NOT MUCH COOKING THIS SUMMER...

Broke 2 fingers dodging for a tennis ball during a "friendly" family match.  Food is so important to my family that in the middle of my rolling on the court in pain and while being boarded onto a gurney for the ambulance my sister calls out, "Don't worry about us Magoo we have your Veal Osso Bucco to eat tonight."  

It felt like a scene from GOODFELLAS when Ray Liotta is talking through his busy day while making the gravy and hearing the helicopters over his house...I had made the Osso Bucco a week before the Silletti's were going to arrive so I could freeze it and play tennis and golf during the day.  Defrosted the veal and started making the roasted peppers while everyone was getting their tennis gear on.  I left it all out to get room temperature so that I could enjoy a nice glass of wine after tennis and before setting the table for 14 people...(can you hear the helicopters?)

After surgery, pins, painful physical therapy I'm thinking I'm done with tennis.  I can barely grip a pepper grinder let alone a racquet or golf club.  I gotta take up a new sport - maybe

 Irish dancing...NOT!

Sabrett Onions

SABRETT ONIONS

When I was a little girl, during the long summer days with no camp to go to and not much to do, my father would take me to his favorite hot dog stand for SABRETT’S.  He would order, “Two with mustard and onions, and one with onions no mustard.”  That one was for me.  I remember sitting on the curb happy to eat my Sabrett hot dog with sautéed onions while my father talked with the food cart guy. 

It’s interesting that my sons now only like Sabrett’s if we have hot dogs at all but they are hard to find.  When I visit New York City, sometimes I just gotta get a Sabrett and look for the blue and yellow umbrella.   My friends say I’m crazy because my Manhattan friends wouldn’t dare eat them.  I have a stomach of steel and can eat anything. 

On this Father’s Day, I woke up thinking of my father and craving a SABRETT Hot Dog with Onions.  I miss my father.  My father was the kind of guy who when he laughed would toss his head back, hold his belly, and laugh out loud alot like Santa Claus.  Sometimes he went into laughing fits where he couldn’t stop and tears would role down his cheeks until he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket.  Every Father’s Day I would buy him those white handkerchiefs.  When he died and my 5 siblings and I were cleaning out his apartment, it struck me that it smelled of his white undershirts and those handkerchief’s after I ironed them.

Here’s the recipe:

Serves approximately 6-8 hot dogs

4 tablespoons butter (plus 1 more)

4 yellow onions, sliced very thin

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (more if you like it spicy)

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups ketchup

Saute butter with onions on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add crushed pepper, salt, and ketchup.

Cover sauté pan, lower heat, and sauté for 10-15 minutes until onions are soft.

At very end add 1 more tablespoon of butter.

Serve over SABRETT HOT DOGS

CORN BREAD

Had a backyard BBQ yesterday to celebrate the American Roots program at  The Berklee College of Music.  We served pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, cold slaw, and of course CORN BREAD.  Here's my recipe...

Serves 10-12

3 cups Bisquick

1/4 cup corn meal

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup sugar

1/2 lb. melted butter (2 sticks)

1 1/4 cup milk

3 eggs

9”x13” baking dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Mix wet ingredients in another bowl.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

Combine both with a spoon but do not over beat - it will be a bit lumpy.

Pour into your pan – no need to spray butter because it has 2 sticks it in!

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (until tester comes out clean).

Chicken Rolls With Prosciutto

This is wonderful for a brunch or a summer dinner.  I learned this recipe while taking cooking classes from Chef Barbara in Florence.  To my girlfriends who took this cooking class trip – do you remember the butcher – OMG!  I’ll bet there aren’t that many female vegetarians in that city…

Serves 4

4 boneless chicken breast, pounded thin and sliced into 2 strips

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 oz. Parmesan in thin slices - could use a vegetable peeler

4 slice of pancetta or prosciutto

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoon juniper berries - sometimes difficult to find

4 tablespoons gin

4 toothpicks

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Green salad - arugula works nicely

1 lemon squeezed

4 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Spread the mustard on the slices of chicken.

Place slice of Parmesan on top of mustard and roll up.

Wrap up the rolls with prosciutto or pancetta and secure with a toothpick.

Sauté oil with juniper berries.

Add your chicken rolls and cook on low approx. 3 minutes each side.

Add gin and let alcohol evaporate.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat.

Serve on a tray covered with salad that has been seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste (could also add some Dijon mustard to your vinaigrette).

Grilled Wrapped Shrimp With Mustard Butter

This makes a nice hors d’oeuvre. I learned this from my friend Sandy Dine.  My son Gregory prefers this without the prosciutto.

Serves 6-8

1 lb. large shrimp, cleaned  (about 12-16 shrimp)

1/4 lb. prosciutto, thinly sliced (about 3 slices)

Grilling skewers (if using wood - submerge in water for 10 minutes)

Mustard Butter:

1/2 stick butter (melted)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 lemon (juiced)

Few drops Tabasco

Could double up mustard butter recipe and save half for dipping after grilling

Cut prosciutto into thin strips about 1 inch and wrap around shrimp.

Thread shrimp onto skewers and place on a baking sheet.

Or you can make these individually with toothpicks – be sure to soak toothpicks in water before. 

Brush shrimp with mustard butter.

Grill or broil for 1-2 minutes each side, brushing on more mustard butter.

Bolognese Lasagna

Making Bolognese Lasagna is truly a labor of love.  It takes days but your family and friends will love you for it!

I use whole milk in this recipe but I suppose you could use 2%.  However, you are making Bolognese Lasagna for God’s sake - if you want a lower calorie dish make something else.  If you don’t have fresh parsley obviously you can use dried parsley - it’s more for color than taste.  However, if you are lucky enough to have a neighbor like I had in Mrs. Baggio, she’s sure to always have some in her refrig!

  

Serves 9-12

Buy the precooked lasagna sheets

Bolognese Sauce (see recipe)

For the Béchamel:

8 tablespoons butter

8 tablespoons flour

5 cups milk

2-3 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Fresh flat leaf Italian parsley

9” x 13”  baking pan

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Prepare your Béchamel:

Whisk butter and flour to make a paste (roux).

Add 1 cup milk at a time and whisk until smooth after each addition.

Add Parmesan cheese - use less or more depending on your taste.

Add salt and pepper - remember you can always add more later.

Whisk until creamy.

Layer your lasagna:

Spread Bolognese into bottom of your pan

Layer lasagna noodles (you may have to break up to fit your pan)

Spread Bolognese over lasagna sheets

Spread béchamel over Bolognese

Repeat layering process

Layer lasagna noodles, then Bolognese, then béchamel (again whisk before pouring onto layers to keep smooth)

Make total of 3 layers

Sprinkle cheese on top layer, some pepper, and chopped parsley

Cover with tin foil

Bake 350 for 30-45 minutes

Megan's Bolognese

I don't have a great photo of my Bolognese or Bolognese Lasagna so I decided to share a recent photo of me and my 3 sons!  Aren't they fabulous...They love my Bolognese Lasagna but I don't make it often because it is so fattening.

Although you could add milk to this Bolognese Sauce, I usually don’t.  When using this sauce for lasagna, it is layered with Bechamel, which already has milk in it.   I make this 1 day in advance.  It thickens up so I add more broth for a smooth sauce before layering it in the lasagna.

Serves 10

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 red onion

2 celery stalks

2 garlic cloves

2 carrots

1 lb. ground veal

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup red or white wine*

2 cans 6 oz. tomato paste

2 cups broth - beef or chicken*

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

*If you prefer red wine use it with the beef broth - but if you like a lighter taste try white wine with chicken broth - experiment and see what you and your family prefer.  My tennis boyfriends prefer beef broth with red wine.

Chop veggies finely (I use my Cuisinart)

Add olive oil and butter to your pan and sauté veggies until soft  - approx. 3-4 minutes.

Add meats to your pan and sauté approx. 10 minutes stirring often to keep smooth. Stir until they are nicely mixed and light brown in color - invest in a long handled wooden spoon - they’re great for almost chopping the chunks that try to form.

Add wine and cook approx. 4 minutes until evaporated - again stirring often.

Add paste and cook approx. 1-2 minutes until blended.

Add broth 1/2 cup at a time - stir after each addition - approx. 2 minutes each time.

Lower heat and gently cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you are making this for pasta you can add 1 cup of whole milk while adding the broth.  Add ½ cup broth, cook a while then add ½ cup milk and so on…until you reach a creamy consistency.