Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Pomodori secchi sott'olio (Dried tomatoes under olive oil and fresh herbs)

I stopped at Trader Joe's last night only to pick up milk. My plans for the evening changed when I saw these beauties: Mini San Marzano tomatoes from Canada.

As soon as I arrived home, within minutes, I had washed and sliced two bags of tomatoes. Then into the oven they went, resting on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Normally, I would have followed the traditional recipe, but last night I was greedy hungry for dried tomatoes under oil. My oven was at a higher temperature than normal, since time was limited.




Oven Dried Tomatoes under Oil



2 pounds of fresh San Marzano mini tomatoes

Olive oil, extra virgin

Sea Salt

Fresh rosemary sprigs, washed

Fresh thyme sprigs, washed

2 cloves of garlic, cut in half

Sterilized glass jar, with lid



Preheat oven to 250 F.

Thoroughly wash and drain tomatoes.

Slice each tomato in half lengthwise, into a bowl.

Drizzle and toss with 1 T olive oil.

Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Lay out the tomato halves on the paper so they do not touch each other.

Lightly salt.


Let dry for 8-10 hours. Check every hour and turn, once they begin to dry.

However, if you must turn up the oven heat, watch to be sure they do not burn.

When the tomatoes have dried, place them into a glass jar and cover with olive oil.  Add garlic, rosemary and thyme, making sure the herbs are also covered with oil.  Close the jar with a lid. Place in refrigerator.  I will eat all of mine within a week or two. 


~~.~~
Pomodori secchi sott’olio**

Ingredienti per 2 vasetti da 150 gr

Sale q.b.
Zucchero q.b.
Olio di oliva extravergine q.b.
Pomodori lunghi tipo san marzano 2 kg

Preparazione

Per preparare i pomodori secchi sott’olio lavate e tagliate i pomodori a metĂ  nel senso della lunghezza. Sistemateli ordinatamente su una leccarda ricoperta da carta da forno e cospargeteli con un po’ di sale, lo zucchero e un filo d’olio.

Lasciateli nel forno statico a 120 gradi per 8-10 ore

Una leccarda contiene indicativamente 1 kg di pomodori. Si possono infornare le due leccarde contemporaneamente avendo cura di alternarle durante la cottura dei pomodori.

Controllate di tanto in tanto e togliete dal forno quelli che si seccheranno prima degli altri.

Una volta secchi toglieteli dal forno e lasciateli raffreddare su una gratella.

Nel frattempo sterilizzate i vasetti e i coperchi.

Per vedere nel dettaglio la sterilizzazione dei vasetti e lasciateli asciugare per bene su un canovaccio pulito.

Invasate i pomodori secchi sistemandoli a strati, aggiungete un po' d'olio e pressateli un po'

Proseguite con gli strati e infine ricopriteli completamente d’olio.

Chiudete bene con il coperchio e conservate in un luogo fresco e al riparo dalla luce. 
  



 

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Celebration meal -- PETTI di POLLO al LATTE (Chicken breasts in milk)

May

I made a very big mistake in not packing up the entire kitchen before allowing remodeling work to be done. I am still washing and cleaning, one month later.

The first night the workers left me, for good, I washed a few essential pans and dishes.  Then I cooked a celebration meal, taking these pictures. The rice was in the freezer and the cherries only needed to be washed.  It was an easy, fantastic dinner. I adore my new kitchen.

20July --

I am fixing that same chicken again tonight but with creamed potatoes.

I haven't had a moment of free time to do more than survival cooking for several months.  A change in work schedules made my normal van pool ride unavailable and forced me to make a costly and brutally long daily commute.

Last week, my work schedule finally returned back to normal.  My daily commute will be three hours shorter, giving me time for studying and cooking during the evening.

~.~.~ 

Chicken Breasts Cooked in Milk **

4-5 chicken breasts, pounded
½ onion, finely diced
white flour, for dusting
1 C dry white wine
1 C whole milk
Olive oil, extra virgin
Handful of fresh parsley, washed, trimmed and roughly minced.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Pound the chicken breasts and dredge in flour.
In a pan, sauté the finely diced onions until just brown.
Push the onions to the side and add the chicken breasts. 
Cook until the chicken until lightly browned, turning once.

Add the wine and let it cook over a low flame, until the wine has completely evaporated.

(Note:  the milk will curdle if not all the wine has evaporated.)

Add the milk.  When the sauce has thickened, sprinkle on the parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
Serve hot.







With a refreshing dessert of cold fresh cherries.


~.~.~


PETTI di POLLO al LATTE**

INGREDIENTI

·        4-5 fettine di petto di pollo
·        ½ cipolla
·        farina 00
·        vino bianco secco
·        un bicchiere di latte
·        olio extra vergine di oliva
·        un ciuffo di prezzemolo
·        sale e pepe

Lavare il prezzemolo e tritarlo finemente. Mettere da parte.
Tritare finemente anche la cipolla.
Salare le fettine di carne ed infarinarle leggermente.
In un tegame, scaldare qualche cucchiaio di olio e rosolarvi la cipolla a fiamma dolce.
Unire le fettine di petto di pollo infarinate.
Farle rosolare qualche minuto, poi girarle e lasciarle dorare anche sull’altro lato. Sfumare con del vino bianco e farlo evaporare completamente.
A questo punto aggiungere il latte e portare la carne a cottura.
Quando il sughetto comincerĂ  a restringersi, aggiungere il prezzemolo, un po’ di pepe e regolare di sale se necessario.
Servire i petti di pollo al latte ben caldi.

**Recipe copied from this Giallozafferano.it link:   Petti-di-pollo-al-latte