Those with even a basic understanding of food history probably know that the hamburger as we know it today is an American adaptation of the “Hamburger-style steak” which originated in the now-German city of Hamburg, and was brought to this country by immigrants from Schleswig-Holstein. Demonstrating typical cunning and salemanship, all the Americans did was make this dish portable, and, having done so, they set out to make the world obese and diabetic by drowning these wildly popular sandwiches in hydrogenated fat and salt, and selling them for $1 each.

A marginally less successful, but somewhat healthier, tactic was adopted by Italian immigrants in Argentina, who, when they found that chicken was viewed with only slightly less disdain than fish in their new country, modified their recipe for pollo alla Milanese to include the ubiquitous Argentine beef. Like shooting fish in a barrel, once launched these new breaded and fried beef cutlets quickly became a hugely popular alternative to a steak across Argentina – a country that, since it, statistically, eats more beef per head than anywhere else on Earth, was likely crying out for alternative ways to serve their national dish.

Known as milanesas, they can be found in one form or another on menus and in grocery stores throughout Buenos Aires: most are beef, though chicken and veal (de ternera) are also typical, and they come in a variety of arrangements, the most common of which seems to be alla Napolitana.  This latter dish consists of a breaded cutlet topped with prosciutto (or cooked ham), melted cheese [cuartirola (sic) [Quartirola Lombarda] or Port Salut] and a splash of chunky, crimson tomato sauce, and is often served with fries (papas fritas). Not many people know this, but it is not, in fact, named for Neapolitan-style pizza, or the way the dish is served in Naples, rather it is so-called because it was first served in Jose Napoli’s, now-defunct, Buenos Aires Pizzeria Napoli establishment in the 1930s.

Indeed, this dish, remarkably similar to the French poulet cordon bleu, can be found throughout much of South America, and, in Chile, an almost identical dish is served as Milanesa Kaiser, or simply Escalopa, reflecting, perhaps, more the original central European roots of the dish in the Austrian Wiener Schnitzel, than its later variant the Lombardian cotoletta alla Milanese. In fact, such is the popularity of this technique of breading pounded meat and then shallow frying it, that you can find similar dishes throughout much of the western hemisphere with the wonderfully decadent Southern dish of chicken fried steak being perhaps the best known in this country.

And, resembling the frankly magnificent “chicken parm” sandwiches found in almost every pizza joint in the north-east US, the milanesa also sometimes appears in sandwiches in Argentina. As we had recently received some delicious samples from Napa, Ca., company GL Mezzetta, from their new (to the north-east US) Napa Valley Bistro line, including a jar of tomato sauce and one of peperoncini (pickled hot peppers), with the challenge of using them to create a contest-winning sandwich, we decided to use them to build ourselves a delicious, gut-busting torta de milanesa alla Napolitana.

An hour later, full and sporting messy red-sauce mustaches, we began to wonder how come milanesas do not seem to have had quite the same bloating effect on the Argentine population as the hamburger has in America…

Mezzetta Napa Valley Bistro Products
Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
Altogether this is an excellent jarred sauce and beats the pants off its competition. It’s pleasantly chunky; the wine provides a nice rounded flavor and doesn’t overpower the tomatoes with too much acid; and the small pool of olive oil that had settled on the top of the sauce was a good sign, showing both that it included olive oil and that it wasn’t fully emulsified with stabilizers or other preservatives. Other bonuses for a jarred sauce include the clear listing of “fresh” ingredients on the label, rather than their dried or powdered counterparts commonly found in regular, generic bottled pasta sauce. Our only complaint, and this is a matter of personal taste, is that it was slightly too heavy on the oregano. If you’re a fan of oregano in your pasta sauces though, this is probably the finest jarred sauce you can find.

Make That Sandwich
If you’d like to enter your sandwich to the GL Mezzetta Make That Sandwich Contest, click here and read the guidelines and other small print, and submit your entry. The grand prize is $25,000!! Good luck, happy sandwich-making and buen provecho!

I’ve talked about my sweet ‘ole grandmom, Anna, a few times on this blog. This was a woman who waited tables at the Golden Nugget (now Bally’s Grand) casino (R.I.P.) in Atlantic City until she retired at 76. This is the same woman who would wear winter gloves in the summer because her tiny hands would get cold. Once she angrily blamed the family for “stealing” her gloves, only to open up the dishwasher to unload and found them stuck to a few plates. This was also a woman who would wrap up uneaten meals and sandwiches from her shift at the restaurant and pawn them on us. This was also a woman who was so excited to get 8 free place settings of Golden Nugget-labeled china before it became Bally’s (thank god she did not feature these prominently in her non-existent china cabinet!).

This was also a woman who would cook for her family every night but passed virtually no family recipes on to me. I still get sad that I didn’t push her more to try and remember all her old-school recipes before she died. She loved to say in her deep, raspy voice, “Oh, Amy, ya know I don’t remember how to do that!”. But even into her final years, Anna could still make a few of her classics really, really well, and without a recipe. One of my favorites was her ‘Scarole soup – that’s Italian-American speak for “Escarole Soup” or, as it is often called in my family, Italian Wedding Soup.

When researching about the origins of Italian Wedding Soup I discovered that, duh, this is only loosely based on a traditional Italian soup called Minestra Maritata and has nothing to do with weddings (the name literally means a marriage of soup). Minestra Maritata is a Neapolitan soup made with greens and meat, hence the “marriage” of those two ingredients.

In my Italian-American fantasy, my great grandparents on my grandmom’s side came from Naples and brought their Minestra Maritata recipe with them to the new world. Over time, the pieces of meat became tiny meatballs and the greens were the cheap and delicious escarole. Too bad… I’ll never be able to ask my grandmom if my fantasy is true! There are many variations of this soup but, of course, I think Anna’s is the best. You could have this done from start to finish in about 1/2 hour.

ANNA’S ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP (AKA ‘SCAROLE)

Ingredients for Meatballs:

• 1/2 pound minced veal
• 1/2 pound minced pork
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano
• pinch of garlic powder
• pinch of onion powder
• 2 tablespoons of parsley
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (maybe more if mixture is too wet)
• salt and pepper

Other Ingredients:

• 8 to 10 cups of chicken stock
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 head of escarole, bottom chopped off and greens cleaned (chop in half if you don’t like long greens)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup parmigiano reggiano
• 1/2 box ditalini pasta (some people use pastina)

What to do:

1. To make meatballs: Add all the top ingredients together and mix with hands. Pinch a bit of the mixture and roll into a small ball. Each meatball should not be more than an inch wide.
2. Heat up a bit of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and fry the baby meatballs on each side – about 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on some paper towels.
3. Meanwhile, in another pot, add a bit of oil and saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes until a bit softer. Add the chicken stock and keep at a simmer. Add the escarole.
4. Add the pasta, stir it around and allow to cook in the stock – keep aware of the time so you don’t cause the pasta to go mushy. About two minutes before the pasta is done, add the meatballs back to the pot.
5. Beat together the two eggs along with the parmigiano reggiano. When pasta is done, kill the heat and slowly add the egg/parmigiano mixture to the soup while stirring.
6. Serve in big bowls with some crusy bread and a glass of chianti.
7. Be aware that the pasta keeps soaking up the liquid after cooking, so this is a soup that needs to be eaten immediately. Alternatively, you could cook the pasta separately and add in as much of it as you want to, reserving some for leftovers so they aren’t soggy.

Check out some other posts you may enjoy:

• Chicken with Figs
• South African Hot Toddies
  
• Fried Lamb Chops with Balsamic Rosemary Reduction
• Italian Roasted Pork with Salsa Verde

Last week we discovered that the 5-day forecast was calling for a week’s worth of blue skies and summer-like weather. Not bad considering this past Sunday marked the beginning of Fall. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do love fall. But, like many, there’s something about summer that just excites me like no other season. Maybe it’s that whole “school mentality” thing where we are all just programmed to believe that there’s an end to work once Memorial Day comes? I changed careers 3 years ago from a corporate Marketing job to a School Counseling job in the NYC Public School System so now I’m back to feeling like I did when I was 10 year old. No more pencils, no more books! No more teacher’s dirty looks!! Even as an professional, paid adult, there still are some teacher’s I can’t stand! Maybe I know that when summer begins, I can go “down the shore”. Anyone from Philly or NJ will know what I mean… we don’t say we’re “going to the beach” we always say we’re going “down the shore”. I am lucky to have family that owns a house down the shore, only about 4 houses from the beach. Summer to me means going to the shore.

When we discovered the weather forecast, we decided that maybe our “summer ends after Labor Day” rule would be pushed aside. We loaded the car and headed “down the shore” with some of our cooking gear and ingredients. My mom and dad’s house isn’t very well-equipped with any type of cooking stuff. Our shore house is kind of a shack – a place where you don’t need to worry about washing the sand off your feet before you enter. A place where the oven broke 3 years ago and has never been fixed because you can always use the grill on the deck as your oven. The kind of place you may walk in and say, “eh, what’s all the hype about?” but then spend some time in and relax immediately. So with spices, a whole fish and our chef’s knife in tow, we headed south.

Saturday night we decided to have a seafood fest with tapas recipes in mind. It was just the two of us eating, so it ended up being a bit more than the normal tapas portions. We started with a calamari and potato with lemon and wine tapas, moved on to a Portuguese-inspired littleneck clams with white wine and chorizo (using pan con tomate – grilled bread topped w/ garlic and tomato – to ‘shoop’ up the sauce) and finished with a whole fried snapper topped with a spicy parsley and garlic sauce.

CLAMS WITH WHITE WINE AND CHIORIZO

Ingredients (for 2)

• 2 pounds of clams (cleaned)
• 2 chorizo links – chopped into small, diced pieces
• 1 small spicy hot red pepper (optional)
• 1/2 of large spanish onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or sliced
• 1 diced ripe tomato
• 2 cups of hot clam stock (or chicken stock)
• 3/4 cup of dry white wine
• olive oil
• S&P
• minced parsley

What to do:

1. Saute your diced chorizo in your pot until they release some fat and take on a darker color. With a slotted spoon, remove chorizo and keep on the side for later.
2. Using the rendered chorizo fat (you may need to add a bit more olive oil if necessary), saute your sliced onions until the absorb the color of the chorizo fat and are slightly translucent. Add minced garlic and saute for another minute.
3. Add your white wine and simmer for 30 seconds.
4. Add your stock and S&P (don’t add any more salt if the stock is salted already). Let simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the clams and put the lid on your pot. The clams should start to open after about 4 minutes.
6. Remove lid and add back the chorizo bits. Sprinkle with your diced tomato and chopped parsley.

SQUID WITH GOLDEN POTATOES (Serves about 4 tapas-style)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. new potatoes
• 1 small onion, sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb. cleaned squid, bodies thinly sliced in rings
• 3 to 4 tablespoons dry white wine
• parsley, chopped
• lemon juice (fresh, of course!)
• olive oil
• S&P

What to do:

1. Boil your new potatoes in salted water until soft – about 15 minutes.
2. Heat up a good amount of olive oil (about 4 tablespoons) in a pan. When potatoes are tender, remove from water and put into the oil. Cook until they turn brown and crispy. NOTE: We wanted to use new pototoes, but instead used Yukon Gold. These potatoes were delish but the consistency of the dish changed…the yukon gold (due to it’s high starch content) created almost a bit of a chunky sauce.
3. As the potatoes are browing, add your sliced onions and cook for about 7 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
5. Add your squid slices and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add your wine and cook for another minute.
7. Mix everything together if you have not done so yet. Add your parsley, S&P and some lemon juice.

WHOLE FRIED RED SNAPPER WITH A PERSILLADE (AKA Garlic and Parsley Sauce)

Ingredients:

• 1-2 lb. whole snapper (any other mild fish would work well), cleaned, gutted and scaled with head and tail
• vegetable oil (enough to deep fry the fish) – I used a whole bottle
• 1 1/2 cup of white flour
• 1 cup of water (stream in slowly, you may need a bit more or a bit less – you want your batter to be THICK, not thin)
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 cups chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 6 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
• 1 mortar and pestle (could be optional, but it helps make a better sauce)
• 1/2 of lemon

What to do:

1. Put your oil in your pot and start heating it (on high).
2. Pat your fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper on and inside the body
3. With a sharp knife, make three diagonal slits (about 1/2 inch or so apart) on each side of the fish, deep enough to hit the bone (about 1 inch). This will help when eating the fish.
4. Meanwhile, take your chopped parsley and your finely chopped garlic and mash it all together in your mortar and pestle (just mash it up a bit to release more of the flavors of the herb and garlic – do not make it into a paste).
5. In a bowl, mix together your flour (add a pinch of salt and pepper) and water to make a batter. Feel free to add the water gradually and stir into the flour, adding more as needed. You don’t want a thin batter. Dip your whole fish into the batter and make sure the excess batter drips off.
6. When the oil is hot enough, add the whole, batter fish and allow to fry until golden brown. Turn fish if not completely immersed in the oil. Probably takes between 6 to 9 minutes. When finished, take out and drain on paper towels.
7. Take your parsely/garlic mixture and put in a small sautee pan with enough olive oil to make a sauce and gently heat through on low. This will allow the flavors to lightly infuse with the olive oil. Heat through for about 4 – 5 minutes.
8. Plate your fish, squeeze some lemon juice on top of the fried fish then spoon on your warmed sauce. Enjoy!

CHECK OUT SOME OTHER POSTS YOU MAY ENJOY:

• Tame Tapas We Ate in Madrid/Tortilla Espanola Recipe
• Unusual Tapas We Ate in Madrid
• Jamon (Serrano/Iberico) – Delicious and Loved by Spaniards
• Cabrales Cheese – It’s a Bit of an Animal!
• WHOLE FISH BAKED IN SALT
  
• SWEET ANISE-FLAVORED SALMON IN A POUCH (SALMON EN PAPILLOTE)
• FETTUCCINE FRA’DIAVOLO WITH CRAB AND SHRIMP

You see, we are as open-minded as the next person, perhaps more so, on the subject of sandwiches and their various forms – rolls, sliced-bread, open-faced, toasted/untoasted, buttered or not, hot/cold fillings, etc., and the point we were trying to make in previous posts was that there are a lot of bad or average, overpriced sandwiches around that pale in comparison to a hearty lunch of last night’s leftovers. However, we admit that point may have been made clumsily or, indeed, not at all. Great sandwiches abound in America, which while is not the “dish’s” birthplace, is arguably the country in which one can find the most variety of fillings, and is definitely the place for the sandwiches’ two most famous incarnations, the hamburger and the hotdog.

Living in the north-east US there are a great variety of sandwiches, breads and fillings to choose from, even if we’re just talking about typical local foods and not those imported from other areas of the country or from overseas. In the last six months, my wife and I have hit several of the sandwich high-spots in our part of the world, eating lobster rolls in Rhode Island, Pat’s cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, and most recently, the giant Italian and meatball subs at the famous White House in Atlantic City, and we know there are many more great sandwiches out there to try.

Instant gratification may be the watchword in Atlantic City where the simple pull of a one-armed bandit or roll of a dice can yield unimaginable joy, but White House is clearly the exception to this rule. There it seems, the customer has to wait for their enjoyment. It is a widely held belief that if it’s worth having, it’s worth waiting for, and indeed, after spending most of an hour in line watching sandwich after sandwich being made, we were slavering at the prospect of finally sinking out teeth into one of these famous subs. So much so, in fact, that when we were told that the sausage-parmiggiano sandwich we had ordered would take 15-20 minutes to prepare, we caved in and switched our order to the much more speedy hot meatball sub instead – see above.

Quite apart from the wait to order, allowing you to figure out who many of the local and national celebrities are in the pictures lining the wall (check out the price of a sub in 1946 – 50cents! In fact, today they range from $5 to $7 for a over-stuffed “half”), there is a methodical process in the construction of a White House sub that was simultaneously fascinating and frustrating to watch. The careful layering of cold meats, cheeses and tomato slices on the more than 2 foot long Italian sub, followed by the practiced art of turning the edges of the fillings in on themselves with a long, flat knife, before cutting and wrapping was a sight to behold (and should be copied by every deli where as soon as you bite into the sandwich all the filling shoots out the other side!) but the pace of it was agonizing!

During our time in line, we discovered that even people who rang in their orders over the phone to collect later were told that there was at least a two hour wait, which probably would have been even more infuriating than showing up and having to queue. That said, the wait was quite enjoyable. There was a general sense of bonhomie present, as we all eagerly awaited our sandwiches. People in line were joking with each other and making fun of the celebrity hairstyles from the 80s and 90s, and comparing notes on how long they had to wait last time, while all the time glancing jealously at those people already enjoying their subs at one of the handful of booths.

When we finally got our sandwiches we were mightily impressed. Not only were they a far cry from the pre-made and soggy filth that is so prevalent in the city, but they were a gourmet treat, in their own way. The bread had more in common with a standard French baguette than with much of the soft, sweet, doughy long rolls that pass for “Italian bread” in American, being, as it was, firm and chewy. The mayonnaise was light and not overdone and the cold cuts were fresh, unbelievably plentiful, and filling, while not overwhelming the flavor and texture of the bread. Even the lettuce, which was the traditional iceberg variety, was well done. It wasn’t shredded like in normal delis but torn into crescent, half-moon shapes that fit perfectly, yet artfully, into the roll, and required the eater to bite them rather than suck them up as is the norm. All in all, a very fine sandwich, which lasted a wopping three days, and would have put many more recently-made subs to shame even in its final hour.

Then came the meatball sub. I have a very soft spot for warm, gooey, saucey sandwiches, and so had been very excited at the prospect of the sausage-parm sub. I was therefore dismayed upon learning that we’d have to wait even longer to get one, but if this meatball sub was my second choice that day, it would certainly be my choice for champion of the meatball sandwiches I’ve eaten. It was cheesy enough, but not too much so that it was stringy and too rich. The sauce was sweet without being sugary, and still retained some texture of the tomatoes in it. The meatballs were light and fell apart in your mouth, and weren’t held together by anything but meat, unlike the very mealy, floury meatballs you often find in subs. The sauce had soaked into the bread and, was, frankly, a beautiful thing, especially as we enjoyed it in sight of the architectural wonder that is the Trump Plaza!

Altogether, the atmosphere of the hallowed White House, combined with the anticipation, would have been a fine experience by itself, but the quality of the sandwiches really made it all worth it. I would encourage anyone passing through AC to visit the White House and sample any of their several enormous sandwiches, but to be aware that they close at 10:00p.m. on the nail every night — we’ve missed out before because of that curfew, so make sure you visit before you go gambling. For more details on the White House, it’s location, and some very appetizing pics, click here.

Next time we go, we’re going out of season (hopefully reducing the wait) and will try to remain patient enough to finally get the sausage parm sub. Also on the menu will be the White House cheesesteak, supposedly the best anywhere outside of South Philly.