Mediterranean cuisine uses a lot of garlic.
The Spanish like it raw, rubbed on bread.
The French like it left whole as in Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic where the cloves cook to a beautiful, smooth creamy purée – just pinch the cooked garlic out of the skin to eat.
For this dish, they’re peeled as they are part of the sauce.
This serves 4 or, in our case, we had half the first night with the spaghetti, and the rest the next night in risotto.
Braised Veal with Garlic
Total time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
- 24oz (720gr) veal, suitable for braising – stew meat, shoulder, cut into 1 1/2 inch (3.75cm) cubes.
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1/3 cup dried bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) dry white wine
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled, left whole
- 3 bay leaves
- 15oz (450gr) whole tomatoes, chopped, juices reserved
- 4oz (120gr) spaghetti (8oz (240gr), to serve 4)
Instructions:
- In a deep, heavy pan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add half of the veal and brown on all sides.
- Remove and brown the other half. Remove.
- Add the bread crumbs, wine and stir well, scraping up the browned bits.
- Return veal to pan, add garlic cloves, tomatoes with juices and bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
- Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 90 minutes.
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain.
- When spaghetti is done, remove veal from pan.
- Purée sauce. Arrange the veal on the spaghetti, spoon sauce over and serve.
How long do you leave Christmas around?
Well, that is, those of you who ‘do’ Christmas…..
Some celebrate but don’t decorate; some decorate but don’t celebrate; some do neither and some do both.
My question is really regarding the trimmings – the tree and all that bit.
One of my cousins left her Christmas tree (artificial) up until February one year – she just thought it was pretty and she wanted to enjoy it longer.
I had a good friend in the US who had everything down, boxed up and packed away by mid-afternoon of December 26th.
In most of Europe it’s traditional to leave everything in place until after King’s Day, January 6th. In some countries, Spain being one, gifts are exchanged on King’s Day, not Christmas.
(In Andorra, of course, they do both days….. Santa would sit in front of the stores until the 24th for the kiddies to list their demands; the stores would be closed on the 25th, and the Three Kings would show up on the 26th so the kiddies could demand more.),
I digress…..
I normally dismantle the season on January 1st or 2nd – depending on if we’re out on New Year’s Eve or not. Regardless, it’s all tucked away, back in the barn, by the end of the 2nd. I decorate early, usually during the 1st week of December, and I’m ready to have it gone by New Year’s day.
I’d do it earlier but I hate the job and put it off as long as is reasonable…..
We may be done with our Christmas ham by then….. it was over 7lbs.
My decorations come down when I get ready to take them down. I hate taking them down so when the mood strikes, I take advantage of it. Sometimes it’s a few days after, sometimes, it’s after New Year’s Day, but they’re always down within 10 days, more because we have a real tree and it becomes too much of a fire hazard. I do leave the lights up around the interior windows all year though. I like them. 🙂
The tradition in our family is the decorations should be taken down on “Twelfth Night” i.e. by the evening of 5th January. This year I was decorating our tree as I was preparing our special Xmas Eve dinner (only for the two of us). We have not had any decorations up for the past three years!
I do exactly what you do Katie. Tree up early Dec. down by Jan 1st or 2nd. Although, this year our tree (which is real) is starting to look very dried out, so it may come down a day or two earlier.
I follow my families tradition of leaving things up and on until January 1st. On the first the tree goes back in the closet and the lights get turned off. If the weather is bad I might wait to take down the lights till a good day.. Happy New Year everybody
Dorothy Parker defined “eternity” as “a ham and two people.” ? When we do a tree, I usually decorate it about a week before Christmas and take it down on New Year’s Day. Ours sits in a sunny spot so it dries out fast, even with frequent watering. The door decoration will often stay up much longer, from after Thanksgiving to well into the new year.
nightsmusic, I hate taking them down too – but glad when the house is back to normal
Gill, that’/s the tradition here in France, too. I can’t wait that long. Glad you had a tree this year!
Ina, I enjoy it more before Christmas than after….
wonky , I always thought it would be nice if I could just wheel the whole thing in a big closet, intact…. wheel it out the next year all ready lol
Zoomie, that’s why freezers were invented. Half of my ham is back in, waiting for another day 😉