Organic Foods and my Opinion

A word on organic food and my blog

I just want to state that what I am saying here, is just my opinion…   Some believe as I do, others do not.

Whenever you are cooking or making wine, it seems like common sense to me that the quality of the ingredients going into whatever you are making have a profound effect on the quality of the end product.   That doesn’t mean that if you have all great ingredients, you are guaranteed to have an excellent outcome.   I have messed up several times with excellent ingredients, that is for sure. However, your chances of things coming out the best they can be, and tastiest and healthiest I might add, are greatly improved.

Conversely, the opposite is almost always true.  If you put poor quality ingredients together, you will almost always come out with a poor quality outcome.   If you don’t like the way a wine tastes when you drink it, don’t ever cook with it!  It is not going to taste better in your food.

With that said, I strive to get organic foods whenever I can.   I drink organic milk in my coffee.   I use organic butter.   You can really taste the difference!  

Do I get everything organic? The answer is no.   In an ideal world I would, but there are some things that are more important to me to get organic, than others….

Top of my buy organic list is:  Dairy, Eggs, Lettuces, Spinach and other leafy greens,  soft skinned fruits, such as grapes, peaches, pears, apples, berries, etc.  Bananas are another fruit I get organic.

Things like melons, pineapples, lemons, limes, oranges and other citrus… Where you don’t eat the skin, I usually get the conventional versions.   Of course, the organic versions are better, but not always so easily available or affordable.

In may parts of the country, there are small organic farms that offer CSA programs.   CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.    You pay a price for the year, and pick up a  box of fruits and veggies every week, in most cases.   Search for CSA or Community Supported Agriculture in your area on the web.  You will be surprised.   Some even bundle in an option for organic eggs and dairy.    If you have the option to get dairy, where the milk is raw and not pasteurized, I would opt for that choice, personally.

So, in my recipes, certainly assume that much of what I am using is organic.   Some of which I grow myself!   I grow my own grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and figs.   I also grow many veggies….  There are so many options available to you if you want to grow your own food.     

Oh, and garlic!   Garlic is so easy to grow!   Take each clove of garlic and plant them 4 inches apart, point side up.   The key is do that in November!   Come next July, each of the cloves will be a whole individual bulb of garlic!  Cut off the single flower in mid spring. Pull them out mid to late July, and dry them out.  They will store for the whole winter!    This is so easy!   Why do we get garlic imported from China, in the USA?  I don't understand!  This is so easy to grow, and if you use organic methods, you will have great garlic for your recipes.

As for making your own wine from kits, realize that almost all kits are not organic.   You can get frozen grape pails that are, but your choice is limited.   But, most of the wines I make have about 1/8 the sulphites that commercial wines have.   Most people absolutely love my wines….   I know I do…

So, keep on checking back.   I will be sharing some growing tips along with my cooking and wine making….

I wish you all a happy and safe new year.

Stuffed Italian Rice Balls - Arancini di Riso - with Marinara Sauce

Italian stuffed rice balls are one of my favorite things.  Then again, most Italian food is!  These rice balls are excellent to have, when you are looking for a hardy lunch.   I absolutely love these with some piping hot marinara sauce poured over them.    Some people like these as an appetizer to a dinner, some like them for lunch, with a nice bowl of soup next to them…   Regardless, these are sure to be a nice change of pace.

This Italian dish is also known as Arancini di Riso, which means "little orange of rice".

Arancini di Riso - Italian Rice Balls

 

Ingredients

Rice:

3 cups of long grain white rice

6 cups of water

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Filling:

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 lbs ground beef or turkey

3 cups of Marinara Sauce

1 ½ cups frozen baby peas

1 cup Parmesan cheese

½ cup Romano cheese

1 lbs shredded Mozzarella cheese

2 eggs, beaten

Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs for coating

Olive Oil for frying.

Directions

First, make the filling:

• Sautee the onion and garlic in a large skillet.  Don’t burn the garlic.
• Remove the onion and garlic from the skillet, and set aside.
• Brown the chopped meat in the same skillet.   Drain off any fat.
• Add the onion and garlic to the meat in the skillet.
• Add the marinara sauce and simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes
• Add the frozen peas and cook for another 10 minutes.
• Uncover the meat mixture and cook off some of the moisture.   The meat/sauce mixture needs to be thick.
• Remove from heat to cool

After making the filling, make the rice:

• Heat up the olive oil in a pot until it is hot.   Add the rice and stir until it is evenly coated.  Heat it for about a minute, but don’t brown it .
• Add the water.   Be careful when adding the water, as it will sizzle. 
• Bring the water to a boil, then cover and cook for 20 minutes on low heat.   Do not take the lid off while the rice is cooking.

• When the rice is finished cooking, place the rice into a bowl.
• Add the parmesan and romano cheese to the rice, while it is hot, and mix into the rice.
• Let the rice cool.

Now, to make the rice balls:

• Add the beaten eggs to the rice, after it has cooled off a bit.  Gently and evenly mix the rice, grated cheese and egg mixture.
• Form the rice into a ball using your hands. 
• Take your finger and poke an indentation into the ball. 
• Fill the indentation with some mozzarella cheese and tablespoon full of the meat mixture.
• Close the indentation, using rice to seal in the filling and reform the rice ball.   The meat/sauce mixture should be completely sealed.
• Roll the rice balls in the bread crumbs.
• Fry the rice balls in olive oil, using a large skillet.  Fry them until golden brown, carefully turning to evenly heat.

Plate up the rice balls, by sprinkling them with some grated parmesan.   Serve with some heated marinara sauce.

I hope you have enjoyed this Italian Rice Ball recipe.    Please stay tuned and check back frequently, as I will be posting more of my family favorites….

Italian Biscotti - Excellent with a nice cup of coffee!

Biscotti is a traditional Italian cookie or biscuit.    There are several types of biscotti, most of which are hard and crunchy.   This is due to baking the biscotti twice.   The great thing about making biscotti yourself is that you can adjust the crunchiness with how long you choose to cook them.  This is great for folks who love this Italian desert, but have issues with the cookie’s hardness due to their teeth.



This Almond Biscotti is dipped in chocolate



Although almonds, pistachios, and peanuts are commonly found in biscotti, I tend to say away from using peanuts, due to the fact that so many folks are allergic to them.   I prefer almonds anyway!

Biscotti is an excellent Italian dessert that I love to dip in my coffee.  Many enjoy it with cappuccino or a dessert wine.

Enjoy this Italian Recipe!

Ingredients:

·         1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

·         4 eggs

·         4 1/2 cups white flour

·         1 Tbsp. baking powder

·         1 tsp. salt

·         1 to 1 1/2 cups of almond slices

·         1 Tbsp.  Lemon zest

·         2 tsp. vanilla extract

·         2 tsp. almond extract

·         2 tsp. anise extract

·         2 oz. of Italian brandy

Directions:

Prepare baking pans with either parchment paper.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt and gently stir, until evenly mixed.  Put this bowl aside.

Cream the butter by first softening it and then processing it in your mixer.

 Next, add the sugar, lemon zest, extracts, brandy and eggs and mix thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture slowly into the mixer and mix with the egg mixture and continue mixing until all of the flour mixture is incorporated. 

Add the almonds during the end stages of the mixing.   Mixing will break some of the almond slices, so you may want to save some for the end to incorporate by hand after mixing, if bigger pieces are desired.

Spread dough on baking pans in two "logs" (3 inches wide by 3/4 inch tall).

Bake at 350 degrees F. high in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until they are golden brown.

Remove the Biscotti logs from the oven and let cool about 20 minutes.

Slice the biscotti logs on an angle, making slices about ½ or ¾ inches.  Place each cookie on its side.

Bake the biscotti an additional 8 to 10 minutes.

Take the biscotti out again and flip each cookie over to the other side and bake again for 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the biscotti and let them cool completely.

These biscotti are excellent on their own.    If you want to kick it up a notch, you can melt some chocolate.  I like to use Rapunzel Organic fair trade dark chocolate bars and I melt them in either a double boiler or use a little crock pot.   My big crock pot came with a small one as a bonus.   Although I buy these at my local supermarket, they are also available from Amazon, so I am going to be adding them to my Amazon store!   Is there anything that Amazon doesn’t sell?



This is an excellent chocolate!



You can either dip the end of the biscotti in the chocolate or coat the top of the biscotti. Place on a baking sheet or dish and put in the refrigerator to cool.  Lining the baking sheet or plate with either parchment paper or plastic wrap may make handling easier.   The plastic wrap works better for me.

Another variation is: after the chocolate is on the biscotti, sprinkle some crushed almonds on the chocolate immediately after coating the biscotti.

I hope you have enjoyed this Italian recipe!   Biscotti is an excellent addition to your Italian family cooking recipe book.

Chicken Francese Easy Yummy

You, too can make this amazing Italian Recipe!



Chicken Francese prior to being bathed in Lemon Juice and placed in the oven.

Ahh….  Chicken Francese…. The first time I had Chicken Francese was at Ray’s Famous Pizza, in New York City.   My family didn’t make this as I was growing up.    When I tried it, I wondered where it was my whole life!   And that very day I vowed that I would master what would become one of my all time favorite Italian dishes.

And I have to say, the Chicken Francese recipe that  I am going to show you how to make is even better than the one I had at Rays!  It is so easy to make, you will be astonished.

Here is the best part and a hint: I usually double or triple this recipe!    The amazing thing about this recipe is that the leftovers taste even better than when it was first cooked!    This is because it is sitting in the lemon juice when you store the leftovers in your refrigerator.    I usually make a few days of meals with it.   We always say when we make this, “Aren’t leftovers glorious?”  

So, I will say this to you, my friend:  If you don’t try any other Italian Recipe on my website, or if you have to choose only one to be stranded on a desert island with, this is the one.   What I am giving you here is Italian Gold!

Ingredients

·         2  lbs Thin Sliced Chicken Breast Cutlets

·        5 Eggs

·         1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

·         1 cup Flour

·         6 Lemons

·         1-2 tbl Parsley

·         ½ tsp Salt

·         Olive Oil for frying.

Directions

1.   Juice 4 of the lemons, reserve the juice.

2.   Slice the two remaining lemons into thin circles.   Place lemons aside

3.   Beat the eggs in a bowl.   Add the Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and two tablespoons of the flour.  Beat well, into a batter.

4.   Place the remaining flour in a shallow plate.   Heat a the olive oil in a pan on Medium Heat.

5.   When Oil is heated, dip each chicken cutlet in flour and shake off the excess.   Dip the floured chicken cutlet in the egg batter, then fry in the olive oil.

Using the Spatula to free the chicken cutlet from the bottom of the pan.  Notice the tongs in the upper right of the picture.   These two tools are essential to your safety and success.

6.   Fry one side of the chicken cutlet, using a flat spatula, carefully loosen the bottom of the cutlet from the pan.   Then , use a pair of tongs to flip the chicken.   If you don’t use the spatula first you may detach some of the egg coating.   If you try to flip the chicken over with the spatula, and don’t use the tongs, you risk burning yourself with hot oil splashing out of the pan.  (Don’t ask me how I know this….)

7.   When completely fried, put in an oblong baking dish, or casserole pan.   Place sliced lemons on top.

8.   Evenly pour the lemon juice on the fried chicken.   If you feel you need more juice, by all means, juice a few more lemons and pour it on top.

9.   Cover the chicken with foil a bake in the oven at 350 degrees.  You only need to do this to keep the chicken warm as you make the other sides and to infuse the chicken with steaming lemon juice.   You will, therefore only bake for about half hour or so…

10.                Make you sides.   We like pasta or rice.   Some steamed or sauté broccoli is also excellent on the side.

11.                When serving, you may want to garnish with some additional lemon.

Enjoy the fabulous Italian dish with a nice glass of wine.  For a white, I would drink Riesling.   For a red, I would choose Chianti.    Also, have some lemon in a glass of water.

I hope you have making one of my favorite Italian recipes.   You can’t fail!   You will be amazed how great this dinner is, and I bet your family and friends will not be able to believe you made this….