Tag Archive for 'lemon'

Wiener Schnitzel (Veal Schnitzel)

Published
by
marc
on April 18, 2008
in Dinner and Veal
. 8 Comments

Some of you may know this as a crisp light dish that’s moist and flavorful. Others may have less pleasant memories of greasy, soggy cardboard that’s only made edible by drowning it with condiments. If the later sounds familiar, then I urge you to read on and give this simple dish a try in your own kitchen.

I say simple because it took me about 30 minutes to make, and you probably already have all the ingredients you need to make it in your pantry (aside from the veal). Best of all, you get to beat the living daylights out of a piece of meat with a blunt instrument (what better way to end a stressful work day?)

I wanted to infuse an extra boost of flavor into it so I worked in some grated onion into the meat before breading. The result is a thin, tender piece of veal bursting with flavor surrounded by a perfect shell of savory breadcrumbs. A squish of lemon and some briny capers on top make this a light dish that would go equally well with a salad or some boiled potatoes.

4 veal cutlets trimmed of any excess fat
1/4 small onion grated on a Microplane
fresh ground black pepper
kosher salt
flour for dusting
1 egg beaten
plain breadcrumbs for breading (make sure they’re either unsalted or lightly salted)
oil for frying

Put a cutlet down on a solid surface then cover with a double layer of plastic wrap. Using a wide mallet (I just use one out of my tool box) or a heavy bottomed pan, pound the meat evenly until about 1/8″ thick all around. Rub some of the grated onion into both sides. Repeat with with the other pieces.

Salt and pepper the cutlets (go easy on the salt, the meat is thin and the breadcrumb may already have salt) then dust them in flour. Get 2 shallow bowls ready, one with the beaten egg and one with some breadcrumbs. Dip the meat into the egg first making sure you cover every bit of the cutlet, then put it in the breadcrumbs. Get some breadcrumbs both above and below the cutlet then use your hand to press the breadcrumbs into the meat. you should have a nice even coating of breadcrumbs with no “bald spots”. Repeat with the rest of the cutlets.

In a heavy bottomed frying pan, heat about 1/8″ of oil until hot (you can test by dropping a breadcrumb into the oil, it should sizzle and float to the top quickly). Fry 1 or 2 cutlets at a time (depending on the size of your cutlets and pan). Wait till you see the edges turn golden then gently flip it over using tongs and fry till the other side is golden. Get a plate or wire rack with 3 layers of paper towels ready and transfer the cooked cutlets to the paper towel lined plate as they finish.

Serve immediately with some capers and a wedge of lemon.

Similar posts

Lemon tuna steaks on roasted veggies

Published
by
marc
on April 17, 2008
in Dinner, Seafood and Vegetable
. 9 Comments

Okay, so this one was hard to name. Every title I came up with made it sound… well… simplistic. The ingredients and preparation are both simple, but this belies its tastiness. If you think I’m crazy for calling cooked tuna tasty, I feel your pain. At most restaurants it’s either lightly seared (at which point you’re basically eating sashimi), or it’s cooked all the way making it a hard puck that both looks and tastes a bit like cardboard.

Let me assure you that there is a middle ground. One that makes for a delightfully melt-in-your-mouth tender, juicy steak that’s more beef-like than any other kind of fish I can think of. The trick is in marinating it in an ample amount of olive oil, then cooking it through until the middle 1/3 is a nice pink.

As with all simple dishes, the quality of the ingredients is paramount for good results. The tuna should be glistening, firm and not smell the least bit fishy (dried out, mushy or stinky are not words that should come to mind when you’re picking out any fish). I used asparagus and baby carrots which just came into season. I also took advantage of the carrot leaves for their flavor, but you could just as easily use fennel bulbs and leaves or some other fragrant vegetable that’s in season.
for steaks

2 Tuna steaks (6-8 oz each)
EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Zest of 1 lemon peeled in strips using vegetable peeler
fresh ground black pepper
Kosher salt

for roast veggies
Baby carrots
Baby potatoes
6 cloves garlic peeled
Asparagus
1/2 C young carrot leaves de-stemmed and chopped
EVOO
Kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

for serving
2 tsp EVOO
2 tsp lemon juice

Place the Tuna steaks on a plate and drizzle a good helping of EVOO on them flipping a few times to make sure they are well coated. Sprinkle with black pepper then rub the cut side of the lemon zest into the steaks (do not salt them yet).

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and prep the veggies. For the carrots, make one cut at a 45 degree angle, then roll it 1/4 turn away from you then make another cut at the same angle. I’m not sure what this cut is called but it’s great because it makes all the pieces of the carrot roughly the same thickness (which you control by how far apart you cut) so they cook evenly. I used a variety of long skinny potatoes and cut them up the same way. Then just toss the carrots, potatoes, and garlic in a good amount of EVOO, salt and pepper. Put this in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are almost done.

Add the asparagus and carrot leaves, toss adding more EVOO if it looks like it needs it then put it back in the oven.

Now it’s time to cook the steaks. Heat a heavy bottomed stainless steel or cast iron pan over medium heat until very hot. Remove the lemon zest and discard. Flip the steaks over a few times to make sure they’re well coated in oil then sprinkle with kosher salt on both sides. Place the steaks in the hot pan and do not disturb them until they are ready to flip. You’ll know they’re ready when the bottom third of the steak is brown (the top 2/3’s will be red). If the pan was hot enough and they’re ready to flip, they should be fairly easy to dislodge and turn with some tongs, but if they are sticking use a spatula. Cook this side until the bottom 1/3 is brown (now the bottom and top thirds should be brown and the middle 1/3 should be pink, not red).

Take the veggies out of the oven after flipping the tuna and plate the veggies. When the tuna is done, put them on top of the veggies right away so they don’t overcook. Drizzle 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of EVOO on each steak and serve immediately.

Similar posts

Sunchokes with a warm butter lemon dressing

Published
by
marc
on April 7, 2008
in Appetizer, Salad and Vegetable
. 5 Comments

Sunchokes with a warm butter lemon dressing

I got some sunchokes at the Greenmarket on Saturday and while I love their crisp texture, I’m always a bit stumped as to what to do with them. Sunchokes (a.k.a. Jerusalem artichokes) are the root tubers that grow on a certain species of sunflower. They look a bit like knobby ginger but have a slightly sweet nutty flavor and crisp texture of jicama or water-chestnuts.

If they’re young and fresh, you can either cook them or eat them raw. If they’re older, they tend to get a little starchy so they’re best cooked. I lucked out and found some beautiful young’uns with smooth delicate skin on Saturday, so I decided to go with a raw preparation.

The dressing adds a nice richness that compliments the nuttiness of the sunchokes and walnuts while the mint pulls it back a bit keeping it relatively light and refreshing.

salad
4 small sunchokes peeled and sliced
1-2 Tbs candied walnuts crumbled
4-6 mint leaves sliced into thin ribbons

dressing
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 Tsp kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

garnish
Pecorino Romano shaved with a vegetable peeler

To make the dressing, melt the butter with lemon juice in the microwave until the butter is just melted. Whisk to combine and add the salt and pepper.

Toss the sunchokes, walnuts and mint with the dressing and top with Pecorino Romano. Serve immediately.

Similar posts

Almost spring salad with honey roast garlic lemonette

Published
by
marc
on April 6, 2008
in Appetizer, Salad and Vegetable
. 8 Comments

Beet, apple and blue goat cheese salad with honey roast garlic lemonette

I’ve been craving spring for weeks now, but the weather around here has been a tease at best. Yesterday was the first Saturday with the slightest semblance of spring, so I headed up to the Union Square Greenmarket in hopes of finding asparagus, ramps, and maybe even some fiddleheads…

Not surprisingly, I was disappointed with the same old root veggies that the vendors have been hawking all winter, but the sprout vendor seemed to have an unusually large selection of sprouts, and I found a delightful bleu goat cheese. My mind was already assembling the beginnings of a schizophrenic salad, dreaming of a day soon when the stalls will be overflowing with tender green goodness.

Field cress, Miner lettuce, and MizunaSo it’s Sunday, gloomy and cold again. On goes the oven and in go a head of aging garlic I had sitting around, and a couple beets. Meanwhile my mind is being tantalized by the baby greens in the fridge and some bright yellow lemons. Torn between a winter salad and spring salad, I came to a delicious compromise.

A layer of sweet roast beets with a layer of crisp juicy apple topped with some mizuna, cress and miner lettuce that are dressed in a mellow garlic lemonette (lemon+vinaigrette) all topped with some salty barnyardy bleu goat cheese and some crunchy candied walnuts. Wow, that was a mouthful, but so is the flavor of this salad:-)

for roasting
1 beet washed and wrapped in foil
1 head garlic, tops chopped off, drizzled with EVOO and wrapped in foil

for salad
1/2 apple peeled cored and mandolined into “o”s (leave them stuck together to keep them from turning brown)
2 C baby greens (I used mizuna, field cress and miner lettuce)
bleu goat cheese
candied walnuts
fresh ground black pepper

for dressing
1 clove roast garlic mashed
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1/4 tsp honey
1/4 tsp kosher salt (add a little more if you feel it needs it)
fresh ground black pepper

Put the foil wrapped beet(s) and garlic on a baking sheet in a 375 degree oven. The garlic will be done in about 35 minutes, but the beets will need at least an hour (or until you can stick a knife all the way through).

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together. Peel the beet and slice into 1/8″ thick slices. Dress the beets with enough dressing to coat.

To assemble the salad, just put down 3 pieces of beet on a plate, put 1 or 2 slices of apple on top. Lightly dress the greens with some of the dressing (you won’t need it all), and place a handful of greens on top of the beets and apple. Top with some crumbled bleu goat cheese, candied walnuts and some fresh ground pepper.

Similar posts

Meyer lemon icebox cake

Published
by
marc
on April 1, 2008
in Dessert
. 5 Comments

Lemon icebox cake

Last week I posted a recipe for Lemon icebox cake ice cream. I gave it that name, not because it has anything in common with the original dessert, but because it tasted just like it. In the comments, michelle @ TNS left a note asking about the original “cake” from which it got its name, so here it is:-)

I love recipes with some history and this one dates back to the 1920’s when the National Biscuit Company (a.k.a. Nabisco), was looking for a way to promote their chocolate wafers. Apparently their marketing worked and this dessert became quite popular up through the 50’s and 60’s. I first had this in the mid 90’s at my best friend’s grandmother’s house, where I proceeded to eat about half the pan.

An icebox “cake” is actually cookies layered with cream. In this case I use lemon wafer cookies I got at Whole Foods, Meyer lemon curd, and lemon cream. Left in the fridge overnight, the wafers absorb liquid out of the creme and take on a firm cake-like texture without getting mushy. For being relatively simple, this is actually one of my favorite desserts. Here’s my take on this classic.

1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
3/4 C Meyer Lemon Curd to mix with the cream
3/4 C Meyer Lemon Curd to layer
1 box vanilla or lemon wafers

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add 3/4 cup lemon curd to the cream and fold it in gently with a rubber spatula.

In a 8 x 8 square baking dish or other suitable vessel, put down 1/3 of the cream and spread it around. Then put down a layer of wafers smearing the tops of each one with a good dollop of lemon curd. Repeat, finishing with a layer of cream.

Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.

Similar posts