recipephile

Pounded Veal Cutlets with Roma (Rona) Tomato Salsa

The title is a perfect accompaniment to this recipe. Last Thursday, while visiting New York, I reconnected with a close friend of mine from High School. Rona Mark, a filmmaker whose latest piece was just accepted to two film festivals (the movie is called Strange Girls), and I found each other on Facebook. I swore I would never create a social networking page, but the pressure got to me and the opportunity to play Scrabulous with friend all over the world became a big lure.

Rona and I met for drinks and then she joined my friends and I for dinner. We had pasta, veal and a deliciously simple salad. The veal has been adapted from the Claretta Ristorante version, which is basically a pounded veal cutlet that is dredged in seasoned flour, lightly fried in olive oil for about 2 minutes on each side and topped with a mixture of Roma tomatoes, garlic, red onion, fresh oregano. The topping is dressed with Olio N'uovo and balsamic vinegar.

This is pretty easy to make and absolutely delicious.

Head to the meat man and pick up six veal cutlets. They can pound them down for you until they are very thin. Refrigerate and start making the Roma tomato topping.

- 8 Roma tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 medium red onion finely diced
- 2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup Olio N'uovo (newly pressed olive oil)
- Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to Taste

Combine tomatoes, garlic, onion and oregano into a bowl and mix well. Set aside. In a separate bowl add the vinegar and slowly whisk in the Olio N'uovo. Toss the dressing with the tomato mixture, add salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate for about an hour. Mix once or twice while in the refrigerator.

After an hour remove the veal cutlets from the refrigerator and place them onto a plate. Also remove the topping and bring to room temperature. Liberally coat the bottom of a saute pan with olive oil and turn onto medium heat. While the olive oil is heating season 2 cups of flour with 1 tbsp of salt and 1 tbsp of freshly ground black pepper, mix well. When the oil is heated (I throw in a small tsp of flour and if it sizzles the oil is ready) dredge one of the veal cutlets in the flour. Make sure to liberally coat each cutlet on both sides and place into the oil. Cook on both sides for about two minutes and remove onto a paper towel. Repeat until all cutlets are cooked.

Arrange the cutlets onto a platter, top with the tomato mixture and serve.

CORRECTION - Chicken and Lamb Marinated in Yogurt

I was just having lunch with my god friend Jessica and we spoke about the Chicken and Lamb Marinated in Yogurt recipe that I posted a few weeks ago.

She added a few cloves of garlic and about 3 tsp of lemon zest to her yogurt before marinating and said that it turned out awesome. Jessica also told me that she thought the lamb came out a little tough.

As I thought more about a solution came to me. Marinate the meats separately and put the chicken in the oven first. After about 10 minutes of cooking add the lamb to the baking sheet and finish off. The total cooking time should be 25 minutes.

This will allow the chicken to cook all the way through and keep the lamb tender.

Seared Tuna on Toasts with Clotted Cream Wasabi Drizzle

In honor of the Oscars my friend Jeffrey and I made an entire meal that was totally dedicated to the Oscars.  From appetizers through desert every dish was inspired by a movie.  The toughest part of the meal was figuring out what we would make as an appetizer. 

While we were standing in the meat and fish section of Tower market in San Francisco a piece of fresh tuna caught my eye.  It made me think of my very good friend John who moved away to London.  It also made me think of this amazing appetizer he would make of seared tuna on toasts with wasabi drizzle. 

Then Jeffrey mentioned the movie Elizabeth and that made me think of London again and when I thought of London I thought of clotted cream and then we both looked at each other and said... "clotted cream wasabi drizzle".  A quick walk to the dairy section of the grocery store and we had clotted cream in our hands.

We also learned on Wikipedia that you can make a reasonable facsimile of clotted cream by combining two parts whole milk with one part whipping (heavy) cream, heating at the very lowest possible heat for a couple of hours until a skin forms, leaving it undisturbed overnight, and then harvesting the skin and its underclots. The remaining milk may be consumed or used in any number of recipes.

Before I tell you how to make this I must give credit to another friend of mine, Dan, that said we could also dedicate this recipe to Atonement, by calling it Atunament.  See how versatile food can be.

So here is how to make this recipe.

- 1 baguette
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1.5 pound fresh tuna filet
- 1 small jar of clotted cream (about 6-8 oz.)
- 2 tbsp of wasabi powder

Slice the baguette into very thin (1/4 inch) slices and toast in the oven at 400 for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Check frequently to make sure they are not burning.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a sautee pan.  When good and hot sear the tuna for about 3 minutes on each side and set aside.  (We put the tuna in the freezer for 15-20 minutes after cooking.  This made it easier to slice when we were ready to assemble the appetizer.

Combine the clotted cream and wasabi and mix well.

Slice the tuna into small and thin pieces that will fit onto each piece of bread.  Place a small amount (about a tsp or two) of clotted cream on each baguette slice.  Place a piece of the tuna on top of each.  Arrange on a platter and serve.

 

Balsamic Beef Tenderloin

So many of my food influences come from my parents and their propensity to throw a party at a moment's notice.  Both my father and my mother are armed with a slew of easy to prepare dishes that always wow their guests and of course have them asking for the recipes.  The theme in most of the dishes that are prepared for mom and dad's get togethers was pre-party preparation or things that they could make ahead of time and then platter beautifully right before the guests arrive.

There always seemed to be one or two platters that many guests would swarm around and devour immediately.  This always included dad's beef tenderloin with balsamic sauce.  This is very easy to make can be prepared well before the guests arrive and also served at room temperature.  Here is what you will need:

Roasted Pork Shoulder

Yesterday I told you about a meal that my friend Nick and I prepared. When we went to the grocery to buy the meat we noticed that there was a sale on pork shoulder. At $0.99 a pound we just could not pass it up. Having never roasted a pork shoulder before I decided that I should call up the expert at all things roasted. My mother.

She recommend that I roast the 5lb pork shoulder at 350 degrees for 3 hours. Her recommendation was spot on and the meat was tender and delicious.

Stanley's London Broil on the Grill

After college I lived with my good friend Stan March. We did so much cooking in that apartment and fed so many people in the year we lived together. Stan used to make a London Broil that I loved. It is so very easy and marinates in a Ziplock bag.

Vietnamese Chicken with Red Onion Salsa

Over the weekend I made a wonderful discovery. Actually, this is something that I have known for quite a long time, but never seem to take it into account when I am making a chicken dish. For some recipes that do not specifically call for breasts of chicken, try using thighs. Not only are they considerably cheaper, but they are (in my opinion) so much more flavorful than breasts.

Chicken, along with some other great dishes, was served at this Sunday's "Sunday Dinner". About 15 people came over to taste Vietnamese Chicken with Red Onion Salsa, which is an adaptation from a dish that I had at a new Vietnamese restaurant in the Castro district of San Francisco. It is called Zadin and I highly recommend checking it out.