"Braciola"

One meal typical to the Italian culture is known as "braciola," often served in accompaniment of pasta and homemade tomato sauce. This Sunday necessity entails a large thinly sliced piece of meat, stuffed with goodness and all tied up. Coming from an Italian family, we don't typically give out our recipes but before I start salivating...here's what you need:

Ingredients:
1                  Beef "top round cut for braciola"
1/2 cup        Bread crumbs
1/2 cup        Grated cheese
1/4 cup        Plum tomatos (in pieces)
4                  Eggs
2                  Scallions (chopped)
1/8 cup        Golden Raisins
1/8 cup        Pignoli Nuts
dash             Pepper
3 leaves       Basil (chopped)
24 inches     Cooking string
2 tbsp           Olive Oil
1 can          Tomato Sauce

Directions:
It is important to initially prepare your ingredients. I advise to first hard boil 2 of the eggs so that once they are finished, they can be placed aside to cool off before using. Cut the tomatoes in pieces, chop the scallions, and the basil. This will allow for better organization once the ingredients are needed. The "main act" of this dish is the stuffing. It is actually quite simple. To begin, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, tomato pieces, 2 eggs, and half of the chopped scallions. Mix until all components are integrated into a moist consistency. Then, add the raisins, pignoli nuts, basil and pepper. Mix again. Place the meat on a dish where it is easily accessible... and get ready to get dirty! Lay the stuffing mixture directly in the center of the cut meat. Once all of the stuffing is placed down, cut the hard boiled eggs in half and lay them on top of the stuffing mixture. Grab the sides of the meat and fold them over the mixture, making sure that none of the stuffing is sticking out. Take the cooking string and wrap the meat in a circular motion, tying the ends together.

I advise washing your hands before continuing.

Take out a large pot, add remaining scallions and olive oil, bringing the heat to a medium flame. Add the braciola to the pot and sear. Once browned, add the sauce and bring to a boil.
After this step is completed, take the cooked meat out and place it on a plate where it cool. After about 5 minutes, slice the meat vertically so that the resulting shape is one similar to circles. Douse in tomato sauce.

BUON APPETITO!


Vocabulary:
accompaniment (noun) - something that compliments something else
salivating (verb) - to secrete saliva in anticipation of food
"main act" (noun) - the most important part
integrated (verb) - combined
consistency (noun) - the way a substance holds together
douse (verb) - to pour over in large amounts
buon appetito (phrase) - Meaning " have a good eat" in the Italian language

Vocabulary Exercise:
Use this word puzzle to look for the above vocabulary words.

Grammar Point:

Most recipe instructions are written in imperative form. This means that the sentences are composed in a commanding manner. Some examples include, "Cut the tomatoes" or "Mix the ingredients." Notice, there is no specified subject in either of these sentences. There is an imaginary, implied "You" that the command is being directed to. Using this knowledge please compose four sentences in the imperative form.