Wednesday, December 20, 2006

To try: Braciole

Aka rouladen if you're a good ol' German boy. Meatloaf version is Rachael Ray; steak version is haphazardly adapted from Alton Brown recipe which reviewers said was "like my Nonna's" and impressed "my seriously Italian girlfriend."

Alton advises on how to flatten flank steak, how to wrap n' roll and how to pitch a tinfoil tent here.

I loooove Alton, but after all that, Rachael's looks so much simpler it's probably what I'll try first!

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, pork and veal mix from the butcher's counter (meatloaf mix)
(or
(3 cups tomato or spaghetti sauce plus
(1 pound flank steak: get butcher to butterfly it, then pound it 1/4-inch thick)

For braciole mix:

Salt and pepper
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 small white onion, grated
2 tablespoons golden or dark raisins, chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts, chopped
3 tablespoons grated cheese, Parmigiano or Romano
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley (rosemary, oregano)

For layering (skip for steak):
1 cup arugula leaves or baby spinach
6 slices prosciutto di Parma
6 slices deli sliced provolone

For drizzling:
Extra-virgin olive oil


Meatloaf version:
---Preheat oven to 450. Mix meat and next 10 ingredients. Flatten meat out on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet into a thin layer: 1/2-inch thick, 12 inches long by 6 to 8 inches wide.
---Layer on spinach, prosciutto and cheese, then roll the meat, using the waxed paper to help roll up into a large log, rolling up the short side to get a 12-inch long log.
---Drizzle the log with olive oil to coat lightly. Roast meatroll 20 minutes. Cut into 1-inch slices, 3 pieces per portion, and serve.

Thin steak version:

---Preheat oven to 350.
---Pound steak flat under plastic. Mix next 10 ingredients into a paste.
---Brush steak with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the filling evenly over the meat. Roll tightly and tie with butcher's twine.
---Put spaghetti sauce in 9-by-13 baking dish and place in the oven to heat. Make a tinfoil tent for the dish that won't touch the meatroll once placed inside.
---In a large saute pan, sear all sides of the rolled meat.
---Put meatroll in the sauce; cover with tinfoil tent so that the foil is not touching the meat. Braise for 35 minutes or up to 3 hours. (Reviewers say 35-45 min results in very rare beef and an hour ten or an hour 25 is more like it.)

To try: Sopapilla Cheese Cake

From the same round robin. And doesn't this look good too:

3 8 oz. cream cheese
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 cans of small crescent rolls
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick of butter

Set oven at 350 degrees. Grease bottom of pan (13x9). Mix cream cheese and only 1 1/2 cups of sugar, add vanilla, mix until creamy. Unroll 1 can of the crescent rolls and lay on bottom of greased pan. Spread cream mix on top. Top with the other can of crescent rolls. Melt butter and pour over top. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 mins.

To try: Italian Sausage & Tortellini Soup

From a friend's big sister, in an e-mail round robin!

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 c. coarsely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, sliced
5 c. beef broth (3 cans)
1/2 c.water
1/2 c. dry red wine
2 c. (4 med) chopped, seeded, peeled tomatoes
1 c. thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tsp. basil leaves
1/2 tsp. oregano leaves
8 oz. can tomato sauce
11/2 c. sliced zucchini
8 oz. (weight) or (or two cups) meat or cheese tortellini
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 med. green pepper cut into 1/2 in. squares
Grated Parmesan cheese


Remove casings from sausage if present. In 5 qt. Dutch oven brown sausage, reserving 1 tbsp drippings in oven. Saute onions and garlic in reserved drippings until onions are tender. Add beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce and sausage. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 min. Skim fat from soup. Stir in zucchini, tortellini, parsley and green pepper. Simmer covered an additional 30 min. or until tortellini are tender. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over each serving. Yields eight 1½ c. servings.

'Tis the season: Saline solution

This is not glamorous, but it's a much-needed recipe. Since I began periodically using a nasal saline wash, my seasonal allergy symptoms are much better and consumption of yucky medicines down.

1 teaspoon table salt
1 pinch baking soda
1 quart tap water

Stir in a microwavable container (a glass quart jar works well). Boil for 5 minutes in the microwave. Let cool until warm to the touch.

Fill a bulb syringe with saline solution (about 10 cc), put the tip of the syringe in one nostril, aiming straight back. Lean over sink, and slowly squeeze until syringe is emptied. Repeat in other nostril. Store unused solution covered in refrigerator and warm before using.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Ginger Pork Potstickers

Lots of steps but the steps aren't hard. Also, fairly forgiving -- mess with the proportions and ingredients and you will still probably get a tasty dinner. This is my recipe, melded from a survey of many recipes and about ten years of practice. I regularly get rave reviews.

Potsticker wrappers
3/4 lb pork, trimmed into little cubes
6-10 spinach leaves
6-8 cloves garlic
1 tbsp grated ginger
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 or 3 cans chicken broth

Cube up the pork, mince the spinach leaves and garlic, grate the ginger. Stir up with the soy, rice wine and sesame oil. Let mixture marinate up to 1 day.

Lay out 6 potsticker wrappers, paint a thin circle of water around the rim of each, scoop a small spoonful of pork mix into center, fold in half and pinch-pleat the edge shut. Repeat till you have a small army of little potstickers awaiting your command.

Fry each dumpling a little bit on each side and bottom to crisp up the wrapper. I put several in a pan at once and fry one side, then flip, then stand 'em all up to fry the bottoms. Tongs are great for this.

With all the potstickers you can fit in a pan standing upright on their bottoms, pour in enough chicken broth to mostly cover the little guys. Simmer until most of the broth cooks away (maybe 20-30 minutes). Start eating.

For dipping sauce, mix soy with a bit of rice wine and sesame oil (plus a little garlic salt).

A nice presentation is to stir-fry some snow peas (just until they are bright green), layer those on a dish and place the potstickers on top.

Makes about 30, depending on how much you fill each wrapper (the wrappers are available at Asian or chi-chi groceries). I have yet to figure out a good healthy side dish for this because I simply start wolfing them down until I'm not hungry anymore, but the snow peas are a start!

Pecan Chicken

Needs a little refinement but YUM. Adapted from this salad recipe, which looks scrumptious.

The area where it needs refinement is that the breading did not stay evenly on the chicken pieces. I may find the trick to this eventually, but for now it's only a cosmetic flaw -- i.e. I will readily eat this myself, but not make it for company till I get the breading worked out!


2 cups or more crushed pecans
3 or more chicken breasts
Garlic salad dressing

Dredge chicken in dressing, then in pecans. Bake in 9x13 pan at 400 for 25 min.

Quick chicken: Lemon-herb, pecan, popcorn

One of those big packs of 6 chicken breasts adds up to nearly a full work-week of eating this way.

Difficulty: Low. Flavor: High. Yield: 8 entrees, all with sides. (Because difficulty was so low, I actually made the sides!)
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.italic.gif
Trim chicken. Cut about 4/5 into fairly regular medallion-size pieces (for even frying and to increase coating area). Trim the last 1/5 into smaller chunks and toss in bag with Italian breadcrumbs.

Take half the medallions and coat with garlic salad dressing and pecans for Pecan Chicken. Bake in 9x13 pan at 400 for 25 min.

While that's baking, fry the Italian breadcrumb pieces in olive oil (this is Popcorn Chicken).

Rinse out pan and make Lemon Chicken with Carrots.

While lemon chicken is simmering, make the rice, cook some corn and make some small salads.

Nicole's Bread Pudding

My friend Nicole's recipe. Simple, lovely and comforting to have on hand for warm breakfasts or snacks.

Might also travel well to brunches, etc. (It bakes up pretty, especially with the raisins -- I left them out, but if you want them, sprinkle some in when you layer the toast pieces.)

12 slices white bread
1 stick melted butter

Toast and tear the bread. Arrange pieces in 9x13 baking dish. Pour butter over.

4 cups milk
8 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
cinnamon
vanilla extract

Beat together and pour over toast pieces. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Sausage-Egg Casserole

Great for overnight guests because the meat part can be done a day ahead. Modified a bit from the original on Epicurious.

1 pound Owens sage sausage
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes or roasted peppers

5 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 pint half and half
2 cups grated mozzarella
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cook and crumble the sausage. Drain and place in 9x13 baking dish. Saute the garlic 3 min, then add tomatoes and stir 1 min. Add garlic and tomatoes to baking dish and mix up with the sausage. (Can do this part up to 1 day ahead and store in fridge, or, possibly, freeze for a week but I did not test this. Shallots, parsley added in
original.)

Combine eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, 1.5 cups of the cheese and salt in a bowl; pour over sausage mix. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Bake at 375 about 30 min till top is golden-brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean. (Note: Sausage and tomatoes magically bubble up and distribute themselves evenly!)

Let it rest 5 min before serving.

Time: about 40 min. prep plus 30 min. baking and 5 min rest.
Difficulty: Very easy! Serves: probably 6-8, or reheats well for
second day serving 4 : )