Spring Fruits and Vegetables

Goodbye snow, goodbye ice, goodbye heavy winter clothes and hell-ooo beautiful weather! I think it is safe to say that we are all pretty excited for the spring season. Spring resembles life: flowers bloom, animals mate, and beautiful color fills our atmosphere. Another wonderful aspect of the spring season is the variety of food.

For those of you who can use a bit of a spring cleaner-upper, why not start cleaning up bad eating habits? Let’s face it: the majority of us probably failed at keeping our New Year's resolutions of being “fit and healthy.” So why not take advantage of this new opportunity to make things right? Speaking of fit and healthy, keep in mind that summer will soon be around the corner and substituting unhealthy sweets with spring filled fruits is an easy fix. Strawberries are first on the list. Strawberries are available all year round in some areas but they suffer less damage in transit and are more likely to be fresher in quality during the springtime. These wonderful berries are very nutritional as they provide 3.5 grams of fiber and attribute to your vitamin C dosage.

All of the following fruits do wonders to the body so them all together and have yourself a dream fruit salad:

• Apricots
• Avocados
• Blueberries
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi
• Pineapple

The hard part about eating healthier is that vegetables are not the first foods to be considered due to the daily diet of most Americans consisting of meats and fried foods. Asparagus is a good spring vegetable due to its great nutritional value as they are low in fat, high in fiber, and provide a good source of vitamin B and C as well as iron. Fresh peas are also a great spring vegetable because they too are low in fat, high in fiber, and provide a great source of plant protein.

The following vegetables are also great in the spring:

• Artichoke
• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots

There are a number of fruits and vegetables that we should really take advantage of this spring season and it can also be a great adventure picking them yourself at a farm. Choose your food wisely as a lot of the best tasting foods contain the least amounts of grease and oil.

March Madness Catering

March is finally here, so get your brackets ready! A sure sign of Spring for all basketball fans is the start of March Madness. The NCAA March Madness Tournament kicks off March 15th, and that’s enough of a reason to celebrate. Get the gang together for an epic March Madness party and you can place your bets on La Bottega of Farmingdale to provide you the perfect catering everyone will enjoy. All you have to do is pick up the phone, give us a call, and let the madness ensue!

The last thing you want to do at your own party is spend time in the kitchen preparing food, cleaning, cooking, and missing out on the game. We have catering packages that will suit the tastes of all your guests. When choosing food for an event, guests usually expect to be munching down on delicious foods they can eat with their hands that doesn’t make too much of a mess. We offer spiedini, which are like delicious mini-meals on a skewer. Basketball fans can enjoy chicken, steak, or ship spiedini skewers even when they are standing cheering on their team.

You can’t go wrong with our famous paninis as they are known to be party pleasers. We let you choose from 6 varieties of many panini options so that all your guests will be sure to fill up on something they’ll love. The paninis are cut in fours so guests will be able to try a little of everything. Our panini options include vegetarian, steak, chicken, cured meats, roasted turkey, pork, or shrimp, all prepared fresh and served hot!

At La Bottega of Farmingdale, we can work with you to help coordinate your March Madness party and make recommendations to ensure your party is a hit. You can check out our full catering menu to help you decide what works best for your event. Whoever you root for, win or lose, we are sure your guests will go home happy when you choose La Bottega of Farmingdale for your March Madness party.

Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables

No, don’t buy strawberries yet—it’s not strawberry season! My mom says this to me during the winter months, though I can’t help it . . . strawberries are my favorite fruit! What does she mean by “it’s not strawberry season”, anyway? It’s a fruit, they’re grown all year round! You would be surprised, however, at how significant of a role timing can play into the taste of your fruits and vegetables based on the season and your geographical location.

You may still be able to find your favorite fruit or vegetable even when it is not the proper season, although it may not be the flavor and taste in which we crave from them. When food is not in season in your local area, you may still find them in a local supermarket as they are often grown in a hothouse or shipped from different parts of the world. The downside is that the taste is not always as sweet or as ripe as you would like due to the long travel in their export or the artificial flavoring that is sometimes added in a hothouse as the crops are not able to grow in their natural setting outdoors.

Another thing to keep in mind when shopping for fruits and vegetables (and you may want to thank me later) is the cost and expenses that will affect your wallet. When it is not the typical season for, let’s use for example a watermelon, the prices shoot up as the availability for fruits such as these goes down.  

As peak season is important when shopping for fruits (as it affects both your money and your meals), you can always check and inquire at your local farmer’s market to uncover seasonal produce guides. It is important to keep an idea of what crops are in peak time and what are not, and both your wallet and taste buds will appreciate the extra effort!

Different Types of Sauces

Preparing a good meal typically means following a recipe, whether it’s from a cookbook or from memory. Sauces are an important step in cooking almost any meal. There are sauces for all different types of foods. The sauces main purpose is to enhance the dish it’s served with as it brings out more flavor. There are different bases for sauces, as some are wine based, stock, or cooked with thyme and pepper as well as butter. There are a few basic sauces many of us know and love:

• White sauces, usually served with pasta, contains milks and creams. There are white butter sauces, based in butter, vinegar, and shallots.
• Brown sauces are based on dark stocks like lamb and beef dishes.
• Vegetable sauces are from cooked or purèed vegetables.
• Vinaigrettes are usually served on salads, made up of oils, vinegars, and seasonings.
• Hollandaise is usually associated with eggs benedict, a common breakfast dish, and it is cooked with egg yolks and butter.
• Dessert sauces are typically made with fruits or chocolates and sugar. Their bases are usually from caramel, butterscotch, or nuts.

This list includes just some of the many sauces. You may hear chefs commonly refer to the Five Mother Sauces. One of them is the hollandaise sauce, but also included is bechamel, a white sauce made from milk and cream. Veloute is a white stock based sauce usually paired with a chicken dish but sometimes used with fish. Espagnole is a brown sauce traditionally with veal and beef. Of course, you cannot forget the common tomato sauce, made traditionally by reducing tomatoes over heat.

You must be able to pair the right sauces with the dishes. The most important element of any sauce is the ability to cling to the food and make the flavor pop. According to the Food52 Network, a roux, an emulsifier, and a reduction are the three techniques used to make any sauce thick and stable enough to smother whatever food it is poured on. A roux is just a fancy name for flour mixed with fat. When butter and flour are cooked with a liquid, the mixture thickens and becomes the reducer, becoming the base of the sauce.

There are so many great sauces out there. Some sauces have recipes you can follow along with or sauces you can make yourself by any spices you may want in your dish. Some sauces are rich and spicy and others are just tasty. If cooking is your hobby or you’re just beginning in the kitchen, knowing your sauces is a basic first step to making any meal.

The Different Types of Pasta

When you think of Italian food, pasta is usually the first thing to come to mind. Pasta has such a long history and is a staple today for Italian cuisine. It is estimated that Italians eat over 60 lbs of pasta per person, per year. Americans eat about 20 lbs per person. Pasta can be found in just about every restaurant these days, and whether you’re cooking a pasta dish or ordering one at a restaurant, you have to think about the specifics.

There are 7 common types of pasta that you can find almost anywhere:

1. Angel hair pasta is the thin and long kind of pasta that can easily be mistaken for spaghetti. Angel hair only needs about 6-7 minutes to cook. It is typically paired with light dishes with soupy or dairy-based sauces to top it off. The hollowness of the pasta makes it easy to absorb the sauces. Angel hair pasta and spaghetti probably aren’t the best choices to slurp down on a date.
2. Farfalle is more commonly known as the “bow-tie” pasta. It’s slightly pinched in the center with wide surfaces on the end. This pasta is usually eaten with richer sauces that are tomato based or creamy because it sticks to the surface better. Farfalle takes about 11 minutes to cook.
3. Fusilli is the spiral shaped, corkscrew looking pasta and is one of the most common ones you will see. The shape of the pasta is made by wrapping thin strips of pasta around long skewers and then cutting them into multiple pieces making the individual pasta. The shape makes the cook time a little longer than the others, around 14 minutes.
4. Penne, the cylinder shaped pasta, takes long to cook and is usually paired with heavier, chunkier sauces. Penne is a common household pasta along with ravioli and macaroni.
5. Ravioli is the square shaped sheets of dough and can be filled with a variation of cheeses, lobster, or meat. This pasta is so rich that it typically doesn’t use much sauce.
6. Macaroni is the “elbow” shaped one that kids typically love to eat in their mac and cheese.
7. Spaghetti is an American favorite and probably one of the most Americanized of the Italian pasta dishes. It is usually paired with oils and sauces that have a creamy substance. It is served soft at all times, making it easy to slurp.

Now that you’re informed on pasta, it’s best to know what pasta does for you. Many people cut  carbs out of their diets when they want to lose weight. However, pasta can be a healthy option when the basic ingredients are swapped with nutritive ones. Pasta can be healthy depending on how it is both made and served. It’s dependent on what you pair the pasta with and what ingredients you cook it with.

The better you know your pasta, the better you'll be able to prepare them for yourself and the more knowledgeable you'll be when you order a dish.

The Benefits of Wine for Heart Health

For all you wine lovers out there, we might just make the day better for you with this wonderful information. Red wine, in moderation, is said to be healthy to the heart. Why? Red wine contains antioxidants by increasing levels of high density lipoprotein, a “good” cholesterol that enable fats to be carried into the bloodstream. Antioxidants in red wine alone, called polyphenols, may also help protect the lining of the blood vessels in the heart and one of the main reasons why red wine has gotten attention.

The key ingredient in red wine is resveratrol, which helps aid in reducing cholesterol and preventing blood clots. Resveratrol in red wine comes from the skin of the grapes and contains a higher amount of resveratrol as compared to white wine as it is fermented with the grape skins longer.

Wine is the healthiest way to drink compared to other types of alcohol. In a study conducted from the Israel Institute of Technology, researchers found that red wine enhanced the health of cells in the blood vessels. Healthy adults with a mean age of 29 drank two servings of red wine for three consecutive weeks and provided positive blood samples. The final evaluation claimed  that drinking wine every day helped reduce cell death.

Wine is also said to sharpen the mind. Research showed how alcohol’s ability to sharpen the mind was on the rise in a study from 2004, and a study conducted by academics from the University College of London found that those who drink one glass of wine a week have “significantly sharper thought process than those who do not”.

Red wine may have these great positive effects but doctors also fear that its consumption may have a negative effect on other organs such as the liver and kidneys. It is important to keep in mind that most research on resveratrol has been done on animals. The effect on these animals are positive although some human studies were conducted with human cells on a petri dish. Resveratrol can also be ingested through eating grapes although you may be receiving less depending on your intake.

It's Cold Out There. Takeout Anyone?

The frigid cold and snow brought by winter storm Jonas was brutal, and more snow may be returning sometime soon. It looks like we all may have to brave several more rough days this winter. No one enjoys the chaos of going to the grocery store when snow is on its way, and sometimes it is better to just take it easy and pick up some takeout. Defeat cabin fever and keep yourself warm by picking up a hot and delicious meal to enjoy with those who are stuck at home with you.

At La Bottega of Farmingdale we offer a take out menu filled with tasty italian dishes that will keep anyone warm during these long winter days. You may not think of soul-satisfying comfort foods, gourmet soups, and hot pressed paninis as typical takeout foods, but at La Bottega of Farmingdale, we offer the best Italian dishes on our takeout menu. We also offer soups, salads, pastas, paninis and even desserts that can be picked up or delivered that can all be enjoyed while getting cozy at home.

When the winter blues hit, and you feel like you’re freezing, warm up with one of our tasty soups. Our minestrone, tortellini in brodo, lobster bisque, and other soups are certain to to defrost the coldest of winter days. To add some warmth and comfort you can choose from one of our many comfort dishes or indulge in delicious taste of Italy with our entrees or specialty pizzas. We even offer a vast amount of gluten-free dishes to satisfy your entire family.

You can never go wrong with one our famous paninis. With vegetarian, chicken, cured meats, roasted turkey, steak, pork or shrimp paninis options, you can bring home a delicious, toasty pressed sandwich for everyone in the family. Roasted veggies, melted cheese and ciabatta bread will be sure to fill you up, so you won’t have to brave the cold more than once.

Don’t get stuck at the grocery store only to find long lines and craziness. Avoid the stress, and treat yourself you a nice, hot cooked meal. Call in your order and we will get your meal ready for you  to take out, and enjoy getting cozy with your family.