Italialicious

My great-grandmother was from Milan, and maybe because of that my mother and I love breaded cutlets which are a staple of Milanese cuisine. So, every time I go to Milan I not only shop but I also have a good cotoletta alla Milanese.

Ingredients
4 veal cutlets with bone
2 eggs
4-6 Tbsp butter
1 cup breadcrumbs
Salt, pepper

Cut away any fat and pound each cutlet gently. Beat the eggs slightly, add a touch of freshly ground pepper, and pour the eggs into a shallow bowl. Set the breadcrumbs in another bowl. Start a standard breading procedure: dip the cutlets into the eggs and then dip them into the breadcrumbs. Sauté the milanesas in a preheated saucepan with butter (for a golden result shallow-fry the cutlets adding more butter). Over medium-high heat, it won’t take a lot to be ready: 4 minutes on one side, turn once, and then 2-3 minutes on the other side for medium rare. Drain the cutlets on paper towels, salt them and serve with sweet potato oven fries. Not an Italian side dish I know, but they are better for you than traditional fries and they are just perfect for holiday dinners!

Sweet potato oven fries Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
Kosher salt

Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes. Cut the potato into wedges. Toss the sweet potatoes wedges with the olive oil, cinnamon and salt. Set them onto a baking sheet forming a single layer, and bake in a 425F preheated oven for about 30 minutes until tender and golden brown (while they're baking, turn the potatoes a couple of times).

Tips
The words cotoletta and cutlet actually have the same origin!

Do cotolette alla Milanese remind you of Wiener schnitzel? Apparently Marshal Radetzky (yep, the same as in Strauss’s march) introduced veal cutlets to Austria after living in Milan. However, Austrians are very proud of their cutlets so they don’t agree with the Italian origin.

I know you loved my doughnutella mini krapfen recipe. As I mentioned before, Krapfen are a sweet treat very common in Alto Adige, the German-speaking region of northern Italy. In fact, Krapfen are typical doughnuts of the whole German-speaking world. Whereas in Italy and Austria these doughnuts are known as Krapfen, in Germany they use the word Berliner. In Chile, where German migration influenced Chilean pastry-making, Krapfen are known as berlines. Berlines are usually filled with custard, jam or dulce de leche. In addition, Berlines are now the quintessential Chilean snack for breaks at school. So, if you like doughnuts you’ll love Berlines, filled with sweet dulce de leche. Krapfen and berlines share another common feature: Krapfen come from the region of the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, and berlines come from Chile, the country of Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia. Don’t you think that Torres del Paine could easily blend into the Italian Dolomite region?


Ingredients (30-40 mini berlines)
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (+ 1 tsp sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 stick of butter (softened)
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
pinch of salt

Peanut oil for frying
Dulce de leche for filling
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Just follow the directions for my doughnutellas, but fill them using dulce de leche.


Tips
In Canada, these doughnuts are called Bismarck doughnuts.

Today is Chile's National Day! Happy Chile Day!!!

After tasting this traditional antipasto, you’ll say: ‘who knew fresh anchovies were this good’!

Ingredients
1.5 lbs fresh anchovies
1 can San Marzano tomatoes (28 oz), drained and diced
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped
Salt, pepper

First, remove the scales of the anchovies with a knife under cold running water. Rinse the anchovies. Cut right above the heads and then remove the heads together with the insides. Cut the anchovies lengthwise and remove the spine. Pat the anchovies dry using paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Pour half of the canned tomatoes into a baking dish. Pour the anchovies over the tomatoes. Mix the garlic with half of the parsley and pour this mixture over the anchovies. Sprinkle with some salt and cover with the rest of the tomatoes. Bake for about 20 minutes, and serve warm with the rest of the parsley on top.

Tips
I know, cleaning anchovies sounds like a post-mortem, but it’s not really that hard and the flavor of fresh anchovies is totally worth it.

Sometimes just a couple of days back at work or at school are enough to make us dream of summer again! My organic tropical sorbet is perfect to recall those days at the beach! And it’s so simple you’ll want to do it even when you’re on vacation.

Ingredients
3 cups mixed tropical fruits
½ - 2/3 cup organic agave nectar

Just puree the fruit with the agave nectar using an electric blender. Pour the puree into your ice cream machine and let the machine do its work. After 20-25 minutes you’ll be tasting a tropical paradise, wherever you are!

Tips
I used Trader Joe’s tropical fruit trio: mango, papaya, pineapple