02/16/2021
Pro tips for this weeks entrees!!!
Ricotta Salata: is an Italian cheese made from the whey part of sheep milk, which is pressed, salted and aged for at least 90 days. It is milky white in colour with a firm texture and salty taste. The cheese is often used in salads and ideal for slicing, crumbling and grating.
Fennel: a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near the sea-coast and on riverbanks.
Brining: to soak or preserve in a salty aromatic liquid. The process of submerging a cut of meat into a solution of salt and water. It adds flavor, seasoning from the inside out, but it also changes the meat's physical nature. The salt in brine denatures the meat's proteins to allow the cells to retain more moisture
Au Jus: Au jus is a French culinary term meaning "with juice". It refers to meat dishes prepared or served together with a light gravy, or broth, made from the fluids secreted by the meat as it is cooked. In French cuisine, cooking au jus is a natural way to enhance the flavour of dishes, mainly chicken, veal, and lamb.
Spatzle: Spätzle is a type of pasta made with fresh eggs, typically serving as a side for meat dishes with gravy. Commonly associated with Swabia, it is also found in the cuisines of southern Germany and Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia, Alsace, Moselle and South Tyrol. Can be flavored numerous different ways to accompany a particular dish.
Johnny Cakes: is a cornmeal flatbread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. The food originates from the indigenous people of North America
Chorizo: Chorizo or chouriço is a type of pork sausage. In Europe, chorizo is a fermented, cured, smoked sausage, which may be sliced and eaten without cooking, or added as an ingredient to add flavor to other dishes. Elsewhere, some sausages sold as chorizo may not be fermented and cured, and require cooking before eating
Andouille: In the US, the sausage is most often associated with Louisiana Cajun cuisine, where it is a coarse-grained smoked sausage made using pork, garlic, pepper,
onions, wine, and seasonings. Once the casing is stuffed, the sausage is smoked again (double smoked).
Tasso Ham: is a smoked, spiced, and cured meat, a specialty of south Louisiana cuisine. In this case "ham" is a misnomer since tasso is not made from the hind leg of a hog, but rather the hog's shoulder. This cut is typically fatty, and because the muscle is constantly used by the animal, has a great deal of flavor.
Saffron: is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in food. Saffron has long been the world's most costly spice by weight
Basmati Rice: is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice which is traditionally grown in India and Pakistan. As of 2018–19, India accounted for 65% of the international trade in basmati rice, while Pakistan accounted for the remaining 35%
