Zuppa di Fagioli con Salisicce

Soup with Beans and Sausage

            This Tuscan-like soup is a great meal for a cold day! It only takes 2 hrs or so from start to finish, and during much of that you can be doing something else, because the soup is just simmering. My recipe makes two bowls. Because it is so small, I chose to use canned beans instead of dried. Expand the recipe and you can use a pound of dried beans. I think the wine can be white or red, but imho it should be a fine wine to counter the rustic meal. I chose a Barbera d'Asti from Vietti (a winery that has never let me down!)

Winery at Yellow Blob

Vietti Barbera d'Asti

Castiglione Falletto

Ingredients:

1          Carrot

1          stalk     Celery

Ingredients

1          med     Shallot (1 oz)

1          Pepper (mild-medium heat)
1          link       cooked Sausage

4          cups    Beef Stock

16        oz        Cannellini Beans

8          oz        Tomato Sauce

1          small    Parmesan rind

1          sprig    fresh Basil

1½       oz        Lentils

2½       oz        Ditali pasta

1          splash  Marsala wine

1          small    Scallion

                        Olive Oil

                        Salt to taste

Method:

1    Cut the Celery into thin dice,

      Cut the Carrot into small dice,

      Slice the Shallot in half, then into very thin slices.

2    Gently sauté these in a tablespoon of Olive Oil until Celery becomes transparent.

3    While these are sautéing, clean and slice the Pepper, also thinly slice the Sausage.

4    Add these to the pot and stir until everything is heated, then add a splash of Marsala and let the alcohol burn off.

     Then add tomato sauce. Stir gently until it begins to bubble, then add the stock. Stir and bring soup to a boil.

5    Wash and pick through the Lentils. When soup is boiling, add Lentils, ½ tsp Salt and the Parmesan rind. Lower burner and stir. Let simmer, partially covered, for about an hour.

6    Strain and rinse Beans. Stir them into the soup. Float a spring of fresh basil and let simmer, uncovered, for another half-hour, stirring occasionally. 


























      While the soup cooks, slice Scallion into narrow rings, reserve.

7    Remove Basil and Parmesan (if possible) and add the pasta. Raise heat a bit. Cook until pasta is done, about 15 minutes, stirring often because soup will now thicken !!!

8    Turn off heat. Taste and correct seasoning. Stir in the Scallion rings and pour soup into bowls. Enjoy with a fine wine. This is really delicious!!

Zuppa di Fagioli con Salisicce

Costolette di Vitello (Veal Chops)

A meal from the freezer!!

   The day after New Year's 2012: in my wine cellar I found the first bottle on which I had written the notation "drink in 2012." It is a 2000 Borolo. Now that wine deserves a serious meal. The only problem is that I refuse to take my car from the garage today! (It is a Federal holiday.) What to do?

   It's on days like this that your foresight pays off. I never make a serious Brown Sauce or Sauce Espagnole without freezing a few small containers for just such a day. So after my visit to the wine cellar, I visited my freezer where I found: 1 veal chop, 1 small container mashed potatoes, Sauce Espagnole and commercial, frozen baby Lima Beans. Hey, that's a grand meal waiting to happen with minimal effort. So I'll spend the afternoon watching Die Fledermaus instead of slaving in the kitchen. 

  By dinnertime everything will be thawed. Once it is heated, I'll add a little Lustau Pedro Ximénez sherry to the sauce, swirl in a little butter to finish, and serve up with the Borolo as a smashing finale to a holiday weekend!

   Here is the final plate, with very little work (because it was all done months ago) and finished in about half an hour: 

 - love, Dave

STRUFOLLI

A small strufolli Christmas wreath I made for our small family.

I should have used a Christmas Plate!!

LAMB ROASTED WITH ORANGES AND MINT

            As I was checking out the wares at a new meat market, I ran into this small (1¼ lb!) butterflied leg of lamb. Clearly just a portion of a leg, or this was a very miniature animal :) However, I liked the size, as it fits into the cooking for 1-or-2 category quite nicely.

fat side

All we have to do is roll up some good stuff inside, grill the outside and roast for a short time and we will have a tasty and elegant dish. Choosing the wine should be fun too!

            Unfortunately, it is winter here on the Niagara Frontier, so I won't be using my outside grill, where we could accomplish the entire task. I'll have to save that for a summertime reprise. A leg of lamb always has a good coating of fat on its outside. We'll want to trim that down a bit for inside grilling, to minimize smoke and flare. You should probably leave all of it on for outside grilling. Using a meat hammer to pound and flatten it a little will help in stuffing and rolling. I usually like to marinate my lamb, so we'll have to do this at least the night before (longer if you can). After grilling, roast it draped in thin slices of an orange and fresh mint leaves.

Some fat trimmed off

Pounded & ready to marinate

            Now for the wine! Located high in the foothills of Beaujolais is a small cru called Chiroubles. (See map.) 

Chiroubles at red dot

There is some unique and lovely wine produced here. The Gravallon-Lathuilière estate has created a wonderful example in their 2009 Chiroubles. A more serious wine with a complex set of overtones that can be drunk now or cellared for a while. The flavor still has a brightness to it and a gorgeous color, I think it will make a lovely pairing with the lamb.

Marinade:

1 cup Onion, rough chopped

1 Tbs. chopped Garlic

Salt and Pepper

several dashes on Worcestershire Sauce

juice of one Lemon

everyday Olive Oil

            Trim some of the thicker pieces of fat off the lamb and then pound it out to an even thickness and shape, as much as possible. Place, fat side down, in a container just large enough to hold it. Sprinkle the top with salt and coarsely ground pepper. Sprinkle on Worcestershire Sauce and the juice of a lemon. Cover with the chopped onion and garlic. Pour on olive oil to just cover. Put the lid on and refrigerate at least overnight, the longer the better.

Placed in marinate

Filling:

1 cup Bread Crumbs

1 Egg

2 Tbs. grated Romano Cheese

2 Tbs. Tomato Paste

freshly ground Pepper

1 Tbs. Olive Paste*

Mayonnaise*

thin slices of Fontina Cheese

            * If you have not yet acquired a taste for Olive Paste, then replace both the Olive Paste and the Mayonnaise with Greek Yogurt. A tasty substitution.

Filling, ready to be mixed

Roasting:

small Leg of Lamb, prepared as above

1 Orange

1 Onion

several sprigs of fresh Mint

about ½ cup of liquid (water is fine)

An oven thermometer

Method:

1          Remove Lamb-in-Marinade from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for a while. Meanwhile, mix all filling ingredients, except for the Fontina Cheese and Mayo. I used a mini food-processor attachment for my hand blender for this task. Stir in enough Mayo to make a spreadable paste.

2          Remove Lamb from Marinade and brush off loose onions, etc. Do not dry off. Place fat side down on a work surface. Season with salt and pepper, then spread filling evenly over the Lamb. Place some slices of Fontina Cheese over filling at intervals. 

            

            I used a lovely Fontina from Valle d'Aosta. Roll the Lamb and tie carefully. Program your oven to BROIL. Place Lamb on a broiler pan and then into the preheated oven under the broiler. I recommend you keep it on a rack lower than you would normally use to broil meat because the fat will want to splatter. (See picture.)

Ready for broiler

Broiling not-too-close

3          Broil for about 8 minutes, roll over and broil 8 minutes longer on the other side. 

            The roast should be nicely colored. 

            Remove from oven and reprogram to BAKE at 325F.

4          Chop the Onion and scatter over the bottom of a shallow ovenproof pan. Carefully place roast on the bed of Onions. Insert the oven thermometer into the roast to its center. Strew the fresh mint over the roast and then drape the thinly-sliced Orange over the mint. Add about ½ cup of liquid to the pan. 

Just before tenting

            Tent a small piece of foil over the roast and place in the 325F oven for about 50 minutes. Remove foil after about 25 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on the thermometer! Ovens vary and Lamb legs come in different sizes. Your roast is done when it reaches 130-135F, no more! Remove from oven and tightly cover with the tenting foil. Let rest for about 15 minutes. The internal temp will increase a couple of degrees.

5          Slice and serve with a not-too-rich side. I used brown rice to which I added some fresh green-bean pieces cooked with diced carrots. I also added some button mushrooms I had sautéed in butter and deglazed with Brandy. Then I folded in some grated Romano Cheese. This made a nice, understated accompaniment to the Lamb! The Orange and Mint only adds a hint of flavor to the outside of the roast which, of course, is present in each slice.

6          The pairing with Chiroubles was brilliant: wine and food complementing each other magnificently!   -Love, Dave

Braised Veal "Teri"

                This dish is dedicated to my niece Teri who is a wonderful cook and really knows her wines. Golly, what a combination! The wine to be featured with this veal is a Petit Arvine from the Valle d'Aosta DOP, which if you notice on the map, is in Piedmont only a couple of miles from Switzerland. Petite Arvine is the name of the indigenous white grape and the wine is 100% that variety. the 2009 vintage is a well balanced and medium bodied wine that is both soft and strong. A delicious wine that I have been enjoying for several months now. (OMG I'm almost out: only 4 more bottles after this one!) A perfect accompaniment to fish or veal.

           

    What we're going to do is marinate the veal in a "damp rub" for several hours (or overnight). We'll sauté ingredients in separate batches to allow each to develop its own character. First, shallots, carrots and celery together, then brown the veal, then brown the potatoes, then sauté the mushrooms, then deglaze the pan with wine, then cook a few small tomatoes until they are totally broken down. At this point we assemble the braising combination: stock, our sautéed vegetables, on top of them the potatoes, on top of them the veal. Add a fresh herb (I used rosemary) and braise slowly for 1½ hours adding some green beans and the mushrooms after an hour. This is a little spicy but not super hot. If you prefer no heat then skip the cayenne in the rub, or replace it with black pepper. I'm sure this could be finished in a 325 F oven if you need the stovetop.

Main Ingredients 

Ingredients:

        "Damp Rub"

                ¼ tsp each of salt, cinnamon, allspice; ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper, and the juice of half a lemon.

               

        2      Veal Chops

        1      small Carrot, fine dice

        1      small Celery stalk, fine dice

        1      Shallot, fine dice

        6      small Mushrooms, quartered

        1      clove Garlic, split

        3      Tbs. Olive Oil

        1      Tbs. Butter

                Dusting Flour

        2      medium Potatoes, peeled and sliced ½" thick

        2      small Tomatoes, skinned and chopped very small

Ingredients Prepped

        3      sprigs fresh Rosemary

        ½     cup White Wine

        1      cup Chicken stock

        about 10 Green Beans, halved

        salt & pepper

For Sauce:

        2 Tbs. Butter

        2 Tbs. Flour

        

Method:

     The night before: Mix dry rub ingredients, then add lemon juice to make a paste. Spread on both sides of veal and refrigerate.

1       In a casserole, sauté diced Shallots, Carrots and Celery in 2 Tbs. Olive Oil until everything has a little color. Remove vegetables and reserve, returning oil to pan.

Saute vegetables

2      Blot the Veal with a paper towel, then dust with flour. Brown on both sides until golden. Remove Veal and reserve.

Brown Veal

3      Add 1 Tbs. Butter and 1 Tbs. Oil to what is in the pan. Now add Potatoes and brown on both sides. Sprinkle on a little salt & pepper and toss around until coated. Remove Potatoes and reserve.

Brown Potatoes

4      Now add Mushrooms and sauté until golden. Remove Mushrooms and reserve.

Saute Mushrooms

5      Deglaze pan by adding the wine and reducing to half, scraping until everything is suspended in the liquid.

Deglaze pan

6      Now add the Tomatoes and sprinkle with a little salt, continuing to reduce until the Tomatoes have completely broken down.

add Tomatoes

Tomatoes broken down

7      Add about a cup of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Return vegetables (but not mushrooms), then place Potatoes in a single layer on top of them, and then place the Veal on the Potatoes. Add the garlic and cover the Veal with sprigs of Rosemary and a few grinds of pepper.

ready to simmer

8      Lower heat and place lid on pan. Let simmer for 1½ hours. After 1 hour, turn meat and sprinkle in the Mushrooms and Green Beans. After 20 minutes, remove lid and let finish uncovered. Throughout entire braising, be sure you have enough liquid to cover potatoes but not any more (we're not making soup). Add more stock (or water) if needed. However, it will probably not need any additional liquid.

Add Beans and Mushrooms

9      When finished, carefully plate Veal, Potatoes, Mushrooms and Beans. Place plate in a "keep warm" oven. Meanwhile, strain braising liquid. In a small saucepan, melt 2 Tbs. Butter and add 2 Tbs. flour and stir continuously, making a roux. Cook this for about 5 minutes, then beat in enough of the strained braising liquid to make a sauce. 

Make roux

finish sauce

Spoon sauce over veal and serve with a high quality white wine, such as Petite Arvine from Valle d'Aosta!!   Enjoy!   (Wine Glass chosen to honor Mickey's birthday next week - 11/18)

I guess we could work on the presentation!