25/03/2009, Saltimbocca alla Romana (chicken escalopes with Parma Ham and Marsala wine) with mushed potatoes

Here are the pictures from the other night followed by my recipe for Saltimbocca alla Romana. Buon Appetito a tutti! Thank you all for coming along.





















Saltimbocca alla Romana

Apart from using chicken rather than veal, in other respects this is the proper way to make the dish. Despite the advice of countless cookery books, I find it unnecessary to secure the ingredients with toothpicks and thus spare myself both the initial labour and the more fiddly business of removing them when hot: the little packages always seem to stay intact regardless.


INGREDIENTS for 2 persons

300g turkey breast
2 slices Parma ham
a couple sage leaves
1 tbs cooking oil
a spoon of unsalted butter
50ml white wine
50ml Marsala
The juice of half a lemon


DIRECTIONS

● Remove the skin and cut the fillet in half.
● Place each piece of chicken between two sheets of cling film and beat them with a meat bat or using the side of a cleaver (caution required) until quite thin. The idea is to produce a thin rectangular escalope .
● Place the each slice of Parma on a on each chicken slice, pushing it down so that it sticks to the meat. Place a large sage leaf on the middle of each one (it can be placed under the ham as well). Season the meat with finely milled pepper.
● Heat a large frying pan and add cooking oil and 25g butter. Once foaming, add the escalopes, ham side down. Cook on a steady heat for two minutes and then turn briefly for a minute to seal the other side.
● At this juncture, pour the wine. Reduce very briefly before adding the Marsala. Bring this mixture to the boil, letting it bubble around the meat and reduce for a minute until the juices start to thicken.
● Add the lemon juice and serve immediately with a simple green vegetable and/or mashed potatoes.

19/03/2009, Farfalle al Ragu (Bolognese Sauce) and Salame al Cioccolato

Hi Guys,

I hope you enjoyed the food on Wednesday night.
Here are the snapshots and recipes from that evening.
Thanks all for coming along.



























Farfalle al Ragu (Bolognese Sauce)

INGREDIENTS for 4-6 people

• 1/2 red onion chopped
• 1 celery ribs chopped
• 1 medium carrot chopped
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• 2/3 spoons of olive oil
• 250g of ground veal
• 250g of ground pork
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• Half cup of red wine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 or 2 Bay Leaves


DIRECTIONS

Cook onions, celery, carrot, and garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened for about 3 minutes.
Add veal and pork and cook over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up lumps, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add wine and simmer for a few minutes until the wine has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in tomato can and bring to boil, when it does add the bay leaves turn down the heat and gently simmer until sauce is thickened (about 1 ½ or 2 hours).
Sauce may be made 2 days ahead and kept in refrigerator. Frozen, it keeps for about 1 month.
Serve with a little bit of butter and plenty of parmesan cheese in each dish.





Salame al Cioccolato

INGRDIENTS for 6-8 persons

• 3 eggs (yoke only)
• 3 table spoon of sugar
• 75g of butter
• 4 unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup of Rhum or Marsala
• 100g of dry biscuits


DIRECTIONS

Combine egg yolks and sugar. Whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
Add cocoa and butter partially melted. Beat until combined.
Add the crumbled biscuits and transfer the mixture into a metal foil.
Use or hands to shape a ‘salame’ and wrap with the metal foil.
Put in the freezer for about one hour.

11/03/2009, Mushroom Truffe Risotto and Tiramisu'

We finally managed to used the Kitchen in the Yotsuya Community Center.
Mushroom Risotto with Truffle and Tiramisu was on the menu.
Enjoy the snapshots. Thank you all for coming along and see you next time. Ciao!