Giovannina Bellino - Cooking with Flavor Bombs

PREP IT + FREEZE IT + DROP IT = TRANSFORM DINNER!

GIOVANNINA BELLINO

Text 2016 Giovannina Bellino

Photography 2016 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

First published in the United States of America in 2016 by

Race Point Publishing, a member of

Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

142 West 36th Street, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10018

www.quartoknows.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

Digital edition: 978-0-76035-479-7

Hardcover edition: 978-1-63106-257-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bellino, Giovannina, author.

Title: Cooking with flavor bombs prep it, freeze it, drop ittransform dinner! / Giovannina Bellino.

Description: New York : Race Point Publishing, 2017. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016031277 | ISBN 9781631062575 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: Cooking (Herbs) | Cooking (Spices) | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX819.H4 B3887 2017 | DDC 641.6/57--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031277

Editorial Director: Jeannine Dillon

Project Editor: Erin Canning

Art Director: Merideth Harte

Photography: Evi Abeler

Photo Shoot Assistant: Harriet Honkaniemi

Food Stylist: Charlotte Omns

Assistant Food Stylists: Eva Mrak Blumberg, Kristin Stangl, and Julia Choi

GARDENERS KNOW FLAVOR BOMBS. CHEFS KNOW FLAVOR BOMBS. AND NOW ITS TIME FOR YOU TO KNOW FLAVOR BOMBS!

Ive never been one to spend an entire day cooking meals for the week. The thought of that much shopping, prepping, cooking, and storing of meals is overwhelming to me. I mean, it would feel like holiday cooking every week. I do, however, spend an hour or two making a few batches of Flavor Bombs. The time spent on doing this sets my family up for quick and easy meals for the next month, if not two months. When I can eliminate the tedious chores of peeling, washing, chopping, and sauting the herbs and aromatics for flavor bases every time I cooknow thats time well spent.

So if you find yourself grabbing the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and any other veggies and fresh herbs to prep day after day, night after night, meal after meal, its time to prep it, freeze it, and drop the F Bomb.

Finally, if you enjoy cooking at all, its such a great feeling of accomplishment when you start seeing (and tasting) your dishes reaching a new level of flavor. You will also begin using less salt and dried, packaged, or jarred spice mixes full of preservatives and start loving the full, deep flavors that YOU are creating.

Giovannina Bellino

WHAT ARE FLAVOR BOMBS?

Flavor Bombs are combinations of savory, sauted aromatics, fresh herbs, or sauce reductions blended together and frozen in ice cube trays, small containers, small bowls, or even just spooned onto a tray lined with wax paper. They are also a great way to reuse plastic containers, such as small sauce containers with lids and egg cartons. Once theyre frozen, you transfer them to an airtight container or resealable freezer bag and theyre ready to add a flavor explosion to your meals.

The ingredients are chopped by hand, in a food processor, or even pounded with a mortar and pestle, depending on how rustic or refined you want your Flavor Bomb blends to be. Fresh ingredients may be preferable but using pre-prepped, chopped vegetables in containers or even frozen vegetables will produce very similar results. The herbs, however, should always be fresh.

Making Flavor Bombs is an excellent way to take advantage of specials in your markets produce department. Stock up, chop up, and free up time and money! Go that extra mile when you buy that pricey batch of herbs or exotic vegetable, make enough for leftovers, and then make a Bomb out of it.

COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL FLAVOR BOMB

A successful flavor bomb includes the five basic tastes: sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness, and umami. Along with the other ingredients in your dish, you may detect these flavors now more than ever since you are creating the background or building block of the dish with Flavor Bombs. By the way, spicy is not a taste, it hits the pain receptors, not the taste budsso go as spicy as you dare!

SWEETNESS: Found in sweet vegetables, such as onions and carrots, sugars are drawn out when these vegetables are caramelized.

SOURNESS: Found in vinegar and lemon, sourness brings a brightness to the tongue, which contrasts nicely with rich, savory flavors and can help cut through fattiness.

BITTERNESS: Different than sourness, bitterness can be considered unpleasant but yet rounds out richness and adds another dimension of taste to dishes. It is found in citrus peel, herbs, and leafy greens.

SALTINESS: Identified with foods containing sodium, such as soy sauce, miso paste, and even celery, salt harmonizes and brings out the flavors of foods when used in moderation. It shares some characteristics with umami.

UMAMI: This Japanese word means yummy or delicious (and it is). Umami has a meaty, savory taste that is found in miso paste, soy sauce, tomato paste, and dried mushrooms.

TYPES OF FLAVOR BOMBS

I have included three types of Flavor Bombs in this bookHerb Pesto, Vegetable Blend, and Stock and Saucethat represent flavors from around the world. I have also included recipes with all of the Bombs to get you started, but feel free to experiment with your own blends.

HERB PESTO FLAVOR BOMBS

The word pesto derives from the Italian verb pestare, which means to pound the ingredients in a mortar and pestle to create a paste. In this section, youll find your classic Italian basil pesto to Mediterranean, Thai, Tex-Mex, and Latin American versions. What do all of the pestos have in common? Fresh herbs, sauted aromatics, and extra-virgin olive oil. Some of them call for the addition of flat leaf (Italian) parsley, which gives a bright green color and rounds out the flavor.