Veal Saltimobcca

Hi everyone;

Finally getting back to posting a little bit - it has been a very hectic first month of the year - boy I hope it slows down a little. The subject of this post is going to be something that I have had many places but the best was in a little restaurant in Hartford with my friend Maryann and her husband Ike (no relation to my Ike :)). It has since closed but when ever I have that recipe that is the standard I judge it against. Well, I haven't tried to make it myself, until now. My brother Stan made some home cured Prosciutto and I wanted to use that as well as some veal I was able to get at Costco... I combined a couple recipes so here goes:

Ingredients:

4 Veal Scallops pounded thin

6-8 slices of Prosciutto

8-10 Fresh Sage Leaves

4 -6 slices thin Sliced Provolone or Fontina cheese

1 stick unsalted butter (could use less)

1 cup (perhaps a little more) dry white wine

1 cup (perhaps a little more) Low Sodium Chicken Broth

6-8 oz of Spaghetti

1/4 cup Olive Oil

4 cloves Garlic - chopped fine

Fresh cracked black pepper

1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder

1/2 cup Flour

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch

1 lemon

First season flour with onion powder and black pepper (at least a 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper - could us whatever seasoning you like here I guess - just think I would stay away from salt)

Dredge veal in seasoned flour and set aside to rest

While resting heat couple of tablespoons of olive oil in skillet - I like to add a little butter here too.

Prior to frying in oil place sage leaves on one side of veal and then cover with prosciutto. Here is where I deviate - I also place the cheese on the veal/ham/sage side and then roll it up securing with a toothpick. You could leave flat and fry this way being careful not to dislodge the ham when frying - I know my limitations I was afraid I couldn't do it. Either way place in heated oil and fry until golden brown.

Start water on to boil to cook spaghetti until al dente.

Place browned veal on plate, tent with foil and place in 250* oven to keep warm while you complete the sauce.

To complete the sauce:

Chiffonade some of the remaining Sage leaves, and the chopped garlic and place in the remaining oil. Saute, careful not to burn the garlic. remove 2 tablespoons of garlic/sage oil and drizzle over the warm spaghetti - seems to add a deeper flavor to the noodle.

De glaze pan with White wine, using wooden spatula to get all the brown bits up from the skillet. Add chicken stock stir and if you would like to thicken, mix a slurry up of the corn starch and some water turn down the wine/stock mix to a simmer and pour in the cornstarch slurry. bring heat up to medium and add a squeeze of Lemon juice. Continue to stir until the consistency you would like. You can use up to 3/4 stick of butter here added 1 COLD pat at a time to add a nice gloss to the sauce but be careful too much and the sauce would break - but remember- it will continue to thicken so I would only get it to a point it will coat the back of a spoon.

Pour the liquid from the plate where the veal was warming back into the sauce plate over a nest of the Spaghetti - drizzle sauce over the veal and noodle and enjoy with some garlic bread and wine...

OK not as good as Jack's in Hartford but pretty darn good

Cooking and Writing with Ike

Hi everyone;

Going to kill a couple of birds with one stone (pardon the pun there) and put a couple of really unrelated topics in this post.

Item #1 - Cooking part:

During the long weekend we got our pots and pans out and made an assortment of items - Chili, Sloppy Joes, Red Sauce and to use the red sauce, some lasagna rolls.

We have made lasagna before, but it never seems to come out quite right - so we found a recipe for Lasagna Rolls - instead of the traditional preparation. Pretty simple really and won't really spend the time on the sauce etc. but more on the filling and the prep.

For the 4 cheese filling:

16oz Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup each, Mozzarella, Parmesan and Asiago Cheeses (grated)

1 half package of Frozen chopped Spinach (thawed, and drained very well)

1 whole egg

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Boil Lasagna noodles 8-9 minutes -al dente only don't over cook them, Drain and lay out on wax or parchment paper to cool and to facilitate stuffing and rolling

Combine all above ingredients in med bowl and mix until well incorporated

Take a large Tablespoon - maybe a little more and place on one short end of a lasagna noodle. Roll up - Repeat until out of noodles or stuffing.. this recipe did one entire box of noodles (18) but you will have to gauge the amount of stuffing you put in each one.

Place a small layer of sauce on the bottom of an 9 x 13 pan and place each roll seam side down in the sauce. I was able to get 4 rows of 3 rolls each in the big pan and then got an 8 x 8 pan and put the other 6 in it.

After placing all rolls in sauce, cover each row of rolls with more sauce... (Now this is where my wife and I have a difference of opinion) I prefer then putting a bechamel sauce over it and then sprinkling with a little more grated Parmesan... But she likes shredded mozzarella, Parmesan and asiago blend sprinkled over the top..... Guess who won :) Cooked covered for 45 min at 350* and then uncovered for 15 more minutes. Take from oven, tent with foil, and let rest while you make some garlic bread and salad... Serve with a nice wine of your choice - then take a nap.

Item #2 - Writing part:

As you may remember, last October Ike and I went out to South Dakota pheasant hunting, and as part of that we kept a journal of our week of hunting. We provided it to the editor of Naperville Dog Magazine and the published the article. Many thanks to the editor Brooke Keane and here is a link to the on line article entitled "Diary of an Outdoorsman":

http://www.napervilledog.com/magazine/Jan2012/Jan-2012-1.html

I really enjoyed writing it and I hope enjoy reading it as well... If so let the editor know.

Until the next time, "Ike, find that bird!"

Ike - doing what he loves to do

Happy New Year everyone!
May 2012 be safe and better than 2011 for each and everyone of you.
I promised in my last posting I would get some video of Ike hunting and while it took some time to edit it down, I have a few snippets for you.

I have a bunch of others but will have to see if they are too big to load up. We took a Sunday morning to go over to Hickory Grove in Wyanet to let Ike and some other dogs get on some birds. It was a great day topped off by a great Lunch served by Lori Wirth.We are planning a Mid January Hunt too... Will have some more pics and stories I am sure.