Things Italian

This is an odd post combining as it does some observations on the passing of the elderly and one of the great comfort food recipes in my arsenal. As far as I know all that unites them is ethnicity, but maybe that’s enough.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

While they were burying and lionizing Coach Paterno in Happy Valley, I was attending the funeral of one of my late Mother’s old friends. She was the daughter of my Grandfather’s best friend.  She and her sister, who survives her, are about the last of the great immigrant population that produced and raised mine. There was a pretty big turnout, and I was somewhat amazed at the outpouring of affection for this wise, extremely funny, and indomitable woman.  She had no kids, but had cousins on both of her parent’s sides and they turned out in droves with great stories and lasting impressions.  I was also reminded of the great healing and sustaining power of formal organized religion.  It’s not something I mess with much, but its value as a balm and foundation for the bereaved is undeniable and positive.  In short, I always felt that this person was good and decent and something of a role model while she was alive, and the reactions of her neighbors and friends confirmed it. Mind you, nobody suggested she was a saint, she was a human being with her fair share of complexity, but she was good. Everybody knew it.

I had the same reaction to Paterno. Lots of people wanted a simple narrative. He was a cynical megalomaniac who allowed children to be raped to protect the reputation of his kingdom. He was a saintly ascetic who was too simple and pure to even grasp the evil that went on around him.  This is, of course, entirely bullshit. As one of his players pointed out in an especially moving eulogy, he was not a legend, but a man, and in need of understanding like the rest of us. Cynicism seems unlikely in a guy who seems to have helped so many and given so much. When Charlie Pierce on Only a Game snarled out a creepy dismissal of the old guy a week before he died that ended with a cruddy Mafia reference, I got up and shut the radio off. Note to Charlie, in the words of John Gorka “My Mom’s Italian, We read those Mafia books. We don’t belong”.  I’m not happy that nobody called the cops when Sanduskey was caught in the locker room, but I don’t see Coach Paterno as an active and willing enabler. He did what he thought was best, and it turns out it wasn’t. It was complicated. He was human, like the rest of us, and based on the words of his family and friends, and the many young men he mentored and pushed and taught and screamed at, he was good.  Everybody knew it.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

For the last five years or so, I’ve made Braciole for Super Bowl, combining the oldest Sunday meal I can remember with the newest holiday in the annual cycle. Braciole is one of the ingredients in una salsa Bolognese, Bologna being famous for its meaty and rich red sauce.  While this sauce is traditionally served with macaroni, I serve it on split loaves of baguette with a mix of sharp provolone and mozzarella grated on top.  The sandwiches go in the oven for 15 minutes or so, and are devoured by family and friends in seconds.  Make a big green salad and a nice dessert, and lay in a supply of red wine and good beer, and you’re there! Buona Apettita’!

For the red sauce…

Good EV Olive Oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and chopped

2 tbs dried basil

Two 16 oz cans crushed tomatos

One 16 oz can tomato puree  

8 oz dry red wine

8 oz water

1 tbs sea salt

2 tbs brown sugar or honey

Saute the garlic and dried basil at medium heat in olive oil on the bottom of a 4 or 6 quart kettle until the garlic is almost ready to brown. Add the tomatoes and puree, the vino and the water. Turn heat down to simmer. Add the salt and sugar and stir. Cover and allow to simmer. Taste this in about an hour and add more salt or sugar/honey to your taste.

For Braciole

2 or 2.5 lbs of round or flank steak sliced across the grain in ¼ inch slices (unless you own and are very good with a very sharp and long knife, ask the butcher to do this)

4 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and chopped

Two cups fresh chopped or two tbs dried basil

Good EV Olive Oil

Salt and pepper

Cotton string or jute twine

You want lean meat for this recipe, so remove all the fat. Lay each sheet of steak out on a board and coat liberally with oil, garlic, basil, salt and freshly ground pepper.  Roll the steak up, pinwheel fashion, into a big fat cigar. Wrap and tie with string.  Brown each braciole briefly in a fry pan with olive oil, then drop it (and the pan juices) into the red sauce.

Now add about 1.5 to 2 lb of good Italian sausage cut in roughly 2 inch links to the sauce.

Keep simmering!

Then there’s the meatballs!

For Meatballs

1 lb of lean ground beef

1 lb lean ground pork

½ cup fine bread crumbs or cornmeal

1 egg

4 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and chopped

2 tbs dried basil

Salt and pepper

2 tbs red wine

2 tbs grated pecorino romano cheese

Mix all of the above together in a large bowl. Cover and allow the flavors to marry in the fridge for a couple hours. This will make about 20 meatballs, brown them briefly in olive oil, then add to the red sauce (with the pan drippings). 

In about 2 or 3 hours, the braciole will start to fall apart when prodded with a fork. Note that you may have to add water or wine to keep the sauce from getting too thick and burning while the meat cooks. You can also use a crock pot to do the simmering, which has less chance of burning. When the beef is ready, turn off the heat, trim the string off the braciole and break into bite size pieces. 

Now make those sandwiches…people are hungry dammit!