon) cut into 6 pieces
2 lb. veal bones or veal shank
2 lb. beef stew meat or scraps
1 apple, quartered
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
2 medium carrots, cut into large pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into large pieces
3 whole cloves
10 black peppercorns
2 fresh bay leaves
1 small bunch of parsley
3 thyme leaves
3 tablespoons of dried porcini mushrooms
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 good pinch of red pepper flakes
One 3-inch-square Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (optional)

 For the filling
1 oz. (2 Tbs.) unsalted butter
5 oz. boneless pork loin, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 oz. sliced prosciutto, coarsely chopped (2/3 cup)
3 oz. sliced mortadella, coarsely chopped (3/4 cup)
1 oz. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup grated on the small holes of a box grater)
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher Salt







For the pasta dough
10-1/2 oz. (2-1/3 cups) 00 Napoli Flour (You can use AP Flour); more as needed
4 large eggs

Make the broth

Wash the chicken, veal bones, beef, and vegetables under cold running water. (Veal bones must be coated with a neutral cooking oil and then baked in a 400 degree oven for thirty minutes.) Warning if you have a dog they will go crazy. So, do save one for the dog! Now put all of the broth ingredients, except the salt, in a 10-quart pot and add 6-1/2 quarts (26 cups) of cold water. Partially cover the pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. As soon as the water begins to bubble, reduce the heat to low and, with a fine-mesh skimmer or a large spoon, skim off and discard any foam that has risen to the surface. Partially cover the pot and simmer gently until the broth is flavorful, about 2-1/2 hours. Add 1 Tbs. salt during the last few minutes of cooking.

Remove the chicken and discard or save the meat for another use. Using a slotted spoon, discard the remaining solids from the broth. Strain the broth through a fine strainer into a large bowl. Line the strainer with a clean thin kitchen towel or cheesecloth and strain the broth again into another large bowl. You should have about 6 quarts of broth. Transfer the broth to storage containers and refrigerate overnight. Remove the fat and reserve the broth.

Make the filling

Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the pork and cook, stirring, until lightly golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Increase the heat to high, pour in the wine, and stir until it is almost evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Transfer the pork and its juices to a food processor. Add the prosciutto and mortadella and pulse until the mixture is very finely chopped (but not puréed).

Transfer the filling to a medium bowl and add the Parmigiano, nutmeg, egg, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Mix well. (The filling should be moist and just a little sticky.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate.



  Make the pasta dough

On a large wooden board or other work surface, shape the flour into a mound. Using your fingers, make a round well in the center of the flour. Carefully crack the eggs into the well, making sure they don’t escape the walls of the well. Lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Begin to incorporate flour into the eggs with the fork, starting from the inner rim of the well, until about half of the flour is incorporated and a soft dough begins to form.

With a dough scraper, push all of the remaining flour to one side of the board. Scrape off and discard the bits and pieces of dough attached to the board. Wash and dry your hands. Begin adding some of the flour you have pushed aside into the soft dough, kneading it gently with the heels of your hands as you incorporate the additional flour and the dough becomes firmer. Keep the board clean and dust it with flour as you knead to prevent the dough from sticking. After kneading for 8 to 10 minutes, the dough should be smooth, elastic, and just a little sticky.


Press one finger into the center of the dough; if it comes out barely moist, the dough is ready to be rolled out. If the dough is still quite sticky, add a little more flour and knead it for 2 to 3 minutes longer until soft and pliable.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.



Roll the Pasta

Unwrap the dough and knead it for a minute or two. Set the rollers of a pasta machine at their widest. Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a small lemon and flatten it with the palm of your hand to about 1/2 inch thick. As you work, keep the rest of the dough wrapped in plastic. Dust the piece of dough lightly with flour and run it through the machine.


Fold the rolled dough in half and run it through the machine again, pressing it with your fingertips into the rollers . Repeat this step 4 or 5 times, dusting the dough with flour if it becomes sticky, until smooth and elastic. Change the rollers to the next setting down and roll out the dough without folding. Repeat rolling the sheet of dough (without folding) through the pasta machine, decreasing the settings until the pasta is 1/8 inch thick.    

On a floured wooden board, cut the dough into 1-1/2-inch squares. Keep the squares covered with plastic as you shape the tortellini. You can also use a tortellini press. I have the press pictured and it is a real time saver. You can also add spinach to the pasta dough. This is not transitional, but just as good.



Shape the tortellini

Put about 1/8 tsp. of the filling in the center of a pasta square. Bring one corner over the filling toward the corner diagonally opposite and fold into a triangle. Press around the filling to seal. Bend the tortellino around your finger with one corner slightly overlapping the other and press to seal. The tortellino will look like a crown. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel. Arrange the tortellini in a single layer without letting them touch (you’ll need 2 to 3 baking sheets) and cover with another clean towel.





Repeat the filling and shaping with the remaining pasta and filling.

Cook and serve the tortellini en brodo

You can make as many or as few servings as you like. For each serving, you’ll need 1-1/2 cups of broth and 14 tortellini. Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium heat. Gently drop the tortellini into the pot. Cook until they rise to the surface and are tender but still firm to the bite, 2 to 3 minutes for fresh, 4 to 5 minutes for frozen. Remove the pot from the heat. Ladle the tortellini and broth into serving bowls, sprinkle with grated Parmigiano, and serve immediately.

Vanilla Walnuts

These walnuts are great on their own. But they take salads over the top. Super easy to make.


1 pound of walnut halves
3 tablespoons of neutral cooking oil
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of allspice
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of white pepper


Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the walnuts and blanch for 1 minute. Drain the nuts really well and add the sugar, vanilla and oil to the nuts. Let them soak for 10 minutes. Now heat your oven to 325 degrees and toast for 35 minutes. Take them out and place in a bowl. Add the spices and toss.