Anolini in Brodo (Northern Italy)

Anolini, derived from the word “ano” meaning “year” in Italian, originate from Parma and are typically served during the holiday season, especially on New Year’s Day. My grandmother’s recipe, however, evolved from the more traditional recipe of my immigrant great-grandmother. In the old days, the “vecchi” would use the top of a salt shaker to cut the rounds of pasta. The original recipe, which is found in Parma today, uses a beef and vegetable filling.Chicken was used by my grandmother, probably beginning in the Depression years, when beef was scarce and expensive. Anolini are made exactly like ravioli, with the difference being the “pieno” (filling).

Anolini Filling ( il Pieno):

1 large onion, finely chopped

6 chicken breast halves

3 cups of panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

2 eggs

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp each of salt and pepper

Sauté one finely chopped onion in olive oil until transparent. Add six chicken breasts cut into ¾ inch pieces, and a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Sauté until the chicken is cooked, but be careful not to burn or overcook. Let meat and onions cool. Then grind in a food processor.

Add three cups of panko (Japanese bread crumbs) to a bowl. Add ½ cup of warm chicken broth, just enough to hold bread crumbs together. When broth is cool enough, add two eggs, and the ground meat and onions, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste (don’t overdo it on the salt and pepper!) Remember that all ingredients must have cooled before mixing.

Follow the recipe for making the ravioli pasta.

Cook anolini in fresh chicken broth (brodo) for about three to four minutes.

This is the perfect meal on a cold winter day! It is my favorite of all my grandmother's dishes!

Almond Tart--Crostata di Mandorle (Italy)

This almond tart, or crostata is not an original family recipe, but happens to be my favorite Italian dessert, yes, even more than tiramisu! The richness of this crostata is reminiscent of the taste of Italy’s espresso cafés.  I found this recipe  in the September 1992 edition of Gourmet Magazine and have been making it as a holiday dessert or for special occasions ever since.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pasta frolla (Italian sweet shortbread crust- see recipe below) 
3/4 cup cherry jam or raspberry jam
3 large eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 (7 ounce package) almond paste
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Confectioner's sugar, for dusting if desired.

1. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface. Fit it into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim, and crimp the edge. Chill the shell for 30 minutes.
2. Spread the jam on the bottom of the shell.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs until they are foamy and beat in the granulated sugar gradually.
4. Crumble the almond paste into the egg mixture, and beat until it is combined well. Fold in the flour gently but thoroughly.
5. Spread the mixture evenly over the jam and sprinkle it with the almonds.
6. Bake the tart in the lower third of a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until it is golden and firm in the center.
7. Let it cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove the rim, let the tart cool completely on the rack, and dust with confectioners sugar

Pasta Frolla Recipe

 

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly grated zest of one lemon or orange
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and zest.
2. Cut in the butter, until it resembles coarse meal.
3. Add the egg and the vanilla and toss the mixture until incorporated.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very lightly, forming into a disk.
5. Chill, wrapped in plastic at least 1 hour or overnight. Let the dough stand at room temperature until softened, but still firm enough to roll out.

Biscotti (Italian)

Biscotti means Bis=twice, Cotto=cooked

Biscotti recipes are as varied as  Italian cooks and  every other Italian recipe you will find, from sauce to pasta. This is the recipe that I have been using for the past few years. It is much different from my grandmother’s biscotti, which contained ground almonds and zest of an orange peel. Whatever the biscotti, they are always good for dipping into wine or coffee.

 2 cups of all purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

¼ tsp salt (if you use salted butter, you don’t need to add salt)

3 eggs

 1 ½ cups of whole almonds, lightly toasted

2 tbsp almond extract

1 tsp liqueur (such as brandy, grappa, or Frangelio)

zest of one orange (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, add flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Once well mixed, add the diced cold butter. Mix well, until butter is worked into flour mixture. Add the eggs one at a time, pulsing to combine (You must do this part slowly, or the dough will not come together evenly. Take the mixture out of the food processor and place in a large bowl. Add toasted almonds, almond extract, and liqueur. If the mixture is too wet, add a little sifted flour. If it is too dry, add a little more liqueur or extract. Work almonds into the dough very well. When the mixture is just right, divide the dough into three parts. On a floured board, roll into logs about 1 ½” tick and 8-10 inches long. Place on a buttered pizza pan (or cookie sheet). When all three logs are in the pan, press down to flatten the log , so that the dough is about  1” thick. If you’d like, sprinkle the tops of the logs with sugar. Bake for about 20minutes or so in the middle rack. Make sure that bottom of the logs is brown, but not burned. Take out of the oven and gently place on a cutting board. With a very sharp knife (like a French knife), cut in diagonal slices about ¾ inch thick. Reduce the heat to 300 degrees. Put slices cut side down and bake for another 15 -20 minutes, turning once. Take out and put on a cookie rack. This recipe should yield close to 3 dozen biscotti 

For an alternative Cashew Espresso Biscotti- uss the same dough recipe, but instead of adding almonds, extract, and liqueur, add to the dough:

1 1/2 Cups of unsalted cashews, toasted on low heat in butter in a frying pan on the stove until lightly brown

1 teaspoon of finely ground espresso coffee.

Follow the recipe as if you are making almond biscotti.

In the picture, you can see the almond biscotti above, and the cashew biscotti below. Both are "deliziosi"!

Tuna Salad, Dukan Style

When it comes to protein-only days on Dukan,sometimes it is a challenge to find creative things to eat. Well, here is an old standby, which tastes refreshing and delicious even without the bread or vegetables- a nearly non-fat tuna salad.

 This recipe uses non-fat Greek yogurt  ( 1 tbsp) in lieu of mayonnaise, and (1 tbsp) dill relish, which has zero sugar, compared to the "sweet" relish, which contains sugar. Used  simply as a condiment  in the tuna (1 can), it is not considered a "vegetable". Also added is a chopped boiled egg, which, without the yolk, makes this tuna salad completely fat free. (Add a dash of salt to taste)

In the picture below, as you can see, I have formed small spheres of the tuna salad, and served it on a rectangular plate sitting on a leaf of Romaine lettuce to add to the presentation. Eat it slowly, deliberately, and enjoy every bite!

Empanadas del Cono Sur (Chile and Argentina)

This empanada recipe uses the filling of the Chilean empanada and the dough of the Argentinean empanada. Together, they make the perfect empanada (although my Chilean and Argentinean friends would disagree with me!) The traditional Chilean dough of the "Empanada del Horno" become a little too hard and dry after a day or two (unlike the preferred flakier, lighter Argentinian dough) whereas the Argentinean filling uses ground beef instead of my preference- finely minced beef. So, I have taken the best of both empanada worlds and have created my Empanada del Cono Sur! (I buy my dough pre-made at a local Argentinean deli. The best pre=packaged and cut dough for these empanadas is the "La Salteña Masa Criolla de Empanadas para Horno" Make sure it says "para horno" (for baking) and not para freir (for frying)

Making the Pino (filling)

Pino is a seasoned mixture of  minced beef, onions, raisins, black olives, and hard boiled eggs. The pino tastes best if made the day before and allowed to rest overnight before filling the empanandas.

Pino Ingredients

• 3 large onions, chopped
• 1 pound hand minced beef
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon chile powder
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 beef bouillon cube, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped olives
• 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk

Cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil and butter until softened. Add the minced beef, cumin, chile powder, paprika, beef bouillon, and salt and pepper to taste. 

 

Cook the beef, stirring and crumbling the meat, until browned. Add the flour and continue to cook for 5 or 10 minutes more. 

 

Remove the meat mixture and let cool. The beef mixture will keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator.

Add 1 tablespoon of the beef filling, a few raisins and some chopped olives, and a slice of hard boiled egg to the middle of the circle. 

 Brush the edges with water and fold the pastry in half over the filling, to make a semi-circle.Seal the edges by pressing down with your fingers. Brush the sealed edge lightly with water, then turn the edge toward the middle and press with your fingers to seal.

 Mix the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons milk, and brush the empanadas with the mixture.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Empanadas Ready to Eat!

Nonna's Ravioli (Italian)

My grandmother's family immigrated from Parma, the culinary capital of Italy and perhaps the entire world. We took great tasting food for granted and expected only the best from Grandma Vera's kitchen. As one of the oldest of the 25 grandchildren, I found myself in my grandmother's kitchen at an early age. At the age of seven, I was hand-grating Parmesan cheese and stale bread for her to use in a variety of northern Italian dishes. Gradually, I worked my way up, along many of my six siblings and 18 first cousins, to assisting with making ravioli for the holidays. Beginning in mid November, my grandmother's kitchen and living room were transformed into a "ravioli production center", where the "vecchi"(old timers) would gather, speak Italian, and begin to make well over 3,000 ravioli for the holidays. The oldest male grandchildren were quickly recruited by Grandma to roll out the "pastella", a huge circle of pasta which Uncle Louie could make nearly three feet in diameter and pefectly round. Then, Grandma would come by and add the "pieno"(filling)  pronounced "pieng" in her Parmigian dialect. After carefully sealing the edges, she would take out her three-foot long "forma" (the rolling pin which makes the squares), and inspect while we carefully added just the right amount of pressure to make the square indentations. Then, she would give us a "rotella" (ravioli cutting wheel), and we would  cut the squares, being extremely careful not to break any. To store them, Grandma would line a cookie sheet with wax paper and carefully transfer the cut ravioli onto the sheet and freeze them. When the ravioli were frozen, she would transfer them into plastic bags and keep them in the freezer until they were ready to cook. All the while, the smell of her red sauce cooking on the stove enticed us to do as good a job as possible, because although we would not be getting any ravioli that day, we would still get to eat the "malfatti", all the left over  trimmings. They were just as good as the ravioli!

Grazie nonna per tutti i meravigliosi ricordi della tua cucina!

# 1- Make the dough (3 eggs to 2 cups of flour).

# 2- Roll out the dough to make a pastella.

 

 #3- Spread the filling (pieno) onto the dough (filling is made from beef, spinach, Swiss chard, egg, bread crumb, and Parmesan cheese)

#4- Fold the dough and seal.

# 5- Using the press (forma) roll over the dough with filling.

# 6 - Cut using a  rotella (pastry cutter).

  # 7 Place the individual ravioli flat on a pan and put in freezer until ready to use.

# 8: Place frozen  ravioli in boiling water for about three- five minutes.Do not overcook!

#9: Drain Ravioli and mix in sauce, adding Parmesan cheese

 A mangiare!

 

Bell Peppers Stuffed with Ground Turkey Breast (Italian inspired)

Ingredients

Six medium  red bell peppers with tops removed

1 lb of freshly ground turkey breast

Fresh parsley and basil
1 minced green onion

2 tbsp  oat bran

1 egg white

Sal and Pepper to taste

Remove tops and seeds from the bell peppers and blanch them in water to soften

Mix fresh herbs, oat bran, egg white, and salt and pepper to taste into ground turkey breast

Stuff meat mixture into the softened bell peppers

Place in a pot of non-fat chicken broth. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

As a variation, you can find smaller peppers  (about 12 for this recipe)  and fill them with  1/2 lb each of lean ground beef, chicken, and turkey, adding freshly minced garlic, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, an  egg white  and a heaping tablespoon of  oat bran. Add a small can of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of white wine to the bottom of the pan, and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done basting every 10 minutes  with the liquid so that the meat does not dry out.

That’s it!

Insalata di Fagiolini, Pomodori, e Cipolle (Italian influenced)

This green bean, tomato, and red onion salad was a frequent summer salad in the kitchen of my Italian grandmother in the hot summers of California's Central Valley. It is a simple and healthy dish to eat on a vegetable day.

1 lb fresh string beans

4 medium size fresh Roma tomatoes

1 large red onion

4-5 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the fresh string beans in half and steam them until tender. Be sure to cook them completely. Cut Roma Tomatoes in half lengthwise, then in half again. Cut red onion into medium to small slices.

Add olive oil and balsamic. Let chill for at least four hours before serving. It can also be made the night before to allow for all the flavors to meld.

Hiyayako (Japan)

Hiyayako is the perfect simple and healthy midday meal during the attack phase or meat day of the Dukan diet. When an alternative to meat is desired, tofu is an excellent alternative. This is a cold tofu recipe, ideal for warm summer days when you are looking to eat something cool.

Ingredients

I half block of firm tofu, cut into 1.5 in cubes

1 diced green onion

1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger

Low sodium shoyu (soy sauce)

Katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes, which can be purchased at a Japanese market)

Place the cubes of cold tofu on a plate. (You can serve it in a bowl over ice to keep it cold, but will have to put it on a plate to garnish it) Garnish with green onions, ginger, and shoyu. Sprinkle with desired amounts of katsuobushi and aonori. (Note: If you choose to use the Chinese chili garlic paste, mix it with the shoyu before pouring it on the tofu.

Eat with hashi (chopsticks) slowly to enjoy every bite!

OISHII !!!!! (Absolutely Delicious!)

Ground Steak with Stewed Italian Peppers and Tomatoes

This burger needs no bun!

The Burger
Grind 1 lb of London Broil steak (leanest cut) in food processor. Add minced  fresh  parsley, basil, and garlic. Add an egg white and one tablespoon of oat bran and salt and pepper to taste. Make into burger patties.  Cook on grill after adding a little non-stick vegetable spray to grill.

Grilled Onions
Slice two onions about 1/2 thick. In a non-stick pan, add about 1/4 cup of non-fat chicken broth. Simmer onions in broth to avoide using oil. Simmer uintil broth is rteduced and onions begin to carmelize.


 Stewed Italian Pepper and Tomatoes
 Split and clean 2 lbs of sweet curly Italian peppers (remove seeds). Cut into 1 inch long pieces. Blanch six medium sixed tomatoes in hot water until skins come loose. Remove skins and cut into wedges.  Slice two Walla-Walla onions or one large onion. In electric wok or large frying pan, sautee three sliced garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add peppers and onions, and sautee on medium low until somewhat soft. Add salt and pepper to taste ( and a teaspoon of crushed chili if you like it spicy!)Add wedged skinless tomatoes and cover, simmering on medium low for 20 minutes.

Serve on plate. Add grilled steak. Top steak with grilled onions and spicy brown mustard.

Ready to serve!

Nabe (Japanese soup)

This nabe has cabbage, spinach, bean sprouts, tofu, leeks, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and meatballs made of lean ground chicken.

Cook the meatballs in organic low sodium non fat chicken broth. The meatballs are seasoned with fresh parsley, green onion, oat bran, garlic salt, pepper, and egg white. Poached all ingredients in an organic low sodium chicken broth until the vegetables are tender. Do not strip vegetables. Leave them in their won section. It makes it easier to dip into an "owan" bowl with a ponzu sauce with low sodium soy sauce, broth,  Eat with chopsticks

Oishii Desio! (Delicious!)