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Chef2Chef Recipe Club - Volume 2 Issue 042 - February 26, 2002. Automatic system commands and Instructions: See end of Message ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Good Day Recipe Club, This weeks recipes from Chef Michael Elsner are along the Mediterranean theme, considered one of the healthiest diets in the world. Since the 1950s, health professionals have been studying the diets of the people of the Mediterranean. The people of Greece, particularly Crete, had the longest life expectancy in the world until the 1960s, followed by Southern Italy, Spain, and France. The important aspects of the Mediterranean diet are high intakes of cereals, grains, vegetables, dried beans, olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs, seafood, and fruit. Wine is taken with food in moderation. Meat and poultry are also eaten in moderation, with poultry more frequently served than red meat. Animal fats in the form of butter, cream and lard are not included in the diet. Much of the Mediterranean food and cooking found today can be traced back to times of antiquity. The area that compromises the Mediterranean consists of three continents and more than 15 countries. Some of the countries that influence the Mediterranean diet are: Portugal, southern Spain, southern France, southern Italy, Greece, Crete, southern Turkey, western Syria, western Lebanon, western Israel, northern Egypt, northern Libya, northern Algeria and northern Morocco. Today's recipe from Chef Michael is a veal dish and I've included a recipe for Green Lentil Soup. Bon Appétit! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Veal Saltimboca Ingredients: 2 veal eye-rounds (usually 12oz. Each) 12 sage leaves 12 thin slices of prosciutto ham 12 slices of Fontina cheese (about 2oz. Each) 8oz. Brown sauce Salt and pepper to taste Olive oil to sauté Flour as needed Method: Cut the veal into equal pieces (about 2oz each). You want to pound this out paper-thin. The easiest way to do this is to put plastic wrap down on your cutting board or counter, put the veal on the plastic and then cover the veal with more plastic. The plastic will allow the meat to expand rather then tear. Lay out your veal and place a sage leaf on each and cover with a slice of Prosciutto. I like to give the package a little pat to keep it together. Lightly dredge in flour and sauté in olive oil. Make sure you sauté the ham side first! Veal in this stage takes no time to cook so if you do the ham side first, you will heat the ham through and force the flavor of the ham and the sage into the veal. Before you flip veal, season with salt and pepper reducing the amount of salt you would normally use because of the amount of salt in the ham and cheese. My personal preference is to use no salt at all. Flip the veal and saute quickly for a minute or two. Now is the time to put the cheese on and you could do that if you were cooking one order but since we're doing four orders it would be best to transfer the veal to a sheet pan and melt the cheese in the broiler. When cheese is melted, shingle (overlap) three pieces per plate and ladle 2oz of brown sauce (or veal demi-glace) on top. TIP: My favorite way to eat this is to put it on top of Angel hair pasta and grilled asparagus. WINE TIP: Try a bold wine like a '97 Pinot Noir from the Robert Sinsky Vineyard. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is a link to one of our advertisers at Chef2Chef.net. They carry the finest line of foods and specialty products from Spain available on the Internet. Tienda.com http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=65 Over 250 imported Spanish foods, including the elusive smoked paprika & jamon serrano. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Green Lentil Soup Serves 4-6 Ingredients: 1 cup Green lentils 5 Tablespoons Olive Oil 3 onions, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, crushed 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 2-1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock Salt and ground black pepper 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro Instructions: Put the lentils in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and rapidly boil for 10 minutes. Drain. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a pan and saute' two-thirds of the chopped onions with the garlic, cumin and turmeric for 3 minutes, stirring. Add the lentils, stock and 2-1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Saute' the remaining onion in the remaining oil until golden. Use the potato masher to lightly smash the lentils and make the soup pulpy. Reheat gently and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the soup into bowls. Stir the chopped cilantro into the sauteed onion and sprinkle on the soup. Serve with warm bread ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Shopping Lists: 2 veal eye-rounds (usually 12oz. Each) Fresh sage leaves 12 thin slices of prosciutto ham 12 slices of Fontina cheese (about 2oz. Each) 8oz. Brown sauce Salt and pepper Olive oil Flour 1 cup Green lentils Olive Oil 3 onions 2 garlic cloves Cumin seeds, crushed Ground turmeric 2-1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock Salt and ground black pepper Fresh cilantro ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Chef2Chef RECIPE CLUB automatic system commands: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HELP: reply with the subject line: help UNSUBSCRIBE: reply with the subject line: remove club SUBSCRIBE: reply with the subject line: subscribe club ALTERNATIVE: http://chef2chef.net/forms/form-entry.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCHIVE: All Club e-mails are archived each Friday at: http://chef2chef.net/news/club/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- LIST PURGE: We attempt to send email for 24 hours. If not successful, your address may be removed. If in doubt, re-subscribe. 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