Carne di Maiale Marsala

Carne di Maiale Marsala

(Pork Marsala)

4 servings

(Italy)

Veal has become more expensive and, in some areas, hard to get.  I developed this recipe so I could enjoy (mock) Veal Marsala without the expense.  If you follow the instructions for preparing the pork cutlets I think you'll agree it will take on the texture and subtle flavour of veal.

Ingredients

olive oil for frying

1 cup Marsala wine

2 tablespoons of butter

1 pound of mushroom, cleaned, stems intact and sliced

1 pound of thin cut pork cutlets (pork cutlets pounded to about 1/8-inch thick and soaked in milk for 1 hour)

 All-purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper for dredging the pounded pork or chicken

3/4 cup chicken broth

Preparation

1.  Heat the butter in a skillet over medium and sauté the mushrooms until tender and nicely coloured.  Set aside.

2.  Dredge the veal in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. 

3. Heat oil sufficient to sauté the chicken or pork in the skillet.  Add the chicken or pork and sauté for 1 minute per side. Remove to a platter. Cover with foil to keep warm.

4.  Add Marsala to the pan. Deglaze, then add chicken stock to the pan and let reduce and thicken.  If the sauce does not thicken add a 1:1 mixture of cornstarch and cold water (use 1 tablespoon each), stirring until it thickens. 

5.  When the sauce has begun to thicken, add the mushrooms and stir to mix in.

6.  Arrange the chicken or pork on a serving platter and pour the sauce and mushrooms over.  Serve immediately.

KFC© Type Cole Slaw

KFC^© Type Cole Slaw

makes 10 servings

(America)

Cole slaw is a slightly different form of salad because of the inclusion of butter milk in the recipe.   While many restaurants, especially fast food, serve a variation of cole slaw as a side dish, in my mind the king of commercial cole slaw is the version served in KFC^©  restaurants.  I found using a "Salad Shooter" and the grater blade produces the appropriate sized dice for the cabbage and the onions and the taste really benefits from allowing the slaw to mature for about 24 hours.  This recipe enables you to produce a very close  copy of that premiere slaw.

Ingredients

8 cups very finely diced cabbage (about 1 head)

1/4 cup julienned carrots which  have been very finely diced

2 tablespoons finely minced onion

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preparation

1.  Place the diced cabbage and carrot mixture into large bowl and add minced onions.

2.  Put the remaining ingredients in the processor bowl of  a food processor and process until a smooth dressing results.

3.  Pour the dressing over cabbage/carrot/onion mixture and mix thoroughly to insure a thorough distribution.

4.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or lid if bowl comes with one) and refrigerate several hours or, preferably, overnight before serving.

Crisp Carnitas Burritos

Crisp Carnitas Burritos

makes about 16 burritos

(America)

This is a real All-American Burrito . . . . All-American?  What could possibly be more All-American than Coke-Cola?  This adaption of Mexican carnitas uses coke as one of its main ingredients to create a truly delicious fried burrito.  Additionally, after removing the meat, adding lime juice, and thickening the remaining liquid with a corn starch slurry produces a great tasting dipping sauce.

 

Ingredients

for the carnitas:

 3-4 pound pork butt

2 tablespoons  vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 12-ounce  can of coke (not diet)

2 cups orange juice

2 tablespoons  brown sugar

2 cups salsa, homemade or commercial

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

freshly ground  black pepper, to taste

Juice of 1 lime

thickening slurry composed of 2 tablespoons corn starch mixed into 2 tablespoons of COLD water

for the burritos:

16 medium flour tortilla shells

16 wooden tooth picks

vegetable oil for frying

Preparation

the carnitas:

the carnitas:

1.  Heat the vegetable oil in a deep, heavy frying pan  over medium-high heat. While it’s getting hot, rub the pork with salt and pepper.

2.  Gently place the pork in the hot oil and sear all sides until nicely browned.   Meanwhile in a large bowl  or large measuring cup combine the coke, the orange juice, the salsa, the cayenne, and the brown sugar and add it to a large slow cooker set to high.

3.  Remove the browned pork to the slow cooker containing the cooking liquid, cover and cook until the pork is literally falling apart when poked with a fork, about 2-3 hours.

4.  Remove the meat to a clean work surface and, when it is cool enough to handled,  shred it in a similar fashion to the way you would for pulled pork.

5.   Remove the liquid to a large sauce  pan over high heat, stir in the lime juice and bring to a boil.  When the sauce comes to a boil stir in the thickening slurry and continue stirring until the sauce thickens.  Correct seasoning with salt, black pepper, and cayenne.

6.   Remove the pan from the stove and transfer 3/4 of the thickened sauce to a serving dish, lower the heat to low and return the sauce pan containing the remaining 1/4 of the sauce to the heat, add the meat and stir to thoroughly coat the meat.  Turn off the burner under the pan.

constructing and frying the burritos:

1.  Working with one tortilla shell at a time, place a tortilla shell in front of you, spread about 3 or 4 tablespoons of the carnitas evenly over the surface of the shell and,  beginning at side closest to you, tightly roll the shell (jelly roll style) away from you until it is fully rolled up, push one toothpick through the roll pinning the loose end in place.   Continue until all the shells and carnitas are used up.

2.  Heat about 1/2-inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat until the ripple stage.

3.  Add 1 or 2 of the burritos to the hot oil and fry for about a minute on each side until each burrito is golden and crispy.  Remove the fried burritos to a paper towel lined dish to absorb excess oil.

4.  Serve the burritos immediately accompanied by the thickened  sauce and guacamole  for dunking.

constructing and frying the burritos:

1.  Working with one tortilla shell at a time, place a tortilla shell in front of you, spread about 3 or 4 tablespoons of the carnitas evenly over the surface of the shell and,  beginning at side closest to you, tightly roll the shell (jelly roll style) away from you until it is fully rolled up, push one toothpick through the roll pinning the loose end in place.   Continue until all the shells and carnitas are used up.

2.  Heat about 1/2-inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat until the ripple stage.  

3.  Add 1 or 2 of the burritos to the hot oil and fry for about a minute on each side until each burrito is golden and crispy.  Remove the fried burritos to a paper towel lined dish to absorb excess oil.

4.  Serve the burritos immediately accompanied by the thickened  sauce and guacamole  for dunking.

New Orleans Stuffed Pizza Rustica

New Orleans Stuffed Pizza Rustica

serves 8

(America)

When we visited New Orleans several years ago we fell  in love with its signature sandwich, the Muffeletta at the Central Grocery on Decater Street,  we also love pizza of all  sorts.  This recipe is a homage to both; it is the marriage of the ingredients of a New Orleans Muffeletta sandwich (good Italian Cold Cuts, cheeses, and olive salad) and a Sicilian stuffed pizza.  All though we used mozzarella, provolone, Genoa salami, cappacola, pepperoni, and prosciutto ham you can use cold cuts of your choice and the quantities can also be  adjusted to your appetite.

 

Ingredients

pizza crusts:

1 cup warm (110 degrees F) water

1  envelope active dry yeast  

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cup bread flour, plus additional for work surface

2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

olive salad:

1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped

½ cup drained Kalamata olives, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

2 tablespoons drained and rinsed capers

1 celery stalk, chopped

¼ cup marinated cocktail onions, roughly chopped

½ teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

¾ teaspoon ground black pepper

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

¼ cup red wine vinegar

¾ cup olive oil

filling:

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices mozzarella or smoked mozzarella

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices Genoa salami

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices cappacola

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices pepperoni

1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto ham

11 (3 1/4-inch diameter) slices deli-sliced provolone cheese

corn meal for the peel

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water

Preparation

pizza dough:

1.  In a 2 cup measuring cup, combine the water and sugar stir to combine and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.  If the yeast doesn't "proof" (get "foamy") pour it out and start again it is important to have a live yeast mixture.

2.  Meanwhile place the 2 cups of flour and the salt into a sifter and sift it into the medium bowl  of a stand mixer.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the olive oil and the "proofed" yeast mixture.  Turn the mixer, fitted with dough hooks,  to high (labeled  knead on my mixer) and turn on.  Continue kneading (mixing) until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball around the dough hooks (scrap the sides of the bowl to move flour into the path of the hooks as needed).

3.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky (add flour gradually as needed to reach the slightly tacky state), 3 to 5 minutes. 

4.  Lightly oil a large mixing bowl with about 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil the ball on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap cloth and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

olive salad:

1.  In a medium bowl, mix together the olives, garlic, capers, celery, cocktail onions, celery seed, oregano, basil, vinegar, olive oil.   Correct seasoning with black pepper and salt.

2.  If not used immediately, transfer the mixture into a covered glass jar (or other covered, nonreactive container), and refrigerate otherwise cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to marinate for at least 1 hour before using.

stuffed pizza construction:

1.  Place an appropriately sized pizza stone on the bottom (not on a shelf, putting the stone in contact with the oven bottom will allow it to get hotter and provide the SLIGHT charring on the bottom of the pizza that is the signature of a good Italian pizza) of your oven and pre-heat the oven to 450° F.

2.  Turn the dough out onto floured surface. Knead gently and shape into a 12-inch log. Cut the log into 2 equal pieces. Knead each piece into smooth ball, set one of the balls aside covered by inverted bowls to  keep it from drying out while working with the other.   

3.  Working with one of the dough balls at a time, place the dough ball  in front of you on  the lightly floured work surface and, with fingertips, press it into a disk of dough approximately 10 to 12 - inches round about 1/8 inch thick (if necessary use a rolling pin to achieve the 1/8-inch thickness [don’t worry if the pizza isn’t perfectly round . . . that’s called “rustica” and it’s the way “real” Italian pizza looks in Italy]). 

4.  Distribute some corn meal over the surface of a pizza peel (this will act as “ball bearings” and allow the dough round to move easily over the surface of the peel) and transfer the formed pizza base onto the peel; alternatively place the pizza base on a 12-inch round, metal pizza pan which has been previously sprinkled with some corn meal.

5.  Evenly distribute (spread) several tablespoons of the olive salad over the base leaving a clean 1-inch edge all around the pizza base.  Top this layer with the slices of salami, then the slices of provolone, then the slices of pepperoni, then the slices of mozzarella, then the slices of cappacola, and finally with the slices of prosciutto taking care of respect the 1-inch clean edge

.

 6.  Working with the remaining dough ball, place the it  in front of you on  the lightly floured work surface and again, with fingertips, press it into a disk of dough approximately the same size as the one created for the base and also about 1/8 inch thick (if necessary use a rolling pin to achieve the same 1/8-inch thickness.  

7.  Lightly brush  the 1-inch clean margin with some of the beaten  egg and carefully place this second disc over the first,  pressing and rolling the edge of  the stuffed pie to seal it.  Evenly brush the surface with some of  the egg wash.

8.  Gently shake the peel to insure the pizza moves freely (if it doesn’t gently lift the edges of the pizza and distribute additional corn meal until it does), using the peel slide the pizza onto the stone  or alternatively place  the round, metal  pizza pan into the oven (on the pizza stone or on the lower deck of the oven)  and bake the pizza until it turns golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes in a 450°F oven (keep an eye on the bottom of the pie . . . . slight charring is desirable heavy charring is burnt!).  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then cut into eight wedges and serve accompanied by a  green salad.