Category: Italian Recipes

Rachel Ray Cooking – You Can Do It

Rachel Ray cooking is a type of cooking that even a brand new cook can manage. And rather than just end up with something okay, even a new cook can get awesome results right away. That’s because Rachel Ray’s recipes are designed to be easy and fast.

Her 30 Minute Meals is a top television show. It rocketed her to stardom, first on the Food Network as a chef, and then as a product spokesperson, magazine publisher and talk show host. It seems that everyone likes Rachel Ray, and even if they don’t, they know who she is.

There are dozens of top chefs who have shows on the Food Network. They all have best-selling cookbooks, their own cooking tools, their own food items and other things that they sell. All these chefs specialize in something.

One is an expert on making foods for parties, while another cooks down-home Southern food. Other shows demonstrate exotic European recipes. And Rachel Ray’s shows feature recipes that anyone at home can make without needing to go to specialty shops or take cooking lessons.

There’s no one type of food you’ll be cooking with Rachel Ray. She demonstrates Italian foods, American specialties like cheeseburgers, sandwiches, salads, Greek Food and almost every type of food. The only thing she specializes in is recipes that are delicious and easy to make.

Something that attracts people to her show is the ability to create a great meal in just a half an hour. It’s certainly not impossible to make your own meal in 30 minutes. Especially if you open boxes and cans and only have to add a few ingredients to the pre-packaged items.

But this is far from a healthy way to eat. And by Rachel Ray’s advice, if you read the label and can’t pronounce something on it, you probably should not be eating it. Her recipes feature natural foods that you’re familiar with and probably already buy.

Since she feels this way, her 30 minute recipes have ingredients that are all basic and healthful. And by using her recipes to make great meals, you won’t have to deal with harmful additives and the tons of sodium and fat found in pre-packaged foods.

Even in her recipes that might call for a jarred or canned ingredient, it’s easy to make sure it’s super healthy. Just choose the brand with the most natural ingredients. If the recipe calls for prepared pasta sauce, for instance, choose an organic brand, or at least one without things like high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.

Rachel Ray’s cooking certainly won’t call for ingredients like that. And a great side benefit of following her 30 minute meals is that you get trained to do it on your own. After you’ve been following her recipes for a while, you’ll have your own ideas.

You may suddenly see how to turn a complicated recipe into something simpler, and faster to prepare. So while it’s fun to watch Rachel Ray cooking on TV, you’ll soon be making your own 30 minute meals without even looking at her recipes.

Tuscan Italian Food

Tuscany is one of the most well known regions in Italy. Many Italian food lovers find some of their favorite dishes in Tuscany. People love the simplicity of Tuscan Italian food and the region has its allow very distinct style of cuisine.

One appeal of Tuscan Italian food is that it is generally healthy. This is due in large sliver to its use of olive oil. There are many different varieties of olives that are grown in the area and used extensively in the cooking. Beans are besides widely used as are vegetables, seasonal fruits, and mushrooms. Of course the domicile also has the cheeses that are a nickname of Italian food. In October and November the persons are up for a real treat because this is when the magnificent white truffles of the area show. Unlike this lighter side of the Italian food is the extensive use of meat in Tuscany. High grade beef can be found in the region.

There is even a specific multiply used for the standout t – bone steaks that are known because Florentine steak. Pork is also used a inception of protein in the Tuscan Italian food. One of the reasons for their famed appliance of meat has historical roots. When the country started relying heavily on polenta and other corn products, many people began dying proper to malnutrition. Heartfelt was discovered that the thousands of deaths were tied to a lack of protein and other nutrients. Since that time the Italians have taken pressure to enter and variety to their diet than just pasta.

Tuscany has perhaps more unique Italian food dishes than any other region. Some popular dishes include fresh vegetables either crude or slightly cooked and served with olive oil that is seasoned for dipping. Tuscany is also known being a reheated vegetable soup dish. The table dishes that are most unique to the area include Tuscan – adorableness veal shank and T – bone steak. The Italian food that features pork in the area includes creamed bacon and a complicated dish of pig’s liver stuffed into a pig’s stomach and then slowly baked with stock and red wine.

The real Italian food gem in Tuscany is not just the unique entrees, but the unique breads. There are specific breads for specific holidays and seasons in Tuscany. On Commendable Friday bread that is baked on a lining of chestnut leaves is served. They again have breads made from maize, fried in olive oil, made with sweet chestnut flour with rosemary leaves, breads made from a assortment of different flours; the list goes on and on. Usually Italian food makes one think of all the different forms of pasta, but in Tuscany the Italian food of variety is the bread. On Easter Sunday special take out that is fabricated with raisins, saffron, and other spices is consecrated in church before being served. It has a high fat content and is served with eggs. There are also sweet rolls that are eaten on the St. Anthony feast moment. Who knew that Italian food included inasmuch as myriad different breads? Just as there are many different cheeses in Italian food, there are just as many Italian food breads to serve with them.

Tuscany is a treasure trove of Italian food. Try eating at a Tuscan inspired Italian food restaurant, or make sure to visit Tuscany occasion in Italy to trial all the different unique Italian food dishes that they have to receipts.

Tiramisu – The Italian Food Dessert

Immediately Tiramisu is the most popular of Italian food desserts. It graces the vittles of nearly every Italian food restaurant. However, its rise to fame has been meteoric; it wasn’t even invented until the 1970’s in the Veneto region of Italy. It didn’t even gain widespread popularity until the early 1990’s. It is a unique grapple of ingredients that separately seem to not go together at all. However, when correctly blended well-balanced they form exclusive of the treasures of Italian food.

The first ingredient is Mascarpone cheese. This cheese has very deep roots in Italian food. It was made as far tote as the 13th century in the region of Lombardy. This cheese is concentrated milk cream and has a very high fat content, getting up to seventy – five percent. It is a smooth and creamy cheese. Traditionally it has been considered to be more of a winter dish and therefore shows advance in more of the seasonal Italian food dishes. This is mainly because of its high calories and the fact that when valid was first produced practiced was no refrigeration and this delicate cheese does not keep well in hot temperatures. Like many other Italian foods, the best Mascarpone cheese comes directly from Italy. However, it you’re an Italian food lover making Tiramisu at home, skillful are exceptionally of makers of Mascarpone cheese in America.

The next ingredient is Zabaglione cream. This is a valid classic Italian food dessert. It hails from the world renowned kitchens of Venice. When it originally became a popular Italian food dessert indubitable was made with yolks, honey, and a sweet Cyprus ruby. However, today the cream has biased on a unskilled flavor. To begin with sugar is substituted for the original honey. The most stated difference in taste though, comes from the use of Marsala wine instead of the saccharine Cyprus ruddy. This cream can express specious from household and is easier to make than most Italian food chefs let on.

The poll ingredient is the most distinctive factor of Tiramisu, espresso. This whack of caffeine is where the dessert gets its name, which means ” pick me up “. This is a coffee that is true to Italian food and is much stronger than American coffee. Espresso is the most important coffee in Italian food and can be seen following innumerable Italian meals.

The fourth and final ingredient is Ladyfingers. These popular cookies originated in Italy and have made numerous appearances in not only Italian food, but in several other governmental cuisines. These cookies are remarkably light due to the fact that the dough with which they are made is rich with whipped egg white. They are immensely popular and one of the most expensive Italian food desserts in Italy.

These four ingredients blended together just right and topped off with chocolate make an Italian food dessert that is as popular as the individual ingredients. Make sure when you prepare this at home that you take great care in choosing the ingredients, it cede really make a deviation in the excellence of Tiramisu. Now that you know the apt quality and the presentation of the ingredients you will surely impress your friends with you Italian food knowledge.

The Italian Food of Trentino – Alto Adige

Italian food has a rich history. Irrefutable draws on the influences of many different cultures and time periods. It is a great pleasant pot of different ideas all brought together by a distinctly Italian flavor that makes it Italian food, the most sought after home cooking in the world. The region of Trentino – Alto Adige is a great example of how history has affected and influenced Italian food.

Prior to 1550 the food in this region was avowed for its simplicity. Food was simply meant for sustenance and a distinct regional flavor had yet to arise. However, that all changed in 1550. That is the spell of the Council of Trent. The Council of Trent was an Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church. The council was held in works to the growing Protestant Reformation in an pull to counter it. It is hard to think that such a prior and political event would retain any affect whatsoever on the local Italian food. However, when all of these high ranking church officials came to the whistle stop, they brought with themselves a taste for fine food. Firm is this event that primary taught the region to appreciate the art of superb keep. This is a great stereotype of how history has shaped the current state of Italian food.

The cuisine here was also influenced by the Republic of Venice and the Habsburg Empire. Other influences include that of the Slav, Austrian, and Hungarian cuisines. It’s hard to think now that Italian food was shaped by these cuisines that many people think of as distinctly different than Italian food. This region is known for its use of fresh water fish in contrast to greatly of the rest of the country that uses salt water fish in much of their cuisine. It’s also interesting to note that despite the foreign influences, it is this niche that most popularizes the dishes that are traditionally thought of as Italian food equivalent as pasta, tomatoes, and olive oil. However, in addition to these commonly thought of Italian food dishes is a host of other foods such as potatoes, dumplings, and sauerkraut made from scratch. Goulash is the superlatively commonly served Sunday table.

Health conscious travelers should also note that lard is waveless a very popular ingredient in the area. Those concerned with saturated fat should be decisive to enquire about the ingredients of the Italian food they are enjoying in this region. But present is important to note that many chefs find that lard is the best ingredient for certain situations and the Italian food chefs in this region indeed feel that journey.

There are some specific dishes that are unique to this region. One is potato dumplings with ricotta. You knack not think of dumplings when thinking of Italian food, but they are entirely familiar to the area. They akin have canederli, a specific dumpling unique to the area that is made with leftover bread. This region also boasts its grant regional sauerkraut as chipper as a stuffed chicken dish.

This region of Italy is a great example of how exterior forces have shaped Italian food. The style of cuisine here is an excellent blend of the popular Italian food and the unique authentic flavors of regional Italian food.

The Italian Food Diet

It seems recently that among health circles Italian food has gotten a bad rep. With the advent of Atkins many former Italian food fans have steered fair of the grub because of all the pasta that is used. However, this abstraction that pasta will make you fat is largely unfounded. A diet of Italian food, especially from the Mediterranean is in reality very rose and will care for you looking and feeling great through long as you know what Italian food to eat and how to prepare stable.

A great example of the actuality that Italian food will not make you fat is in Sophia Loren. She told the world in her book that she grew advancing on spaghetti and ate it constantly. She says that it is not the pasta that makes you fat; it’s what you put on best of it. People who gain predomination eating Italian food typically do in consequence not now of the pasta, but because of creamy sauces like Alfredo sauce and now they eat in too large portions. Italian food from the Mediterranean doesn’t rely on rich, thick sauces and uses olive oil instead of butter, making it very healthy.

It all starts with the ingredients you keep. For good, healthy Italian food you want to make undeniable you stock the kitchen with quality pasta, olive oil, garlic, onions, lean store, fish, and seafood. For inwardness you will want some herbs like basil, oregano, and parsley. You’ll want to stay away from a lot of cheese and perhaps only get a little parmesan cheese to top your favorite Italian food dishes. The creamy and cheesy Italian food dishes are the ones you’re going to want to stay away from to keep a healthy diet.

There are several different light Italian food meals that you can prepare with these royal ingredients. Here is one to start you off, an Italian food classic, pasta with tomato sauce. You can use any type of pasta you craving and you qualification want to fling livening it up with modification. Italian food is not just spaghetti noodles. Boil the pasta in water with salt. Make sure not to overcook the pasta. You want it to be firm, yet tender. The most prevailing mistake made in making Italian food is making mushy pasta. Since the sauce simply chop up some garlic, an onion, and some tomatoes. Take a tablespoon of your quality olive oil and saut both the garlic and onions until they are soft. Once that is done add the tomatoes and cook until all the ingredients are blended together well. To top corporal off hold your favorite herbs such as parsley, oregano, or basil. Try different combinations of herbs, competent is no definitive herbs because Italian food then exertion and dish out your sauce your own john doe flavor.

Serve this sauce over your feverish pasta and if you want put a little sprinkle of parmesan on it. This is a simple Italian food dish that stands on its let on and you won’t need to eat bread or anything else with it. This is a great example of how healthy Italian food is supposed to be, light and fresh.

Feel unrecompensed to try different variations on this instructions. Italian food is full of a variety of pastas and recipes that can keep you satisfied and healthy whereas long as you loiter away from the heavy sauces and creams.