Simple Tips To Cook Pasta At Home

Pasta is the simplest of Italian foods. It is the most widely known and can be found all over the world. But it is easy to go wrong with it and to end up with a soggy uninspiring mess.
As with all the most basic foods the key to cooking good pasta is to choose good quality ingredients. The simpler the food the more important quality becomes. Poor quality can be less easily disguised in a simple pasta dish than in something more elaborate.
Good quality pasta is made from durum wheat. Many people swear by fresh pasta rather than dried. They feel that fresh pasta must be more authentic than dried. But in Italy cooks will often choose dried pasta for preference. A good quality dried pasta made from durum what is always preferable to a poor quality fresh pasta.

What you are looking for is a dried pasta made with 100 per cent durum wheat and preferably made by an Italian company according to traditional methods. Avoid supermarket own brands and other cheaper substitutes. Only the real thing will do.
If this seems too expensive then save money when it comes to the sauce. Pasta is a cheap food because it carries the sauce and makes expensive ingredients go further. You should not think of pasta as an economical food because the pasta itself is made from cheap ingredients.
Some fresh pasta is excellent. If you can find shop where they make it themselves it is well worth buying. You might even like to try making it yourself. There are wonderful gadgets for rolling out sheets of pasta. But these pasta machines usually end up forgotten in the back of the cupboard. They are not really necessary. You will rarely find them in an Italian kitchen. Home made pasta can be made quite easily with a rolling pin and a knife.
The water must be brought to a good rolling boil before the pasta is added. Bring it back to the boil as quickly as possible after the pasta is added and keep it boiling until the pasta is done. Do not put a lid on the pan.
Salt is important in cooking pasta. The water must be well seasoned with salt for pasta. Without salt you pasta will be bland and dull.
Some people like to add oil to the water. They believe that this will stop the pasta sticking together. This is not true, because the oil stays on the surface of the water and does not touch the pasta. But oil can help to prevent the foam that is produced when cooking pasta from boiling over the side of the pan.
Most packets of pasta have a cooking time printed on them. Treat this as a rough guide only. You must judge whether or not the pasta is done by touch. Lift out a piece of pasta from the boiling pan and squeeze it between the nails of your thumb and forefinger. If there is still a slight resistance then the pasta is done. It is, as the Italians say, al dente. There is some "bite" left in it. Your pasta is then ready to serve with the sauce of your choice.

Let's Try Nice And Easy French Recipes At Home In Less Time

Despite new styles of cooking, French food still indicates genuine meals preparation by using natural items from different areas. Cooking home-made meals and eating at the desk together make your hunger develop more powerful. The task is to merge things together to get the best flavor out of them. Let's try few nice and easy French recipes at home in less time.

Cajun Deviled Eggs Recipe:

• 6- eggs
• Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp. Mayonnaise
• ¼ tsp. Red pepper powder
• ¼ tsp. ground Black pepper
• ½ tsp Salt

Method:

1. Firstly boil the eggs in water. Take a sauce pan fill it with water so that eggs get completely dipped in it.
2. Bring it to boil. Switch off the flame and keep them covered in the pot for 10 minutes.
3. After 10 minutes take them out of the pan. put them in cold water.
4. Peel them and cut into 2 halves.
5. Separate the Yolk and white of the egg.
6. Mix mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, black pepper and salt to the yolks and nicely mash them.
7. Fill the eggs with this mixture and sprinkle red chilli powder over it.
8. Refrigerate it and serve chill with tea, coffee or cold drink.

Raspberry pie:

• 2 cups- flour
• 2 cups- Sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 3/4 cup Shortening
• Egg (lightly beaten)
• 3 tbsp. Cold water
• 1 Tbsps.- White vinegar
• 2 tbsp.- Quick cooking tapioca
• 2 tbsp.- Cornstarch
• 4 cup- fresh unsweetened raspberries (thawed)
• 1 tbsp.- Butter

Method:

1. Take a large size bowl and mix flour, salt and sugar (acc. to taste). Mix until coarse crumbs are made.
2. Add a egg, vinegar and water, stir well.
3. Make 2 parts of dough, one bit large than other. Wrap them and refrigerate for 30-40 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium size bowl mix- tapioca, sugar, raspberries and cornstarch. Set aside for 20-25 minutes.
5. Sprinkle some dry flour on the surface. Roll out the larger dough in 6-8 inches.
6. Transfer the dough to pie plate and add raspberry filling and butter.
7. Now roll the smaller dough and put over the filling in pie plate.
8. Now flute the edges of the pie. From the top cut the slits.
9. Brush up butter and sprinkle sugar on it.
10. Bake at 350 degree Celsius. Keep on checking in between till crust is golden brown and bouncy.
11. Let it cool down and its ready to serve.

Eating Italian Food During Your Italy Vacation

When you pay a visit to Italy ,you can enjoy the beauty of the country and Italian food by wearing the holiday dresses.You may get your fill of these classics while you are in Italy, but you will also want to make sure you get your fair share of local delicacies too. Make sure the food you eat is made from locally grown ingredients, and make sure you pair the food with some great wine and you will be experiencing Italy at its best.Italian food will be very important to you during and after your vacation in Italy. Most people are usually surprised by the diversity of food in Italy, especially if they expect to eat pizza, pasta and spaghetti during their time their.

Italian food is classed into 3 regional types. Northern, Central and Southern. While visiting Northern Italy, you will find that the food here is less “Italian” than you would expect. For example they use less olive oil and more butter. They also eat more rice and corn polenta here than pasta, and tomato sauce is not used very often. Northern Italian food also includes a lot of wild game found in the countryside. These include wild fowl, rabbit and quail. Northern Italy also has some coastal towns as well as some towns and villages near streams and rivers. So if you visit Northern Italy during your Italy vacation, you may eat a lot of seafood and fish.
What we know as “Italian food” comes from Central Italy. Olive oil, cheeses and rich tomato sauces all hail from central Italy. The coastal areas here are also well known for seafood. Italian cooking was said to have been born in Tuscany, which is a region in Central Italy. Some of the best olive oil comes from Southern Italy. But very little of it is exported so make sure you sample the olive oil here during your Italy vacation. Naples, a city in this area is well known for its pizza and southern Italy as a whole grows a lot of citrus fruits and has many vineyards. Some of the best wines in the world come from Southern Italy.
You may eat at several local restaurants during your vacation in Italy. However one of the best ways to sample some of the different food that Italy has to offer during your vacation is to take a cooking class, or make your vacation a culinary one. Many of these classes and culinary vacations include going on a winery tour or wine tasting events. Cooking classes can range from a few hours, to half a day and they range in price from about $150 to $250. Many of these are hosted by families in homes or small inns. Some of these classes are taught by excellent chefs many of whom have written Italian recipe books and manage restaurants. They will teach you which food goes with which wine to make for a delicious meal. During your Italy vacation you can also learn how to make your own homemade spaghetti and authentic tomato sauce.