I'm such a bad hostess. I can hear my mother scolding me from across town for letting you stay here so long without offering you something to eat. And because I'm sure you're starving, here are a couple more of my favorite recipes that can be combined for an entire meal :
POLLO DELLA TOSCANO
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons butter
2 shallots, chopped
6 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups beef broth (yes, beef broth)
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, half the chicken pieces, and a couple of crushed cloves of garlic.
Brown chicken for 2 minutes on each side and remove from pan. Add remaining oil, remaining chicken pieces and garlic. Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side and remove.
Add vinegar to the pan. Let it cook off. Add butter, shallots, and rosemary to the pan and cook 2 minutes, add flour and cook 1 minute more. Whisk in wine, reduce 1 minute. Whisk in broth and bring liquids up to a bubble.
Return chicken to the pan and simmer over moderate heat 7 to 8 minutes to finish cooking chicken through.
INSALATA FREDERIC
3 cups balsamic vinegar
1 head radicchio, julienned
1 bunch fresh spinach, cleaned and chopped
2 heads endive, julienned
1 bunch watercress
1 bunch arugula, cleaned and stems cut back
6 shallots, diced
24 spears pencil asparagus, blanched and refreshed
3 plum tomatoes, quartered
1/4 tablespoon olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and shaved into strips with peeler
In a saucepan reduce balsamic vinegar until thick and malty. Place in a squirt bottle. In a large mixing bowl, place radicchio, spinach, endive, watercress and arugula. Toss until mixed well. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine shallots, asparagus and the tomato. Add just a touch of balsamic reduction and the olive oil. Mix to coat the vegetables.
On a plate, place salad mix, then asparagus mixture, then carrot strips. Top with a light squirt of balsamic reduction and salt and pepper serve
CIAMBELLA PUGLIESE
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups cake flour
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 cup pear marmalade
(Marmellata di Pere):
2 pounds pears, peeled, cored, and cut into small pieces
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
Mix fruit and sugar together thoroughly, cover with a kitchen towel, and set aside for at least 3 hours to let the juices start to run.
Transfer to a large non-reactive saucepan and cook over moderate to medium-low heat until pears are heated through, about 10 minutes stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. Remove from heat when mixture is dense.
= = = =
Butter and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake tins. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add salt and baking powder to the flour and toss with a fork to mix well.
In a mixing bowl, beat the oil and sugar together, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Put the dry ingredients in a sifter and sift about 1/3 into the egg mixture. Add the lemon zest and fold in the flour and zest, then add about 1/3 of the milk. Continue with the remaining third of flour and milk until all the ingredients have been incorporated and blended together.
Turn into prepared cake tins, set in the preheated oven, and bake for 25 minutes, or until cakes are set, pull away from the sides of the pan, and spring back when pressed lightly in the center with a finger.
Remove from the oven, turn the cakes out, and cool on racks. When cool, spread marmalade or jam between the layers and press layers together. Sprinkle top of cake with powdered sugar.
I imagine a lot of immigrants will be heading for Iowa after a Des Moines man won a lottery jackpot the day he became a U.S. citizen.
