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Italian Food Break Down: Numbers to Know Before You Mangia!

FitSugar — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:00:00 -0800

Who doesn't love a slice of cheese pizza, Lasagna or Anitpasto? And those Italian desserts like gelato or a cannoli - they're just so delicious, it's hard to hold back.

Each of these are based on a regular restaurant portion:

Antipasto Salad: 136 cals, 8g fat, 13g carbs
Bruschetta (1 piece with tomato and basil): 102 cals, 3g fat, 17g carbs
Chicken Cacciatore: 370 cals, 22g fat, 4g carbs
Capresse Salad: 154 cals, 11.8g fat, 4.2g carbs
Eggplant Parmigiana: 670 cals, 32g fat, 75g carbs
Fettuccine Alfredo: 780 cals, 55g fat, 53g carbs
Parmesan Garlic Bread: 259 cals, 13.4g fat, 29.2g carbs
Lasagna (meat): 400 cals, 17g fat, 36 cals
Lasagna (vegetable): 250 cals, 13g fat, 21g carbs
Manicotti (cheese and tomato): 230 cals, 14g fat, 18g carbs
Minestrone Soup: 260 cals, 6g fat, 28g carbs
Spinach and Mushroom Risotto: 219 cals, 5g fat, 37g carbs
Pizza (1 slice cheese): 222 cals, 5g fat, 35g carbs
Pizza (1 slice pepperoni): 249 cals, 7.5g fat, 35g carbs

Want to see the rest? Then read more

Ravioli: 300 cals, 12g fat, 30 carbs
Spaghetti with tomato sauce: 540 cals, 13g fat, 105g carbs
Spaghetti with meatsauce: 650 cals, 16g fat, 90g carbs
Cheese Tortellini: 530 cals, 20g fat, 74g carbs
Veal Parmigiana: 350 cals, 20g fat, 5g carbs

Dessserts:

Cannoli: 142 cals, 7.1g fat, 14.2g carbs
Almond Biscotto: 110 cals, 2.5g fat, 21g carbs
Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato: 241 cals, 16g fat, 24 carbs
Raspberry Napoleon: 243 cals, 4g fat, 34g carbs
Pasticiotti: 305 cals, 12.4g fat, 42.5g carbs
Tiramisu: 310 cals, 15g fat, 39 carbs

Food Review: Sargento Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Italian

FitSugar — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:00:00 -0700

To say I have a passion for cheese would certainly not be an exaggeration. I do, however, try to use low-fat cheese when I can, since it is a great way to save on calories and fat intake. Most reduced-fat dairy products don't have added ingredients to make up for the fact that fat has been removed.

I just tried a reduced-fat cheese by Sargento – 4 Cheese Italian Cheese, a blend of reduced-fat mozzarella, smoked provolone, Romano, and Asiago ($2.99 per 8-oz. package). As a plus, it is shredded for my convenience. Too see what I thought of this cheese and how it compares calorically with similar full-fat cheeses, just read more.

This cheese is tasty and melts quite nicely. My new favorite go-to snack is placing a bit of cheese in a sliced whole-wheat pita and toasting this mini cheese sandwich until the cheese has melted. It satisfies both my taste buds and my hunger. The taste of the smoked provolone is subtle but definitely there. This reduced-fat cheese does compare favorably with a similar full-fat version, which is a blend of six cheeses.

1/4 cup (28g)	Reduced Fat Italian Blend	Regular Italian Blend
Calories	80	90
Total Fat	4.5 g	7 g
Cholesterol	15mg	20mg
Sodium	220mg	200mg
Protein	8g	7g
Calcium	20% RDI	20% RDI

The caloric difference isn't that large but the fat content is certainly lower. I just fear that unfortunate consequence of overeating that often accompanies reduced-fat or reduced-calorie food. I must add that this cheese would be a great for making pizzas, too.

Have you tried it? Tell me what you think in the comment section below.

Source

Your Political Leanings May Determine What's on Your Plate

YumSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:20:37 -0800

Everyone says that you are what you eat. But could your political party affiliation be the driver of what goes on your plate, too? That's what food trend analyst Phil Lempert (of koodie fame) is arguing. Examining 2009 data from Hunch, he found conservatives opt for "mainstream, comfort food staples," while liberals are likely to gravitate toward "international and exotic cuisines."

According to Lempert, conservatives correlated with foods like pizza, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly for lunch, plus fried chicken, meatloaf, and steak for dinner, with Italian food being the cuisine of choice.

Liberals, on the other hand, preferred Asian: Thai and Indian for lunch, and veggie burgers and green curry for supper. His findings indicate they also tend to make more nutritionally sound choices, such as eating vegetables more often and fast food less frequently, and making dishes from scratch.

Those looking to toe the bipartisan line should stick to mutually-loved foods such as hot dogs, bacon double cheeseburgers, ice cream sans sprinkles, romaine lettuce, and salt on a margarita glass. Do these findings line up correctly with your political leanings?

Source: Flickr User thebittenword.com

Noteworthy Nibbles - June 9-16, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:00:07 -0700

From Dr Pepper to pork to Philly cheesesteaks, this week's noteworthy nibbles seem to pay homage to time-honored American food traditions. We can't wait for the first ever Great American Food & Music Fest in Silicon Valley, which will feature guests like Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri, as well as famous regional specialties from all across the United States. Know of anything we've left off the list? Please feel free to chime in below!

Ithaca, NY: Taste of the Nation Ithaca - June 9
New York, NY: Wine Enthusiast Toast of the Town - June 15
Emporia, VA: Virginia Pork Festival - June 10
Lockhart, TX: Chisholm Trail Roundup - June 11-13
Kapalua, HI: Kapalua Wine & Food Festival - June 11-14
Winston-Salem, NC: Hot Ribs, Cool Music - June 11-14
Minneapolis, MN: Taste of the Nation Minneapolis - June 12
Salem, OR: Wine, Chocolate, and More! - June 12-13
Las Vegas, NV: Coffee Fest Las Vegas - June 12-14
Mountain View, CA: Great American Food & Music Festival - June 13

To see the rest, read more.

Oak Grove, VA: Chesapeake Bay Wine Festival - June 13
Minneapolis, MN: Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues Festival - June 13
Dublin, TX: Dr Pepper Birthday Celebration - June 13
Richmond, VA: St. Joseph's Italian Festival - June 13-14
Cockeysville, MD: Great Grapes! Wine, Art, and Food Festival - June 13-14
San Francisco, CA: Cochon 555 - June 14
Los Angeles, CA: Taste of the Nation LA - June 14
Ojai, CA: Ojai Wine Festival - June 14
Sedona, AZ: Dine in Sedona Restaurant Fest - June 15-30

Source

Nancy Silverton and Mario Batali Talk Italian Food

partysugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:44:44 -0700

At the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen over the weekend I was lucky enough to attend a demonstration lead by Nancy Silverton and Mario Batali. The duo are the masterminds behind a popular Los Angeles restaurant, Osteria Mozza. Silverton works most nights at the eatery behind the mozzarella bar. Batali, of course, is busy with lots of projects like a new line of tomato sauce and a pizza oven. When he hit the stage he dipped his hand in a pot of boiling pasta water and used it to slick back his hair! The two cooked, joked, and talked Italian cuisine. To find out what they had to say, read more.

To cook like an Italian, Mario insists on spending quality time shopping. "If you get good ingredients and don't really mess around with them, then you're cooking like an Italian."
When looking for ingredients, both Silverton and Batali seek out harder to find Italian specialty items like straticella (a type of fresh cheese), speck (smoked prosciutto), and guanicale (similar to bacon, but made from pork cheeks). Mario shamelessly pointed out that this kind of charcuterie can be purchased from his father's salumeria.

When making pasta, Batali undercooks it by two minutes. "When the box says it cooks in 10-12 minutes, I take it out after 8 minutes of cooking, then cook it for one more minute in the pan."
Like many Italian chefs, Batali said the "most crucial ingredient when making pasta is the starchy pasta water."
Instead of liquid honey, when she can find it, Silverton likes to use whole edible honey comb on cheese plates.
Let the pan do the work. Place meat and fish in a hot pan and leave it there. Don't mess with it, especially if it's fish.
Try making pesto in a mortar and pestle. Silverton, whose a huge fan of pestos, makes a variety including the classic basil, and other more interesting renditions like celery leaf, tomato, and caper pestos. While the elements may change, she makes pesto by hand in a mortar and pestle instead of a food processor. "The difference between male and female cooking is that men like machines and women like to be hands-on."
In Italy, they cook with everything from the head to the tail and from the leaf to the root, so make the most of your ingredients.
Unlike in French cooking, Italians (and Batali) don't worry about emulsifying sauces. Batali likes it when each bite is different and textured.
Lightly dress salads.
Spend the extra dollar on more expensive pasta. It will affect the overall flavor of the dish and is worth it.

The most important thing that Batali and Silverton stressed was that Italians are regionally focused. Each town has its own specific type of local cuisine. To truly cook like an Italian, look to your hometown for ingredients that are local and special to that region.

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Giada De Laurentiis: Love Her or Leave Her?

partysugar — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:00:03 -0700

While taking a look back at Giada De Laurentiis's culinary career, I realized how much I respect her.

I know some people think she's just a bobble head who bares all, but I happen to enjoy her show, Giada at Home and more importantly, I love her recipes! They are reliable, delicious, easy to follow, and make for some wonderful everyday Italian food.

Since today is her birthday tell me, how do you feel about the Food Network star?

Taste Test: Domino's Bread Bowl Pastas

YumSugar — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:00:53 -0700

The world of fast food is certainly quick paced, so the second Domino's begun advertising five flavors of pasta housed in a bread bowl, it seemed everybody was buzzing about it. When Party and I first got word of these monsters, we were simultaneously shocked (who came up with the concept?), appalled, and eager to try them. Yesterday turned out to be the Domino's day of reckoning - to find out how the bowls stood up to their shock value, read more.

It's hard to fathom why Domino's rolled out this concept of carbs inside more carbs, but the fact that competitor Pizza Hut has already racked up more than $500 million in sales of its Tuscani Pastas and lasagna, puts things more into perspective. However, as soon as we opened the delivery, we were faced with many unanswered questions: How many people was each bread bowl supposed to feed? Was the dish designed to be eaten like a pizza, or were we supposed to eat the pasta first, then the bowl?

Pasta Primavera: This bread bowl was filled with pasta, baby spinach, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and a goopy, oily Alfredo sauce. While the sole vegetarian option was filled with vegetables, I questioned whether the dish contained any protein.

Chicken Carbonara: Although this tasted somewhat like carbonara, it was covered with similar globs of white sauce.

Three Cheese Mac-N-Cheese: This was our least favorite. We love macaroni and cheese, but the flavors of the dish - bland, artificial nacho cheese, subpar penne, and a yeasty bread bowl - just did not seem to meld at all.

Italian Sausage Marinara: If we had to choose a best of the tasting, it would have been the Italian Sausage Marinara, which was rather reminiscent of regular pizza delivery with breadsticks. But then again, why not just order pizza and breadsticks?

Chicken Alfredo: All of the bowls were loaded with sodium (I drank water for hours afterward), but the Chicken Alfredo was swimming in a sauce that was over-the-top salty, to the point of being unpleasant to eat.

Unsurprisingly, the Pasta Primavera, Chicken Carbonara, and Chicken Alfredo flavors - which possess the same mysterious creamy white sauce - all taste remarkably similar. The bread bowl itself, which tastes a lot like Domino's breadsticks, was satisfying, but overall, unless we were starving and had no other options, or were carbo loading for a marathon the next day, we wouldn't eat this again.

Have you tried any of the Bread Bowl Pastas? If so, what was your assessment of them?

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Giada: From Pretty Cook to Full-Blown Celebrity Chef

YumSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:50:24 -0700

Regardless of whether you think she hosts the best Italian cooking show, Giada De Laurentiis has made a tremendous mark on home cooking in America. Over the years, Giada's evolved from fresh-faced home caterer to full-blown celebrity TV personality - and tomorrow, the Food Network star turns 39 years young. To pay tribute to her influence, I thought I'd show you a glimpse of her best moments over the years. Check it out when you keep reading.

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Keep 'Em Guessing With Complex Flavors of Tonnato Sauce

YumSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:30:02 -0700

Two weekends ago, I joined a friend at a potluck dinner organized by Slow Food San Francisco. While I do support the movement's good, clean, and fair principles, I also realized I'd probably be dining amongst a fair share of victory garden-sowing, microwave-loathing culinary crusaders. Eager to please the environmentally aware diners at the potluck, I decided to bring a wholesome spread of unadulterated vegetables fresh from that morning's farmers market, served alongside a rustic Italian tuna sauce.

Flash-forward to dinner - I'd returned to the serving table for seconds after filling my plate with a few too many vegan farro and quinoa courses the first time around. As I reached for my tonnato and vegetables, and the guy next to me in line interrupted. "Have you tried that? I can't figure out what it is, but it is absolutely delicious. And have you ever seen a purple carrot before?!" I blushed, explained what went into the tonnato, and considered my mission to impress Slow Foodies accomplished. See the crowd-pleasing recipe.

Happy Hour: Izzi Sambuca

partysugar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:15:42 -0800

While YumSugar was busy learning about caviar at the Fancy Foods Show, I was searching the Italian section for exciting new drinks. With its smooth, easy-drinking liquid, and clear anise-y taste, Izzi Sambuca caught my eye.

Sambuca is a popular Italian liqueur that's great for sipping on a cold afternoon. The distinctive flavor of licorice is prominent, but not overpowering. Izzi makes two kinds: premium original and Sumbuca al Caffé, a variation on theme with subtle undertones of coffee beans and a rich caramel color. Both are warming, but not too strong, full bodied yet not syrupy, and slightly sweet.

Sambuca was popular at the show and Izzi's offerings were my favorite. I definitely plan on adding a bottle to my liquor collection. How about you? Have you tried Sambuca?