Cucina DiBella

Goulash

After a dish yesterday that showcased the amazing seafood of the region, today the foreign influence in Friuli shows its face again.  It's amazing how two dishes from the same region can be on such opposite ends of the spectrum.  We are moving from a light, delicate crab dish yesterday to thick, hearty, goulash today.  I must say though, for a totally unappetizing name, goulash  really is delicious.  It is one of those dishes that cooks for quite a while, and all the time fills your house with a fantastic aroma.  Usually you trade off that delicious smell for something that is labor intensive to cook, or at least to prepare.  With goulash though, if you invest 10 minutes in easy prep work, you can just let it do its thing on the stove for the next hour and a half and do something else entirely.  Not a bad deal!

Goulash

Adapted from cooking.com

-Serves 6-

Ingredients:

2 large onions, sliced (this may seem like a lot, but they will cook down a great deal)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 pinch of cumin

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons white wine

2 lbs round or rump roast, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups hot water

salt to taste

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Process:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.
2. Add the cumin, garlic, and white wine.  Stir to combine. 
3. Add in the beef and brown, stirring frequently.  Add the pepper flakes.
4. Slowly add the 2 cups water.  Turn the heat down to medium low and let the mixture simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Add salt to taste.  In a separate bowl, add the flour to a ladleful of the broth from the goulash.  Mix thoroughly, eliminating any lumps.  Pour this into the goulash and stir thoroughly, creating a thicker broth.  If desired, add more flour for a thicker broth. 

Potatoes are an ideal side for this meal.  Traditionally, potatoes are not cooked in the goulash itself, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it would be a delicious addition!

Ryan's rating of Goulash - 5. 

Granzevola alla Triestina (Crab alla Triestina)

Granzevola alla Triestina (also spelled Grancevola alla Triestina) is a delicious crab dish named after the seaside Friuli town of Trieste.  Essentially, this is similar to a stuffed crab recipe.  For being one of the simplest dishes that I've made thus far, this recipe certainly caused me a lot of extra work.  I found this dish referenced in several English written sources, but for the life of me I couldn't find a recipe for it.  The only recipe that I could track down was in Italian.  So, to make this dish I first had to translate the recipe into English.  I must say though, I did enjoy getting to practice my Italian again, and I was relieved to find that I hadn't lost it altogether!

As you can see in the picture, I served my Crab alla Triestina right on a plate.  I don't really make the effort to wow Ryan with presentation anymore.  But, if you are serving this for a dinner party or just want to get creative, a fantastic way to serve this is by putting the crab into an empty crab shell.  While I used pre-cooked lump crab meat, you can absolutely get fresh crabs and extract the meat yourself, making it that much easier to get your hands on some crab shells for your presentation!   

Granzevola alla Triestina

Adapted from Peccati di Gola

-Serves 4 as a first course or an antipasto-

Ingredients:

8 ounces lump crab meat

3 tablespoons breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil (or melted butter)

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

1 clove garlic, minced

1 sprig parsley, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Process:

1. Put the crab meat in a large bowl.  Add the breadcrumbs, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper.  Mix thoroughly. 
2. Spread the crab mixture in a thin layer on a cookie sheet.  Broil for 2-3 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.  Serve hot.

If you are using crab shells for the presentation, you can either spoon the crab mixture into the shells after broiling it, or you can put the crab into the shells and then put the whole shell under the broiler on a cookie sheet.

Ryan's rating of Granzevola alla Triestina - 4.  Hmmm...maybe if I went with the pretty presentation I could have gotten a 5.

Frico - Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the most northeastern region of Italy, has a very interesting culinary style.  Like Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli is heavily influenced by Austrian and German food.  However, Friuli also borders the Adriatic Sea to the south, and enjoys many delicious seafood dishes as well.

Friuli is the producer of several outstanding products.  One is San Daniele prosciutto.  Though not as well known as Prosciutto di Parma, this product is nothing to scoff at.  Another product of the region is Montasio cheese which is a hard cow's milk cheese.  The perfect way to highlight Montasio cheese is in a frico.  A frico is basically a cheese crisp, and makes a wonderful antipasto.  Though I made plain cheese fricos (is fricos the plural for frico?), you can also add things like potato and onion or spinach and leeks to make them more substantial.  If you can't find Montasio cheese in your grocery store, you can use Asiago or Parmigiano Reggiano as a substitute. 

You can also vary the size of the frico that you make, and even play with the shape!  You can make smaller, 2-3 inch diameter ones, which would probably be better as a true antipasto at a party.  But, you can also make larger ones like I did.  The ones that I made were about 6-8 inches in diameter, and rather than laying them flat after removing them from the pan, I put them over the bottom of a drinking glass to produce an almost bowl-like cheese shell.  Since Parmigiano Reggiano can be a great substitute for Montasio cheese, this would be a creative way to serve a Caeser Salad - just put the lettuce, croutons, chicken and dressing right into the frico!

Montasio Frico

Adapted from Food Network

-Makes 10 smaller crisps or 3 larger crisps, depending on size-

Ingredients:

8 ounces Montasio cheese, grated

1 teaspoon butter

Process:

1. Heat butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat until melted and coating the bottom of the pan.
2. Sprinkle the cheese in a circular shape in whatever size you wish.  Shake the pan to evenly distribute the cheese.  Be sure to keep the layer of cheese thin so that it becomes crispy rather than chewy.
3. Let the cheese cook over medium heat about 4 minutes or until the edges set and the color becomes golden. 
4. Use a spatula to carefully remove the frico from the pan.  Working quickly because the cheese will set in shape quickly, either place the frico flat on a paper towel or shape around the bottom of a drinking glass to create a bowl shape.
5. Continue with the rest of the cheese.

Ryan's rating of Frico - 3.