August 4 – August 10, 2024

Sunday:                   Cheese, Grilled Rib Eye, Peach-Tomato Caprese, Polenta

Monday:                  Chicken Saltimbocca, Tomato Salad – App of Goat Cheese

Tuesday:                  Grilled Peach & Bacon Caprese Toasts w/ Mushroom Soup

Wednesday:          Turkey Burgers

Thursday:                Dunnings

Friday:                      Rotisserie Chicken with Lulu’s Ratatouille

(Guest of honor seated at left)

Saturday:                Ambrose’s Birthday at Liz and Ed’s

Jumps-in-the-Mouth Food

The above is not the translation of some native American dish, but it is a translation by a native American (me) of Saltimbocca, as tasty an Italian dish as you can hope to cook in your kitchen.

Think about that for a moment.  Remember all of the pastas, the tomato sauces, the pizzas, the cured meats and brined olives and cheeses of Italy.  Or think of truffles or cioppino or lemon gelato.  It is saying a lot to hold up a dish as equivalent to these wonders.

But you will agree if you cook the recipe below (Chicken Saltimbocca) or the original Veal preparation from which it derives.  It is a simple dish, taking just a bit of technique and some patience and attention.  It will repay you with a taste that is equivalent to a grand slam in baseball, a triple-double in basketball, or a 10 in gymnastics or diving.*

*Does anyone else wonder why there are so many gymnastic and swimming medals?  I mean, there is no Olympic baseball or cricket.  They would only need 3 medals for either of these sports.  But gymnastics requires 18 medals (Team overall + Individual overall + 4 individual x3) and, as for swimming, until quantum computing becomes practical, no one is sure how many medals are awarded.  Also – why 3×3 basketball? How about one-on-one, or whatever they call that venue at the amusement park where you win a hideously pastel-colored stuffed animal for making three baskets in a row?

Chicken Saltimbocca is also a quick meal – you can get home from your latest triumph in the courtroom, life-saving surgical performance or all-day newspaper route and cook this in the time it takes to listen to the nightly news programs.**

**Which, if you take my advice, you will not do.  These programs contain about 18 actual minutes of news – minus the weather threat that so many millions of Americans are under every day, the puppy dog story at the end and the ‘heartland’ story that comes just before that, and the obligatory mention (advertisement for) of some non-news program on the network.  There is no time for context or nuance or complexity.  Indeed, I have recently seen weather stories that don’t mention where the foul-weather-geared reporter with the windblown hair is reporting from other than the “Midwest” or “Atlantic Coast”.  Just read the paper, for heaven’s sake, and skip the editorials.

A final note.  I ordinarily spring for the pricier imported prosciutto instead of the American-made knock-off.  But for this dish, the relatively drier American version is best.  Or you can simply leave your imported slices out to dry for half a day or so.  If the slices are paper thin, use 2 for each chicken cutlet.

CHICKEN SALTIMBOCCA

(adapted from Milk Street Magazine, July-August, 2024)

Timing:                                                  30 minutes

Ingredients:                                         Serves four

4 Chicken Breast cutlets ( ¼ “ thick – you can often buy ‘thin’ cutlets at the grocery store – or just cut a chicken breast in two on a slight bias and pound the chicken gently to achieve the ¼ “ thickness)

8 – 10 fresh sage leaves

4 thin slices of prosciutto (but not the paper-thin that most Italian stores will offer – you want a little heft to your prosciutto)

½ cup dry wine

2 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled (we used one)

¼ cup all-purpose flour

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Prep:

Preheat oven to ‘warm’

Prepare chicken, if needed

Gather other ingredients

Whisk together the flour and ½ teaspoon each of the salt and pepper in a large shallow bowl (a pie plate would work).

Lay a slice of prosciutto on each cutlet and press with your hand – the tackiness of the chicken will cause the prosciutto to adhere.

Now dredge the cutlets in the flour, turning to coat.  Shake off excess and place cutlets on a plate.

Cook:

In a 12-inch skillet over medium, combine oil and garlic and, when hot, add sage and cook, flipping sage and garlic until sage is crisp.  Turn off the heat, remove sage from pan with tongs and place on a plate.  Discard the garlic.

Return pan to medium heat and, when hot, add the cutlets, prosciutto side down, in a single layer – you may have to cook in two batches (just keep the first batch warm in the oven until you’ve cooked the second batch).

Cook without disturbing until the prosciutto side is golden brown – 2 minutes or a bit more.  Use tongs to flip and cook on second side until golden brown – about 2 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and pour wine around the perimeter of the pan – do not pour directly onto the cutlets.  NOTE:  I simply removed the cutlets from pan, put them in the oven and poured the wine into the pan at that point.   Cook the pan for about 2 minutes or a bit more, until the wine is slightly reduced.

Now transfer the cutlets to a platter, taste the sauce and correct seasoning with salt and pepper, drizzle it onto the cutlets, crumble the fried sage over the top and serve.