grill-ades

For the first time in all our years of cooking we finally have a dutch oven and I couldn't be enjoying it more. It (along with all of our new kitchen implements) are making it so that I can't wait to cook again. The meals I'm making take a whole lot longer, it seems, but I don't care because I'm enjoying the process just as much as the result. I swear this meal took more than 4 hours to make, but that also included a run to the store for forgotten tomatoes and a phone break. Regardless of the time it took, the result was well worth it.

For this we used a fresh ham steak from the farm share - a cut I never have any idea what to do with and have dreaded getting each month. But now I'll know exactly what to do with it the next time I see it.

1 - 2 pounds fresh ham steak (or veal or beef top round) cut into 2 to 3-inch pieces
2-3 tablespoons cajun seasoning
1/2 cup potato starch, for dredging
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 pound crimini mushrooms, brushed cleaned and quartered
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3/4 cup dry red wine
3 cups veal/beef stock
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Lay the meat pieces a few at a time between sheets of cling wrap or parchment paper. Using a meat mallet, pound the meat to tenderize and break up some of the connective tissue. Season the meat pieces with 2 tablespoons of cajun seasoning and dredge in the potato starch.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot add 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan and brown the meat, working in batches and adding more oil as necessary. Do not overcrowd the pan with the meat. Cook the meat for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. As the meat is browned, transfer to a large plate and set aside until you have cooked all of it.

Add the butter to the pan and, when melted, add the onions, celery, peppers and mushrooms. Cook the vegetables, stirring often, until softened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Pour the red wine to the pan and scrape the bottom of the pot with a spoon to remove any browned bits that may have formed on the bottom.

Add the veal stock, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, salt, cayenne and black peppers to the pan and bring to a boil. Return the meat to the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer. Place a lid on the pan and place in the oven. Allow the meat to cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for 2 hours, or until the meat is fork tender.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network

veal alicante

A creation based on two veal recipes from our favorite Portuguese restaurant.

Ingredients:

8 (2 ounce) pieces veal scallopini (the higher quality, the better - Provimi is best.)
A box/bag (or two) of baby spinach (5 oz (10 oz for two))
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grey sea salt
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 cup half and half
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
4-6 slices of soppresata (or prosciutto)
fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Tenderize the veal well with a meat mallet.  Rinse then chop the stems off the spinach.

2. Cook the baby spinach in a small amount of olive oil until fully wilted (add garlic / garlic powder to taste).  Sprinkle some lemon juice over the spinach then set aside.  Lightly cook soppresata in the spinach pan.

3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the scallopini with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Add scallopini to the hot, oiled skillet, and cook until golden brown on both sides, and no longer pink on the inside, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate, and keep warm.

4. Pour in lemon juice and white wine into the pan in which the veal was cooked (or a saucepan). Increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Dissolve the potato starch in about 2 tablespoons of chicken broth, and set aside. Pour the remaining chicken broth into the skillet, season with sage, garlic, pepper, salt and lemon pepper, and bring to a boil. Once the sauce is boiling, stir in the dissolved potato starch, and cook until thickened and clear, about 1 minute. Remove the sauce from the heat, then whisk in half and half.

5. On each serving plate place two scallopini pieces.  On each piece layer a wad of cooked spinach, a piece of cooked soppressata, and both mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Layer another scallopini on each stack of spinach, cheese, and meat to make sort of a small veal sandwich.  Pour the creamy lemon wine sauce over each veal sandwich and top off with fresh basil leaves and cracked pepper.

that's a not so spicy meatball

Though I don't spend a lot of time focusing on it here, mostly because I don't bake a ton, I eat gluten-free. Most of the recipes here are whole-food based - no mixes, packets or pre-made ingredients. So it's easy to make foods that are gluten-free that everyone, even all the gluten eaters out there, can enjoy. Every once in a while though, I crave something that I have to figure out how to make gluten-free for myself because no one out there is selling it (yet - this list grows shorter every day - thankfully!). My latest craving has been for meatballs.

Meatballs and meatloaf have always been tricky because you have to get the starch in it right. I've tried pre-made gluten-free breadcrumbs: gross. Rice: works well, but is still rice-y tasting. Tonight I tried my favorite pre-made gf bread (Whole Foods Sandwich Bread). The no-pre-made rule goes out the window for baked goods - all of the breads I've tried to make have been as dense as bricks. Baking requires an exactitude I just can't bring to my cooking. I defrosted a slice of the bread in the microwave, tossed in oregano, basil and parsley as I crumbed it up in the food processor and woo! instant Italian breadcrumbs. If I'd gotten started earlier I might have toasted them up in the oven before I used them in the mix, but for a first try they worked extremely well.

Here's my recipe for gluten-free meatballs:

1 pound mix of ground pork, beef and veal
1 piece of white sandwich bread
1/2 - 1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 - 1 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tbsp dried parsley
1 egg (I used 1 egg equivalent of egg whites since that's what I had on hand)
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Make breadcrumbs as described above and combine with all of the other ingredients. Shape into balls slightly smaller than golf balls - I ended up with 22 meatballs. Cook on cookie sheet in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the meatballs.

I cooked up some gf spaghetti and a jar of fire-roasted tomato pasta sauce and plopped the meatballs right on top. I'm still in search of the perfect spaghetti - this was a bit too mushy - so next time I will probably use my old standby gf linguine. But the meatballs - they were pretty great! I will keep working on them, but these were pretty close to right. The title of this post also made me realize that next time I might add a dash of red pepper flakes to spice things up a bit.