Read Online Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It by Teresa Giudice, Heather Maclean - Free Book Online Page B

called “nosegays,” because in the Middle Ages, gay was a word that meant “an ornament” or “pretty” (it still kind of means “pretty,” doesn’t it?) and the bouquets made things nicer for the nose. A typical nosegay included herbs with strong smells, such as sage, rosemary, thyme, and lavender.

P ORK C HOPS ALLA S ALVIA
    MAKES 6 SERVINGS
    In Italian cooking, we almost always cook our pork on the bone. It gives you much better flavor.
    1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    Four 8-ounce center-cut pork loin chops, on the bone
    ½ teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon dried sage
    ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    1 cup “The Quickie” Tomato Sauce ( page 117 )
    1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork with the salt, ½ teaspoon of the sage, and the pepper and rub in the seasonings. Add to the skillet and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes.
    2. Add the tomato sauce and remaining ½ teaspoon sage and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer until the pork is opaque when pierced at the bone with the tip of a knife, about 15 minutes. Serve hot, with the sauce.
     

    Thyme - TIMO

    Looks like: Small green leaves on thin stalks.
    Tastes like: Lemony, slightly minty, and peppery.
    Dry or fresh: You can use thyme either way: dried or fresh. Fresh has a more subtle, green flavor (and, like rosemary, is super easy to buy, grow, and freeze), but dried thyme holds its flavor really, really well. If you have space and time issues in your kitchen, I’d go with dried. (Unless I were cooking fish, then the green thyme leaves look so much prettier on the dish.)
    Where to get it: From the produce section of your grocery store. Or grow it up there on your windowsill, right next to your rosemary.
    How to prep it: Wash it. Hold a sprig at the top with one hand and run the pinched fingers of your other hand down the stem. The leaves will fall off.
    How to eat it: You can use the leaves directly on salads or in any of your cooking.
    How to cook with it: Thyme actually releases its flavors slowly, so it’s an herb to add at the beginning of the cooking process.
    How to store it:
    Fresh • In the refrigerator, but it will only last a couple of days. Wash before you use it.
    Frozen • Very similar to rosemary; in fact, I have my little jar of thyme right next to the rosemary in my freezer. Wash the thyme and dry it thoroughly. Then stick the whole branches in a plastic bag in the freezer. Once it’s fully frozen, take the bag out and shake the leaves off (they fall off the stem much easier when it’s frozen). Throw the stem away, and put all the leaves back in the freezer bag; or do a bunch at once, and put all the leaves in a glass jar in your freezer.
    Dried • In a glass jar, dried thyme will last several months to several years.
    Best in: Sauces, dressing, stuffing, salads, meat dishes, and seafood.
    Fun fact: Thyme was thought to give courage, so women often presented a sprig of thyme to knights going off to battle. It was also placed under pillows to ward off nightmares. (I might have to try that tonight. I’m still trying to get the images of Danielle screwing up my Shore house out of my mind. Literally, she screwed the place up . . . in front of my kids, no less.)
    J UICY B ITS FROM Joe
    We’re very friendly people, and we like to invite even people we just met over for meals. Teresa and I had only known Danielle for a couple of weeks when she asked if she could bring her kids to our Shore house for the weekend. Of course, we said yes. Teresa and me and our kids were there, and Danielle’s new boyfriend, Steve, came as well. I love to entertain. I’ll open my house to anyone. But you gotta have respect.
    Early Saturday morning, while mine and Danielle’s kids were watching cartoons, Steve was in a recliner chair watching with ’em (big kid). Danielle comes in, lies on top of Steve, and starts to go at it right in front of the