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Showing results for tags 'Italian'.
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I have a garden of out-of-control pumpkin plants and must pinch off some of the flowers. Do they give the same result as zucchini flowers when stuffed?
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Jancis, thanks much for participating in this forum. (Your How to Taste was the first book that I read when I decided to learn more about wine. I continue to give it as a gift!) Summer has finally hit here in the Midwest US & I'd like to add some Italian whites to my lazy choice of Sancerre. What Italian whites would you recommend that I purchase for drinking this summer? (Price range of US $10 to $20/bottle would be interesting.) As far as reds, I've been drinking primarily Rhones and, as of the last few months, various Coteaux du Languedoc Pic St Loup. Am I missing other good reds from southern France? Thanks in advance.
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These questions have probably been raised and answered a thousand times, but I remain in the dark. Why isn't there salt in pasta? It clearly benefits from it, as we acknowledge with the generous fistfuls we put in our boiling water. Why isn't the salt directly in the dough? Does salt have a negative impact on the texture or chew? Is it suspected of being too granular? (If so, surely it could be dissolved in water first, at least in flour/water pasta and probably in flour/egg pasta too.) Is it simply customary? If so, would the history be something like this: pasta was a peasant food and salt was precious so excluded, to be added later according to a cook's means? But salt is now cheap. Is it left out just because of tradition? And what is believed to happen with the salt in the salty water we boil our noodles in? Does the dry noodle absorb the salinity somehow as it cooks? Or is the real purpose of salt in the water simply the creation of salty water? And if it's a clinging flavored water we want, why is the flavor or the clinging water almost always salt? Why not garlicky clinging water? Why don't we throw pepperoncini, a bouquet garni, or cheese rinds into our pots?
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WINE: COMMITTEE TO SAFEGUARD DOC AND IGT BRANDS (AGI) - Rome, Italy, July 29 - The 2003-2008 national committee for DOC and IGT wines has been established: the chairman is Tommaso Zanoletti. "The committee has always - said the undersecretary of agriculture, Teresio Delfino - reply firmly to the needs of our appellation controlle' wines, and will pursue initiatives which are already underway (reform of law 164), for a concrete wine policy". The administration will enhance the committee's tools, in order to meet the demands of the wine sector. (AGI) 292034 LUG 03 COPYRIGHTS 2002-2003 AGI S.p.A.
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When making home made egg pasta, it is a source of annoyance that it always looks white or even slightly grey, if oxidation sets in. We use many free range eggs, to the point that the raw dough looks bright yellow, yet after cooking it turns white when cooked. What is going on here, is it ment to look like this and the commercial stuff is dyed? Are there some tricks I should know?
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Risoto is one of my favorite dishes to cook for guests. My preferences lean to seafood and mushroom variations. I love, but haven't tackled black risoto yet. I'd be interested in other recipe ideas. For convenience, I buy freshly made fish stock from Citarella's or Jake's Fish Store here in NY. I doubt that home made fish stock would be much better, but I'd be open to opinions on that. I use arborio rice exclusively. I'm unaware of any quality differences among the arborio rices avalaible in super markets and specialty stores. Any opinions?
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What are your favorite Italian places? Here are two of mine: In the formal category, I LOVE Tulio (Vintage Park Hotel, 1100 5th Ave). Top to bottom, I have never had a disappointing meal there. The appetizers are fantastic: sweet potato gnocci with marscapone and sage, a bundle of asparagus wrapped in proscuitto. Service is also excellent. In the neighboorhood bistro category, Salvatore's (61st & Roosevelt) is amazing. I've been there probably 25 times. The menu is fine (get the grilled mussell appetizer), but the 5 daily specials are where it's at. Tremendous veal and chicken dishes.
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We've just enjoyed my favorite end-of-summer pasta, spaghetti with uncooked tomatoes. I hope others will share their favorites. Spaghetti with Uncooked Tomatoes For each person, Mix together: 1 large dead-ripe tomato, peeled and seeded, coarsely chopped. 1 tablespoon high extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon red wine or balsamic vinegar, optional 4 or 5 black olives, pitted and slivered 3 or 4 basil leaves, julienned salt and pepper, to taste Let tomato mixture sit for an hour or two. When ready to serve, pour over cooked spaghetti. Grated parmesan cheese may be added at the table, if desired. Fresh mozzarella, cubed, may be added to the tomato mixture or scattered on the spaghetti just before spooning on the tomatoes, so that the cheese melts slightly. (Edited by Sandra Levine at 10:03 am on Sep. 5, 2001)
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I'm interested in peoples thoughts and experiences with home made pasta. For me its one of the simple delights in the kitchen. Something about getting your hands into flour and eggs on a counter top (freaks out my wife's neat-freak cousin :) ) and rolling out big sheets of pasta. I've only tried plain pasta (flour and eggs) and I always seem to end up making ravioli, typically with whatever is at hand - some combination of things like olives, spinach, fetta (some great stuff from the yarra valley here in Australia), porcini mushrooms, anchovies, capers... all pretty standard stuff, but no less pleasing! I always seem to get carried away with the sizes too - once they're cooked they end up pretty big... Anyone with favorites or inspired combinations?
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a few nights ago Fat Guy was bellyaching tme over instant messenger that all he had in house was a bag of frozen ravioli, but as it was late he didnt feel like going through the hassle of making his own sauce -- and adding that he never bought jarred sauces. I quickly chided him for being such a prima donna, and that some brands were good and not just sugary concoctions resembling ketchup. There are times when boiling up some pasta and quickly heating up some sauce without major additional preparation can be a satisfying meal. The other end of the spectrum however reveals jarred sauces in the 8 bucks a jar and over microbrew sauce category (such as Rao's, Patsy's, etc) which arent quite worth the money although they do taste very good. Rachel told me after her experience working for Lipton that 5 Brothers is actually a decent sauce since apparently, unlike its brother Ragu, is made in 1 day from a process of reducing fresh tomatoes to sauce, whereas ragu is made from paste. And its fairly cheap. Anyone else got brand recommendations?
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Wow! Did you know that the Olive Garden chain of restaurants sends all of it's cooks to Italy to learn how to cook authentic Italian cuisine? It's true! I just saw a commercial that shows how they sent their cooks to Italy to make tortellini! To think I've been fooling myself with all these local mom & pop family owned Italian places who have probably never been closer to Italy than Mulberry street! I'll have to start checking out these Olive Garden places, they even offer endless refills of bread sticks and salad! Can't get more Italian than that... :-)
