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11/30/2010

Fixing Common Cooking Mistakes


  1. Bread is too soft to slice: Freeze it and slice it frozen.

  2. Bread Stale: Sprinkle it with a small amount of water, put it in foil, and bake in an oven at moderate heat for about ten minutes.

  3. Cake Stuck to Pan: Let it sit until it is a little cooler, and then try again. If it's already cold, reheat for a minute or two.

  4. Cheese tough or rubbery after cooking: Blend in a blender or food processor at low speed for a minute or two, then cook slowly.

  5. Coffee or broth cloudy: add eggshells.

  6. Coffee overcooked: Add a pinch of salt

  7. Dough is lumpy: Add more liquid and pound the dough thoroughly.

  8. Dough won't rise: Put the bowl of dough in a warmer place - in an oven, for instance, with a pilot light (do not turn the oven on). You could also mix a bit more yeast in ¼-cup warm water and knead into dough.

  9. Dough won't shape: Let it rest for 15 minutes.

  10. Eggs crack when cooking: Put in 1 teaspoonful of salt and a bit of lemon or vinegar into the water to keep whites from oozing out of the shell.

  11. Egg whites won't whip: Add a bit of baking soda or salt.

  12. Fudge hard: Add a tablespoon of milk and 2-3 tablespoonfuls of corn syrup and beat, then pour. Put in an airtight container for 24 hours.

  13. Gelatin stuck in mold: Dip the mold in hot water, but not so the gelatin is touched by the water, for just a few seconds. Put the mold on a plate, turn it upside down and shake.

  14. Gravy gray: Add red currant jelly, soy sauce, a bit of sherry, meat extract, or 1 teaspoon instant coffee.

  15. Gravy lumpy: Beat it with eggbeater or wire whisk. Strain it.

  16. Gravy salty: Make more. Sometimes adding a bit of brown sugar helps. Cook small pieces of potato into the gravy.

  17. Ham salty: Soak slices in milk for 15 minutes to a half-hour. Wash off.

  18. Icing sugared: Add a bit of vinegar and keep cooking.

  19. Lemon hard: Heat it for 5 minutes in boiling water or for 15 seconds in a microwave on HIGH, then try juicing it.

  20. Meat burned: Cut off burned parts, cube and sauce the rest. Serve over pasta.

  21. Pasta stuck together: Put back in boiling water with a tablespoon or so of oil in it.

  22. Pie dough burning on edge: Cover edge with aluminum foil.

  23. Popcorn won't pop: Soak corn in water for 5 minutes, dry off and try again. For very recalcitrant corn, freeze overnight and pop while frozen.

  24. Rice burned: Get it off the flame, then put a piece of bread on top of it, cover for 5 minutes.

  25. Scummy stock: Add leek tops and tomato peels, which absorb the scum.

  26. Soup too salty: Slice in potato, simmer until potato turns translucent, then lift potato out.

  27. Stew meat tough: if you haven't had the time to let the stew continue cooking under gentle heat, add a few tomatoes or a teaspoon of sugar to tenderize it.

  28. Vegetable old: To pep them up, add a pinch or two of sugar and a little salt to the cooking water.

  29. Vegetables overcooked: Puree them. Or make a cream soup of them Or put them in an oven-safe dish, cover them with bread crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese, and broil for a couple of minutes.

  30. Vegetables too salty: Pour the water out, rinse them off, and return them to the stove in new water. If you are already done, wash in hot water.

  31. Whipping cream won't whip: chill everything (bowl, cream, beaters) and try again. If that fails, add an unbeaten egg white or 3-4 drops of lemon juice and whip as hard as you can.

11/29/2010

Some Useful Tips on Cooking Chicken Feet Dishes

Although eating chicken feet is an acquired taste, those who love to eat chicken feet will swear by it. It is a delicacy in its own right. Chicken feet can be cooked in many ways. The chicken feet is rich in cartilage, hence it is known among old folks that it is good for their joins. In this article , I am going to talk about some easy tips to prepare chicken feet dishes.

I prefer to use chicken feet to boil soups or stews. I use them to boil nutritious such as black bean soup, lotus root soup, peanut soup and old cucumber soup. They can be used to boil in various type of soups such as herbal soup, black bean soup, lotus soup and old cucumber soup. For the stews, you can refer to my Chicken Feet stew with Chinese Mushroom. Some people prefer to use fried chicken feet for stews, that is tasty too. You can easily enhance the flavour with clove and star anise, and cinnamon stick. Chicken feet can be used to cook curry too.

Basically, there are two types of chicken feet. The white feather chicken feet that we consume almost daily, is easily available in the markets. The other type is "Kampong chicken" (Kampong is the Malaysian dialect for village) which is often found in rural village areas have feet which is firmer and tougher. Why is it firmer? Because the free range chickens run around a lot and thus its meat contain less fat. Of course, you can find "kampong chicken" in any supermarket nowadays, and not only in the "kampong". This is best to use in boiling soups as mentioned in the above.

If you are not used to cleaning chicken feet, it can be quite tricky. These are some steps to prepare the chicken feet for cooking. First, you have to cut off the claws and trim of the harden unwanted spot normally seen beneath the feet. Then, rub the chicken feet with salt to clean it thoroughly. Rinse it. Finally, scald the chicken feet in hot boil water for 5 minutes. Then the chicken feet is ready to be cooked in any way you want.

For more simple and delicious chicken feet recipes, and handy cooking tips, please visit http://www.simplecookingideas.com

11/28/2010

Using Bakers Percentages to Scale Your Pizza Dough Recipe

Making your own pizza from scratch is a rewarding enterprise. But as pizza by its nature is suited for serving as a party food, where the amount of pizza needed can vary, it can be hard to multiply out your pizza dough recipe to figure out exactly how much to make.

To help you with this I would like to take a look at the bakers percentage method of scaling recipes up and down. This might seem a little complex at first, but soon enough you will be able to scribble down how much dough you need, do a few quick calculations, and come up with exactly the right weight for each ingredient! The beauty of this system is that you no longer have to remember specific ingredient weights for a recipe. All I think when I'm making pizza is "100/66/2/1" and I have the recipe right there! Here's how it works:

For the purposes of this article we will use a basic pizza dough recipe as follows, with the weight in grams:

300g Flour
200ml Water
6g Salt
3g Instant Dried Yeast

Using bakers percentages, this recipe would appear as follows:

100% Flour
66% Water
2% Salt
1% Yeast

The bakers percentage system works by showing all of the ingredients in a recipe in proportion to the amount of flour used. So no matter what the weight of the flour, it will always be 100%. In the above example, 200g (1 ml water = 1 g) of water is used with 300g flour. 200g is 66% of 300g, so the percentage of water used is 66%. If the recipe called for 50% water with 300g flour, the water weight would be 150ml.

Now that we understand how the bakers percentage system works, we can easily scale up our recipe by using the following steps:

1. Add together all of the percentages in the recipe. In the example above, 100% + 66% + 2% + 1% = 169%

2. Figure out the final weight of dough that you will need. For example lets say we want to make 11 dough balls for pizza bases, each weighing 250g. 11 x 250g = 2750g.

3. Take the final dough weight from step 2 and divide it by the total percentages from step 1. 2750 / 169 = 16.2

4. Multiply the percentage of each ingredient in the recipe by the number from step 3. So 100% flour x 16.2 = 1620. This is the amount, in grams, of flour you will need in your scaled up recipe! Repeating for the other ingredients, 66 x 16.2 = 1069g water, 2 x 16.2 = 32.4g salt, and 1 x 16.2 = 16g yeast.

This might seem intimidating at first but give it a try next time you make pizza. Even if you only remember the concept of bakers percentages, you will be able to remember your recipes that much more easily.

11/27/2010

Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," a Timeless Classic!

If you're trying to recreate the savory taste of classic French cooking, that elusive mouth-watering aroma of a meal you once had, that recipe you lost and could never find another that was exactly right, then this may be the perfect cookbook for you. With beautiful illustrations, Mastering The Art Of French Cooking serves beginners and old pros alike.

To paraphrase the authors, if you have the right instructions, anyone can make these recipes. There's no real secret, other than the sequence. The step-by-step instructions are plain, from purchasing all your ingredients, then the easiest assembly order, through the finished creation result. By the time you've finished one or two of these recipes you may even surprise yourself at how well they turn out!

The recipes are organized by major themes together with nearly endless variations. In a sensible order the key recipes are presented so that anyone can quickly become proficient with the basics, leading to any number of elaborations. When practical, classic techniques are converted to the conveniences available today in modern America and elsewhere.

Lessons are included free of charge. How to buy the right cuts of meat, for example, the right beans or perhaps seafood and fish to replicate the precise texture and taste of the original French food items. Suggestions for the proper sides for each dish, the correct and permissible wines, whatever you may be unsure of, this cookbook is here to help. How's your cordon bleu? The secrets of famous recipes are right here.

Kids will even appreciate this food, and ask for it! Once you get comfortable with the book you'll see the recipes are mostly easy to do, and if you like a challenge there are some that are a bit more difficult. A lot of thought went into this book and each recipe it contains. The illustrations take you by the hand and walk you through easily.

Another benefit is all the ingredients can be found at a typical grocery store. No need to shop the pricey specialty shops, (unless you want to), ethnic markets, and so forth. Just write your list and go!

From omelets, to soups, to roasts, and more, Mastering The Art Of French Cooking will be a reference you'll turn to again and again. Oh and desserts? You bet! Once you start on these you'll wonder how you ever lived without them. Okay, maybe not really, but you might! Ahhhh, French bread? Sorry, but that's in volume II.

Also, "Julie & Julia" is now a major motion picture (released in August 2009) starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child. It is partially based on Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France.

11/26/2010

Gourmet Inspired Cooking Tips and Clam Spaghetti Recipe

Introducing Gourmet Inspired

The professionals all agree, when it comes to gourmet restaurant quality meals, you have to get your ingredients right. This means, the freshest herbs, picked from your backyard, the best cuts of meat and of course, organic in-season produce from your local farmers' market.

Garden? Farmers' Market? HELLOOO???

I'm sorry, but the professional chefs may have the time to trawl through the markets and drop by the wharf to pick up the fresh catch of the day. But for the rest of us, "fresh" means the mad dash to the supermarket aisles in a suit straight after work, desperately trying to scrounge together the ingredients for tonight's meal - if you manage to remember exactly when you bought that last carton of eggs. Organic means picking up the saran wrapped package with the green seal instead of none. Not to mention with today's economy, exquisite cuts of meat may not be particularly wallet friendly.

But does that mean we can't enjoy our favourite seafood pasta and tartine tarts at home?

Gourmet Inspired is a new way of looking at home cooking. We all know about home style roasts, spaghetti bolognaise and stir fry out of a packet. This collection of recipes has been developed to be simple and budget friendly, "inspired" by the tastes of your restaurant favourites, perfect for the amateur chefs in all of us.

Leave the professional tips and tricks to the professionals, but let the professionals inspire the rest of us.

Recipe for delicious Clam Spaghetti - Spaghetti Al Vongole

Gourmet Inspired Tip: The clams in the original dish tasted amazing and fresh, but the perfectly cooked pasta stirred through what was a very simple sauce with the strong flavour of clams was what won me over.

The tin clams obviously don't compare to the taste of fresh clams but they do manage to give the pasta that delicious clam flavour. To give the dish some substance and a "seafood feel", basa fillets are cheap but they taste like nothing. A little bit of paprika married with the basa fish texture helps flush out the essence of the dish. Top with a couple of prawns if you feel like splurging. :)

Ingredients

- 250grams spaghetti
- 1/2 brown onion, finely sliced
- 1/2 red capsicum, finely sliced
- 1 basa fillets, cut into chunks
- 2 tbs paprika
- 1 tin baby clams
- Parsley to taste, finely chopped
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 cup white wine (cheap chardonnay works fine)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 5 cooked peeled Tiger prawns (optional)

Method

- Follow instructions to cook pasta. Try and get it as "al dente" as possible, do not overcook.
- Add the paprika and basa chunks into a small baggie and shake to lightly dust fish with paprika
- In a non stick pan, lightly fry the pieces of fish until they are slightly charred on the outside and almost cooked through. Remove from heat.
- In a sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil garlic and fry until garlic brown on the edges. Add onions and capsicum, cook until onions become translucent. Add baby clams and white wine. Turn down heat, cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Use the clam tin to add water if the liquid level gets low.
- Add cooked pasta and parsley and stir through, cooking it for another 1-2 minutes to ensure eveness of temperature. Remove from heat. Add the cooked basa chunks and tiger prawns if desired, cover and let sit for 1-2 minutes before serving.

HINT: Oil and salt in the water before it boils will help keep your pasta from sticking.

11/25/2010

Cooking Roast Prime Rib on the Grill

Love the taste of prime rib? Love the taste of barbecue? You can combine them together for cooking roast prime rib on the grill. It takes a bit longer than hamburgers, but cooking roast prime rib on the grill gives you a fabulous roast that everyone enjoys.

You need a lot of charcoal for cooking prime rib on the grill. The cooking time is about two hours so you need about 8 pounds of good quality charcoal. Fire up the charcoal and wait until the flames die down and the charcoal is giving off a good heat.

When cooking prime rib on the grill, you don't want the meat to be directly over the hot coals. Move them over to one side of the grill so that you can place the roast on the other side. Before putting the meat on the barbecue, rub the exterior with a mixture of coarse salt, pepper and herbs.

You can use either bone on or bone off when cooking roast prime rib on the grill. You can ask the butcher to remove the bones and then tie them back onto the meat. This gives you the best of both worlds -- easy carving and great tasting ribs.

Place the meat on the grill and cover it tightly. If the cover has vents, you want to close them as well. Check the grill from time to time to make sure it has enough heat to for cooking roast prime rib on the grill. If it cools off, you can open the events to let the flames build up again.

After two hours of cooking roast prime rib on the grill, take the cover off and check the temperature with a meat thermometer. The interior will be about 115° when the meat is rare, and 150° is well done. Be sure to check the temperature as close to the middle as possible.

After cooking roast prime rib on the grill to your taste, remove it from the grill and let it sit for about 15 minutes before serving. I hope you bought a big enough roast because your guests will ask for seconds and thirds!

11/24/2010

Easy And Spicy Chicken Fajita Recipe

I am glad to have shared with you this secret recipe to cooking awesome sweet and sour chicken. Now you can have it to enjoy at home. It's easy and authentic!

When I wouldn't be home for dinner, I usually cook it. My children ate it and said it was really good and always ask me to make it again. It's a great for busy moms.

Do you like spicy? Well, you can serve spicy low-fat chicken fajita if you'd like for various recipes. Go ahead!

Ingredients of Easy Chicken fajita:

boneless chicken breast

1 1/2 c. water or chicken broth

1 pkg. taco seasoning

2 chopped bell peppers (red, green, or yellow)

Cooking Instructions of easy Chicken fajita:


  1. Cut chicken breast into strips. Simmer strips in water or broth until just about done.

  2. Place in skillet along with 1 cup cooking water or broth, taco seasoning, and chopped bell peppers.

  3. Simmer until chicken is done and sauce becomes thick. Add remaining water or broth (1/2 c.) and simmer 10 minutes.

  4. Recommended Toppings: Lettuce, Tomato, Refried Beans, Sour Cream, Taco.

Sauce Note: Tastes like Taco Bell.

Ingredients of spicy low fat chicken fajita:

2 cooked boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

1 can Rotel tomatoes (not drained)

1 bell pepper, diced

1 onion ,diced

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tomato, diced

cooking spray or 1 tsp. of olive oil

corn tortillas

sour cream

shredded cheddar cheese optional

Cooking Instructions of spicy low fat chicken fajita:


  1. Coat the skillet in cooking spray or 1 teaspoon of olive oil. On medium heat, add the diced bell pepper and onion to the skillet.

  2. Sauté until the peppers have softened enough to be cut easily with a spatula. If the skillet becomes too dry, a few teaspoons of water may be added to prevent sticking.

  3. Add the minced Garlic, diced tomato, and can of Rotel. While the above ingredients are cooking, shred and add cooked chicken to the skillet.

  4. Cook until the juice from the Rotel has thickened. Set aside the cooked fajita filling in a covered bowl.

  5. Heat the corn tortillas. Place fajita filling in the middle of your warm tortillas and serve. Top with sour cream and shredded cheese, if desired.

11/23/2010

Easy Recipe of Cooking Omelet With Potatoes

Egg not only can be cooked by itself but it can also be combined with other foods (such as fried rice, noodle, etc) or ingredients (such as cheese, ham, potatoes, etc) and make the food that contains eggs more delicious to eat.

There are also many recipes about how to cook omelet with other ingredients and this is one of them that I want to share to you. This calls an easy recipe of cooking omelet with potatoes to make food that contain eggs more delicious to eat.

First of all complete ingredients below those will be used to cook:

· 4 eggs

· 1 cupful of mashed potatoes

· 2 level tablespoonfuls of butter

· 1 tablespoonful of chopped parsley

· 1 level teaspoonful of salt

· 1 salt spoonful of pepper

After completing the ingredients, Then we ready to cook. Follow the steps of cooking omelet with potatoes below:

Beat the eggs, without separating, until thoroughly mixed; add them gradually to the mashed potato, beating all the while; add the salt and pepper. Put the butter into a good-sized saute or omelet pan; when hot, turn the ingredients into the pan, and smooth it down with a pallet knife. Let this cook slowly until nicely browned; fold it over as you would a plain omelet, and turn onto a heated dish. The parsley may be sprinkled over the top, or added to the mixture.

Do you spend hours each month waiting in a restaurant lobby to get seated? Do you spend hundreds of dollars per month paying others to cook secret recipes that you never thought you would be able to cook on your own?

What if you could cook these same recipes without waiting to be seated, at any time, and for a fraction of the cost? Now you can!

Cook the same recipes from your favorite restaurants for friends and family and have them convinced that you've ordered in. They simply will not believe that you've learned the secret, guarded recipes from the best restaurants. To know more about it see on the link below. Hope this recipes and the information will useful for you. Thanks.

11/22/2010

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe - Try This Old-World Favorite From Germany

This recipe for cabbage rolls was first brought to Texas by the German settlers in the 1800's. It takes about 1/2 hour to prepare the cabbage rolls for cooking, and about 2 1/2 hours for the total preparation time. Make sure and choose the biggest cabbage head you can find, in order to get at least 12 good cabbage leaves to stuff with filling. Any unused cabbage can be steamed or fried the next day or two.

Ingredients:

12 large cabbage leaves
1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 cup cooked rice
1 small onion, minced
1 egg
1 tablespoon brown sugar
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup water
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Cooking string, or toothpicks for holding cabbage rolls together

Directions:

Core the cabbage, then place the rest of the cabbage head in a large pot with the core end up. Pour about 3 cups of boiling water over it. The leaves will begin to loosen. Carefully peel off as many leaves as you can, then pour more boiling water in the pot to release more leaves. Keep doing this until all 12 leaves have been removed from the head. The leaves may still be a little stiff, but if so, pour some boiling water over them to make them a little more pliable and limp.

Cut out the middle veins in the larger cabbage leaves. Set the leaves aside, and start putting together the filling. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, salt, pepper, rice, onion, egg, and the thyme, and mix well (mixing with your hands is best). Set mixture aside.

Now make the sauce by mixing together the brown sugar, lemon juice, water, 1/4 cup water, and the tomato sauce in a separate, smaller bowl. Set this mixture aside.

Start bundling the cabbage rolls. Place two heaping tablespoons of the meat mixture on each cabbage leaf near the vein of the leaf. Fold the end over the filling, then fold over the ends like an envelope. Roll the rest of the leaf as tight as possible, then fasten by tying a piece of string around roll, or hold together with toothpick through the middle.

Heat oil in a 10-inch skillet, then evenly brown half of the cabbage rolls at a time. After all rolls are browned, place all 12 in the skillet, then pour the sauce over them. Cover and simmer over low heat for about one hour, basting the rolls occasionally.

Remove the rolls to a hot serving tray, and remove the strings or toothpicks. Look at the sauce, and if it of the thickness of ketchup, then it is good. If it looks too thin, then simmer it down until it is the right consistency. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls and serve.

11/21/2010

Tips in Cooking Italian Recipes

If cooking burgers and barbecues, sunny-side ups and omelet, try cooking Italian food and you will find a fast portal to cooking with stress. Cooking Italian food is hard even with a recipe to guide you on your way.

Recipes of Italian food may contain a lot of words that you will not be able to find in ordinary dictionary. This is perhaps because Italian food is often being cooked by those who already have the experience in cooking.

But still, who's stopping you from trying out the different recipes that you will find in an Italian cook book? Who knows, you might even master one dish and another through practice.

One advantage of having a cook book is that everything is already laid out for you. This means that you already have a guide on what to do to make an Italian dish. All you need to do is prepare the ingredients and follow the cooking procedures to the letter. But this is of course easier said than done. Here are some tips that will at least lessen the hardships of coking Italian food.

Buy a good recipe book

A lot of the procedures involved in Italian cooking is sometimes very hard to comprehend in words. Sometimes you need a real life demonstration to go with it. Unfortunately, you don't have a real chef in front of you. All you have is a recipe book.

If this is the case then buy a recipe book that will at least explain the very basic procedures that you will encounter in Italian cooking. Some recipe books have a section that explains all that. Some even have illustrations and pictures of the procedure per dish so that readers will have an idea what it is being done.

TV Research

There are a lot of cooking shows on the market that will help you a lot with improving your skills in cooking Italian food. And with TV, you will have a first hand demonstration of what is being done with various ingredients. Even if you are not actually there with the chef, you can still see what he or she is actually doing.

Know the terms

Constant research and watching TV will expose you to a lot of terms of Italian cooking. This will help you a lot in terms of cooking the other dishes that are in the recipe book. Remember, the procedures are actually all basic and are being done in many of the dishes so all you need to do is master each one and you are already good to go.

Be precise In cooking, whether Italian food or other cuisines, you need to make sure that your measurements are correct and precise. The taste of your dish will depend upon the rightness of the ingredients that you put into it. A small difference in the ingredients can alter the taste. Too much salt will make it too salty. Too much flour in the sauce will make it gooey. Too much water will make it bland and thin. And it goes on and on. The flavorings that you put and the amount of the ingredients will factor a lot in the food that you are preparing so be cautious and use those measuring tools.

11/20/2010

Chinese Cooking Recipe - The Secret Of The Delicious Delicacy!

Chinese cooking recipes for the American homes are just an adjusted recipe of the original Chinese recipes. They taste good and marvelous. The original recipes are favorites for many across the world as they taste delicious. For example, let's consider the process of making Chinese recipes. They are seasoned with a combo of sugar and chilies to produce a dish with a real flavor. The addition of few more nice spices and the cooking of the recipe over the flame are the specific characteristics of the Chinese cooking recipe and this has brought fame to it thought America. It is very easy to prepare the recipes and they are generally made in pieces as per the Chinese manner of food preparation.

There are various elements or ingredients in the list of the Chinese manner of food preparation. Chinese soups, noodles and rice are the most popular among them. One can easily point out the Singapore Noodles as the most popular of the Chinese cooking recipe when it comes to talking of the famous recipes across the world. It is prepared by roasting shrimps or pork with noodles. Bean sprouts, noodles, steamed rice, garlic, shredded Napa cabbage and Soy sauce are the important contents of the recipes and they can added with ingredients of their choice. The vegetables and the ingredients are cooked in the flame and the noodles are fried deeply in oil. Then they are both mixed in the end. Chinese food lovers throughout America prefer the Szechwan and Shanghai type of noodles.

A Chinese green fried with shrimps is the other popular recipe that is made by the combination of Chinese mushrooms and greens with marinated shrimps. The preparation of the recipe details the deep frying of the fish along with the vegetables to get the particular flavor. When they are served with rice it can be considered as full meals for two persons. The Manchurian recipe is the other well known of the Chinese cooking recipe. A mixture of chicken, noodles and vegetables constitute the Manchurian. Extra care should be taken in adding the correct quantity of vegetable, sauces, spring onions, and spices for the preparation of the Manchurian. The vegetables and the chicken are well mixed and made rolled into small balls which are then fried deeply in oil to get a crunchy product. The fried balls are provided with gravy to get the exact flavor. Spring onions are decorated alongside to make it colorful.

Making of the dish and adding spices alone does not sum up the Chinese cooking recipe. In truth these recipes are nutritional and healthy too. The recipes involve the cooking of both the vegetarian and the non vegetarian items. These recipes have attracted a lot of food lovers because of the addition of various kinds of spices. These recipes are listed in almost all restaurants. The Chinese culture is very well propagated to the foreigner as well.

11/19/2010

How to Cook A London Broil

A London broil is a great way to cook steak. Note that I said a “way to cook.” In other words, it’s a method, not a specific cut of meat. This distinction has confused many a novice cook.

Adding to the confusion, some butchers will call a cut of meat “London broil.” Usually, though, the cut of beef used for a London broil is flank steak, although other cuts, notably top round steak, may be substituted.

Flank steak is naturally tough, so you need to tenderize it (by pounding with a mallet) or marinate it, or both, before cooking with it. To turn it into a proper London broil, you ... broil it. Makes sense, right? But not so fast ... you can also grill it and still call it a London broil.

Here are two recipes, one for broiled London broil, and the other for grilled London broil.

London Broil (Broiled)

Ingredients

<>1 beef flank steak (1 to 2 pounds)

<>1/3 cup Italian salad dressing

<>2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Directions

1. Combine salad dressing, wine or wine vinegar, garlic and cooking oil in a bowl to make a marinade.

2. Make several shallow cuts on both sides of the steak. Place the meat in a baking dish.

3. Brush the steak with the marinade; be sure to coat both sides. Cover pan with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator and let marinate for 1 hour.

4. Remove from refrigerator. Pour off excess marinade.

5. Preheat oven broiler. Place pan with steak approximately 3 inches from top heat. Cook 5 to 8 minutes per side (to medium doneness).

6. Cut steak into slices and serve.

London Broil (Grilled)

Ingredients

3/4 cup cooking oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons soy or Worcestershire sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

1 flank steak (1 to 2 pounds)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except the meat in a bowl to make your marinade.

2. Make several shallow cuts on both sides of the steak and place in a baking dish. Try for a cross-hatching effect with several overlapping, diagonal cuts.

3. Brush steak with marinade, making sure to coat both sides. Cover pan with plastic wrap, place in refrigerator and let marinate for at least 1 hour.

4. Grill steak over hot charcoal or other high heat for 5 to 8 minutes per side, depending on the degree of doneness desired. Baste with leftover marinade if you wish.

5. Remove steak from grill, slice into thin strips, and serve.

11/18/2010

How to Cook Fried Chicken

If you think cooking fried chicken is hard then please read this article. I am going to share the recipe how to cook fried chicken. Boy, I like to eat fried chicken. I am certain this is a favorite food for a lot of people. Have you wondered how to cook fried chicken?

Now, I am going to share with you the way to cook fried chicken. It is perfect for a get together with family and friends. Surprise your family and friends by cooking for them.

Ingredients:

chicken meat
Egg
Milk
Flour
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil

Please make sure your chicken meat pieces are not too large. If they are, cut them into little pieces. It is simpler to eat and also cooks faster. Another good point is that with faster cooking time, less oil is being absorbed. So it is also more healthier.

Wash and rinse the chicken thoroughly and dry the pieces. This will help to discard any bone fragment remaining after chopping them up. Imagine eating into the bone fragment when enjoying your fried chicken. That would definitely spoil the whole experience.

Mixed the egg and milk together. Then put the chicken pieces into the milk. You can leave it soaked for a few hours or overnight. This will allow the milk to mixed thoroughly into the meat.

Mixed the flour with salt and pepper. You can also include other spices and herbs, depending on your taste. This will be your personal recipe.

Dredge the chicken pieces with the flour mixture. Make sure all the chicken pieces are thoroughly covered with flour. Dunk the pieces of chicken into the milk quickly and then dredge with flour again. Now we are ready to fry the chicken pieces.

Heat up the oil in a frying pan or skillet or deep fryer. Make sure the oil is hot enough before frying. If it is not hot enough, the chicken will be undercook. If it is too hot, the chicken will be burnt. Put the chicken slowly into the oil. Proceed to fry the chicken until it is golden brown in color. Make sure that all sides will be evenly cook. Once it is ready, put it on a kitchen paper to drain away the extra oil. Serve it quickly while it is hot.

Now you that you have the knowledge, it is time to put it to practice. Start learning how to cook fried chicken. Feel free to try and tweak around. The recipe is just a guide and you do not need to follow it to the book.

11/17/2010

Italian Cooking - Let's Begin

Is there an Italian Chef hiding in you? If Italian cooking is one of your favorites, why not learn how to cook Italian cuisine yourself at home.

Your can find Italian cooking recipes online 24/7. You should be able to find enough recipes to prepare a different Italian cooking recipe every day of the year for many years to come. Some will be great, some will be not so great.The good news is that once you have sampled enough authentic Italian food at your favorite restaurants, you will know what is good and what isn't.

Another great free source for Italian recipes is cooking shows on TV. There are some great programs featuring professional Chefs preparing Italian cooking recipes that you can watch that will show you tips and techniques that sometimes would be hard to translate from reading the recipe.

AS with all ethnic foods, Italian food uses its own group of spices. The most popular spices used in Italian cooking are garlic, oregano, basil and thyme. Fresh spices add a really special touch to any dish, but if you can't find fresh and must used the dried spice, buy in small quantities and keep them stored in a cool, dark place, not over your stove on a rack. Dried spices do have an extended shelf life if properly stored, but they do not last forever.

You can buy cookbooks from many sources on Italian cooking. Most of them have pictures of the completed dish so that you will know what it should look like. That can be helpful if you have never seen the dish anywhere. It is usually best to follow a recipe when you first start to learn a new cuisine, but don't be afraid to start experimenting once you have the basics down.

The heart of Italian cooking is the use of ingredients that are in season. Fresh, Fresh, Fresh are the three words to remember most. These ingredients are used to transform ordinary items into works of art in the form of sauces, pastas, breads, side dishes, main dishes, soups and deserts. The possibilities are endless and exciting.

The subject of pairing pasta shapes with types of sauces in the world of Italian cooking is a fascinating subject all by itself. When you were a child in school, did your teachers ever have you experiment with a layered sandwich? You know, peanut butter on one side and jelly on the other. Take a bite with the peanut butter side down and describe the taste, then flip it and take a bite with the jelly side down and make note of the differences. It truly is amazing. Try serving a slow simmered tomato-based sauce with a perfect blend of ground veal, pork and beef and spices, the right showering of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on macaroni instead of spaghetti. A revolting development to say the least. Entire books can be written on this topic alone. It is a very important aspect of Italian cooking.

Choose the method of learning Italian cooking that suits you best and that you are most comfortable with. Don't be afraid of failures, they will be some of your best teachers. Think about the time when everyone will be asking you for your recipes because you will be the "Italian cooking expert". Now go to your kitchen, pull out that recipe, pick up that saucepan and go to work!

11/16/2010

&quot;A Dash of This&quot; and a &quot;Pinch of That&quot; - Traditional Terms Used in Southern Cooking

Southern cooking is totally about how you add spices and seasonings to your food. When I say spices, I don't mean hot and spicy, I simply mean how you use cooking spices to bring out the traditional flavors in your dishes. This method of southern cooking really started when the African American slaves prepared their food many years ago. They used terms such as "a dash of this" and "a punch of that" in referring to cooking spices and seasonings for their food.

Why were these terms used?

These terms were used because back then there were no measuring devices, cookbooks, or cooking classes to learn from; they had to second guess their measurements and they only had each other to rely on to remember main ingredients. So they created terms that were easy for them to season their food. They also developed ways to know when their baked food was done by saying " bake until golden brown." Today, this method of cooking is still popular in many southern kitchens.

Sometimes adding "a dash of this" and "a pinch of that" may not be enough spice for your dish, just always remember to add spices according to your taste and what compliments the dish you're preparing.

Any one who makes southern and soul food know that recipes are only a base for you to start with. The amount of seasonings and cooking spices a recipe call for, may be more or less to your taste. What's important about this method is that you control the amount of spice that you use. Only you can determine the amount of seasonings to add for a particular recipe.

Because the base of southern cooking is spices, you will find cooking terms, "a dash of this" and "a pinch of that" throughout my new cookbook, Soul Food Lovers' . The recipes in the cookbook also allow you to use your judgment when adding spices to your food.

Today, many southerners still cook without a recipe, just by remembering main ingredients and adding seasonings to their taste. So, go ahead, add "a dash of this" and "a pinch of that" to bring out the true flavors of your southern recipes.

For more information on cooking spices and to get a better understanding on using them , check out these resources:

Resources:

http://www.soul-food-advisor.com/cooking-spices.html

11/15/2010

Restaurant Recipe Replicas Are the Way to Go

I have a confession. I don't really like cooking that much. I tend to eat out a lot more than I would really like to, because it's easier and faster than cooking for myself. Over the years it has had an effect, though. My waistline has increased, and it's straining the budget. Anyone who says that costs of even basic things hasn't increased lately has not been looking too closely. I thought for a long time about looking for restaurant recipe replicas and kept on putting it off. Like I said cooking and I are not a perfect match.

When it comes to food, I go for taste and I have favorites. I love ribs, for example, but had always thought that they were beyond my meagre skills. I like pizza and ditto to that. It put me off cooking more than the basics. It doesn't have to be that way, so I found out.

Have you ever watched the cooking channel? Despite the fact that I can't cook to save myself I seem to watch it compulsively. Really, I should know better. The channel has experienced chefs showing us all the tricks of the trade, but what they don't tell us is the amount of years it took for them to become that proficient. If you can find the ingredients, and the right tools, and then try to replicate what they have done, the chances are that what you'll end up with is something...less than optimal. And even worse, it may not taste the way you expected it to. You are playing the lottery, and who wants to do that with your tastebuds? They deserve better. So, where does that leave you?

Back to buying food from chain restaurants. Not exactly the answer to the budget problems, is it? Or, you could take a gourmet cooking course, but let's face it, who has the time or energy to do that. After all the reason you're going to the chain restaurant in the first place is lack of time, or lack of motivation to cook.

About a month ago I stumbled across a site claiming to have discovered all the secrets to how to cook like the restaurants do, and to have a cookbook based on these recipes. Let's face it, any search of the Internet will bring up a variety of these types of sites. They are a dime a dozen, and the free recipes you find on them don't necessarily work that well. I was skeptical, but the offer was good, and I had yet another book to add to my collection. The good thing was, at least this one was electronic, and I could ignore it without it gathering dust. I was curious, though, and did give it a read...and then another one and another one. The recipes looked easy enough, but that didn't mean that they'd taste authentic.

I found an easy one, with only a few ingredients and gave it a try. There was nothing to lose but my dignity, after all. Imagine my surprise when it worked! Have you ever had your mouth watering for Applebee's Babyback Ribs? If you have then "America's Most Wanted Recipes" is the cookbook to get. there are more restaurant recipe replicas beside this one, one hundred in the first book alone. Since my first foray into cooking the restaurant recipes I've tried more and surprisingly, they've worked. Even more surprising was that they weren't hard to make.

If you want to cook great meals at home that are easy, and accessible then there are ways to do it. If you are like me, and don't really like cooking, except from afar, then consider "America's Most Wanted Recipes". You'll be glad you did.

11/14/2010

Cooking Pot Roast in Slow Cooker - Recipe and Instructions

One of the most satisfying and delicious home cooked meals you will ever make is a pot roast cooked in a slow cooker, also known as a crock pot. It is especially wonderful during cold winter months. This easy to make, tender and savory pot roast recipe is sure to be a huge hit with your friends and family. There are many variations to this dish and if you ask 5 different people how they prepare a pot roast, you will more than likely receive 5 different answers. While the ingredients for making pot roast may vary from cook to cook, the method is generally the same: Season then brown a piece of meat on all sides and then slowly cook the meat along with a mix of vegetables in some type of broth mixture until the meat is fork tender.

CHOOSE YOUR CUT OF MEAT
The very first step to cooking a pot roast is to choose a cut of meat. There are several cuts of meat that will work for pot roast, but some are better than others. I recommend that you visit your local butcher and ask him or her to recommend a good piece of meat for your pot roast. If however, there is no butcher shop close by, visit your local supermarket. Most supermarkets will put helpful labels on the meat telling you what that cut of meat is generally used for. Common cuts of meat used for pot roast are Chuck, Brisket, Top Round and Bottom Round. Most people prefer chuck as the meat of choice, but I find it a bit too fatty and prefer to use Bottom Round. Experiment with different cuts to find the one you like best. For the purpose of this recipe, choose a cut of meat that is 3 - 5 Pounds.

THE VEGETABLES
I like to use a variety of different vegetables when I make this dish. It makes it more interesting than the usual carrots, celery and onions that many recipes call for. The best vegetables to accompany pot roast in my opinion are carrots, celery, onions, garlic, potatoes, turnips and rutabaga. You are free to use all of these or just a few. The choice is yours and nothing is written in stone. I just love the different textures and flavors that these different vegetables provide. Here are the measurement estimates for the veggies I like to use. Use more or less depending on how big your crock pot or slow cooker is. You don't want to overcrowd the crock pot.

1/2 Cup of Chopped Turnip

1/2 Cup of Chopped Rutabaga

1/2 Cup of Chopped Onion

1/2 Cup of Chopped Carrot

1/2 Cup of Chopped Celery (Look for celery with celery leaves still attached. The leaves impart an excellent flavor to the broth)

3 Garlic Cloves Minced

THE COOKING LIQUID
People use a variety of liquids to braise a pot roast and add their own unique flavors to this dish. People use a combination of water, beef stock, red wine (choose a wine that you would drink, not a cooking wine) and even beer. I like to use simple water mixed with beef stock. I usually use one part water to one part beef stock and use enough to where the roast is only submerged half way.

LET'S GET COOKING
Ok, we are ready to start cooking this beautiful dish.

Step 1
Season the meat with salt and pepper to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the meat on all sides, in a tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Step 2
Place your chopped vegetables in the bottom of your slow cooker. Place the meat on top of the vegetables and then pour your liquid over the top.

Step 3
Cover the slow cooker and cook at the lowest setting possible for roughly 8-10 hours. Meat should easily fall apart when pierced with a fork and vegetables should be soft. Remove meat and vegetables and place on a serving platter.

Step 4
Now to make the gravy. Whisk together, in a sauce pan, 1/4 cup of cold water and 2 tablespoons of flour until smooth. Slowly incorporate 1 cup of the hot broth from the pot roast and bring to a simmer stirring constantly until thickened.

Enjoy!

11/12/2010

Camping Dinners - 7 Foil Cooking Recipes

Somehow food tastes much better outdoors. Maybe it's the crisp and fresh air. Maybe my appetite is bigger. Maybe it's being able to eat without being interrupted by the phone!

The only drawback to camping cooking is preparing and cleaning up. I don't like cooking multi-step recipes or scrubbing smoke-stained dishes in less than adequate dishpans after the meal when I can be watching the sunset.

That is why my favorite cooking 'pot' is aluminum foil.

Foil cooking allows you to prepare delicous meals in the coals of your campfire and have nothing to wash when dinner is over! Below are 7 of my favorite foil wrap recipes. But first let's go over the basics of tin foil cooking:


  • Use heavy-duty foil so you don't burn the food and so the packet doesn't tear.

  • Use assembly-line technique, not one foil packet at a time. E

  • Put some butter in the packet so your food won't stick to the packet.

  • Sprinkle seasonings generously. It makes others think you are a pro at this.

  • Double-seal by folding twice to keep the moisture in.

  • When you fold leave air room for heat circulation inside.

  • Don't cook foil packets over roaring fire. A small fire or white hot coals is better.


Tip: For first night, prepare the foil packets at home. When you get to camp, just toss them on the coals.

Here are 7 foil packet recipes: Note: depending on how hot the coals are, it takes generally 20-30 minutes, less for fish or pre-cooked items. Turn every 5 minutes.

Recipe 1. Ham & Sweet Potato

- 1 slice of pre-cooked ham (this can be fresh or canned)

- 1 serving canned yams (about 3 pieces)

- 1 or 2 canned pineapple rings

- 1 to 2 tablespoons of brown sugar

- 1/2 tablespoon butter

Recipe 2. Chicken Potato Packets

- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

- 4 medium red potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch cubes

- 2 cups frozen green peas

- 1 jar (12 oz.) chicken gravy

- 1 teaspoon salt

- ½ teaspoon dried thyme

- 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Recipe 3. Baby back pork ribs

- 3 pounds baby back pork ribs

- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

- 1 tablespoon paprika

- 2 teaspoons garlic powder

- 1 ½ teaspoons pepper

- ½ cup water

- 1 ½ cups barbecue sauce

Or just purchase a packet of ready-to-heat Lloyds Barbecue Ribs

Recipe 4. Tuscan Sword Fish

- 1 can (15 oz.) Great Northern or cannellini beans, rinsed, drained

- 1 medium tomato, chopped

- 2 tablespoons prepared pesto, divided

- 2 swordfish steaks (4 to 6 oz. each)

- 2 teaspoons lemon juice

- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper

- 2 lemon slices

Recipe 5. Shrimp Jambalaya Packets

- 1 pound peeled and de-veined medium uncooked shrimp

- 4 cups cooked rice

- ½ pound smoked sausage, sliced

- 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with garlic and onions

- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

- 3 to 4 teaspoons dried Cajun seasoning

- 1 teaspoon hot sauce

Recipe 6 Mexican Pork Packets

- 4 boneless pork chops, about 1/2-inch thick

- 1 teaspoon chili powder

- 1 cup medium chunky salsa

- 1 can (15 1/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained OR 1 package (10 oz.) frozen whole kernel corn

- ½ cup chopped green bell pepper

Recipe 7 Cranberry Apple Sweet Potatoes

- 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices

- 2 Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples, cored, thinly sliced in rings

- ½ cup dried cranberries

- 3 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted

- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Have fun foil cooking. Open the foil carefully to avoid a burst of hot steam .

For foil dessert recipes, watch a video of how to assemble campfire banana boat and other foil-wrapped dessert recipes [http://www.joyofcamping.com/camping-tips/campfire-smores-banana-split].

11/11/2010

How to Cook a Really Crispy Duck or Chicken

If you're like me you love the skin on the outside of duck, if it's crispy. The texture of the meal can totally be changed with a crispy skin.

The secret is to make sure the duck is scored across the front and salted heavily.

This helps dry up the skin and makes for a super crispy skin. You will not be the only one that enjoys this Crispy Duck Recipe, but everyone else at your dinner table.

Take the duck that you're going to use for your main dish make slits in the breast with a knife and poke with a fork. Salt the breast heavily use your discretion and taste. You can use this method for any recipe you can think of.

Just use the cooking instructions from the recipe you are using. Place the bird breast down on the baking pan and cook like that for about ¾ of the total time that the recipe says to cook it for, making sure to drain the fat from the bird, usually by sticking it with a fork under the wings and legs.

During the last 1/4 of the cooking use the broil on the oven to finish cooking up the breast. This should make the skin crispy while the duck is still moist. Since this way of cooking can be used for almost any recipe for crispy duck recipe you have, it gives you more choices for the texture you want to use for your meal.

Cooking is all about mixing things up and building your own ways of cooking and recipes.

Also since you are slitting only the fatty layer of the bird you can use that to tuck away some hidden seasoning. Try tucking your favorite herbs into the slits under the skin, as the fat melts away it'll trickle down and out of the bird but first it'll seep into the meat.

This can add a new dimension to the meat, making it even more succulent. Taking these tips you should be able to use your imagination to come up with many more combos. With crispy duck recipes you can add extra flavors and also add a whole new texture to the dish.

Use these two together to try out new things, using the crispy skin to add texture to an otherwise smooth meal. So the next meals with duck you cook try out some of these combos, just using your taste and imagination. There are thousands of recipes in books and the internet to mix and match with.

11/10/2010

Cheesecake Cooking Styles

At one time, while athletes in Ancient Greece began competitive events at the Olympic Games, making pieces of cheesecake began, which essentially comprised three staples: cheese, wheat flour and sweetening. They beat each of the units jointly till it arrived at a pasty consistency. They baked the assortment, chilled and dished it out to supply athletes with the vitality they needed to compete. This represented the birth of the cheesecake.

The Roman Empire then captured Greece and adopted the glorious treat and scattered it throughout Europe and whatever districts they invaded. Since then, the basic cheese, flour and sweetener, superseding whatever ingredients were indigenous to the country that embraced the cheesecake recipe. Ricotta and mascarpone by the Italians, Neufchatel by the French people, quark cheese by the Germans and cream cheese by the American natives substituted the familiar white Greek cheese. In time, this significant event in culinary history sealed the way for many different trends in producing the cheesecake.

The European Cheesecake

The Europeans represented the first to embrace the cheesecake recipe. They were as well the first to go for various versions in the conventional cheesecake. There are many nations who have also based their personal expressive style on making cheesecakes and they include Italy, France, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

First, the United Kingdom and New Zealand cheesecake is alike. Their cheesecakes are broadly speaking cold desserts using neither baking nor cooking. Creating cheesecakes, those nations used fragmented digestive biscuits mixed with butter and compressed into a dish to build a bottom layer. They used fillings or toppings, which in the main consist of sugar, cheese, cream, milk and gelatin blended collectively.

In Italy, there are two ways of making cheesecakes, the Roman and Italian style. Roman style cheesecakes use ricotta-like cheese and honey blended with flour and traditionally formed into loaves. There are also more recipes that involve bay leaves, applying these to preserve the treat. Today, baking Roman style cheesecakes is still popular in Italian areas, which upheld the culinary traditions after the downfall of Rome.

But then, Italian style cheesecakes are the modern-day variations of the Roman cheesecake. These cheesecakes use either mascarpone or ricotta cheese and substitute honey with sugar. They also excluded using bay leaves and passed on other new-age ingredients, like: barley flakes and vanilla extract. Commonly, this cheesecake is drier in comparison to American style cheesecakes and often presented with tiny scraps of crystallized fruit.

A light cheesecake is the principal description of French cheesecakes. These cakes have gelatin as the Chief holding ingredient and are mostly only 3 to 5 centimeters tall. This cheesecake accomplishes its light flavor and texture from the Neufchatel cheese. To a greater extent, discovering French cheesecakes out-of-doors in marketplaces at the South of France and good pastry shops in Paris is the best way to find them.

The American Cheesecake

In the United States, cheesecakes normally depend on cream cheese instead of the French Neufchatel. Among the commonest cheesecakes in America is the New York style cheesecake. Setting up this method a delicatessen uses cream cheese, dense cream, eggs, and egg yolks ready to add a fluid consistency and fullness.

New York style cheesecakes are likewise recognized as Jewish style and are baked in a particular 13 to 15 centimeter tall spring form pan. There are as well additional recipes of the cheesecake that employ lemon and cottage cheese for clear-cut flavor and texture.

11/09/2010

The Perfect Smoked Ribs Recipe

Cooking has been considered a form of art, just like making a smoked ribs recipe the right way. Smoking ribs is a favourite family dish, whether it is done in the comfort of the home or being ordered at restaurants. Smoked ribs recipe is simple and requires a good kind of pork or beef ribs that are smoke barbequed well on a griller or oven with a flavourful marinade that is applied onto the ribs.

The kind of marinade that is applied to coat the ribs is the cook's preference depending on the chosen flavor. The marinade could taste sweet, sweet and spicy or others prefer sweet and hot. The secret to attaining good smoked ribs recipe is in the method used in cooking the ribs. The initial consideration is whether or not to use a good quality wood to smoke the ribs with. The wood for this kind should be untreated, which means it is free of any chemicals and is not rotten.

The next thing to consider for cooking a smoked ribs recipe is the smoker where the actual cooking will be done. The smoker can also be used as a charcoal grill if preferred. With the smoker, start the fire by using charcoal rather than wood on the smoking section of the smoker. When the fire is ready, spread the racks of ribs by the meat compartment of the smoker, making sure that it is placed far from the heat source to prevent burning. If the smoker does not have a divider to separate the heat source to the ribs, use brick or large stones for this. The point created here is allowing the smoke to get into the ribs without it directly hitting the heat source.

To create a good smoked ribs recipe is to close up the air valves to allow minimal air to flow out and have a low fire. This will trap the toxic part of the smoke, which is carbon dioxide, to escape into the atmosphere. Every couple of hours the ribs should be turned to allow an even cooking of the smoked ribs recipe. If necessary, add wood or charcoal so as to keep the fire alive while still barbequing the smoke ribs. The more wood or charcoal is added to the smoker, the more the smoking process is achieved. When the wood burns down, the smoker's valve could be opened to allow the airflow to exit. Smoked ribs recipe will still taste good even if the airflow is not so consistent.

To achieve a good recipe, the fire in the smoker should never die out. Make sure that the ribs cool off in the smoker before cooking is done and then have it heated up again by restarting the fire. It takes about 3-5 hours for the recipe to cook. Allow it to cool down first before serving. It is also advised to wrap the smoked ribs in a good quality foil to seal its smoky flavor.

11/08/2010

How To Cook Green Beans

Green beans are one of those vegetables that are so ubiquitous, most people never give them a second thought. They show up as side dishes in so many restaurants and on so many family dinner tables that they just seem like a ho-hum sort of dish.

I'm a big green-beans fan, though. First, they're quite low in calories, containing fewer than 45 per cup. Yet they're full of important nutrients, most notably vitamin C, vitamin A, iron and manganese. Other nutrients include thiamin, riboflavin, copper, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids and niacin. Secondly, although it's hard to get kids (and some adults) excited about them, with a little creativity green beans can be made into a large variety of quite tasty dishes.

Green beans are also known as string beans. Deep green and crunchy, they're usually available in the produce section year-round. You can also find them frozen and canned.

Green beans are picked when they are still immature, one of the few types of beans harvested and eaten at this stage. When buying them fresh, try to choose the slenderer beans, making sure they are crisp and free of spots. When you're ready to cook with them, wash the beans and break off the ends of their stems.

Recipe #1: Green Beans with Red Pepper

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper

1 pound green beans

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Salt

Black pepper

Directions

Place a saucepan full of water on medium heat. Bring water to a boil and add the beans. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove beans from heat, drain them and set aside.

With a sharp knife, cut red bell pepper into thin slices. Place pepper slices in a pan or skillet, add olive oil, and sauté over medium heat until pepper is tender. Add green beans, garlic, wine (optional), balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat all ingredients until the beans are quite warm. Remove from heat and serve.

Recipe #2: Green Beans and Mushrooms

Ingredients

8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup butter

2 pounds fresh cut green beans

1 cup water

Salt

Black pepper

Directions

Heat butter in a saucepan. Sauté sliced mushrooms and chopped onion in the butter. Add the green beans, water, salt and black pepper. Bring pan to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, simmering until the beans are tender. Simmer until tender. Remove from heat and serve.

11/07/2010

The Secrets to Sirloin Steak Cooking Methods

Sirloin refers to steak cut from the lower portion of beef ribs, continuing from the tenderloin, which is where we get prized steaks like filet Mignon. Sirloin is a high quality cut, since the muscles are still doing a reasonable amount of work, giving it more flavor than other areas. The sirloin is divided into a number of different kinds of steak.

The Different Sirloin Steak Cuts

The top sirloin is the most prized of all the sirloin steaks, and you are unlikely to find it unless you look for it specifically. Most sirloin steak is really bottom sirloin, a tougher, larger piece of steak that can be more readily available and cost less. Bottom sirloin is also connected to what is called the sirloin tip roast, a good, if somewhat tough roast that should not be eaten as a steak.

Tri-tip steak is one of the most robustly flavored parts of the bottom sirloin, but is quite lean and easy to overcook. Sirloin pin bone steak comes from the front of the sirloin, and has an oval pin bone in it that gives the steak its name. A sirloin flatbone steak can be identified by the flat hip and backbone pieces it has inside this cut of steak.

Sirloin round bone steaks contain less bone and fat than the majority of other sirloin cuts, while sirloin wedge bone steaks come from the rear of the sirloin, and contain small wedge shaped bones. These, and many other kinds of steaks, are all readily available at most markets.

Sirloin Steak Cooking Methods for Perfect Results

Sirloin cuts are leaner and less tender and buttery than the higher end competition, but they make up for it in price and flavor. They are best cooked over a high, dry heat, such as pan cooking, grilling, roasting, and broiling. Of course, you will need to treat different parts of the sirloin differently, so cooking sirloin steak will have a lot to do with what part of the sirloin you are preparing.

Make sure you buy only sirloin that is red and clear in color - that is the color that normally purplish beef becomes when air hits it. Make sure your sirloin is cold and tightly packaged, with a firm feeling to the meet and a reasonable sell by date. Make sure it is in the coldest part of the refrigerator for storage, and keep it only a few days. Fat can be trimmed before or after cooking.

Your steak will be finished to medium rare at an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, and will reach well done at 165. Turn the steak only with tongs, since a fork or knife will puncture the meat and cause loss of juices. Rest all steaks for five to ten minutes before you serve it.

You can broil steaks in a pan two to four inches from your heat source - it takes only eight to ten minutes. Grill steaks for six to eight minutes, lightly brushed with oil, or pan broil them on the stovetop for thirteen minutes to a quarter hour.

11/06/2010

Guide to Standardized Recipe

Standardized Recipe Ideology

A standardized recipe refers to a particular standard-of-use of certain metrics in cooking - Standard sizes, time, temperature, amount, etc. Abiding by this rule creates uniformity in kitchen produce, whether or not it is tangible or intangible.

The idea of a standardized recipe is definitely not alien to many of us anymore. In fact, it has been very widely used around the globe and there are certain metrics to a standardized recipe that we must follow. In the kitchen, a standardized recipe is a crucial part of standardizing dishes, ingredients and elements in a restaurant that might lead to gain or loss during operational hours. Certain restaurants benchmark standardized recipes in their kitchen, some do not. There are pros and cons of using standardized recipes.

Benefits of having a Standardized Recipe


  1. Creates an absolute standard in kitchen produce and cooking activities.

  2. Allows smooth transition between different kitchen staffs.


  3. Maintains food quality and food standards during kitchen operational hours.


  4. Guiding tool for newcomers to the kitchen.


  5. Refresh minds of kitchen staff after some time. (Eliminating guesswork)


  6. Referral material should there be any disputes.


  7. Base for costing when kitchen costs are calculated.

  8. Be a great guide to implementing a new menu should there be any need.


  9. Planning and costing purposes when a particular event needs accounting/kitchen control auditing.


  10. Prevents raw food leftovers (with good Kitchen Control)

Cons of having a Standardized Recipe



  1. Inconvenient - This can be from the Head Chef keeping the list of standardized recipe in his room and had it locked or having three big books of standardized recipe and need kitchen staff to flip over one by one to get everything done. Inconvenience is the number ONE factor that led to kitchen staff not using standardized recipes.


  2. Time consuming - This is also one of the reasons why standardized recipe are not followed. During peak hours, a kitchen do not have time to waste, and every second counts.


  3. Better variations - Some Chefs prefer to follow their centric of taste, some are just worship their own believes. This could cause a problem when there is no proper training provided and Kitchen Control.


  4. Rules are meant to be broken - There are always different people/consumers around your restaurant. What's important, the customers. When standardized recipes are not tested regularly on the restaurant, inaccurate information may be provided in the standardized recipe. Solution: Leave room or space for food/cooking variation. This usually happen when the Head Chef is not properly organized or trained well for his position.


  5. A secret no more - Some restaurateurs or Chefs frown on making a book of standardized recipe because they want to protect their food knowledge. This is a classic perception: Someone comes by, takes all the recipe and leave the restaurant after a month.


  6. When it's gone, it's really gone - At certain times in a restaurant, a piece of recipe sheet can get lost. When it's lost, there will be a slight havoc in understanding as the Head Chef needs to take action immediately. On another situation, it can also be 'stolen' or 'retrieved' as management of the restaurant changes, and/or someone steals the particular information, or the restaurant faces mishaps like kitchen on fire.

Standardized recipes do not necessarily have certain standards that you need to follow. There are many ways to actually personalize your standardized recipe, keep them into your book and use them for referrals in the future. Alternatively, you can also save them into your computer, and organize them well. Whatever it is, standardized recipes serve good purposes in a kitchen - Take the time to actually follow the steps, and you might just get happier guests/customers.

There are three (3) common ways of writing a recipe:


  1. Paragraph-style recipes

  2. List-style recipes

  3. Action-style recipes

Paragraph Style Recipes This way of writing a recipe is classic - And they serve their own purpose in writing that way. There are many pros and cons to this kind of writing style, and we'd like to leave it up to you to figure it out. Anyway, here's an example of a paragraph-style written recipe:

Put your skillet on the pan and turn on the heat to low. Now take a bowl, crack 2 fresh eggs inside and add in some salt and pepper. Next, grab a whisk and start beating it until it's mixed or quite fluffy. When your skillet is hot enough, add in 1 tbsp of oil, and swirl the oil around. You'll notice the oil runs faster on hot pans. When your pan and oil is hot enough, turn on the heat to high and pour in your eggs. Leave the heat on high until your eggs (at the side of the pan) forms a solid texture. At this time, reduce your heat to low. When your egg is cooked enough, flip it over and top it off with some ikan kering! Voilá!

Paragraph-style recipes can work at certain extent. Be sure to choose your methods of writing well.

List-style Recipes The list-style writing of recipes is one of the easiest, practical and most common ways of writing a recipe. This method consist of two sections - The header, and footer. Header consist of different elements such as recipe title, temperature, yield, time, etc, while the footer contains methods to use these ingredients. An example of list-style recipes:

-Eggs with Ikan Kering 2 no Eggs
-1 tbsp Oil
-Ikan kering


  1. Heat up your pan in low heat, crack two eggs into a bowl and add seasoning. Whisk well.

  2. When your pan is hot enough, add in your oil and wait until it's hot.

  3. Pour it in and turn your heat to high, until you see the sides of your eggs are actually solid in texture.

  4. Reduce your heat to low, and cook the eggs well. Flip over.

  5. Top it off with some crumbled ikan kering and voilá!

Action-style recipes Action style recipes has been known as the killer way of listing recipes, amount, methods and ingredients in a very organized and well-mannered. The first step will usually contain ingredients and methods limited to only a particular food preparation, and the list continues and combines with step two and three. Here's an example:

Action-style recipes can be very directive and you can add in more information to your liking. Choose which is best for you and your audience, then pick the right one and give them value.

Standard Elements in a Standardized Recipe Although we may see certain standard recipe metrics in a standardized recipe that may be both relevant and irrelevant to you, there are certain practical usage to it, and customizing your standardized recipe a good way to go when you need to emphasize certain recipe metrics in a recipe sheet. In a way, always think of your end-users rather than yourself.

Common Recipe Elements in a Standardized Recipe


  1. Ingredients

  2. Temperature

  3. Equipments & Utensils Needed

  4. Amount

  5. Method

  6. Media (Picture/Video)

These metrics are the basics - But what makes a better Standardized Recipe is to actually explain in detail what is the outcome, what should you avoid, what should you do and not do, etc. While these may be too long to squeeze into your methods area or the miscellaneous box in the action style recipe, you should include a section to it.

Recommended Standard Recipe Elements to Add These recommended standard recipe elements are absolutely optional and should only be included at selected times. Note that most recipes require only the simplest of steps to take, and portrayal of information should be as concise, clear and to the point as possible.



  1. Taste - At what degree should this dish taste like, and how you can stretch its seasoning properties from there.


  2. Precautions and Warnings - Precautions while handling these food mix or cooking methods.


  3. Tips & Advice - Best way to beef up preparation methods and cook well without the need for practical training.


  4. What to do while waiting - Important steps or methods to follow or take while waiting cooking or preparing a food ingredient or food ingredient mixes, etc.


  5. Alternatives - Alternatives to this cooking method, or that food ingredient which might not be available in certain areas of the world. Should there be any alternative ways to do it, it should be pointed out.


  6. Halal status - Halal status is very important. Certain foods are pre-packed in a non-halal manner, or foods containing pork-based materials used in preparation or alcohol usage. For example, rum flavoring. Comes in halal and non-halal.


  7. Garnishing recommendations - This should be included and portrayed after recipe methods.


  8. Miscellaneous information - This information should be portrayed at the very bottom of the recipe, stating ways on how to prepare and cut this meat, or measure the intensity of cooking in the meat. This could also serve as a section where you throw in a combination of Taste (No. 1) and Tips & Advice (No. 3).

11/05/2010

Cooking For Beginners! Isn't it Just Reading a Recipe?

"Cooking for beginners is just a matter of being able to read. After all, there are recipes everywhere." At first glance this may seem true but as you explore those recipes, you discover that terms are confusing and in general the recipe doesn't give details about cooking. For the beginner this can be frustrating.

Although cooking can be likened to a chemical formula, once you learn the language it will be easier to begin cooking. For the beginner, your knowledge will be able to grow by leaps and bounds by understanding what you are doing each step of the way.

Read the recipe all the way through.  Look up terms that you don't understand. Don't guess or assume you know. The language of cooking can be very different. Build your cooking knowledge base with solid information. Some of those terms you will encounter:

o    Brown hamburger meat (ground meat) - Cook until the pink disappears. Stir with a fork so that it is in small pieces when finished. It does not mean to turn the meat dark brown.

o    Tender - When cooking vegetables, they are done when a fork slides easily into the vegetable. It should not meet with resistance.

o    Cook until translucent - Commonly used when talking about onions, it means that they have turned to a softer white that is more transparent rather than solid white.

o    Stir frequently - Use a spoon to manipulate the ingredients in the pan or skillet. Frequently means every 2 to 3 minutes.

Good recipes start with the ingredient list. Assemble all the required ingredients. This will allow you to be sure you have everything needed. There is nothing more frustrating than being half way through a recipe and discovering you don't have an ingredient.

Ingredients are usually listed in the order that they will be used. Even the order of those words has significance. For example, if the recipe calls for "1 cup nuts, chopped", it means measure the cup of nuts and then chop the nuts. However, if the instructions say "1 cup chopped nuts", it means chop them and then measure.

These are common abbreviations: 

o    Tbsp. = Tablespoon

o    tsp. = teaspoon

o    oz. = ounce

o    lb. = pound

Temperature and cooking time is frequently given as a range. This is to accommodate the difference in appliances. It is advisable to use the lowest part of the heat setting. You can always turn the heat up or cook it a little longer. But overcooking or burning can't be undone.

Cooking for the beginner should be an interesting and fun journey. Experiment with new things. Acquire a new skill at least weekly. 

11/04/2010

Filipino Recipes - Beef Caldereta Recipe - Pinoy Food

Caldereta is a very filling and rich meat stew which is famous in the Philippines. Traditional cooking uses goat meat in a thick tomato base. But there are different versions in cooking caldereta like this beef caldereta recipe. Every Filipino family has their own special twist to the recipe and the secrets are mostly passed from generation to generation. Try experimenting by using different vegetables for the ingredients. This delicious beef recipe is usually prepared during fiestas, birthdays and other special occasions.

Ingredients:


  • Carrots - 1 piece, medium, cut into cubes and fried

  • Potatoes - 2 pieces, medium, cut into cubes and fried

  • Pepper and salt - to taste

  • Cheddar cheese - ¼ cup, grated

  • Liver spread - 1 can (85g)

  • Tomato sauce - 1 pack (250ml)

  • Pickle relish - 1 tbsp

  • Onion - ¼ cup, chopped

  • Garlic - 2 tbsp, minced

  • Cooking oil - 2 tbsp

  • Maggi Magic Sarap - 2 packs (8g)

  • Onion - 2 small pieces, sliced

  • Beef ribs - 1 kg

  • Pineapple juice - 2 cups, unsweetened

Cooking Procedure:


  • Combine onions, pineapple juice, Maggi Magic Sarap and beef in a medium-sized pan. Bring to a brisk boil. Lower the heat. Simmer the beef for approximately 2 hours until it becomes tender. Set aside.

  • Heat oil in a separate pan. Sauté onions and garlic for about 1 minute. Add the beef and its broth. Bring to a slow boil.

  • Add cheddar cheese, liver spread, tomato sauce and pickle relish. Allow the mixture to simmer until the sauce thickens slightly. Season with pepper and salt.

  • Add the carrots and potatoes. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

11/03/2010

Striped Bass Recipes

How delicious is striped bass? It's pretty freakin' delicious, especially when cooked properly. Here are some of my favorite recipes for cooking striped bass. Enjoy!

Roasted Striped Bass

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 tbsp. minced fresh thyme

2 tbsp. minced fresh basil

salt and pepper

4 center-cut pieces of striped bass (each 1/2 pound and about 1 1/2 inches thick)

2 tbsp. Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Place the fish pieces on waxed paper. With your hands, generously rub the oil on both sides of the fish. Sprinkle the bread crumb-herb mixture evenly on the fish, then pat it so that it adheres. Place the fish on a cake rack in a roasting pan. Roast until the fish just flakes, 10 to 15 minutes. To crisp the top, turn the oven to broil and place the fish under the broiler for about 2 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately. Note: This may be prepared 4 hours in advance through step 3 (except for preheating the oven) and refrigerated.

Spanish Style Striped Bass

2 lbs. Striped Bass fillets, trimmed and cut into serving size portions 2 tomatoes, medium size, thinly sliced 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped 1 cucumber, small, thinly sliced 1/2 cup onion, chopped 1 clove garlic minced 2 tbsp. Butter or margarine 2 tbsp. Parsley 1 tbsp. White wine 2 tbsp. Lemon juice 1/2 tsp. Marjoram

Prepare striped bass fillets by cutting fillets in half removing the dark flesh along the dark lateral line that runs through the center of the fillet. Also remove any dark flesh on the side of the fillet that had the skin and along the belly area. Cut trimmed fillets into serving size portions and place in a greased baking dish. Arrange tomato and cucumber slices on top of the fish. In a saucepan, cook onion, green pepper and minced garlic in butter until onion is tender but not brown. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, wine, lemon juice and marjoram. Spoon sauce over the fish. Bake in an oven preheated to 375¡F for 20 to 25 minutes or until fish begins to flake easily with a fork.

South Carolina Striped Bass

Ingredients:

2 Striped Bass Fillets

1 cup white corn meal

1 cup all purpose flour

2 cups buttermilk

Lemon Pepper seasoning, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oil in fryer or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

2. Cut bass into nuggets, place in a bowl with buttermilk and allow to soak

(refrigerated) for at least four hours.

3. Drain buttermilk, but do not rinse fish.

4. Combine corn meal and flour in a zipper top plastic bag.

5. Add fish pieces to the flour mixture a few at a time, shaking bag regularly to coat. 6. Remove fish nuggets and carefully place into hot oil. 7. Fry for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. 8. Remove from oil, drain, and sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning.

11/02/2010

Crock Pot Recipe for Creamy Seafood Chowder

I see myself as a fairly good cook. I can make something without a recipe, create my own recipes, and alter any recipes I have to fit my family's tastes. However, for some reason I never ventured to create a "clam chowder" type recipe. This is truly strange considering every time I go to a restaurant and they offer clam chowder, I order it. I love clam or creamy seafood chowder, and often when I love a recipe I am anxious to try it. But again, for some reason I would shy away from trying this. Perhaps part of the fear came from creating the cream base or cooking with clams. I'm not really sure, but I finally overcame the fear by cheating.

I know that we always teach our children not to cheat, but I have to admit that cheating in cooking is sometimes a wonderful thing. By cheating with this recipe, I've created the seafood chowder I love without a lot of preparation and hassle (and added a few extra twists). Enjoy!

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cans cream of potato soup

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp minced onion

1 cup half and half

1 cup milk

¼ tsp black pepper

1 cup celery

2 10 ounce cans of clam, undrained

1 tsp creole seasoning

4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 16 oz package frozen corn

1 pound pre-cooked tail off shrimp

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients except shrimp, mix well. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Add shrimp, cover and cook on high an additional 30-45 minutes until shrimp is tender.

11/01/2010

Cholesterol Lowering Recipes - Cooking Tips and Recipe Ideas to Lower Cholesterol

Believe it or not, there are many great cholesterol lowering recipes out there that are not only tasty, but easy to make as well. You can make tasty dishes at home that do not have a lot of salt or fat, helping you to reduce your risk of negative health problems. If you are not sure how to start preparing the right recipes to keep your cholesterol at a healthy level, here is a look at some great tips and recipe ideas that will help.

Reduce Saturated Fat in Meats

When you start cooking, one of the important things you should do is to reduce the saturated fat in meats. Depending on how you prepare meats and the cuts you choose, the saturated fat can vary. There are some things you can do to make sure you reduce the amount of saturated fats that are in the meats that you cook up.

One idea is to make sure you go with lean meat cuts that do not have a lot of fat on them. When it comes to beef, loin, chuck, sirloin, round are the leaner options. Before you cook the meat you can trim off the fat on it as well. Instead of frying, broil the meats and use racks so you can drain away the fats. Removing the skin from meats like turkey or chicken can reduce saturated fats and staying away from organ meats or processed meats is imperative as well.

Add Seafood to Your Diet

Some of the best cholesterol lowering recipes out there use seafood in them and seafood should be added to your diet a couple times each week. While there are fatty and lean fish options, either way fish will be low in the saturated fats. Do not ruin the seafood by frying it. Instead broil, boil, grill, or bake the seafood. A lot of seafood has important Omega 3 fatty acids in it as well, which can help to reduce levels of bad cholesterol.

Use Fresh Vegetables on a Regular Basis

Another important cooking tip to keep in mind when fixing cholesterol lowering recipes is to use fresh vegetables on a regular basis. Fresh veggies are part of a healthy diet. Just make sure you don't ruin them by frying. Steam or sauté them with a small amount of olive oil. Use seasonings instead of fat and salt to make vegetables tasty. A few ideas include using basil along with tomatoes, zucchini and oregano, peas with some rosemary, and carrots seasoned with marjoram.

Go with Egg Whites

You should also consider making your recipes with egg whites instead of with whole eggs if at all possible. Eggs are a great source of protein and if you eliminate the yoke, you help to cut down on the cholesterol that you are taking in. Every egg should be replaced with two egg whites when you are substituting.

These are just some easy tips that you can use when cooking to make sure you are eating a healthy diet on a regular basis. Use these tips along with your cholesterol lowering recipes and you will be able to quickly see results, lowering bad LDL levels and raising your good HDL levels of cholesterol.