Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [183]
1 cup flour, spread on a plate
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted as described and chopped into coarse pieces
The filtered water from the mushroom soak, see instructions
½ cup dry red wine
½ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
1. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the steaks without overlapping. Put in the olive oil and sliced onion, and turn on the heat to medium.
2. Cook until the onion becomes translucent, then dredge the steaks on both sides in the flour, and put them in the pan, turning the heat up to high. Cook the meat about 1 minute on each side, sprinkle it with salt and a few grindings of pepper, and transfer it with a slotted spoon to a warm plate.
3. Add the cut-up reconstituted mushrooms and the filtered water from their soak to the pan, turn the heat down to medium, and cook until the mushroom liquid has completely evaporated. Stir from time to time.
4. Add the wine and let it simmer away for a minute or so, stirring frequently, then put in the tomatoes with their juice and adjust heat to cook at a slow, but steady simmer. Add salt and pepper, correcting seasoning to taste, and stir from time to time. Cook for about 10 or 15 minutes, until the oil floats free from the tomatoes.
5. Turn the heat up to high, return the steaks to the pan together with any juices they may have shed in the plate, and turn them once or twice to reheat them in the sauce, but for no longer than 20 or 30 seconds. Transfer the meat and the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Pan-Fried Beef Braciole Filled with Cheese and Ham
VERY THIN matched slices of beef are coupled here, bracketing a filling of cheese and ham. What holds them together is a coating of flour, egg, and bread crumbs that sets as it is cooked and joins the edges. The cheese in the filling also does its part by melting and clinging to the meat.
For 4 servings
1 pound braciole steaks, sliced as thin as possible (see note below)
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
4 very thin slices of fontina cheese
4 thin slices prosciutto OR boiled unsmoked ham
1 egg
Whole nutmeg
Vegetable oil
1 cup flour, spread on a plate
Fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs, spread on a plate
Note Braciole steaks come from the center cut of the top or bottom round. If they are taken from the broadest section of the round, the slices will be very long, about 10 to 12 inches. In this case, you only need 4 slices, which you will then cut in half. If the slices are from the narrower end section, you’ll need 8 of them, which you will leave whole. If they are any thicker than ¼ inch, have your butcher flatten them some, or do it yourself as described.
1. Pair off the braciole slices that are closest in size and shape. Place one above the other and, if necessary, trim the edges so that the slice above matches the one below it as closely as possible, without large gaps or overlaps.
2. In between each pair of braciole sprinkle salt and pepper, and put a slice of fontina and one of prosciutto. Center the fontina so that it does not come too close to the edges of the meat. Fold the prosciutto over, if necessary, so that it does not protrude beyond the edge of the braciole. Line up the upper and lower half of each pair of meat slices so that they coincide as closely as possible.
3. Break the egg into a small bowl, and beat it lightly with a fork, adding a tiny grating of nutmeg—about ⅛ teaspoon—and a pinch of salt.
4. Choose a skillet that can subsequently accommodate the braciole without overlapping, put in enough oil to come ¼ inch up the sides, and turn on the heat to high.
5. Turn each pair of braciole in the flour, handling them carefully to avoid their coming apart. Make sure the edges are sealed with flour, then dip them in the beaten egg and dredge them in the bread crumbs.
6. As soon as the oil is quite hot, slip the braciole into the pan. The oil is ready when it sizzles