An Italian Holiday Feast

Braciole

Anchovy Balls

Calamari Soup

Like a scene from a science fiction movie where everyone is frozen in time or victims of sleeping gas — the bodies are strewn on couches and chairs, the television flickering - muted and ignored by the comatose multitude while Bing Crosby softly sings carols in a distant room. The Christmas feast is finished.My Mom had begun this attack on our gustatorial senses days before. The menu and traditions were ingrained in her holiday organizational scheme, most of the recipes memorized. She had repeated this yearly routine so many times that it was automatic. Amazingly she did it while juggling a full time job at the phone company and taking care of a family of eight. She did most of the shopping by herself and practically all of the cooking.The major meals to be prepared were for the post Midnight Mass “snack” and the All – Day feast on Christmas day. She also made hundreds of traditional cookies during the weeks preceding Christmas, which were saved in tins for the big event.The people to be fed included a mix of friends and relatives including my uncle Emmanuel, his family, and my cousin Vinny (really).  During later years, with the many grandchildren, there were as many as twenty seated at the main and satellite tables throughout the house.
Italian Tradition
As was the custom, when my father and mother were married, the young bride had to apprentice in the kitchen of the husband’s mother. She was taught all of the traditional soups, sauces, entrees and desserts including dishes that were prepared on religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter. My mother spent weeks cooking with Grandma and Aunt Daisy, Vinny’s mom. Many of these recipes have been passed down for hundreds of years.She also has some great stories of cooking in the basement of Daisy’s house in Brooklyn while my uncles sat around tasting from the illegal barrels of wine that they had made.An interesting note, though she made the calamari soup every year since I was born, it wasn’t until I was in my thirties that she actually tasted it, announcing in a somewhat surprised voice that it was pretty good.
Another odd fact is that my Mom is very slight and has never weighed more that 100 pounds, so as a chef, it took me years to figure out how she didn’t gain weight while cooking all of these highly caloric dishes. The secret was that she nibbled constantly instead of sitting down and having one large meal.
Christmas Eve
As was at that time part of the Catholic Ritual, meat was not consumed on Christmas Eve. This is when the anchovy balls and calamari soup were served after Midnight Mass.  However, she did provide a sumptuous platter of Italian deli meats, cheeses and breads for the non-Catholics spending the night.
My favorite, the savory calamari soup, was served with fresh Italian egg bread and the fried anchovy balls were passed around the table. These salty - addicting treats were treated with respect by those in the know. If you ate one too many of these babies you had to bring a pitcher of water to bed with you.
Christmas Morning Madness
My Dad would have been up by dawn and was on his way to St. Cecilia’s to serve as an usher at the early Christmas mass. Of course all of the younger children also woke at this time, and despite firm parental warnings, ran madly squealing around the Christmas tree with mounds of presents to be opened. Someone with good sense always made sure the adults got a quick eggnog and brandy before the cacophony became too irritating.
Amazingly Mom, who probably hadn’t slept, had fried eggs, cooked bacon, and made toast and was wandering around the crowded room trying to pass off plates saying, “You better eat something, dinner is not for awhile.”
The Onslaught Begins
Aside from the many Italian entrees prepared, my Mom also threw in a roast turkey with all of the fixings, a large salad, crudités, sliced tomatoes and don’t forget the pumpkin pie to round out the feast.  At around three or four in the afternoon we began. All of the extensive counter space in my parent’s house was filled with hot casseroles and platters of eggplant Parmesan, city chicken, lasagna, braciole and turkey. We would wander around with our plates in hand sampling each of the dishes. My father, the patriarch, would sit at the head of the table smiling and wait for someone to serve him, while my Mom, on the other hand, rarely sat; she just nibbled while serving the rest of the hoard claiming she was full.
Eventually everyone succumbed and as lethargy set in we all smiled, pleased with our fabulous triumph over the festive fete.
My sisters and I over the years have made notes on these incredible recipes and have managed to recreate them one or two at a time but we have never been able to make a feast like the great ones my Mom used to produce.

Recipes
Anchovy Balls
Calamari Olive Soup
Egg Plant Parmesan
City Chicken
Lasagna with Spicy Italian Sausage
Braciole

Anchovy Balls
Ingredients
1 c. warm water
1 tbsp. dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar
2 c. all purpose flour
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. Kosher salt
 3 to 4 oz. anchovies (depending on the size of the tin.)
oil to fry
Method
In a 1 gallon bowl mix 90°F water with sugar and yeast. Let proof for 5 minutes. Add the flour olive oil and salt. Mix until a moist dough is formed. Do not over mix. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Heat oil in fryer to 325°F. brush a large plate with olive oil and using a soup spoon take 1 heaping spoon of the dough (about 1 ½ oz.) and flatten slightly on the oiled plate. Roll up a large anchovy filet or two small filets and gently press into the center of the dough. Using the spoon roll the dough to completely cover the anchovy. Repeat. Fry about 3 of the balls at a time to avoid crowding. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges while hot. They may be held in a warm oven for a few minutes until service.

Calamari Soup
Ingredients
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. olive oil
8 cups canned tomatoes in juice
2 cups pitted green olives
2 lbs. cleaned calamari tubes and tentacles
2 cups dry white wine
1 tbsp. kosher salt
Method
(You will need a very heavy duty soup pot for the long cooking time or a crock-pot.)
Chop the onion and garlic finely in a food processor. In a 1 gallon soup pot sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil stirring constantly until translucent. Clean the calamari and slice the bodies into rings. Puree canned tomatoes in a blender or food-processor, add to the sautéed onion – garlic mixture. Add the calamari, white wine, olives and salt. Bring to a slow simmer and cover. Cook at least 18 hours. I found that the best method is to bring everything to a boil and transfer every thing to a crock-pot and cook on low for 18 hours. The long cooking time will make the calamari very tender.

Serve with a baguette that has been sliced open and brushed with olive oil and either grilled or broiled.

Braciole
Braciole is commonplace throughout Italy, but very popular in the southern regions. The filling can have a variety of ingredients including: pine nuts, peppers and various dried fruits. Our family version of this recipe uses a tomato-based sauce to simmer the meat rolls in, while other versions may use beef stock.
Ingredients
2 lbs. tri tip steak, 1/8 inch thick slices
1 tbsp.  olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic chopped fine
1/4 lb. dried currants
¼ c. dry white wine
1 c. breadcrumbs
1/2 c. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 tbsp. fresh oregano chopped fine
1 tbsp. fresh parsley chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
Technique
Using a large saucepan, slowly sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil. Add the currants, parsley and oregano. Add the white wine and cook together for 3 or 4 more minutes so that the flavors blend together. Drain off any excess oil and place the mixture in a large bowl. Blend in the breadcrumbs, cheese and eggs. Season with fresh ground pepper and add any salt that is needed. Cool the mixture.
Pound the slices of beef between sheets of plastic wrap using a meat mallet. Take care not to tear the meat or plastic during this process. Divide the stuffing between each of the sheets of meat and roll. Tie the ends and middle of each roll gently with cotton string or carefully skewer with toothpicks to hold the rolls together. Season with a small amount of salt and pepper. Heat a small amount of light olive oil in a large sauté pan and brown each one carefully removing with a slotted spoon to an appropriate casserole dish. Pour off any excess oil from the sauté pan, add red wine to de-glaze, tomato sauce. Heat to a simmer and pour over the rolls. Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 11/2 hours or until tender. Remove the rolls to a serving platter and remove the string or toothpicks. Pour the sauce over the Braciole just before service.
Serves six
Basic Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
1 c. chopped celery
1 finely chopped yellow onion
1 c. chopped carrots
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
1/4 c. oil
4 c. tomatoes pureed
4 c. diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. sugar
1 c. red wine
1 pinch white pepper
1/2  tsp. Dry leaf thyme
1/2  tsp. Dry leaf oregano
1/2 bunch fresh chopped basil,
2 bay leaves
1/2 bunch chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt to taste
Method
Slowly saute vegetables and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes. Vegetables may be chopped in a food processor as long as they are not liquefied. Add diced tomatoes (fresh vine ripe tomatoes may be used during the season) then add the pureed tomatoes. These may be chopped and thrown in a blender.  Add seasonings, herbs and red wine. Simmer 2 hours over low heat.
This is a great sauce with pasta, or on chicken or fish. Store in the refrigerator or freeze in small, easy to use containers.
yield approximately 1/2 gallon

City Chicken
1 lb. boned veal shoulder cut into 1" cubes
1/2 lb. lean pork cut into 1" cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter
Season meat with salt and pepper. Alternate cubes of pork and veal on 6- inch wooden skewers). Roll first in bread crumbs, then dip in egg; roll again in crumbs. Saute onions in large skillet with butter until tender. Add meat and brown on all sides. Add water; cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Makes 6 to 8 "legs".