Veal saltimbocca

" My secret pleasure is bacon, and any dish with bacon always tastes great. Here is a melt in the mouth bacon wrapped veal parcels, flavoured with garlic and sage. Saltimbocca has always intrigued me, as it literally means "jump in your mouth", and once you eat it, you will realise why ..." 

Serves 5 

Ingredients:

• 600 grams veal steaks
• 200 grams (around 12 rashers) bacon (or pancetta or prosciutto)
• 20 sage leaves (small)
• Flour for coating (approximately 4 tbsp)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 3 handfuls spinach (chopped)
• 1 tbsp capers (optional)
• 1 tsp lime/lemon juice 
• Paprika, salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Make either 5 big steaks or 10 small veal steaks from 600 grams of veal
2. Beat the veal steaks with a mallet, till they are very thin ( as thin as you can manage without tearing them)
3. Season the steaks with salt, pepper and paprika to taste 
4. Press 2 sage leaves on each small steak, or 4 in each big steak 
5. Use 10 rashers of bacon, by wrapping 1 rasher of bacon, around each of the veal steak and beat a couple of times with the mallet
6. Season the flour with salt, pepper and paprika 
7. Cover the veal steaks lightly in the flour, removing any excess flour
8. In a frying pan add the olive oil and butter 
9. When the butter is foaming, add the veal, on high and then lower gas to medium, to get a nice golden crust
10. Add the garlic and the remaining sage leaves, all around the steak,s in the frying pan
11. Turn the veal steaks after 2-3 minutes 
12. Remove the veal steaks after another 2 minutes, and put them in a pre-heated oven till the rest of the dish is ready, leaving pan juices, garlic, sage in the frying pan
13. Chop the remaining, 2 rashers of bacon and add to the frying pan, cooking off excess liquid
14. De-glaze the frying pan, with the wine, cooking off the alcohol ( Basically on high heat add the wine and let it cook till reduced by half)
15. Add lemon juice, spinach, capers (optional) and season to taste
16. Serve the dish, with the spinach as a base and top with the veal saltimbocca 

Notes:

• I prefer smaller size steaks, as then the flavours are more concentrated, planning for 2 pieces per person
• Be careful while seasoning the veal, flour, spinach with salt as the dish is salty due to the bacon additions
• Cooking time depends on quality, thickness of veal and required doneness, so adjust accordingly
• All preparations till step 7, can be done ahead of time, refrigerate veal covered with cling film till ready to cook
• Instead of veal, chicken could also be used for a chicken saltimbocca recipe

Chicken cacciatore

"Chicken cacciatore, pronounced as 'kah-chuh-tawr-ee'  is an Italian hunter dish, with as many recipes as versions. Mine is a rustic version, cooked by two Italian ladies in the countryside, made on TV. Hit and trial, has led to my preferred quantities and resulted in the most flavourful chicken dish, I have ever made and eaten. Redolent with fresh rosemary, the trick is in the slow cooking. This results in light clean fresh flavours and I hope you enjoy this as much as I do ..."

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (skinned and cut into 8 or more pieces)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 onions
• 2 dried red chillies (Broken into half)
• 1 bunch of rosemary
• 3 bay-leaves
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 3 tomatoes
• 8 olives
• 1/2 red pepper sliced
• 1/2 yellow pepper sliced

Method:

1. To peel tomatoes, use a knife for making a cross at one end.Drop the tomatoes in boiling water for a  minute, take out, cool, peel and chop the tomatoes.
2. Slice the onions in 1/2 rounds
3. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil,lower the flame, add the garlic, onions, red chilly, bay-leaves and stir them all for 2 minutes till the onions are translucent
4. Add the chicken pieces in one layer, and add the rosemary,salt, pepper to the mixture and brown till it is golden.(All on low flame)
5. Add the white wine, tomatoes, olives and cook them together till the chicken is done.If it is needed you can add a bit of water but the final dish should not be too watery
6. At the last minute add the red and yellow peppers and serve with crusty white bread

Notes:

• The entire cooking process should be done on low flame only
• Make sure the chicken is completely dry when you add it to cooking utensil
• Ideally, use a large base frying pan or a flat wok, such that the chicken can be browned in one layer
• If you like, you could mix the rosemary with sage, this dish works amazingly with fresh herbs. So make only when you have some in the house