My Bracciole in Tomato Sauce

We have a raging wooden combustion fire heating up our house every winter.
Hubby cuts the wood, carries the wood and keeps a beautifully warm heater burning from late afternoon until we go to bed every day over winter.  Some weekends he gets up to stoke the fire at 6am if it is going to be a cold day.  Hubby is a part time lumberjack during winter.  Last night he had to venture out so I checked the fire after one hour and dutifully added a log to the bright blaze.

When he returned he walked downstairs straight away asking if I had checked on the fire.
Proudly I replied that yes, I had added a log onto the top of the fire.
He came upstairs shaking his head and said I had extinguished the fire by placing the log on top as I actually smothered and put the fire out.  Then he laughed and said I would freeze if I lived by myself.

I replied that my star sign is a water sign so of course I am naturally good at putting out fires.

On nights like these a good warm, hearty winter dish is required, like this Bracciole,  a variation from my usual style but very delicious.  Each region in Italy has their own version of Bracciole and this one is a very pleasant option.

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My Bracciole in Tomato Sauce

500g pork schnitzels, sliced thinly

500g veal schnitzels, sliced thinly

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

300g proscuitto slices

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese

freshly chopped parsley

toothpicks
2/3 cup red wine, a shiraz or cabernet sauvignon
1 litre of tomato passata
2 bay leaves
fresh basil leaves

Place your schnitzels on a chopping board, give them a little bash if they are too thick.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper then lay a thin slice of prosciutto on top.
Sprinkle with pine nuts, pecorino and parsley.
Roll up from the slim end, securing with a toothpick.
Turn a frying pan, large enough to fit the 10 rolls in one level, onto medium high.
Place the rolls inside and turn until they are all just browned.
Pour the red wine over top and let it simmer for one minute then add the tomato sauce, bay leaves and seasoning.  Place the lid on and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low so that it is just simmering and cook for 1.2 hours.  Test for tenderness, sprinkle with fresh basil leaves and serve with pasta, crunchy bread and a fresh garden salad.  Plus lashings of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

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Are you a good fire burner or like me, sadly hopeless and do you like hearty winter dishes?

Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx

Preserved Limes in a Jar

On most weekends I take my Mother shopping for a few hours.  Sometimes we dine on lunch at different venues.  Yesterday, we were at our local shopping centre, had taken the items from one supermarket to the car and returned to another supermarket only to hear a fire alarm and a loud speaker message of "please evacuate the shopping centre".  Individual store owners started lugging items inside and closing up their shops.  Some took longer than others but were encouraged by a security guard to close up and take refuge outside.   One of the shop owners said that if it was a mere fire drill that this would have been announced over the PA system but that there must have been indeed a fire danger for them to evacuate on a sunny Sunday afternoon.   As we drove away there was a fire brigade truck towards the middle of the shopping centre on the outside, so I am glad we chose to leave instead of waiting around to see what had happened.    It was definitely too late to buy lunch today.

 None of my friends had ever heard of evacuating the shopping centre so it was kind of exciting.

At least I could go home and preserve some limes for future use.

Winter brings an abundance of limes/lemons/mandarins/ oranges/pears.   Especially this year, we have so many limes.
We already have lime juice in the freezer so this time I decided to preserve them in salt for future recipes.
Make sure you sterilize your glass jar first by placing a clean 1 litre jar into a cold oven then turn to 150°C.   When it reaches 150°C turn the oven off and let jar cool.  If the jar lid is metal pour boiling water over it.   Although this time I decided to spray the jar with a metabisulphite solution that I use to sterilise wine making equipment with, this works just as effectively to kill germs.  Spray the entire inside of the jar and lid, then shake to remove liquid.  Don't dry with a towel but rather let it air dry.

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Preserved Limes in a Jar

1 kilo freshly picked limes, washed and air dried

100g sea salt

1 dried chilli

2 dried bay leaves

10 peppercorns

6 coriander seeds

1 sterilized 1 litre glass jar

Place a thin layer of salt onto the bottom of your jar.

Cut each lime into quarters lengthwise and place about 12 quarters in the jar.  Push down with a sterilized tamper or back of a wooden spoon.  Pour in a little more salt.  Add another layer of lime quarters, more salt, the chilli, bay leaves and peppercorns.  Keep pushing down, add more limes and salt.  As you push down the lime juice rises and covers the limes and salt.  Continue until your jar is full with about 1cm of head space at the top.  You may need to add more lime juice to completely cover the limes.

I use a ceramic disc on top of the limes to ensure that the limes are kept submerged.  Seal with the lid and store in a dark cupboard for 30 days.

These will keep for years if unopened.  

Some suggest to store in the fridge once opened but if you keep the limes below the level of the liquid and throw out any if they appear tainted then these last for ages in the cupboard.

When cooking with preserved limes, remove the required lime slices from the jar, rinse and dispose of the flesh, it is the chopped rind that you use whilst cooking.

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Have you ever had to evacuate a shopping centre?   Or taken place in a pre planned fire drill?

Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx

My Chicken Cordon Bleu Recipe

My daughter and I were on a mission.   One of our sons is going to be spending a few days at home each week now so we decided he should get some new bed sheets.   In our village we could only purchase 180 thread count, which was just not good enough.   We  had to drive to the nearest regional centre to make our puchases, which is always fun and a change of scenery.  The 1000 thread count pure cotton sheets we managed to procure are also a success with our 14 year old cat Chloe.  When he makes his bed, Chloe still manages to snuggle down underneath his doona to lay on the sheets.  She is indeed, a classy cat.   Chloe like to sleep a lot these days, the opposite to our dashing Tiger who recently decided to climb the ladder leaning against the avocado tree.

It is so lovely to have your children visit and they all look forward to good, wholesome home cooking.  It is also nice for me to have a larger audience that appreciate my cooking style.  One night during the latest semester break the Scrabble and Monopoly boards even had an airing. Fun family times.

I saw this recipe advertised in a soon to be released cook book and winged the recipe from the photograph shown.  Everyone loved this chicken cordon bleu even though we didn't eat until 8pm.

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My Chicken Cordon Bleu                 Serves 6   

1kg chicken breast fillets

200g sliced, smoked ham

salt and pepper

12 slices Swiss cheese, each sliced in half

3 eggs

1 cup flour

2 cups dried breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil to shallow fry

2 oven trays lined with baking paper

Preheat oven to 180°C

Pat chicken dry, then finely slice chicken fillets into lengthwise fillets.

I find it easier to lay them out on 3 chopping boards.

Pound to a thinner slice if required, then sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper.  Line with a thin piece of ham, then top with a half slice of Swiss cheese.  Roll up to form a parcel.

Dip firstly into flour, then egg and breadcrumb.

Line them all up on a plate then turn on a non stick frying pan to medium heat, add 1cm vegetable oil and fry in batches, just turning to lightly brown each side.  Add a little more vegetable oil between batches.  Remove and place on the baking tray lined with baking paper.  Place into hot oven and cook for 15 minutes, alternating trays on shelves.

While it is cooking, prepare your garlic, mustard sauce.

Garlic, Mustard Sauce

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

90g butter

1 heaped tablespoon Dijon mustard

90g thickened cream

salt and pepper

In a small saucepan, fry the garlic gently with the butter over a low heat for 4 - 5 minutes, until it smells aromatic.  You don't want the garlic to burn.

Add the mustard, cream, a sprinkle of salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Continue to heat, stirring for about 4 minutes until it is just thick enough for a sauce.

Serve separately with the chicken cordon bleu.

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Do you like to guess a recipe as well?
Have you ever tried 1000 thread count cotton sheets?

Buon appetito, enjoy Merryn xx