After surviving another Feast of the Seven Fishes here in Italy (the meal typically celebrated in Italy and now all over the world for Christmas Eve with many seafood dishes) I wanted to jot down some quick tips on cooking seafood many different ways. Everyone always seems puzzled as to what to make and how to make it. These are some quick, easy tips to help, but not only for the Feast of the Seven Fishes all year round seafood dishes too! These are the principal 5 ways to cook specific types of seafood and fish.

Alla Brace (usually refers to cooking in a fireplace or wood burning oven -over wood or coal)

Fish that has firm meat inside like tuna, are perfect for cooking this way,not all fish can hold up to this cooking method.

You can add a sort of aroma and splash with white or red wine or seafood broth to reinforce the perfume of the herbs/spices added. Choose a double sided grill that will make turning the fish easier.

Alla Griglia ( grilled)

If you are going to grill fish you shouldn’t scale it, the skin protects the delicate meat of the fish from the intense heat of the grill. Before placing on the grill, dry the fish well with paper towels.,even if it has been soaking in a marinade. Don’t overcook the fish. For example, sardines cook for only 1 minute on each side, for a sea bass-10 minutes per side. A large fish should be cooked slowly and drizzled with oil every so often to keep it moist.

Alla Mugnaia (a la meuniere- a French cooking term that means lightly dusted with flour and sauteed with butter)

A whole fish or one that has delicate meat inside like Sole should first be sauteed in a saute pan with butter, then cooked over medium heat. In general, most fish can be lightly salted and breaded before cooking. The cooking time varies from between 2-3 minutes per side.

Fritto (Fried)

Fish best fried are small fish or those cut into smaller pieces or those like cod and sole. Always dry the fish before frying, coat with flour and dust with breadcrumbs. Oil should be hot but not smoking and should also be in an abundant quanttity. Avoid keeping the breaded fish in the pan for too long a time, After cooking remove and place on absorbent paper or paper towels to absorb the oil.

Al Forno (Baked) best to cook medium or large fish this way. You can also flavor the fish with flavorful spices and/or herbs or herb butter,broth, white wine. And if the fish is big enough you can also bake it stuffed with bread crumbs or shrimp or crab meat. In the oven, you can also cook smaller fish in parchment paper

Read more on Five Easy Ways to Cook Fish

For more recipes  and Holiday stories get your copy of the Award Winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

copyright 2009, art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc and Maria Liberati

Hope you enjoy our continuing posting of  yummy Holiday recipes. Share your favorite Holiday recipe with us here or email to us at editor@marialiberati.com

 Here is the perfect main course for one of your Holiday meals, thanks to Fred Cohen of J & A Culinary Arts School in Philadelphia, the recipes use   Sempre Sapori-Tuscan Picnic  Spice Blend,all natural spices with Tuscan flavors, that  I developed in Tuscany, you can still get them for the Holidays here    and enjoy our Holiday Gift Guide, products that were selected by our staff for their exceptional artisan quality and for the experience  they provide consumers. Find a special coupon offer for the open sky store on the last page!

Holiday Gift Guide 2009

Tuscan Roasted Chicken with Savory Herb Bread Pudding and Buttered Cauliflower

*Bread Pudding*:
Serves 6:
One large crusty loaf bread (crust removed)
1 t Sage leaves chiffonade
1 T chopped parsley
2 t chopped chive
1 egg yolk
3 oz chicken stock
1 oz heavy cream
1-2 oz milk
2 t Tuscan spice mix

*Tuscan Spiced Chicken*:
2 Cornish Hens, halved, serves  2 – 4:
2 oz butter
1 T Tuscan Spice Blend

*Procedure*:
-Remove the crust from the bread and cut into small dice. Place into a deep
dish container. Combine remaining ingredients to form a creamy batter. If
batter seems too thick, thin it down with a little bit of water, stock, or
milk to reach a creamy but not heavy consistency. Place mixture over the
bread and mix well. Allow to soak for 1 – 2 hours.
-In the mean time, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
-Create a compound butter by mixing the spice mixture into raw butter. Smear
the mixture over and under the skin of the Cornish hens.
-Place the chicken onto a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 35 – 40
minutes.
-Pack the bread pudding into ramekins that have been lightly sprayed and
bake for 20 – 30 minutes, depending on how brown you want it to be.
-To plate, take the bread pudding out of the ramekin and center it in the
middle of the plate. Lay the chicken on the side and on the opposite side,
lay some buttered cauliflower. Drizzle some parsley oil (or any oil of your
choosing) onto the side of the plate.

UPCOMING EVENTS

See you on Saturday December 12th in Somerset NJ at the Franklin Township library at 2 PM.. Cooking demo and book signing will feature my latest relaese The Basic Art of  Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions- winner of The Best Italian Cuisine Book of 2009 from Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

Plant and herb lovers will tell you that now is the perfect time to pick basil leaves. And chefs will tell you that they’re the ideal size to be chopped up and put into your favorite dishes. Famous Recipes is here to tell you the history of pesto, a delicious sauce where basil plays the most important role.

The term pesto comes from the verb meaning “to pound” or “to crush”. The earliest known recorded version of pesto comes from Roman poet Virgil’s (70 – 19 BCE) Bucoliche. Virgil writes of a similar Roman sauce called moretum. But the sauce alluded to in this epic is not quite the pesto we know today because it didn’t have the most essential ingredient: basil. Basil wasn’t officially added to the recipe until the mid 19^th Century after the plant had been introduced to Europe and found a perfect home in the Liguria region of Italy’s northwest.

After the basil was added, the recipe became extremely more complex. According to the Basil Park in Genova Pra (http://parco-basilico.provincia.genova.it/eng/Index_PBP.html), an Italian website devoted to making the most of Genoa’s most famous food, “For centuries basil was attributed magical virtues in addition to the properties that made it so valuable in the kitchen, so that it had to be gathered in accordance with sacred, codified rituals.” This is why many older recipes will call for hand mixing the leaves in special dishes. A more scientific assumption says that basil helps with ailments such as skin disease and intestinal trouble. But interestingly enough, basil plants can be affected by any number of factors including the time of day of harvest. Whether or not there is any truth behind the medicinal or magical properties of basil, however, is immaterial. A lover of fine Italian foods will tell you that its greatest quality is its taste. And pesto is a solid example of this.

Pesto

2 ½ Cups Basil

½ Cups Olive Oil

2 Tbsp Pine Nuts

2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and crushed

½ Cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 Tbsp Pecorino-Romano cheese

Bit of pepper

In a food processor, put olive oil, pepper, basil, nuts, and garlic. Process until just blended.

Put mixture in bowl and whisk in cheese.

For more great recipes and tips get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati at http://www.marialiberati.com and got to http://www.marialiberati.com/blog2

Increase Flavor and Decrease Cost with Your Own Herb Garden

by Maria Liberati, copyright 2008

http://www.marilaiberati.com/

editor: Lauren Scheller

Herbs are quintessential to Italian cooking and everyone knows that the fresher they are the better they are. So, why not plant a mini-herb garden this summer to bring the taste of Italia right to your kitchen table. Don’t worry if you haven’t a green thumb, with these simple steps you’ll have a hassle free herb garden in no time!    

            First, you must decide what to plant in your garden. You need not go over board in this area. While there are certainly a variety of herbs in Italian cooking, carefully choosing five or six key spices that you enjoy and use often will suffice. Just remember, a little fresh flavor goes a long way. A good place to start is with the following five herbs which are common in numerous Italian dishes and always delicious: rosemary, oregano, basil, fennel, and parsley. Sage and thyme would be great additions or replacements too, depending on your taste.

            After choosing your herbs, the second step is to decide where to plant them. Depending on the climate in which you live, warm and sunny preferably, planting your herbs outside is an option. However, for convince sake it may be better to plant your herbs in small terracotta pots. These pots can be placed in sunny areas of your home, such as window ledges, or placed outside daily to get maximum sunlight. This method decreases the amount of pesticides needed, extinguishes the need for transplanting perennial herbs come winter, and, as an added bonus, will make your house smell great.

            After securing your pots and potting soil, it’s time to plant! Rosemary, basil, and fennel seeds can be placed directly in the soil, covered lightly, and watered. Parsley seeds should be soaked two days in cold water (leaving them in the refrigerator is fine) and then planted, this cuts down on the seeds germination time. Oregano can be grown directly from seed as well; however, a new oregano plant can easily be started from a cutting of an existing one. Talk to a friend or gardener with their own oregano plant, and ask for a cutting. Your chances for success will increase dramatically. Now place your pot(s) in an area of your home which receives the maximum amount of daily sunlight, and remember to water- lightly, but often.

            Hopefully if all goes well, you will see buds in no time. But how will you know when your herbs are ready? Each herb is different oregano and rosemary are ready once they flower. The basil plant will single its ripeness with flowers as well, but these should be pruned as they cause the plant to lose its flavor. Parsley will be ripe about 70 days after planting and fennel will be ready about two weeks after the bulb reaches egg size. While this may seem like a lot to remember, the pay off is certainly worth it. Good luck and best wishes!

For additional information visit http://www.helpfulgardener.com/organic/2006/italianherbs.html

For more cooking ideas for your herbs,get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com and save $5 off retail price…