Old Fashioned Apple Slices!

     It's fall and the stores and markets are full of apples, the holidays are right around the corner!  If you don't count boxed cakes and brownies, we didn't do a lot of baking in my house growing up, maybe occasionally Toll House Cookies, but every year around Thanksgiving my mom would make apple slices.  The smell and flavors of these delights just scream holidays!  A few years back I started making them myself and was surprised at how easy they were, and my family just loves them.

      The other day I was at the farmer's market in Chicago and was amazed to find an unbelievable assortment of apples.  Normally I would use Granny Smith apples but with so many varieties I thought I would try something new.  The man at the market recommended an apple called Spigold, which I had never heard of or seen, so I tried them on his recommendation, "Better than Honey Crisp" the sign said, and they were!

So, on to the apples.  First you have to prep the apples by coring and peeling them all, for this recipe of one large jelly roll pan I used 11 medium to large apples.  Next you slice the apples, I used a mandolin because it is fast and slices them all the same thickness, about 1/4 in., but you can slice them by hand like you would for apple pie.  Place the sliced apples in a large bowl and immediately squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over them.  This prevents them from oxidizing as well as adding some tartness.  Now season the apples.  I must admit, I did not follow a recipe for this so these are approximate amounts, don't worry it will come out fine. If you are nervous baking this way and need a recipe for homemade dough and pie filling  or if you are afraid to try without an exact recipe, I will provide this from Saveur Magazine. The recipe is for 1 apple pie so you will probably have to triple the dough but the apple looks right.                                                                        

FOR THE PIE DOUGH:

3 cups flour
1 1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 1⁄4 cups vegetable shortening, preferably Crisco, cut into small pieces
1⁄2 cup cold milk

FOR THE FILLING:
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
3⁄4–1 cup cornstarch
1 1⁄2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
3⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 6 lemons)
12 golden delicious apples (or about 5 lbs.), peeled, cored, and sliced

This is how I did it.  Start with the sugar.  I used about a 1/2 cup of white sugar and a little more than a 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  Now add the cinnamon, about 2 tsp, a little goes a long way and you can always add more.  Grate in some fresh Nutmeg to taste. I used about 1/4 of a nutmeg ground on a micro plane, probably about 1/2 tsp. or so.  Add a pinch of allspice, 1 tsp. of salt, and about 1/3 cup of flour and mix well to coat evenly.

At this point you have to taste the apple filling.  If you don't like the taste now, you surely won't like it when they are done baking.  Adjust to your taste, more cinnamon, more nutmeg, more sugar, more lemon, too runny add more flour or cornstarch.  Depends on if you like it more sweet or more tart.

Now assemble the apple slices, as I said I used a large jellyroll pan. When it comes to the crust, you can use any recipe for pie crust that you like for example the one I provided above, and roll it out to fit in the pan, be sure to go up the sides as well.  I took a shortcut and used store bought Pillsbury pie crusts and it came out fine, saved me some time and work.  Each package has 2 pie crusts in it, and I used 3 pie crusts for the bottom and 3 for the top so I needed 3 packs of pie crust.

I started by placing one whole pie crust sheet in the middle of the pan, then I cut another in half and placed it on either end with the straight edge facing the side of the pan and the rounded half overlapping the middle. The third crust was used to fill in the holes, namely the four corners and the sides, don't worry about how it looks and let it overlap, press gently to seal any seams and be sure to go all the way up the sides and in the corners.

Famous Breaded Steaks!

                                                                                  
     We used to eat these all the time when I was a kid. La Milanese on 32nd and May in Bridgeport had the best! They were made by two old Italian ladies, fried to order, smothered in red sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoncini's and put Ricobene's and all others to shame!! Mine are just as good or better!!
     What you will need:        Thin cut sandwich steaks
                                        High quality bread crumbs 
                                        Flour and eggs for breading
                                        Good crusty french bread or sandwich rolls
                                        Pot of red sauce for dipping and topping
                                        Grated Mozzarella cheese
                                        Your favorite peppers

I cut the steaks in equal size pieces before I pound them out, a little piece becomes much bigger!

     Start with the steaks.  Buy the thin cut sandwich steaks or ask your butcher to cut them for you, they are usually sirloin, rib eye work great too.  Cut the steaks in equal size pieces.  Next place them in a plastic bag or cover them with wax paper or wrap and pound them even thinner.  I like to start in the center and work my way to the ends, try to get them even thickness.

Princapessa loves to work the breading station!

Flour, egg, bread crumb, egg, bread crumb.

Season the steaks with salt a pepper and bread them in the typical flour, egg, bread crumb manner.  Obviously it is really important to use good quality bread crumbs.  You can use Italian style seasoned or unseasoned and add your own spices, just use good, fresh bread crumbs.  For these I made my own using day old French bread, cut it up, put in food processor then toasted them, came out great.  You can add salt, pepper, grated parmigiana, onion and garlic powder, fresh parsley, what ever you want.  I added salt, pepper and grated cheese.  I watched the lady at La Milanese (the place I used to get them) make them one time and she did flour, egg, breadcrumb, egg, and breadcrumb again...she double dipped, so I did that with these as well, if you like a thinner crust skip the second dip!

Max & Sophia's favorite "Football Soup"

     Big Papa and Chee Chee (my paternal grandparents)  got me hooked on this soup as a kid, a simple chicken  and pastina soup. Now Max and Sophia love it too (as does everyone else in the family) and they have added their own little twist, orzo pasta (shaped like footballs) instead of pastina's, and they like to call it Football Soup!  Very simple to make, and only a few ingredients:  1 whole chicken, chicken stock, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper plus the orzo pasta and fresh parley and parmiggiano reggiano for topping

     Start by placing the whole chicken in a large pot and cover it with cold water. If your chicken has the neck and innards add them as well.  When I was younger, believe or not, we used to fight over who got to eat the chicken heart with their soup, it was a true delicacy.  Now a days you rarely see it in the chicken.  Someone told me they sell them in bulk in Chinatown at a very high price. Now add a few flavoring items, basically you are making a stock as you cook the chicken for the soup.  I add the odds and ends left over from cutting the vegetables for the soup.  The celery stems and leaves (great flavor from the leaves), the ends of the carrots (plus a few cut in large pieces), an onion quartered, whole garlic cloves, a few peppercorns, a bay leaf, some of the fresh parsley with stems and some salt.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, let cook for about an hour to hour and half, until the chicken is cooked, it will start to fall apart when done.

The Meatballs.........

     I love meatballs more than anything, and I think I have them mastered!  The key is not to mix the meat to much with your hands.  I like to use beef and pork for mine, in a 2 part beef 1 part pork ratio.  First I saute some onions and garlic, usually I will double what I need for the sauce and remove half to a bowl to cool before adding my paste and making my red sauce, then use the other half for the meatballs.  In a large bowl, add your ground meat, the cooled onions and garlic, 1egg mixed for every pound of meat, salt and pepper to taste, some chopped parsley and grated parmigiana reggiano cheese.  I also like to soak a few pieces of quality Italian bread in milk, chop it in to cubes and add it to the mix.  Now gently fold the ingredients together only as much as you need to incorporate them.  I will layer mine when mixing by adding half the beef, eggs, parsley, etc. then the pork, then the other half of the ingredients, then rest of the beef so I don't have to mix as much ( over mixing makes them hard and tough).  Now refrigerate for a while to allow mix to get cold again and come together.  Then roll the meatballs in the size you want them and brown in a skillet with olive oil, rotating them to get even brownness on all sides.  A good trick to test the seasoning is to take a small amount of the mix and cook it and taste it to see if it needs salt, more cheese whatever.

Where it all began............Red Sauce!

     When I was thinking about what my first post would be, it became obvious, the first thing I learned to cook, and to this day still my favorite......mom's spaghetti and meatballs!  No good Italian would be without a great simple recipe for this basic home dish.  I have great memories of being in the kitchen with my mom, helping in any way I could.  Usually, I would get to mix the meatball meat, and taste it raw before anyone else (knowing what we know today about eating raw meat and eggs probably wasn't the best thing for me but I loved it and never had a problem, I survived without a child seat as well!).    Start the sauce with a few simple fresh ingredients.  A yellow onion chopped, some fresh chopped garlic, a good quality olive oil ( I prefer Colavita) and some good quality canned whole tomatoes (preferable San Marzano, they are more $ but definitely worth it).  Put the tomatoes in a large bowl and remove any skin or stems.  Crush them with your fingers when you are through so you know you got them all.  I then use an immersion blender to smooth any large chunks into a nice blended sauce.  Saute the chopped onion and garlic until onion begins to become translucent, add a tablespoon of tomato paste, and some salt and saute for a few more minutes.  Then add the crushed tomatoes and stir.  Let it come to boil and reduce to a low simmer.  Now add basil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.  I prefer fresh herbs for my sauce but dry is okay, be careful with dried oregano, it can be overpowering.  Next, add some brown sugar.  For a fairly large batch of sauce, I would use 1 large onion,  10 cloves of garlic, maybe 2 tbs. of brown sugar, salt, pepper, oregano, basil to taste (throw in a bunch of fresh) to 6 large cans of tomatoes.  Let it cook low and slow stirring and tasting for spice for a few hours!