Italian – FoodPrint of Bing

Summer Home Kitchen — Pan Fried Fish

Hey guys! Here is a new episode of Summer Home Kitchen! Today what I bring to you is another Italian dish Pan Fried Fish! It is incredibly easy to make and the taste is amazing. After tasting it, my friend immediately decided to use this recipe at his family dinner. So come check this out!

Name: Pan Fried Fish

A little info:
A good seafood dish is what I always crave during the summer. This dish uses a slightly unconventional way of cooking fish and the taste is truly amazing. All ingredients are easy to find in local grocery store and preparation time of this dish is only 5-10 minutes!

Ingredients:

Filleted monkfish (or fish of your preference) — 500g
Cherry tomato — 300g
Dry chili — 10g
Vegetable stock — 200ml
Cilantro — 200g
Garlic — 3~5 pieces
Olive oil
Black pepper
Salt
(Maybe olives and anchovy)

Let’s cook it up!

Rub olive oil with salt and black pepper on both sides of the fish fillet

Dice dried chili, garlic and cilantro, slice cherry tomatos

Heat up the vegetable stock to medium warm

Add 2 spoon of olive oil in a frying pan, heat up the pan at medium heat

Add in diced garlic

Put in fish fillet, fry each side for 2-3 minutes

Add vegetable stock and dice tomato, cilantro and dried chili

Cover the pan with aluminum foil or lid, keep the pan on medium high heat for 20-25 minutes

Serve! Now you have Pan Fried Fish!

Summer Home Kitchen — Summer Meatball Pasta

This time we have a nice homemade Italian dish — Meatball Pasta! This is an incredibly easy dish to make and all the ingredients are very commonly used in other dishes so there is no need to shop for fancy stuff. Be sure to check it out!

Name: Summer Meatball Pasta

A little info:

Pasta is one of the most common Italian dishes and it can be adjusted based on each individual’s taste. Essentially, every ingredient in the pasta can be changed based on personal preference and you can almost never go wrong with it!

Ingredients:

Spaghetti — 250g

Cherry tomato — 100g

Ground pork — 100g

Baby spinach — 50g

Dry chili — 5g

Mozzarella — 20g

Olive oil — 3 table spoon

Salt

Let’s cook it up!

1. Dice half of the spinach, splice all cherry tomatoes in half, shred fresh mozzarella

2. Mix ground pork with diced spinach and some salt

3. Heat pan with oil to medium high heat, heat a pot of water for cooking spaghetti at the same time

4. Split mixed pork into balls and fry them in the pan till the outside of the meatballs looks yellow

5. Push in sliced tomatos and spinach, at a cup of water, turn stove to medium heat and cover the pan with either a lid or aluminum foil

6. Push in all spaghetti used the “twist and release” technique

7. Keep stirring the pot of spaghetti to prevent sticking, cook spaghetti for 7 minutes

8. Remove cover from the pan, dry the cooked pasta then mix it with meatball and vegetables in the pan then add some salt

9. Stir for 2-3 minutes, then serve with diced mozzarella on top

10. Tadda! Now you have Summer Meatball Pasta

FoodPrint-Boston: Stella

Restaurant:
Stella

Address:
1525 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
b/t Mystic St & Brookline St in South End

Category:
Italian

Average:
$40/person

Review:
This is an unexpected dining experience I had in Boston. After my awful visit to Boston’s South end Giacomo’s, I decided to find a restaurant nearby to had dinner with my friends. Stella was the one that we picked based on its relatively decent review in the south end area.

When we arrived at this restaurant, we were seated immediately even without a reservation. This was pretty unusual for a restaurant on Sunday night. The inside decoration was very modern and neat. It looked pretty nice but lacked the authentic Italian element. The service there was very satisfying and all waiters were very passionate.

We ordered Seafood Risotto to share with each other. This dish was very nicely arranged and served. However, after tasting it, I had to say that this was pretty disappointing. The sour flavor from tomato was too strong, which almost completely covered the flavor from mussels and fish. Risotto was too soft and watery and made this whole dish more like a soup.

In addition, I ordered Braised Short Rib for my entree. This was a pizza with short rib on top. The appearance of this dish was not quite attractive but its taste totally surprised me. The short rib was well cooked and had a sweet flavor. But only the sweet rib couldn’t make it an amazing dish. The most surprising part was the bitterness came from kale, which matched really well with the sweetness from its rib. The combination of sweetness and bitterness really enriched the layers of flavor in this dish. Even though the bread was a little overcooked, I would still say this is a pretty nice dish.

In general, Stella is a decent restaurant with a lot of space for improvement.

FoodPrint-New York City: Malatesta Trattoria

Restaurant:
Malatesta Trattoria

Address:
649 Washington St
New York, NY 10014
b/t 10th St & Christopher St in West Village

Category:
Italian

Average:
$25/person

Review:
This is the first restaurant that I tried in NYC. With a great location in a relatively quiet neighborhood, this small restaurant was literally located around the corner. The restaurant has a very italian style design and decoration. Not so classy but very casual and relaxing. We had our reservation at 7 and we were seated right on time. However, based on some other people’s review, reservation may not be necessary if you are going on a week day. They had both indoor and outdoor seats, although outdoor seats were mostly doubles.

Waiter served typical Italian roll with vinegar and oil. However, their vinegar and oil are specially made with some chili mixed, which surprisingly brought up a magic taste of vinegar. That was so far the best vinegar and oil mixed I have ever had in an Italian restaurant.

For entree, I ordered Spinach Gnocchi, which was marked as one of the signature dishes of this restaurant online. The taste was fabulous, although the cheese flavor was a little bit too strong. Gorgonzola was used in the sauce, which gave me a very attractive taste at first. But after a while, the strong flavor just made my tongue tired. The spinach gnocchi itself was well-cooked, with a very soft taste and the light scent of spinach added a lot of score on this dish. However, since I am a huge meat lover, this dish doesn’t quite fit my preference.

In general, this restaurant is has a nice italian setting. The food was quite authentic and delicious. But since the menu are in Italian and it was handwritten, it could be hard to pick one dish that fit your preference. So before you go, online research about the menu is highly suggested.

FoodPrint-Washington D.C.: Bistrot Du Coin

Restaurant:
Bistrot Du Coin

Address:
1738 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20009
b/t N R st & N S St

Category:
Frech, Belgian, Italian

Average:
$30/person

Review:
Bistrot Du Coin is a restaurant that I randomly ran into in Washington, DC that left me with a great memory with its mussels. This restaurant turned out to be one of the most reviewed restaurant in DC.

We ordered Moules Bretonnes as our appetizer. Mussels in this dish is relatively small compared to the ones I had in other restaurant. However, the taste was amazing with the help of lobster, shrimp, and mushroom. The slightly sour taste from tomato mixed with the taste of lobster and mussels just created a fantastic experience. We had a full order, which was more than enough for three people. In general, the mussel was very impressive in this restaurant.

For entree, we ordered Blanquette De Veau. This dish matched very well with the risotto they offered. Lamb was well cooked in cheese and cream. Its cream had a very strong taste and with a little sour flavor, it successfully brought out the freshness of lamb. However, the size of serving was reasonable. The risotto offered with this dish was also perfectly cooked. Rice was neither sticky nor dry. However, the size of one serving of Risotto was not enough for so I could help asking for a second serve.

The waiter was very nice and has a great sense of humor. The general set up of the restaurant showed its Italian element. In general, it is a really relaxing place to dine in and if you are in DC, you should’t miss it.