Tag: cook

Minced meat: 10 recipes to cook it – Italian Cuisine

The minced meat is a magical ingredient in the kitchen because it can turn into a thousand tasty recipes for the whole family. Here are our proposals

The minced meat is a jolly ingredient in the kitchen because it lends itself to a thousand uses. It can become the condiment of a first course, or the filling of a pie, a pie or a vegetable and a second delicious for the whole family.

Types of minced meat

To prepare meatballs and meatloafs it is important to choose a ground that has also a little fatty part. Belly and armhole the best parts to grind the veal, the pig are used shoulder and bacon, while for white meat, usually very lean, all parts are fine, but to get soft meatballs you must always add a creamy part of ricotta or robiola.
For a good ragù they usually grind together beef and pork, while for the hamburger the ideal cuts are the sirloin, neck and staple of beef which can also be ground together.

How to choose and store the ground

Always ask your butcher to grind the meat at the moment both for a matter of freshness and hygiene, and because very often the ground coffee is ready made with pieces of mixed meat waste.
Minced meat can be stored in the refrigerator for three days at best because then it becomes dark and takes a bad smell. If it is fresh, you can freeze it in special freezer plastic bags or in sealed containers. You can also freeze the meatballs or the meatloaf after preparing the dough.

Ragout and meatballs

Ragù, meatballs and meatloaf are the best known recipes based on minced meat and we love them because they are very versatile. The ragout, White or red, can be enriched with mushrooms and vegetables and can be made with minced meat. The same goes for the meatballs that they can have many tastes and can be cooked differently (pan, oven, steam).
Ragù and meatballs are also the favorite dishes from the children because the minced meat is tender and tasty and should not be eaten with a fork and knife. Indeed, the smaller meatballs can be eaten even with your hands!

Here it is 10 recipes perfect for the whole family based on minced meat

Bananas too ripe? 10 recipes to cook them from smoothies to pancakes – Italian Cuisine

The bananas you have in the fruit basket have become a bit spotted? They are too soft and ripe and you do not want to eat them? What are you waiting for? Cook them!

You know that there are recipes that are prepared just with the more mature bananas, those that we usually discard because they are more black than yellow?
In addition to becoming more sweets, with the ripening the bananas buy one softer texture, which makes them particularly suitable for cooking, both in doughs and for creams and snacks.
Are you looking for ideas to cook them and do not throw them away? Here it is 10.

Caramelized bananas

They are bananas cooked in a pan only with sugar and butter.
You can cut them into rounds or even into two parts lengthwise and you can then accompany them with an ice cream, porridge or a simple yogurt.

Grilled bananas

Have you ever thought of doing some skewers with fruit? Try them with bananas.
Just stick them with a skewer wood skewer and then cook them on the hot plate. You can cook them whole or in rounds.
Once ready and still warm sprinkle with icing sugar or honey or maple syrup.

Baked bananas

A quick dessert that kids always love because these bananas are stuffed with chocolate and marshmallows. Peel a banana and cut it in half lengthwise without cutting it completely. Put drops of chocolate and mini marshmallows inside the cut and then wrap it all with silver paper. Bake in the oven at 180 ° for about 10 minutes, just long enough to melt the filling.

Banana Bread

This American dessert is made only and strictly with very ripe bananas. To prepare a perfect banana bread, follow our advice!

Pancakes two ingredients

How many times have we proposed this recipe? So many, but only because we go crazy.
It's a simple, healthy and fast idea.
It is prepared by crushing two fairly ripe bananas and mixing them with two eggs. Do not blend, do not whisk. Simply mix.
This mixture is then cooked on a non-stick pan as you do for pancakes.

Smoothies and smoothies

Always with the ripe bananas you can prepare excellent ones shakes, adding other fruit.
If you froze instead you will get fresh and greedy smoothies, very similar to an ice cream, but without cream and sugar.
Do you want a delicious recipe? Blend a banana with cubed frozen almond milk, peanut butter and hazelnut cream. A super nutritious snack for an energizing and delicious break!

Porridge

If you love porridge breakfast, add it milk and oatmeal a ripe banana.
Cook everything together and you will get a really very creamy consistency.
Enrich it with other slices of banana, chocolate chips or cocoa powder, dried fruit or seeds and peanut butter.

French Toast

The French Toast it is a delight to prepare for the brunch weekend. A crunchy and hot toast stuffed with bananas and hazelnut cream and then fried in butter.
To prepare it, buy some toast bread and stuff it with crushed bananas and hazelnut or almond cream, or with jam. Close the toast and then pass it in a mixture made with milk and beaten eggs (1 egg and a glass of milk or cream). Fry everything in a pan with a knob of butter and then sprinkle with icing sugar and garnish with maple syrup and other bananas.

Breakfast cake

Add a crushed ripe banana to your dough simple breakfast cake, also to apple, yogurt or donut cake that you always prepare.
You will fall in love with the new, more humid and compact consistency. With a pinch of cinnamon, then, certainly not wrong.

Fried bananas

You know that you can also make some sweet and savory fried snacks with bananas?
Cut the bananas into slices and dip them in a batter prepared by mixing three tablespoons of water with two tablespoons of honey, 60 g of flour, 1 egg and a pinch of baking soda or baking powder.
If you want the salty version remove the honey and add a pinch of salt and smoked paprika to the batter.
Fry everything in immersion in the boiling oil.

How to choose, clean and cook shrimp – Italian Cuisine

Also called imperial prawns, le shrimp they are part of the large family of these crustaceans. Appetizing and delicate, they can be eaten after a quick cooking. Moreover, thanks to their low caloric intake, they are also suitable for low-calorie diets. Here are all the secrets to learn how to choose, clean and cook shrimp.

Shrimp, shrimp and shrimp: differences

The vulgar name crayfish identifies various species of aquatic crustaceans belonging mainly to the order of the Decapoda. This term indicates both marine and freshwater species. The body of the shrimp is elongated and has 3 parts: the head, the Chest and theabdomen. The head is equipped with an antenna, two jaws and a jaw. They have a mainly nocturnal life and hunt with the help of the frontal claws. They identify the prey thanks to the vibrations they perceive with the antennas.

Let's start by saying that le shrimp they are part of the shrimp family, but they are different from the latter. THE shrimps they are small-sized crustaceans, which reach sizes between 7 and 10 centimeters. While from 15 centimeters upwards we talk about shrimp. There is the Italian fresh water one, used in the kitchen since ancient Rome. Widespread in Veneto and Lombardy, it is very easy to find today. It grows very slowly and can not survive above 24 ° C.

What makes shrimp different? Also nicknamed imperial is Spannocchia, le shrimp first of all they have a particular gray color, crossed by darker bands with yellow-violet streaks. Furthermore, they have long, threadlike antennas. The tail is bluish due to the presence of feces, a characteristic visible above all in the fresh specimens. From cooked, the shrimp takes on a nice pink-orange color. It can even measure 20 centimeters long, but on average its dimensions stop at 12-15 centimeters. It can get to weigh too 100 grams. The shrimp live on the seabed of sand and mud near the coast, all over the Mediterranean. This crustacean is caught at night, with the trawling technique. Only in Italy every year they catch it between 500 and 800 tons a year. The areas with the highest density of fishing are Emilia Romagna and Marche.

Fresh and frozen: how to choose

To choose the best ones fresh shrimp the first rule is to rely on smell. Shrimps should not emanate herbs unpleasant. The second rule is the compactness: they must be firm to the touch and not soggy. Another factor that you must take into consideration is the color: if the head is particularly dark it does not mean that it is a fresh product; on the contrary, the risk is that they contain high quantities of sulphites, used in the treatment of these animals in the farm. Furthermore the head shrimp must have antennas and must be attached to the body. Avoid crustaceans that are missing eyes: if fresh, the shrimp's eyes are shiny and take up most of the head. Finally check that the armor be glossy, firm and without black spots. This element will help you to understand if it is a product no longer cool, but rinsed and frozen immediately after fishing.

Shrimp are also sold frozen, sometimes already deprived of the head. They are cheaper and easier to cook. Before being cooked, however, they should be defrosted at room temperature.

How to clean raw shrimp

For clean the shrimp pass some water on the abdomen to remove any residues of algae or mud. Remove the tail, where the crustacean stools reside. Counting the third ring on the back from the tail, insert a toothpick into the body to extract the black bud.

How to shell the cooked shrimp

There shelling it is quite easy, especially if you proceed with the operation after cooking. To shell the prawns without breaking them, first of all remove the head and the legs. Then gently open the rings that form the shell, uncover the tail and pull it out. To easily remove the black intestinal fillet helped with tweezers or the tip of a knife.

Cook the shrimp in the pan

A recipe really tasty to try, easy and quick to prepare, are the shrimp sauteed with rice. In this case you will need to use a pan, two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil to heat over a low heat for two minutes. Season with a clove of garlic and take it off before adding the shrimp, which will cook for about ten minutes, so as to let produce the sumptuous sauce. To complete the whole, a sprig of chopped parsley, chili and a pinch of salt.

With the shrimp you can also prepare some skewers to be cooked in a pan.

Cook the prawns in the oven

Cook the prawns in the oven it is an alternative way that will limit the dispersion of odors in the home. The result is tasty, especially you will choose to prepare the shrimp au gratin.

After cleaning a dozen shrimp, detaching the tail, the legs, the shell and the black filament, cut the back with a small knife. Place the crustaceans clean and flavor them with a citronnette sauce, prepared with a sprig of chopped parsley, chives, lemon juice and salt. At this point, cover the shrimp with a sheet of parchment paper to keep the humidity inside and keep them tender. It will take 10 minutes in the oven to 200 ° C. Then pull them out and sprinkle with bread crumbs: bake again for a minute with the grill to create the gratin.

Cooking in the oven is also perfect for making it shrimp strudel, endive and radicchio.

Grill the shrimp

Grill the shrimp It is the simplest and tastiest way to enrich the incredible taste of this crustacean with a touch of smoke. Prepared in this way, the shrimp become a perfect dish to serve as well as starter that how second.

After having cleaned and dried them with absorbent paper, place them on the hot grill and let them cook for a few minutes. Salale and condiscile with an emulsion prepared with extra virgin olive oil, black pepper, lemon juice and chopped parsley.

Recipes with raw shrimp

Between recipes to be made with fresh or frozen raw shrimp, you can try one tartare of tails of prawns with Tropea onion. It is a simple recipe in which you will prepare a mixture of prawn tails, Tropea onion, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley. Stirring everything, put the mixture in a brothel. To add a crunchy note to the dish, add some cous cous or crumbled taralli heated in a pan.

Recipes with prawns for pasta

The shrimp, like all the shellfish, lend themselves superbly to prepare sumptuous sea food in which to season the excellent pasta (fresh and dried). For example you can prepare some spaghetti alla carbonara with prawns and rocket or of the clouds with shrimp pesto and citrus fruits, of the bigoli with bean sauce and prawns.

You can also combine these crustaceans with some fresh stuffed pasta and make them tasty ravioli with prawns in leek and citrus sauce.