Tag: tradition

how to prepare according to tradition – Italian Cuisine

A typical German recipe suitable for winter lunches: have you ever tried to cook it? Here is the procedure and the tips to accompany the meat

In German it's called Schweinshaxe and it is lo Bavarian pork knuckle. It is a typical dish of Germany, which is usually prepared in the oven or roasted. Greasy and rich, it goes with sauerkraut is potatoes, but also to spatzle is dumplings. How to prepare it? With the traditional recipe, which requires low temperatures and slow times.

The Bavarian shank recipe (for 2 shins)

2 pork shins
laurel, rosemary and juniper berries as needed
1 clove of garlic
a bottle of weiss german beer
1 lemon
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
1 onion
extra virgin olive oil as needed

Method

Proceed to marinating the shin. Put them in a container and sprinkle them with the beer. Add the garlic in crushed shirt, lemon juice, bay leaf, rosemary and juniper berries. Cover with the film and refrigerate the shin with the marinade for at least one night.

Remove the shins from the fridge and let them rest for the meat to reach room temperature. Take a pan, add extra-virgin olive oil and place the meat. Add them vegetables – celery, onion and carrot – cut into large pieces and others aromas. Do not forget a marinating spoon. Put the shins in a preheated oven at 170 ° C for about two and a half hours. Cover them if you have the lid of the pan, or with an aluminum foil. Check the cooking once in a while. When the shins are ready, turn off the oven and let it rest. Then blend the vegetables that will become the accompanying sauce and serve.

For those who love the shin rind

This version of the recipe includes the shins without rind. If you appreciate it, cut it into a knife and make strips. Then put the shin in the oven, placing it on the grid a 230 ° C. Soften the rind frequently with a lard cube to spread. Also in this case the cooking will be long: check that the rind is crisp and the meat well cooked. Serve then with sauerkraut and potatoes.

How to accompany the shin?

In addition to the vegetable sauce that is created during the cooking of the shin, prepare separately sauerkraut and the roast potatoes. Serve it all hot and naturally accompanied by a German beer!

Christmas: the tradition of stuffed capon – Italian Cuisine

It has a long history: for Christmas it brings to the table the stuffed capon, a rich second that smells of celebration

Since the Middle Ages broth with capon it was one of the dishes that traditionally were consumed during the December festivities on the occasion of winter solstice. In these cold nights of vigil around the fireplace stories were told eating particularly nutritious and substantial foods.

Quoted in the history of literature, it also appears among the pages de The promised spouses, when Renzo gave the lawyer Azzeccagarbugli four capons, for the time considered an authentic delicacy. The number four returns to Milan, where it seems that for the richest families it was tradition to raise four capons: one for San'Ambrogio, one for Christmas and another for New Year's Eve, and finally the last for Epiphany. The capon was raised in the courtyard, while today we buy it, yet this tasty tradition resist and bring to the table the intense aroma of the days of celebration.

How do you cook the stuffed capon?

For the filling you will need them minced meat of veal, sausage, offal, abolished Venetian, stale bread is milk. Do not forget the aromas: pepper, nutmeg, rosemary, garlic, sage, parsley and thyme will make the dough scented. Once you have amalgamated the ingredients and prepared the dough, it is necessary fill the capon and close the opening with needle and thread. Brush the capon with oil and cover with an aluminum foil. Preheat the oven, then let the capon cook slowly, at 180 °.

The side dish for the stuffed capon

For a side dish you can prepare a fresh one mixed salad, baked potatoes season with rosemary or cooked vegetables. The extra touch? The sauces: green with parsley or in the variant with celery, white with horseradish, or prepared using walnuts. It presents the capon in the middle of the table garnished with pomegranate grains, a symbol of fertility and wishes for the new year. Those who want an alternative to meat can focus on filling chestnuts: a delight able to find an agreement for all palates.

Saint Lucia, tradition and tips in the kitchen – Italian Cuisine

On December 13th, long awaited by the little ones, it is now coming: here's how to make the Saint Lucia party special in the kitchen

The one straddling the 12 and 13 December It is one of the most awaited nights for everyone children. It is the night indeed of the arrival of Saint Lucia, who on a donkey leaves gifts and sweets for the little ones. But not only: December 13, in popular culture, it is also the shortest day of the year. This is confirmed even by the famous proverb "Saint Lucia, the shortest day there is". For various reasons, therefore, it is a date strongly linked to the traditions and to folklore, with inevitable consequences also for the kitchen.

Between legend and cult

Born in Syracuse between 280 and 290 AD, legend has it that Saint Lucia, after the death of her father when she was only 5 years old, has devoted her life entirely to the cult of Jesus, vowing chastity and poverty and ignoring the attentions of many children. In 304 AD, the Roman Empire issued an edict of persecution of all Christians and so, behind the suggestion of one of the previously snubbed lovers, Lucia was handed over to the authorities for trial. On December 13 of that year the little Christian, publicly condemned and executed, falls so lifeless on the ground, but the legend still says that his soul, freed from earthly chains, flew happy to paradise. And so, from that moment in many Italian cities (but also abroad) December 13th has become a day of celebration for the little ones, who await the night during which Santa comes down from the sky with his donkey to leave, outside the door of the house of the more good children, a bag full of gifts and treats.

Focaccine di Santa Lucia

Being a party dedicated especially to children, the day of Saint Lucia is therefore the date to prepare for delicacies for children, if not even with them. For example, you can prepare delicious and nice focaccine allo saffron, a typical recipe from Scandinavia, where the cult of Saint Lucia is heard as much as our parts. The ingredients to be procured are: 600 grams of flour, 150 grams of butter, an egg, 2 grams of saffron, 4 dl of milk and 50 grams of brewer's yeast. After melting the butter in a saucepan, add milk and saffron and bring everything to a boil. The mixture is then placed on the fragmented yeast and all the other ingredients are added (with the exception of man), thus obtaining a soft dough to rest for 40 minutes covered with a cloth. At this point the dough is divided into about thirty pieces, to be worked with the hands up to obtain shapes similar to an eight. Leave the scones for half an hour, brush with the beaten egg and then bake at 200 degrees for about a quarter of an hour.

Pugliese eyes

Also in Puglia the children's saint is celebrated every year through a typical recipe of this day: the eyes of Saint Lucia. Similar to taralli, to prepare these sweets you must first pour 800 grams of sifted flour, 150 ml of white wine, 150 ml of oil and a pinch of salt into a bowl. You work everything with your hands until the dough becomes soft and workable and then are created after the sticks to close in the shape of a circle, just like the taralli, to be baked at 180 degrees for 15 minutes. In the meantime, pour 350 grams of powdered sugar into a bowl, together with 5 tablespoons of water, and mix until the sugar is completely dissolved and without lumps. This way you will get it a delicious frosting in which to dip, once cooked and cooled, taralli: the result will be sweet and inviting eyes of Santa Lucia.

Sicilian tradition

Being originally from Syracuse, on the occasion of Santa Lucia you could also prepare the typical arancini or a nice caponata, but since it is a party long awaited by children, better to choose to stay on the subject of desserts. The one par excellence of the island tradition for this day is undoubtedly the Santa Lucia's bed, which is prepared by boiling the wheat soaked for 3 days in water and then mixing it with ricotta cheese is candied fruit. After having soaked and drained about 300 grams, you put the wheat in a pan, covering it with water and adding a pinch of salt; it is cooked over a very low flame even for six or seven hours and then the wheat is left to rest in the cooking water, covered for the whole night. At this point, you put 900 grams of sheep's milk ricotta in a large bowl with 300 grams of sugar and you work everything with a whisk whisk. Let it rest for about thirty minutes and then add 200 grams of candied fruit cut into cubes and 150 grams of dark chocolate drops. All that remains is to combine the wheat with the cream, mix well and finally serve in individual bowls, dusting them all with a lot ' grains of pistachios and the cinnamon powder. The little ones will be enthusiastic, but, to bet on, even the biggest ones will not be less.