Maggianos Little Italys Crepes Food

MANICOTTI

Steps:

• Make sauce:
• Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, water, sugar, and salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in basil and remove from heat.
• Make crêpes:
• Break up eggs with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl and stir in water until combined (don't beat). Sift in flour and salt, then stir batter until just combined. Force through a medium-mesh sieve into another bowl.
• Lightly brush an 8-inch nonstick skillet with melted butter and heat over moderate heat until hot. Ladle about 1/4 cup batter into skillet, tilting and rotating skillet to coat bottom, then pour excess batter back into bowl. (If batter sets before skillet is coated, reduce heat slightly for next crêpe.) Cook until underside is just set and lightly browned, about 30 seconds, then invert crêpe onto a clean kitchen towel to cool completely. Make at least 11 more crêpes in same manner, brushing skillet with butter as needed and stacking crêpes in 3 piles.
• Make filling and assemble manicotti:
• Stir together ricotta, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, salt, and pepper.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
• Cut mozzarella lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick sticks.
• Spread 2 cups sauce in larger baking dish and 1 cup in smaller one. Arrange 1 crêpe, browned side up, on a work surface, then spread about 1/4 cup filling in a line across center and top with a mozzarella strip. Fold in sides to enclose filling, leaving ends open, and transfer, seam side down, to either baking dish. Fill 11 more crêpes in same manner, arranging snugly in 1 layer in both dishes (8 in larger dish and 4 in smaller). Spread 1 cup sauce over manicotti in larger dish and 1/2 cup in smaller dish. Tightly cover dishes with foil and bake until sauce is bubbling and filling is hot, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve remaining sauce on the side.

MAGGIANO'S LITTLE ITALY ITALIAN TRIFLE WITH SEASONAL FRUIT

Steps:

• Pastry Cream:
• In a stainless steel pot, scald milk by heating until skin forms on top.
• Meanwhile, whisk together yolks and sugar well.
• Add cornstarch and whisk. Once milk is scalded, slowly pour into egg mixture while whisking.
• Once incorporated, pour back into pot and put over low heat while whisking. Cook mixture just until it gets thick and comes to a boil.
• Remove from heat immediately and pour into metal bowl. Whisk vanilla extract and cover directly with plastic wrap. Let cool several hours or overnight.
• In a small mixer, whip cream and sugar until stiff. Fold into cooled pastry cream mixture.
• Assembly:
• Mix all fruit together in a bowl.
• In a sundae glass, place one cake cube on the bottom.
• Top with two ounces of cream mixture. Top with two ounces of fruit plus place for more cubes of cake on top of cream mixture and press slightly.
• Top with three ounces of cream mixture.
• Reserve remainder of fruit as a garnish.

MAGGIANO'S LITTLE ITALY ITALIAN POT ROAST

Steps:

• Prepare herb marinade first; then prepare vegetables and keep warm.
• To prepare the herb marinade:Combine all ingredients in blender and briefly blend until smooth. This can be made in smaller batch, but it will be difficult to puree.
• Note: Leftover marinade can be used on steaks, fish and chicken. Brush on before grilling or saute meat in it.
• To prepare vegetables:Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In very large oven-proof saute pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add vegetables and saute until browned, turning frequently.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer to preheated oven and cook uncovered 1 hour or until all vegetables are tender. Set aside and keep warm. Vegetables will have to be reheated briefly before they are served.
• To prepare roast:When ready to prepare meat, season roast with herb marinade, salt and pepper.
• Brown on all sides on olive oil in heavy, oven-safe braising pan.
• Remove meat from pan and set aside.
• To pan, add onion, carrots and celery and saute over medium-high flame until browned. Add tomato paste, mix well and cook 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add wine, bring to boil, then cook to reduce by half.
• Return meat to pan. Add chicken stock, herbs and bacon and return to boil.
• Transfer to 325-degree oven and cook, uncovered, until meat is tender, 3 to 31/2 hours.
• When meat is done, remove from oven and let rest at least 20 minutes.
• Remove meat from pan and set aside. Strain liquid into saucepan.
• Skim grease off top, removing as much fat as possible from braising liquid. Add veal stock.
• Bring to boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
• To serve:Place half the vegetables in center of serving plate as a base for the meat. Place sliced meat on top and garnish with remaining vegetables on and around beef. Top with sauce and beans if desired.

MAGGIANO'S LITTLE ITALY RIGATONI DI GREGORIO AKA RIGATONI "

Steps:

• Chop up the onions. Put them in a large wok with a couple tablespoons olive oil. Cook on high for a few minutes until the onions are hot and starting to become translucent, then turn down the heat to medium low. As the rest of the steps progress, you'll need to remember to stir the onions every 8 minutes to keep them from burning. The onions will take a long time to reach the desired golden-brown color.
• Peel the outer, papery skin off two heads of garlic, but leave the skin that covers the cloves. Slice the tips of the cloves off the top, exposing each clove and leaving a flat top. Save the tips, which you'll toss into the onions when they're almost finished cooking. Drizzle the heads with olive oil, wrap them in foil, and place them in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes.
• Quarter the button mushrooms from top to bottom. Each mushroom piece should have part of the head and part of the stem.
• When the onions are approaching done (not the rich brown of fully caramelized onions, but getting there) add the mushrooms and leftover garlic clove tips to the cooking onions. Stir everything together and cook until the mushrooms are looking sautéed.
• With the onions, mushrooms, and garlic still in the pan, turn the heat up to high and add the wines. Scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure the sugars from the onions are released and integrated into the liquid.
• Add the chicken base. You can add a bit more to taste if you want. We're looking for a nice strong chicken flavor, but be careful of over-salting. At this point the sauce should taste pretty good.
• Cut up the raw chicken into scallop-sized pieces and put them in the pan with everything else. There's also no harm in using some leftover cooked chicken as well, as long as it doesn't have any incompatible flavorings. Let the chicken cook through.
• The next step is to add the pasta into the same pan. Before you do, make sure the amount of liquid is right. It takes some experience to eyeball it, but the idea is to just barely (or not quite) cover the noodles once they're in the pan. It's better to start with too little liquid than too much because you can always add some boiling water from a teapot after you've added the pasta, but you don't want to be reducing after the pasta is cooked, because the pasta will overcook and get mushy. As it cooks, the pasta takes on the flavor of the sauce and releases starches that thicken the sauce at the same time.
• Monitor the pasta as it cooks. When it's just reaching the perfect al dente, turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream and grated Parmesan cheese. Cut up the butter into pieces and stir them into the sauce. Squeeze out the roasted garlic (don't burn yourself!), mash it up, and stir it in as well. Add freshly cracked black pepper to taste and serve.

MAGGIANO'S LITTLE ITALY SPICED PEAR CROSTADA (COPYCAT)

Steps:

• For the filling: Peel the pears and slice into 1/4-inch slices.
• Melt the butter until light brown in a medium hot sauté pan and add the pear slices. Simmer for a couple minutes until heated through and add the nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Continue to simmer until the juices thicken. Remove from the pan and chill.
• Take 4 ounces of the pie dough and roll out into a 9-inch circle, lightly dusting with flour to prevent sticking. Place 1/2 cup of the pear filling in the center of the dough circle. Gently fold the edges of the dough toward the center, forming 'pleats' in the dough as you move around the edge. Leave the center of the crostada open so that the filling shows. Repeat until the filling is used up. Chill the prepared crostadas before baking.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the crostadas with heavy cream. Immediately sprinkle the crostadas with the granulated sugar so that the sugar sticks. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes until nice and brown.
• Serve while still warm alone, or with some vanilla ice cream.