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Region Sicilia |
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| Rabbit in Sweet-sour Sauce |
Marinade
1 1/2 cups red wine
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
1 tablespoon freshly milled black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, mince
Main Dish
1 rabbit, cut into pieces, about 3 - 3 1/2 pounds
Flour to coat rabbit
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup stock or water
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup good quality wine vinegar
1/4 cup golden raisins |
| Mix together all ingredients for marinade. Put cut-up rabbit in marinade. Turn to coat each piece. Let marinate at least two hours, preferably overnight. Remove rabbit from marinade and pat dry. Roll in flour to coat on all sides. Strain marinade and set aside. Heat oil in large, heavy skillet. Over medium heat, cook onions until soft. Add pieces of rabbit and cook until brown. Pour on the reserved marinade. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes. When liquid is reduced by half, add hot water or stock. Lower heat. Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Dissolve sugar with 1/4 cup water in a non-reactive saucepan. When melted, add vinegar and raisins. Add to the rabbit. When rabbit is tender, add vinegar mixture. Raise heat and cook for 1 - 2 minutes to evaporate the vinegar. Remove rabbit pieces, and scrape pan with whisk to loosen any stuck pieces. Pour sauce over rabbit and serve immediately. |
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| Catanian Stuffed Sardines |
2 1/4 pounds (1 kilo) fresh sardines that are not too small
4 ounces (about a cup, or 100 g) bread crumbs
4 ounces pecorino pepato (Sicilian pecorino with whole peppercorns; use moderately sharp romano if need be), grated
A minced mixture of garlic and parsley, proportions to taste
3 eggs beaten, and two more, also beaten, for dredging the sardines
1 cup (100 g) flour
A bowl of strong vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste |
| While the fish are marinating in the vinegar, prepare a mixture of bread crumbs, grated pecorino cheese, minced garlic and parsley, and beaten eggs. Season all with salt and pepper and form little bits of the mixture into oblong balls which you will want to press between pairs of open sardines. Indeed, to the contrary of the custom followed in Palermo, in eastern Sicily Sarde a beccafico must always consist of two sardines, which become, as it were, lids for each other, with filling in the middle. In any case, once you prepared the sardines and their filling, dip them first in egg and then dredge them in flour, and fry them in hot oil until golden. |
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| Sicialian cannoli |
Shells:
2 c All-purpose flour
2 tb Shortening
1 ts Sugar
1/4 ts Salt
3/4 c Wine, Marsala, Burgundy or Chablis
Vegetable Oil
Filling:
3 c Ricotta
1/2 c Confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp Cinnamon or more to taste
1/2 Square unsweetened Chocolate grated OR 1/2 tb Cocoa (both optional)
1/2 ts Vanilla
3 tb Citron peel, chopped
3 tb Orange peel, candied,chopped
6 glaced cherries, cut up |
To make Cannoli shells it is necessary to have 3 or 4 metal tubes, preferably made from very light tin, about 7-inches long and 1 1/8 inches in diameter. The edges should not be soldered. (Old aluminum chairs cut up work great)
SHELLS:
Combine flour, shortening, sugar and salt, and wetting gradually with wine, knead together with fingers until rather hard dough or paste is formed. Form into ball, cover with cloth and let stand about 1 hour. Cut dough in half and roll half of dough into a thin sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 4 inch squares. Place a metal tube diagonally across each square from one point to another, wrapping dough around tube by overlapping the two points and sealing overlapping points with a little egg white. Meanwhile heat vegetable oil in large deep pan for deep frying. Drop one or two tubes at a time into hot oil. Fry gently until dough is a golden brown color. Remove from pan, let cool and gently remove shell from metal tube. Set shells aside to cool. Repeat procedure until all shells are made.
FILLING:
Mix ricotta thoroughly with sifted dry ingredients. Add vanilla and fruit peel. Mix and blend well. (A little grated pistachio may be added if desired). Chill in refrigerator before filling shells. Fill cold Cannoli shells; smooth filling evenly at each end of shell. Decorate each end with a piece of glaced cherry and sprinkle shells with confectioners sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
These are best if they are filled just before you company arrives. |
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| Tomatoes buckets |
mature tomatoes
salt marine not refined
oil of olive. |
| Select as many ripe, firm, blemish-free plum tomatoes as suit your fancy. Wash them, dry them, and slice them lengthwise. Put them on a board, dust them with salt, and set them out to dry in the hot summer sun, making certain you bring them in at night because they would otherwise absorb moisture from the air. Once they have dried rinse them with some vinegar, drain them well, and let them dry. Next, take pieces of tuna packed in oil (you'll want to buy a larger can here so you can get chunks, or buy some from your delicatessen) and warp the tomatoes around them, securing them in place with toothpicks. Layer the tomato-tuna packets in a clean jar, sprinkle shredded hot red pepper to taste over the layers, fill the jar with olive oil, and let everything set covered for a few days. |
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| Christmas Cheesecake |
For the pasta frolla (pie pastry):
2 ½ cups flour
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at cool room temperature, cut into pieces
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
For the filling:
1 pound (450 g) ricotta cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup citron, cut into slivers
3/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1/2 cup dark raisins, soaked in good-quality rum to cover |
| Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter and flour a 9-inch (23-cm) flan tin with removable sides. Making the pasta. Cut off one-third of the pastry and set aside. Lightly flour a marble or wooden surface and roll out the larger piece of dough into a circle slightly larger than the flan tin; drape it over the rolling pin and unfold onto the tin. Pressing lightly with the fingers, fit the pastry into the tin. Cut off the excess and add to the pastry set aside. Set the tin aside. Prepare the filling. Put the ricotta through a food mill and add the sugar, mixing roughly with a wooden spoon. Add all the other ingredients, including the rum in which the raisins have soaked, then pour the ricotta filling into the prepared shell. Roll out the reserved pastry on a lightly floured wooden or marble surface and cut into strips 1 inch (5 cm) wide. Lattice the strips on top of the pie. Bake for 40 minutes, or until slightly browned. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out. Serve warm or tepid. |
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| Fava and Pecorino Soup |
2 pounds fresh fava beans, shelled
1 head escarole, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
3 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled, plus 2 cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 fresh hot red pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano |
| In a large saucepan, place the fava beans, escarole, shallots, the whole garlic, thyme and pepper and add enough water to come up 2 inches above the solids. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook 30 minutes. Puree the mixture in the bowl of a food processor and return to the pan. In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic and cook until it starts to color, about 2 minutes, then add the parsley. Pour this mixture into the soup. Divide evenly among 4 warmed soup bowls and top with the cheese. |
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| Meat Loaf |
1 lb. ground beef
1 oz. lard, chopped
1-2 oz. milk
2 eggs
2 tbs. grated Parmigiano
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 lemon
olive oil
2 tbs. butter
1 onion
salt
pepper |
| Mix the ground beef, lard, eggs, Parmigiano, 2 tbs. breadcrumbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add a few spoonfuls of milk and mix well. The mixture should be fairly solid but moist. Shape the meat into a loaf and coat with breadcrumbs. Heat the oil in a large pan and brown the meat evenly on all sides. Melt the butter in another pan and brown the chopped onion. Place the loaf over the onions and cook in a pre-heated oven at 475ºF for ½ hour. Keep the bottom of the pan moist enough to prevent the onions from burning. This dish is excellent hot or cold, sliced. |
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| Stockfish with tomato |
800 gr. of softened stockfish
500 gr. of mature tomatoes
oil of olive
leaves of bay
50 gr. of snocciolate black olives
salt, pepper, thymus. |
Rinsed the stockfish already softened, cuts it to pieces and
diliscatelo. Sbollentate, peelings, eliminated the seeds and cut the
tomatoes. In one casserole heated an oil spoon of olive then joined stockfish pieces and makes them you to rosolare homogenous. You add two olive and, to the tomatoes leaves bay cut to rondelline. Salate, pepate and aromatized with a pizzico of thymus. You put the cover and fairies to cook to low flame for 40 minuteren approximately, stirring every so often. Eliminated bay and served the very warm one. |
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| Canoli Cake |
1/4 cup of milk
2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons butter
8 eggs
2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups fresh ricotta cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons rum
3 tablespoons candied lemon peels, finely chopped
3 tablespoons candied orange peels, finely chopped
4 tablespoons chopped pistachio nuts
1/4 cup heavy cream, whipped until stiff
1/4 cup Grand Marnier or Cointreau, or other orange liqueur
1 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream
3 cups semisweet chocolate, cut into pieces
1/2 cup cold espresso coffee
1/2 pound cold butter, cut into cubes |
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and 2 tablespoons of butter together. Using an electric mixer fitted with a wire whip, combine the eggs and sugar together. Beat on medium-high speed for about 8 minutes, or until the mixture is pale yellow, thick and has tripled in volume.
With the machine running, slowly add the heated milk and butter.
In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture and mix thoroughly, so that there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth. Fold in the vanilla. Grease a half sheet pan (13-by-18-by-1-inch pan) with 2 teaspoons of butter. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when touched. Cool for about 2 minutes.
Using a thin knife, loosen the edges of the cake and flip onto a wire rack. In a mixing bowl, whisk the cheese, sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons rum. Mix well. Add 2 tablespoons each of the candied citrus and 2 tablespoons of the nuts. Mix well. Fold the whipped cream into the mixture. Mix well. Cut the cake lengthwise into 4 equal pieces. Trim the edges of the cake to fit a 10-inch loaf pan.
Brush the tops of each cake with the orange liqueur. Line the bottom of the loaf pan with parchment paper. Place one piece of the cake on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the cheese filling evenly over the piece of cake. Repeat the layering with the remaining cake and cheese filling. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and unmold the cake. Place the cake on a wire rack with a sheet pan underneath. Spread the top and sides of the cake with the sweetened whipped cream. Place the cake in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour. In a saucepan, over medium heat, add the chocolate and coffee. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Stir in the half pound of butter and remaining tablespoon of rum. Mix well. Cool the mixture until it is spreadable. Pour the chocolate frosting over the entire cake. Place the cake back in the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours, until the cake sets. Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Using a long spatula, carefully lift the cake from the rack and place on a serving plate. Garnish with a sprinkle of the remaining nuts and candied citrus. Slice and serve. |
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