Tag: choose

The cotechino, the tips to choose it and to match it – Italian Cuisine

Soft, succulent and very sweet: cotechino is the tradition of the New Year. Choose the best and combine it with mashed potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, lentils and vegetables such as string beans and spinach

The cotechino It is a sausage of Emilia origin, composed of a mixture of pork, rind and lard, as well as salt and spices. Unlike common salami, it must be cooked before being consumed. In 1999 the Cotechino Modena received the Igp recognition and it is produced, among others, in the provinces of Modena, Ferrara Ravenna, Rimini and Forlì. But how do you choose and how it matches a cotechino? Let's see it together.

How to choose it

If it is a craft product, pay attention to the percentage of fat compared to the leaner meat: better a cotechino slimmer compared to one with a lot of fat. The latter must then be a fine texture, well ground. The color must tend to pinkish and not to dark red and the scent remains delicate and sweetish.

The best cooking

The best way to preserve the organoleptic characteristics of the cotechino is to cook it steam powered. Naturally this technique requires more dilated times than immersion: for a piece of 500 g it is necessary to consider 3 hours instead of 2. For cooking a large pot is used, with a small amount of water, inside which a grid is placed where place the salami. Cook on a gentle flame for 3 hours, and in any case until the tines of a fork gently sink into the meat.

And if you do not have that craft …

As with many products, cured meats crafts are to be preferred over industrial ones. Also in this case one made with traditional methods, with super-selected meats, is preferable to a precooked, without doubt easier to cook and faster. But precooked cotechini are not all the same. there are also quality. Always choose a product made by a serious and known company. Leave the superscontati alone. If you want a chef's advice, there is nothing left to do but follow the directions of Davide Oldani.

Cotechino and ….

The most suitable combination, above all in times of veglioni it is with lentils, especially those of Castelluccio di Norcia. Excellent also served with a mashed potato, or Jerusalem artichokes, or even chickpeas. If you like spinach, boil them, toss them in a little oil with a clove of garlic and then serve them with the cotechino. Otherwise another vegetable that goes well with this salami are the beans. Also in this case passed in a pan with garlic and a little butter.

20 recipes with cotechino

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In the tutorial, discover some tips to cook the cotechino

Tea and herbal teas that smell like Christmas: here's what to choose – Italian Cuisine

The typical scents of winter become a delicious infusion for the holidays: here are many ideas for delicious teas and Christmas teas (also detox)

The tree is also full of the latest decorations, those bought last minute because those last year no longer convinced us – and a bit 'are broken – those exchanged with friends at the Secret Santa, those unearthed at the market of Christmas. The last presents are still missing, but for those we have now made peace with the fact that as every year we will reduce if not 24, December 23. The snow is missing, but everything else is there. Family, candles, cookies, panettone (or pandoro?).

There is above all that atmosphere that is impossible to replicate at other times of the year, to be breathed deeply in front of a more or less romantic film, under a warm blanket, and with a Cup of tea hot in hand from which all the winter spices are made, all the scents of Christmas.

Types of tea

The first thing to know when we get closer to choosing a tea is that all the teas proper (white, green, oolong and black) derive from the same plant and that the aromatic difference derives rather from the treatment (withering, oxidation, fermentation and drying) that the leaves receive after harvesting. The addition of flowers, fruit, spices and essential oils then, leads to further diversify flavors and aromas. Red tea, better known as Rooibos, is not exactly a tea but it is prepared with the same treatment and grows exclusively on the plateaus of South Africa, where it is considered a national drink.

Tea and herbal teas: what is the difference?

The teas are mixtures of fruit, herbs and spices, generally of exotic origin, which combine with gluttony (this is where we can find, for example, chocolate) and flavor, a component of phytotherapeutic well-being. The only limit in this case is the taste, combined with the imagination: herbal teas in fact in herbal medicine (or at home, if you prefer do-it-yourself) can be prepared letting yourself be inspired by personal taste and the sought after benefit.

Tea and Christmas teas, which to choose

We have said it and perhaps it is one of the few truths on which we can all tend to agree. At Christmas we want to relax, have fun, rest, feel good. And it is in the name of this that we will choose from which infusion to let us warm up. Hibiscus, currant, cinnamon, licorice and cardamom will keep us company until Christmas morning, for all the evenings that separate us from the awakening of 25, for all books to be held with one hand because the other holds the hot cup, for all movies and cartoons that we will manage to look, making us dream with their aromas a wonderful and snowy Nordic Christmas. On Christmas morning, before a lunch that will surely be important, the best choice could be that of a healthy green tea flavored with bergamot, allOrange or to cinnamon. Or, if you prefer oriental flavors to Nordic notes, you can choose to add the mint or the rosein bud maybe, because even the eye wants its part. And even this year it is already time of the detox, in which these drinks are perfect allies. If you prefer a tea, opt for a fragrant green base with lemon and lemongrass, dandelion or pineapple. If instead you want to opt for a herbal tea, they will be perfect fennel, the lemon and lo ginger. All strictly biological.

At Christmas, choose a mysterious gift – Italian Cuisine

This year is your Christmas goal to leave everyone speechless with mysterious gifts? So we have what's right for you.

The joy of discovery

Discard i presents has become the inevitable ritual of the Christmas festivities, under each self-respecting decorated tree appear packages sparkling with colored ribbons that evoke an irresistible curiosity to any passerby nearby. Even among those who are no longer children, gifts are welcome, but it is often very difficult to impress us adults. Seeing the pleasantly shocked reaction of friends and relatives when unwrapping presents is a great satisfaction and we want only real smiles and no fake smug faces on the faces of your loved ones. We therefore thought to make the moment of discovery a moment of pure fun to make you relive those childish emotions set aside over the years. Do not just discard the gift to understand what you have in your hands, the surprise effect continues stimulating your curiosity to the nth degree until the resolution of the puzzle.

The mysterious object becomes a gift

The research has been stimulating, we have created thematic galleries with exclusive design products, useful in the kitchen and also beautiful to show on your shelves and worktops. Stone, wood, steel or plastic, the materials you prefer for the most original tools, from the 3-in-1 citrus fruit squeezer to the bird-shaped bottle opener, not to mention the beehive-sized vegetables or the giraffe-sized coffee dispenser. Browse the gallery with all the mysterious objects we collected from January to December in La Cucina Italiana and Merry Christmas magazine.