Cooking at Home

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Cookbook Sample: Roast Pork with Vinegar and Bay Leaves

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
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Healthy Potatoes Recipes

There's some healthy recipes on potato, and I can't publish them here. The copyright terms does not allow me to do that quickly, so if you are interested, just click on the link.

There are quite a number of recipes using potato in that site, so go ahead and check it out:
Healthy Potato Recipes - Cheap Ideas for the Health Conscious

Happy cooking!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Red beans with andouille sausage

Fourth and the last of the series, the final inexpensive recipe from our chefs and food magazine editors.

Hooray!

Red beans with andouille sausage

Start to finish: 1 hour 20 minutes (20 minutes active)

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon vegetable or canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-pound bag dried, small red beans, soaked overnight and drained
4 1/2 cups water
1 pound andouille sausage
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Direction:

In a large saucepan over medium, heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Saute until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the beans and water, then bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, partially cover, and cook until the beans are tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding more water if necessary.
When the beans are nearly done, heat a grill or grill pan to medium. Cook the sausage until they have prominent grill marks and are heated through, about 4 minutes per side.
Season the beans with salt and pepper, then spoon them into 4 serving bowls. Top each serving with a sausage.

Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 666 calories; 192 calories from fat; 21 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 63 mg cholesterol; 72 g carbohydrate; 46 g protein; 29 g fiber; 1,146 mg sodium.

(Recipe adapted from the November 2009 issue of Everyday Food magazine)

Taken from News-leader.com; find the source article below:
Chefs, food magazine editor create inexpensive recipes

Tortilla Espanola

Image via Wikipedia

I think I've seen this Tortilla Espanola before, but my mother's very own recipe at that.

Here's the chefs and magazine editor's version. It should be as equally delectable!

Tortilla Española

Start to finish: 30 minutes