Antipasto, Part 2
Ingredients: Cured hams: Prosciutto di Parma, Salame Milano, Salame Napoli, Coppa Parma; black olives
I opened the packages and piled multiple slices of prosciutto and salami on a plate, then dumped some black olives in the middle. It was painstakingly difficult.
Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, ‘mini’ tomatoes (grape, cherry, champagne, whatever), black olives, feta cheese, olive oil, white wine vinegar
Salads are easy, of course. Just chop up all of the veggies and toss in a bowl. Then crumble the feta cheese on top.
The kicker here was the vinaigrette. I was planning to use SteelyD’s suggestion of EVOO and Balsamic vinegar for the dressing, but the day of, I realized that I was out of olive oil. I don’t like the brand that they have in my local grocery, so I went downtown to the import store to get some better quality stuff. I found a small bottle of DeCecco brand Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva il Fruttato, which I assumed had a light, ‘fruity’ flavor.
Nearby was the vinegar, and I saw a small bottle of white wine vinegar (Fini brand). I had a brain explosion, and figured that the combination of those two would be an awesome vinaigrette, so I picked them up. Turns out that they did make a fantastic combination–a light, fruity vinaigrette with just the right amount of vinegar tanginess. Worked very well.
Contorno
Ingredients: asparagus, string beans, garlic, bacon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar
I kind of experimented with this one, and it turned out OK. Maybe a bit over complicated, though.
I took asparagus and string beans and cut them to 3-4 inch lengths.
Anyway…
I let them bake while I worked on the main course. When that was finished, I took them out of the oven and unwrapped them (didn’t use the bacon after this–I ate it for breakfast the next day).
I heated up a bit of olive oil in a skillet and crushed the remaining garlic and sauteed it.
I then added the veggies and the roasted garlic to the skillet and sauteed them briefly.
At the end, I splashed a bit of balsamic vinegar into the skillet, sauteed for a few more seconds, then transferred to the plate.
Turned out OK, I think.
Results to follow.
Ingredients: filet mignon, bacon, mikan, olive oil, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, dried basil, salt, pepper
The main course: this is where shit gets fun.
Here’s a close-up of my meat. snicker
I did the standard cut-the-filets-down-to-smaller-sizes-and-wrap-in-bacon thing, and then marinated them for a few hours, turning them over about halfway through.
The marinade was: olive oil, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, dried basil, salt & pepper, plus, on the suggestion from SteelyD, the juice from a citrus fruit, in this case, one fresh mikan.
I peeled the fruit and split the segments, squeezed the juice into the marinade, then dropped the pulverized flesh into the dish as well.
One more shot of my meat. (yeeaahhh!)
This is post-marinade, pre-grill.
I grilled them in the broiler on a low heat, with the fruit flesh on top to add a bit more flavor.
I took a small bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and mikan juice, and slowly heated it in a sauce pan, stirring constantly.
Then, when it had heated enough, I put a few segments of mikan in and let it simmer for a few minutes.
When the steaks were finished, I unwrapped the bacon and cut it into smaller pieces, then sliced the filets longways? (like roast beef) and served them over the bacon.
Then I placed the fruit on the meat slices and poured the sauce over all of it.
You can see the finished veggies there to the left.
And, once again, the full spread: The Anabolic Valentine’s Day Dinner.
Something to mention: my cooking appliances are not the same as ones in the U.S. I don’t have a ‘regular’ oven or broiler, I have a microwave convection oven (that doesn’t work very well) and a broiler designed to be used for fish. This is why I didn’t give cooking times or temperatures; they will be different if you’re using regular American appliances. FYI.
Food pr0n to follow (this is where I figured out the ‘close-up’ setting on the camera).
