Braised Steak with Anchovies, Olives and Capers

Five years ago I took a look at the vintage cookbook The Meat & Potato Cuisine I Love in one of our TBT posts.



In that cookbook is a recipe for Braised Steak and Anchovies that I have always found intriguing. As it uses capers in addition to the anchovies it bears a certain resemblance to one of my favourite pasta dishes Pasta Puttanesca.



I thought that with some rejigging  I could make a version of the dish that adds olives and a bit of heat.



Ingredients:

Steaks about 1/2 inch to an inch thick. Sirloin, rib or round steak cuts all work well
Flour
Olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
Beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tin anchovy filets 1/2 a small jar to a full small  jar of capers
Green or black olives
Garlic powder
2 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper
Red chili pepper flakes

To begin, lightly dust your steaks in flour. Season them liberally (or to taste) with salt, black pepper and garlic powder and let them sit at room temperature for half an hour.

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan and brown the steaks in it, around 1 1/2 to 2 minutes a side.

When finished browning set the steaks aside, Do not clean out the pan.

Stirring as you go add the anchovies, olives, capers, onions garlic and chili pepper flakes (to taste...the more you add the hotter it gets) to the pan. Use the spatula to scrap the bottom of the pan and to mash the anchovies, and saute this whole mixture for approximately 5 minutes or until the onions are softened to your liking.

Add the steaks back to the pan and add the Worcestershire sauce and enough beef broth to almost just cover the steaks.

Bring the broth to a boil and then lower heat and simmer the steaks for around an hour and a half or until fork tender. The sauce will thicken and you want this.

 Serve with some rice or noodles and be sure to spoon lots of sauce, onion and olives over each steak. I also like to squirt a little lemon juice on each one.

This delicious dish goes very nicely with your favourite red wine and a baguette on the side.

Enjoy.

White Wine & Vinegar Chicken w. Olives, Capers & Garlic

Today we are going to make a chicken dish that is colourful and totally delicious. It is prepared by first seasoning the chicken and cooking it in the oven in vinegar and wine and then covering it with a sauce based around this as well as olives, capers and garlic.

I have adapted this recipe from one that originally appeared in the New York Times. 

To start you want to season your chicken for baking. For this recipe we used 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.



Seasoning Blend:

1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Toss your chicken in the olive oil. Place on a rimmed oven baking tray skin side up and then season with the turmeric, cumin, salt and pepper.

Once the seasoned chicken is in the tray, pour 1/4 cup of rice vinegar and 1/4 cup of dry white wine over and around the chicken.

Place in an oven preheated to 450 degrees and cook until done, 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the following ingredients together in a bowl.

Sauce Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 cups of crushed, pitted green olives.
1 small jar of capers
2 -3 cloves of grated garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil

Once cooked, remove the tray from the oven and place the chicken on a platter.

Then, without cleaning or draining it in anyway add the sauce ingredients to the tray with the juices and vinegar and wine from cooking.

Using a spatula gently stir everything together making sure to scrap up any pieces or bits attached to the pan.

After you have fully blended everything add a cup of chopped fresh parsley and stir in.

Pour all the contents of the pan over the chicken and serve.

This dish goes well with  rice or egg noodles as a side.

Enjoy.

Olive Tapenade Spread with an Italian-Style Sandwich

Today we are going to take a look at how to make a homemade olive tapenade spread that can be used a number of ways (tossed in pasta like pesto is one example, though it is especially good in cold pasta) but that is truly wonderful when used in Italian-style sandwiches.

It is salty and full of bold flavours that work so very well with meats like proscuitto or mortadella.

To make the tapenade you need the following:

Ingredients

1 cup of kalamata olives, pitted
3 tablespoon capers
3 anchovy filets
3 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs of fresh parsley
2 pinches of red pepper flakes
a couple of squirts of lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil (you really do want to use as good an olive oil as you can for this)

Take all of the ingredients other than the olive oil and put them in a blender or food processor. Pulse them until they begin to be finely chopped and then add olive oil to achieve a liquid consistency in the spread that you like. I don't like mine too oily so usually add only a couple of tablespoons, but you will find your happy level with a little practice!

Now, as I said, this can be used in a number of ways, but is perfect on an Italian-style sandwich. To make this first you want some very fresh baguette style bread. If you can get the half-loaves that are "submarine sandwich" sized that is ideal.

My favourite Italian sandwich starts by cutting the loaf down the middle length wise into two halves and then spreading a healthy layer of the tapenade across one of these halves.

Then place a layer (or two!) each of spicy sopressata style salami, proscuitto and spicy or mild mortadella.

Top this with a layer of provolone cheese and then other toppings you like. Tomatoes. romaine lettuce and thinly sliced onions are good ones. Some like to drizzle a little Italian dressing on to it but I like to add a layer of Italian-style marinated hot peppers in olive oil. Experiment!

This is ideal backyard or patio food perfect with late nights, parties, friends, beers or a nice red wine.

Enjoy.

See also: The Ninkasi: The Ultimate Game/Party Day Submarine Sandwich

See also: The Reuben Inferno Sandwich -- A new take on a classic

Chicken with prosciutto and olives

Today we are going to look at a simple dish that produces big and bold flavours -- seasoned chicken simmered in tomato sauce with prosciutto and olives.

First, take either chicken drumsticks or chicken thighs (both should bone-in and with the skin) and season them with Herbs de Provence, and salt and pepper to taste. If you do not have Herbs de Provence you can use an Italian seasoning blend or simply the salt and pepper.

For today's post I used drumsticks. The portions indicated are for between 10-15 drumsticks.

Brown the chicken in EVOO

Brown the drumsticks about 2-3 minutes a side in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) in a large saucepan. You do not need or want to cook them through. When they are lightly golden and browned remove them from the pan and set aside.

Keep any of the juices or herbs left in the pan from the browning. Add some more EVOO and bring to a medium-high heat.

Saute garlic, olives and prosciutto 

Then add 3 cloves of minced garlic and between 1-2 cups of rustic style olives. I used a black and green pit-in Sicilian blend of olives. Reduce heat to medium and saute the garlic and olives for 2-3 minutes. Then add 3 large thin slices of prosciutto to the pan and saute it all together another 3-4 minutes at medium heat.

Once you have finished sauteing add two large cans (796 ml/28 oz.) of diced tomatoes with all the liquid, another tablespoon of Herbs de Provence and salt and pepper to taste to the pan, stirring everything together. Increase heat and as you bring it all to a boil start adding the chicken back in.


When you have brought it back to a boil reduce

heat, cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes (until thoroughly cooked which means, of course no pink or to an internal temperature of 165 degrees on a meat thermometer) taking the lid off for the last ten minutes. Serve the chicken with the sauce and olives and pieces of the prosciutto.



This is perfect on a bed of rice or noddles, with a baguette and some nicely chilled white wine or a table red.

If desired you can top with some more freshly ground pepper and some Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

See also: Clay Baked Chicken: Clay baking a whole chicken..."Roman" style