Lamb Offals: coratella con la cipolla

Eating lamb offals is still quite common in the Center and South of Italy. In Rome there is a very traditional dish called "coratella con i carciofi", lamb offals with artichokes, which is always present at the table on Easter. Another variation of the dish, especially when it's not season for artichokes, is coratella with onions. It's indeed the one I made in this recipe.

You need very very fresh lamb plucks. I order them from my butcher with some notice. I got here the liver, that you can see on top, it's darker in color, the lungs and heart at the bottom. I cannot get for some reason the spleen and the sweetbreads.

 

Total weight was 1.5 kg, slightly more than 3 pounds, total cost 14 euros. 

Everything needs to be washed, dried with paper towels,  trimmed and cut in pea size pieces. It's bit of a tedious chore. Keep everything separated because lung, heart and liver have a different cooking time. 

 

I warm up a cast iron skillet on medium-high heat with some tallow (or lard, or lamb fat)  and add first the lungs (and some garlic and chili pepper), I stir them around,  they are going to get some color. After 5 minutes or so, you are going to hear a whistle, the lung it's very spongy so I just think at this point it has given out the retained water and hence the sound. You can add at intervals the other cuts in this order: sweetbreads, spleen, heart and hold the liver to the very end. After you added the heart but not yet the liver, deglaze with a cup of warm white wine, lower the heat and cover partially. Add some salt. It's going to take more or less 20-30 minutes to cook. It shouldn't be so dry that it sticks to the pan but you don't want soupy meat also.

In another pan add some sliced or chopped onions, like 2 onions,  and cooked them slowly with some olive oil untill they go to a beige to amber color, stir frequently, adding some salt and covering helps bringing out their own juices. It's going to take about the same time for the onion to cook than for the meat to be done. At this point, add the liver and the onion to the pan, with the rest of the offals to finish up cooking on high heat. No more than 5 minutes. Stir it around. You don't want your liver to cook much to keep it nice and tender. Adjust seasoning and if you like it you can add a squeeze of lemon, or little vinegar at the end. 

You can freeze left overs, defrost in the fridge and quickly steam to reheat. 

It's truly delicious!

Rabbit: Coniglio alla bergamasca

Coniglio alla bergamasca means rabbit cooked in the style of Bergamo.

Bergamo is a town located in the Lombardy province of Italy, one hour from Milan.
It is my mother's hometown and polenta and rabbit is very traditional dish there. I grew up eating it and fighting with my sister over the head and the liver! Rabbit brain, anybody?

Rabbit is very delicate meat and we generally favor rabbit over chicken. My husband, to tell the truth, doesn't like chicken at all, for him it's meat with no personality...maybe if I buy a poulet de Bresse he would change his mind, but I cannot bring myself to spend 20 euros a kilo for a chicken. That means more or less 50 dollars for a chicken! But we really like chicken stock, good thing is that I can purchase carcasses and wings from my butcher.

This recipe is  very, very easy and my children simply love it!

You need

• 1 rabbit, cut into pieces*. In the States,  I remember,  rabbits came with no head except maybe at Greek butchers or Asian markets. If it comes with the head, ask your butcher to split it lenghtwise so you can access the brain. 
• 5-6 cloves
• 2-3 rosemary sprigs
• white wine
• some hot water or chicken stock
• clarified butter 
• olive oil
• salt

Usually when you cook meat you are asked to warm up your skillet and sear the meat in hot fat. For this recipe I go againist common wisdom and follow my mom and she follows her mother recipe.
You need to clean perfectly the meat from fat. My grandmother used to say that while chicken fat tastes good, it's not the case for rabbit fat. Add some olive oil to your pan, then the rabbit pieces perfectly dried, some clarified butter, cloves, rosemary, salt. Saute' on medium-high heat until all the pieces are golden brown. Add almost a glass of warm white wine and reduce it. Then you lower the heat and add a little bit of stock or warm water when necessary to keep the meat from drying out, I put the lid on with a wooden spoon between the lid and the pan. Cooking time about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Check the leg if it's tender.
Ah, the liver and the kidneys go in the pan just at the end of cooking so they stay pink and juicy.
Make sure to add a bit of liquid when needed. My mom usually stops here. I strained the liquid, didn't really had time to defat but I wanted an emulsion of sort, so I whisked in some extra virgin olive oil (you can use butter if you use it) and added rosemary at the end because I didn't have in the house when I started cooking!  

*A big rabbit is normally too much for our family and the loin could come out a little dry. So, often I debone the ribs and loin, cut into cubes and save in the freezer for a ragout or for sauteing quickly.

BONES: Insalata di nervetti

Everybody knows how nutritious and beneficial is a bone broth. But besides that there are other ways to enjoy and take advantage of bones.
Here I want to talk about a very traditional Italian salad:  insalata di nervetti

It's a very Milanese dish, a common antipasto to be found in osterie or old style restaurants. You can still buy it in most delis but I do not think it is done according to tradition anymore or using ingredients that are desiderable.

It is done with bones from the knee and from the shank, both veal and beef can be used. Veal is milder in flavor and  requires a shorter cooking. How do I do it? I clean the bones in water. Having the time it's good to soak the bones in ice water with some salt to get rid of blood and impurities. But when I don't have time, I blanch the bones and start again with fresh water, when comes to a boil, I lower the flame and simmer for 2-3 hours  (more if you cook beef), adding more hot water if necessary to keep the bones covered. I also add at the last hour of cooking my aromatic vegetables (carrots, celery, onion, leek, bay leaf, parsley stalks and a drop of vinegar for acidity.

You need to check that the cartilages attached to the bones are nice and tender.

When the bones are still warm, I pick all the cartilages and pieces of meat attached and season with a little bit of salt.

 I pack them in a glass, cover with a little parchment paper disk and press it  by inserting a smaller  jar (with anything heavy inside) on top, but you can use any other container and anything you have handy to press down the cartilages and meat. I wrap everything well and refrigerate overnight.

This is what I get the day after.

I slice it very finely, here I cut it in rounds but you can have small strips, it doesn't matter. You slice very finely some sweet onion and add to your cartilages, dress the salad with very good wine vinegar and super extravirgin olive oil, some parsley and fleur de sel and milled pepper if you like it. It is really delicious!

And the marrow??? And the bone broth? Well, I have more tips and ideas with you to share!