European Cuisine
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The Best Ravioli Sauce Makes the Best Ravioli
Ravioli is a type of popular pasta derived from the word Ravolgere, which means ‘to wrap’. A filling in between two layers of pasta dough is the basic structure of Ravioli. A common vegetarian filling is of ricotta cheese and vegetables like spinach or nettles instead of meat. It is then delicately topped with red tomato based sauce, pesto, broth and cream based sauce. Century ago pasta was commonly eaten on Fridays with vegetable based fillings. The poor who could not afford meat had it round the year. The left over meat after a treat or Sunday dinner would be used for preparing pasta. With changing time, today Italians buy ready made stuffed pasta, which is available in the supermarkets. Freshly packed pastas have a shelf life of 7 weeks. If you make your own pasta, you can… Read more -
English Cottage Pie
CLASSIC COTTAGE PIE You don’t have to be English to enjoy this traditional cottage pie, but if you are English then you’ll probably keep this recipe among your favorites. Ingredients: 1 pound lean ground beef 1 onion, diced 3 carrots, diced 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 1 1/2 cups beef broth 1 tablespoon tomato paste Salt and pepper to taste 4 potatoes, peeled and diced 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup milk 1/4 pound cheddar cheese, shredded Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make Meat Filling: In a large skillet, crumble the ground beef and saute over medium heat for 1 minute. Add in the onion and carrots; continue to saute until meat is brown (about 5 minutes). Stir in the flour,… Read more -
Trout Grenobloise
Grenobloise is a classic French sauce, composed of capers, brown butter or “beurre noisette” and lemon. This recipe is for a classic dish – La Truite Grenobloise, or trout with sauce Grenobloise. Ingredients: Kosher Salt White Pepper 10 ounce filets off whole rainbow or brook trout; skin on, scaled. 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp butter ½ lemon, segmented, diced 1/8” (brunoise) 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice ½ tbsp capers 1 ¼ tbsp minced parsley Directions: I prefer to cook fish filets, generally, with the skin on. The skin, if properly cooked, will remain crispy while the flesh of the fish is soft and delicate. To get crispy skin, two things are important. One is to remove all excess water, and the other is to leave your fish filet cooking on the skin side until the skin is set and well… Read more
