Read Online Fabulicious!: On the Grill by Teresa Giudice - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Teresa Giudice
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beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15.5-ounce) can pink or Roman beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Homemade Pesto ( page 161 ), for serving
1. Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in 7 cups of water, the tomatoes, parsley, and oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini, yellow squash, white beans, and pink beans and bring to a simmer over high heat. Return the heat to medium-low and simmer until the zucchini is tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (The soup can be cooled, covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
3. Ladle into soup bowls and top each serving with about a teaspoon of pesto and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve hot, warm, chilled, or at room temperature.
CHAPTER 5
Carne (Meat)
Tutto fumo e niente arrosto.
Instead of saying that something is no big deal or someone is âall bark and no bite,â Italians say itâs âall smoke and no roast.â
O f all the things that people grill, meat is the most commonâand the most commonly messed up! Weâre going to fix that once and for all, so your burgers will be perfect, your steak will cut like butter, and your pork chops will be to-die-for delicious.
The most important thing to remember is that youâre not always going to cook everything over high heat. As my Joe says, âTake it nice and slow.â Itâs called âgrilling,â not âburning.â
T HE T RUTH A BOUT T ENDERIZING
One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to tenderize their meat in all the wrong ways. When I see someone pull out a metal hammer that looks like a medieval torture device and start hacking away at the raw steak, I cry a little inside. Believe it or not, tenderizing has nothing to do with hitting anything.
There are four main ways to truly tenderize meat: A) cooking it with moist, low heat for a long time to break down the tough parts; B) letting the meat tenderize naturally as its enzymes change, like butchers do by dry aging beef, but that takes about twenty days to work; C) using an actual tenderizing tool that looks likea metal spike to poke into meat to break up the gristle, but doing this also breaks the muscle and creates holes to let moisture escape; and D) choosing a good, tender cut to begin with. The best choice is D.
(And remember, the most tender doesnât always mean the most flavorful. Have you ever noticed the flavor difference between flank steak and filet mignon? Just because itâs beef doesnât mean that every cut tastes the same.)
H AMMER T IME
If you use a pointy hammer on your steak in an attempt to tenderize it, youâll break up not only some of the connective tissue, but also the actual meat. Think of a meat hammer as a giant beast that is pre-chewing your steak for you. No good.
So what do people use a hammer for? To make a piece of meatâusually boneless and skinless chicken breast halvesâa uniform thickness so it will cook evenly. If you have a giant hump on one end, that part wonât get cooked through while the thinner end is overcooked. Steaks are usually pretty uniformly cut already, so you donât need to pound them; chicken usually isnât, so you do. But when you do, you should use a flat mallet or a rolling pin so you arenât damaging the meat. Put the meat between plastic storage bags, as this creates a slicker surface that helps the meat âstretchâ from the pounding. And itâs best to pound the meat when itâs cold just after taking it out of the fridge, when the meat is firmer.
T HE M ARINADE M YTH
Itâs a myth that marinades can tenderize steak. They add great flavor and are good for your health when
1 (15.5-ounce) can pink or Roman beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Homemade Pesto ( page 161 ), for serving
1. Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in 7 cups of water, the tomatoes, parsley, and oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini, yellow squash, white beans, and pink beans and bring to a simmer over high heat. Return the heat to medium-low and simmer until the zucchini is tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (The soup can be cooled, covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
3. Ladle into soup bowls and top each serving with about a teaspoon of pesto and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve hot, warm, chilled, or at room temperature.
CHAPTER 5
Carne (Meat)
Tutto fumo e niente arrosto.
Instead of saying that something is no big deal or someone is âall bark and no bite,â Italians say itâs âall smoke and no roast.â
O f all the things that people grill, meat is the most commonâand the most commonly messed up! Weâre going to fix that once and for all, so your burgers will be perfect, your steak will cut like butter, and your pork chops will be to-die-for delicious.
The most important thing to remember is that youâre not always going to cook everything over high heat. As my Joe says, âTake it nice and slow.â Itâs called âgrilling,â not âburning.â
T HE T RUTH A BOUT T ENDERIZING
One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to tenderize their meat in all the wrong ways. When I see someone pull out a metal hammer that looks like a medieval torture device and start hacking away at the raw steak, I cry a little inside. Believe it or not, tenderizing has nothing to do with hitting anything.
There are four main ways to truly tenderize meat: A) cooking it with moist, low heat for a long time to break down the tough parts; B) letting the meat tenderize naturally as its enzymes change, like butchers do by dry aging beef, but that takes about twenty days to work; C) using an actual tenderizing tool that looks likea metal spike to poke into meat to break up the gristle, but doing this also breaks the muscle and creates holes to let moisture escape; and D) choosing a good, tender cut to begin with. The best choice is D.
(And remember, the most tender doesnât always mean the most flavorful. Have you ever noticed the flavor difference between flank steak and filet mignon? Just because itâs beef doesnât mean that every cut tastes the same.)
H AMMER T IME
If you use a pointy hammer on your steak in an attempt to tenderize it, youâll break up not only some of the connective tissue, but also the actual meat. Think of a meat hammer as a giant beast that is pre-chewing your steak for you. No good.
So what do people use a hammer for? To make a piece of meatâusually boneless and skinless chicken breast halvesâa uniform thickness so it will cook evenly. If you have a giant hump on one end, that part wonât get cooked through while the thinner end is overcooked. Steaks are usually pretty uniformly cut already, so you donât need to pound them; chicken usually isnât, so you do. But when you do, you should use a flat mallet or a rolling pin so you arenât damaging the meat. Put the meat between plastic storage bags, as this creates a slicker surface that helps the meat âstretchâ from the pounding. And itâs best to pound the meat when itâs cold just after taking it out of the fridge, when the meat is firmer.
T HE M ARINADE M YTH
Itâs a myth that marinades can tenderize steak. They add great flavor and are good for your health when
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