The Dinner (Formerly Known as Prince Spaghetti Night)

Everybody loves a simple but delicious weeknight home cooked meal, right? Right. That's why when we are out of season for Nonies Meatsauce (mainly spring and summer when it is way too hot to slave over a pot of sauce for 5 hours) this little bolognese is my go to pasta go with. And the pasta, you ask? Well, when not making my own (again, not a warm weather dish as the humidity wreaks havoc with the dough) I use Barilla. Billed as Italy's #1 pasta, but interestingly made in New Jersey.  It is the best authentic Italian store bought dried cheap spaghetti available, from New Jersey - fuggetaboutit.

There are almost too many places to go here, especially if I were wearing my raspberry beret driving my little red corvette in 1999, but I am sticking with retro chic kitsch and going for the 1970s ad campaign for Prince Spaghetti, known as Prince Spaghetti Night, which I believe was Wednesdays. Scathingly brilliant in its success of associating a brand with a hump day dinner and an unforgettable commercial to boot.

The Recipe:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot peeled and minced
1 pound ground beef chuck
1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
salt to taste

Heat oil in a dutch oven or other heavy pot and saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the carrot and cook about 5 minutes more. Add the beef and cooking, breaking up chunks, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and salt and cook over medium heat until sauce thickens, about 30 minutes. Then call Anthony home. Serves 4.

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Now That's Italian! (Hummus)

Ok, so as not to leave my regular readers hanging, this is part two of my post from a few weeks ago, Pita CHiPs - the white bean dip. Also from Giada De Laurentis' Everyday Italian, she describes it as Italian hummus, and it basically is (if you look just right).  Using cannellini beans instead of garbanzo or chick peas (see Joanie Loves Chi Chi for further info), and a little garlic, lemon juice and parsley and a dip with a twist is born. I actually liked it better than traditional hummus, but I like everything that is Italian more than anything else. Italian sausage, Italian meatballs, Italian restaurants, Italian Stallion. Well, you get the point. The Julia child thought it was too heavy on the garlic (she may have been switched at birth, just sayin'), but everyone else at the dinner party raved. My work here is done.

"That's Italian!" The kitschy tag line from the iconic Ragu spaghetti sauce commercial of the 1970s. Ah, nothing says authentic Italian cuisine like Italian-Americans celebrating their great melting pot ethnicity by eating Nana's homemade sauce. Oh, wait, no it's crap from a jar. Wah, wah, wah....

The Recipe:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 (15-ounce) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tblsp fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the beans, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Pulse on and off until the mixture is coarsely chopped. With the machine running, gradually mix in the olive oil until the mixture is creamy.  Serve with pita chips (that you made, not some store bought crap). The dip can be made a day in advance and refrigerated.  6 appetizer servings (I'd double it if i were you, it's just that good).

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Jumbo Jumbo

KoSometimes you (and when I say you, I mean me) have a hankering for European comfort food and Jumbo Jumbo fits the the bill. This is no mumbo jumbo, mind you but the Swiss (more specifically Zurich) version of chicken cordon bleu. Why they call it jumbo jumbo you ask? No clue. But it tastes decadently delicious so I care not. Made with pork, of course. And served in taverns or bierhalles if you please. Fried pork cutlets stuffed with ham (go big or go home I always say) and gooey cheese. The recipe, from Saveur, called for Emmanthaler or Gruyere, but after after two tries I prefer a melange of white cheddar and Gruyere - it seemed to melt better and using smokey ham added some extra large flavor. The dredging and the coating takes some practice, though, as you need to hold everything together to make it to the frying pan. Saveur recommends serving with lemon wedges, but I suggest a good German lager.

Big, the enormous hit of 1988 starring Tom Hanks (who I am not a huge fan of) and directed by Laverne De Fazio (aka Penny Marshall). Simply put, a boy wishes on a Zoltar machine that he was "big" and over night becomes a boy in and adult body. He moves to Manhattan, gets an apartment and a job at a toy company and learns adulthood isn't all its cracked up to be (despite the mammoth floor pianos and baby corn). Sort of the antithesis of Peggy Sue Got Married, about the woman who takes her adult sensibilities back to high school. Either way, the lesson learned is that the grass is always greener. Just please don't eat the daisies.


The Recipe:

4   4oz boneless pork cutlets, pounded 1/16" thin
3oz deli ham, thinly sliced (the smokier the better)
3 oz Emmenthaler, Gruyere or a cheddar/Gruyere melange, thinly sliced
1/3 c flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 c canola oil (although, I used vegetable oil, I mean really, when you are already combining ham and pork why are you worried about a little more fat?!)
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
Lemon wedges for serving

Season cutlets with salt and pepper. Place ham and cheese on one cutlet, place other cutlet on top, set aside. Repeat. Place flour, egg and bread crumbs in three separate shallow bowls. Dredge stuffed cutlet in flour, and coat in eggs, then bread crumbs (this is the tricky part). Heat oil and butter in 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Fry, flipping once, until golden brown and crisp, about 12-16 minutes. Serves 2.


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Pita CHiPs

So we get invited to someone's house for dinner, and then right before the date, the hostess asks me to bring an appetizer. This is always a conundrum, as you want something tasty, that can be made ahead of, can be served cold or room temp and that travels well. I decided upon making a white bean dip (sort of an Italian hummus if you will) and for added flair, my own pita chips. I mean, anybody can buy  pita chips, so I must stand out by making my own. Fairly simple, the recipe comes from Giada De Laurentiis' "Everyday Italian" cookbook. I varied twice from her instructions, however. First, she uses dried oregano. Having none in my pantry (I know, right?), I used dried rosemary. Personally, I'm a sucker for rosemary and frankly, everything is better with rosemary (just ask Rosemary Clooney). Second, baking is supposed to be 16 minutes total, 8 on each side. However, after the first 8, my were done. Other that, perfecto!

California Highway (I'd like to buy a vowel) Patrol s, NBC's 1977-1983 police action car chase drama-comedy starring Erik Estrada and some other guy, Larry Wilcox, I think. Anyway, Ponch (Estrada) and his side kick fight California's freeway crime on motorcycles. Big, honkin police powered motorcycles. Responding to multi-car pile-ips on the 101 like no body's business for eight reved up seasons. Eventually, even Erik Estrada's chips got stale and the show was cancelled. Nevertheless, in my opinion, not only does the opening sequence tell the whole story, it might be my favorite TV show that I never watched montage ever. Take a peak at the CHiPs clip:

The Recipe:

4 pita loaves, cut in half horizontally
2 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano (or rosemary)
1tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut each pita into 8 wedges (using a pizza wheel is best). Lay pita wedges in a single layer on a baking sheet (I had to use 2 and both ovens) and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herb of choice. Bake for 8 minutes. Turn and bake for another 8 minutes (if you dare) until CRisP and golden brown. Let cool. Can be made ahead of time and sealed in an air tight (like an alibi) container.

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