An Italiano Christman
Turkey on Christmas? How about baked ham? Fuhgetaboutit! We’re talking another kind of Christmas tradition here. Tony Soprano would love it
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Anthony Romano prepares chicken cacciatore
wonderful family traditions.”
BUON NATALE! FELICE ANNO NUOVO!
Here are two wonderful recipes from Joe, Jerry and Anthony for MidWeek readers to enjoy.
CHICKEN CACCIATORE
* 1 chicken (approx. 5 pounds), cut into pieces
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup chopped onions
* 1 cup sliced mushrooms
* 1 cup julienned carrot
* 1 cup julienned green pepper
* 1/8 cup minced garlic
* 2 28-ounce cans peeled tomatoes, chopped
* 1/2 cup tomato paste
* 3/4 cup red wine
* 1 teaspoon parsley
* 1 teaspoon basil
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon pepper
* freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1) Wash and drain the chicken pieces. Heat olive oil in a deep skillet. Roll and coat each chicken piece in the flour and brown each piece on all sides to a golden brown. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain.
2) Saute the onion, mushrooms, carrot, green pepper and garlic in the same skillet for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and saute for another 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, wine, herbs, salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes.
3) Add all the chicken pieces and mix well. Turn down the heat very low, and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Adjust the salt and pepper to your taste. Serve with some freshly grated cheese and a fresh loaf of artisan bread.
Makes four to six servings. The best cacciatore is cooked slowly for a long time, so that the flavors in the sauce are perfectly blended, and the chicken is very tender. Therefore, even though the recipe says to let this dish simmer for an hour, if you have the time, simmer it for two hours on very low heat.
Now for dessert.
These crinkle top cookies are made with sambuca, an anise-flavored liqueur produced by the infusion of witch elder bush and licorice, sweetened with sugar and enhanced with a secret combination of herbs and spices.
White sambuca is the traditional and generally the more popular variety, having a mellower licorice taste and lighter body than that of black sambuca.
CHOCOLATE SAMBUCA COOKIES
* 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate
* 4 tablespoons margarine or butter (1/2 stick)
* 3 large eggs
* 1/3 cup sambuca (anise-flavor liqueur)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup blanched almonds, finely ground
* 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1) In a saucepan, melt chocolate with margarine or butter over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat; cool chocolate mixture slightly ( approx. 5 minutes).
2) In medium bowl with wire whisk, mix eggs, Sambuca and 1/2 cup sugar and blend into chocolate mixture.
3) With spoon, stir ground almonds, flour, and baking soda into chocolate mixture until combined (dough will be very soft). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar with remaining 1/2 cup sugar. With lightly floured hands, roll dough by rounded tablespoons into balls. Roll balls in sugar mixture to coat. Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until cookies are just set and look puffed and cracked. Let cookies remain on cookie sheet 1 minute to cool slightly. Remove cookies with spatula to wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe yields approximately 4 dozen cookies.
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