admin

consigliato per te

  • in Recipes

    Vegetable Gratin with Blue Cheese Sauce

    1 Preheat the oven, prepare the baking dish: Preheat the oven to 375℉.
    2 Slice the vegetables: Using a mandoline or a very sharp chef’s knife, cut the parsnips and carrots diagonally into slices about 1/8-inch thick. Halve the fennel, then cut into slices about 1/8-inch thick.

    3 Sauté the aromatics and fennel: Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the butter is foamy, add the shallots, and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the fennel, and cook until just tender, 4 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in the garlic and thyme, and cook until aromatic, another 30 seconds.

    4 Layer the vegetables: Grease a large (2 quart) gratin dish or a 9-x-13-inch glass baking dish with butter. Layer half of the parsnips in the gratin dish, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper.
    Top with half of the carrots, and season with another pinch of salt and grind of black pepper. Scatter half of the fennel mixture on top of the carrots.
    Repeat with the rest of the parsnips and carrots, finishing with the remaining fennel mixture. Set aside.
    5 Begin the béchamel: You’ll need two sauce pans, one small and one medium.
    In a small sauce pan set over medium-low heat, add the milk and cream.
    In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, add the butter. When the butter foams, whisk the flour into the melted butter, and cook until nutty smelling and light golden in color, about 3 minutes.
    6 Add the milk to the roux: Slowly whisk the warm milk and cream a little bit at a time into the butter and flour mixture (roux) until combined. The sauce should be smooth.
    Bring the béchamel to a simmer, keeping an eye on the heat and stirring frequently to prevent scorching. It will really start to thicken as it simmers.
    Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the sauce is thick and coats the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes.

    7 Remove from heat and add the cheese: Remove the béchamel from the heat and whisk in the blue cheese a few crumbles at a time. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a pinch of cayenne, if you want a little heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if desired.
    8 Add the béchamel to the vegetables: Pour the warm béchamel over the top of the vegetables in the gratin dish and let sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the sauce to soak into the vegetables.
    Scatter the pecans over the top of the gratin. (The gratin can be made ahead up to this point, then refrigerated until ready to bake.)

    9 Cover and bake: Snugly cover the gratin with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the gratin is golden brown and bubbly, and the vegetables are tender when pierced with a knife.
    10 Serve: Let rest 20 minutes before serving. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    5 Simple Meals to Make the Week of Thanksgiving

    This month, we welcome back Marta Rivera for more of her meal plans. Marta is a trained chef, mom of twins and Army wife, and a Simply Recipes recipe tester and developer!
    Most people are looking for easy meals for the beginning of this week, especially here in the States where many are celebrating Thanksgiving.
    Even if you’re not celebrating along with us, the simplicity of the throw-together meals in this week’s meal plan will not only make you breathe a sigh of relief, but they’ll also give you even more reasons to give thanks.
    Sandwiches are a hit with my crew any time of the year, but they work best for me this week because everyone can chip in to make them while I’m working on the holiday prep.
    Foil meals are a no-fuss option that avoid crowding in the kitchen come clean-up time and a hearty soup rounds to get the most of this year’s bird brings an easy end to this week’s meal plan. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    One Simply Terrific Thing: A Discount On Our Favorite Flour Sack Towels!

    If you’d like to support Kei & Molly Textiles and get a hold of some wonderful goods at the same time, they’re offering Simply Recipes readers a 10% discount on their Gardener’s Delight Bundle ($38), a special gift bundle they’ve assembled for the holiday season!

    The bundle includes their popular Bees and Tree of Life flour sack dish towels, two Lavender Sprigs sponge cloths (which are super absorbent and naturally biodegradable), and four sweet vinyl stickers.

    Enter code SIMPLYRECIPES10 at checkout. A fantastic gift for you, a beloved home cook, or the favorite gardener in your life!
    Please note while we encourage you to peruse and purchase all their goods, the 10% discount only applies to the Gardener’s Delight Bundle. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    5 Ways to Explore New Flavors and Spice Up Your Holiday

    Wishing you could travel this holiday? Looking for ways to celebrate BIG this year even though your gathering may in fact be small? We’ve got you covered with our favorite ways to transport the senses, explore new flavors and treat yourself this holiday season!

    This post is written in partnership with The Spice Hunter. 
    Holiday gatherings will most likely be smaller this year, and our tried and true traditions may look different … yet no less memorable.
    We’re thankful to toast with our close family (and FaceTime with those not so close), enjoy our favorite meals, and celebrate with familiar–and new–traditions alike.
    So this season, let’s not just muddle through: let’s elevate the holidays at home. From trying new flavors and recipes to closing our eyes and momentarily escaping to exotic locales, join us as we cook, share, imbibe and toast to the good things ahead.

    Make One Small Change
    Doing it up for the big holiday meal need not mean big changes. In fact, making one small tweak can transform a so-so turkey or a good-enough pie into a real holiday MVP.
    Here are a few of our favorite ways to take things up a notch:
    Citrus: Brighten and lighten things up this year with fresh, fragrant citrus! Make a beautiful green salad with sliced oranges or grapefruit, add fresh orange zest to your pie crust or pastries, or give your Brussels sprouts a squeeze of lemon juice as they come out of the oven.
    Turkey Brine: Break out the Spice Hunter’s Original Turkey Brine to guarantee a memorable bird. It’s a savory blend of fragrant fruit and rosemary, and is your ticket to a super tender, moist and flavorful turkey.
    Brown Butter: Once you’ve tried brown butter, you may never go back. And if you loved pie, cornbread, and stuffing made with regular butter, you’re going to really love them with brown butter. The game plan? Simply brown your butter and swap it in for the melted butter called for in your pie filling, cornbread, mashed potato, and stuffing recipes!
    Break Out of Your Comfort Zone
    Pulling off the holiday meal can feel daunting enough at times, so most of us get in a groove and stick with what we know.
    But if there were ever a year to shake things up, it’d be this year. Maybe you go the non-traditional route and serve Texas-style barbecue or Korean Bibimbap. Or maybe you decide to try a new spice in a favorite dish, like this Dalmatian Sage, which perks up turkey, veggies, stuffing and sides. It’s a bit more mild than many varieties of dried sage, so it won’t be off-putting for young or picky palettes. Win/win!

    Opt for Fresh
    One great tip to ensure your holidays will be as flavorful and delicious as they deserve to be is to do a quick audit of your spice drawer. Toss expired spices, and replace any that are running quite low or that you know have been taking up valuable real estate for awhile (remember, the longer they sit on the shelf the less fragrant and flavorful they’ll be!)
    In addition to dried spices, fresh herbs make a huge difference when pulling off the holiday meal. Chop fresh rosemary for the bird, parsley for the stuffing, and fresh thyme for the green beans.

    Let Your Senses Guide You
    While we can’t travel this holiday like we could in year’s past, we can still transport ourselves to the fields of Madagascar or the roads of Saigon thanks to The Spice Hunter. Their vanilla extract is a must for all your seasonal baking–it’s super fragrant and makes the house smell like a dream.
    Cinnamon is another holiday baking mainstay and Saigon cinnamon, in particular, wins our heart for its sweet and slightly spicy flavor. From morning cinnamon rolls to mincemeat pie, this special spice gives your favorite recipes a worldly, exotic spin with a simple shake of the bottle.

    Treat Yourself … And Your Home
    While we often think about others during this season of giving and sharing, carving out a moment just for ourselves is the gift many of us really want.
    And to maximize that moment, put a little pot of Mulling Spices on the stove to simmer. Featuring cinnamon, orange rind, allspice and cloves nothing says holidays at home quite like this aromatic blend.
    To cap off an evening of celebrating, Hot Buttered Rum always hits the spot (and can be easily made without the rum for those not imbibing). Featuring brown sugar and warm spices, it’s great on its own or added to your apple pie or morning french toast for a flavor boost.

    Now … Really Treat Yourself
    Lucky for us, The Spice Hunter is extending a great offer to further inspire our readers to pick up a few things for the holiday season. Enjoy 25% off and free shipping with orders over $25 by using code SIMPLYRECIPES25 at checkout (offer expires 12/31/20). LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    Pumpkin Cheesecake

    1 Make graham cracker pecan crust: Pulse pecans, flour, brown sugar, and graham cracker crumbs in a food processor. Add butter and egg yolk. Pulse until mixture is homogenous.
    Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan and bake for 10 minutes at 375°F. Remove from oven and let cool.

    2 Press the pumpkin purée. Take the pumpkin purée and place it on several layers of paper towels. Cover with several layers of paper towels and use your hands to gently squeeze out liquid from the purée.
    Note that you will probably go through a lot of paper towels (can use tea towels too).

    3 Measure the pumpkin puree: Two 15-ounce cans of puréed pumpkin should yield a little more than 2 cups of purée with the excess moisture removed. Measure out 2 cups of purée; you want exactly 2 cups.
    4 Make the pumpkin base: Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, grated nutmeg, and allspice in a medium bowl. With a wooden spoon (no need for a mixer for this step), mix in the salt, 2 cups of pressed pumpkin purée, vanilla, and bourbon. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
    5 Make the cheesecake filling: In a large bowl (it helps to use a mixer for this step), beat the cream cheese and the brown sugar until fully creamed and smooth (no lumps). Gradually add the pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated.
    Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
    6 Line pan with 3 layers of thick foil: Place the springform pan with the crust in the middle of three layers of large sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil (to help prevent water-bath moisture from leaking into the pan). Fold the aluminum foil up the sides of the pan and trim. (You can also use a turkey roasting bag instead of the foil to keep the water out.)

    6 Pour filling into pan: Place the aluminum wrapped pan in a large roasting pan (large enough so that there is room on all sides). Pour the pumpkin cream cheese mixture into the springform pan.

    7 Add water to the roasting pan: Place the roasting pan containing the springform pan in a 325°F oven on the middle rack. Pour boiling water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the side of the springform pan.

    8 Bake and cool: Bake the cheesecake for 1 1/2 hours at 325°F. Turn off the oven heat and prop the oven door open. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven, cooling for another hour.
    Then remove from oven and let come to room temperature. Once it has cooled down, chill for several hours in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.
    9 When ready to serve, gently remove the cake from the springform pan: To do this well, I recommend a tip by Dorie Greenspan in her book Baking: From My Home to Yours. To help ensure that the cake doesn’t stick to the springform side as you unlock it, first run a blunt knife around the cake and then warm the sides of the pan with a hair dryer. Then carefully unlock the springform and lift off the sides.
    Serve cheesecake with caramel sauce, candied pecans, and whipped cream. LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    What We Cook With: Our Favorite Brands of Flour

    In every home baker’s pantry is a bag (or three!) of flour. From King Arthur to Gold Medal for all-purpose, from White Lily self-rising flour to Bob’s Red Mill for spelt and buckwheat, here are the flour brands we purchase again and again.

    It’s always in our pantry. It’s in practically every baking recipe. It’s got a permanent spot on our grocery list. And, if we didn’t realize before how much we rely on it, the buying rush and ensuing shortage last spring due to the pandemic made it pretty clear that everyone wants to have it on hand.
    Yes, I’m taking about flour.
    Today we consider availability, consistency, and specialty for a list of flour brands we rely on and buy again and again!

    Our Favorite All-Purpose Flours
    We love King Arthur Baking Company, Bob’s Red Mill, and Gold Medal for all-purpose flour.
    King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
    $6.99 for three 3-pound bags from King Arthur Baking Company
    Formerly known as King Arthur Flour, King Arthur Baking Company updated their new name and logo last summer to better represent the company’s commitment to all kinds of baking. (You’ll see some of the photos in this post still show the old “King Arthur Flour” name and logo, but be assured, the product is the same!)
    While other flour brands mill to a protein range, King Arthur mills their flour to a strictly-controlled and consistent protein count of 11.7%. This means you can expect the flour to perform the same way every time you use it.
    King Arthur’s all-purpose flour is made from 100% American-grown hard red wheat. It’s also unbleached, unbromated, and contains no artificial preservatives.

    I often swap a little white whole wheat flour for all-purpose to get more nutrition. King Arthur calls for white whole wheat in my favorite waffle recipe, so I’ve kept it on hand ever since! – Rachel

    Bob’s Red Mill 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
    $4.69 for 5-pound bag from Bob’s Red Mill
    Bob’s whole wheat flour is what we go to when we want that full-on, all-in whole wheat taste!
    Stone ground on cool, quartz millstones, Bob’s whole wheat flour retains every part of the wheat kernel: the wheat germ, bran, and endosperm. It has a protein content in the 13-15% range, and gives a deep, nutty, whole grain flavor to breads and baked goods.

    Our Favorite Alternative Flours
    Bob’s Red Mill wins on all accounts when we’re looking for alternative flours. It’s the most readily-accesible brand, both in-store and online, and we can always trust the quality. Here are the alternative flours we cook with the most.
    Bob’s Red Mill Stone Ground Spelt Flour
    $4.29 for 22-ounce bag from Bob’s Red Mill

    I like Bob’s Red Mill for any specialty flour. I use spelt flour in pancakes and quick breads for the nutty flavor, and Bob’s always delivers. – Summer

    Bob’s Red Mill Organic Buckwheat Flour
    $5.49 for 22-ounce bag from Bob’s Red Mill

    Bob’s buckwheat flour is a staple in my house. I love our buckwheat pancakes and buckwheat waffles recipes, and this flour works wonderfully. -Cambria

    Bob’s Red Mill Oat Flour
    $3.69 for 20-ounce bag from Bob’s Red Mill

    I like to sub in a little of Bob’s oat flour in pancakes and muffins, for a bit more whole grain flavor and nutrition. – Cambria

    Our Favorite Specialty Baking Flours
    Swans Down Enriched Cake Flour
    $3.19 for 32-ounce box from Target
    Swans Down cake flour is a low-protein pastry flour made from soft white winter wheat. Bleached, enriched, and repeatedly sifted to create a very soft, very delicate flour, it’s a classic choice when you’re aiming for supremely airy, light desserts, like this vanilla cake!
    White Lily Self-Rising Flour
    $9.99 for 5-pound bag from Amazon
    A must for Southern-style biscuits! White Lily’s self-rising flour is milled from soft winter wheat and blended with leavening agents and salt. It has a super-fine texture and a 9% protein content.

    If you want to make a true Southern biscuit, White Lily is the only flour you should use. The soft winter wheat is milled so fine, it almost feels like cornstarch. Its low protein content makes baked goods light and fluffy. If you’re making biscuit and they end up like hockey pucks, you might need to switch your flour to White Lily. – Summer LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Recipes

    5 Thanksgiving Recipes That’ll Steal the Show

    This post is written in partnership with If You Care. 
    While it’s the turkey that proudly sits at the center of the Thanksgiving table, we all know it’s the sides that garner just as much attention.
    Let’s give both the care they deserve this year.
    Non-stick parchment paper roasting bags are great for cooking the turkey in, but we also love using them to create easy and delicious Thanksgiving sides. That’s because the roasting bags seal in moisture to optimize tenderness in both meats and vegetables, so you can bet on each component of your meal being perfectly cooked. And because they can withstand up to 425°F, they’re primed and ready for any roasting task this season!
    Even better, unlike plastic bags, parchment paper roasting bags are all-natural, unbleached and totally chlorine-free, so they can go straight into the compost bin with your food scraps. That means you can relax at the table rather than worry about the pile of dishes in the sink (the ultimate holiday gift, no?)
    So today to inspire your holiday planning, we rounded up five festive recipes that are even better when made in parchment paper roasting bags. Dinner prep will not only be a whole lot simpler, your whole meal is guaranteed to be the most memorable yet! LEGGI TUTTO

  • in Drink

    Episode 172 – Casa Dragones Tequila with Bertha González Nieves

    Bertha González Nieves discovered her love for the spirits world when, at age 22, she was selected to represent Mexico in a television program ran by the Japanese government. It was through this opportunity that Bertha realized the incredible way tequila embodied Mexico as the social fabric, the culture, and the life. She fell in love with the craft, deciding then and there that she wanted to dedicate her career to the tequila industry.
    Looking for a way to get her foot in the door, Bertha landed a job with the Beckmann family, owners of Grupo Cuervo. For more than a decade she engaged with the Jose Cuervo brand, maintaining five different positions as she learned the foundation of the breadth and what could be done in the tequila category. After her 10th year, she felt the tug of the entrepreneurial spirit urging her to break away from Gupo Cuervo and create her own company. Thus, in 2008, Casa Dragones was born.
    The first bottle brought to market was the “Casa Dragones Joven.” This spirit exists to prove that tequila can compete with other sipping spirits like cognac and whiskey, and can also pair well with dishes outside of Mexican cuisine. French, Italian, and Japanese foods are now viable contenders to pair with tequila thanks to the Joven. By pioneering this new space, Bertha hopes to push the tequila production conversation forward, allowing others to follow in her contemporary footsteps. 
    Bertha accredits the beautiful quality of her liquor to sourcing, cultivation, and water. There are five states where you can harvest blue weber agave in Mexico: Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Guanajuanto, and Tamaulipas. Casa Dragones is focused in Tequila, Jalisco where the Tequila Volcano causes the soil to be semi-arid and semi-humid, filled with obsidian rock, and volcanic matter. Every bottle of Casa Dragones is 40% tequila 60% water. Using natural aquifers straight from the volcano, Bertha and her team are able to tweak the water, giving it the right mineral profile to harmonize their tequila. This culmination of details is what maintains the premium status of Casa Dragrones’. 
    The demand for a new tequila arose once consumers started looking for a bottle with more flexibility. The Joven is not meant to be served on the rocks, kept in the freezer, or made into a margarita. This is where inspiration for the “Blanco” bottle arose. The Blanco expression celebrates the agave in a herbaceous, green, and pure tribute. This liquor is minimal, yet bursting with character. When creating the Blanco, Bertha hoped to create a tequila that will have the same relationship with chefs as it does with mixologists. A liquor that can hold its own meat and also perform well in a signature cocktail. 
    The final bottle created by Casa Dragones is the 3rd barrel aged expression. This tequila is known as the “Añejo.” After extensive traveling, Bertha and her team discovered a soulful wood in Bordeaux, France. By combining that with an American oak from Pennsylvania, Casa Dragones was able to achieve a dry, complex, and beautiful result of an aged tequila. The wood undergoes a char treatment, but the color of the Añejo is a natural reaction that occurs within the bounds of the barrel. 
    Nosing the Three Bottles
    While nosing the Joven, incredible grassy tones and fruity notes are identified, almost reminisce of fermented cane. The deep green nose can be attributed to the floral and citrus in the blanco tequila balanced with the sweetness and spice of the aged. This is a love affair of the two styles, where neither is overwhelming the overall experience. 
    When nosing the Blanco, the immediate reaction is more subtle than the Joven. A dry, mineral note first hits the pallet followed by suggestions of marigold.
    Nosing the Añejo inspires notes of cedar and sap, hinting at the life in the wood instead of the flavors that were burned out of the wood. Just as the two preceding the Añejo, this expression is different than your typical aged liquor.
    Where to Find Casa Dragones
    New York, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. If you cannot find Casa Dragones in your state, email “[email protected]” and Bertha will make sure to take care of it.
    Social Media
    @casadragrones @berthagonzalesn
    LIGHTNING ROUND
    Favorite Cocktail
    I have a cocktail I adore called the Micheloma by Pablo Pasti.
    If You Were a Cocktail Ingredient, What Would You Be?
    Tequila.
    Cocktail with Anyone, Past or Present
    The recent elections have really left a mark on me. I would love to have a drink with Kamala Harris and I want to ask her what are we going to do for females in the beverage industry.
    Controversial Opinion in the Spirits/Cocktail Space
    I do believe that I am trying to prove my case that tequila pairs well with French, Italian, and Japanese cuisine. I am going to prove that everyday of the week. LEGGI TUTTO