Italian Chili and Rosemary Olive Oil

If you have ever travelled to Italy you might have noticed how in Italian restaurants and pizzerias there is an almost complete lack of chili sauces, one of those things you get used to when living in the English speaking world, is that if you sit somewhere for a pizza and ask the waiter for a bit more excitement, he could be bringing a whole tray of sauces, ranging from Louisiana style Tabasco type of hot sauces, to Jamaican Encona types, maybe even Sriracha(well I've had pizza with kebab meat as topping once in London, so everything is possible)

In Italy though what you're most likely to find is "olio piccante" or "olio al peperoncino", depending on the joint you're eating at, it could be very mild, basically olive oil with a couple of chilies thrown in, or it could be a thick paste, extremely powerful and strong.

In this post I'm going for the latter, milder type, as I reckon that if you're eating good pizza, with actual mozzarella and not plastic cheese on top, you require something that will enhance the taste of what you are eating, not burn your mouth like the forests of Laos after a Napalm drop in the late sixties.

First of given that this bottle of condiment will be sitting in your kitchen in clear view and not hidden away in a restaurant, I decided to go for a classy bottle, an empty(my father took one for the team and gave himself the responsibility of emptying the liquid it previously held) bottle of Japanese Nikka Whiskey, an extremely well designed bottle that just had to be re-used somehow.

Above it is in all its glory, next to the very rosemary shrub I have used in the concoction.

Here's the details of the whiskey makers below the bottle, it was apparently some very good whiskey, even though I didn't get to try any.

Next you need the spices, luckily living in a rural area of Italy, we take those things for granted, for instance we have a huge shrub of rosemary growing just outside my bedroom., which given the season even happens to have flowers on it.

Below is a close-up photo I took of the rosemary, before cutting what I needed and thanking the plant for its contribution(I'm a hippy at heart).

Next come the chillies, given what I said before about the oil having to be spicy enough to make a meal more thrilling but not enough to cover the taste of the ingredients, I went for southern Italian chillies, sun dried, obviously organic(you can hear Jamie Oliver wanking himself to death in the distance).

That's the exact amount of chillies I have put in the oil, most of them untouched, a few crushed by hand. It all goes down to how strong of an oil you want, crush them all and you'll get fire oil, leave most of them whole with just a few crushed and it will be inevitably milder to the taste.

Next herb I needed was a leaf of laurel, which again, thanks to the climate, we have a whole tree in the backgarden, here is a close-up photo of the laurel tree before I cut the single leaf I needed.

After gathering all I needed, I took one shot of all the herbs and spices required, below:

Then I added the most important ingredient of all, the olive oil, I used a COOP brand extra virgin oil, I added all the chillies and herbs into the bottle, then slowly poured the oil in with the help of a funnel. Now the oil is obviously the most important ingredient, I don't feel to pontificate, at the end of the day a bottle of extra virgin olive oil here can cost you as low as ten euros, abroad the prices are insane. So really I would suggest at least olive oil of decent quality, Italian, Spanish, Moroccan, Israeli, doesn't matter where from, but 100% olive oil. Seed oil I believe is only good for fast food joints or for deep frying Mars bars in Glasgow. 

Anyway, here is the finished work:

Let sit for at least a couple of weeks before tasting, make sure the oil covers all the spices inside the bottle and for how long will it last? I've read some online sources saying three months, however I'm lead to believe this to be garbage, as things preserved under oil usually last for a very very longtime. 

Try making your own and share your creations, hope you enjoyed my comeback post, it's been long due. 

Neglected Blog - Sorry

I have to admit that I've just started another blog on international affairs and geopolitics, however I noticed how little interest it is generating, both in terms of actual visitors to the page and in the lack of reshares.

This blog, even though I haven't updated it in years still gets regular views that put to shame my latest blogging effort, who could have told, it seems people are more interested in recipes involving ungodly amounts of bacon and homemade hot sauces rather than be bothered reading about Trump's policy towards the Middle East and its potential consequences for peace and stability in the region.

I'm not going to abandon my serious blog, I will persevere and hope that with time a following is built, however I have decided to re-activate this blog, so soon there will be more food experimentation been shared, new recipes and hopefully a few interesting product reviews, I noticed that my instant ramen reviews get many hits on a daily basis even years after they were originally posted.

The last time I was actively taking care of this blog I was living in Melbourne, Aus, and had the fortune of living close by to a number of Asian food stores, especially Korean,  where I could find a variety of different instant ramen to taste and review. Unfortunately here in Italy, it is much harder to access certain foreign products so I will probably have to order my ramen online if I want to review them as those available at the supermarket are the usual big brand products, which are hardly exciting to review.

I will also write down some of the new recipes I've been trying out, made a great lasagna with boar meat instead of beef a while ago, I finally learned how to make the steak and kidney pies I so miss about Britain, the result was excellent, I was never good with pastry and baking but got lucky on the first trial.

Next I will try to make homemade pork pies, which are one of those products that I used to take for granted while living in the UK, never imagined I would miss them so much once back home. They used to be my staple snack while watching footie on a saturday afternoon.

I might also start reviewing another favourite thing of mine which is green tea, especially Japanese matcha, of which I have now a vast supply.

So yeah, stay tuned for more posts and content in the near future, I might also start the random posts about technology, gaming culture and other things people might enjoy reading.

2017 will then witness the resurgence of the Monello Way Blog, onwards and upwards.

By the way that's the link to my other blog, if anyone is interested: https://adifferentoutlookblog.wordpress.com

A New Snack for a New Year

The last post I made I was still living in Australia, I have now retreated to my Alpine hideout, no it isn't Berhof, as you might assume.

So here I am, unemployed and with nothing better to do than making blog entries about the sandwiches I'm eating, today I really did mean to eat healthy, I swear.

After seeing what the healthy options looked like, I opted for something else.

Upon a further exploration of the contents of the fridge, I found a pack of these

They are burgers, but instead of being made of cow or what passes per cow these days, they're made of pork, that cut of pork leg usually used for "cotechino", which is an Italian dish.

Upon further inspection I decided they would be a better lunch option that the sad looking supermarket salad.

Here is the burgers in their bag, looking well fat

So obviously the first step was to get on on a tray, put some freshly ground black pepper on top(yes I do grind my own pepper), and then the douse the think in sauce. Even though traditionally I'd say Nando Peri Peri Marinade is more for chicken, given the non-conventionality of a pork leg burger I say why not and went ahead with the trial

That's the burger marinated in sauce and then put in the oven, on grill.

After a few minutes in the oven on grill mode, I put it in a toaster on some warm bread and added copious amounts of cheese.

Needless to say the result was awesome and totally saved me the gas it would have required to drive to McDonalds.

Finished product here:

GREASY and tasty just as I like it.

Safe comrades...

Instant Noodles Review: Ichiban Delicious Roast Pork

Those noodles are from the same brand that makes the ones I reviewed last time, the Korean made noodles with actual chunks of meat in sauce, last time I bought the beef one, today I felt adventurous so I went for roast pork instead.

They were 3 dollars at the shop, which is pretty good given the basic noodles cost like 75 cents, at least these ones fill you up good.

I opened the bags of flavourings, then the big one containing the pork, this how it all looked like

You can see the pork actually looks like proper pork, sort of fatty, but much better than the dried flavourings you normally get with instant noodles.

So I followed instructions, added hot water and waited in eager anticipation whether they would look anything like the picture on the packaging.

I gave it a good stir to mix the sauces and flavourings, it ended up looking "almost" like a bowl of noodles you buy in a restaurant.

All over it proved to be a fairly decent instant noodle experience, I'd say good taste, easy to prepare, good price and great packaging.

Next time we're reviewing this, seafood noodles, stay tuned for more

ICHIBAN DELICIOUS Instant Noodles Review

Today's post will be a review of this fantastic instant noodles I bought at Korean shop last night, it worked magically to cure my hangover and I have to say that it was by far the best instant noodles I have ever had.

On the label it claims to have 100% Australian Beef as an ingredient, when I made the purchase I thought they meant the meat was dried or reconstituted.

However upon opening one of the flavouring bags I was pleasantly surprised to find out there were actual chunks of beef in sauce, delightful indeed.

The preparation was pretty straighforward, I had to open each bag of ingredients and flavours and empty them on the dried noodles, then add boiling water. The amazing thing was there were FOUR packs of flavouring, never had that many.

Those packs look like the Dharma Initiative food rations they find in the underground bunker in LOST.

After I added the water, waited the two minutes, according to instructions and then proceeded to eat it, that's how it looked when ready, actual chunks of beef, which makes this the poshiest cup noodles on the market.

It was only 3 dollars(AU) down at the Korean store, now I might go and get more.

Kanga Burritos

Today on the menu I had Burritos, made with Kangaroo meat, given my current location.

First I got the meat ready, mince Kanga meat, cut in cubes with a knife

Then some olive oil was put on a pan on medium heat, meat was added and browned slowly. Then some spices, cumin, paprika, dried cilantro(coriander).

Kidney beans were also added, anyway as always with food, if it looks like something that has been squirted out of your arse while you were waiting to score crack in Kings Cross, then it's probably very tasty.

I also made some more burrito filler later but without the beans, as it's less bulky and is easier to make the tortilla fold and hold.

That's the stuff

Still looks like something that's been drying out on a pavement outside a nighclub.

Time to heat the tortillas in the oven for a minute and then assemble the burritos.

Yep now I'm off to read comic books on the toilet seat. Later

Epic Meal Challenge Vs Lorenzo

Today I was challenged by my coworker Lorenzo to cook something greasy but still nice and palatable.
What I made was oven roasted chicken wings and deep friend chicken pieces in beer batter.
Obviously the chicken wings were first marinated, initially I crushed some garlic with green and black pepper, then I added some olive oil and a hint of soy sauce. After mixing well I added some Encona Jerk Sauce, which is perfect for marinades.
I then added cumin and chilli powder to give it some more thang and add texture to the meat.

Kangaroo Burgers

Okay so that's my first post from Down Under, conquered the jet leg, the long haul flight and now I'm settled down, even got a job interview early tomorrow morning.

So to get more acquainted with the place I had no other option but to try Kangaroo meat, hopefully during my stay here I'll be able to hit the outback and shoot, gut, skin and quarter one myself, but for now given my urban location I'll have to settle for store bought meat. Better than nothing.

I have also acquired some sauuuce, as burgers without hot sauce are pointless.

Poured some olive oil and in the pan and slammed the fuckers in, they didn't stick and cooked quite fast on high heat, left them slightly pinkish on the inside but not too much.

Added Australian cheddar on top as well, which didn't melt too well.

Let's add another layer...

Now time for some salad, just to give the illusion that I'm actually being healthy.

And finally let's top this with another slice of bread and obviously more hot sauce.

So that's it for today, now I have to prepare for tomorrow's interview. I also spotted Kangaroo sausages at the shop, they'll be featured in the next entry.

By the way the burgers tasted surprisingly good, nice texture, tasted like horse meat in a way, a bit gamey.

Burger Party Chez Chef Ciccio

Two weeks ago as the summer weather was at times almost unbearable, with the sun, heat, humidity and mosquitoes mercilessy making a meal out of your sweaty body, we also as humans feasted on our fellow living things.

We started preparing things early in the afternoon, first of all getting quality meat in from the butchers in the countryside, then placing it in a bowl with a couple of eggs for texture.

We then added fresh herbs and spices picked straight from the host's garden, which is well stocked in all the seasonings you might need for a good barbecue, sage, rosemary, parsley and other stuff.

The fresh herbs once brought back in the kitchen were then washed and chopped, then thrown in with the meat mix in the bowl.

The next step was to bring some human energy in the mix, get the hands dirty and make some nice meat mix to make decent burger pattys with.

A few beers were opened and the process continued as we were on to make some very decent burgers not just your average ones you can buy.

So what's even better than beer and beef, which we already had?

Pussy some of you might say, but the real men would only have an option really, the master race of meats, the emperor of grease and fat, our lord and saviour:

BACON. yes.

It was a simple straightforward choice anyway, so we started frying some pancetta in the pan, pancetta is basically Italian for bacon, it comes in different cuts and is often diced.

That's exactly what we needed as we didn't want to simply place bacon strips on our burgers once they were made, we wanted the bacon to be an integral part of our burger patty, its caring soul.

Here's our lovely bacon cooking in the pan, smelling up the room with goodness.

Next we started peeling and cutting onions, as they are an obvious add on in any burger, at the same time we started cutting Provolone cheese in slices and getting the Gorgonzola(like blue Stilton) out of the fridge.

Provolone melts amazingly, one of the best types of cheese to add on steaks or burgers, while the Gorgonzola packs quite a strong taste and goes well with fried onions.

Now it was time to actually press up the meat to make the pattys, for that we used some food proof paper to keep the pattys separated, a round metal pot to give the burgers their shape and a heavy glass to press everything together.

Here's the process basically, place a layer of paper at the bottom of the metal pan, then put a pile of meat mixture, then place another sheet of paper on top of it. Then apply pressure using the glass.

Here's our Chef Ciccio making them burgers, I was just drinking beer and taking photos while he was working like an eight year old Chinese child in a shoe factory. Industrial grade handmade burgers.

That's the first batch of the production line, there were going to be lots of mouths to feed that night so the we just kept on pressing and piling them up.

That's the kitchen work done, now out to the garden to get the grill ready, as people were arriving and were hungry we slammed the fuckers on and got cooking.

The grill was powered by wood logs on fire, which actually gave the burgers a nice natural smoky flavour, that's some properly flame grilled burgers right there, miles better than store bought.

That's a good view of the flames heating up the grill, with burgers, onions and cheeseburgers all cooking up nice, we also placed the sliced buns on the grill so they would warm up nice.

The finished product obviously turned quite nice and tasty, we also had sliced tomatoes and salad for those who wanted to them in, that's what they looked like when they were assembled.

The mosquitoes and the heat and humidity were still bad all throughout the night, but the beer, burgers and company made it all better.

Pa ra pa pa pa, I'm loving it.

Also, this creature somehow sneaked into the property and was spotted feeding at our table, its origins are unclear and it is not yet established whether it belongs to the human specie or not. As the photo evidence clearly shows it is likely to be some type of gnome commonly found in caves, who was attracted by the smell of food.