Lee's Veal Parmigiana

Memories of the Casa Bianca can be euorphic

Fond memories of growing up at the Casa Bianca are ever present in my mind. Sure the great food was a part of what made it special but the guests who came through our doors both the front and the kitchen were just that, guests to my mother and more like family than customers. Being in our living room manifested this euphoria and sense of belonging. For years our guests would beg us not to advertize as to keep the Casa thier little secret.This is why those who remember the Casa and share the loving memory of Mama Lee maintain an indelible lasting experience, one that I have never felt in any other restaurant but only there in the living room of my home.

Over and over I hear our former guests talk about Lee and Mary and the effect they had on them and in many cases the children of so many who grew up finding a special place at the Casa's tables. Today as I travel and dine all over the country I suppose I judge all comers against that  experience that was the Casa Bianca. There is plenty of great food out there and a plethora of talented chefs. However, it is almost impossible to find that something that existed at the Casa. The thing that set it apart and made it home to so many. Unless you were there I'm sorry you won't get it. Those of you who were are now the Casa's fraternity knowing that we will never add another member.

I hope that we are building that same legacy here at Proctor Gas the propane people where you feel like a guest in our showroom and part of the Proctor Gas fraternity.

Here is the Casa' biggest seller over those 40 years. And just for fun the menu from August 12th 1984...were you there?

Appetizers
My black bean soup w/ spicy tomato salsa                                                              

Baked stuffed clams                                                                                                          

Chilled Idaho trout sun dried tomatoes, olives and basil                                           

Mussels w/scallions, garlic tomatoes and extra virgin live oil                                 

Tortolini w/ snails in a light tomato pesto sauce                                                                   

 

Entrées

Veal Cutlet Parmigiana                                                                                                 

Veal Piccata , lemon white wine and capers                                                                  
Veal cutlet Maria, w/ proscuitto,  eggplant and fresh mozzarella                             
Jumbo shrimp scampi, Genoa style on pasta                                                                
Grilled chicken breast w homemade  lobster artichoke ravioli red pepper aioli           

Braciole                                                                                                                                

Jambalya, Naples style, shrimp chicken and Italian sausage                                     
Double Cut Pork chops, braised red cabbage and warm house-made applesauce   
Roasted rack of lamb Italian style                                                                                               
Grilled or blackened Mahi Mahi w/ pesto hollandaise                                               

Fresh pasta pescatore, shrimp , mussels, calamari                                                       

 

Desserts

Frozen honey vanilla Mousse, w blackberry sauce                                                       

Peaches in hot wine strawberries and cream                                                                

Lee's famous hot fudge on ice cream                                                                              

Homemade Italian cheesecake                                                                                        
assorted Italian ice creams                                                                                                           

 

For those who really want a walk down memory lane check this out!

The Casa 1958 the year I was born, The original sign read Italian Restaurant Steaks and Chops! But there was not a chop on the menu and only one steak!

Phone # ...Prospect 3-8068 as listed on the menus

Price of entree included a Complete dinner:

antipasto
soup
spaghetti
green salad
entree of your choice
dessert
coffee or espresso

The most expensive entree, with 7 courses STUFFING MENU was the  veal cutlet Parm dinner for $3.50... but! if you wanted extra sauce you had to get up another..extra sauce .25 cents...if the 6 extra courses was too expensive for $1.50, you could get the veal parm for:

veal cutlet ala carte $1.90

or

Linguini and clams $1.25

 

Undesrstand this was not a 7 course tasting menu as you might see today instead all were full portions. You wewre not allowed to leave the table unless you were stuffed and having trouble moving.

Here is Lee's Veal Parmigiana you can sub chicken or pork

Veal Parm

Have your butcher cut your cutlets from the top with the cap removed.  Just tell him that and he will know. Pound them thin but not too thin about a 4 to 5 ounce piece being careful not to tear the meat.

Serves six

6 5 oz pieces of veal pounded

bread crumbs
8 eggs beaten in a flat bottom pan large enough to dredge the cutlet in
3 cloves garlic chopped small
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
black pepper
6 large or 12 small slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
pinch of salt as the cheese will make it salty

oil for pan frying

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

 

In the flat bottom pan with the eggs add the ingredients...garlic, parsley cheese and pepper beat together until well incorporated. Have the bread crumbs on a dish where you can dredge in the crumbs then into the egg mixture.

Have the cooking oil on the stove in a heavy skillet large enough to hold two of the cutlets at once. About a 1/2 inch of oil in the pan. Make sure the oil is hot before you put the cutlet in or it will not stay together. Test your oil by dropping a touch of the egg mixture in the oil. If it fry's up immediately then you are ready otherwise wait for this temperature to occur.

Dredge the cutlet in the bread crumbs pressing them to the meat, you can bread the cutlets all at once and set aside. Test your oil to make sure it is hot enough. Then one at a time put the cutlets in the egg mixture and get well coated then go right to the hot oil with one smooth quick motion. Just don't splash the oil. Use a pair of tongs for this. The egg should sear quickly and leave for about 2 minutes on each side.

Remove to a plate with a paper towel under the cutlet and let them rest for 3 minutes, letting the paper towel extract any extra oil. Then transfer to a flat 1/2 size sheet pan or something like that and place cheese on top, put in the hot oven. When the cheese is melted they are done. Serve with pasta and sauce.

Of course there are many options to how to do a cutlet and you would never find it done this way in Italy but my mother did it this way. In Italy it would most likely be crispy (bread crumbs on the outside) with a slice of lemon no sauce no cheese.

A Mrs. Tom side note:

My  mother fried all the veal parms  in a iron skillet that is in my kitchen today. She used a fork that cost about .99 cents and was duck taped together. One of those designed for cooking on the outdoor grill. It was about 18 inches long and was in the kitchen for more years than I could remember. After Anna passed away the fork stayed and was still in use when my mother passed some 12 years later. We should have framed it! Anna was my mother's cook for 25 years and had a special hand roll down to a science that got the cutlet from the egg batter to the hot oil in one smooth back of the hand roll. Those of you who entered the Casa through the kitchen and had to slide past Pauline Anna's sister (on the dish station for 15 years) will remember this.