Day 25: Bon Voyage Dinner: Scallopine in Lemon-Caper Sauce with Steamed Caesar Artichokes

(Actual date: Feb. 15th)

Tomorrow Ryan leaves for Asia for 10 days. Gulp. Trying to not think about it. I'll make him a special dinner tonight before he hits the land of Dim Sum. One of our all time favorite restaurants is Felidia in NYC. It's owned by Lidia Bastianich, cookbook author and host of her own TV series, Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Italian American Kitchen. We've met her several times at the restaurant, and I even worked with her when she made an appearance here in Fort Worth back in 2001. In fact, she's coming to Central Market-Fort Worth again on March 12th for a book signing. Her cookbook, Lidia's Italian American Kitchen, is one of my favorites. Every meal that we've ever had at her restaurant has been wonderful and every meal that I've ever made out of her cookbook has been wonderful as well. That's where I pulled the Scallopine recipe. The artichoke recipe is one of my mother-in-law's. I love these artichokes. It makes my mouth water just thinking about them as I type this.

Scallopine in Lemon-Caper Sauce

Grocery List:

• 2 lemons
• 4 servings of veal scallopine (be sure it's scallopine)
• 2 garlic cloves peeled
• 10 large green olives
• 1 cup small capers in brine, drained
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock or canned reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Artichokes

• 4 fresh whole artichokes
• Caesar salad dressing
• 1 cup of Croutons

Items already in pantry/fridge:

• Salt
• Pepper
• All-purpose flour
• Unsalted butter
• Olive Oil

Scallopine in Lemon-Caper Sauce

Squeeze the juice from one and a half of the lemons and reserve. Lay the remaining half-lemon flat side down and cut into very thin slices with a paring knife. Remove pits and set the lemon slices aside.

Season the scallopine with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour to coat both sides lightly and tap off excess flour. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a wide, heavy skillet over medium heat until the butter is foaming. Add as many of the scallopine as will fit without touching and cook until golden brown on the underside, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until the second side is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining scallopine.

Remove all scallopine from the pan. Pour off the fat and carefully wipe out the skillet with a wad of paper towels. Pour in the remaining 3 tbsp olive oil and add the remaining 4 tbsp butter, the garlic and lemon slices. Cook, scraping the bottom of the skillet, until the garlic is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Scoop out the lemon slices and set aside. Scatter the olives and capers into the skillet and cook, stirring gently, until they begin to sizzle, about 4 minutes. Pour in the wine, bring to a vigorous boil, and cook until wine is reduced in volume by half. Pour in the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and cook until slightly syrupy, about 4 minutes. Return the scallopine to the skillet, turning the cutlets in the sauce until they are warmed through and coated with sauce. Swirl in the parsley and divide the scallopine among warm plates. Spoon the sauce over them, including some of the capers and olives in each spoonful. Decorate the tops of the scallopine with the reserved lemon slices.

Caesar Artichokes

• Wash and trim the artichokes.
• Steam for 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Remove artichokes from water and drain.
• Set each artichoke up right in a baking dish.
• Drizzle with Caesar dressing and one pat of butter.
• Crumble croutons over each artichoke.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove and serve.