What is Prosciutto?

July 31, 2010 in Food, Meats by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

Prosciutto is a meat which comes from pig.  Therefore it is ham.  But it is different than ham.

Prosciutto is ham that has been cured.  You can eat it cooked, or raw.  What we often think of when speaking of this type of Italian food is the uncooked kind.

Prosciutto - credit - Jibbit at flickr

Is it safe to eat raw?

However, do you wonder if indeed the ham is safe to eat if it is raw?   It is safe if it has been cured.   Curing meat means it is washed and salted down then left to dry or “cure” for up to 2 years.

It is hung in a cool area and in Italy it is common to see a slab of ham hanging from the ceiling.

But what also gives the prosciutto it’s distinctiveness is how thinly it is sliced.  It is sliced in paper thin strips.  You cannot cut it this thin with a knife – well, I guess you could try, but it’s typically sliced at a deli where they have a professional meat slicer.

If you have a food slicer at home, you can use that to slice the cured meat as well.  Keep in mind, prosciutto must be cured.   Taking a basic slab of ham from the store and slicing it paper thin will NOT produce prosciutto!

What is it used for?

Prosciutto is frequently used in antipasto dishes, or even wrapped around other foods such as vegetables or cheeses.

You can choose to buy pre-sliced prosciutto from a deli or super market, but try to look for ones which are from Italy.  They truly have the best.

What does it taste like?

Not all prosciutto tastes the same, so if you have a specific brand or style you like stick with it.  The reason has to do with what the pigs are fed.   Since pigs are not picky eaters they will eat just about anything in their way.  Therefore some farmers will make sure their pigs are only able to feed on specific foods like grains or grass.   Other farmers are more lax and let the pigs eat junk like other animal by products.  Naturally, all these factors can influence how the meat of the pig will taste.  Not always pretty – but it is reality.

www.simpleitaliancooking.com
Easy Italian Recipes

Pasta, Pasta, Pasta

July 27, 2010 in Food, cooking by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

How many kinds of pasta are there?

There are certainly more types of individual pastas than you or I could name.  Some of them are familiar and some I have never heard of.  They can be divided into the following broad categories.

Long strands

  • Round- thin to wide – angel hair
  • Flat or ribbon pasta -thin to wide – linguine, lasagne

Short

  • Tubular – small to large, smooth or ridged, straight cut or diagonal-rigatoni, penne, mannicoti
  • Shaped – farfalle, wagon wheels
  • Stuffed – ravioli, tortellini

Long Pasta

Long pasta is best used with sauces made with olive oil or butter. Frequently, these sauces incorporate seafood such as clams or shrimp.  Light tomato sauces are fine too.  The light sauces allow you to twirl the pasta around your fork.  Please don’t cut with a knife.  Oh, horror of  horrors!  If you are adding vegetables to your sauce, be sure to cut them into small pieces or in strips so they blend in with the long pasta as in pasta primavera.

Short Pasta

The short pastas that are tubular or shaped,  because of their uneven surfaces,  hold the sauce better.  Heavier tomato and cream sauces are paired with these pastas.  Stuffed pastas such as ravioli or tortellini are also good with heavy tomato and cream based sauces.

I’m going to talk about the long strand pastas today.  I will cover the other types in another post.

Long Strand Round Pasta

The most familiar type of long strand round pasta is spaghetti.  Sometimes this is used as a catch all phrase to cover all kinds of long pasta.  Spaghetti is the oldest known type of long pasta and literally means “lengths of cords”.  Spaghetti is good with oil or tomato based sauces.

Angel hair is a thinner version of spaghetti.  It is often used with thin oil or butter sauces or broths.  It is frequently paired with vegetables or shrimp.  Any additions should be chopped very thin.

Long Strand Flat Pasta

In the world of long strand flat or ribbon pastas, linguine and lasagne are probably the most familiar ones.

When I think of linguine, I always pair it with red or white clam sauce.  They just go together.  Yum..a nice big serving of clams and linguine in a beautiful pasta bowl…that’s my comfort food!

Lasagne noodles are long, wide and flat.  Sometimes they are ruffled, sometimes not.  Lasagne also refers to the delicious baked dish made with layered lasagne noodles, and a filling of cheese, meat and/or vegetables.

Fettucine is also a flat, ribbon pasta which is a little wider than linguine.  Fettucine is typically used in rich, creamy sauces…think fettucine alfredo.

Whatever kind of pasta you choose, try to present it in a beautiful, hand painted pasta bowl.  And for dessert, enjoy some delicious  gelato made in your very own gelato maker.

Ciao,

Stephanie
Italian Nonna

Simple Italian Cooking

Weekly Recipe: Fried Eggplant & Mozzarella Stack

July 27, 2010 in Recipes, eggplant by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

This week I was going to do regular Eggplant Parmesan.  But then I started thinking of some other ideas.  Thanks to a fellow blogger’s (Amelia over at http://www.ztastylife.com) comment at my original Eggplant Slices post, I decided to make a smaller version of Eggplant Parmesan.

I fried the eggplant like I normally do (flour, egg and breadcrumbs), then let them drain on paper towels.  This is very important to let as much grease/oil soak into the towels otherwise it will be too oily.

I then sliced some fresh mozzarella to 1/2 the width of the eggplant slices.

Eggplant Mozzarella Stack

Layered them on top of each other and topped with some warm fresh marinara sauce I had previously made.

Then I garnished with basil, which really could have been a more integral ingredient, but maybe next time.

I had sliced the whole eggplant, and had enough for 4 people.   My mother joined me, but my husband being sensitive to fried foods, just had a bite instead.  Good remarks from all.

Except…

  1. I didn’t drain them on the towels like I normally do.  I tried to let them sit on some racks as an experiment.   Now I know to take advantage of the paper towels!
  2. I had to take photos so my piece was pretty cold when I got to it.   It still tasted great but next time they will be warm thanks to not having to photograph.

One thing about this way of serving the recipe is presentation.   My mother was impressed and quite frankly so was I.  It looked like what I had envisioned in my mind, but didn’t think it would happen.

I love days like these!

Enjoy the recipe – here it is… Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella Stacks.

Liz
SimpleItalianCooking.com
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How to be frugal and still buy good quality meats

July 27, 2010 in Food, Meats by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

Being frugal does not mean not spending money, or squeezing the eagle so tight it breaks in two.   It means using resources at hand to deal with the economy at hand.

Whether the national economy, or just the economy of your household – frugality can be a terrific asset in your life, and to your budget – especially when it comes to eating.

I’ll explain:

Coupons & Sales

One of my childhood memories of my father is his coupon packed wallet.  In fact, I think he may have had a wallet just for his coupons I’m not sure.   It was so fat, so big and reminds me of the Seinfeld episode with George and his fat packed wallet which finally explodes in the middle of the street.

Now I’m the one with the coupons.  My husband and I do the weekly ritual of cutting and clipping coupons from the Sunday paper.  Who cares about the Sports section – where are the coupons?!  Using coupons and cashing in on sales has saved us tons of money off our grocery bill, and has also allowed us to buy better foods at cheaper prices.

We are on a tight budget these days where every penny is counted and collected.  But that doesn’t mean I have to buy cheap meat at the store.   You can have good meat which is expensive, or bad meat which is cheap… unless you have a coupon or hit a sale.

That is what can make the difference between a good meatloaf or meatballs vs. mediocre ones.

Life Example:

Two weeks ago we decided to have some burgers for dinner.  Instead of going and spending $12 on two meals at a fast food joint, we headed to the grocery store’s meat department.

London broil was on sale for $1.99 a pound (normally $5.99 a pound), so we picked a nice healthy piece.  Asked the butcher to use his meat grinder in the back of the store to grind up the meat for us, and then we headed home.

We made some hamburgers and put them on the grill.  Thanks to the advice from the butcher we rubbed some olive oil on them since London broil is on the lean side.   End result – beautiful lean burgers.

London Broil on Sale

We paid the same price as some cheap cut of meat, it cost less than eating out, and we ate like a King and Queen.  No heavy stomachs, no greasy yuck, just pure heavenly delight.

receipt

What should have cost us $22.60 – only cost us $9.01.

By the way – today we went shopping and saved $20.00 on foods we buy regularly!  Proof is in the image to the right.  All thanks to taking the time to look in the paper.

So, in the end – frugality doesn’t have to mean cheap or totally stingy, but rather it should mean smart and resourceful!

Liz
Simple Italian Cooking

History of Gelato

July 22, 2010 in Food by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

Have you ever wondered where and when gelato originated?

Frozen drinks go way back to the time of Abraham.  Isaac offered Abraham goat milk mixed with snow!  It’s not exactly gelato yet.

The Chinese had a 4000 year old recipe which combined well cooked rice, flavors and snow.  Still not gelato!  Similar desserts have been found in many other cultures.  I guess wherever it got hot, people wanted a cool drink.

Arab traders brought a version of sorbet to Sicily.  Their word for this dessert was sherbet, which means sweet snow. Sicily made a dessert called Granita, which was probably the original sorbetto.

Spread of Gelato

Now we come to Italy’s role in the spread of gelato/sorbetto.  In the mountainous north, which was cattle country, the people of Dolomite used milk, cream, sugar, eggs and flavors to make the first real gelato.  It was stored in deep basements in packed snow.

In the summer months, they sold it to tourists traveling through their area.  When winter came, travel dropped off and so did their income.  So they took their gelato and went to Europe to sell it there.

Role of Caterina de Medici

Caterina de Medici also played a big role in introducing gelato to Europe.  She decided to hold a contest to create “a singular plate that had never been seen”.  The winner of the event was Giuseppe Ruggeri, a chicken vendor, who created a magnificent sorbet.

Caterina was so impressed that when she married Henri II of France she took Ruggeri with her to France as one of her Italian chefs.  He made many fantastic desserts for court dinners, but refused to share his secret recipe with the other chefs.  They hated him and he eventually returned to Italy to his chickens.

More significant names

Gelato Ice Cream

Another important name in the history of gelato is Bernardo Buontalenti who was part of the court of Francesco de Medici.  He was the first to create gelato by churning it over salt and ice.

In the 16th century, gelato was a rich man’s dessert, served mainly in the court settings of the kings and queens of Europe.  It wasn’t until the 17th century that sorbetto began to be sold in the town square.  In 1686, Francesco Procopio opened a restaurant and sold gelato to the public.

Italian pastime

Now, eating gelato, like drinking espresso, is an Italian pastime.  People enjoy sitting in sidewalk cafes, cooling off with a delicious gelato and people watching.

Stephanie
Italian Nonna

Simple Italian Cooking


Zucchini, Basil and Eggs

July 21, 2010 in Food, zucchini by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

This week I posted another recipe in my recipebox.  It uses zucchini, basil, eggs, garlic, and olive oil, but really – the options are endless.  If you have Italian zucchini, use that for a more mild flavor.

My husband loves to cook up sliced zucchini for our brunches.   He’ll fry up some onion, add in the zucchini and then some eggs.  I prefer mine without the onion and including fresh basil from the garden.

But that is the cool thing about cooking – there are just so many variations.  And hence why sometimes it is so hard to write our recipes down because there isn’t really “one” way of preparing the dishes.

With this particular recipe, I cook the zucchini over high or medium high heat so there is some browning going on.  It takes about 5 minutes, unlike sauteing the zucchini over lower heat.  I like the zucchini a little firm – kinda like al dente, if you can even use that description for a vegetable.  Once the zucchini is a soggy mess – it is still good, but the texture is lost.

Cooking up some zucchini

I like to fry my egg on the side, but you can certainly use scrambled eggs as well.  My husband likes his scrambled, and we use only egg whites to help cut back on cholesterol.

Another variation, is to include some ground beef in with the mix – omit the basil and use onions.  I mean, there are just so many options.

Give my zucchini recipe a try.

Let me know if you have other ideas too.  Would love to hear them.

Liz

Easy Italian Recipes

History of the Italian Kitchen

July 20, 2010 in Italian heritage by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

How has the Italian Kitchen evolved over time?

When I think of an Italian kitchen (la cucina), I think of a comfortable room where everyone tends to gravitate.  La cucina is a place where food, wine and conversation flow.

It wasn’t always like that however.  In medieval times, only the rich had a separate room for a kitchen.  And it was usually on the top floor of the house.

The poorer people only had a fireplace in the corner of a room.  This was used to make soups and to reheat food.  There was a public oven for the people of the town to use for baking, for a fee, of course.

The end of 18th century saw the rise of the middle class. La cucina now held a table as well as a fireplace. The kitchens were small, not nearly as large as the rich people had.  Nevertheless, this was the beginning of socialization in the kitchen.

In the early 20th century, after World War I, more women began to work outside the home.  Kitchens design began to utilize space more efficiently and  different utensils and appliances were introduced to reduce preparation time.  Also, cooking fumes and odors were vented to the outside.

After World War II, the kitchen became more than just a place to prepare meals.  It was now a place to decorate.  Many began to display their beautiful hand painted pasta bowls.  The kitchen was now a place for visiting, doing homework or just talking.

In the Sixties, there was a real explosion of innovation in the kitchen.  There was a marriage of form and function, beauty and efficiency.  Now la cucina, was truly the center of the house.

This was the entertainment hub, a place where both men, women and children felt comfortable to visit with one another.  They would linger after dinner, talking and enjoying an espresso made from  their very own stove top espresso maker.  Maybe they would even have some home made gelato prepared in their gelato maker.

La cucina has truly evolved since medieval times.  I wonder what it will be like 100 years from now!

Stephanie
Italian Nonna

SimpleItalianCooking

What exactly is gelato and what can I do with it?

July 15, 2010 in Food, Gelato by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

The best way to describe gelato is to call it Italian ice cream.  the word “gelato” comes from the Italian verb, gelare, which means to freeze.

What it is

Gelato is a combination of whole or reduced fat milk, eggs, sugar and natural flavoring, usually fresh fruit and sugar.

So gelato is a frozen dessert, but it is not like our American ice cream.  Gelato is different from ice cream  in that it doesn’t have as much fat in it. For those of us who are weight conscious but have a sweet tooth, this is good news.

Ice cream has between 10 to 20 % fat, while gelato has only 8% or less.  Gelato is  softer and has more intense fruit flavors.  It is like a sorbet, but more creamy.  It’s creamy because as you make it in a gelato maker, it spins at a slower speed and therefore does not incorporate as much air in the mixture.

There is also a similar dessert called sorbetto which is a blend of fresh fruit and juice with a small amount of cream in it.  It is similar to our sorbet.

Gelato can be bought in retail food stores, ice cream shops and in Italian restaurants,  but the best way to enjoy it is to make it yourself.  Then you can tailor it to your own specific tastes.  There is no end to the combinations you can make.  If you have a gelato maker you can make a batch in about 30 minutes.

Italian Themed Dinner Party

The traditional way to serve gelato is to put it in small cups with a little spoon with perhaps a small wafer in it.  This makes a really classy dessert, especially if you are having an Italian themed dinner party.  Just picture delicious pasta served in handcrafted Italian pasta bowls, with homemade gelato for dessert.  Don’t forget the espresso made with your very own stovetop espresso maker. Yum!

Gelato Recipes

Another way to enjoy gelato is a milkshake, or I guess I should say a gelato shake.

For a 16 oz. drink,  just combine 10 oz. of gelato with 4 oz. of juice, coffee, espresso or any other liquid of your choice.Or you can try a smoothie which uses sorbetto  instead of gelato.  Remember, sorbetto is gelato without dairy products, except maybe a little cream.

To make a smoothie, combine 10 oz. of sorbetto and 4 oz. of juice.  This makes a 16oz. smoothie.

If you want to use fresh fruit, reduce the sorbetto to 8 oz., add 2 oz. fresh fruit and 4 oz. of juice.  If you are using fresh fruit, prepare it as if you were going to eat it, and then blend it in a food processor or blender .

So now you know what gelato is  and a few of the ways you can enjoy it.

For more gelato recipes check out gelato cookbooks at Amazon.

Buon appetito!

Stephanie
Italian Nonna

SimpleItalianCooking.com

Making Meatballs Using a Meat Grinder

July 15, 2010 in Italian Kitchenware by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

There are many benefits a person experiences when owning a meat grinder.  One of those reasons is too…. answer please…. grind meat.

By being able to grind your own meat, whether it be beef, turkey, chicken or venison, you are able to have fresh meat to your liking for many recipes.  Here is one of my favorite recipes below – Italian meatballs.

To get started:

Using your meat grinder like the Waring Pro MG-800, grind the raw meat using the ‘fine’ plate.   This is the setting you would normally use for hamburgers or meatloaf.  The medium and course settings are more for soups and chili.

Place the raw meat in the feeding tube and use the pusher to slide any unwilling pieces down.  The grinder will chop the meat and push it through the plate where it extrudes into your bowl.

Remember to follow the instructions for cleaning the parts properly.  This is very important to the longevity of your parts with the Waring Pro.

If you are not going to make the meatballs right away, go ahead and store in the fridge, but no more than 2 days.   It is best to use it right away when the meat is freshest.   You can also freeze the meat for longer storage periods.

This is a good idea when grinding large amounts of meat at one time.

Making the Meatballs

Some people use a combination of beef and pork, but I prefer my meatballs with just meat.

  1. To make about 10 meatballs, combine all the following ingredients:
    1 lb beef
    2 eggs
    1/2 cup breadcrumbs (unseasoned)
    2 Tablespoons basil
    3 Tablespoons Parmesan or Romano cheese (grated)
    1 clove garlic chopped
    1 teaspoon of salt and pepper
  2. Form into round balls which fit into the palm of your hand – not too big, but not too small either.
  3. Heat about 1/4 cup olive oil in a large deep sided skillet (preferably not non-stick) and once the oil is hot, gently add the meatballs in.
  4. Cook over med-high heat about 4 minutes with the lid partially covered.
  5. Once they have cooked and browned more than half way through turn each over with a fork or spatula and continue heating until cooked thoroughly.
  6. When finished, let drain on some paper towels on a plate to help absorb the extra grease.
  7. Serve with some sauce and enjoy!

Tips

Here are some tips from my own experience:

  1. If the oil begins to smoke and bits of the meatballs turn black and start to smell, you do not have enough oil.   Add in extra oil.  If everything smells like burnt meat, you may need to remove from heat and let cool to clean it out a bit.
  2. I found it most useful to use a fork to move the meatballs around rather than a spatula.  The meatballs should easily roll when they are ready.  Check it every few minutes and you will tell the difference.  This took me awhile to get the hang of because I was so afraid everything would burn – but this was not the case.
  3. I made the mistake of squeezing everything into the pan to try and save time.  Don’t do this.  Instead take your time and allow for enough room for the meatballs to move around.

I wish you the best in your cooking endeavors with your meat grinder friendly recipes!

Liz

www.simpleitaliancooking.com
Italian Recipes

Help…my basil is going to seed!

July 13, 2010 in Gardening, basil by Simple Italian Cooking Blog | No comments

I was in my garden yesterday and noticed that my basil was forming flowers, which means that it is going to seed.  The flavor of the fresh basil changes as it goes to seed, so it was time to do something.  Well…not a problem…just dry it!   Now, I do not have a fancy dehydrator, but if you do, use it.  You see, I am pretty cheap (oops!  I meant economical) and I just dry it in my shed.  This is how I do it.

First, cut the large multi- stemmed shoots of the basil, leaving the smaller side shoots to mature and become big guys.  Then just snip off the flowers.  Wash the basil thoroughly in lots of cold water.  Thank goodness the basil doesn’t have those nasty little green worms that hide on the bottom of the leaves.  After it is clean, separate it into bundles of about five multi- stemmed shoots and tie tightly with string, leaving a large loop so you can hang it on a nail or whatever you have.  I dry mine in my garden shed which is very hot and dry.  In my former house, I dried them in my attic.  You have to use what you have.

Check the basil every week or so, depending on how hot it is.  When the leaves are dry and crumbly, take them down and crush the leaves on a paper towel and store them in an airtight container.,  You will be glad you saved your basil in the winter when you want to make Italian pasta sauce.  Aside from being “economical” it’s a lot fun and very satisfying to preserve your own food.

Ciao,

Stephanie
Italian Nonna

Simple Italian Cooking.com

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