Jumat, 24 Desember 2010

Risotto and the Veneto Region Italian Food

The Italian food of the Veneto region poses a perplexing question: With so many dishes to choose from, how can anyone have only one favorite? Given the great regional variations within the region, not to mention between Veneto and the rest of the country, there are a lot of unique dishes waiting for you to discover them. However, if risotto is something you crave, Veneto is definitely for you.

Other than pasta, risotto is one of the most famous of Italian foods. And if some of the greatest Italian food dishes in existence are what you're looking for, Veneto is a place you must visit, at least via the dinner table.

Risotto is a specific way of cooking rice, and is growing in popularity to take it's rightful place alongside pasta in the pantheon of Italian food, like many specialties of the Veneto region. To make a true risotto, the rice must first be cooked in olive oil or butter.

The rice must be coated evenly in the butter oil, and toasted just until translucent. Broth is then added just a little at a time, the idea is to slowly saturate the rice with the broth, which helps it achieve it's distinctive risotto texture. Unless the rice is toasted, it's not risotto. Even if it's served at the finest of Italian food restaurants, it just isn't the same unless toasted.

Risotto is an incredibly versatile dish; almost anything may be added to it. Because of the diversity of high quality local ingredients in the Veneto region, this makes for a fascinating variety of risottos to be tried. The local specialty (for example, seafood and fish in coastal areas) tends to put in an appearance in the risotto.

The possibilities go far beyond seafood though, all sorts of fresh local specialties show up in the Veneto region. Pumpkin, asparagus, even radicchio turn up in these local gems. Frog legs may even be found, a more commonplace part of Italian food than many would suppose.

Italian food differs from the stereotype held by many; this is doubly true in the Veneto region, which features some wonderful dishes not found elsewhere in the country. Pasta and beans, for instance is a very popular dish in Veneto and is turning up at more and more Italian restaurants all the time.

Anchovy, as well as stockfish are present in some dishes of the Veneto region. But the popularity of sausages dwarfs that of the humble anchovy, with the local dry-cured, pressed salami (sopressata) and garlic salami being special favorites.

In Veneto, the Italian food prominently features the local produce; radicchio and asparagus are things the Veneto region is well known for, as are peas with rice. This is a dish found only in Veneto, and is something of a departure from what Italian food is generally assumed to be.

The Veneto region offers many different choices for the discriminating diner. From sopressata to vegetable dishes to it's unparalleled risotto, the Italian food of Veneto is an embarrassment of riches. If you require risotto to make it an Italian meal, the foods of Veneto are just the thing for you. With so many unique dishes, Veneto has enough different, wonderful Italian food for everybody.

A Brief Guide to Steamboat Springs Restaurants

Never let it be said that mountain people don't know how to cook. In steamboat Springs , Colorado, restaurants offer a variety of freshly prepared, expertly cooked, quality foods that rival the restaurants in any major city. The city has more than 70 restaurants and bars and because of the western flair it's a great place to sample elk, buffalo or Rocky Mountain oysters if that's something you've always wanted to do. But don't feel that mountain/western fare is all that's available. Within a short walk from the center of town you'll find Italian, Mexican, French, Japanese, Pacific Rim and other eclectic cuisine.

For delicious family fare in a casual, friendly atmosphere try Mazzola's. With pizzas such as "The Maui Wowie," "The White Album," and "The Godfather" and an impressive list of entrees and appetizers, everyone at your table will have no trouble finding something delicious. For family fare with an adult twist step in to the Mahogany Ridge Brewery and Grill for some of the best steaks you'll ever taste. Wash it down with some micro-brewed beer that rivals the brewmasters of Germany. Your kids will enjoy the special wild, wild west kids selections and the live music.

Is Chinese food your thing? Try the gourmet fare at the huge Panda Garden Restaurant or the Chinese family cooking a few scant blocks away at the Canton Chinese Restaurant.

In addition, there's creole at Lucille's, French at Harwig's, fresh seafood at the appropriately named Freshie's and at least six Mexican restaurants, some known more for their exquisite margaritas than their cooking. Feel free to put on your jeans and cowboy boots for most of them or dress up in that suit and tie you've brought with you and dine in pure elegance.

The choice is yours. Needless to say for a small town that depends on its mountain surroundings to bring in tourists, there is a variety of quality food available in steamboat Springs that will satisfy anybody's palate.

Top 5 Wrong Perception in Having Steamboat and the Right Practice

With recent popularity of eating steamboat in winter season, many people have steamboat more frequent as usual. However there is also some health conscious and healthy diet practicer and analyst complain on consuming steamboat is not healthy, potential in having high cholesterol, overheat, and even as worst as contributing cancerous element to our body. Actually there is no bad natural foods, only wrong eating methods. Here listed out the top 5 most common wrong perceptions about eating steamboat and share the right way of consuming this delicious healthy steamboat cooking.

Wrong Perception 1: Mutton and Beef has too high fat quantity level, whereas fish balls and meat balls has lower fat. The selection of ingredients of steamboat will directly impact the fatty and heat level we consume. In reality, processed fish balls, meat balls, prawn dumplings and others has more fat, high salt level, bad meat quality, at some extend the balls are blended with a lot of starch rather than the actual meat, so it really contains not much nutrition and vitamins.

Suggestion: Select skinny meat, low fat seafood, more vegetables or replace meat with bean curd to fill up the protein needed.

Wrong Perception 2: Green vegetables - more is better. All of us understood that eating more vegetables is good, so in steamboat we add lot of vegetables, soak them in until it is well done. But particularly in steamboat, green vegetables with big leaves is subjected in easier to absorb more oil from the soup, mushrooms also has the same function, hence it makes the green healthy vegetables to a high fatty and oily vegetables, no longer healthy.

Suggestion: Instead of choosing big leave green vegetables, why not select those stem type vegetables like seaweed, lotus, carrot, radish, potato, and yam. Since these type of vegetables will not absorb so much oil element in the soup, more over the high fiber in these vegetables can help to remove the oil that park inside our stomach.

Wrong Perception 3: The calorie level between different sauces are the same. Most of the time we neglected the sauces also contributed high calories into our diet, as usually we will consume a lot of sauces for better taste and flavor. Example the frequent use sauce like garlic oil sauce, sesame sauce, chilies sauce and other sauces will have easily 100 calories in 1 big tablespoon.

Suggestion: Replace these above high calories sauces with fresh cut chillies, spring onion, white pepper into soy sauce, which will reduces at least half of the calories in the sauces. You can add in 2 teaspoon of vinegar to help in dissolving fatty oil in the foods.

Wrong Perception 4: Finishing up steamboat meal with desserts or main dish (noddles, rice, etc). Usually a lot of us will finish up the steamboat with some main dish like fried rice or noodles and some sweets. Actually this is not right as we might over consume with excessive calories.

Suggestion: The right way is to consume only 60-70 percent fullness, if you want to have desserts or main dishes. If you have taken too much starch base foods, just avoid main dishes and drink some teas to help in digestion.

Wrong Perception 5: Slowly enjoy eating steamboat for hours while chit chat along. Even we understood the benefit of eating slowly, but it does not apply in eating steamboat, since the steamboat soup base once it is cooked for more than 90 minutes, the nitrite level in the soup will increase and consuming more nitrite is not good.

Suggestion: Control your steamboat eating session around one and half hours, no longer than this duration.

Hope you find this practical and useful to you all.
Healthy Diet & Happy Live.

Elaine.T is an experience house wife with lot of cooking experience and secret recipes inherited from her grand grand mother. Elaine.T also interested in researching a lot of secret recipe ingredients and cooking method that deliver the ultimate healthy meals, particularly in the usage of Chinese herbs, Indian spices, Japanese four season cooking method and ingredients, and a lot more Asian recipes.

Insiders Guide to Dining in Steamboat Springs

After a fun day of skiing or riding the slopes, or an invigorating hike or mountain bike ride, you will want to relax and refuel. steamboat Springs has plenty to choose from either downtown or on the mountain and everything is within minutes of a complimentary shuttle, free city bus, or quick cab ride.

Deciding where to eat out can be daunting given the choice of over 60 restaurants and the wide variety of food from Mexican, Italian, Indian, Steakhouses, Seafood to Pub Grub. Here's a helping hand:

TOP 5 FAMILY DINING RESTAURANTS:

Big House Burgers - Utilizing locally raised beef, free of antibiotics and hormones, means both a tasty and healthy burger. A unique list of dogs, brats and burgers are available or build your own. There is a full bar and over 50 beers to choose from. If you aren't a burger lover, you can select hormone and steroid free chicken or a nice selection of salads and home-style dinners.

Fiesta Jalisco - This family run Mexican restaurant offers an extensive menu, great service and great value for family dining. Their meals are billed as "real Mexican" cuisine with delicious family recipes that date back many decades, passed down from one family member to the next. Owner Diaz explains that Fiesta Jalisco's cuisine is real Mexican, but California-style, with every item on the menu made fresh, daily from scratch. "Nothing is pre-made," he promises.

Mahoghany Ridge Brewery & Grill - Just because its the only brew pub in steamboat doesn't mean they only serve beer. They are just really good at ales! The menu primarily focuses on "Dipping Entrees" which means you get to choose two sauces to go with your Chile Rubbed Beef Tournedos or Caribbean Jerk Spiced Duck Breast or Tandoori Spiced Yellow-fin Tuna, to name just a few. The sauces range from chutneys to salsas to spicy but pleasant soys, Thai barbeque, and chipotle aioli are available for the less adventurous.

Mazzola's - You get an instant understanding of why Mazzola's is a family favorite when you learn their motto is, "Dress down, eat big, talk loud, and break a few rules!" Their menu is extensive covering pasta, pizza, calzones, and amazing house specialties. It's fun, it's casual, and it is great value. Their portion options are big and bigger! You'll have plenty left over for the next day. Kids are entertained with a ball of dough to shape before they bake it just for you.

Rex's American Grill & Bar - There is something for everyone at Rex's. The Bar has 8 hi-def TV's for the sports enthusiasts but the noise never reaches the main restaurant. In the summer, the outdoor patio is a huge hit for live music and has plenty of area for kids to run and play. The range of food is impressive as their tasty Buffalo Burger or Elk Sausage Burger are just as good as the Seafood Risotto or Ruby Trout. Likewise, the kids can enjoy a hand tossed pie or homemade Cheddar Mac.

TOP 5 FINE-DINING RESTAURANTS:

Bistro c.v. - As one of the newer additions to fine dining in steamboat, bistro c.v. wasted no time in becoming everyone's favorite. The Denver Post Dining Critic, Tucker Shaw, concurred by writing, "bistro c.v. may just be my favorite new restaurant of the year." Their philosophy of cooking simply, honestly, and innovatively comes through in the steak tartare starter, baby herb salad, or the array of fish selections that come from natural, organic, humane fisheries. With floor to ceiling windows, it is a favorite spot for watching the steamboat crowds.

Cafe Diva - You simply cannot go wrong with this intimate, unique gem in the heart of the slopeside. Since opening their doors over a decade ago, the staff has consistently provided exceptional, unforgettable service to accompany the ecletic offerings and extensive wine list. Their signature "Surf and Turf" is a mouth-watering combination of Maine Diver Scallops and Elk Tenderloin. They book up fast so don't delay!

Harwigs Cellar - For the best culinary experience, romantic dinner for two, or unique setting for a special occasion, look no further than the Wine Cellar Table at Harwigs & L'Apogee. An authentic, European dining experience with multiple courses and wine pairing awaits you and up to 9 of your closest friends. For larger groups, the restaurant has ample room and deserves The Wine Enthusiast's recognition as "one the top 100 restaurants in the U.S."

Riggio's - If you've never been to Italy, you will get a sense of it when you taste and smell the Italian fare at Riggio's Ristorante. It has been family owned since 1990 and you will think the entire staff is family and you are simply their house guest. It can be difficult to choose but the Lobster and Shrimp Gnocci, Pollo Puttanesca, or Salmon Carciofi are certainly favorites. The desserts are homemade so save room for the Tiramisu.

Saketumi - When sushi is done right it is sublime. Saketumi does it right and in style. It is no wonder this slope-side gem is frequently jam-packed. Its popularity, and refusal to take reservations, may be its only failing. Choose from an extensive menu of sushi and sashimi delights or one of the Asian fusion dishes that light up the palate. They also make a pretty decent Mojito.

How to Make Steamboat Soup

You need a good steamboat soup for an enjoyable steamboat feast. There are many ready-made soups that you can buy from the supermarkets, but there is nothing that beats the real thing. Here is a simple recipe that you can use to make a delicious steamboat soup.

This serves around 4-6 people.

You will need:

1. 10 garlic cloves, sliced
2. 1 tablespoon of tamarind pulp
3. 150 ml of boiling water
4. 1200 ml of water
5. 2 tablespoons of Thai fish sauce
6. 8 tablespoons of vegetable oil
7. 1 teaspoon of caster sugar
8. 1 small pineapple, cut into huge chunks
9. 170g of tomatoes, cut into 4 pieces each
10. 8 spring onions
11. 250g of prawns
12. 3 squids, cut into thick rings
13. 250g of fish fillets, preferably cod fish
14. some coriander leaves
15. 2 chillies, sliced thinly

Here are the directions:

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan and when it is hot, deep-fry the garlic until it is golden-brown to bring out its fragrance. Drain the oil away and leave the garlic on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.

2. Put the tamarind pulp into a mixer bowl with the boiling water and leave it to stand for 20 minutes. Allow the pulp to dissolve. Strain the liquid through a sieve and discard the residue. Put the liquid into a saucepan with the water and mix it with the sugar, pineapple, tomatoes, spring onions and fish sauce. Cook until
it boils.

3. Pour the mixture into the hot pan and add in the garlic, prawns, squid rings and fish fillets. Allow it to simmer for 6 minutes.

4. Serve the steamboat while it is hot.

This is a delicious soup base and you can add in all the seafood that you need for a fantastic family gathering. Top it up with coriander leaves and chillies for added flavour.