Pollo alla Valdostana (chicken breast rolls, from the region of Valle D'Aosta), Eggplant and zucchini trifolati (sauteed with garlic and parsley)

This fabulous recipe comes from a tiny region  that borders France on the North western corner of Italy. This chicken breast is served sometimes layered in proscuitto and cheese.  This version is my favorite way to make it. 
Ingredients for 4 servings
6 boneless chicken breasts pounded thin
6 sage leaves or 6 parsley leaves
6 slices of Prosciutto ham
6 slices of fontina cheese (any mild cheese will be fine)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup of flour more or less in a plate  for dredging rolls before cooking

for the sauce
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter

Pound your chicken breasts out until nice and thin.  Keep you chicken breasts flat on a work surface.  Working one at a time, layer a piece of cheese, sage and prosciutto over each piece.  Carefully roll your chicken breast as tightly as possible. To ensure that its tight and stays that way, cut a piece of plastic wrap about twice the size of your roll.  Then, carefully and very tightly roll your plastic wrap around your newly formed chicken breast rolls.  Wrap and close the ends tightly.  Place in the refrigerator to firm up before cooking. These should be refrigerated at least 3 hours or overnight.  If you do not have time, you can always insert toothpicks to hold the roll together.  Be sure and remove your toothpicks before serving.

Preheat your oven to 350 bake
Heat your olive oil in a pan.  Carefully unwrap your plastic wrap from your chicken rolls.  You will notice that your rolls are staying together.  Carefully dredge your rolls in flour, shaking off excess.
Insert your chicken rolls into your pan.  Do not worry if your chicken rolls look crowded.  You will only need to turn them once while cooking.

Let cook approximately 5 minutes.  You will notice they will begin to turn golden as you turn them to cook.  Leave them in the pan for approximately 5 more minutes and place your pan in a preheated 350 degree oven.  Cook 45  minutes on bake depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts.  They should be about 3 inches in diameter.

Sauce:
Remove your chicken rolls from the pan and let rest 10 minutes before serving.
In the meantime, place your pan on medium heat on the stove, add your white wine, broth, butter, and let reduce for 5 minutes.  You will notice your sauce will thicken some.  Spoon it over your chicken breast rolls and serve with your side of Vegetables trifolati!

I served these today with sauteed (trifolati) vegetables from this mornings garden.  Vegetables that are trifolati are quickly sliced or diced, then sauteed in olive oil, garlic and parsley.  Fast, easy and flavorful! The perfect side item.
Ingredients
2 Japanese eggplants sliced thinly
2 medium zucchini sliced thinly
one clove of garlic
3 tablespoons of fresh parsley for garnish and to taste
3 tablespoons of Olive oil

In a colander place your sliced vegetables and salt them with one tablespoon of salt.  Let sit for 45 minutes.  Dry your vegetables with paper towels and set aside.  In a skillet, enough to accommodate your cut up vegetables heat 3 tablespoons olive oil to medium.  Carefully insert your cut up clove of garlic until fragrant (about 20 seconds), then insert your vegetables and cook for 5-6 minutes tossing lightly.  Do not worry if your vegetables begin to fall apart and get soft.  They are supposed to look that way.  Remove from heat, add crushed black pepper to taste and serve.  Salt is not necessary since some salt will remain on your vegetables prior to cooking. 
*** Special note:  If you do not like garlic you can substitute a shallot.  Use it in the same manner you would garlic.***

Veal Milanese (Cotolette alla Milanese)

I am not sure why there is such a need in this country to alter classic recipes.  What are we looking for?  Why are we trying to disguise our food?  All these sauces, creams covering up a great piece of meat.  At the cost of veal these days,  we should only be looking for one thing, taste. This is a simple dish and translates "in the style of Milan."   My mother would sprinkle a little Parmigiano Reggiano into the eggs instead of milk.  The Breadcrumbs would have such a wonderful flavor.  I actually do not.  A simple,  plain breadcrumb mixed with salt and pepper is all your need. Some fresh eggs, a sprinkling of salt and a short pan fry. The veal, with bone in, is sliced thin by my butcher,  so it cooks quickly and evenly. I don't like using scalloppine as it lacks flavor once its is cut away from the bone.  You don't want your veal submerged in oil while its cooking as it only takes minutes to cook. The veal should only have a good coating of breadcrumbs sticking to it.   A little lemon is all you need to finish this dish.  I served it with a simple salad and it was quite satisfying.  Buon Appetito.

Ingredients for 4 people

4 rib chops sliced thin, bone in.  (You might have to convince your butcher some that you need them thin.  No pounding out here.  they should look like thin steaks with rib attached).

2 eggs mixed with a tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon of salt in pepper in egg mixture

2 cups of fresh bread crumbs salted to taste

1/2 cup of vegetable oil (This veal cooks at a high temperature. Olive oil is not recommended).

Method:   Place your oil in a pan to medium high. Lightly salt and pepper your veal.  Sqeeze lemon juice over your veal and pat dry.   Dip your veal steaks into your egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs.  Shake off excess.  Dip in hot oil.

  Cook for one minute on the first side and just under a minute on the flip side.  Remember the veal is very thin, and your bread crumbs will turn golden quickly.  Remove and drain on paper towels.  Serve warm with sliced lemon.  Buon Appetito

Lemon Ricotta Souffle (Souffle di Limoncello e Ricotta)

This is a wonderful standby dessert when you are looking for something light and delicate.  I needed to use up a huge container of ricotta. Letting almost nothing go to waste around here,  I had already prepared all the ravioli I needed for my pasta.  I had a few cups of Ricotta left and  noticed only several tablespoons of Limoncello left in a bottle.  What better way to use up what's left.   The combination is heavenly. This version is very old.  It's consistency is not typical souffle, but more like a bread pudding.  You can make it with flour too.  I used almond meal for texture.  Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:  1 cup plus one half cup Whole milk ricotta (drained)

1/2 cup plus two tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons Limoncello

2 tablespoons lemon zest

6  /  5 oz ramekins

5 large egg whites

1/2 cup almond meal

Optional topping: Lemon glaze

Method:  Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare your ramekins by brushing the insides with butter and coating them with sugar.  Shake off the excess and set aside. 

In a bowl Mix your Ricotta, sugar, lemon zest, almond meal.  Set aside.  Whip your egg whites with a pinch of sugar to stiff peaks.   Add your egg whites to your mixture slowly, several tablespoons at a time and fold into your Ricotta mixture until everything is combined.

Line up your ramekins on a baking sheet.  Carefully pour your batter into your ramekins 3/4 full.  Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until your tops of your souffle are slighlty golden.  Cool slightly and serve.  You can even pour your favorite lemon glaze over it for added flavor.  Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

Pour into your ramekins and bake

Ready! Serve Warm!  Didn't even have a chance to pour some Limoncello glaze over them!  Coming soon!

Italian Cabbage soup (Zuppa di Cavoli)

I received a beautiful head of Storage cabbage in my Native Son Farm share last week.  The only time I ever think of cabbage is on St.Patrick's Day.  My mother would always make it her once a year event to make Corn Beef and Cabbage. I can still remember that distinctive smell all over the house.  No scented candles then, just lots of windows opened around the house and it was still Winter. 

  With Cabbage  in abundance this time of year, I thought who better to reference than my favorite Cooking teacher, Marcella Hazan.  Her Venetian style cabbage Soup is excellent and worth a try. It will have you running to the market to make more. This variation is very similar.   It's so good for you too.  I am going to make it my New Year's resolution to eat more cabbage.  I love the idea of cooking the cabbage ahead, sauteing it , reserving the liquid and cooking your rice in your liquid. I made it all on the same day.  If you do this you will need about 3 hours of time from start to finish.  You can cook your cabbage a day or two ahead and even saute several days ahead. On the day you want to serve, just heat and cook your rice right in your soup.

 Here is my version: Serves 6-8 people.

Ingredients:  One head of cabbage (Savoy, storage), cleaned, cut into large pieces 

Large pot, 8 quarts of water.  2 tablespoons of salt for the water.

12 oz of rice (Aborio or long grain)

1/2 cup of white wine or 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar (I used white wine, as we always have it on hand).

3 cups of broth (meat, chicken or vegetable)

2 teaspoons garlic

2 tablespoons white onion (I like to use them as they turn slightly sweet when cooked).

1.  Cook your cabbage in plenty of boiling water.  Add your white wine or your vinegar to your boiling water and stir.  Continue to cook your cabbage until soft.  This should take about 2 hours or so.  Your liquid will be reduced to less than half.  Drain/ reserving about 3 cups of liquid.

2.  In a saute pan heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Saute your diced onion and garlic for about a minute until fragrant.  Add your cabbage and stir in med/low heat until your cabbage sticks just a little to the pan.  This should take no more than 5 minutes.  Add a teaspoon of salt and set aside to cool.

(You can make it up to this point several days ahead.  Store in the refrigerator/ separately from the reserved liquid).

3.  Heat up your broth and your reserved liquid in a pot large enough to hold your soup.

When it comes to a boil, add your rice. After about 5-7 minutes, Add your cabbage directly into the soup.   Continue to cook your rice until al dente on a slow simmer.  Your liquid will thicken some from the starch being released from the rice.  Serve in large bowls topped with Parmigiano Cheese if you like.  I had so much, I served it twice. Everyone loved it. Sprinkle some cooked, sliced carrots for added flavor and color. The second time I served it with some fresh Arugula. This addition, although minimal, added a nice a little bite to the soup.

Enjoy~Buon Appetito.

Red Wine Vinegar

Ingredients:  One, left over bottle of quality Red wine with alcohol content between 10-12 percent.

Price:  Betweeen $15-$20

It's worth the trouble if you have more than 1/4 of your wine left.

  Good wine makes great Vinegar.  Ever find yourself with left over wine in a bottle you just opened but couldn't finish?  This is a very general explanation. It is simple but still takes some degree of experience. Not sure why people choose to either place it in the back of the cabinet and forget about it, or they just pour it out.  Why? This is a nice idea for those of you who just don't plan on drinking it the next day.  In my case, we had opened up some rather expensive bottles of Turley that had already spoiled in storage. We carefully opened each bottle in the hope we would find one to drink.  We had some left in the second bottle  and decided to loosely cover it and place it in a cool, dry place. After 30 days, we checked it.  It was not sweet enough and it was decided it needed more time.  A week later it was ready.  

1.  Please make sure you are using a good bottle of quality red wine with alcohol content 10-12 percent.   It doesn't have to cost a fortune, but will not work with inexpensive varieties due to the additives  as they are processed for a mass market.   My rule of thumb is if you have spent more than 20 dollars on your bottle of red, and it's good enough to drink, well then, why pour away the leftover?

2.  Leave your  Red wine loosely covered in a cool dry place. Air must continue to be able to enter freely in order for your wine to turn into vinegar.  Here is some more information. 

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-12/making-vinegar-home

Special Note:  There are several ways to make vinegar at home in larger quantities.  This method only utilizes one  (left over in the original bottle), wine bottle at a time.  The advantage here is if you opened a costly bottle of Chianti, you will eventually have a rather expensive and delicious smaller bottle of Chianti vinegar. If you tried to buy Chianti vinegar, it would be quite costly to find.  You can continue to use it until finished.  Enjoy and Buon Appetito.

Italian Cooking Class Series to begin Feb. 4, 2012, 10am-1pm

If you are in the Tupelo, Mississippi area and would like to attend my Italian Cooking class series at Itawamba Community College,  please sign up as soon as possible.  Space is limited.  Hope to see you there!  Buon Appetito!http://www.iccms.edu/forms/wdt/ce_schedule.pdf
Auguri!
Barbara

Mussels con Peperoni~ (Mussels with Roasted red and Yellow Peppers)

I always keep Oven roasted red and yellow peppers on hand in the back of the cabinet.  I love being able to remind myself of a bountiful harvest left from summer, while in the winter months.  I jarred 12 jars in all, and already down to just a few.  I never make enough.  That is a future class.

TO ROAST THE PEPPERS:  I like to to char under the broiler.  Remove them carefully from the oven and set in a bowl to cool, cover with plastic wrap.  The trapping of the heat from the peppers will cause the skin of the peppers to come away from the meaty part of the pepper.  After 20 minutes time, remove the plastic wrap and carefully peel your peppers, discarding seeds.  Pat dry with paper towels.  Set them aside to finish cooling.   You can do this in advance, even by a few days and keep them ready to go in the refrigerator.  This summer we will be having a lesson in storing peppers, eggplants, artichokes, etc.  for future use.  For now, this is a great way to have fresh, oven roasted peppers in a hurry.   You can place them in a container covered in garlic and olive oil and some salt.  They never last more than a few days around here.  Great for sandwiches too.

This recipe serves 4-6 as an appetizer

This simple recipe calls for Black mussels with the shells on.  Although I am big advocate for "Fresh is best", when you live in Tupelo, Mississippi, some things are nearly impossible.  I came across these mussels frozen, from the North Atlantic.  They are excellent quality already cleaned and pre cooked and maintain great flavor in this dish.   Clean your mussels gently and quickly.   Set aside:
Ingredients: 3 cloves of garlic  diced
                   3 tablespoons olive oil
                   3 tablespoons parsley
                   2 pounds of black mussels
                   1 teaspoon pepper
                   1 teaspoon of salt
                   One cup of white wine

Into a large 12 inch frying pan, heat your oil on medium.  Add your garlic and saute for a minute until fragrant.  Add our mussels and saute.   Be sure your mussels are heated through and all opened.  Add your parsley.   Discard any that are unopened.  Add your salt and pepper.  Add your white wine and reduce.  Remove your mussels from the pan.  Remove the mussel itself from about half of the shells.  Discard the empty shells.  Add your remaining liquid into the bowl.  You should have a fair amount of liquid left after the reduction (about 1/3).  Set aside.  Wipe out any excess liquid from your pan.   In the same frying pan, add 2  more tablespoons of oil.  Slice your peppers.  One large red and yellow will do nicely for this dish.  Cut the pepper up length wise into small strips.

Special Note about fresh mussels:  Be sure and clean your mussels with a brush if you are using fresh.  Be sure and use cold water.  A pair of cooking gloves is a wonderful addition to your kitchen when cleaning fish is involved. Brush the dirt and sand away gently, being careful not to damage your mussels.   Dry them off quickly.  Heat your oil and put them in a pan.  Once your mussels heat into the pan, place a lid on the pan for just a minute.  Turn your heat down to low for a few minutes and add 1 cup of white wine.  Increase your heat to medium and place your lid back on the pan for a few minutes. The lid on the pan will trap the moisture and cause your mussels to open.   As your pan heats, your mussels will open.  This should take about 5-7 minutes in all.  Discard any un-opened mussels.   Reduce your liquid to 1/3 and follow the rest of the steps for this recipe.  Either way, it works very well.

One yellow, oven roasted Pepper
One red, oven roasted Pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons of garlic diced
3 tablespoons of parsley

 In the same frying pan, add 2  more tablespoons of oil.  Slice your peppers.  One large red and yellow will do nicely for this dish.  Cut the pepper up length wise into small strips.  Heat your olive oil and add your garlic.  Saute until fragrant.   Add your peppers and heat through.  At this point add your mussels back to the pan.  Gently mix and turn off the heat.  

This recipe will serve 4-6 for an appetizer.  You can serve it as a main course tossed with your favorite Pasta "Lunga" or long pasta such as Spaghetti, Linguine, etc.

Place 2 pieces of good crusty bread in the bottom of your bowls.  Spoon your mussels and peppers over your bread.  Top off with additional toasted Italian bread and sprinkle with Parsley.  Buon Appetito~

Chocolate Nutella cookies!

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45807191/ns/today-food/t/bake-home-chef-winners-nutella-cookies/#.TwZmuNS0x2A

Happy New Year Everyone!  Buon Anno!
Ended the year winning the Home Chef Challenge over at the Today Show in New York City.  What a way to end 2011. 
Here is the link to the Today Show!
Buon Appetito!
More great  Italian Food coming soon!  Stay tuned!