Grilled Pork Steak & Grilled Onions

Okay this is a real summertime favorite of mine. It's simple, easy, economical with very little ingredients, and its dynamite! If you don't have a grill, or it happens to be winter, you can do this in a saute pan. It works just as well.



Here we go.....


Pork Steaks with Gilled Onions

 For the Marinade:

¼             cup         Extra Virgin Olive Oi

1              tsp.        Salt

½             tsp.        Black Pepper

½             tsp.        Granulated Garlic

1              tsp.        Chopped Fresh Garlic

1 ½         tsp.        Dried Oregano
The juice of 2 lemons

Mix the marinade in a bowl and pour it over the pork steaks. This should be enough for 4 steaks. Allow them to marinade at least a couple of hours, overnight is even better.

Meanwhile, slice 4 onions. Toss them in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of Olive Oil, a little salt, and a pinch of sugar. Wrap them in a piece of foil and place the foil package DIRECTLY ON TOP OF THE HOT COALS IN THE GRILL. This will allow them to caramelize nicely.

Grill the Pork Steaks over an open flame to an internal temperature of 155° (or until they’re “done”). Serve them with a lemon wedge.

Buon Appetito!

Pasta e Piselli

Well, this is more of a tip than a recipe but here goes....

As you're boiling your pasta, add 2 cups of frozen peas to the water 5 minutes before your pasta is done. But, make sure that your water is boiling fiercely or the peas will inhibit the water from coming back to a boil. Then, mix some sauce (not too much!!) with the pasta after you drained it, add a couple spoons of grated cheese, and you have perfect Pasta e Piselli!

Buon Appetito!

Polpette Perfetti

Okay so, aside from Marinara Sauce (recipe below) a recipe that people always want to learn is a good meatball. Let’s talk about what makes a good meatball. Well, first it has to be soft, almost too soft. If you throw it against the wall, they should splat all over and not bounce back to you! Second, they should be small. A real Italian meatball isn’t what you find in “Italian” restaurants that look like baseballs. WRONG!! Third, it has to taste good, of course. Here’s a great recipe below that totally qualifies. Please be aware that pork is an essential ingredient. You don’t necessarily need beef (or veal for that matter). But you do need pork. Remember: It’s good to get beefed, but it’s better to get porked.

1          lb.        Ground Beef (about 90% lean but no more)

1          lb.        Ground Pork

2          Tblsp.  Chopped Fresh Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley

½         tsp.       Salt

¼         tsp.       Fresh Ground Black Pepper

¼         tsp.       Granulated Garlic

1          cup       Plain Bread Crumbs-God knows what’s in the pre-seasoned ones. Schifo!

1 ¼      cup      Grated Cheese (Parmigiano, Romano, etc…)

2                      Eggs

1 1/3    cups     Room-Temperature Water

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.

Fill a frying pan about 1” with Olive Oil. Add a healthy scoop of lard to the oil and melt it. Allow the oil about 3 minutes to get hot. With wet hands, roll the meatballs (about as big as a golf ball) one at a time and carefully drop them into the hot oil. Fry them until they are nice and brown on both sides. Place them onto a plate lined with paper towels.

At this point you can either freeze them or cook them in Marinara Sauce (recipe below) for about 30 minutes.

Makes about 30-35 meatballs.

Buon Appetito!

Stuffed Peppers

I write you tonight from in front of my computer eating a dish of lentils that I made the other day using a little pork fat left over from sausage making. They're delicious, thanks to the addition of one of God's greatest culinary gifts...pork.

Which brings me to my point. Pork. The reason why I chose January to talk about pork is because in Italy, the month of January is when each family slaughters a pig to create such great delights as dried Italian Sausage, Sopressata, Capicolla, and good ol' pork lard.

But let's start out slow. We'll eeeease into things like pork fat. Let's start with a great old fashioned recipe using ground pork....and maybe a little lard.

Stuffed Peppers

4                        Large Green and/or Red peppers
2         lbs.         Ground Pork (a mix of course and fine would be nice)
6         slices      Wheat or White bread, torn-up by hand and soaked in enough milk to cover the bread
1                        Egg
1 1/2   tsp.         Salt
1/2      tsp.         Pepper
1/2      tsp.         Granulated Garlic
1 1/2   cup         Cooked White Rice
3/4      cup         Finely Chopped Onion sauteed until lightly brown

Sauce
1                        Large Can Ground Tomatoes
1          tsp.        Salt
1/2       tsp.        Pepper
1          Tbl.       Chopped Fresh Parsley
1          Tbl.       Melted Lard

Okay so, take the core out of each pepper and cut them in half from top to bottom. Set them aside into a baking dish. Mix all the ingredients together and set aside. Season the inside of each pepper half with some salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Put a generous amount of filling into each pepper half and put the pepper halves back into the dish.

For the sauce, mix together all of the sauce ingredients with the addition of 1/2 can (tomato can) of water and pour the sauce over the peppers.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour & 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and serve.

I'll be back next week with another great pork dish and remember: It's good to get beefed, but it's better to get porked!

BUON APPETITO!!