The Recipes

If the Saints are your team, we have a muffuletta recipe from Omahan John “Greek” Liakos. The Nebraska native lived in New Orleans from 1967 to 1970 and came up with his formula to match what he was enjoying in the French Quarter. His wife, Liz, uses his recipe at her restaurant, the Market Basket in Countryside Village.

If you’re rooting for the Indianapolis Colts by serving breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches, heed the coaching from Nick Petrow, owner of Petrow’s Restaurant. Petrow says you can fry the tenderloins before the party and hold them like fried chicken until serving time. Let the game begin! — Jane Palmer

GO COLTS!

Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

Pork tenderloin

Salt and pepper

All-purpose flour

Eggs, beaten until frothy, or a mixture of egg and milk

Panko crumbs, fine dry bread crumbs or cracker crumbs

Oil, clarified butter or lard for frying

Hamburger buns

Condiments: mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, sliced onion (possibly ketchup and-or sliced tomato)

Cut pork crosswise into sections weighing about 3 ounces each. Place each section between two sheets of plastic wrap.

Pound pork slices with a meat mallet to make the pork about one-fourth-inch thick

Season each tenderloin to taste with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour.

Dip in beaten egg.

Coat lightly with crumbs. Fry immediately, one at a time, in hot fat. Cook until browned, turning once.

Serve immediately on hamburger buns. Dress, as desired, with mustard, pickles and sliced tomato.

Serving suggestion: Accompany with french fries and coleslaw.

Note: Pork tenderloin is an expensive cut of pork so the sandwich is often prepared with pork loin.

Pork Tenderloin Coaching Tips

>> Remove the tough silver membrane on the pork tenderloin.

>> Pound slices with a meat tenderizer, reduce the thickness of the slice and expand the diameter to about the size of your palm. (Or run through an electric meat tenderizer.)

>> Dredge the meat in flour.

>> Dip in batter (instead of beaten egg). Petrow’s makes its batter from a proprietary mix like you might use for hush puppies. The label states it is about 60 percent corn flour and about 40 percent wheat flour.

>> Coat the batter-dipped tenderloins with Italian bread crumbs, pressing the meat into the crumbs to further expand the size of the tenderloin to about the size of your hand.

>> Deep fry or pan fry, as you would chicken, until the crust is golden brown. The batter will puff up as it fries.

>> Keep the frying oil at 340 degrees; an electric skillet is good for this. If you cook at a higher temperature, the crust gets brown before the pork is done.

>> Expect to learn about breaded pork tenderloin by trial and error.

>> For best results, fry pork tenderloins just before serving.

>> Keep the pork tenderloin in a warm oven, up to 90 minutes, as if you were holding fried chicken.

>> Assemble the sandwiches just before serving; otherwise, the lettuce will wilt and the bun will dry out.

Nick Petrow, Petrow’s Restaurant

GO SAINTS!

Greek’s Muffuletta

Crusty, round loaves French or Italian bread

Thinly sliced deli meat: ham, Genoa salami, cappicola, pastrami, turkey breast

Sliced provolone cheese and Swiss or sharp Cheddar

Giardinera (olive relish):

1 cup green olives, chopped

1 cup black olives, chopped

1/3 cup pimiento, chopped

3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 anchovies, minced

1½ tablespoons capers

½ to ¾ cup chopped parsley

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 cup pepperoncini (pickled Tuscan chili peppers), chopped

½ teaspoon salt

1 to 1½ cups chopped cauliflower

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the giardinera. Transfer to a tightly covered container and refrigerate overnight.

To assemble the sandwich, cut loaves of bread, crosswise, into halves. With a small serrated knife and fingertips, remove some of the soft center of the bread, leaving about three-fourths-inch of bread on the crust. Drizzle some liquid from the olive relish onto the cut surfaces of the loaf.

In the bottom half of the sandwich, arrange thin layers as follows: giardinera, provolone, cappicola, giardinera, Swiss or Cheddar cheese, ham, giardinera, turkey, provolone, giardinera and the top of the loaf of bread.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Overwrap with aluminum foil. Press the entire sandwich with something that weighs about 10 pounds. Refrigerate three hours or overnight. Cut into wedges to serve.

John Liakos, Omaha

:Louisiana Jambalaya

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

¾ pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into ½-inch cubes

¾ pound ham, cut into ½-inch cubes

1 pound smoked sausage, cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices

1/3 cup bacon drippings

1 cup chopped yellow onions

½ cup chopped green bell peppers

1 cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

4 cups chicken broth

½ cup chopped green onions (green part only)

2 cups long-grain rice

10-ounce can Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained and chopped

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Salt and cayenne to taste

2 bay leaves

Heat the vegetable oil in a large, heavy ovenproof pot, over medium heat. Add the pork, ham and sausage and cook, stirring, until browned, eight to 10 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and drain off the oil. Return the pot to the stove and add the bacon drippings. On medium heat, cook the onions, bell peppers, celery and garlic until soft and lightly golden, about six minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to mix well.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Transfer the pot to the oven, cover with a tight-fitting lid and bake for one hour. Uncover and stir gently with a fork. If it’s too moist, reduce the heat to 225 degrees, and cook, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until the liquid is absorbed. Serve warm. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Judy Walker, New Orleans Times-Picayune

Indiana Sugar Cream Pie

9-inch unbaked pastry pie shell

¼ cup flour

2 tablespoons butter, cold

1 cup sugar

Pinch salt

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 300 degrees and have ready a 9-inch pastry-lined pan. Combine flour, butter, sugar and salt with a food processor or with a fork, until blended and smooth. Distribute in the pastry-lined pie plate. Add cream and mix gently with your fingers; do not tear the pastry.

Mix milk and vanilla; pour over the cream but do not stir. Sprinkle generously with nutmeg. Bake 1½ hours or until the center of the pie is bubbly. The filling will still wiggle when it is done. Let stand at room temperature until completely cooled. Cut into six to eight wedges to serve.

Note: This pie was also called “desperation pie” because it is made without eggs — something you would typically include in a custard-style pie like this.

Bread Pudding

4 cups cubed dry French bread

½ cup raisins

4 eggs

21/3 cups milk

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Whiskey sauce:

½ cup butter

½ cup sugar

1 egg yolk, beaten

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons whiskey

Sprinkle the bread and raisins in an ungreased, two-quart casserole dish or baking pan. Beat eggs in a bowl and beat in milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. When the pudding is done, a knife inserted near the center should come out clean. Allow to cool slightly at room temperature. Serve with whiskey sauce. Makes eight servings.

Whiskey sauce: Melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in sugar, egg yolk and water. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the sauce boils. Remove from heat and stir in whiskey. Serve warm.

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