Food n’ Drink

posted by admin on Jul 20

Chicken is justifiably one of the most popular meats thoughout the whole world.
It is virtually fat free, is protein rich, highly versatile and plays a major part in a lot of diet recipes. If you are able to get hold of an organic free range chicken, even better, as it will be less likely to be contaminated with additives and hormones. It Is also a sound idea for animal welfare, as many of the supermarket chickens are kept in conditions that are pretty shocking.

If you are not worried about weight loss, ther is no need for concern, there is more to chicken than low carbohydrate recipes. However, most recipes using chicken will be, in general, healthier for you than similar recipes made with alternative meats.

Here’s a basic recipe that is sure to satisfy both family and friends.

The recipe needs:

One chicken (approximately 3.5 lb)
Two C. of apple cyder
Six Fresh Apples (pared and quartered)
salt (as needed)
pepper (as needed)
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup light whipping cream
One tablespoonful of fresh lemon juice
1/3 cupful of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A quarter teaspoonful cinnamon (not obligatory)
4 spring onions, (chopped well)
2 dried cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
One sprig of parsley, (finely chopped, for the garnish)
1/2 teaspoonful thyme
Two tsp. of brown sugar

Preparation:

Clean the Chicken and dry it well.
Mix a little salt and pepper and rub it into the organic chicken (exterior and interior)
Drizzle the lemon juice over the pieces of apple.

Melt half the butter in a large frying pan or skillet then mix in the oil.
Add half of the apples to the pan and cook softly for 5 mins. (until they have browned a little)
Add the ground ginger and give it a few stirs, frying a little longer to enable the ground ginger to give up it’s flavour.
Stuff the chicken with the apple mixture and close the cavity by string or by threading with a skewer.

Add the rest of the butter to the pan and heat until it melts and then add the chicken to the skillet and quickly brown the outside of the chicken, making sure it browns equally all over.
Place the bird in a casserole pot with a good lid.
Take the apple that is left, the scallion onions, cinnamon, dried thyme, sugar and cloves and put them in the skillet.

Heat for a couple of mins and pour in the cyder and increase the heat to start the mixture boiling.

Once the apple cider is at boiling point, add it the oven dish with the chicken and put the lid on the pot.

Put the pot in the oven and cook for approx 3/4 hour at 200C/400F

When the chicken is ready, transfer it to a warmed plate to keep warm whilst the gracy/sauce is prepared.

Skim and remove any fat from the pot and then increase the heat, boiling the liquid away until there is just about one cup remaining.

Add the cornstarch and cream, stirring until it is thick and creamy.
Add salt and pepper to taste, and pour the sauce over the organic chicken

Serve with the chopped parsley sprinkled over the chicken.

To make the meal into a healthy and well balanced meal, you could add side servings of steamed broccoli or spring greens and new potatoes.

If you like this recipe, you can find a wide variety of chicken recipes by spending a little time reading through any of the collections of free recipes on the internet, or by paying a visit to your local library.

posted by admin on Jul 14

This is a tasty and unusual recipe for a cake, that is well worth trying.

An Unusual Cake Recipe Using Zucchini and Chocolate

You Will Need:

1/2 C. to One cup choccie chips
three courgette, about 6″ long, cut into thin shreds (approx. two cps)
1 tsp cinnamon spice
2 0.5 Cup plain white flour
3 free-range eggs
0.5 Cup dairy butter
One teaspoon vanilla
0.5 Cup sugar
1 C. brown or muscovado sugar
0.5 Cup canola oil
half a cup buttermilk
4 tbsp cocoa
One teaspoon common salt
2 t. bicarb of soda

Heres What You Need To Do:

In advance, set your oven so it preheats to 160 degrees C.

Grease a 9″ x 13″ cake tin and place to the side.

In mixing bowlmix both the sugars, the oil and the butter.
Add eggs, the buttermilk and the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Using a sieve, sieve the cinnamon, cocoa, flour, salt and baking soda and mix well.

Add the powder mix to the wet mix and stir well

Stir in the shredded courgettes and stir well.

Pour it all into the cake tin and spinkle the choccie chips over the top.

Put the tin into the oven and cook for about 45mins.

Allow it to cool a little, Let it stand on a wire rack until cool enough to serve..

Why Prepare Meals Instead of Eating Out?

During these tricky times of economic turbulence, right now, more than ever, there are some very good reasons to begin fixing delicious dishes at home as an alternative to visiting a costly restaurant

Lets start by considering the fact that home cooking will save a significant amount of hard cash. It is fairly simple to prepare a meal that is just as flavorful as those prepared by a famous restaurant, and make a significant saving. If you fancy trying some new recipes, the World Wide Web can help, where there are numerous specialist recipe web sites providing free recipe collections with collections like low fat recipes and vegetarian recipes.

The second reason is that food prepared in your own kitchen is better for your well-being. The home chef has the advantage of being able to be careful in choosing the ingredients required for the recipe.

For example, if you are a fan of clean living and want to cook with Soil Association approved organic foods, it’s your choice. You can even examine the produce you are purchasing in person, and make 100% sure that you are buying only the best ingredients, full of vitamins.

If you are cooking for a large family, you can make nutritious dishes to cater for any special dietary requirement. If you have a family member who suffers from Diabetes or has coronary problems, a home chef may alter the recipe ingredients to ensure that they can safely enjoy it also. Any individual who worked as kitchen staff in a chain restaurant knows that huge volumes of high-fat ingredients are often involved in some of their meals, and, without doubt, this is not a good thing.

Another factor to consider is the impracticality of trying to stay thin if you continually eat at a cafe or restaurant. For someone with a weight problem, there are few things more damaging to your diet than being served a delicious meal at a tasty restaurant and being given a serving that is clearly too large for your diet’s recommendations. It takes a special person to have the control needed to eat just the right amount. If you prepare the same tasty meal at home you are able to modify quantity and foods to make sure that the food you are cooking is flavorsome and nourishing and still suitable for your particular diet.

A further advantage of home cooking is that it is a real time saver. The majority of people guess that eating out in a nearby restaurant should be quicker than cooking a meal at home, but a proper analysis shows that this is not true. You need to change your clothes, then you need to travel to the restuarant, get to your table, place your order and in the end wait for the meal to be prepared. Cooking at home can be transformed into a whole family event, convince the kids or your significant other to join a and a veritable banquet can be prepared in less than half an hour.

posted by admin on Jun 28

It is not on a daily basis that you get to learn about Dutch oven cook offs. Well, if you have actually been looking for them, then you most emphatically have been up to date on what happens on that area of the the human race But for commonplace folks that is a touch that they customarily will not spend too much time on updating and decision themselves pieces of news of what is incident

So now, in case you are one of the few who are so into Dutch ovens and Dutch oven cook offs, then you will be most sure be happy to know that there are procedures for those who are well consummate when it comes to this. Yes, one of these dealings is known as the Dutch Oven cook off and so that means the best of the crop who are into this and who do know their way into creating the best dishware get to face off with each other and work their skills off. Whoever gets to originate the best and most refined dish will be named the victor

One of the most recent procedures in this arena happened in the White River State Park and there have been quite a run to of attendees. And there were also some in actuality concerned folks who did show off their stuff and did the best that they could by cooking truly grand cups that you will not even think would come from the not so high knowledge Dutch oven.

But, as mentioned beforehand catering using such is a skill and cooking somewhat especially grand takes gift This cook off which happened at the mentioned position is in reality the instant of its kind in the area. And those who had attended it have said that it was a in actual fact successful one being able to see all those individuals creating masterpieces from drop out and using the Dutch oven to bring all the ingredients in sync

There were something else types of menu and several categories. There were some contestants who competed in the breads type where they had to bake material And then there were also proceedings on creating plates and even deserts. You may not even have attention that you could set up deserts with it but it can go on and there are natives skilled enough to make that go off Now in case you are wondering, you can see a Dutch oven eBook or maybe get more Dutch oven in order You may even have the skills and you just never knew it.

For more information on dutch oven dinner or dutch oven dessert, be sure to read more at “Dutch Oven Recipes“.

posted by admin on Jun 28

Home brewing is still growing in popularity because it is fun, good tasting and it can safe you money. During this financial crisis every penny you can safe sounds good, but beer is something you drink for pleasure so it must taste great also. The fact that you will be able to (re)create your favorite type of beer with the use of homebrew recipes is for many new brewers a surprise. In this article we will look at ways to find the best homebrew recipes.

Homebrew recipes for beginners and experienced brewers.

There are many homebrew recipes available for free and a bit further on in this article we will show you where you can find them but there is something you need to know before you start looking. When you are just a beginning brewer and you are making you first 1 to 10 batches of beer it is best if you start with a beer brewing kit from a good manufacturer. In a good beer brewing kit all equipment and ingredients for your first batch are included and for the next batches you just need to buy another beer package with the ingredients. This way you will learn how to brew in a fun and easy way because there is also a manual and homebrew recipe included.

When you become more experienced you can enhance the recipes you have tried with your beer brewing kit or you can start looking for other homebrew recipes all together.

Online Homebrew Recipes

Internet is a good resource for many things and also for homebrew recipes, there are some websites that are solely focusing on homebrew recipes. These sites will certainly have recipes for your favorite type of beer. The still growing popularity of home brewing makes it much easier to find homebrew recipes because of the number of people that share their experiences and their recipes online. There are also some manufacturers of home brewing kits that provide homebrew recipes.

Don’t overestimate yourself

Start with a proper beer brewing kit if you are just starting to brew, use beer kit packages with all the ingredients you need and choose a recipe that you can use with your beer brewing kit. Stick to the right amount of ingredients and have fun. Before you know it you will be able to taste your first few batches and decide what type of homebrew recipes are according your taste.

The author of this article, Drew Brown, has one hobby, home made beer brewing and he loves to share it with the world. On his website Brewing Your Own. com he tells you all about Home Microbrewery and beer brewing kits and much more.

posted by admin on Jun 28

I had many years of work experience working for my parents when I left home for college. As an older kid in the family, I waited on tables and served tea and coffee to customers. Working in a restaurant, I noticed many customers automatically add salt and pepper to food without sampling. Sometimes I see customers add salt and pepper to their tea and drink it like soup. Now I think it’s a great idea to cook with tea.

Here is an old Chinese recipe you can make with tea. It is a delicious appetizer that is easy to make.  Cook 6 eggs in water. After the water boiled, reduce heat and simmer eggs for 10 minutes. In a empty pot, use 4 servings of black tea, 3 cups of hot water. Prepare your tea as usual and discard the tea leaves. Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to the tea, maybe some salt and pepper if you’d like. After the eggs are cooked and cool enough to handle, roll it on the counter to crack the egg shell. Do not peel the egg shells. Continue to simmer the eggs in hot water for 10 minutes. Let the eggs cool off and refrigerated for 8 hours or overnight. Eggs can now be serve, hot or cold.

You can use a Deviled Egg recipe with the egg yolks or try this recipe using crab meat.  It is another variation to adding flavors to egg yolk. Cut eggs in halves and remove the egg yolks. In an empty bowl, add the egg yolks, 6 ounces of crab meat and 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise. Add some diced pickled ginger, ½ teaspoon of rice wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to flavor it. Top each egg halves with a teaspoon of this crab meat mixer. Garnish with chives, parsley or cilantro.

This might be a good addition to the coloring of eggs for Easter. As a matter of fact, my daughter, Felicia, came up with the idea and we used the technique to color Easter eggs. Using this idea, we made many marbleized eggs during Easter Holiday.

Darjeeling Black tea and Earl Grey de la Crème are now available from our website at www.morninggloryteahouse.com.

posted by admin on Jun 22

Low calorie and vegetarian recipes can assist you in creating delicious and vigorous meals. There is one food that people love the most and which is also times when the creative juices initiate to flow freely. Hence low calorie and vegetarian recipes are very advantageous.

Health Conscious

For people who aware of wellness, learning concerning different low calorie and vegetarian recipes will open some appealing possibilities, as there are lots of textures that you can make for your meals. You can opt between creating the texture soft or fluffy, smooth or creamy, as well as crunchy or crumbly. The unique interest for you would be four varieties of low calorie and vegetarian recipes.

Avocado Tantalizer whish has smooth and creamy texture is the most  delicious low calorie and vegetarian recipes that you must think trying. You need a single avocado and several fresh herbs to make it. Also, you need a bit of honey plus a cup of yoghurt (low fat) as well as some ricotta. Add salt to taste and apply herbs as well as glazed cherries for decorations. Finally, for a bit more energy put in.

The other healthy low calorie and vegetarian recipes that you will want to learn is the one called Pineapple Blush. It is easy to make, you just need to take fresh and even canned pineapples, fresh mint, and which will be a tasty and healthy meal.

Another low calorie and vegetarian recipe that you can try is Glazed Cherries. It is made from pineapples heaped with some mint leaves and some cherries. Complete the pineapple with a toothpick and it is ready to be served.

These entrée low calorie and vegetarian recipes’ creations will whet your appetite. You can move ahead and create a main course with other type low calorie and vegetarian recipes which is popular called Creamy Pasta. It has soft and fluffy texture.

To make tasty Creamy Pasta you will certainly have to use oat-bran pasta, half a cup of mushrooms, a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of apple vinegar, and half a teaspoon of honey. Also, you can put in some pressed garlic, fresh and even dried chopped herbs, half a cup of low-fat ricotta, and then put in salt to taste.

All that you now need is to cook the pasta till it turns soft. Afterward add mushrooms and drain the creation after which you can the other ingredients. Lastly, serve the dish warm together with some salad.

Additionally, low calorie and vegetarian recipes also give you healthy dessert recipes to complete it all. Of course, the recipes will keep your taste buds tingling. Also, you must ensure that you do not eat more calories than is recommended. Now, let’s practice the low calorie and vegetarian recipes for your family.

Don’t keep yourself trapped in doubt. Have more knowledge about low calorie and vegetarian recipes and get yourself updated with vegetarian by visiting the links available!

posted by admin on Jun 22

If you close your eyes and think about barbequing, the chances are very good that you can actually smell the food cooking on the grill. We love to barbeque, and those who really love it often find themselves looking for reasons to host a barbeque – others don’t even bother to look for a reason…they just do it on a regular basis.

Barbeques, of course, provide us with excellent food – but there is more to it than that. Barbeques are a chance to gather with friends and family for a bit of quality time – away from distractions such as television, computers, and video games.

We get to be outside and get some of that fresh air. For people who own businesses, it provides them with an outlet to show appreciation to their customers – and possibly get new customers as well.

We barbeque for a variety of reasons: for wedding receptions, when we are camping, to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, for family reunions, or just because we haven’t barbequed in a while and we have a taste for barbeque. The most popular times to barbecue are the fourth of July, Labor Day and Memorial Day. But the die-hard barbecuers may even barbecue for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

You don’t have to have any particular reason to barbecue. Just the fact that you want to barbecue is one of the best things about barbecuing.

Barbecues are the perfect casual get-together. Kids will be able to play outside instead of being cooped up in the house. Just appear in flip-flops and let your hair down. People bring their lawn chairs and just spread out and enjoy being with each other, with plenty of room in the great outdoors.

WE normally think about barbecuing in the warm months of spring and summer, however, in some places, people continue barbecuing on into the fall. Most people enjoy barbequing so much that they even barbecue during cold wintery days.

posted by admin on Jun 19

The joy of being able to attend authentic Italian cooking schools!  There are many excellent courses available, right here in America, for those wishing to truly learn the art of Italian cooking.  Creative cooking schools such as the Institute of Culinary Education in New York are enjoying a new surge of eager students, ready to learn all they possibly can about American, French and Italian cooking.  School president, Richard Smilow, says his classes have shown a substantial increase each year for the past five years.  Further, he expects this trend to continue.

Italian cooking schools are surprisingly affordable.  In fact, for what we spend in six months dining out, we can more than pay for the fees associated with learning these new skills.  And if you think the nearest course is too far away, think again.  There are many available Italian cooking classes located coast to coast, with more popping up each day.  Many are taught by renowned Italian chefs too!

What To Look For

The first think you want to be sure of is if the class includes step by step recipe preparations, a quick lesson in Italian jargon, the differences in virgin oils, wines and other ingredients and you want to know you’ll come away a better cook than when you arrived.  We want to know where we can find the essential ingredients and the best local areas to locate those wonderful Italian sausages.  It defeats your purpose if there’s little gained from your efforts.  

And if you’re wondering how affordable these schools are, rest assured they’re within most of our budgets.  Most four day courses can be had for less than five hundred dollars.  The short classes can be booked usually for less than three hundred dollars.  There are even early booking discounts or group discounts as additional incentives.  And if you have a special someone, why not make it a complete romantic getaway as you learn to create great dishes together?    

Remember, though, your first intent is to have fun.  You want to pick up these great recipes and ideas, but if you’re not having fun, you’re not getting the full experience from any of these courses by attending an Italian cooking and baking school.  The resources are out there and available for the taking.  It’s up to us to put those resources to good use.

posted by admin on Jun 19

Since the average American family eats out at least three time a week, there is a lot of money being spent in restaurants every year.  But there is a good reason for it.  Normally the food is good and it is also more convienent since there are no dishes to worry about.  But what if you could prepare your favorite cuisine right at home and at the same time save a lot of money?  Well now thats possible.

Just go to recipesecrets.net and learn the secrets the billion dollar restaurants don’t want you to learn. Learn to cook your favorite dishes from restaurants such as KFC, Chili’s, The Cheesecake Factory, and much more! At www.recipesecrets.net, five years has been spent gathering secret recipes from 45,000 forum members. All of this research has gone into making Americas Secret Recipes Volume 1! You get this volume for the less than the price of the average family restaurant bill. And if you order this volume from recipesecrets.net, you get America’s Most Wanted Recipes Volume 2 absolutely FREE!

Cook Like The Masters

The chefs that have created these recipes for these popular restaurant chains went to creative cooking schools and perfected their cooking art over years of education and experience. Even if you’re not that good of a cook right now, by ordering these two volumes from www.recipesecrets.net, you can become a master chef with little or no cooking education or experience.

These big name restaurant chains offer these signature dishes and offer them at a 400% markup. When you make them at home, not only do you get to eat all of your favorite dishes in the comfort of home, but you end up saving lots of money each and every year.

So wait no longer.  Visit recipe secrets.net and pick up your copy of America’s Secret Recipes Volumes one and two and discover the recipe secrets the insiders would rather you not find out about.  You can then recreate your favorite dishes right in your own kitchen.