Tag: lucky

How to cook the lucky pomegranate – Italian Cuisine

From jellies to macaroni with meat sauce, 4 original ideas and 4 delicious recipes to bring the auspicious fruit, the pomegranate, to the table

With 600 grains per fruit (they are called arils), beautiful as rubies and very healthy, it is a wonder to be well and to rejoice at the table. Venture into inspiring pairings and enjoy the freshness of this eternal symbol of prosperity: the pomegranate.

How to clean the pomegranate, we explain it below with a video of our Cooking School, fear not!

The pomegranate or the pomegranate? Remember that the pomegranate is the plant, while the pomegranate is the fruit.

4 original ideas with pomegranate

JELLIES

Soak 40 g of gelatin sheets; heat 380 g of pomegranate juice, 20 g of lemon juice and 300 g of sugar; when it boils, remove from heat and melt the squeezed gelatine in it.
Pour into a small plate lined with film forming a 2-3 cm layer; put in the fridge to set.
Then cut the gelatine into 2-3 cm cubes. Cover them with grated coconut, brown sugar, a mix of cinnamon powder, ginger and sugar, or top them with a few flakes of Maldon salt.

ROCCHETTI DI CAPRINO WITH PISTACHIOS

Divide 4 cow goats (about 380 g) into three pieces using kitchen twine (in this way the cut will be more precise) and roll them in the chopped pistachios.
Arrange them on a serving dish and complete with pomegranate grains.

JUICE WITH ANISE SYRUP

Bring 400 g of water with 300 g of sugar and 4 stars of star anise on the stove; boil for 15-18 minutes. Let cool, then strain.
Finely chop a few cocoa beans.
Dip the upper edge of the cups in the egg white and then in the chopped cocoa beans. Let it dry.
Pour in the anise syrup first and then the pomegranate juice, filtering it.

DISH OF CURED MEATS

Thinly slice the salami and arrange it on a serving dish with the slices of culatello. Accompanied with lots of pomegranate grains.
Their slight acidity will cleanse the mouth from the sensation of fatness and the sweetness will create a pleasant contrast with the flavor of the cured meats.

4 recipes with pomegranate

MARINATED SALMON AND AMBER FILLETS

Easy commitment
Time 25 minutes plus 3 hours of marinating
Gluten free

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE
300 g skinless amberjack fillet
300 g skinless salmon fillet
200 g pomegranate juice
30 g raspberry vinegar
dill – thyme
frisee salad
extra virgin olive oil
salt – Sichuan pepper

METHOD
Arrange the two fish fillets in a baking dish, add a sprig of thyme, pour 100 g of pomegranate juice and raspberry vinegar, add salt and flavor with a teaspoon of crushed Sichuan peppercorns.
Seal with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for 3 hours.
Reduce 100 g of pomegranate juice over the heat to low until you get a thick syrup.
Drain the fish fillets and cut them into slices; alternate them on plates, add a few leaves of curly salad and dill, season with a drizzle of oil and the reduction of pomegranate juice.

SQUID, SEPIE AND CRISPY BACON

Easy commitment
Time 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE
500 g cleaned squid
500 g cleaned cuttlefish
180 g bacon slices
100 g peanut oil
50 g pomegranate seeds
1 yolk
baby spinach
extra virgin olive oil
milk
salt

METHOD
Brown the bacon in a non-fat pan until crisp, then drain on kitchen paper.
Roast the cuttlefish in a veil of extra virgin olive oil; after 1 minute add the squid and cook for another 2 minutes.

For the mayonnaise: Blend 25 g of milk with the pomegranate grains, the yolk and a pinch of salt, then add drizzle the peanut oil and continue to blend until you get a smooth and fairly thick emulsion.

Spread the mayonnaise on the plates, then the bacon, cuttlefish, squid, spinach leaves and, if desired, diced pomegranate jelly (see previous recipe) or simple grains.

MACARONI WITH RAGU '

Easy commitment
Time 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE
500 g short pasta such as macaroni
500 g diced veal pulp
50 g butter
1 sachet of saffron powder
diced vegetables (1 carrot,
1 onion, 1 stalk of celery)
dry white wine
Grana Padano Dop
thyme – sage – rosemary
extra virgin olive oil
pomegranate
salt

METHOD:
Cook the diced vegetables in a saucepan with 2-3 tablespoons of oil and an aromatic bunch made with sage, thyme and rosemary for 3-4 minutes.
Brown the veal in butter for 4-5 minutes, blend with half a glass of wine and let it evaporate; Transfer the meat to the sautéed vegetables casserole and keep everything warm.
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water scented with saffron, drain it al dente and add it to the ragù.
Add 4-5 tablespoons of pomegranate seeds, sauté everything over a high flame for less than 1 minute, stir in the grated parmesan and serve with fresh pomegranate seeds.

TART WITH COOKED CREAM AND JELLY

Medium commitment
Time 1 hour and 40 minutes plus 2 hours of rest

INGREDIENTS FOR 8 PEOPLE

FOR THE SHORT PASTRY
350 g flour 00
220 g butter
130 g powdered sugar
100 g almond flour
3 g baking powder for cakes
1 egg – 1 yolk
ground cinnamon – vanilla
lemon – salt

FOR THE CREAM
400 g fresh cream
200 g milk
150 g granulated sugar
8 yolks – Tonka bean

FOR THE JELLY
160 g pomegranate juice
40 g granulated sugar
4 g edible gelatin in sheets
pomegranate grains

METHOD
For the shortcrust pastry:
Mix the butter with the icing sugar, a pinch of salt, a pinch of cinnamon, the seeds scraped from a vanilla pod and the grated zest of 1/2 lemon; add the egg and yolk and lastly the flour and yeast. Knead until you get a firm dough, wrap it in baking paper and let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

For the cream:
Mix the milk with the cream and bring to a boil. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, season with a grated Tonka bean, add the milk and cream and mix well.

For the tart:
Roll out the shortcrust pastry and line a mold with it (ø 22 cm, h 4 cm); prick the bottom, cover with a sheet of baking paper, fill with dried legumes and bake at 180 ° C for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove paper and legumes and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Fill the tart with the cream and bake for another 45 minutes. Finally let it cool, then carefully unmold.

For the jelly:
Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water.
Bring 80 g of water with the pomegranate juice and sugar to the heat; at the first boil remove, add the squeezed gelatin and mix well to melt it; let it cool down.
Pour the jelly on the cake and after a few minutes add the grains. Let it set completely before serving.

Horoscope 2022: the lucky recipe – Italian Cuisine

To greet the New Year, we asked the expert astrologer to find the lucky recipe for each zodiac sign. May 2022 be full of flavors for everyone!

The 2022 is upon us and there are those who are curious to know how it will go. On December 30th, Jupiter enters the sign of Pisces and this is one of the main astrological characteristics of the new year. Jupiter in Pisces is abundance, fantasy, creativity even in the kitchen, it is the desire to prepare even a quick lunch alone as if you were a royal in a castle. Green light for all the romance like fresh flowers on the table and, of course, breakfast in bed. From here, a question spontaneously arises: what will be the 2022 lucky recipes for each zodiac sign? I will tell you about it through each sign, suggesting well-wishing ingredients and dishes, also explaining the reason following the stars.

2022, the 12 lucky recipes for the 12 zodiac signs

Aries

In the summer months from May to October, Jupiter will be in your zodiac sign and Jupiter means inordinate pleasures, the pursuit of taste and very little desire to keep track of calories. For you there is no doubt: the lucky recipe of 2022 will be a great triumph of mixed fried, perhaps lightened with sparkling water in the batter (at most).

Bull

You need sweetness in 2022, dear Taurus: in fact, there will still be many changes to which you will be called. You who are a sign of habit and who adore simple traditional dishes, you will often find yourself dining with ethnic foods and experimental reinterpretations not always of your own spontaneous initiative. So if you want advice, make sure the tiramisu be done as your grandmother did, no oddities!

Twins

Your 2022 will be lacking in spice. How is it possible?? Just you ?? Well yes: Jupiter's fault against and Saturn's in favor. Saturn makes you serious and diligent while Jupiter in quadrature takes away your usual lightness, spontaneity and creativity. A Gemini with his head on his shoulders, then. For this reason, I recommend that you put pepper at least in your dishes: frompineapple, shrimp and pepper salad ai spaghetti cheese and pepper until the fillet steak with green pepper. There is something for everyone!

Cancer

It is the right year to be daring, dear Cancer, even for you who are looking for the sweetest memories in the kitchen, as well as taste. This year you can indulge in some variations because you will be sure of yourself thanks to Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune in favor. How about replacing grilled vegetables with cheese in polenta?

Lion

2022 is the right year to stay light, dear Leone! Saturn still wants you to be careful to manage the burnt parts of your life with attention, maturity, rigor and determination and invites you to get rid of them. So for you a cart of insalates of all kinds super tasty, but extra light. From octopus and potatoes to more exotic combinations, perhaps even with the addition of fruit, indulge yourself!

Virgin

With Jupiter to the detriment for a good part of the year (apart from the summer months in which you will be pardoned), dear Virgo you will have to keep an eye on the waistline because precisely this planet has to do with abundance and when it goes against it abundance we risk accumulating it all on the thighs! This is why I recommend a tasty but light dish likerice salad with shrimp and vegetables. Obviously the encore is forbidden!

Balance

You will be very strict, even more than usual, in 2022 … Whether it is Saturn in favor or Jupiter in favor (but only in summer) it does not matter: meals will be regular, the table always set properly and the calorie count is one of the your priorities. Never snacks between meals! To keep fit without giving up the heat you will need, I recommend the lucky food for the New Year legume soup maybe, if you want to overdo it, accompanied with a short pasta shape.

Scorpio

In a 2021 in which everything, or at least a lot, will seem complicated to you, I would say that at least as far as food is concerned, you could make your life easy. Jupiter, which is in your favor anyway, will make you crave your favorite comfort food in the middle of an existential drama day. Then, you know, you like the existential drama a lot a bit like chilli when it is so much that it makes you cry but you don't want to do without it. But let's get back to lucky food for 2022: I recommend the most traditional of pizzas, the Margherita Pizza that perhaps from January to May and in November and December, to please Jupiter in favor, could have the buffalo instead of the mozzarella fiordilatte.

Sagittarius

The astrologer's warning for your dear Sagittarius 2022 will be to stay as much as possible with your feet on the ground or, if you prefer, with your legs under the table and your elbows on the tablecloth. This is because Jupiter and Neptune both against you will often see you flutter away like the cinnamon scent from the herbal tea. This is why I believe that a traditional Italian dish as tasty and characteristic as the Eggplant Parmesan is a good way to remind you where you come from.

Capricorn

You'll start 2022 with Jupiter and Venus both in your favor, which means you'll be sweeter than a cream croissant and most of all you'll want to share anything you love, even lunch. You will never have enough heat and calories and for this reason the lucky recipe of 2022 for you will be the meatballs: whether they are meat, fish or vegetable, it doesn't matter, in all cases they will be perfect to play with your sweetheart like Lilli and the Vagaondo in their romantic dinner at Biagio's.

fish tank

Also for 2022, dear Aquarius, you are the zodiac sign that has "won" to host Saturn in its degrees. This means that you will be rigorous, determined, especially conscientious and attentive. Since also in the Chinese astrological tradition it is recommended to add what is missing, for this next year I recommend you chocolate and sweetness in all forms. From profiterole to sacher, from assorted chocolates to hot chocolate to milk chocolate squares stolen from the refrigerator late in the evening.

Fish

It really is your dear Pisces year and I am sure you will not make it repeat twice to enjoy every pleasure, every vice, even every whim! Do you know what I propose as a lucky recipe for 2022? My favorite plate: spaghetti with clams, much better if enjoyed with a good glass of white wine and sea view. Then, I'm sure, with the imagination and optimism that distinguish you in this new year, even if you saw the sea on TV you would be happy all the same.

Friday 17: lucky foods – Italian Cuisine

How to avoid the fear of Friday 17? In the kitchen it can be made with chilli, garlic, salt, pomegranate and lentils. Here's why and how to cook them in many dishes

Friday 17, for some there can be no worse combination. Let's find out the whys and (above all) the remedies in the kitchen so as to turn this "unfortunate" day into an excellent excuse to learn how to cook new dishes!

Because Friday and 17th bring bad luck

On Friday 17th match two elements considered negative (only in Italy and in other countries of Greek-Latin origin). This day of the week, Friday, is associated in the Christian religion with the death of Jesus; while the number 17 is considered a bearer of misfortune for various reasons: in the Old Testament it is the day of the month in which the universal flood occurs ("… in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth of the month, on that very same day, all the springs of the great abyss erupted and the windows of heaven were opened", Genesis 7:11); for the Ancient Greeks it was the number between 16 and 18 considered perfect; in Ancient Rome the anagram of the word VIXI (which was used to engrave on the tombs), is XVII, or 17.

Foods (and recipes) to ward off fear

If you suffer from heptacaidecaphobia, or the fear of the number 17, and you are superstitious even towards Friday, i remedies for this disastrous day they can be different. We offer you one related to cooking (obviously) or bring all those to the table foods considered to bring good luck. Here's what they are.

Chili

Its shape and color are associated with the Neapolitan horn, considered an auspicious and prosperous object (as long as it is red and handmade). Hang a bunch of chilli peppers on doors and balconies to ward off gossips and troubles or use it to make one of these recipes, from spaghetti with garlic and oil to a chocolate cake up to amatriciana. Chilli is also very rich in health properties.

Garlic

Hanging on doors it is said to keep vampires away because it purifies the blood and makes it less tasty for them. In Naples it is used to ward off the evil eye: "Sciò sciò ciucciuvè, uocchio, maluocchio … funecelle all'uocchio … garlic, fravaglio, invoice ca nun quail, horns and bicornuate, head of alice and head of garlic … diavulillo diavulillo, jesce a dint'o pertusillo … shoo shoo ciucciuvè … jatevenne, shoo shoo … ". Garlic is also the protagonist in these recipes (from soup to sauces to accompany many dishes) and has antioxidant and antibacterial properties.

salt

Giving it away is considered a symbol of friendship and a wish for luck, health and prosperity. On the contrary, it is said that spilling the salt brings bad luck (but in this case you can fix it by taking a pinch and throwing it behind you). How about preparing a sea bass in salt for today?

Pomegranate

Fruits considered to bring good luck but also symbols of abundance. Not to mention that it is very good and that it is also an elixir of youth. Here are many ideas for using it in dishes and salads.

Lentils

Eating them is said to bring money, especially if it is done on New Year's Eve. When in doubt let's eat them, and not just on New Year's Eve, cook like this! The belief derives from the ancient Roman tradition of giving a "scarsella", a small leather bag to store money, containing lentils, with the hope that the small legumes could turn into coins. Lentils certainly bring health because they are rich in vegetable proteins, fibers, vitamins and minerals.