Cooking in Milan

I took part in workshops with the ambassadors of Philipiak Milano: Karol Okrasa, Giancarlo Russo and Joseph Seeletso – the chefs who shared their cookery skills. I willingly accepted the invitation because I liked the idea of the event: healthy steam cooking without salt, frying without fat, retaining all the nutrients of products used as much as possible. The Chefs showed the participants that meals prepared in those ways don’t lose their tastes, instead, they offer even more tastes, strong, subtle, full palette. For years the Mediterranean style of cooking has been treated as a model worth pursuing. The choice of fresh and local products, short thermal processing, with particular care to taste and aesthetic, are most important for Italians. In this spirit, all the three Master Chefs were acting. The supper by Lake Como was an opportunity to present their original recipes. You can see them below as well as a set of photos which show that the atmosphere was really nice and the organization of the event professional.

Insalata Rossa or Radicchio salad by Giancarlo Russo

Ingredients (4 servings):

• 4 Radicchio Rosso Treviso chicory
• 2 mozzarella di bufala (or 16 mozzarella ovoletti)
• 200 g Parmesane cheese
• 1 Cantalupe melon
• 4 red oranges
• 2 cucumbers
• 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 150 ml cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Tear radicchio into middle-sized pieces, add sliced cucumber, peeled red orange (divided into pieces), diced melon and mozzarella (or make little balls in case of ovoletti).
2. Sprinkle it all with olive oil and cider vinegar.
3. Top it with parmesan flakes.

Tomato-orange cappuccino by Joseph Seeletso 

Ingredients (4 servings):

• 1 onion
• 400 g pellati tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 chili pepper (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon chopped basil
• 100 ml vegetable broth
• 100 ml milk
• 50 g butter
• 200 ml orange juice
• 15 ml orange liqueur
• 1 pinch cinnamon

Directions:

1. Dice the onion and fry in a pot until transparent. Add tomatoes, chopped garlic and chili and cook until it boils. Pour the vegetable broth, boil it, then add butter, juice and liqueur.
2. Blend it creamy. Boil it again and then pour through a sieve. Add chopped basil. Heat the milk to 60 ˚C and beat it up when cooled. Serve the soup in cappuccino cups, sprinkled with a pinch of cinnamon and decorated with milk foam.

Cod in the Hay by Karol Okrasa

Ingredients: 

• 2 tablespoons buckwheat honey
• 2 cod fillets
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup hulless oats
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• 2 cloves garlic
• 5 dried plums
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Marinate cod fillets in pepper, grated lemon skin, a little bit of honey, then pour it with olive oil and put in a pot for steaming. Cook it for 10-15 minutes.
2. Boil the oats, as every type of kasha, until tender. Cool it down. Roast pumpkin and sunflower seeds golden brown in a dry frying pan, stirring all the time not to burn them. Chop finely peeled cloves of garlic and dried plums. Melt a teaspoon of honey in the frying pan, fry the garlic and add butter and plums. When the plums are tender and fried, add grated lemon skin and lemon juice, and cooked oats. Fry it for a while and finally put in pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Mix it all with chopped parsley.
3. Put the oat kasha on plates and place pieces of cod roasted in the hay on it.