Book Review: Tomatoes & Mozzarella by Hallie Harron & Shelley Sikora

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Simple Italian Cooking Blog

There are two foods that I truly love – and I love them when used together:  tomatoes and mozzarella.

So when I was asked by The Harvard Common Press if I was interested in taking a look at a new book they were publishing called, Tomatoes & Mozzarella – it was an easy yes.

Anyone who likes tomatoes and mozzarella will truly enjoy this book .  But let me explain why.

The book has a beautiful cover which instantly makes you start thinking about your next trip to the store so you can get started with some of these recipes.

Tomatoes & Mozzarella

The book includes recipes not only from Italy, but from other countries such as France, Spain, even some places here in the US.

When I first agreed to read the book, I thought all the recipes would be from Italy (after all this is an Italian website).   So when I realized this was not the case I was bit disappointed until I started looking at the pages and reading the recipes.

To give an idea of what you can expect, one of the recipes is called Deviled Tomatoes.   Instead of using hard boiled egg as the “bowl”, they use small plum tomatoes to house the chopped ingredients – one of which is hard boiled eggs.

The Deviled Tomatoes are then topped with sliced small mozzarella balls.  How ingenious! I can guarantee this one is a perfect appetizer that will get tons of raves.   Too bad I’m not writing this in the summer -but hey – who cares when you make it!

Catalan not Roman Garlic Bread

Catalan is in Spain so when I saw the recipe for Catalan Tomato Bread, I had to find out what makes this different from an Italian bread?

The concept is the same – toasted thick artisan bread, rub garlic on bread, sliced tomatoes on top along with mozzarella, and a drizzle of olive oil along with a dash of salt…. and here is the added ingredient… a drizzle of red wine vinegar.

Most Italian garlic bread recipes that I’ve seen don’t come with the red wine vinegar.   Not saying it can’t be done, in fact I plan on testing it out myself with a loaf of bread we have in the freezer.

Marinated Artichoke Salad

I chose this recipe because A) it’s Italian and B)it is similar to a combo of two recipes I have (my anti-pasto recipe and my cannellini bean salad recipe).

It’s basically an antipasto which is really hearty and served on top of lettuce leaves which I think is a great idea!   I’d omit the capers, but that’s just me.

The Healthy Parisians

When I think of French food I think butter and more butter.   But one of the recipes, Tomato Lentil Salad really stood out to me.   Not only is it not smothered in butter (burro in Italian), but it really is healthy.

Ingredients include lentils, water, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, white onion (less pungent than red or yellow onion), tomatoes, pesto and shredded mozzarella.

It is simple enough to prepare and you probably have most of these ingredients around if you have an Italian filled pantry or refrigerator.

Unique

This book is unique – that’s the only word that really comes to mind.  I say that because it has such a wide variety of recipes.  For example, you wouldn’t think that a tomato and mozzarella book would include a tomato jam recipe.   This one does.

What about Basil scones?  This one does.

How about a Southwestern layered black bean salad with smoked mozzarella?  This one does.

I have not tried too many recipes from this book to be honest.   Not because I don’t want to – trust me I want to try them all!   I’m just sayin’ I can’t vouch for all of the recipes yet.

Great for Vegetarians or as Meatless Alternatives

The book is not vegetarian but there are a lot of meatless recipes here.   Since my husband has recently given up meat for the past 2 months I’m left with trying to find good recipes that fit the bill.

This book does that.

For example, the Wild Mushroom Macaroni and Cheese is a good choice for us.    It’s hearty and still fills the stomach.

The book offers more than boring recipes, it offers a variety of creative recipes from various regions and offers a ton of ideas how to use tomatoes without getting sick of them.

This past summer a friend emailed me with a problem.  She told me she had a huge number of tomatoes that had come out of nowhere and she had no idea what to do with them all!   I don’t think I was much help – told her pretty much just make a lot of sauce and freeze it.

I wish I had this book back then because I know it would have been a huge help for her.  So if you know someone who grows a lot of tomatoes each year or just really like tomatoes and mozzarella – this book is very much for them!

You can order the book from Amazon here if you want to take a look at the inside of the book to check it out.   If you’re total is over $25 (the book is less than $15) you get free shipping.

 

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A Brief History about Espresso and Coffee Drinks

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Nick

“Brewing espresso, unlike other methods of brewing coffee, IS rocket science!” – Knox and Huffaker, Coffee Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide.

We hate admitting it, but most of us are spoiled when it comes to espresso. We just walk in to some coffee shop, put in our order, and whine when it takes the barista longer than twenty seconds to press our double-shot into that little ceramic cup we all love because it makes us feel like we’re giants.

A Bit of Espresso History

Making Espresso

But espresso is much more than just some dark, bitter liquid we hurriedly throw down to help us power through some boring afternoon business meeting.

It is a caffeinated (or decaffeinated) work of art from its brewing to its presentation, and has a history to which we can all relate: it all started with an overbearing, micromanaging boss that felt his workers were taking too long during their coffee breaks.

In the late-19th / early-20th century in Milan, Itay, Luigi Bezzera wanted more production out of his workers, who – just like us – would take coffee breaks throughout the day.

Thinking they spent too much time bringing water to a boil, adding the ground and roasted beans, and cooking the liquid until it “smelled right,” he developed a steam-driven beast of a machine (the Tipo Gigante) that used water and steam forced under high pressure to yield what we know of today as “espresso.”

(To be honest, though, Bezzera’s machine was actually a takeoff from Angelo Moriondo’s original espresso machine patent, but hey…)

By forcing the water through finely ground coffee beans, he cut those coffee breaks down considerably, and production at his plant skyrocketed. He essentially caught lightning in a bottle, and from there, espresso gained worldwide popularity.

Today anyone can make espresso right in their own homes using smaller espresso pots that are used over a stove (like a tea pot).  These are called stove top espresso makers and  can be easily purchased online at places like Amazon.

The Evolution of Espresso to Espresso Drinks

As espresso bars became “the thing” in the increasingly urbanized areas, it was again tampered with, as its bitter flavor was too much for many people to handle.

Thus, the cappuccino was born, adding the sweet creaminess needed to curb the rather pronounced raw flavor (the latte didn’t arrive until the 1950’s, in Berkeley, California of all places).

Latte

When espresso is properly brewed, its signature reddish-brown crema develops like a foam at the top.

The crema is water capturing the coffee’s oils, so the lighter the crema, the fewer the captured oils. (Now, this could be due to the brew time of the espresso or the roast itself, so try not to get mad at your barista if it looks a little pale.)

The Crema

This crema is unique to espresso-making because it is the only method employing the pressure necessary to extract those otherwise insoluble oils from the bean. Oil is fat, and fat is where all the flavor is: thus, the intense flavor of the espresso shot.

Crema is the base by which the quality of the shot is judged, sure, but because it contrasts nicely with the stark white of milk foam, those brewing it developed something called “latte art.”

While pouring the milk and its foam, the barista can actually pour in designs ranging from Christmas trees to hearts to fruits. Good latte artists develop unique followings, and if you ever get your hands on a latte made by one, sit back and admire it for all its worth. It really can be quite impressive.

So the next time you go in and want to order a triple, non-fat, grande mocha drink, resist the temptation, and just order a double shot of espresso. It has less caffeine than a typical cup of coffee, and more quickly gives you what you really want: a burst of energy.

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What is Parmigiano-Reggiano?

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Nick

Who doesn’t love Parmesan cheese? You can grate it over pasta, shave it over risotto, or stab off chunks from it to enjoy with a nice Sangiovese.

The Role of the Italian Government and Parmigiano-Reggiano

parmigiano-reggiano

Parmigiano-Reggiano

It is the king of Italian cheeses, and its salty, slightly nutty components are so often imitated that the Italian government has stepped in to declare that anything not from the North-Central regions of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia cannot call itself real Parmesan cheese at all.

If that last fact caught you off-guard, we’ve got some more cocktail-party-impressive trivia about this unassuming wheel of yumminess you may find interesting.

Are Paremesan and Parmigiano-Reggiano the same thing?

First of all, it’s not properly called “Parmesan,” but “Parmigiano-Reggiano,” named after the Parma and Reggio Emilia regions of Italy in which it has been produced using roughly the same recipe for over 700 years.

Yup: the Parmigiano-Reggiano you eat today is the very same cheese King Charles V and Napoleon himself ate way back when. Parmegiano-Reggiano is the good stuff; “Parmesan” is what the French dubbed it, and what got carried over into our lexicon.

No, the real deal is inspected by a master grader with the Italian Consorzio Parmigiano-Reggiano at twelve months of age. This highly scientific inspection involves this guy going around to all the cheese rounds and thumping them with a hammer.

That’s it. That’s the test. He listens for impurities… in cheese. And you thought there was fluff in your job?

At any rate, if the cheese round (each and every one of them gets inspected, by the way) passes this test, its rind gets branded with the Consorzio’s logo, letting the buyer know the cheese they are about to take home has gotten the seal of approval from the entire nation of Italy.

The Italian Region of Parma and Pig Feed

Now, for some really fun trivia: the Parma region producing the cheese is the same Parma region that produces the world-famous Prosciutto di Parma ham.

Only quasi-impressive knowledge at the surface, sure, but traditional farms producing Parmigiano-Reggiano kept their pigs close by their cheese bins, and would feed them the leftover whey from the vats of curd they’d make during the process.

So, leftover protein from great cheese derived from grass-fed cows under scrupulous restrictions going to feed pigs under identically strict observation? No wonder that pork is so succulent.

The Role of Salt

Salt

Lastly – and perhaps even most surprisingly – is the fact that the only additive allowed in real Parmigiano-Reggiano is salt.  That’s it.  And all of the salt added is absorbed by the cheese in the first twenty (20) days of curing.

There’s no crazy-sounding, hard-to-pronounce methyl-xantha-whatever; just salt. Try reading the back of that green bottle you shake over your pasta, and your tongue will get cramps.

Genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano costs you a bit more than some of your other options, but since its flavor is so unique and intense, you don’t need as much of it as you would the lesser stuff.

And if you add paper-thin shavings of it into a hot cream or tomato sauce, it will melt right in; the other stuff just floats.

Parmigiano-Reggiano is in the pantheon of great foods that both identify a cuisine and a culture.

It is never manufactured with quality as an afterthought, and each maker does its best to outdo their competition – every wedge or wheel you buy is guaranteed top quality, a representation of the facility that made it.

You’re essentially buying pride… that tastes delicious.

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Ricotta Pie Recipe… Recovering a Lost Treasure

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Simple Italian Cooking Blog

I had never heard of ricotta pie and to be honest when I did, I wasn’t too excited about it.

My husband however was very excited and insisted that I make it.   So I looked around and based on other recipes and created my own Ricotta Pie recipe based on what I thought was appropriate.

I posted it online about a year ago or so and to be frank, had forgotten about it until a reader named Luke emailed me about the recipe.

He was making it for his church group’s Thanksgiving lunch.   Instead of recapping the

Ricotta Pie by Luke

email I’ve included it below along with a photo he was kind enough to take.

“I had a grand luncheon. The pie was well received…..  I told my tablemates about the desserts I brought (pumpkin pie  a la Libby’s; a Hazelnut and olive oil
cake –from La Cucinna magazine; and a ricotta pie).

One of the ladies at  my table raced off to get the ricotta pie saying saying her grandfather used to make it….gotta remember all of the group is over 65.

She said the pie brought back memories….

I am 72 and have baked 5 desserts in my whole life—3 in the last 2 days.  I
look for simple recipes…not many steps…

Thanks for your recipes….Next time I will let cool for 2 hours (your video)
and use just a few strawberries as they infuse the pie with a pleasant flavor..today’s
coverage may be too much for my taste…need to experiment some.”

Testimonials like these make my day – actually my week.  I’m proud that Luke chose to make my recipe and I hope you give it a try as well!

Thanks Luke!

Sincerely,

Liz
www.simpleitaliancooking.com

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Fancy Italian Foods You Can Make at Home

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Nick

Sadly, when most people think of Italian food, they conjure up images of a plate of pasta sauced with something red and tomato-like, then topped with grated “Parmesan” that comes from a green plastic tube.

But Italian food is so much more than that. Thanks to its location smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean (and that whole “vast empire” thing), Italian cuisine is really an amalgamation of different cultural influences and flavors that stretch far beyond typical ‘Italian Restaurant’ menus.

Now while that may seem daunting to the home cook, don’t fret: while Italian cuisine is based on a variety of world dishes, those dishes anchoring its place in the culinary world are famous for their simplicity.

Below are some “fancy” Italian dishes you can prepare at home that will both impress your friends, and broaden your horizons.

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken cacciatore (or chicken “hunter-style”) is a braised chicken dish that’s not only fun to say, but fun to prepare. All you need to do is:

Brown some quartered chicken, sauté rough chopped vegetables, braise in a combination of stock and wine.

The trick to great cacciatore is really in the braising technique: be sure to keep the pot covered and at a low, steady simmer for the entire hour or two of cooking.

Too hot a boil or too harsh a temperature change, and your chicken (or rabbit, or roast) will come out tough and dry.

But if you keep everything within that 250 – 275 ºF range, the muscle’s collagen melts down, and you get this wonderfully tender meat and perfectly paired sauce that goes great over some pasta or polenta.

Ossobuco

Again: a braised dish of luxurious consistency. Ossobuco is traditionally made with veal shanks (the cut between the shoulder and hoof), but with all the outcry over mistreatment of veal, adult beef is more commonly used.

Just like the cacciatore above, the trick is in maintaining the right braising temperature and pace, but what separates ossobuco from any other dish is the marrow’s presence in the finished sauce.

During braising, the bone marrow slowly leaches out from the shank, thickening and flavoring the sauce as it does so. After cooking, the marrow left in the bone is essentially meat butter; spread over some crusty bread it is truly remarkable.

(Quick tip: ossobuco can be rather rich. To help counter that richness, mince some lemon

zest with garlic and parsley, and you get this herby, aromatic gremolata that will bring those lemons sitting in your fridge into a whole new light.)

Gelato

Gelato

The moment you hear someone say “gelato is just like ice cream,” you know one of two things about that person: they’ve either never had it or they were sold ice cream that some crafty creamery labeled “gelato.”

Gelato is kind of a wonder: it contains less milk fat than ice cream, yet the way it feels on your tongue is far silkier and satisfying.  Reasons for that range from gelato’s serving temperature to the amount of air trapped in the finished product, sure, but all that really matters is: you can make gelato at home.

There are a wide range of countertop gelato makers available, and they come with easy-to-follow instructions. Just add your ingredients, turn the machine on, and just wait for the magic to happen.

So it’s time for you, the home cook, to put on your Big Boy (or Girl) Britches and start taking on fancier Italian food offerings. They’re easy, exciting, and most of all: DEE-licious.

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Tips for Making Italian Sausage

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Nick

There’s just nothing quite like homemade Italian sausage. By controlling the ingredients you put in, you can flavor it however you like,adding everything from juniper berry to fennel and red wine.

As daunting as it sounds (cubing meat, grinding it, seasoning it, and stuffing it), once you make your own sausage, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ve caught on.

Italian Sausage

So it tastes great AND it’s a confidence booster – what more do you want from your cooking?

What follows are some tricks of the Charcuterie Trade that you may find handy, especially if you’re preparing for your first go-round.

The Cut of Meat

Pork shoulder, all the way. Also called ‘Pork Butt’ or ‘Boston Butt,’ pork shoulder contains roughly a 25-30% fat to 75-80% meat ratio that is ideal for sausage.

When ground, the fat not only helps flavor the meat, it also keeps it moist during cooking and lubes your grinder while it does its job. If all you have on hand is some pork loin or other lean cut, grind in some raw, uncured bacon or fatback (lardons).

Cubing

Assuming you’re going to be grinding your own meat for Italian Sausage, be sure to cube your meat into pieces small enough to fit into the hopper that feeds the grinder.

Ideally, you want to be able to just drop the meat in and watch it sink down while the auger pushes it to the blade and out the grinding plate. A tamper accessory is available that allows you to push the meat down the feeding tube, but avoid it if you can.

If you have to shove the meat down, you’re going to be creating friction, and that causes heat, and heat is your worst enemy.

Keep Things Cold

As we just mentioned, you want to keep heat away as far away from your sausage as possible. If things get warm, you’re essentially sending an invitation to all bacteria in the area to come in and join your sausage-making party.

Keeping things as cold as you can keeps bacteria at bay, helps ensure a healthy end product. That means you’ve got to store your grinding parts (auger, knife, plate, etc) in the freezer, and keep the meat you grind as cold as possible while working with it.

Always – ALWAYS – grind the meat into a clean, stainless steel bowl sitting atop an ice bath of ice, water, and a pinch of salt.

Taste It

Once you’ve ground the meat and seasoned it, take a sample spoonful from the bowl and fry it up in a pan. Taste it, and you can judge if it needs more salt, or if it falls apart in the mouth too quickly. Give yourself a little preview before you commit to an entire batch.

The Casings

There are beef casings available for huge-diameter sausages and lamb casings for those of smaller girth, but for true Italian sausage, pork intestine is king.

Pork Casings

It’s strong enough to hold a good amount of meat, and when you cook it, it crisps up into that crunchy film your teeth have to punch through with every bite.

You can order pork casings from places online such as Amazon.

And just because it’s not stuffed doesn’t mean it’s not genuine Italian sausage.

You can grind and season it, and then just store it in an air-tight container as a free, loose sausage perfect for adding to pizza or just about any soup you could imagine.

So we hope you take on making your own Italian sausage. It’s a time-honored tradition in which every cook – professional or home – should take part.

Plus, it’s fun!

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Liven up Your Italian Appetizers With More Robust Ingredients

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Nick

Here in America, when we think of “Italian appetizers,” things like cheese sticks, calamari, and bruschetta come to mind. Nothing wrong with that, but the end result is pretty run-of-the-mill: something the kitchen can whip up in a hurry to keep you at bay so they can work on the rest of your order.

And while those dishes can indeed be satisfying, there is so much more to the Italian antipasto than what we typically see on restaurant menus.

True is creative and colorful, and involves way more than a plate of fried food with canned marinara dipping sauce (the four words at which every Italian cook should shudder).

It is light and exploding with flavor; the variety of dishes available is limited only by the imagination of those preparing it. What follows are just a few examples of some genuine Italian anti-pasto ingredients you can combine to whatever extent your heart desires.

Cured Meats

Cured ham

Poor pigs: born into this world with the perfect meat to fat ratio, and raised by farmers who need both meat and fat.

Over time, those farmers and their families have tinkered with science and nature to produce specialty cured meats like coppa (shoulder), guanciale (jowl), and prosciutto (ham) to great effect.

Every type of cured meat – be it cured in a chamber or hung from a rafter and air-dried – has its own unique flavor and texture. Though some are fatty, they are usually sliced paper thin so they don’t feel heavy… and taste great when wrapped around a piece of fresh melon or fig.

Sausages

Italian sausage is way more than just sweet, hot, or mild. It is soppressatta, salami, mortadella… the list goes on and on. In fact, sausage making is considered an art, and just about every town you visit has their own version and opinion of how you should make (and eat) sausage.

Real Italian sausage can be dried (or smoked) and served at room temperature, grilled and presented as a main course, or diced and rendered down in a hot pan as the base for a good tomato sauce.

It is fascinating just how versatile Italian sausage is and can be, and as part of antipasti, its sheer meatiness makes for a wonderful contrast of textures.

Cheeses

Italian Cheese

The list of Italian cheeses reaches beyond 400 different types, so let’s just condense all those down into two: hard and soft.

Hard cheeses like Parmesan and pecorino are often grated over pasta and salads, but shaving them into paper-thin slices offers your antipasto a nutty, slightly crunchy saltiness that does great battle with the richer meats and cured vegetables and fruits.

Softer cheeses (stracchino, buffalo mozzarella, and burrata) are milder in flavor and sliced thicker. Given the robustness of the other items on the plate, these are usually best for texture… and pressed over some warm, crusty bread.

And this is only the beginning.

To a plate of cured Italian meats, sausages, and cheeses, you can add things like pickled sweet Italian peppers, a good olive tapenade, and some smoked fish or grilled whole sardines.

Just drizzle with a bit of quality olive oil and serve with crusty bread, and you’ll be amazed at how many wonderful flavors your mouth can handle.

Once you use just a little imagination, you’ll never crave a fried macaroni ball again.

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Overlooked Italian Desserts from Gelato to Cassata

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Nick

When people discuss Italian cuisine, the last thing they ever seem to mention is Italian dessert.

Salumi, pastas, espresso – they get all the ink in the magazines and newspapers and, sure, cannoli and tiramisus get some run on restaurant and bakery menus, but there is a plethora of Italian desserts that seem to get overlooked.

Next time you’re sitting around with friends discussing the wonders of Italian food and its influences, why not impress them with some of the following foods?

Gelato

gelato

Familiar to most as “the Italian version of ice cream,” gelato is custard consisting of considerably less milk fat than ice cream, thanks to the use of more whole milk than heavy cream during preparation.

It is also denser and served at a warmer temperature to yield a product that quickly melts in your mouth, its flavors hitting your tongue almost immediately.

And on those flavors: if you can dream it, there’s a gelato that tastes like it.

Funnel cake, cappuccino, raspberry – there’s no limit to the flavors a good gelato can impart.

Zeppole (Sfingi)

zeppole

Okay, back to relating to things you can easily recognize: zeppole are Italy’s doughnut… but the analogy ends once you get beyond the cooking phase.

Zeppole have a wider range of textures, from light and fluffy (think puffed pastry) to very dense, almost like a pasta.

Typically associated with a Holiday of some sort, zeppole can be consumed year round, and stuffed / topped with everything from powdered sugar to – yes – anchovy.

Imagine a beignet from Café du Monde topped with powdered sugar… and stuffed with ricotta cheese and honey.

Delightful and pint sized, they can be given as gifts or enjoyed over coffee with friends.

Biscotti

biscotti

If Italians have mastered anything other than the Ferrari engine, it’s what they dip in their coffees. And nothing in this world tastes better dipped in coffee than biscotti.

Super dense, biscotti are both crunchy and tender, and can have fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, or even citrus zest mixed in before baking.

The batter is kneaded with the chosen flavors, rolled into a log, and baked for about a half-hour to give a consistency that is similar to a slightly over-baked cookie.

Enjoyed warm or cold, biscotti are never too heavy, and seem to be the partner coffee has been looking for its whole life. It really is a match made in paradiso.

For a good recipe, check out our recipe for biscotti here.

Cassata

Having its roots in Sicily, cassata is a baked Italian sponge cake soaked with fruit juices (or fruit liqueur), layered with ricotta cheese, and studded with candied fruit or fruit peel.

Covering it all is a thin shell of marzipan, an almond paste sweetened with sugar that resembles the appearance of fondant but tastes considerably better.

Sometimes cassata has chocolate or vanilla cream layered in it, but that doesn’t mean you can’t layer it with gelato to make an Italian version of ice cream cake.

Honestly: as long as you have the sponge cake and ricotta, you can stuff this cake with whatever you want – many variations contain no fruit at all!

So next time you and some friends are talking about the simplicity and flavor of the more popular Italian dishes, don’t forget their desserts. They’re all pretty simple to make (you can make gelato at home with your own gelato maker), and considerably lighter than the stuff with which we’re more familiar in the States.

Think, “moment on the lips, a mere few hours on the hips.”

For more Italian recipes visit our Italian recipe box here.

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Tips for Organizing a Small, Cramped Kitchen

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Nick

Kitchens today are not like they used to be. Now they are sprawling, hundred-thousand-dollar chunks of house that are overly scrutinized, from Architects in the design phase to dedicated foremen and consultants during construction.

Remember grandma’s kitchen?

Old Time Kitchen

 

A small stove, a place for an icebox, and a counter that doubled as a kitchen table? That’s how they used to be.

And you: you’ve got a kitchen the way they used to be, all ninety-six square feet of it.

But opulence in cooking shows and ‘Real Housewives of Whatever City’ have got you genuinely concerned over the size of your kitchen, so much so that you develop a case of kitchen envy.

You work hard, tend to your responsibilities, and toss your change into your barista’s “Tip Jar;” why must you suffer with your euphemistically named “kitchenette?”

What follows are some suggestions on how to make the most of your kitchen’s meager space.

1.) Buy More Stuff

Yes, this is counter intuitive, but we aren’t talking about buying big food slicers or microwaves that leave you with an inch of space.

Instead, if you’re looking at restricted counter- and shelf space, help lies within a quick shopping trip.  Try picking up these things:

a.) Magnetic spice containers – they are inexpensive, and stick right on the side of your refrigerator;

Knife Rack

b.) A knife rack – either a magnetic metal strip, or a small piece of wood with slots hollowed out, a knife rack can be a huge space saver as it mounts directly onto your kitchen’s wall.

c.) Hanging pot racks – available in either wall- or ceiling-mount, pot racks fasten to the studs in the kitchen and can easily hold your favorite pots and pans. They are designed to be attractive, and even the most world-renowned kitchens use them everywhere to save on space.

2.) Viva Austria…

Due to its functionality, your kitchen may already be designed in the style of the Frankfurt Kitchen.

Without drowning you in detail, an Austrian Architect named Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky studied how long it took for each processing step in the kitchen to take, and wanted to streamline it for the working class.

The result: everything is within arm’s reach, and storage bins for the most-used items are clearly labeled.

However, not every kitchen has this design; if yours doesn’t, get creative. When cooking, which utensils and ingredients do you use most?

Store them together, even if they don’t “make sense” – who cares if you keep your salt next to your wooden spoons?

Always going back and forth to the refrigerator? Set your prep area right next to it, or just drag the unit over by your cooking station.

It may take some effort, but when you can place a tuna steak into a searing hot pan, whip around to wash your hands in the sink, and then whip back around to turn it with your fish spatula, you’ll immediately see the fruits of those labors.

3.) Face Your Labels and Build High

Spice Jars Labeled

Grocery stores face all their labels to the front, and you should too, especially in your pantry.

Not only does this save you time from having to rummage through ingredients, but here’s a little-known advantage of dry goods: they’re stackable.

Soup cans stack, as do boxes of cereal and jars of peanut butter.

As long as you don’t build too high, facing your labels and stacking your dry goods can nearly double your shelf space!

So you see, having a diminutive kitchen isn’t all that bad. If you’re really concerned about it, just master some of our recipes here on SimpleItalianCooking, and no one will even notice!

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Three Food Ideas Suitable for A Small Kitchen

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Nick

 

 

 

 

 

Not everyone has the luxury of a palatial kitchen full of stainless-steel appliances and enough counter space to land a cargo plane.

Many people still live in apartments and homes where the kitchen was an afterthought in the design, and the only counter space available is exactly that: a space where there’s a counter.

But just because there’s barely enough room to put your toaster doesn’t mean you can’t have quality meals that don’t involve a drive-thru or microwave.

In fact, as long as you’ve got an oven and some sort of direct heating device (stove top, plug-in griddle or wok), you can whip up a meal that will have you and any guest willing to brave your cramped conditions pleasantly taken aback.

1.) Good ‘Ol Pasta

One of the best ideas for a small kitchen is pasta.   Simple boil your water and add in the noodles.   Thaw some frozen sauce or use a jar (if you must).  Serve with some Romano cheese for some extra zap to the dish!

It really is that simple.

KITCHENWARE COUNT: 1-2 – Pot for water, pot for thawing sauce
UTENSIL COUNT: 1-2 – Spoon for stirring pasta

2.) Stracciatella Soup

Soups are only as difficult as you make them. All those ingredients and preparation for a crystal-clear consommé: leave to the pros.

For you, try a simpler soup, like an Italian Stracciatella.

For Stracciatella, all you need to do is bring four to six cups of chicken broth to a low boil.

While the liquid is coming to temperature, grab a bowl and crack in two or three whole eggs.

Mix the eggs in the bowl, adding about a third- to a half-cup of grated Parmesan cheese, a teaspoon of salt, and a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg.

When the liquid comes to a boil, use your whisk to stir it vigorously, until it gets a nice vortex, or whirlpool, going. Hold your bowl of egg mixture above the swirling broth, and slowly drizzle it in.

After about three minutes, your soup is done.

Garnish with more Parmesan, a little extra virgin olive oil, and some cracked pepper, and you’ll be amazed at what’s sitting in your bowl.

KITCHENWARE COUNT: 2   (Pot and mixing bowl)
UTENSIL COUNT: 2 (Whisk and measuring spoons)
STORAGE CONTAINER COUNT: 2-3 – This soup is tasty and freezes well.

3.) Red Beans and Rice

Outside of soaking a pound of kidney beans in a pot overnight (and finding the space to do so), red beans and rice is a home run in any small kitchen.

Drain the beans through a colander, rinse out the pot, and put it where you normally let dishes dry. While it’s drying, chop up some bell pepper, onions, and celery, along with garlic and your favorite sausage (optional).

Take that pot, sauté your veggies (and sausage, if using), and add the beans. Sauté some more, adding your dry spices (bay leaf and what not), then your rice and water, and cover.

Bring all that to a boil, and let simmer for a couple of hours. You can do the rice separately, but that takes up another pot, and we’re trying to be economical here.

KITCHENWARE COUNT: 3 – Pot with lid, Colander, cutting board
UTENSIL COUNT: 2 – Wooden spoon and kitchen knife
STORAGE CONTAINER COUNT: 1-2, Depends on how much you eat.

Now that you’re armed with some know-how, does your small kitchen seem like such a problem? Remember this: no one will care about what your kitchen looks like if the food coming out of it is better than their own!

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