Think Outside the Wing -Part 1

With the Super Bowl rapidly approaching, I wanted to give you another each snack to prepare. Since we are thinking outside the wing again, this snack is very similar to the mozzarella sticks prepared in many restaurants, but smaller and easier to eat, and a lot less messy.

I saw the original recipe in the new Williams-Sonoma catalog, which they adapted from SPQR Restaurant in San Francisco. I of course, had to add my take to their recipe as well. I thought it needed to be kicked up just a notch, so I added a little heavy cream, some panko crumbs, a little grating cheese, I can never leave anything alone.

I made up a small batch just to be able to post it quickly, but I will give you the recipe for the larger version. Good thing I only made a small batch as I sat there and ate them all by myself, at this rate with the blog, I'll need gastric bypass surgery twice :( but they were sooooooo good!!!!!

I will post the recipe for the bocconcini balls today and the sauce early tomorrow morning.

If you are planning to shop today, you will just need a 28 ounce can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes (if you can't find crushed, plum will work too), dried basil, and olive oil, you should have everything else on hand.

Fried Bocconcini Balls

2 lb. mozzarella bocconcini (about 50 pieces)
4 eggs
¼ cup milk
¼ cup heavy cream
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¾ cups plain bread crumbs
1¾ cups Panko crumbs
½ cup grating cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
A little grating cheese to sprinkle (optional)

Preheat an oven to 200°F. Remove the bocconcini from its liquid. Place the bocconcini on a paper towel-lined cookie sheet and let air dry or pat dry. 

Mix the milk and cream together and place in a small bowl. Add the eggs to the milk and cream mixture and whisk or beat until well blended. Set the mixture aside. Mix the bread crumbs with the grating cheese. Add in the Panko crumbs. Mix well. Place in a medium bowl. Put the flour in a medium bowl as well. Roll the bocconcini in the flour. The, dip the bocconcini in the egg mixture, and then put the bocconcini into the breadcrumb/Panko mixture; shaking off the excess in every step. Then, repeat the procedure again, take the bocconcini that you just breaded and dip it back in the flour, the egg, and the breadcrumb/Panko mix again. 
Line the prepared bocconcini on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.

Fill a deep fryer with vegetable oil and deep fry the bocconcini balls for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined dish. Season with salt and pepper. Then place the bocconcini balls onto a wire rack that is sitting on a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven while you are frying the rest of the bocconcini balls. Let the balls cool for at lease 7-8 minutes before you serve, and plese tell your guests to be careful when you bite into them because there is a little liquid that accumulates in the bocconcini balls when they fry that is very hot!

Place the bocconcini ball into a serving bowl or platter and sprinkle very lightly with a dusting of parmesan or other grating cheese if desired. Serve with the warm tomato sauce and a little bowl or shaker of grating cheese. Serves 8-10

Note: If you decide to cut the recipe in half, rather than try to cut the 1 3/4 cups of Panko or Breadcrumbs in half, I would choose one or the other and make it an even cup. For example if you cut the recipe in half, you need a total of two cups of the breadcrumb/Panko/grating cheese mixture, so either do 1 cup of breadcrumbs, 3/4 cup Panko crumbs and 1/4 cup of grating cheese, or 1 cup of Panko crumbs, 3/4 cup breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup grating cheese. It won't make any difference.

Here is what you will need for the recipe:

Preheat an oven to 200°F.



Remove the bocconcini from its liquid.
Place the bocconcini on a paper towel-lined
cookie sheet and let air dry or pat dry. 



Mix the cream


and milk together


and place in a small bowl.


Add the eggs


and whisk or beat


until well blended


Set the mixture aside.

Place the flour in a medium bowl


Mix the breadcrumbs


Add in the grating cheese


and the Panko crumbs



Place in a medium bowl and mix well


Roll the bocconcini in the flour



Then, dip the bocconcini in the egg mixture,


and then put the bocconcini into the


bread crumb/Panko mixture; shaking off
the excess in every step


Then, repeat the procedure again,
take the bocconcini that you just breaded
and dip it back in the flour,


the egg,


and the bread crumb/Panko mix again


This is what it will look like


Line the prepared bocconcini on a
cookie sheet lined with waxed paper
(I just used this paper plate because I
was just making a few for demonstration
and so I wouldn't eat a hundred and gain 50 pounds)


Place a sheet of paper toweling on a dish or platter


Fill a deep fryer with vegetable oil


Test the oil by dropping a piece
of bread crumb mix into it


and if it starts to sizzle it is time to add
the bocconcini balls to the oil


Use a slotted spoon to drop the bocconcini into the oil


and deep fry the bocconcini balls for


about 3-4 minutes until golden brown.


Remove with a slotted spoon


to a paper towel lined dish


Season with salt


and pepper


Then place the bocconcini balls onto a
wire rack that is sitting on a cookie sheet
and place in the preheated oven while you
are frying the rest of the bocconcini balls.

Let the balls cool for at least 7-8 minutes
before you serve them,

and please tell your guests to be careful
when they bite into them because there is a little liquid
that accumulates in the bocconcini balls
when they fry that is very hot!


Place the bocconcini balls into a serving bowl or platter
and sprinkle very lightly with a dusting of parmesan
or other grating cheese if desired.


Serve with the warm tomato sauce and
a little bowl or shaker of grating cheese on the side

Enjoy!!!

Go Eagles...oops, maybe next year!!!

It's Almost That Time of the Year

My husband Marc is a football-a-holic,


and even after living in New York for over 30 years is still a Philadelphia Eagles Fan...I use the word fan here sparingly, because fans of Philadelphia teams are a different breed. They root for their teams in strange ways, usually involving many explicatives, not fit for a G-rated blog. Even when their team is winning, they are yelling that they didn't play right, they deserve to lose, etc. It is quite an experience watching the games with them. If they (my sons) aren't together with their father when this is taking place, they call each other on the phone and commiserate with each other (really what they do is yell and curse into the phone.)

My husband's dream is to manage the Eagles for a day. He spends his spare time coaching from the sidelines, so much so that our good friends Rae and Steve bought him an an Eagles Jersey and an official referee shirt and whistle (we'll save that for another day.) He prepares Andy Reid's resume on a daily basis so when he fires him, he'll be ready to send it out.

As it draws closer to Super Bowl Sunday, where by some miracle of fate, the Eagles may actually find themselves playing, we need to think of Super Bowl food. Something easily picked up in your hand so that when you throw your hands in the air, it won't make a mess to clean up (less work for mother.)

I am a New Yorker, I root for the Mets, the Jets, sometimes even the New York Giants, it makes sports in this house quite interesting. It pains me that my children root for Pennsylvania teams, my gene pool was weakened somewhere along the line - for shame!

When I buy prepared sausage rolls locally, I find they are a little flat, just sausage and some cheese. I like to add the peppers and onions to my sausage roll. That being said, here is a recipe for a nice, easy, sausage roll you can make (you can even do it in advance and freeze it) but it smells so good when it bakes (like an Italian street fest) that I like to do it on game day. Once you make your own, you'll never buy them ready made again.

This recipe makes two rolls. I only make one today for demonstration purposes, so I eliminated the yellow pepper, and the Asiago Cheese.

Sausage Roll Supreme

2 packages fresh pizza dough (at room temperature)
2 (1 pound) packages Italian Sweet Sausage Links or bulk sweet sausage
1 (16 oz) mozzarella, cut into small cubes or shredded
3 peppers, one yellow, one red, one green, seeded and cut into thin strips
3 medium onions, peeled and diced
olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Garlic salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Asiago cheese grated about 1 cup
Parmesan cheese or grating cheese of your choice about ½ cup divided plus about 1 tablespoon for the top
Plain breadcrumbs about 4 tablespoons divided
1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon water beaten together for an egg wash


Place about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. Heat being careful, not to let it smoke. Add the sausage and sauté the sausage until it is thoroughly cooked. If you are not using bulk sausage, remove the sausage from the casing before browning it. Remove from the frying pan and set aside, draining off any excess liquid. In the same pan, heat about another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and butter together and sauté the peppers and onions until they are soft and caramelized about 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle with garlic salt, salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan and set aside, again draining off any liquid. Mix the sausage with the onions and peppers. When cool, add in the mozzarella and asiago and parmesan cheeses, or you can layer it on the loaf.

Roll one of the pizza dough’s into a large rectangle. Sprinkle ½ of the breadcrumbs over the dough. Divide the sausage mixture in half, and place on the dough leaving about 1-inch border all around. Brush the border with the egg wash. Roll the dough into a loaf of bread in a jelly roll style, and pinch the edges to seal it. Brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash and sprinkle a little parmesan cheese and garlic salt on the top. Place the loaf on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with PAM, or you can place it on a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, so you have two loaves. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for about 45 -60 minutes or until golden brown. Check after 20-25 minutes, if it is getting too brown cover with aluminum foil.

I know you are tired of hearing this but since there may be people new to the blog - always read through the recipe first. Prep anything that you can do in advance, put things away as you use them.

Here are the ingredients you will need for the sausage roll

Wash your peppers


Cut them in half


remove the seeds from the area surrounding the stem


Place the halves on a cutting board and cut into thin strips



Peel your onions


Cut them in half
Place the onions flat side down on a cutting board


and cut into thin slices



Grate your asiago cheese if you haven't bought it grated (obviously
open the package, I didn't put it in today, this is just a reminder)


Mix the mozzerella and asiago together (I didn't do this today,
since one of my guests didn't care for asiago)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.


Drizzle a little olive oil in a frying pan (non stick is good if you have one) If you haven't bought bulk sausage (by the way, if you like your sausage hotter, buy what you like) remove the sausage from the casing (use a scissor or knife, make the job easy to do) Heat the olive oil over low to medium heat so it doesn't burn


Place the sausage into the olive oil


Use a spoon to break up the sausage
(you can do this with your hands before
you put it in the pan if you want to)


The sausage should be in small pieces


Cook the sausage until it is brown and no pink shows


Use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage from the pan
Place the sausage into a strainer so any remaining grease will drain


Throw away any grease left in the pan


Add about 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan


another tablespoon of olive oil


Melt and


add the peppers


and onions


Season with garlic salt to taste


Add freshly grated black pepper to taste


Mix well


Saute for about 7-10 minutes until the onions are
caramelized, and the peppers are
softened, but still firm


Remove from heat with a slotted spoon and drain well. Set aside


Make your egg wash; beat one egg yolk with a tablespoon of water


Again, I just put a little water in the egg shell and mix it in



Having the pizza dough at room temperature makes it easier to work with

When I am doing the rolls, I prefer to lay out a large piece of the heavy duty aluminum foil (the really long roll) instead of a wooden board or counter top. The reason being, it makes it easier to transfer the roll to the baking sheet later. It also makes clean-up a lot easier. If you want to use a board or your counter, go right ahead.

Sprinkle a liberally amount of flour (I like Wondra flour here)
over the sheet of foil (this is called bench flour,
and it will prevent the dough from sticking



Place the dough on the flour and sprinkle the top with some more bench flour


Using your finger tips or a rolling pin, shape the dough into a large rectangle


I find it easier to use my hands,
turning the dough a few times,
but do what your comfortable with

When the dough reaches the desired size,
sprinkle liberally with unflavored breadcrumbs
(this will absorb any remaining liquid)


Since I am only making one loaf today,
I browned two pounds of sausage and I am setting aside
some for a sausage pizza tomorrow, once less step to do tomorrow


Sprinkle the sausage over the top of the dough leaving at least a 1-inch border all around


Place the onion - pepper mix over the sausage


Sprinkle the mozzerella and asiago cheese over the vegetables


Sprinkle the grating cheese on the top


Gently pull one end of the short side of the dough
and fold it up over the mix about 2 to 3-inches


Now begin to roll the long end of the dough about 1 turn


Fold the other short end of the dough in


Finish rolling the loaf


You will see the seam - try to pinch it into the loaf

Brush the seams with the egg wash and
try to push them together with your fingers



Spray a baking sheet with PAM


Using the foil fold it around the loaf
to almost make a basket support


Lift the foil over the prepared pan, and ease the loaf off
seam side down


Don't worry if you have a little breaking of the dough
Take a little piece of dough from the thicker ends
and patch up the holes, it doesn't have to be perfect,
no one will notice it when it's all baked.
Look at the upper left hand corner, I had to patch a piece there


Brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash



Sprinkle with a little garlic salt and grating cheese if desired


Bake for 45- 60 minutes or until golden brown. I usually check it after 20 minutes and if it is getting too brown cover it with foil. After 40 minutes, I check it in 5 minute intervals. Everything is cooked, so you just want it nicely brown.

You will see that there may have been a little leakage
of the cheese on the baking sheet, and some grease as well.
Let the loaf cool a little trying to keep it on a
slight angle to drain the grease away from the loaf.


Place on a rack when you can move it, over a sheet of paper towelling


Here is the patched piece after it is baked, it looks fine


Let bread cool about 30 minutes before you slice it

Place on a cutting board and


use a serrated blade (or electric knife) to slice it

I cut it into about 2- slices


You won't see any store bought roll
look like this when you cut it



Place on a serving dish


You can also cut each slice into 2 squares


You can serve it warm or at room temperature

Enjoy!

Please note: The reason I put the mistakes in, and show how things don't always look perfect, or come out perfect, is because, I make mistakes, as we all do when we cook. Years ago, cookbooks used to show things the way they would look in your kitchen. Today, the food stylist takes 10 hours to get the food ready before it hits the page of the cookbook. They airbrush, they use props, no wonder when you cook something, it never looks like the pictures. These pictures are taken in my kitchen, usually I am there by myself, trying to cook, photograph, and show you the real thing. Many of the visitors to my blog are novice cooks, and I don't want them to get turned off when something they make is not like the picture in a book or magazine.
This is real cooking, real time, and what real people like you and I eat. Have fun cooking because cooking is fun-da-mental!