Italy Part 27

During my visit to Minnesota, my parents were willing to let me take over the kitchen and prepare two Italian meals in order to keep my Italy challenge alive. I actually got to reference their copy of the cookbook, since I had gifted them with the same book that they had gifted me all those years ago, hoping to share the inspiration that it brings me! But really, I could have used any excuse to cook something in that kitchen. I imagine myself as a celebrity chef as I strap on my mom's french apron and dance around the open space, preparing ingredients on the miles of counter surfaces, searching through the fridge and pantry holding a deep catalogue of food items, and banging around state-of-the-art cookware that I dream of having in my own kitchen someday... glee! Anyways, it is always fun to pretend, especially since my two cats are really good at listening to my "cooking demos."

Soaking up a slice of homemade limelight.
Truth be told, I'm actually terribly camera shy.

Let's start with the meal that includes "furry critters" as the main course. I can't say that I am particularly fond of rabbit, and thank goodness because its price-per-pound worth is over $18!  I purchased a frozen, pre-quartered and humanly caught rabbit from a specialty store in Chanhassen, MN (for occasions like this I place all of my trust into knowledgeable butchers).  After thawing the meat and unwrapping the packaged contents, I was quite impressed with how beautiful this tiny animal's meat was. The meat had a nice pink color with a clean, translucent skin layer over the top. Much more visually appealing than even poultry!  I said a little blessing and got busy. 

Meal #1:

Rabbit with rosemary and white wine (p. 135)

Olive bread (p. 138)

Mixed greens salad

Dinner preparation started with "proofing" the baking yeast
for the Olive bread. Yep, looks alive and ready to go!

While I prepared the dough ingredients, the rabbit was slowly
thawed in a cold water bath in the sink.

What I consider fanciful meat.

Step 1 of cooking rabbit:
Coat with bread crumbs and seasonings, then give
the pieces a good fry in some oil before setting aside.

Step 2 of cooking rabbit:
Once the sauce has been prepared separately, add back the
crispy rabbit pieces and let simmer on low heat for about 2 hrs.
The white wine, sage, rosemary, garlic, tomatoes, stock, and a
pinch of cayenne (to name a few) made for such a nice base.

The bread dough continued to rise for a second time in the
warmth of the setting sun on the front porch.  The recipe called
for white flour only, however, we ran out mid-recipe, so whole
wheat was substituted. It added a nice, rustic brown color.

The dough was rolled out, decorated with Kalamatas (yum!),
then delicately folded over to make a "loaf" before baking.

I plated the rabbit with only a few more minutes left for the bread.

Next time, I won't be so shy adding olives. Even so, this bread
turned out better than expected (my bread never turns out right
so I feel like I far exceeded failure this night)!

We ate family-style for this meal in compliance with the Italian theme.
After a few hesitant bites from my Dad, Mom, and myself, we happily
cleaned our plates.  Plus, we had Adele's custard to look forward to...

My first time trying rabbit was in Mexico last October (2010). It was cooked in cactus skin and it had a particularly gamey taste to it. I braced myself for the same underlying flavors, however, this Rabbit with rosemary and white wine dish was nothing but tender and savory. Truly, "It tasted like chicken!"  And the tomato-wine sauce was divine. My mom mentioned making the sauce again to top other meats or pastas in the future. Preparing this dinner took a lot longer than expected since I missed the step about letting the Olive bread rise twice (oops). We filled the extra hour with additional porch time with a cold beer, snacking on extra Kalamatas. Perhaps the secret to how well the rabbit turned out was in letting the sauce simmer over low heat for nearly an extra hour. 

The second meal required a bit of help from my Dad, the "grill master" of the family. We were having grilled swordfish skewers, a recipe that I would have prepared on my cast iron panini press if I had been making this in Denver.  As it turns out, cooking swordfish was not an option. The same specialty butcher that I sourced the rabbit from had informed me that they were totally out of swordfish and would continue to be for quite some time. Why? The mercury concentration in the meat was sky high! The butcher explained that they test all of their seafood for mercury before accepting deliveries, and recent deliveries did not meet their safety standards... not by a long shot. I also checked my local "budget" grocery store just to see if they would have any (albeit loaded with mercury levels gone unchecked). To my surprise, they didn't carry swordfish either, but not because of mercury levels. This butcher explained that they don't carry it since the meat is so expensive and no one would buy it. What's the next best option as a swordfish substitute? Tuna steaks! 

Meal #2:

Involtini of swordfish tuna (p. 134)

Herb baked ricotta (p. 102)

Leftover olive bread

Sublima limas

The ricotta recipe was started 2 days in advance.
Day 1: Drain off remove excess moisture.
Day 2: Marinade with a cocktail of fresh herbs and oil.

Day 3: Bake in the oven until golden, about 30 min at 350 F.

Since the ricotta was prepared ahead of time, it was
ready as an appetizer in the amount of time it
took the tuna skewers to be assembled.

To assemble the stuffed tuna skewers, the steaks were rolled
out flat between two sheets of plastic wrap and then divided.

I pre-made the stuffing the night before (breadcrumbs, egg, seasonings),
which accelerated prep time. All that was needed was wrapping each
thin steak piece with stuffing, counting out fresh bay leaves,
peeling lemons to reserve their rinds, and slicing pearl onions.

Food beading.
Alternately, I threaded a lemon ride, bay leaf,
and stuffed tuna steak. After all of the pieces were assembled,
they were brushed with a lemon juice and olive oil mixture
and handed over the grilling expert.  

About 5 short minutes later... dinner was ready!
The cooking time was so fast, I hadn't even gotten
the chance to look over his shoulder!

I also lost track of my photo-documenting responsibilities and failed to snap a shot of what our dinner plates looked like. My brother Mike made it home to join us at the dinner table. Once our bellies were full of flakey, charcoal-kissed tuna steaks, we all got busy making cookies and prepping other recipes to be enjoyed with our much anticipated visitors from Chicago, Baltimore, and Milwaukee!  

Food never fails to bring people together.