Oktoberfest in Auburn

Chef Leonardo shows us how to make a couple of the small plates patrons will be treated to at the Otoberfest celebration at the Hotel at Auburn University. It's also being hosted by Ariccia. You can go Friday night. Just head to the pool area at the Hotel at Aburn University between 5:30 and 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are $39 at the door.  Below are the recipes Chef Leonardo made for us on the show.

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Mama’s Veal Meatballs

By Chef Leonardo Maurelli III

1 pound of ground veal

1 pound of ground pork

2 large eggplants

2 ears fresh garlic

1 shallot

1 carrot

1 onion

1 stalk of celery

Cracked pepper

Sea salt

4 eggs

1 cup of Italian breadcrumbs

Directions:

Split eggplants in half and completely coat in extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.   Roast for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, remove flesh from eggplant, being careful not to scoop out any of the skin – which will be discarded. Finely dice the eggplant and set aside. Brunoise or mince (or in a food processor)  the garlic, shallot, carrot, onion, celery. In a hot skillet, add half a cup extra virgin olive oil and sauté diced/mined veggies until caramelized, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. 

In a large mixing bowl, add ground veal, ground pork, sautéed veggies and  eggplant, eggs and breadcrumbs. Mix well and set aside in fridge for flavor to come together for about 1 hour.

Once the mixture has rested, scoop out half ounce pieces of mixture and roll in hands.  Meatballs can be as large or as small as you wish. Once the balls are formed, pan sauté in skillet in extra virgin olive oil until golden brown, and then place in the oven for 5 minutes per ounce. 

These meatballs are great in any sauce, marinara, pan jus, port reduction, red wine, brown gravy , etc…..for Oktoberfest I’m doing a pan jus with grapes and figs, but the sauce can be anything.

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Piquillo Pepper and Aged White Cheddar

By Chef Leonardo Maurelli III

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 1.5 hours

Beer Style: Stout

Seasonality: Spring

Serves: 5 to 6 people

Ingredients

14 ounces of roasted piquillo peppers (you can purchase pre-roasted)

3 cups of aged white cheddar cheese 
2 cups of aioli (homemade or if you must, buy olive oil mayonnaise and add roasted garlic) 
1 teaspoon of finely minced parsley 
1 large loaf of kalamata olive loaf

Cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste

Directions:

To make a quick homemade aioli, place 2 entire garlic bulbs (peeled and crushed) into 4 cups of extra virgin olive oil. Roast garlic in a pan covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove pan from oven and allow to cool, drain oil and remove roasted garlic for later use. In a food processor add 4 to 5 egg yolks, careful not to add whites, squeeze the juice of half a lemon, being careful not to add seeds, and begin to run processor. In a steady and thin stream, slowly add the roasted garlic olive oil, until it creates an emulsion, or looks like a mayonnaise. Add salt and cracked pepper.  If this is too much, simply purchase olive oil mayonnaise, add lemon juice and 2 to 3 roasted, minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and you now have a quick aioli.

In a food processor, pulse the piquillo peppers until coarsely chopped. Place them in a perforated pan or in a strainer to allow for extra liquid to drain.  Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes. Shred aged white cheddar into a mixing bowl (you may want to shred some extra in case you want the pimento a little cheesier!).  In a mixing bowl, add the cheese, the piquillo peppers, and slowly add the aioli. Be careful not to add too much, as this should be a delicate spread and it should not be too liquid. Slowly fold the minced parsley in and add the cracked black pepper and sea salt. Place in the refrigerator to cool.

Slice the kalamata olive loaf into thin slices and toast in an oven at 320 for about 10 minutes.  To serve, top the toasts with the Piquillo Pepper and Aged White Cheddar spread.