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Stuff to know...
Cooking
Conversions and Equivalents
 About
Wine
(I
love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even
put it in the food).
The
World's Smartest Cookbook Extra-Virgin
Olive Oil
How
to Keep your Produce Fresh
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Italian
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In this section you will find a short
description of my favorite herbs and
spices, as well as, how to use better
products to improve your cooking. The
knowledge what product to choose, what
herbs and spices to use, along with your
cooking skills are very essential to the
quality of your creation. Always use
fresh products! These is nothing you can
do to make something
stale taste fresh. Proper storage and
rotation is the key to achieve that. All
of the mentioned herbs and spices are
great for gourmet cooking, but they can
enhance a lot your everyday cooking, as
well.
Fresh
basil - If I was
allowed to cook with only one herb, I
would choose basil. Excellent for
tomato-based pasta, salads, meats, not
to mention that basil is the main
ingredient for pesto sauce, which can be
used in thousands different ways.
Fresh
mint - It is
excellent for cooking, as well as for
decoration. Can be used in many dishes
with lamb, beans, pork, vegetables, for
stews, emulsions, sauces, soups, even
ice cream.
Cilantro -
Cilantro is very popular around the
world and is my second favorite herb. I
can't imagine Mexican salsa without it.
Also, good for garnishing sweet soups,
such as cream of corn, butternut squash
and ginger, sweet yams, etc. Cilantro is
good for many salads, especially ones
with beans and avocado.
Fresh
or Dried Tarragon
- With its slight licorice flavor
tarragon is very good for any seafood,
especially stuffed fish, squid, fish
soups. Fresh tarragon can be used in
many other light dishes with chicken,
game, etc.
Fresh
Thyme - Thyme is
one of the most popular fresh herbs in
the world and can be used for many
different dishes such as poultry, meat,
vegetables, game, soups, etc.
Fresh
Rosemary - Fresh
rosemary can be used for flavoring many
red meats, potatoes, game and poultry. I
don't like dried rosemary and rarely use
it.
Fresh
or Dried Dill -
Fresh dill is great for cold soups, fish
and some egg-based sauces. Dried dill
preserves its original taste very well
and can be used as a substitute to fresh
dill.
Paprika & Smoked Paprika
- Irreplaceable in roasted potatoes, for
marinades, stews, etc. Try smoked
paprika on roasted potatoes or in the
marinade for grilled lamb chops. When
marinating lamb, add 1/2 tsp. balsamic
vinegar to every 1-2 pounds of meat.
This greatly enhances the flavor of the
marinade. Add 1 tbsp. white vinegar to
every 10 chicken breasts to get the same
effect.
Smoked
Mustard - Great
for marinating red meats and game,
sauces, eggs, potatos. I have even
flavored tomato-based pasta with smoked
mustard.
Fresh
or Dried Sage -
It has very strong flavor, especially
when dried, so use it sparingly. I like
it with lamb, veal, for stuffings, even
for marinating seafood for grilling.
Ginger
Root - I use
ginger for stir-fries, sweet
sesame-ginger sauce,
balsamic-honey-ginger reduction,
lemon-ginger sauce, etc. It is best for
fish, light meats and desserts.
Chives
- With its delicate onion flavor, chives
is an important addition to many soups,
egg-based sauces, baked vegetables, as
well as for garnish. When cooked, should
be added to the dish at the very end.
My
favorite products:
Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Sun-dried tomatoes are great for
salads, sandwiches, antipasta, gourmet
pizza, sun-dried tomato pesto or
flavorful pasta dishes. I like
particularly the ones that are marinated
in olive oil and herbs, but if you buy
the dry sun-dried tomatoes, slice them
and store them in a jar covered with
oil. The oil used for marinating the
sun-dried tomatoes is very flavorful,
too, and can be used for cooking Italian
and Mediterranean food.
Parmegiano Regiano
- Along with Grana Padano, Parmegiano
Regiano is the best flavoring for pastas
and it is excellent table cheese as
well. Both have very thick and dry skin,
but don't worry, it can be utilized,
too. Drop a chunk of parmesan skin in
the pot while making tomato sauce and
remove it at the end, and it will add
beautiful flavor to the sauce. I
personally like very much Piave Vecchio,
which normally have much thinner skin
and is excellent table cheese. Never buy
the grated "100% Parmesan", it isn't
real cheese.
Extra
Virgin Olive Oil
- It is one of the best products for
your heart and is very tasty, as well.
What better combination can there be? I
use it for everything- salads, pastas,
vegetables, even for frying, mixed with
canola oil. For cooking I like the
combination of olive oil and butter.
Blue
Cheese - I find
it delicious sprinkled over salads, in
cream based pastas, for sauces,
dressings, cheese platters, even for
pizza topping (a must try).
Truffle Oil -
You will either love it or hate it. Half
teaspoon of it gives nice flavor to
mushroom sauces, risotto, even soups.
Some people like a tiny drizzle of
truffle oil over their French fries.
Sesame
Oil - I'll tell
you a secret. 1/3 teaspoon of sesame oil
gives delicious flavor to many clear
soups, rice, oriental dishes,
stir-fries, marinades and salads.
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