Carmela Soprano's Chicken Paillards with Tomato-Olive Salad and Anna Sultana's Brodu tat- Tigliega (Stewed Chicken in Broth, Maltese Style)

Last week I tried a recipe from the Fit for a Bride Chapter.  Enough said about how Roasted Potatoes could just drive a Bridezilla like Janice over the edge.

This week Paul was in Ottawa where they are showing his cartoon at The Ottawa International Animation Festival.  

Just your basic business trip.

Time to crack open the Small Events for Women Only chapter in Carmela's Entertaining with The Sopranos, invite some gal pals over and entertain them, New Jersey-style.

We live in Winnipeg's North End.

Enough said.

Sometimes things just work out, you know?  There is a recipe for Chicken Paillards with Tomato-Olive Salad.  Sobeys has boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale.  I still have some tomatoes left from my garden. 

It was meant to be.

Okay.  I pounded the chicken breasts until they were 1/4 inch thick.  Why I'll never know.  But, I followed the recipe and beat the little boobies.  

I thought I had to since I cheated on the salad.  

Carmela uses mesclun.  

Hello?  

Did I mention I live in the North End.  

Romaine or Iceberg.  Take your pick. 

Easy olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Don't forget the black olives.

Back to the breasts... after the pounding, they are tossed with olive oil, thyme (or basil), salt and pepper.  Then they're cooked on a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat, 5 minutes on 1 side, 2 minutes on the other.

This should've been in the Fit for a Bride chapter.

Weight Watchers would love it.

Did Ma make Chicken Paillards?  No.  

To be honest, chicken doesn't feature strongly in Maltese cookbooks.  Ma would fry chicken parts, with their bones and skin still attached.  She would also roast whole birds, chickens and turkeys.  

One recipe that does feature chicken in Maltese cookbooks is Chicken Broth, Brodu tat- Tigliega.  Soup is a staple in Maltese homes, especially during the winter.

As it's almost November, it's just the right time to make some soup.

In a dutch oven place

1 stewing hen

the giblets, except for the liver and heart

----

Chop and add

1 large carrot

1 stick celery

1 onion    

2 potatoes

----

Add

some chopped parsley

2 litres of chicken stock (made with 1 chicken cube)

Simmer gently on low heat until the chicken is cooked, about 2 hours

----

Add

1 teaspoon tomato puree

the liver and heart

3 tablespoons of rice or small pasta

Cook until done

----

Remove the chicken and either serve it as a main course or cut it up and serve it with the broth.

Would I make the Chicken Paillards again?

Well, I'm going to try the breasts, unpounded, and see if it makes a difference.

I don't think it will.

The Tomato-Olive Salad?  Sure.

Would I make more soup?

Is the Pope Catholic?

Another recipe down.  Forty more to go.

Carmela Soprano's Sfingi, Anna Sultana's Zfineg ta San Guzepp, St. Joseph's Day Doughnuts

In North America St. Patrick gets all the Hallmark cards, parades, beer and press.  But, for the rest of Europe, March 17 is just another day.  And, in Italy and Malta, March 19 is the feast of St. Joseph, and that's when everybody celebrates.  Big time.

Seriously.

I looked through the holiday section of Entertaining with The Sopranos.  There it was, in black and white.  St. Joseph's Day.  Sfingi.  And, in tiny print under that, St. Joseph's Day Zeppole.

The Sopranos and the Sultanas are one.

Okay.  If you've never had a Sfingi/Zfineg, it's a tiny ball of puff pastry which is fried like a doughnut ball, split open and stuffed with a ricotta and candied citron filling.  The filling is strictly for St. Joseph's Day.  As it's explained in Entertaining with The Sopranos: 

If it is not St. Joseph's Day, you can just shake these, without the filling, in a bag with cinnamon sugar and serve them like donuts.

No kidding.  Do not fill a Sfingi/Zfineg if it is not St. Joseph's Day.  Hey.  We're talking religion.  It doesn't have to make sense.  It just has to follow the rules and be done right.  Even for Tony and the boys, some things are sacred.

There's a Maltese doughnut recipe called Zeppoli ta san Guzepp.  Don't get excited.  It's fried choux pastry balls filled with a sweet rikotta filling coated in honey and nuts.  You get the idea.  St. Joseph equals fried dough with a creamy filling.

I always thought, with all the stress on St. Joseph's doughnuts, that he would be the perfect patron saint for Canada.  I mean, we Canadians love our donuts,  eh.  I checked.  St. Anne is the patron of Canada.  It's like the filling.  We're talking religion.  It doesn't have to make sense.  It just has to follow the rules and be done right.

It was really springlike for the first half of the week and we were enjoying long walks.  Walks are great, but they take time.  I didn't have time for recipes from Entertaining with The Sopranos.  

Then, on Thursday, it was back to winter weather.  But Paul and I still had to go out.  His cartoon 'The Bicycle Lesson' had won an award.  (copy and paste to see it) 

http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/the-bicycle-lesson/3975404776 

   

A prestigious award.  He had been written up in 'The Times'.  The Community paper and flyers hadn't been delivered in our neighborhood for a while and Paul wanted copies.  So we walked over the the Free Press building. 

When we got home we were freezing.
Carmela to the rescue.  Hot Buttered Rum.
She called it a classic.  Just the thing for a Winnipeg winter day.

It's in the book, so I'm counting it.

Another two recipes down.  Seventy more to go.

Here is a baked Sfingi recipe, if you'd rather not fry doughnuts.

Here's Bobby's recipe for Zeppole in his chapter If I Couldn't Eat, I'd F**king Die in Artie Bucco's The Sopranos Family Cookbook.