Archive for the ‘what’s cooking wednesday’ Category
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Breaded Veal Cutlets
If you’re looking for healthy, light and/or vegetarian eating, this ain’t the place today.
This week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday is Breaded Veal Cutlets. I’ve had these in many a Calabrese-American and Calabrese home, and they always taste pretty much the same–but this recipe comes from my non-Italian mom.
Then again, these cutlets sound awfully similar to Wiener Schnitzel, an Austrian dish more along the lines of my mom’s German heritage. Oh, but not so fast! Some say even the schnitz originated in northern Italy, under the name cotoletta alla milanese (although these generally have bones and are fried in butter).
Whatever their origin, they’re darn good, and I recommend that when you make them, you make a lot (at least a pound) because (1) they’ll go fast and you’ll wish you had made more while the mess was out; and (2) they are great leftover, even cold. Especially as a hangover remedy. Or so they tell me.
We tend to make a meal out of them (with salad or other greens), but they can also be used as a traditional Italian second course. Serve with lemon if you like, although I’m not a big lemon fan, so I don’t.
Also, I should note that I like mine a little smaller than what I’ve been served in many an Italian dining room; I like making them about the size of my hand at their biggest whereas most I’ve seen take up most of the plate. I think my preference comes from when I was small (literally) and my mom would make special baby ones for me because I didn’t use to eat very much.
My how things have changed. And yet the recipe remains the same!
Breaded Veal Cutlets
1 1/2 to 2 lb veal cutlets, about 1/8 inch thick (beat ’em if you have to; it’s fun!)- 1 1/2 c unseasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 3 tbsp grated parmigiano cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp milk
- vegetable oil for frying
First I recommend setting up a comfortable work area as it will make the whole process go much smoother. I put down a cloth or newspaper to catch spillage and stray crumbs and it makes clean-up very easy.
If you need to thin out your cutlets, do so with a flat mallet (I’ll use the underside of a tablespoon in a pinch). Now once your cutlets are the desired thickness, put them on a plate to your far left–if you work left to right, that is, otherwise far right and work your way to the left.
Then, in a shallow, wide bowl, place the egg, milk, and salt and beat together well. If you’re really serious, you can check out the 3 piece breading pans like this.
Next in line comes the bread crumb mixture. I usually just mix this through with a fork until it looks well blended. Do this in another shallow, wide bowl.
And finally, put an empty plate for the finished breaded cutlets on the far right.
Now begin breading. Dip each cutlet into the egg mixture, and then into the breading, patting gently to keep the crumbs on but not too hard so that you’re grinding them into the meat.
Shake off excess crumbs before you put on the “done” plate. You don’t want want too many extra crumbs flaking off into the oil later because they’ll burn and make everything taste funny. Or at least burny.
When you’re finished breading, you’re ready to fry.
Put about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil into a large frying pan and set on medium/high until oil is hot, when it starts to pop a bit. If you want to test it, put in a small cutlet; if it doesn’t immediately sizzle, the oil isn’t hot enough yet.
Put as many cutlets in the pan that fit without crowding them. While your first batch is frying, get ready a plate covered in a couple layers of paper towels, which will soak up a lot of the big bad oil when the cutlets are done frying. Depending on how many cutlets you’re making, you can go through a serious amount of paper towels here, so be prepared.
You only need to fry them about 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. When on the first side, once you notice that the ends are starting to get a little brown, flip. You really don’t want to flip more than once because then they’ll soak up more oil and you may lose breading. You’ll know when they’re done when both sides are golden brown.
Note that some people use flour in addition to the egg and breading steps, which you can do if you like a thicker breading. Also, some may question why I don’t use olive oil for frying; I find it too heavy, and I really don’t like the flavor it gives the cutlets (I have tried it), although perhaps it’s just because I’m used to the vegetable oil variety.
Feel free to play around with the measurements, by the way, because these are only approximations. Rest assured, though, that I did confer with my mom before posting this.
Buon appetito!
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Pancetta and Onion Frittata
Things are finally back on track around here, which means it’s time for What’s Cooking Wednesday! This week it’s Pancetta and Onion Frittata. It could also be known as a Carbonara Frittata, because you use mostly the same ingredients minus the pasta, so if you like that, you should love this.
You can serve this as an appetizer, a light dinner, a hefty breakfast, or anytime you see fit really; I’ve been making this frittata a couple times a week for P to take for his mid-morning snack. He cuts it into thick strips and slaps it between two chunks of bread (folding it over so that it’s a double frittatawich).
Oh, and one last note before we get to the recipe: I would’ve loved to have taken a photo of a nice wedge of the frittata, but since that would’ve ruined his sandwich structure, I didn’t. Aren’t I nice?
Pancetta & Onion Frittata
(Frittata con pancetta e cipolle)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
300 g cubed pancetta
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
6 eggs
2 tbsp grated cheese
1. Break eggs into a bowl, add grated cheese, and beat together with a fork (I would add a little bit of milk to this mixture if P would let me, but he won’t, so I don’t).
2. Heat oil in large non-stick pan. Stir in onions and cook on low heat until they are soft, around 10-15 minutes.
3. Add pancetta, and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add salt, pepper, and parsley.
5. Turn up heat to medium and add egg mixture. Stir a bit to evenly distribute eggs, pancetta, onions, and parsley, but do this rather quickly and then stop stirring.
6. Cook on the first side until the frittata is puffed and no longer wet on top; this will take anywhere from 5-10 minutes.
7. Now you’re getting ready to flip. Forza! I didn’t make frittatas for a long time because I was afraid of this step, but I promise, you’ll do fine if you have faith that your frittata will flip freely.
Phew. Say that five times fast.
First, make sure your frittata will come free easily; if not, shake it back and forth gently to release it from the pan.
Then take a plate large enough to cover the pan completely, place it upside down over the pan, and turn the frittata over onto it. I know it’s stupid to say “Remember that the pan is hot” but I’m saying it anyway. Because, you know, even the best of us can forget. Use oven mitts if you must.
Now slide the frittata from the plate back into the pan and cook until the second side is golden brown, another 5 minutes or so.
8. Remove from heat and cut into wedges to serve–or you can do as P do in cut it into big strips and eat it on a sandwich.
Buon appetito!
What’s Cooking Wednesday Recipe: Calabrian Cuzzupa for Easter/Pasqua
OK, I know Easter has come and gone, but I promised a cuzzupa recipe about a week ago, and a cuzzupa recipe you shall have.
So this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday is a recipe out of my friend Mary Amabile Palmer’s cookbook, Cucina di Calabria: Treasured Recipes and Family Traditions from Southern Italy. This is a wonderful collection of authentic Calabrese recipes interspersed with essays about the history and culture of this region as well as family memories.
Check out the book on Amazon, but if you’d like to buy it, please let me know as I can get you both a discount and a signed copy.
Cuzzupe di Pasqua*
4 tbsp butter/margarine (softened)
1/2 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 c milk
1 tsp lemon extract
1 3/4 c all-purpose or unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 375°F.In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar, and salt. Cream until well blended. Gradually add egg, milk, and lemon extract. Mix well. Stir in the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth.
Shape dough into cakes as shown in the above picture, and brush with melted butter; you can also sprinkle some sugar on top as well.
Place cakes on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake until a light golden brown (about 15 minutes).
Note that you can make the icing as seen in last week’s photo by mixing 1/2 cup of confectioner’s sugar with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of water. Rainbow sprinkles are a common addition once the glaze in on the cakes.
*I left out the instructions on making the ring or basket which holds hard-boiled, colored eggs as that’s not what’s made where I am; for more instructions, looks like you’ll just have to get a copy of the book!
Buon appetito!
And now, as a special bonus this Wednesday, a cooking meme that Shannon (the founder of WCW) tagged me with a while back:
1. Can you cook? If yes do you like to cook?
Why yes and yes again.
2. When does your whole family come together to eat?
Suppose it depends on how you define “whole family.” P and I eat together twice a day usually. With the rest of his family, we haven’t had a meal yet with everyone (he has 2 brothers and 4 sisters spread around Italy and France), but the closest we came was last summer when there were 2 sisters, 1 brother, and their kids in one tiny room. With my family, well, P hasn’t even met them yet.
3. What do you have for breakfast?
On colder days, something warm to drink (coffee, cappuccino), but in the summer iced coffee. Sometimes I have toast, other times a cornetto, sometimes a banana. Depends on my mood.
4. When, where and how do you eat through the week?
Breakfast either at home or at the bar any time between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. Lunch at home at 12:30 on weekdays, later on the weekends. Dinner at home anytime between 7:30 and 10:00 p.m.
5. How often do you eat out?
Not very often, although more frequently in the summer. Food’s better at home!
6. How often do you order in or get take out?
Not a common occurrence, but P will sometimes go and pick up pizza on Saturday nights.
7. Re: 5 & 6 – if money were no object would like to do it more often?
Nah. We’d just buy a lot of really good ingredients–and probably eat a lot more seafood.
8. Are there any standards that make a regular appearance at your table?
Um, you could say pasta is a frequent visitor.
9. Have you ever tried a recipe from another blog?
Not yet, but that’s mostly because I can’t find the ingredients I need to make the things that look so yummy. I’m storing them away, though, for when I go to the States.
10. Are there any quarrels because of food?
Not anymore. P likes to cook, but he basically likes to do it alone (no problem there!). Once I understood that, I just learned to make myself otherwise useful when he’s cooking. When I’m cooking, I’m much more relaxed in the kitchen, so I’m easy to get along with when I cook.
11. Are you a vegetarian or could you imagine living as a vegetarian?
I’m not a vegetarian, but I could imagine doing so–the biggest stress would be going to people’s houses for dinner and finding something to eat. I already have problems with that if all they’ve made is frittole (boiled pig parts)….
12. What would you like to try out that you haven’t dared yet?
I’d try sushi just to see what all the fuss is about, but that won’t be happening in southern Italy anytime soon.
13. Would you rather cook or bake?
Hmm…probably bake because I’d probably rather eat baked goods than real food. Sad but true.
14. What was the most terrible mess you’ve ever made in the kitchen?
Thanksgiving last year. That was something.
15. What do your kids like to eat best? What would your kids never eat?
N/A, but I can almost guarantee any kids I have will like pasta. Or at least will be forcefed it.
16. What do you dislike most?
Wow, those boiled pig parts come to mind again. Then there’s “suzzu” (spelling?) which is (again) pig parts mixed with gelatin so that it’s a pudding. And then there’s ghiro (dormouse). I’m gagging just thinking of these things.
I won’t tag anyone, but you foodies out there should feel free to play along!
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Spaghetti Aglio Olio e Peperoncino
OK, I’m kind of wimping out here as this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday is probably the simplest pasta dish ever invented.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not good.
And it also doesn’t mean I haven’t seen it on Italian restaurant menus pretending like it’s all fancy and frou frou when really, every Italian has probably eaten this thousands of times when there was nothing else in Mother Hubbard’s cupboard (or, you know, when they were drunk and/or hungover).
I’m just sayin’.
Spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino
(Spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, and hot pepper)
*serves 2
Put on the water to boil.
Peel 3 cloves of garlic, crush slightly. Set aside.
Chop up one hot pepper (or don’t if you’ll use hot pepper flakes instead), and set aside.
Once the water is boiling, add salt and pasta; remove when al dente and let sit in strainer.
Now heat a generous amount of oil, about 5 tablespoons, on medium heat, and then add the garlic, hot pepper (to your taste), and a bit of salt. Just let the garlic get a little brown, but be careful so it doesn’t burn.
Remove the garlic, add the pasta to the pan, and toss well together, leaving it all over the heat for about a minute as you mix.
And that’s it.
So seriously, please don’t ever spend money on this in a restaurant. I don’t ask much of you around here, so per piacere?
Other additions to this dish to make it more special include parsley, grated cheese, and even bread crumbs, but this is your basic Spaghetti aglio olio peperoncino, and it’s truly delicious as is.
Buon appetito!
P.S. Weather watch for Pasqua photos: it’s *extremely* windy and rainy right now, but I’m hoping that means it’ll clear up for the weekend–can’t stay like this forever, right?
what’s cooking wednesday: rosemary rabbit and roasted potatoes
Let me start by saying I know rabbit probably isn’t a common dish for many of you, but we eat it all the time as P’s parents raise the little guys for food. You could easily do this recipe with chicken, though, so please don’t be put off by the bun’.
This week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday will mark a first around here as I decided to post an entire meal–mostly because once I put a plate together last night, it looked so darn good, I couldn’t resist.
So, here we have rabbit with rosemary, roasted potatoes, garlic bread, and salad with red onion. Let’s take it from the top with all the ingredients you’ll need for everything.
1 rabbit cut into pieces
6 medium potatoes (serves 2-3 people)
salad greens
6 cloves garlic
olive oil
rosemary
white wine vinegar
salt
black pepper
peperoncino
1 red onion for salad (optional)
Oven-Roasted Potatoes
First preheat the oven to about 400°F (205°C). Peel and cut the potatoes into wedges, and put them in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season them with black pepper, peperoncino, a few sprigs of rosemary, and a generous amount of salt. Don’t be afraid of the seasonings here; it takes a lot to overseason potatoes (except with the peperoncino, depending on how hot you like them).
Put them in the oven, and just let them do their thing. Every now and again, give them a shake and turn them around a bit. They should take about an hour and fifteen minutes to roast, and if you want them crispy on the outside but soft in the middle (how I like them but P doesn’t), it’ll take a little longer. The other option to shorten cooking time is to raise the heat from the get-go.
Let the potatoes sit for a few minutes before you eat as they are extremely, extremely hot out of the oven. Bet you knew that.
Rabbit with Rosemary
If the rabbit (or chicken) isn’t cut into pieces, that needs to be done first. P’s in charge of all things bunny around here, so he does this, and I have no tips to offer. Although a lot of people marinate the rabbit, we don’t, and I really like it better this way because you taste more of the rabbit and less of the seasonings, but to each her own.
Put a generous amount of olive oil (5 tablespoons) in a frying pan and sauté 4 garlic cloves on medium heat until lightly golden brown and then remove.* Add rabbit pieces, seasoning with black pepper, peperoncino, salt, and rosemary sprigs. Once one side of the bunny is browning, flip, and let the other side brown as well.
Turn down the heat to low, add about a half cup of white wine vinegar, and let rabbit simmer for another fifteen to twenty minutes or so, or until the inside is no longer pink. If your rabbit is sucking in all the liquid too quickly, add some hot water, but only if absolutely necessary.
*For a special treat, add some pancetta/bacon to the garlic at the beginning; this adds a great smoky taste.
Note that the entire rabbit portion of the meal will probably take about forty-five minutes, so you can try to time it with the potatoes accordingly.
Garlic Bread
About five minutes before you will eat, you should put the bread in the oven. You can use a fancy broiler if you have, but I just used the heat from the potatoes and set the oven on its lowest setting for the bread.
Use thin slices of preferably Italian bread, and smear on a little butter or drizzle a little olive oil, depending on your taste. Peel a couple of garlic cloves and cut in half; use the halves to rub onto the bread.
Put in the oven, and remove when toasted to your liking–a light golden brown is usually good.
Salad with Red Onion
OK, you probably don’t need instructions here, but for the sake of a complete meal, I’ll describe what I did.
Wash the salad greens and tear into bite size chunks. Cut a red onion into chunks and mix with greens. For the dressing, drizzle olive oil and white wine vinegar on top and then add salt and a pinch of sugar. Toss salad and serve.
And there you have an entire meal, ready in about an hour and a half from start to finish.
Buon appetito!
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[tags]rabbit recipes, rosemary, roasted potatoes, potatoes, salad, red onions, garlic bread, cooking, what’s cooking wednesday, recipes[/tags]
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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