Prog Chefs Unite!!!

Happy birthday to Eric and Patrick!

I made semmel knödel again today, with wild mushrooms and cream sauce, porc 'schnitzel' and a nice salad of rocket, tomato, cucumber and asparagus with a dressing of EVOO (the name sticks to this thread), mustard and dill.

Tomorrow we're having grilled salmon, with ratatouille, and oven baked patatoes with fresh rosemary. Simple, tasty and a favourite of the children.

Angelo wrote: Happy birthday to Eric and Patrick!

Thank you Angelo, much appreciated.

Angelo wrote: E-Dub wrote: Angelo wrote: Happy birthday to Eric and Patrick!I made semmel knödel again today, with wild mushrooms and cream sauce, porc 'schnitzel' and a nice salad of rocket, tomato, cucumber and asparagus with a dressing of EVOO (the name sticks to this thread), mustard and dill.Tomorrow we're having grilled salmon, with ratatouille, and oven baked patatoes with fresh rosemary. Simple, tasty and a favourite of the children. Thanks you, Angelo. I got back from having dinner with my wife and daughter and had a couple of PM's awaiting me wishing me a happy birthday. Really means a lot guys. I didn't cook tonight. I decided to try O'Dowd's Old Dublin Pub here in town and had a very good dinner. I got a Guinness Steak Boxty, which is a stew wrapped in an Irish potato pancake. VERY tasty. Washed it down with a nice tall Guinness Stout. I've always felt a kinship with Ireland. I'm part Irish (I'm part a lot of things...even Sioux Indian. Anscestors were pretty promiscuous, evidently). I told my wife if I could live anywhere in the world, it would have to be Ireland. Tomorrow I'm going to try to find a way to BBQ a meatloaf. E Guinness Steak Boxty - sounds great. Reminds me of a 'beef-and-guinness' stew I once had when visiting Kilkenny. That was pretty good - but when I got up after dinner I found out how strong Guinness really is. Only when I fell back in my chair did I realise I had 3 pints through the course of one meal....

There's an Irish restaurant in this little town that makes a beef and Guinness that's out of this world.

I love Guinness, but that stuff is potent. I had a Harp and then a Guinness and I was feeling pretty good (but not blitzed in the least). We walked around and did some shopping afterwards and I was fine. The Irish know their beer, though.

E

NaturalScience wrote: I was a little underwhelmed with last night.  Started with an antipasto salad which was excellent, but had veal saltimbocca for the main course which was only OK - I've definitely had better.  The ricotta cheesecake for dessert was quite tasty, though.  I'd still probably go back, but it's not like I was blown away or anything (the restaurant was getting a little hyped up by my sister-in-law).

What is Veal Saltimbocca? Never heard of it, but sure does sound good. Too bad it didn't quite live up to your expectations. Especially for your birthday.

We ended our meal with a cheesecake with this Bailey's Irish Cream/caramel sauce that you drizzle over it.

E

Angelo wrote: Saltimbocca is veal with prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) and sage (stuck on top of each other with a pin), browned in butter. Brilliant stuff and as simple as can be. Too bad yours wasn't as good as expected NS - it's so simple it's hard to screw up... (and if I got all of this wrong, Rafaella will probably kill me )

Yes, that's what it is - this also had some mozzarella on top.  The make or break is in the surrounding sauce, this one had a white wine sauce that sounded promising but ended up a little lackluster.  Feel like I'm being too hard on the place because it was quite a good meal, perhaps my expectations were too high.  I should try to just do this myself one of these days.

Angelo wrote: Saltimbocca is veal with prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) and sage (stuck on top of each other with a pin), browned in butter. Brilliant stuff and as simple as can be. Too bad yours wasn't as good as expected NS - it's so simple it's hard to screw up... (and if I got all of this wrong, Rafaella will probably kill me )

No, you're 100% correct about Saltimbocca (jump-in-your-mouth), which are a Roman speciality. The original recipe doesn't contain any cheese, and the sauce usually doesn't require any thickening agent (flour is very rarely used in Italian cooking, unlike in France). I usually buy Saltimbocca already prepared from my butcher, but of course they're dead easy to make at home. However, as in Rome and the whole of central Italy butter is not really used for cooking, I sauté mine in the now-famous EVOO.

Sicilian ricotta-based desserts can be out of this world, though perhaps a little bit too sweet for my personal taste. I think for Easter I'll make the traditional Neapolitan ricotta and wheat berry pie called 'pastiera' - another absolutely marvellous dessert!

Ghost Rider wrote: Angelo wrote: Saltimbocca is veal with prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) and sage (stuck on top of each other with a pin), browned in butter. Brilliant stuff and as simple as can be.Too bad yours wasn't as good as expected NS - it's so simple it's hard to screw up...(and if I got all of this wrong, Rafaella will probably kill me ) No, you're 100% correct about Saltimbocca (jump-in-your-mouth), which are a Roman speciality. The original recipe doesn't contain any cheese, and the sauce usually doesn't require any thickening agent (flour is very rarely used in Italian cooking, unlike in France). I usually buy Saltimbocca already prepared from my butcher, but of course they're dead easy to make at home. However, as in Rome and the whole of central Italy butter is not really used for cooking, I sauté mine in the now-famous EVOO.Sicilian ricotta-based desserts can be out of this world, though perhaps a little bit too sweet for my personal taste. I think for Easter I'll make the traditional Neapolitan ricotta and wheat berry pie called 'pastiera' - another absolutely marvellous dessert!

I think if I ever have the pleasure of visiting Italy that I would simply eat my body weight. Put me in an Italian restaurant and it's simply an orgiastic feast for the senses.

E

Ghost Rider wrote: Angelo wrote: Saltimbocca is veal with prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham) and sage (stuck on top of each other with a pin), browned in butter. Brilliant stuff and as simple as can be. Too bad yours wasn't as good as expected NS - it's so simple it's hard to screw up... (and if I got all of this wrong, Rafaella will probably kill me ) No, you're 100% correct about Saltimbocca (jump-in-your-mouth), which are a Roman speciality. The original recipe doesn't contain any cheese, and the sauce usually doesn't require any thickening agent (flour is very rarely used in Italian cooking, unlike in France). I usually buy Saltimbocca already prepared from my butcher, but of course they're dead easy to make at home. However, as in Rome and the whole of central Italy butter is not really used for cooking, I sauté mine in the now-famous EVOO. Sicilian ricotta-based desserts can be out of this world, though perhaps a little bit too sweet for my personal taste. I think for Easter I'll make the traditional Neapolitan ricotta and wheat berry pie called 'pastiera' - another absolutely marvellous dessert!

Hi Rafaella, thanks for letting me live. As for the remark about the flour and butter: I have two books of Italian recipes (one Italian, one specifically targetting Tuscany), by Elisabetta Piazzessi - and I've always wondered how genuine she is. The saltimbocca reference is from one of those books - including the butter and flour - so what's your take on this?

^^Nice job Rafaella! I can almost taste it 

So, what's on everyone's Easter menu?  We're headed to my parents house; the usual fare is a baked ham, kielbasa, scalloped potatoes, and some other assorted veggies (and of course, hardboiled eggs which I'm not a big fan of).  Nothing too fancy, but usually always good.  I personally love good kielbasa dipped in a spicy mustard.