11th June 2009

Get A Healthy Dollop Of Italian Cooking

Italian cooking is celebrated around the world as there are indeed diverse and scrumptious as well as feast for the eyes. The preparation and cooking involved in Italian cooking may seem complicated but once you master the finer points, everything is straightforward. Italian cuisine is a choice of pastas to breads and to the most epicurean of dishes. It is foodie dream and attainment to master the fine art of the fame dishes.

The fine cooking recipe is not just about pastas and pizzas as there are plenty of gourmet dishes and fine Italian cooking that you can relish. It makes use of lots of fresh vegetables and olive oils in addition to herbs making them a form of healthy cooking. To get healthy Italian cooking, it is all in the ingredients and it is simpler than you would like to think.

There is not a lot of complications if you want to master fine Italian cooking techniques and you can attempt by cooking a starter dish such as Antipasto which is a hearty spread by itself. The recipe is simple although cooking Antipasto entails cold cuts of meat in addition to cheese, salami as well as marinated vegetables.

Italian dish is not complete devoid of salad and the ingredients are mostly healthy with olives and lots of fresh vegetables in addition to zucchini, onions and beans. You can have other dollop of Italian fine cooking by sampling their celebrated Italian stews and soups. The stews and soups contain ample amount of pulses, vegetables, and chickpeas on top of beans and lentils that are ideal for your health. Instances of such soups are basil, tomato and broccoli.

After sampling all these healthy cooking, you can check out Frittata which is an Italian type of omelet that is resplendent with vegetables. The ingredients can comprise tomatoes, herbs, onions in addition to salami and chicken. Frittata is a side dish to salads and soups and is frequently served in place of bread.

With a hearty meal, you can then look further to desserts that are healthy. One of the feted Italian desserts is Gelato that is low in carbohydrate.

In the realm of healthy Italian cooking, you can get hold of certain tips that help you to create such appetizing dishes. With those useful tips, you can prepare hearty and fine meals for your loved ones. Through informed choices and eating healthily, you can appreciate the fine art of Italian cooking.

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posted in cooking recipe, fine cooking, fine cooking recipe, healthy cooking, italian cooking | 0 Comments

9th March 2010

Fine Cooking Magazine

How to make your own homemade vinaigrette.

Duration : 0:6:29

Read the rest of this entry »

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posted in fine cooking | 0 Comments

11th October 2009

Fine Chinese cooking. duck question?

fine chinese cooking. duck question?
I was in Hongkong recently, and had a pretty fantastic duck.

The outside was crispy, like a peking / roast duck.

The gravy however, was cooked INSIDE the duck.
The waiter pulled a cork out of the duck, and the gravy poured out. The gravy was pretty bleeding fantastic.

Does anyone know the name of the duck?
Or have a recipe?
It’s not peking duck, it sounded something like "gua lor ar".
:\

It is Cantonese roast duck, "qua low ap" is Cantonese = duck hanging on a rack in the grill, a big oven that can roast a few ducks.

<<<<<<< Cantonese Roast Duck >>>>>>>>

1 (5-pounds) duck, fresh one is better!
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 scallions (green onions), cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed peppercorns
2/3 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sherry
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2/3 cup boiling water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

1. Rinse the duck under running water and dry thoroughly with p# aper towels. Tie the neck tightly with string, so that no liquid will drip out. Let sit uncovered in the refrigerator for 2 hours, then rub generously inside and out with salt.
2. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add onions, scallions, parsley, garlic and peppercorns. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Pour in stock. Bring to a boil and simmer gently 5 to 6 minutes. Add soy sauce, sherry, sugar and five spice powder; blend well. Pour this mixture inside the duck and close the cavity tightly with skewers and string so no liquid leaks out.
3. In a separate bowl, mix honey and vinegar with boiling water to use for basting the duck.
4. Preheat oven to 400°F.
5. Roast the duck on a rack 15 minutes. Baste the duck with the honey-vinegar mixture. Reduce heat to 375°F and roast for 1 hour, basting halfway through.
6. Remove duck from the oven and cool for 1 to 2 minute. Carefully remove the strings and skewers; pour the liquid from the bird’s cavity into a saucepan. Stir cornstarch with the water and add to the sauce over medium heat; stirring until thickened.
7. Cut the duck into smaller pieces and place on a serving plate. Pour the sauce over and serve hot. Serve with rice and plain cooked vegetables if desired.

Originally, the ducks are roasted vertically in the big oven but it can’t be done in domestic kitchen, so in order to make the over skin of your duck be crispy, you have to turn the duck very often and put it on a rack and let the oil drop down on the pan without having the duck dipped in the oil.

Below is a recipe for the plum sauce (dipping sauce for roast duck)

<<<<< Chinese Plum Sauce >>>>> Serves 8

450g plums
2 red chillies (sliced thinly)
150g caster sugar
100ml white wine vinegar
150ml cold water
1 tsp grated ginger (optional)

1) First halve the plums and halve and de-seed the chillies. Place all of the ingredients in a heavy based pan.
2) Cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the plums are soft and collapsed.
3) Rub through a sieve to remove stones and skins. Taste and adjust seasonings.

The sauce will be kept well in the fridge for up to two weeks and is perfectly served with any Chinese duck dish.

Enjoy!!!

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posted in fine cooking | 1 Comment

11th October 2009

Can you list any science project ideas that has to do with cooking?

Just no comparing cooking products and anything else would be fine. (:

You could study the acid-base reaction that causes baking to rise, and report your findings, etc…or you could adjust the amounts of baking soda/tartaric acid and monitor the results. (Hint: Google ‘limiting reagents’ and ‘excess reagents’.)

Baking soda reacts with tartaric acid to form gas, in the following reaction:

NaHCO3 + KHC4H4O6 —-> KNaC4H4O6 + H2O + CO2

:) I had fun with it in Chem class, though I’ve never done it for a science fair.

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posted in fine cooking | 3 Comments

8th October 2009

When slow-cooking frozen chicken breasts in a crock pot, can I stack them up and cook many at once?

My crock pot is fairly large, but I still can only fit about 3 frozen chicken breasts in one layer. I’d like to cook about 8-12 of them at one time (6-9 pounds).

Is it fine to stack them up, assuming they are all submerged? If it matters, I intend to cook on low for about 8 hours.

Thanks!

Not a good idea. You want the water up to temp quickly or you are creating a nice warm bath for bacteria to multiply like crazy. Even though the hot water would kill the bacteria eventually, there are some nuero-toxins created as a byproduct of the bacteria multiplying that are not destroyed by heat. I would strongly recommend that you give them about 20-25 minutes in a 350 F oven, then transfer them to the crock and add boiling water. It is more than your crock can safely handle from frozen or raw. But the headstart in the oven and boiling water will get you into the safe zone quickly. Using the oven first gives them more flavor too.

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posted in fine cooking | 5 Comments


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