Tag: good

The good from the vegetable garden jar: the preserves of August – Italian Cuisine

Peppers, aubergines, courgettes and then all the fruit like melons, figs, plums. In short, there are many preserves in August that can be prepared at home to enjoy the best of summer all year round

These last days of August are the time to make you a precious gift: fruit and vegetable preserves, which will make you savor the taste of summer even when temperatures do not reach 15 °. Everything is now at its best: the aromas, the textures, the colors of peaches, plums, melons, figs, aubergines, and then again peppers, courgettes, tomatoes. Whatever the preserve you want to prepare, you are sure that the raw material is the best that you can find.

The best vegetables and fruit

To prepare preserves of August As a rule of art you will have to get perfect fruits and vegetables, which have reached full maturity, without any dents and from the skin and from the firm and compact pulp. For vegetables, follow some suggestions, to get the most delicious result possible. If you want to use aubergines, remember to lose them the water leaving them sliced in a colander with coarse salt for at least 30 minutes. If you prefer zucchini, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the part where there are seeds: you will avoid the risk of a tending taste bitterish. Do the same thing if you use cucumbers. If you are lovers of pepperoni, remember to do them toast in the grill of the oven for 40 minutes so that they can be peeled effortlessly. In this way they will be more digestible for everyone.

Aubergine, courgette and pepper pickles

What's better than a mix of vegetables in oil to accompany meat dishes, delicate cheeses or to prepare an intriguing appetizer with croutons covered with vegetables and garnished with an anchovy fillet? To achieve this preserve get yourself a courgette, an aubergine, a yellow pepper. Wash and clean the vegetables, removing the internal seeds of the courgette, the white filaments and the skin of the pepper. Slice the aubergine and put it in a colander with coarse salt and leave it for an hour, so that it loses water. Then rinse it and cut it into cubes, together with the pepper and courgette. In a large pot, boil water with half a liter of white wine vinegar and a teaspoon of coarse salt. Blanch all the vegetables for 5 minutes and then drain with the help of a slotted spoon. Fill the sterilized jars with vegetables, add some basil leaves and two cloves of garlic, mash well e filled up to 1 cm from the edge with extra virgin olive oil. Close with the caps, place the jars in a pan full of water, bring to the boil and sterilize for 30 minutes. Check that the vacuum has formed and then place the preserves in a cool, dry place. Let it sit for a month before tasting.

summer preserves

Dried tomatoes in oil

Prepare this preserve and you will become addicted to it for the rest of your days! Dried cherry tomatoes in oil are a real treat, to eat at any time of the day, alone, with crunchy bread or as a sauce for a delicious pasta. What you have to do is get some cherry tomatoes or datterini tomatoes, as you prefer, wash them and cut them in half. You then dispose each half with the side cut upwards on a covered baking sheet, sprinkle each tomato with a pinch of salt and one of sugar, add a few leaves of oregano, garlic cloves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Bake for three hours at 100 ° and when they are dry, place them in already sterilized jars, cover them with raw oil up to 1 cm from the edge, add a few basil leaves and close the jars with the caps. Put them in a large pot full of water, cook for about 30 minutes from the boil and then check that the vacuum has formed. Let the tomatoes season for a month before consuming them. Once opened, they are kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Red onion chutney

This preserve is perfect to accompany aged cheeses, white meats or simply to prepare delicious croutons to serve as finger food. Take a pound of red tropea onions, peel them and slice them thinly. Put them to fry a little at a time in a pan with extra virgin olive oil and when they are golden, add 100 g of cane sugar. Mix well and then add 200 ml of apple vinegar and two bay leaves. Blend the vinegar and then add two tablespoons of mustard to the ancienne. Mix well and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. A few minutes before turning off, add to the onions 50 g of raisins soaked and squeezed. Turn off, let stand a few minutes and then pour the compote into previously sterilized glass jars. Close each can and turn it upside down. Let it all cool down and then check that the vacuum has formed. Once opened, it should be consumed in three or four days.

Melon and ginger jam

Excellent spread on toasted bread for breakfast in the morning, this jam is also perfect on the table to accompany semi-seasoned or fresh cheeses. It is prepared with the white-fleshed melon, with a taste so sweet to remember honey. First, slice and clean a 1 kg melon from the seeds, cut it into small pieces and place it in a large bowl. Squeeze the juice of a lemon and pour it over the melon. Meanwhile grate a teaspoon of fresh ginger and add it to the bowl. Add 150 g of brown sugar, stir and leave rest a night in the fridge. The next day, pour the melon into a large pot and bring to the fire, cooking over a low heat until the melon pulp has melted. Mix well and then pour the contents into already sterilized glass jars. Fill them up to 1 cm from the edge and then close them. Turn them upside down and leave them until they have cooled. At this point, verify that it is formed the vacuum pack, otherwise put the jars in a pot full of water and boil them, separated by a cloth, for 30 minutes. Then place them in a cool place and let them rest for a month before eating them.

Fig, walnut and pine nut jam

Figs are among the most anticipated fruits of the summer. Why not prepare a jam so you can enjoy the sweetness of this fruit the rest of the year? Choose a kg of figs, both black and white, as you prefer. Rest assured that they are ripe to the right point, wash them, peel them and leave them to rest for an hour in a bowl with 100 g of brown sugar and the juice of a lemon. Then put the figs in a large saucepan, cook them for about two hours, or in any case until they have reached the consistency you prefer. Then turn off, add 500 g including shelled walnuts and pine nuts, mix and pour the contents into the already sterilized jars. Fill them up to 1 cm from the edge and then close with the caps. Turn the jars over and wait for the vacuum to form. Once ready, the preserves should be left to rest for a month before consuming them. Once opened, they are kept in the fridge for three or four days. The fig, walnut and pine nut jam is perfect to accompany aged cheeses, to fill bread slices for breakfast, or to garnish hand-made tarts.

Mulberry jam

Have you ever tasted them? mulberries? They have a very special taste, which will remain imprinted on every taste bud. To make a jam with this fruit, get yourself a pound and a half. Rinse them, remove the stalk, place them with 300 g of cane sugar in a large bowl and sprinkle them with the juice of a lemon. Stir and let stand in the fridge for an hour. After pour everything into a saucepan, add one cinnamon stick, a few leaves of mint and cook for about an hour. Then decant the jam into the already sterilized jars, close them with the caps and turn them upside down to create the vacuum. Let them rest a month before opening them.

Vacuum packed, easy and good – Italian Cuisine

Vegetables, fruit, meat or fish: with the vacuum it is possible to preserve and cook many foods, keeping all the properties unaltered.

The post Vacuum, easy and good appeared first on Sale & Pepe.

101 foods that are good for your baby – Italian Cuisine

It is during our childhood that we learn to feed ourselves properly and to get used to following a healthy and balanced diet. It is from this moment that we must appreciate the value of healthier foods and dishes without giving up the pleasure of taste. But how – as parents – to teach children to eat properly, favoring healthy food and good habits?

To eat healthy the first rule is to start from the knowledge of food pyramid – that puts food in order according to a qualitative and quantitative hierarchy – and follow good and healthy habits. This seems so easy but it is not, especially when the discourse does not interest us adults but our children. Here then that becomes fundamental, for the health, teach them to eat properly and in a healthy way from an early age, preferring foods that are really good for their growth and getting them used to following good nutrition practices that will come in handy until adulthood.
But let's take one step at a time and start discovering good habits.

5 good habits to teach children to encourage proper nutrition

Few and simple rules that do so much in terms of health. Eating well depends on many factors, including how you are at the table, how many meals you consume and which foods you prefer to consume. It is up to us parents to immediately start conveying the correct messages in terms of healthy nutrition for our children.

1.A child, like the adult, needs to feed his body in a balanced way during the day with 5 meals a day: breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner.

2. Breakfast is the fundamental meal. The child can alternate between sweet and savory and vary, to tease him with more flavors and to understand his preferences.

3. It is necessary to follow a varied and never monotonous weekly menu.

4. Snacks are important meals because the body does not owe energy. Allow the child to have the right hunger and not search for "empty" foods before the main meals.

5. Fruits and vegetables must be present in at least 4 of the 5 daily meals, just propose it the right way.

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Let's not forget the golden rule!

One thing, more than any other, it is good that we parents do not forget when it comes to teaching something to our children: we always give the good example.
Lunch and dinner join the family. Why not turn moments in the kitchen into family sharing? If the moment dedicated to the kitchen is presented in a playful way, paying attention and care, the children feel involved, have fun, feel useful and important for the help they give. Doing so for parents and children will be a fun time to share, the little ones will get used to preparing healthy foods with care and love and if the child chooses what to cook there are more chances that he will eat with taste what he has prepared.

But which foods are good for children and which should consume more?

We now come to the foods that it is good to include in the diet of our children from an early age thanks to the wide nutritional properties they contain and which contribute, together with what we have said so far, to guarantee them a healthy and correct diet.
There are as many as 101 and we have discovered them all thanks to the interesting volume "101 foods that are good for my baby" by Maria Paola Dall'Erta published by Red !, which combining her professional experience as a biologist and chef with that of mother, embarks on a culinary “journey” to accompany readers – and mothers above all – in the choice and preparation of dishes for to propose to the children privileging precisely those foods that more than others are good for the growth of our children.
For obvious reasons we cannot reveal all 101 of them but we have selected 5 of them that you can immediately propose to your children and be sure of doing "good and right thing" for their health. Curious to discover them?

Brussels sprout, a winter dish for your child

They are not particularly loved by our children. The chef Dall’Erta recommends offering them as chips of sprouts, peeled, seasoned with oil and lemon and baked until the leaves are crispy. Why is it good for your child? Brussels sprout is a true panacea for memory, bones and sight. One serving provides the daily quota of vitamin C, in addition to fiber and protein. They contain mineral salts, including phosphorus and iron, proteins, fibers and vitamins (A; C; B; K, which is very useful for good bone health). They are also considered real stimulators of brain activity and concentration and a mine of antioxidants. Zeaxanthin protects the retina of the eyes.

Curcuma, the spice by now also established in our western kitchen

It is a very versatile spice with exceptional properties that gives life and color to dishes and makes them appetizing even for the little ones. For example, a child-proof curry should be offered to them. Why is it good for your child? Turmeric helps the body reduce inflammatory mechanisms, plays an important purifying function by supporting the body in the process of expelling toxins and increasing the production of bile, liver and stomach. In short, a real portent for the organism. It also has positive effects against anxiety and stress and against various skin problems.

Avocado, food loved by young and old

Because of its delicate flavor it is generally appreciated by children. It has a consistency that resembles that of butter but is more similar from the nutritional point of view to olive oil. Nourishing and digestible, it is always used raw and is versatile, if combined with the right condiments and aromas. Excellent mixed with honey and cocoa for a chocolate cream or combined with protein foods such as white or red meat, fish like salmon or shrimp, or with rice and pasta. Why is it good for your child? It is rich in "good" fats, which reduce blood cholesterol. Make omega 3, oleic acid and lecithin. Combined with lemon it becomes exceptional for the immune defenses thanks to its vitamins A, D K and C.

Millet, the tiny grain with incredible wonders

It provides children with valuable nutrients. Its flavor is delicate, you can eat it for breakfast as a cereal, or instead of rice in soups, soups or salads. Why is it good for your child? It contains silicon, so it has a fundamental role for hair growth and blood circulation, it is an energy for the brain and helps fight infections: all characteristics for the growth of a healthy child. It contains twice as much iron than wheat and four times as much as rice. The same goes for magnesium which keeps migraines and asthma symptoms at bay and is important for memory and for strong bone development.

Pomegranate, an authentic concentrate of beneficial properties

With the exception of the oily one, all the fruit has excellent nutritional properties due to the high content of water, vitamins, mineral salts and the richness of dietary fiber. The juiciness and the sweet and acid taste at the same time of the pomegranate make it very versatile in the kitchen: from the smoothie to match with meat and cheese, from salad to dessert combined with yogurt. And do you know that it is a sacred fruit and lucky charm? The kids will have fun if you tell them a story. Why is it good for your child? It is a source of vitamin B, C, E, flavonoids, natural phenols, potassium, folic acid. It has anti-inflammatory properties, is good for the immune system, strengthens bones and muscles.