bostonzest

Tag: meals

  • Breadcrumbs Are Golden

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    Serving a dipping dish of buttery breadcrumbs gives these quickly steamed artichoke halves the taste and crunch of our "much-more-work" favorite recipe of stuffed and baked artichokes. A quick dip in olive oil or melted butter and then the crumbs makes for a delicious leaf.

    You may see “pasta aglio e olio” popping up on menus. That seductive sounding Italian phrase translates to pasta with garlic and oil. The surprise when you first meet this dish may be beautifully toasted breadcrumbs sprinkled on top where you would have expected cheese.

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    We recently enjoyed this dish of pasta with mushrooms and peas topped with breadcrumbs at Eastern Standard.

    Evan Kleiman, chef, food writer, and host of the radio show and podcast “Good Food,” wrote an article on the topic for the L.A. Times. In praise of breadcrumbs she wrote, “Toasted with garlic and olive oil, they can lend a textural and flavorful crunch to a variety of foods. You'd never know that something as simple and ubiquitous as a handful of crumbs could be what you're looking for to amp your everyday recipes.” She calls, “… spaghetti aglio e olio (their highest use, in my opinion).”

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    A sprinkle of cheesy breadcrumbs are the perfect finishing touch to this bowl of pea soup.

    Filling in For…

    In lean times, breadcrumbs have been used to expand food. They are mixed into chopped protein sources to make everything from meatballs to crab cakes. They add body and protect foods when they are used as a batter coating. The meat in popular dishes like chicken or veal Parmesan is first pounded thin and then bulked up with a tummy-filling coating of breadcrumbs. 

    In times of food rationing, people were urged to save breadcrumbs and turn them into main courses. Mixed with liquids they became breakfast cereals and desserts. Recipes were created to make meatless loaves and cakes using fine crumbs in place of proteins and flour.

    In the book, "Nonna's House: Cooking and Reminiscing with the Italian Grandmothers of Enoteca Maria," we learned another use. "The Nonnas come from different generations and different places, so they have many useful tricks. Simple ones, like a Sicilian Nonna throwing a handful of breadcrumbs into a pan of spaghetti with marinara. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked, as she mixed it in. ‘It thickens the sauce. This is our way,’ she said."

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    Butter-toasted panko breadcrumbs with a dash of Parmigiano Reggiano and Aleppo pepper add an attractive and delicious finishing touch to simple, steamed cauliflower.

    With a bit of imagination, the lowly breadcrumb was turned into something elegant and delicious. England’s famous Queen of Puddings is simply a custard mixed with breadcrumbs and topped with jam and meringue. One hot menu craze these days is roasted cauliflower steaks many of which are topped with garlicky breadcrumbs.

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    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

    (Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

  • Salad Before, After, or With Your Entree?

    DSC_8633 - Version 22012-09-26-green-salad-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Do you serve salad before, after, or with your entree? In France and Italy, salads are often served at the end of meals. For many years, American restaurants and especially catered events have placed salads at the start of the menu.

    This was a recent topic of conversation at our house. We were mainly interested in the reasons why salads should be served at the beginning or end of the meal.

    Ed thought it might have to do with the interaction of wine and vinegar. His theory was that you wait until the end of the meal so you can enjoy your wine without the vinegar. 

    Penny has been reading about vinegar as an aid to digestion and use as a sort of antacid and added the possibility of salad with a vinaigrette dressing being used as a digestive aid.

    A tour of the topic around the cyber world found it an often asked question with a wide variety of answers – some that agreed with ours and plenty of additional thought.

    We have three guesses as to why restaurants and caterers opt for salad as a starter, because it:

    • Gets the meal underway fast
    • Turns the tables quicker
    • Gives diners something to eat while waiters circulate with the next course

    Around here, a salad is often the meal. We add this-and-that and turn a plate of greens into lunch or supper. The photo above is from a salad we made to clean out the kitchen before we left Provincetown last September. 

    Food writer Patricia Wells has often inspired salad meals around here. In addition to the offerings in her Bistro Cooking
    and The Provence Cookbook, she also wrote the wonderful, Salad as a Meal. 



      

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

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    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2012 Penny Cherubino 

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

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  • Salad Before, After, or With Your Entree?

    DSC_8633 - Version 22012-09-26-green-salad-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Do you serve salad before, after, or with your entree? In France and Italy, salads are often served at the end of meals. For many years, American restaurants and especially catered events have placed salads at the start of the menu.

    This was a recent topic of conversation at our house. We were mainly interested in the reasons why salads should be served at the beginning or end of the meal.

    Ed thought it might have to do with the interaction of wine and vinegar. His theory was that you wait until the end of the meal so you can enjoy your wine without the vinegar. 

    Penny has been reading about vinegar as an aid to digestion and use as a sort of antacid and added the possibility of salad with a vinaigrette dressing being used as a digestive aid.

    A tour of the topic around the cyber world found it an often asked question with a wide variety of answers – some that agreed with ours and plenty of additional thought.

    We have three guesses as to why restaurants and caterers opt for salad as a starter, because it:

    • Gets the meal underway fast
    • Turns the tables quicker
    • Gives diners something to eat while waiters circulate with the next course

    Around here, a salad is often the meal. We add this-and-that and turn a plate of greens into lunch or supper. The photo above is from a salad we made to clean out the kitchen before we left Provincetown last September. 

    Food writer Patricia Wells has often inspired salad meals around here. In addition to the offerings in her Bistro Cooking
    and The Provence Cookbook, she also wrote the wonderful, Salad as a Meal. 



      

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2012 Penny Cherubino 

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Related articles
    How to eat more salad
    Yes, Salads Really Do Help With Weight Loss
    10 Tips for Shepherd's Pie
    Are You Drinking Wine Too Cold and Coffee Too Hot?
    10 Decluttering Tips from "The Clutter Queen," Rhea Becker
    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Salad Before, After, or With Your Entree?

    DSC_8633 - Version 22012-09-26-green-salad-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Do you serve salad before, after, or with your entree? In France and Italy, salads are often served at the end of meals. For many years, American restaurants and especially catered events have placed salads at the start of the menu.

    This was a recent topic of conversation at our house. We were mainly interested in the reasons why salads should be served at the beginning or end of the meal.

    Ed thought it might have to do with the interaction of wine and vinegar. His theory was that you wait until the end of the meal so you can enjoy your wine without the vinegar. 

    Penny has been reading about vinegar as an aid to digestion and use as a sort of antacid and added the possibility of salad with a vinaigrette dressing being used as a digestive aid.

    A tour of the topic around the cyber world found it an often asked question with a wide variety of answers – some that agreed with ours and plenty of additional thought.

    We have three guesses as to why restaurants and caterers opt for salad as a starter, because it:

    • Gets the meal underway fast
    • Turns the tables quicker
    • Gives diners something to eat while waiters circulate with the next course

    Around here, a salad is often the meal. We add this-and-that and turn a plate of greens into lunch or supper. The photo above is from a salad we made to clean out the kitchen before we left Provincetown last September. 

    Food writer Patricia Wells has often inspired salad meals around here. In addition to the offerings in her Bistro Cooking
    and The Provence Cookbook, she also wrote the wonderful, Salad as a Meal. 



      

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2012 Penny Cherubino 

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Related articles
    How to eat more salad
    Yes, Salads Really Do Help With Weight Loss
    10 Tips for Shepherd's Pie
    Are You Drinking Wine Too Cold and Coffee Too Hot?
    10 Decluttering Tips from "The Clutter Queen," Rhea Becker
    Enhanced by Zemanta