The invitation is still open--if you have a food term you wondered
about, put it into the Comments below and I’ll attempt to de-mystify it. I have
been getting such terrific feedback from readers about these posts. I am
grateful you are reading, learning, and enjoying this month’s focus. There are
way too many terms to deal with in a month, so I am going to do at least one
post a month on some of the others.
Today is P Day.
And P is for Parboil.
Parboil is not
that hard to understand. It is harder in the execution, however. Parboil simply means to boil something
(often a veggie) so it is partially cooked. Aye, there’s the rub.
How much cooking? What is “partially cooked”? For parboiled potatoes, for example, you
want the fork to go into the outer edge easily but then hit the resistance of
the raw potato. Rice should be firmer than al
dente.
You kind of have to practice this so you don’t end up with
mushy foods at the second cooking. Most of the time, we don’t parboil. We just cook the initial food
longer. But it does speed up dinner prep if you have done some pre-cooking of
the ingredients, so I’m more likely to parboil
for a dinner party.
Did you know that “instant rice” is parboiled then dried out so it cooks faster? Instead of spending
lots of money, make your own instant rice to store for quick dinners or
backpacking meals. http://www.southernplate.com/2014/03/make-your-own-instant-rice-from-bulk-rice.html
Also, I discovered a recipe I just love for a quicker
risotto that uses parboiling to cut
the cooking time in half. This recipe is great for weeknight dinners, but I
still do my normal 1-hour risotto for company. It is better when slow-cooked! https://www.yahoo.com/food/spring-risotto-with-peas-fava-beans-and-arugula-80007925396.html
P is for Pasta
You know I love pasta.
When I wrote Mission Impastable, my
culinary mystery, it allowed me to showcase some of my pasta recipes. (I use my punny titles to give the reader an idea of
the focus for most of the recipes in that mystery.)
Oh, my! So many pastas,
so little time. Contrary to urban myth, Marco Polo didn’t introduce pasta to the Italians after picking it
up from the Chinese. Lots of cultures at that time (the ones who had wheat) had
developed forms of pastas. He might
have brought back a shape they didn’t know, but the Italians already had pasta invented. Pasta, is after all, just flour, eggs, salt, some oil, and water. The word pasta means “dough”!
Back in the day, I didn’t own a pasta maker. I rolled and cut my uneven noodles and draped them
over kitchen chairs to dry. Ah, yes, those were the days, my friends. If you
are into making your own, try this
simple recipe. http://www.restlesschipotle.com/2012/03/best-homemade-pasta-dough-recipe-ever/
Pasta comes in
many shapes. Pasta is either rolled
and cut or extruded into a shape. Each shape is designed to highlight the use. Some
pastas hold on better to thinner
sauces and some onto thicker. Some shapes are meant to hold ingredients within
the shape.
Clever folk, right, to take the same recipe and get so many
variations and therefore different dishes and tastes.
Here are types of pastas and a couple of examples of each--there are MANY more:
long pasta (rolled/cut
or extruded)--spaghetti; fusilli (corkscrew)
ribbon-cut--fettucine; lasagna
short-cut extruded--cannelloni; macaroni
decorative pasta--farfalle
(bow tie); orecchiette (ear-shaped)
minute pasta--orzo
(rice-shaped); alfabeto (alphabet
letters)
stuffed pasta--ravioli;
tortellini
irregular shapes--gnocchi; spaetzle
For a more complete listing:
