Tag: advice

The important thing is to marinate (well): Eugenio Roncoroni's advice – Italian Cuisine

The pleasure of giving an extra touch to meat or fish, before cooking. The chef of Al Mercato Steaks & Burgers is a great lover of marinades, with a vision that is not only Italian. Here are five exclusive recipes to try immediately

The international vision has never lacked a Eugenio Roncoroni, a Milanese chef who became famous for creating in Milan, together with his friend Beniamino Nespor, who unfortunately passed away, the concept of the author's hamburger, in a restaurant in via Sant’Eufemia 16, opened in 2011: Al Mercato, which was a gourmet space and a burger bar. The first experiment in Italy of imported street food, bordering on the Michelin Star. Just a decade later, the 38-year-old chef is at the helm of a concept articulated on two locations because At the Steaks & Burgers Market has kept the historic headquarters – totally renovated and in old American style – and opened a second one in Corso Venezia 18, where Tartufi & Friends was up until a few months ago. «Thanks to a passionate entrepreneur like Marcello Rezza, I decided to introduce the real overseas BBQ to show that there is not only the Argentine or Italian grill, he explains.

The "dry massage"

As the sign says, alongside the old love, there are therefore steaks. Which are love anyway, considering the very close Roncoroni's link with the States: Californian mother, sister-in-law (and colleague) from North Carolina, four years lived in San Francisco. Having said that the inspiration to classic American steakhouses has not deprived Roncoroni of the innate pleasure of merging multiple gastronomic cultures (ranging from the foie gras torchon to the cinnamon rose cake passing through the vegetables cooked with kamado, the Japanese charcoal grill), the heart of the offer are the burgers and steaaks. In the second case, the chef's hand is exalted starting from the marinades. One in particular is innovative for Italian clubs: the dry-rub, literally "dry massage " It is a way of flavoring meat if you do not want to grease it excessively or leave it to soak in a liquid. The name derives from the actual massage that allows you to apply this blend, which has a more or less codified recipe, but leaves ample room for personal interpretation.

Beware of experiments

They couldn't help but ask for it secret recipe to Roncoroni, who gave us others four author marinades, not just for meat. With some general advice: «The first time, follow the recipe carefully, especially when there are delicate meats that should never be overwhelmed. Next, you can start the experiments by adding the amount of one element you particularly like or taking away another that doesn't excite you. The correct marinades must be prepared at least 12 hours before, the ideal is in the evening before use so they rest peacefully in the refrigerator. Only those on vegetables can stay at room temperature . The game is fun, it tests the cook's ability to treat the product and enhance its characteristics. "Kitchen purists say that good meat and fish should not be touched in the slightest, for me they can always be improved", underlines Roncoroni. Okay: but the important thing is to marinate (well). Here are the recipes, designed for four people.

Dry marinade – Dry Rub for grilled beef

Ingredients

200 g of sweet paprika, 50 g of black pepper powder, 10 g of cumin powder, 20 g of brown sugar, 50 g of butter, a bunch of aromatic herbs, 4 cloves of poached garlic.

Method

Mix the spices, massage the meat for about 10 minutes and let it rest for about 12 hours in the fridge. Heat in a pan (cast iron if possible) and melt the butter with the garlic and the aromatic bunch. When the butter turns nutty, cook the meat (ideal 200g sirloin steaks) once per side until the desired cooking is achieved. Toss with butter and let the meat rest for about 5 minutes, covered with a sheet of aluminum foil.

Liquid Marinade – Jerk Pork Belly

Ingredients

250 ml of apple cider vinegar, one star anise, two heads of garlic, 50 ml of lime juice, one stick of cinnamon, 100 g of sugar, 150 ml of coconut oil, 20 g of black pepper powder, one white onion.

Method

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and marinate the meat for about 12 hours. The ideal cut is pork belly (to be cut into four strips of about 100 g each, with a thickness of 1.5 cm), but the procedure is also suitable for chicken. Bake at 100 degrees in the marinade for about 3 hours. Let it rest for an hour and cook over high heat, removing any excess marinade from the strips, possibly on a grill or over a direct flame. A pan over high heat can be fine though.

Fermentation Marinade – Kentucky Fried Quail

Ingredients

250 ml of whole yogurt, 10 ml of lemon juice, 100 ml of fresh cream, 20 g of ground pepper, 5 g of salt, 5 g of powdered "masala" curry, 200 g of rice flour, 1, 5 liters of sunflower oil.

Method

With a whisk vigorously mix the yogurt with the cream, pepper, salt, lemon juice and "masala". Marinate the quail legs for 24 hours. Remove the excess marinade and dip the quail into the flour so that it adheres well. Fry at 160 degrees until golden brown and, if necessary, finish cooking in the oven at 200 degrees for 5 minutes.

Semi-liquid marinade – Mediterranean-style octopus

Ingredients

2 bay leaves, 250 ml of white wine, 5 g of fresh thyme, 20 ml of extra virgin olive oil, 5 g of coarse salt, 5 g of black olive pate, 10 ml of lemon juice.

Method

Simmer the octopus (about 1 kg) for almost 3 hours at 70 ° with the white wine and water to cover. Dip in the marinade made by combining all the ingredients, except the lemon juice, and refrigerate for about 12 hours. Cook the octopus over high heat until the outer crust is formed and add the lemon only when cooked.

Liquid Marinade – Bangkok Style Prawns

Ingredients

150 ml of coconut milk, 5 ml of fish sauce, 10 g of sugar, a stick of lemongrass, a fresh chilli, a bunch of coriander, two limes, a red onion, 100 ml of sweet chili sauce , 50 g of roasted peanuts.

Method

Clean sixteen prawns from the central shell (leaving the head and tail), cook the coconut milk for about 15 minutes with the sugar and lemongrass over high heat, combine the other ingredients with the julienned onion and marinate them in the fridge for about 2 hours pouring the hot liquid over the prawns and then covering with cling film. Serve with fresh cilantro, peanuts and lime juice.

Practical advice for Champignon mushrooms – Italian Cuisine

Perfect for pasta and risotto, main courses and side dishes, mushrooms, spontaneous fruits of the earth, born thanks to humidity and darkness, can give a very special flavor to lunches and dinners. Here are some curiosities and tips on how how to clean and cut champignon mushrooms.

What are champignon mushrooms

THE Champignon mushrooms, whose scientific name is Agaricus bisporus, is highly regarded and widely marketed throughout the world. The most common are i whites and i cremini, so called for their characteristic brown color. These are very cheap mushrooms, whose delicate flavor refines the dishes they are combined with. The French name with which they are known today comes directly from the late nineteenth century. A guy Monsieur Chambertywandering around an abandoned tunnel in the undergrounds of Paris, I find spontaneously grown mushrooms. From there the idea was born: the constant temperature, darkness and humidity of the underground created the ideal habitat for the cultivation of mushrooms, which were immediately labeled as "Champignon de Paris". Between the forties and fifties of the twentieth century there were about one hundred producers, capable of growing 2,000 tons of mushrooms per year. An underground producer in the French capital still resists today. Is called Angel Moioli and every year he places on the market about 300 kg of original Champignon de Paris, using the same method as his grandfather. Its cultivation is located a few kilometers from La Defense.

How to grow them at home

If you have always dreamed of having a complete vegetable garden at home, with the arrival of autumn you cannot miss the mushroom cultivation. You don't need to have your own tunnel to grow champignons at home: a ready-made substrate is enough, which can also be purchased via the internet. The substrate it is composed of organic materials such as straw, chaff, hay, bran and even vegetable flours. In these mixtures different types of mycelium, those microorganisms – real seeds – from which fungi arise. To grow champignon mushrooms at home you will need a place that is not very bright: a basement, a garage, a cellar will do perfectly, thanks also to the lower temperatures compared to the rest of the house. These mushrooms need an environment between 12 ° C and 18 ° C. Then you will need the substrate, which you can buy online. There are different types, natural and organic, free of pesticides and above all reusable. Once you have taken the package, place it in the chosen environment but do not open it. Let 4-5 days pass. Once opened, if the substrate shows a White color, the lid must be removed, otherwise you will have to leave the container closed and check it every two days to verify the whitish color. Only then should the lid be removed and the substrate should be wetted with a spray bottle 1-2 times a day for the former 10-15 days. The fruits of your work will already be seen after this period, it is the moment in which you can proceed with the first cut of your mushrooms. But keep wetting the substrate – you could get up to four collected. If your mushrooms have grown with a longer stem and an underdeveloped cap, it means that the room is poorly ventilated and too dark.

How to clean and wash them

First get a champignon mushroom at a time and detach the stem from the head with a slight twisting motion. Starting from the lower edge of the chapel, lift the film that covers the mushroom with the help of a small knife. Pull it towards the central part of the head: you will see that it will come off very easily. At this point take the stems, remove the earthy part and scrape off the remaining one. As you have completed this operation, dip the cleaned champignon mushrooms in a bowl with plenty of them very cold water and acidulated with lemon juice and slices: the first ingredient serves to keep the mushroom crunchy, while the second prevents it from blackening and oxidizing. If the mushrooms are very small, you can cook them whole, otherwise you can cut them into quarters. If they are large, you can slice them. To do this, place the chapel on the cutting board with the rounded part upwards and divide it into slices. For the stems just cut them into rings. At this point the next step is cooking. There are those who wonder if and how wash the mushrooms. But as with all mushrooms, these also don't get along very well with water. In the cleaning phase it is used only to preserve them while waiting to be cooked, but after having deprived them of any residue with the help of a knife for the film and a brush for the earth granules.

Why do they go black?

THE Champignon mushrooms, like many other foods, they undergo chemical and biological oxidation. The effect of these processes is theblackening food. Chemical oxidation is mainly caused by oxygen in the air, where both light and traces of metals act as catalysts. That chemical is caused by microbes or enzymes contained in the food itself: here it is water that plays a decisive role. For this reason, champignons should be eaten fresh and stored for a maximum of a few days in the refrigerator.

Raw can they hurt?

Champignon mushrooms are good both cooked and raw. If you don't want to cook them, you can use them, after cleaning, as an ingredient in rich salads, like this one with turnip, champignon and parmesan with yogurt dressing.

How they cook

THE Champignon mushrooms they are an ingredient capable of enriching the flavor of a dish. They adapt well to first courses, such as spaghetti carbonara with mushrooms or the spaghetti with rocket pesto and mushrooms. Also perfect as an ingredient for second courses, such as cheese donuts with champignons or the soufflé omelette with mushrooms. You can also try them in a risotto, like the one with gorgonzola and mushrooms.

How to understand when they are no longer good

THE Champignon mushrooms they are delicious, but if you buy them fresh they can go bad after just a few days. Eating champignons in bad conditions it can cause gastrointestinal pains and in the most serious cases, even cause intoxication. So understanding when and if they have gone bad is essential. First, see if they have any stains. If you notice areas with darker shades, it means that they cannot be consumed. Me too'smell can tell us a lot about the quality of mushrooms: if it is more sour than normal, with a hint of ammonia, it means that they are rotten. If I'm dry or shriveled, with wrinkles, it means that they are going bad. Even the color of the slats it is indicative: if they have a darker shade, it means that the putrefaction process has begun. Another sign that should not be underestimated is the presence of one soft and viscous layer: this is also a sign of rot.

How to freeze champignon mushrooms

Freeze the champignon mushrooms it's very simple. You can cook them by blanching them in a pan without adding liquids. Drain them and let them cool to room temperature. Get some freezing bags and distribute the mushrooms as needed you may need for your dishes. To defrost the mushrooms, arrange them on a plate, countertop or in the refrigerator. Alternatively, to speed up the time, place them under running warm running water. Or, pour the mushrooms directly into the pan with the other ingredients.

Spices: Paolo Griffa's choices and good advice – Italian Cuisine

A fascinating world, with a growing availability of products of foreign origin: the chef of the Petit Royal explains how to enrich dishes and drinks. "The important thing is to use them in moderation and do lots of experiments"

There are many spices. Millions of millions, maybe not: but hundreds of them yes. And it is a fascinating world, full of flavors and nuances: especially as regards the spices that come from afar. Why some like sage, bay leaf, rosemary, parsley, basil, oregano, the precious saffron they are an ancient heritage of Italian cuisine. Whether for the availability in the area or because they have always been protagonists in regional dishes. From sage for the Brescia spit to basil for pesto, from saffron for yellow risotto to parsley for sauces. Or, again, the chili, who became the king of southern cuisine, as soon as he passed through Spain from Latin America. The real turning point dates back to the 16th century with the opening of the spice route – thanks to the Portuguese – who brought pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon to Europe from the Indies: an immense commercial value, since they were not only used to flavor the dishes, but also to make medicines.

The spice boom

Given the prices, they enter the kitchens of the rich – in Italy, the first to enjoy it are Venetians and Genoese because of their relations with the Portuguese – to give the extra touch and subsequently become more accessible. Even if they will be reserved for dishes that are not traditional, but imaginative. In recent years there has been a real boom in spices which in Italy is due to three reasons: the greater propensity to leave the Mediterranean to go to the East (from China to South-East Asia), discovering a different use, the increasingly presence wide of places that celebrate (well) the ethnic cuisine and the contamination thanks to the haute cuisine where ginger and its surroundings have entered into many recipes. The second case is the one that resulted Paolo Griffa – executive chef of the Petit Royal, the starred restaurant of the Grand Hotel Royal and Golf in Courmayeur – to become passionate about the theme.

Kimchi and Tajine

"My family has always loved authentic Chinese cuisine and since I was a kid it was a reward for me to go with them to taste it," says Griffa. «So I started to appreciate the flavors of their spices and in my career I have always tried to deepen my direct knowledge. Between trips to the East for work and pleasure, the 30 years old from Piedmont he tasted everything and even took a specialized course in kimchi, the foundation of Korean cuisine based on fermented vegetables and spices that is indigestible to many Italians. «I use it for some dishes of the Petit Royal, obviously balancing it with extreme care, as it is right to do with any food that does not belong to our classic repertoire, he explains. An example that explains more than many words is the Vegetable tajine, cumin and mint lassi sauce, lemon and cinnamon couscous, which opens our service. It is a beautiful mosaic of rolled and boxed vegetables that is part of a gastronomic journey that explicitly refers to the works of art mentioned, in this case the PaperArt by Russian illustrator Yulia Brodskaya. The secret? The sauces, where thirty spices have been used.

The 500 spices of Griffa

Griffa has an extraordinary passion: in his pantry there are almost 500 spices («In 50 gram bottles, while the original bags are in a wardrobe that I personally keep as if it were my treasure, he whispers) and uses them in many dishes. "I try to find the right nuance in those spices that are little used or underestimated in our cuisine, for example juniper or cumin, but the list is very long. The top remains the mixes: even the rarest ones can be found in specialized stores or in e-commerce. Just try one made with peppers on a meat dish, even if only grilled, to understand the difference compared to simple black or pink pepper. But it also applies to raw prawns: a touch of one spice or another totally changes their taste ", underlines the chef of the Petit Royal.

Also ideal for cocktails

Of course, there is no point in having hundreds of spices and herbs at home. Griffa, who has chosen the most interesting for us, considers fifty to be useful to cover all preparations: from a raw appetizer to dessert, without forgetting mixology which is enjoying more and more spicy influences. "Apart from those on which there are historical recipes or that an Italian knows how to dose by nature, you must always have a light hand: add a pinch of spice, taste it, maybe add a little and try again. A very fun exercise, in my opinion . Here are the choices of the Piedmontese chef for the readers of "La Cucina Italiana" and the tips for using them well in everyday cooking.

Ginger

Fresh and with the peel, it is rich in enzymes used to make ginger bugs (a sort of "mother yeast" with which any other liquid can then be fermented) or to make herbal teas. If cut in half and toasted in a pan, it can be added to broths for a citrusy taste and oriental overtones. Dry it can be used in biscuits and cakes, aromatic and with digestive properties.

Sumac

In Italian it is called sumac and has its chosen land in Sicily, where they have rediscovered it. It makes sense to use it for meat and fish marinades, because it gives a purplish pink color and releases fresh scents. The flavor is slightly astringent and sour.

Rue

Its more tender leaves can be used in moderation in salads, while the dried pods can be used to flavor roasts or to marinate meats, but also large fish. Interesting use in confectionery for sorbets or jams. However, use it sparingly.

Timut pepper

There are many peppers, each with particular characteristics and colors. That of Timut differs for two peculiarities: the hints of grapefruit and citrus, not very spicy, and the pink pigment it releases. If it is perfect for seasoning fish, it becomes very interesting when used in pastry to flavor cakes and creams.

Tonka beans

On the market there are seeds, dried. They have a very intense and characteristic scent, they can be a valid substitute for vanilla in creams and desserts. The intensity is accentuated when grated and added to a hot mixture.

Juniper

It is a berry produced from the bushes of the same name. It can be harvested green with a slightly woody astringent fresh flavor or when ripe when the color becomes bluish purple. Perfect for flavoring meats, especially game, but also loved by the world of mixology.

Pollen

Many consider it just a food supplement, but it is also very interesting as an aromatic ingredient. It can be used pure in salads or muesli, or dissolved in water for an herbal tea or, again, in milk to make a custard that lends itself to accompanying desserts.

Cardamono

There are different types based on the processes they undergo: the white one with an intense and citrus scent, the more floral and fragrant green one or the black one with more toasted and balsamic aromas. A few pods are enough to flavor the rice cooking water or perfume an herbal tea.

Ras el Hanout

This Middle Eastern mix of turmeric, cumin, coriander, cardamom, rose, ginger and nutmeg is increasingly loved. Very fragrant, it is often used to season lamb or vegetables. Particularly suitable for orange vegetables such as carrots and squash.

Curry mix

Curry leaves are a spice in their own right, particularly fragrant. But the mixes remain a balanced condiment for each food. In a yellow curry the dominant spice will be turmeric, in the red one the paprika and in the green one fresh herbs and green pepper. It's fun to experiment …

Dukkan mix

Based on dried fruit, peanuts, walnuts or coarsely chopped almonds; or berries such as coriander or cumin, sesame seeds, depending on the final result you want to obtain. Used to dress salads and vegetables, it is also perfect for sprinkling over meat to give it a particular fragrance.

Four spice mix

The best is obtained by mixing aromatic peppers with nutmeg, ginger powder and cloves. Care must be taken when using it, as it has a very intense flavor. It manages to give a special touch to Christmas sweets, as well as perfume the environment.