Tag: Italian

Egg Ribbon and Parmesan Soup

Was looking for something easy and quick to make for supper last night and came across this on Bon Appetit….it was very simple and uses just a few ingredients. My additions are indicated in red….

Egg Ribbon and Parmesan Soup (Bon Appetit September 2004)

Robyn Fuoco of Mainly Café and Bakery, Philadelphia, PA, writes: “Although I don’t have any formal culinary training, I’ve spent my entire career working as a chef. You could say the restaurant business just runs in the family. My grandfather had his own restaurant, my husband is a chef, and I’m co-owner of the Mainly Café and Bakery, where I also happen to be the pastry chef. After I’ve spent all day baking—and tasting—sweets, it’s good to go home and make “real food” to eat. Because I’m busy, I like dinnertime to be organized. My secret is keeping the pantry well stocked with basics like olive oil, kosher salt, and a variety of pastas and beans.”

4 Servings

Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 6 cups low-salt chicken broth (or half chicken and half vegetable)
  • 3/4 cup tiny pasta (such as acini di pepe or orzo) (I used Barilla fideos…very small noodles for chicken soup)
  • Chopped fresh Italian parsley or basil
  • When I do this again, I will add slivers of carrot. If ya gotta have it, add cooked chicken…

Preparation

  • Whisk eggs and 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese in small bowl to blend. Bring chicken broth to simmer in large pot. Add pasta. Cover and simmer until pasta is tender, about 6 minutes. Gradually add egg mixture to soup, stirring constantly until egg ribbons form, about 1 minute. Simmer 1 minute longer. Ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve, passing remaining cheese separately.
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Osso Bucco (Veal Shank)

Ossobuco or osso buco is Italian for “bone with a hole” (osso bone, buco hole), a reference to the marrow hole at the center of the cross-cut veal shank. In the local Western Lombard Milanese dialect, this dish’s name is oss bus.

While that may be the Wikipedia definition, we first enjoyed it at one of our favourite restaurants in Cancun, Mexico – La Habichuela. They now have a second location in the Hotel Zone. We have not tried the location in Merida.

http://lahabichuela.com/centro/

When I finally found the meat locally, I was desperate to prepare it. Thankfully, Food Network and Giada de Laurentiis had this great recipe, which although not exactly like the wonderful one in Cancun, is still delicious! It is great served with cooked cabbage and some mashed potatoes to enjoy the juices.

Osso Bucco – Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • 1 dry bay leaf
  • 2 whole cloves
  • Cheesecloth
  • Kitchen twine, for bouquet garni and tying the veal shanks
  • 3 whole veal shanks (about 1 pound per shank), trimmed
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • All purpose flour, for dredging
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 small carrot, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 stalk celery, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Directions

Place the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and cloves into cheesecloth and secure with twine. This will be your bouquet garni.

For the veal shanks, pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Veal shanks will brown better when they are dry. Secure the meat to the bone with the kitchen twine. Season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.

In a large Dutch oven pot, heat vegetable oil until smoking. Add tied veal shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and reserve.

In the same pot, add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Sauté until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mix well. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the white wine and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. Add the bouquet garni and 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Check every 15 minutes, turning shanks and adding more chicken stock as necessary. The level of cooking liquid should always be about 3/4 the way up the shank.

Carefully remove the cooked shanks from the pot and place in decorative serving platter. Cut off the kitchen twine and discard.

Remove and discard bouquet garni from the pot.

Pour all the juices and sauce from the pot over the shanks. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.