I'm into cooking. I watch TV shows on cooking. I watch those travelers that showcase the food of the locality that they go to. I can name a few TV chefs. Have you heard of the bring-home chef program? I like Jamie Oliver - he is one who cooks and uses ingredients just bought from the market, from the shop, or simply, from the backyard. yesterday I watched how he made a simple strawberry jam. I can remember that the proportion: 100g sugar to a kilo of strawberries. He has his own website, too. If the copyright terms permit, I will re-post some recipes here that I will find simple and yet interesting. Most importantly - healthy.
I would go for veggies. And I would go as well for meat - poultry, pork, beef, lamb, etc. Have you ever tasted horse meat? They're better than many of the common things that we eat.
Before I turn off anybody, I would like to present this one recipe that I got from a book that is being promoted. The good thing is, try before you buy. That is their selling point.
What's good about this book? For the main thing, what this recipe book has done (the author, of course) is to reduce the ingredients to a point where you don't get intimidated by cooking itself. you've seen too many recipe books, perhaps, and you will agree that there are those whose picture of the dish invites you to try it out, but looking at the list of things needed to come up with the dish - well, you might as well forget it.
Enough said, but this one book just make things easy, if not easier, by reducing the ingredients to about 10 or less, without sacrificing the taste and goodness of the finished product. They're restaurant quality. Fine, finished product after cooking, and after eating. The product is finished when the diners stand up from the table.
Isn't that quite satisfying.
Not to delay further, here's that sample recipe from the book Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan:
You should try before you buy. In the case of a cookbook, that's easy --- I let the book fall open to a recipe for a dish I make often (in part because it's terrific, but in larger part because it's incredibly easy). Here you go --- a main course that is both simple and elegant, suitable for family dining and for your snootiest friends.
Roast Pork with Vinegar and Bay Leaves
for 6 servings
- 2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless pork loin roast
l teaspoon whole black peppercorns
salt
3 bay leaves
½ cup good red wine vinegar
- In a heavy-bottomed or enameled cast-iron pot, put in butter and oil. Turn stove on to medium-high; when the butter foam subsides, put in the pork. Brown deeply, turning when each side is done.
- Add salt, peppercorns, bay leaves and vinegar. Turn heat to low, cover the pot and cook, turning the meat occasionally. If liquid evaporates, add ¼ cup water.
- When cooked through -- 40-60 minutes -- transfer the pork to a cutting board. Let sit for a few minutes, then slice. Meanwhile, remove bay leaves, add 2 tablespoons of water, and heat the gravy. Pour over the pork and serve.
Try it. Taste it. Close your eyes. Could you not be in your favorite Italian restaurant -- or even in Italy ? Yes? Then you'd better invest in this book. Pronto.
Taken from The Huffington Post; source article is below:
Why Is Marcella Hazan's Book Essential? Because She Reduces Recipes to Fundamentals -- And Yet They're Restaurant Quality
-----
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ae747d6d-2b4f-4ab6-add9-b54912675d43)
No comments:
Post a Comment