Citrus Almond Veal Scallopini

I don't fix veal often but I do like a good scallopini now and then. Organic, grain fed veal is available in most supermarkets these days. Some would say this is not true veal, but I beg to differ. It is pinker and has a slightly different flavor which I think just enhances the taste. If you just cannot stand the thought of veal, subsitute chicken cutlets in this recipe. Veal Scallopini is quick and easy. Marsala wine is often used but in this version I substituted citrus flavors with white wine.

Citrus Almond Veal Scallopini

2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons finely chopped blanched almonds
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg
3/4 pound veal cutlets
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons orange juice
4 ounces sliced baby portobello mushrooms
Hot cooked angel hair pasta

In a shallow bowl, combine flour, almonds,salt, and pepper. In another small bowl, slightly beat the egg. Dip veal into egg and then dredge through flour mixture. Heat oil in a large skillet. Brown veal on both sides. Add chicken broth and orange juice. Bring to a boil, add mushrooms and simmer 5-10 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Serve over hot angel hair pasta.

Yield: 2 servings

Tuesdays with Dorie: Blueberry, Pecan, Vanilla Rice Pudding

I adore rice pudding. That being said, I never, ever fix it. That's why I'm so glad that it is this week's recipe from Baking with Dorie, pages 412-413. It is also on this fun blog.

Interesting note about rice pudding, it showed up in medical journals before cookbooks!

Some notes if you make this pudding--the cook time is not 35 minutes, it is 55 minutes. Go ahead and take a Sharpie and fix it in the book. (Confirmed by Dorie.) Second, don't try to make it "healthy" by using brown rice. I did once, it didn't work. The Arborio rice has just the right starch content for rice puddings. Incidently, this is also the BEST rice for risottos. I found mine in World Market. Instead of 1/4 cup I used about 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons and only 3 cups milk.

All in all this is a great recipe and I highly recommend it.

National Clean Out Your Fridge Day

Tomorrow is National Clean Out Your Fridge Day so there's no better time than now for Beef Stew. Or Chicken Soup, or Vegetables Chowder....

I had some stew beef, misc. vegetables, potatoes, wilted herbs, and too many jars of "stuff" with just a teaspoon in them. I threw them all together and made tonight's dinner. I"m not even posting a recipe just throw what you've got in a pot with some meat or just veggies! Get YOUR fridge ready for those holiday ingredients!

PS I did toss the marshmallow cream and ate the one lonely maraschino cherry.

Barefoot Thursdays: Herb Roasted Onions

It's Thursday so time to cook with the Barefoot Bloggers. Today's recipe is Herb Roasted Onions chosen by Kelly from Baking with The Boys. This is a quick, inexpensive side dish that can be used in a variety of ways. It would be perfect beside a supermarket rotisserie chicken, quickly cooked to go with a pot roast, or even as a topping for pasta. Pasta? Yes, I was craving pasta last night but needed to make these onions for this post. What's a courageous cook to do? Figure out a sauce using the herbed onions of course! I really didn't need to add anything but a little Parmesan cheese and olive oil to the pasta then top with Ina's Herb Roasted Onions. I also subbed yellow onions for the red, a little white wine, and regular mustard instead of Dijon. YUM!

Herb Roasted Onions over Pasta ( adapted from Ina Garten's recipe)

1 (7 ounce package) refrigerated prepared pasta (mini raviolis are great!), cooked according to package directions
3 yellow onions
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons capers

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.

In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, wine, mustard, thyme, salt and pepper. Whisk in 3 tablespoons olive oil. Pour mixture over onions and toss well. Using a slotted spoon, place onions on a baking sheet. Bake the onions for 30 minutes, until tender and browned, tossing once.

Divide pasta among four serving dishes. Top evenly with roasted onions. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over onions. Top with Parmesan cheese and capers.

Yield: 4 servings

Tuesdays with Dorie: Kugelhopf

I felt like this recipe was an initiation trick to join the gang of Dorie bakers. First of all, I had never heard of Kugelhopf. (The recipe can be found here.) Dorie says "to anyone living in Alsace, the northernmost region of France, this is a dream food." Sounds good right? Well they must have quite a bit of time in Alsace because this recipe is quite time consuming. I started out wondering if I should just skip it...Then I manned up and decided I could do this. First off to figure out what this Kugelhopf is supposed to be. Seems it is a light, yeast cake. So far so good. It is baked in a special pan called what else--a Kugelhopf mold. Well, I don't have one but I do have an underutilized Bundt cake pan so that's what I went with. I also don't care much for raisins so I substituted orange flavored cranberries with about 1/2 teaspoon of tangerine zest for good measure. This "cake that wants to be a bread" turned out delicious! Check out everyone's variations here.

Courageous Comment: This light yeasty bread makes a wonderful addition to bread puddings. It freezes well for this purpose. Use in place of the bread in any recipe.

Boneless Pork Spareribs with Pomegranate Barbecue Sauce

Just because it's November doesn't mean you can't fix spareribs. Using your oven instead of your grill, you can create an easy, tasty, and hearty dish. I like to marinate my ribs for up to 8 hours in a brine of pickle juice. Yes, save your pickle juice and use as a marinade to produce very tender ribs. (Do toss out the juice after using for marinade.) Here in South Carolina mustard based BBQ sauce is king. Last night I found I only had about 2 tablespoons left in the bottle. No worries, I just added some other ingredients from the fridge door and I had a wonderful sauce!

Oven Roasted Pork Spareribs with Pomegranate Barbecue Sauce

1 1/2 pounds boneless pork spareribs
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard (or mustard based BBQ sauce in my case)
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup pomegranate juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine ketchup, mustard, honey, and pomegranate juice. Place spareribs in a glass baking dish that has been prepared with non-stick cooking spray. Pour sauce over spareribs. Roast in preheated oven 1 hours.

Yield: 4 servings

Courageous Comment: No-- "boneless pork spare ribs"is not an oxymoron. Yes, you got me--ribs are bones, but "boneless pork spareribs" do truly exist. These also are not the McRib variety from Mickey D's which is really just meat from a pig smashed into a shape resembling a rib. (Don't get me wrong, I love those things.) Boneless ribs found at the grocery are truly boneless pork loin cut into 3 sections. Look for meat that is light pink with no dry spots. They will have some fat, but look for pieces that aren't overly fatty. I love this cut because it cooks quicker than bone-in ribs and produces a lot more meat.

No Football Friday

Today I'm doing a guest blog on Conversations with a Cupcake. Brooke has a fun, smile-inducing blog featuring great recipes and her adorable kids. Click on over there, I'll be back here on Monday! Have a great weekend.


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