Tourte Milanese: Labor Intensive, But Delicious

As you've probably heard from my previous blog posts, it's been really cold in my area. Needless to say, I've been looking for recipes that use my oven to help Will and me stay warm. Unfortunately, I did not pay attention to the recipe and failed to notice the labor intensity that this requires; it takes two to three hours to complete, so don't do it if you're in a rush.
First, let a pound of frozen puff paste come up to room temperature for fifteen minutes. Cut off a quarter of the puff paste and set it aside.
Thoroughly butter or oil an eight inch springform pan. Roll out the remaining three quarters of a pound of puff paste to about a quarter inch thickness and place into prepared pan, making sure that it's distributed evenly and has about an inch of overhang. Roll out the remaining one quarter of puff paste to about a quarter inch thickness and cut out to fit the top of the springform pan. Freeze any leftover puff paste. Cover the puff paste round and the prepared crust and refrigerate until it's ready to fill.
Roast six bell peppers on a baking sheet under a broiler, peel off the blistered and blackened peels, cut them so it lays flat, and core and seed them. Meanwhile, combine ten eggs, salt, pepper, and dried tarragon in a large bowl. Melt three Tablespoons of butter in a large skillet on low; once it's no longer bubbly, add the eggs. Scramble very lightly and softly; remember that you are going to bake them and do not wish them to become rubbery. Set these on a plate large enough to leave the eggs flat without piling them, cover, and refrigerate until ready to fill the tourte.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to boil. Add ten ounces of spinach and blanch for one minute. Drain and wring all the moisture out of it.
In a skillet, melt one Tablespoon each butter and safflower oil. Add your spinach; if it is in a tight ball, pull it apart, two minced garlic cloves, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook for two minutes.
Now it's time to assemble the tourte. Remove the shell, round, and eggs from the refrigerator. To assemble, spread half of the eggs evenly in the shell, followed by half the spinach, three ounces of sliced Jarlsburg cheese, four ounces sliced smoked ham, the bell peppers, another three ounces of Jarlsburg, another four ounces smoked ham, the other half of the spinach, and the other half of the eggs. Make an egg wash using one egg, a Tablespoon of water, and a pinch of salt; brush this over the rim of the crust of the tourte. Place the top onto the tourte and press in to cement the top to the tourte. Brush the entire egg wash thoroughly and refrigerate half an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 and place a cookie sheet in the bottom third of the oven. Brush the top of the tourte with more egg wash and bake for an hour and ten minutes on the heated baking sheet or until the crust is crisp and golden brown. Let it sit on a cooling rack to cool at least fifteen minutes before cutting and eating.
Will loved this; the flavor was excellent, and it's good either hot or cold. I would strongly suggest making this the night before you need it because it is so labor intensive. I have a lot of ham left over, so you can guarantee a few dishes like my ham broccoli and rice bake and ham and cheese sandwiches in the coming week.

Mushroom Rollatini: Easy and Tasty

I can never find cannelloni tubes, so I use the recipes to make rollatini using lasagne noodles. This time I ended up making my own red sauce, and it worked out pretty well. This recipe does contain bread crumbs, but you could always try making it gluten free by using rice or rice flour.
First, make a variation on duxelles by combining finely chopped crimini mushrooms with a finely chopped onion and adding thyme and a quarter cup of dry white wine. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer ten minutes. Mix in the breadcrumbs until just combined and it binds the duxelles together. Take it off the heat and set it aside.
Make the sauce by combining three quarters of a cup of dry white wine, a can of whole tomatoes with basil, a small can of tomato paste, salt, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Bring it to a boil and simmer it for ten minutes.
To assemble them, spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Take a cooked lasagne noodle and scoop some of the mushroom mixture into it and roll it up. Repeat with the remaining noodles, top with the remaining sauce and bake in a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes. Serve piping hot.
Will loved this recipe. I can see this becoming a winter staple. If you want some added flavor, add some Parmesan or Romano cheese to the top.

Vegetarian Lasagne Alfredo: Nutrtitionally Dense and Super Tasty

This recipe has been used by my mom for years. It is one of my favorite all time recipes, and has become a winter staple for Will and me.
First, make your alfredo sauce using cream, Parmesan cheese, and a splash of white wine. Once it's thickened and tastes like an alfredo sauce, it's ready; set it aside. Saute sliced crimini mushrooms and add about ten ounces of thawed and drained frozen spinach. Once everything is warm, add it to the alfredo sauce and mix thoroughly until hot.
Cook your lasagne noodles according to the package directions; if you have oven ready or no boil noodles, you may skip this step.
While your lasagne noodles are cooking, mix together a pound of ricotta cheese, two cups of shredded cheddar cheese, half a cup of Parmesan cheese, a beaten egg, a can of drained and broken up artichoke hearts, and salt and pepper to taste.
To assemble, put a layer of three lasagne noodles in the bottom of a casserole, followed by a layer of spinach mix, followed by a layer of ricotta mix, followed by a bit of Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Continue this layering until all the filling is used, ending with lasagne noodles on top. Top this with mozzarella, cover with foil, and bake in a 350 oven for forty-five minutes. Let it rest at least fifteen minutes; if you don't, the custard won't set properly.
As always, Will and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I didn't have any mozzarella, but I discovered that it works just fine without.

Spaghetti With Meatballs: Takes All Day, But is Totally Worth It

I had some leftover carrots and celery from making all my stocks, so I figured I'd make Will's family spaghetti sauce recipe. Just be warned; this is not the stuff you get in the jar. Most Americans associate spaghetti sauce with the thin marinara sauce from Sicily and southern Italy. Will's family is from the Florence area, so his family's recipe more closely resembles a meatless Bolognese sauce.
First, stick equal parts celery and onion in a food processor and pulse until it's all diced up; squeeze out the excess liquid and and add it to a very large tall stock pot with a bit of hot olive oil. While they sweat, pulse seven cut up carrots in the processor until very diced up. Add to the pot only when the celery and onion become fragrant. Once all this starts to lightly brown, add a few cloves of garlic and a pound of sliced mushrooms; add more oil and cook until the mushrooms are browned. Then start to add a 20 oz can of diced tomatoes and six 6 oz cans of tomato paste. Add water by filling all the empty cans once and stir. Then add your spices; you need half a handful of Italian seasoning, two handfuls of basil, a handful of oregano, two-thirds of a handful of chopped Italian parsley, and just enough ground clove to coat the tip of a knife. Let this mixture simmer, stirring every five minutes to prevent scorching, on medium low until thickened. If it gets too thick, just add more water. In the last ten minutes of cooking, add a quarter cup of Chianti and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese.
Meanwhile, make your Italian sausage for meatballs. For every three pounds of meat, combine two Tablespoons each of sugar, garlic, fennel, sweet paprika, salt, and pepper. Add a quarter cup of sweet red wine and mix all the ingredients together. Mold into balls, distribute evenly on baking sheets, and bake at 350 degrees until browned and cooked through.
Serve all this with cooked spaghetti and, if desired, garlic bread.
Will said this is my best attempt yet at making this, but that it needed to simmer a bit longer because I added too much water. I plan on making meatball subs with the leftover sauce anyway, so that's not exactly a huge deal. I plan on freezing the rest and giving some to my parents and grandmother to use, since they tend to really like this recipe.

Chicken Piccata: Made It With a Twist On the Fly

I made chicken piccata last night; unfortunately, I didn't realize I didn't have enough ingredients, so I had to improvise the wine sauce. Despite those setbacks, it all worked out and was tasty.
First, pound your chicken breasts to about half inch thickness; to do this without destroying your meat, wrap it in cellophane and then go to town pounding it out. Then, stick them in a plastic bag with a quarter cup of flour spiced with salt and pepper to taste and shake the bag to coat the chicken. Meanwhile, melt some butter on medium heat and add the chicken to the pan; brown the breasts. Add some white wine; I didn't have enough white wine and so had to use a bit of red as well; bring this mixture to a boil and let it simmer twelve minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add a bit of lemon juice; I didn't have any lemon, but I did have some dried lemon zest for when I make houska, so that worked well, and serve your the chicken.
While my chicken was tasty, the star of the show was a frozen mushroom risotto from Trader Joe's that I wound up doctoring using saffron, cream, milk, Italian seasoning, and provolone and Parmesan cheeses. I also served this with carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli.

Fettuccine With Chicken and Onion Cream Sauce: Time Consuming, But Worth It

I had a meeting yesterday and, while I normally don't make dinner on meeting nights, I had to because we didn't have any leftovers.
First, you heat your oil and saute a clove of minced garlic on medium low until it starts to color; I know the temptation will be strong to turn up the heat, but trust me that if you do you risk burning your garlic. Add your chicken breasts, raise the heat to medium, and cook the chicken until it's cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and cut into slices. Reduce the heat to medium low and add a diced onion; cook it until it's soft. Add a teaspoon of chicken base and half a cup of water; bring to a boil and let simmer for a few minutes. Add a cup and a half of cream, a quarter cup of milk, a half a cup of Parmesan cheese, and six scallions sliced on the bias including the green part; mix well. Let this simmer on medium, stirring frequently, until thickened. Meanwhile, cook your fettuccine according to the package directions. To serve, put your fettuccine on a plate, place a few slices of chicken on it, and spoon a bit of sauce on top.
I served boiled baby artichokes with tarragon-lemon butter on the side. To make this, all you do is trim your artichokes with a pair of kitchen shears so that all the spiky parts are removed and trim the stem and the loosest leaves. Put these in a pan of salted boiling water and cook for fifteen minutes or until tender; if you use globe, or standard size, artichokes, double the time you cook them. To make the tarragon-lemon butter, put half a Tablespoon butter, the juice of half a lemon, and a couple pinches of tarragon in a glass pinch bowl and microwave until melted. To eat, dip your artichoke leaves in the butter.
Will and I really liked this, and only half an artichoke and a little of the fettuccine was left over. I will definitely make this again because it turned out so well.

Minestrone: Not Exactly Quick, But Easy and Tasty

I decided to make my own vegetable stock, since I had a great deal of mire poix vegetables left over from making chicken stock. As a result, I thought making a nice minestrone would allow us to get in more vegetables and make use of some of the stock I prepared.
First, making stock is pretty simple; just use more vegetables than you did when you made chicken stock and don't use any meat. Once your stock is a pretty golden color, you can add your vegetables. The sky is the limit with adding vegetables, herbs, and spices; I personally added canned roasted and diced tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan cheese. Once the vegetables are tender, serve piping hot with bread and butter.
Will and I both liked it, but Will did have one complaint to make with this; I forgot that many minestrone recipes include either pasta or beans.

Risotto Milanese: Easy, But High Maintenance

I had some extra mushrooms and decided to make my almost famous mushroom risotto Milanese. Sadly, while I was sick, my mushrooms had gone bad, so I ended up making my risotto without them. Usually I make this as a side dish with my coffee molasses pork chops, but because I'm not feeling well, I decided this would do nicely as a plain main course.
First, melt some butter and cook a diced onion in it until the onion is translucent. Add a cup of arborio rice and toss to coat in the butter; do not let it brown. Then, add a bit of dry white wine; I prefer sauvignon blanc, but this time I used chardonnay. Once the rice has soaked it up, add a saffron tea made from saffron soaked in hot water. Once the rice soaks that up, slowly add about a quart of chicken stock to your rice; once one portion of stock is soaked up, add another portion. Stir this mixture frequently, or you will end up with a scorched sticky mess in your pan. Once all the stock is soaked up (this should take about fifteen to twenty minutes, sometimes as little as ten), add some Parmesan cheese and a bit of butter, stir your risotto well, and voila! You have a risotto that people will die to try.
Will, as usual, loved it, but he did miss the extra flavor the mushrooms impart on this dish. Although I didn't add much to mine, don't feel limited by your ingredients; you can easily dress this up and add anything. Add Romano and Gorgonzola cheeses to make an unforgettable three cheese risotto, or add asparagus to it to add some color and rich flavor. I've even heard of adding shrimp along with the Parmesan and butter; the only problem with that is, be careful with when you put them in because nobody likes rubbery seafood.

Zucchini and Eggplant Parmigiana: Time Consuming, But Can Be Nutritious

I had a massive zucchini Will received from a coworker. I baked 43 muffins and two large loaves of bread with it, and still had zucchini to spare. I realized I bought an extra eggplant at the grocery store and decided to make Parmigiana since I had the oven running. This recipe has a bad reputation of being one of the worst recipes for you, but with a few tricks it can be made less bad.
For one, there is the sauce. Most tomato sauces have a handful of spices and are full of sugar. The way I sidestep this is by making my own tomato based Italian sauce. Will's great grandfather hailed from a small town near Florence, and brought the recipe to the US when he immigrated, so every year we make a big vat of it for spaghetti sauce, Parmigiana, or meatball subs. It's basically a Bolognese sauce without all the meat. By sweating mire poix vegetables, you impart a sweetness and add extra vitamins. Also, mushrooms in the sauce add extra texture to the sauce itself and to any dish that includes the sauce, plus if you use mushrooms that have added Vitamin D, you are again getting a pleasant addition of nutrients.
For another, you don't have to bread eggplant or zucchini as heavily as you do a chicken unless you plan on deep frying it. Just enough to create a barrier so the eggplant doesn't absorb too much oil and get greasy while frying is plenty.
Finally, be judicious with your cheese. Try to use a part-skim mozzarella, and don't go crazy with the Parmesan.
Now that we have the tips to slim it down, let's go on with the recipe. First, spice your breadcrumbs; I use lots of basil and Italian seasoning in my recipe and I prefer panko to fine breadcrumbs because it takes less of them to coat the food. Don't bother with salt; in Italian food, the cheeses and sauce do the talking, so the crumbs and vegetables don't need it. Then mix eggs and milk together. Dip your eggplant and/or zucchini into the crumbs first; don't worry about giving them a thorough coating because you are just going to dip it in the egg wash. Then dip it in the egg wash, let the excesses drip off the vegetable, and put it back in the crumbs. Again, you don't have to coat all sides, just the flat parts need to be coated, and even they only need a light coating. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet on medium-low; if you go any higher, you risk smoking the oil and burning the vegetables. Add the vegetables and cook until the crumbs are golden brown on both sides. Continue until all your vegetables are fried. Finally, it's time to layer. First get a nice deep casserole dish; if you go too shallow, your sauce will end up dripping out and onto the bottom of your oven. Layer one layer of vegetable, spoon generous spoonfuls of sauce over each slice, and put one slice of mozzarella onto each sauced vegetable. Sprinkle a little bit of Parmesan over the top, and repeat until all vegetables have been used. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted.
Will and I both loved it; Will had one and a half helpings, and had to fight the urge to go back for thirds. Also, to help keep your weight down, leave two servings in the fridge for lunches and freeze the rest, like we do. Your waistline will thank you for it.