COTOLETTA ALLA MILANESE OR CHICKEN SCHNITZEL

The cotoletta alla milanese (cutlet Milan style) with boiled veggies, rice or french fries is a classic in north Italian cuisine.

But you can easily find it in Swiss as well as in Israeli cuisine. If you have travelled around Asia, you certainly know the dish in the restaurant menu under "Israeli Food" section. Of course, it is never spelled right and actually my husband and my favorite "hobby" is laugh about spelling mistakes in Asian Restaurants's Menu. 

Nepal gets the first price for spelling mistakes' creativity!

Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast
• 1 Egg
• Flour
• Bread Crumbs
• Olive Oil
• Butter (optional)
• Salt

Preparation:

• Marinate the chicken breast with salt. Beat the egg and lay flour and bread crumbs in 2 different plates.

• Dip the chicken into the flour first. Turn both the sides so that the chicken will be covered with flour.

• Then, dip it into the beaten egg.

• At last, cover it with bread crumbs. Press hard on it so the bread crumbs are well pasted. Do it in both the sides.

• Take a large frying pan and fry the schintzel in olive oil (and butter but it's optional).

I serve it with white rice and boiled veggies.

If you have any question or suggestion, you know where to find me.

all the material belongs to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com

DIY: T-Shirt Rug

I love my bathroom mat...

Do you?

Ok, it's time to stop to be sentimental with old clothes and start to recicle them!

Stand up, open your wardrobe and take all the T-Shirts that, you know, you are not going to where anymore and surely your ex-boyfriend is not going to come and take them back.

You are going to make something for yourself, something you will  be proud of and something useful.

I already know that by the time you finish your masterpiece you want to show it to all your guests, including your mother.

I dont want to waste your time anymore, so thanks Eat Sleep Pinterest for the fantastic idea and lets get down to business...

Material:

• T-shirts
• Piece of Cloth 
• Scissors 

Cut the T-Shirts into strips, 5 inches (10 cm) long and about 1 inch (2.5cm) wide. You will need A LOT of strips!  

Take a piece of cloth, a T-Shirt will do but it is better something more thick. Cut it into the shape you would like the rug to be. I did it rectangular.

Start cutting little slits in a line, not more than 0.5 a inch (1cm) long. Leave 1 inch space along the border.

To shove the strips into the slits help yourself with something pointy, I used a crochet needle but scissors or even a screw driver will do it.

Push the strip into the slit and then push the other end of the strip into the next slit. Flip the cloth over and pull the strip tight. 

Now, insert the second strip in the same slit where you inserted the previous slit. Push the other end of the second slit into the next slit.

Be patient, go ahead and finish it!

For any question or suggestion you know how to find me.

all the material belongs to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com

SPANISH-ITALIAN OMELET ALSO CALLED FRITTATA

This frittata is dedicated to my fantastic cousin sister Nisha and to her enthusiasm in exploring new tastes and recipes.

Preparation: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Pre-boiled Potatoes
• 3 Eggs
• Grated Cheese
• Onions
• Fresh Chilly (optional)
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper 

Preparation:

• Cut onions and chillies and fry them in a pan with olive oil. When onions turn "blonde" add the cut potato. Let it fry for few minutes.

• Beat the eggs, add salt, pepper and grated cheese.

• Add the eggs to the pan with onions and potatoes and cook it in a low flame. When the below part of the frittata is cook (it may be still liquid on top) turn it helping yourself with a plate.

• Cook on the other side, turn it again. It is ready!

I serve this with Couscous Salad and Bruschette.

If you have any question or suggestion you know how to find me.

all the material belongs to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com

COUSCOUS SALAD

The day I discovered couscous (or tabulé) I was still a university student in Florence (Italy). Oh yes, who would have thought that I would have sight for those memories... The days of independence, out of the protective shell family gives you. Those, are the days when you start to understand how tough it is to keep the house clean. How harsh can be relationships. And of course, the days of first experiment with cooking. I must say it, to the delight of my room mate, I experimented a lot.  

One day Hamada, one of my best friend, came home with a present from his granny, which is Moroccan origine. Thanks to the kindness of a grand mother I had my first plate of couscous. I was totally stunned. I felt to eat something between pasta and rice. Was that possible?

I learnt that couscous is super fast, easy and one of the most versatile ingredients ever. It's a north African dish of semolina, usually served with vegetables or meat stew, spooned over it. To form the semolina into small granules is a very long process and luckily it's possible to get the "Western" edition: Instant Couscous.

Today, a very hot day in Goa (India) besides monsoon's, I decided to cook a Couscous Salad, fresh, filling and colorful. You can add whatever ingredients you like in a salad, from the most common (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots etc.) to the more special (feta cheese, tuna, eggs, fried bacon, ham, chicken, salami, grated zucchini, spring onions, apple, etc.). I seasoned it with a salad dressing lemon-based.

Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Couscous
• Lettuce
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Spring Onions
• Yellow Capsicum
• Olive Oil
• Butter (optional)
• Lemon-Based Dressing

Preparation:

• In a large non-stick frying pan, bring 1 cup of water to boil with 1tsp of olive oil and 1tsp of salt. Remove it from fire, add 1 cup of couscous and cover it. Let the couscous to absorb the water and after 7 minutes remove the lid, put it back on a very low flame, add little bit of butter (optional) and separate the granules with a fork.  

• Remove from the pan and let it cool on a large plate.

• Wash and cut all the ingredients for the salad and put them in a lage bowl.

• Separately, prepare the Lemon-Based Dressing and toss it in the salad. Mix it well, try it and adjust the taste if necessary.

• Add the couscous once it gets cool, some more grated pepper and mix it well.

I serve it with Spanish Omelet and Bruschetta.

If you have any question or suggestion you know how to find me.

all the material belongs to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com 

SALAD DRESSING

What makes a simple trivial insignificant salad a Gorgeous Salad is the dressing.

This is an indisputable fact.

Below some of my favorites...

Ingredients for 2 people:

LIME-BASED DRESSING
2 tbls. Olive Oil, 1tbls Lime Juice, Salt, Pepper, some Herbs (Basil, Sage, Parsley, Coriander, Time, ect.). 
Mix all ingredients until a thick sauce.

VINEGAR DRESSING
2 tbls. Olive Oil, 1tbls Vinegar, Salt, Pepper, some Herbs (Basil, Sage, Parsley, Coriander, Time, ect). 
Mix all ingredients until a thick sauce.


BALSAMIC DRESSING
2 tbls. Olive Oil, 1tbls Balsamic Vinegar, Salt, Pepper, some Herbs (Basil, Sage, Parsley, Coriander, Time, ect). 
Mix all ingredients until a thick sauce.


MAYONAISE DRESSING
2 tbls. Olive Oil, 1tbls Vinegar/Balsamic/Lime, 1tsp Mayonaise, Salt, Pepper, some Herbs (Basil, Sage, Parsley, Coriander, Time, ect). 
Mix all ingredients until a thick sauce.


MUSTARD DRESSING
2 tbls. Olive Oil, 1tbls Vinegar/Balsamic/Lime, 1tsp Mustard, Salt, Pepper, some Herbs (Basil, Sage, Parsley, Coriander, Time, ect). 
Mix all ingredients until a thick sauce.

all the material belongs to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com

THICK VEGGIES SOUP ALSO CALLED MINESTRONE

This dish in italian is called minestrone -literally "big soup"- but since I blend it, I transformed the minestrone in passata di verdure, which means pureed vegetables.
This thick soup is meant for Healthy Veggies Freaks because it contains only fresh vegetables, water and salt. No stock-cube, preservatives&Company...

It's an easy recipe, tasty and the best of it is that I can store it in the freezer! Ok, maybe you are thinking that frozen food is not that healthy. I agree. But think about it. In our daily life we are bombarded with agents that kill us physically, mentally and I just say it, spiritually. 

I froze my healthy thick soup because when I'm lazy to cook or my fridge is sadly empty, I can always have a good meal instead of ordering a pizza or go for junk.

You can use all type of vegetables, like: spinach, pumpkin, cauliflower, beans, green pieces, chick pieces, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, broccoli, zucchini... just to name a few. Whatever you have in the fridge that it doesn't look fresh enough to make any other dish, goes for minestrone (do not use rotten veggies...).

It is perfect for dieting. In practice, you eat hot water and it fill you up like anything. Further, it definitely enhance your digestion system, purifying your  body and helping to eliminate all toxins from your intestines.

The decision to pureed the veggies has been made because the soup taste better when pureed. All the flavors are blent together giving a "full-bodied" taste. And of course, like this I can freeze it!

Time: long
Ingredients:

• Onions
• Garlic
• Celery
• Pumpkin
• Cauliflower
• Potatoes
• Spinaches
• Carrots
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

• Cut celery, onions, garlic and one of the carrot finely. Take a very large vessel (if you want to make in big quantities), add a little bit of olive oil and fry the cut veggies. 

• When onions turn "blonde" and soft add all the vegetables cut into small squares. Cover them with water and add some salt.

• Bring it to boil, cover with a lid (not completely) decrease the heat and let it boil gently for hours. More it boils more tasty it become. If 45 minutes can be enough, 2 hours of boiling make the soup fantastic.

• Check it sometime, stir it and add water if necessary.

• When all the vegetables are cooked long enough, it is time to blend them. Extract the veggies from the vessel with some of the "broth", do not blend them with all the broth because the soup will be too watery. Personally, I prefer it kind of dense. So start blending the veggies only (which will loose water) and then add some more broth. Again, put the passata di verdure on the fire for a while, add salt and pepper. It is ready.

To refrigerate the soup, I always use aluminum containers. I wait for the soup to cool and I put the containers in the freezer.

I serve the thick soup with some crocchette di pane, toasting the bread in a pan with olive oil and rosemary. I topped it with some grated cheese.

If you have any question or suggestion, you know how to find me.

all the material belongs to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com