Salad with Prosciutto and Gorgonzola

At my family's holiday table, there is one salad that keeps coming back year after year. It's really a pretty simple salad, with a few bold flavors that combine for a bold, crunchy, Italian flavor that is sure to be a crowd pleaser. It is a bit tough to pin down a recipe for this salad, because it just sort of comes together (as a team effort usually). All of us siblings are usually in the kitchen asking "is that enough prosciutto? I should add more, shouldn't I?" or "pass the gorgonzola, I'll just add the rest of the container. I wasn't going to do anything with the leftovers anyway..."

So as you're putting this together in your own kitchen, keep that in mind, and remember that you can add as much (or as little, but where's the fun in that?) as you like. 

It starts with chopped hearts of romaine with some thinly sliced red onion mixed in. Add some mixed greek olives, crumbled gorgonzola cheese and sliced prosciutto that has been lightly fried until crispy. I've intentionally left the amounts out here, so that you can make this salad for one or for your next big party. As a guideline, I usually use about 1/2 medium onion with 1 bag of romaine hearts, 1/3 pound prosciutto, and 6 ounces of gorgonzola. I buy the olives in bulk at the local specialty market olive bar, and you can add as many or as few as you like.
To make the dressing, combine ~2 parts olive oil with ~1 part red wine vinegar, add salt, pepper, powdered mustard and oregano. Sweeten the dressing with a bit of honey. For about 1/2 cup total dressing, use approximately 1 tsp mustard, 1Tbsp oregano and honey to taste.

Chicken Saltimbocca

I'm not ready to admit that winter is here. Granted, this year it has been a long time coming. Summer held on long past its expiration date, and then the mild far weather lasted far longer than I had any right to expect it to. I mean, 50 degrees in January? In Minnesota? But now it is snowing, and we've gone from record setting high temperatures back to somewhere in the single digits... sigh.

But, if it it going to be cold outside, then we had better have some real comfort food. Translated, that means crispy chicken cutlets, seasoned with sage and prosciutto and finished with a decadent sauce. The perfect accompaniment to this decadence is some skin on garlic mashed potatoes. Scrumptious. 

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• fresh sage leaves
• 4 slices prosciutto
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp capers in vinegar
• 2 artichoke hearts canned in water, quartered
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp butter

 To make the chicken cutlets, place the boneless, skinless chicken breasts into a 1 gallon heavy duty ziploc bag with a bit of water (to prevent tearing the chicken). Pound the chicken breasts one at a time, until they are evenly thin with a rolling pin.

 Beat one egg, brush on both sides of the chicken and lightly dredge in flour. Season both sides with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

 Brown chicken on both sides. Because it is quite thin, it will cook through quickly. Don't overcook it, or it will become tough.

 Lay the sage leaves across the top of the chicken, then cover each cutlet with 2 slices of prosciutto.

Add garlic to pan, return chicken, prosciutto side down. Cook just until prosciutto begins to brown. Turn chicken. 

 Deglaze pan with white wine, add lemon juice, capers and artichoke heart quarters. Let sauce cook down for a couple minutes, and finish with butter.
Serve with garlic mashed potatoes, and enjoy!

Steak and Peppers

Here is another entry from the kitchen of my fantastic sister. Although, as you'll see, she can't really take all the credit for this one. And although it isn't the most flavorful or most complex dish our father makes, it has been a family favorite for a long time.

This is probably one of my favorite dishes Dad makes.  It is a simple combination of steak, onions, carrots, and peppers with a soy sauce tang and some serious chili spice.  The peppers release a distinctive smell when you start them in the pan and the instant I smell it I know good things are coming!  

If you don't have a wok (embarrassingly enough I do not) a cast iron skillet does the job just fine.  The key is to stir, stir, stir the vegetables and not to touch the meat!  

First start the chilies in the pan to get that lovely spicy oil all through the cooking oil.  Do not dice the chilies, leave them whole and remove them before serving.  Now that my family is completely addicted to spicy food (and why we think it is awesome that Christopher can burn off your taste buds!) I use 3 whole dried chilies, but you could use just 1 or 2 if you are not a fan of that burning feeling on your lips. Next, add the grated ginger to the pan and cook for 30 seconds.

Then you sear the meat in the seasoned oil, turning/tossing once so that each side gets all caramelized and delicious.  Once each side is browned, remove the meat to a plate and add the vegetables to the pan. Order is important here, according to how you like your vegetables done.

I like my vegetables (with the exception of the onions) to be crunchy.  However you like them done, keep continuously tossing them to prevent burning since the pan is kept so hot.  I would start the carrots and bell peppers first, they take the longest to cook.  Cook for 3 minutes, then add the onion.  Cook the onion till it is translucent then add the meat back cooking till your veggies are done how you like them. *Note from Mae: often celery is added to this recipe, and it adds welcome crunch! Feel free to experiment with adding extra veggies, building from the base of peppers and onions.

Combine the soy sauce, water, and arrowroot then add to the pan.  Cook till the sauce thickens.  I like more sauce so I use ½ cup water.  Serve this on top of white or brown rice.

• 1-3 chili peppers (if dried, soak in hot water to reconstitute)
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• ½ pound steak, cut into thin strips
• 1 bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1 medium onion, cut into thin strips
• *1-2 stalks celery, sliced diagonally into 1/2" thick pieces
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¼ - ½ cup water
• 1 Tbsp arrow root