She could wield a cleaver like a pro, cut up a chicken lickety-split, and roll out pasta without
\nbreaking a sweat. Her signature dish, chicken in wine, is to this day my very favorite and one that I have never been able to duplicate in taste. Never! And when she served it, she also made arancine fried rice balls. I devoured them. Arancine are traditional Sicilian street food that had its beginnings in many foreign cultures. The rice and saffron from the Arabs,
\nthe sheep\u2019s milk cheese from the Greeks, rag\u00f9 from the French, and tomatoes from the Spanish. No wonder they are so good! Do not attempt to make these with regular rice. Make them with Arborio, the short-grain, starchy rice used to make risotto. It has the heft to stand up to deep frying.<\/p>\n
Portions: <\/strong>Makes about 12 rice balls<\/p>\n Ingredients for rag\u00f9 sauce:<\/strong><\/p>\n Ingredients for rice balls:<\/strong><\/p>\n Preparation:<\/strong><\/p>\n Heat the olive oil in a 2-quart saucepan and cook the celery, carrot, and onion until the vegetables soften. Stir in the red pepper flakes. Add the meat and brown it well. Combine the tomatoes with the wine and add to the meat, stirring the ingredients well. Cook over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. The mixture should be thick, not watery. Stir in the She could wield a cleaver like a pro, cut up a chicken lickety-split, and roll out pasta without breaking a sweat. Her signature dish, chicken in wine, is to this day my very favorite and one that I have never been able to duplicate in taste. Never! And when she served it, she also made…<\/p>\n\n
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\npeas. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The sauce can be made several days ahead.
\nPour the rice into a 2-quart saucepan and add the chicken broth. Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and allow the rice to cook, covered, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Strain the saffron threads and add the saffron water to the rice. Stir well. Off the heat stir in the cheese, and 2 of the eggs. Season with salt to taste. Let cool. To assemble the rice balls. Scoop up about \u00bd cup of the rice in the palm of your hand; form small orange-size balls then make an indentation in the center of each ball with your finger. Fill the indentation with a generous tablespoon of the rag\u00f9. Close the rice around the fill<\/span>ing. Set the balls aside.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Put the flour in a shallow bowl. Beat the remaining 2 eggs with a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>fork in another shallow bowl. Coat the balls in the flour, then the <\/span>egg mixture. Roll the balls in bread crumbs to cover completely. Heat 4 cups of sunflower or canola oil to 375\u00b0F in a deep fryer or heavy bottoned, deep pot. Fry the arancine in the oil until nicely browned. Drain them on paper towels. Serve them hot with or without tomato sauce on the side. Make arancinette, small olive-size rice balls, for part of an antipasto; instead of rag\u00f9 filling, use a mixture of diced ham and Italian fontina cheese. After coating the rice balls in bread crumbs allow them to dry out, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before frying. This will help the bread crumbs stay put when frying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"