Sample Recipes

How To Prepare Vegetables : Julienne Carrots

Learn tips on how to properly julienne slice a carrot in thisfree cooking video clip. Expert: Louis Ortiz Bio: Louis Ortiz is a professional chef instructor at a culinary institute. He has been working in the culinary industry for 10 years. Filmmaker: jay holzer

Making a Stuffed Vegetables Recipe : Preparing Cucumber for Stuffed Vegetables Recipe

Learn how to prepare cucumbers for this style stuffed vegetablesrecipes with expert cooking tips in this free how-to video on a healthy stuffed vegetables recipe. Expert: Matt Senatore Bio: Matt Senatore has cooked for established recording artists and caters private parties. He is also an Award-winning record producer. Filmmaker: matt senatore

Vegetarian Recipes: Cooking With Tofu

If you aren’t a vegetarian now and haven’t been one in the past, you probably also haven’t eaten tofu many times. In fact, the only time most people hear about tofu it is in jokes aimed at vegetarians.

So why is it that vegetarians eat this stuff all the time? Is is it simply because they have no other choice?

The answer is both yes and no.

Being a vegetarian doesn’t mean you have to eat tofu. In fact, there are many vegetarians who never eat tofu or any popular meat-replacement dishes–such as “veggie burgers” or “tofurkey”–for that matter.

As long as they research and create meal plans, vegetarians can maintain a healthy diet eating traditional meals or ethnic dishes.

Tofu is often cited as something exclusively vegetarian because it is a versatile, highly-nutritional, and can be used to replace meat dishes.

Not only can it be created in textures, consistencies, and flavors that simulate a range of meats–from turkey to hamburg–but it can also actually replace and far exceed the nutritional value of similar meat dishes.

While vegetarians do not actually need to consume tofu, doing so is often a wise dietary choice–and also the next best thing to eating similar meat products (for those who enjoyed meat dishes before they became vegetarians).

Tofu is a low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie food made out of steamed and compressed soy beans. Not only is it a great source of protein–which many vegetarians lack–but it is also heart-healthy and has been linked to a decreased

risk in cancer.

In addition to being served as a meat alternative, tofu is also served in a number of spicy and ethnic dishes, which were never intended to contain meat. Many ethnic Indian dishes contain large amounts of tofu cooked and spiced

in different ways.

So here is my suggestion to you: If you aren’t already a vegetarian, but want to become one, don’t let tofu get in your way. You can maintain a healthy vegetarian diet without ever eating it. However, if you already are a vegetarian, but haven’t tried tofu, I highly suggest you do. It is both nutritional and versatile – and it might not taste as bad as you think.

Rump of Lamb – The Cookery Murders – Masterchef meets CSI

In this weeks Video….. Detective Chef Matt Kemp from the Underground Cookery School finds a Rump of Lamb murdered (overcooked and stabbed!) on the backstreet’s of Shoreditch, London. Together with his assistant he will not only bring it back to life with a delicious Lamb Salad with Mint Sauce he will also demonstrate how to correctly prepare Rump Lamb with Morel Mushrooms and Kale!

Old-fashion Recipes for Ham Loaf and Norwegian Meat Loaf Both Suitable for Diabetics

This is a couple of economical recipes that will enable you to feed your family a “meatloaf” that is different without breaking the bank, so to speak.  If you prefer pork over beef, try this ham loaf.  For a different take on the traditional meatloaf, try the Norwegian meat loaf.

NORWEGIAN MEAT LOAF

1/2 lb ground beef
5 cups seasoned mashed potatoes
1/2 cup minced onion
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tbsp flour
3/4 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup shredded pasteurized process cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch loaf pan with foil extending about 1/2 inch above sides. In medium bowl, combine ground beef, 2 cups of the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour, dill, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Press mixture into loaf pan. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Carefully remove meatloaf by lifting foil from pan. Peel off foil and transfer with spatula to an oven proof serving platter. In medium bowl, combine remaining potatoes with cheese. Spread on top and sides of loaf. Return to oven and bake 20 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned. Makes 4 servings.

HAM LOAF

1 1/2 lbs ground ham
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup quick oats
2 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp chopped onion
2 tbsp parsley flakes
1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Combine ham, bread crumbs, oats, eggs, onion, parsley in a large mixing bowl. Mix well and shape into a loaf shape. Sprinkle the sugar over top of loaf. Place loaf in a very lightly greased and floured baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 70 minutes.

Enjoy!

One good culinary tip leads to another

One good culinary tip leads to another
The recent column on mushrooms, plus the fact that local lawns seem to have erupted with them, had

Read more on The Sarasota Herald-Tribune

How Do Different Cultures Barbecue?

We all like to think that we invented barbecue. The truth, however, is that different cultures in different countries throughout the world have their own homegrown styles of barbecue grill, some of which go back thousands of years. Any fan of barbecued meat that avoids these other styles is missing out on learning some new techniques and eating some great food. This article will give you a brief, whirlwind tour of different barbecue traditions and techniques across the globe.

To appreciate other styles of barbecued grill, we’ll have to leave behind some comfortable American notions about barbecue. When we think of barbecue, we think of pork and beef cooked low and slow over indirect heat for some truly fine tender and juicy meat slathered in a sweet and spicy tomato-based sauce. Barbecue grill in other cultures, however, cook lots of other meat in addition to beef and pork, and use their own native spices and sauces. And while we see an important difference between grilling and barbecuing indeed, may even come to blows over it after a few beers in a Texas roadhouse, few other cultures make such a distinction. So for this article, we’ll have included grilling as part of barbecue.

European countries have had their own types of barbecue grill for centuries. Before refrigeration, smoking was one of the standard ways to preserve meat for the winter. Europeans smoke just about any animal that walks, swims, or flies. Central and Eastern European countries are famous for their sausages smoked over oak or hickory wood. Ireland smoked meat over peat instead of a charcoal or wood grill, creating a distinctive flavor in the process, and the Irish make a mean smoked potato. France, Italy, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries have a tradition of meat delicately seasoned with persillade (garlic and parsley), brushed with olive oil to seal in the juices, and smoked over grapevine wood.

The Asian barbecue tradition evolved completely separately from western barbecue grill over thousands of years. The kamado cooker burns lump charcoal, and is tightly sealed to keep in moisture, the ceramic cooker walls radiate the low, indirect heat all around the meat for hours. Southern China serves Char Sui, pork marinated in soy sauce and honey and grilled in long narrow strips. Korea sports Bulgogi, thinly sliced beef, pork, or chicken marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and chili pepper, and is grilled right at the table. Japanese barbecue is marinated in soy-based sauces such as their famous Teriyaki, and sport some of the world’s finest techniques for barbecuing seafood and vegetables. They even barbecue fried noodles, known as Yakisoba. The southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam boast the world famous Satay, meat skewered on bamboo, BBQ grilled over charcoal, and marinated and basted with a thick, gooey curry-peanut sauce.

There are many other barbecuing traditions across the globe that merits at least a brief mention. In the Middle East, the world-famous Persian grill kebab is deeply entrenched with many regional variations. In South Asia, the Indian Tandoori barbecuing grill tradition marinates chicken and lamb in yogurt and spices, then cooks it in a charcoal-fired clay oven. In the Pacific Island style of pit-smoking, of which Hawaiian Kalua is perhaps the most famous, salted pork is laid in an earthen pit lined with banana or Ti plant leaves and filled with hot stones, then covered in more leaves and burlap, then reburied to steam all day. Lechon barbeque from the Caribbean and Philippines roasts a slowly turning pig on a spit over charcoal.

Thanks to the glories of the internet, exotic new barbecue recipes, cooking instructions, and even barbecue equipment from around the world can be found within seconds from our homes and offices. Any barbecuer worth his salt can learn a new trick or two from the different cooking and seasoning styles of other cultures, and would do well to take advantage of this vast and ancient resource.

Exotic Seafood Dishes : How to Cook Octopus & Scallops for Octopus Seafood Pasta

Learn how to cook octopus and scallops for octopus seafoodpasta with expert cooking tips in this free exotic seafood recipe video clip. Expert: Karen Griojoryants Bio: Chef Karen got his training at Glendale Community College, and he then went on to work as a 4-star Chef for the Hilton Hotels. Filmmaker: Nili Nathan

Cooking Recipe For British Cuisine

British cuisine has always suffered from bad press. The simple homespun fare and plain preparation of most traditional British foods pales when compared to French haute cuisine, and it’s not uncommon for food critics to sound almost apologetic when writing about traditional British dishes as if there were something shameful in enjoying a good, thick joint of beef with an accompaniment of Yorkshire pudding. If they speak in glowing terms of anything at all, it is a nod to the clever naming of British foods, where dishes like bubble and squeak and spotted dick appear on restaurant menus.

And yet, for all the snickering and apologetic references, British cuisine at its best is hearty, delicious, simple fare on which to fuel the nation that influenced the entire world. There is no other nation in the world that does a roast of beef to such perfection, nor any better accompaniment to the succulent meat than a puffed, piping hot Yorkshire pudding prepared in its drippings, and few cuisines have a dessert that can compare with the pure heaven that is a well made trifle or treacle tart.

British cuisine is a blending of the practical with the nutritious. If it is, as some say, unimaginative, that may be because the food itself needs little imagination to fancy it up and make it palatable. It is certainly not because the British mind lacks imagination when it comes to food – the common names for everyday meals sometimes require a translator just so you’ll know what’s on your plate. A walk through a restaurant take-away menu offers such dishes as ‘mushy peas’, steak and kidney pie, fish and chips and bangers and mash.

There are well-known British dishes for eating at each meal. Some of the most popular include:

Breakfast:
A full English country breakfast includes meat, eggs, pancakes or toast and side dishes like hash and bangers and mash. It’s hearty fare, the sort that is set on the table for dinner in most other cultures. It often includes leftovers from last night’s dinner, diced and fried together with seasonings and butter, sometimes called country hash.

Tea:
The tradition of mid-afternoon tea is one that’s been observed by the British for centuries. Among the most common dishes served at mid-afternoon tea are finger-foods like crumpets with jam and clotted cream, dainty watercress sandwiches and scones with raisins or dried fruits.

Sunday Dinner:
The Sunday dinner has a long tradition as being a family occasion – the one meal of the week at which all family members gathered. A roast joint of meat – beef, lamb, pork or chicken – is nearly a requirement, and it is served with a potato and vegetable, and very often accompanied by Yorkshire pudding.

Puddings and custards feature prominently in British cuisine. Baked, boiled or steamed, puddings are usually made with suet and breading, and studded with dried fruits and nuts. One of the most popular and delightful British desserts is the trifle, and there are nearly as many variations as there are cooks. The base is a sponge cake, often left over from another meal. Soaked in Madeira or port, it is layered in a dish with custard, jam, fruits and Jell-O and topped with whipped cream. The end result is a delicious m?lange that is features all that is good about British cookery – plain, practical cooking that is meant to fill the belly and satisfy the taste buds.

Soul Food Recipes From The Caribbean, Yummy

Soul food recipes come from the earliest inhabitants of the Caribbean islands. They were the three Indian tribes of Arawak, Carib, and Taino. Their daily food comprised of vegetables and fruits. It was the Taino tribe that first started cooking meat and fish, using large clay vessels.

The Arawaks used a different method. They used thin strips of green wood to cook meat more slowly and allowing it to absorb the flavor of the wood. The wooden grate they used was called barbacoa. This is where the term barbeque comes from.

Not to be left behind, the Carib tribe made their fish and meat recipes really spicy by adding pepper sauces, lime, and lemons. In fact, the Caribs are credited with having cooked the first pepper pot stew. The last of the above three has had a tremendous impact on Caribbean food.

This should not be surprising because the Caribbean Sea was named after this tribe. Caribbean soul food recipes are still representative of the food that was originally eaten by the early inhabitants. It includes okra, fish cakes, callaloo, ackee, salt fish, pudding, souse, cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, and mangoes.

The concept of jerk cooking also originated in the Caribbean. Early African hunters would often leave their homes to go on long hunts. They would take with them pork cooked in a very spicy recipe over hot coals.

In the post slavery era, Indian cooking culture was introduced into Caribbean soul food recipes and still remains an active part of the Caribbean cuisine. Most of the curried meats and curry powder recipes that are found today are directly derived from original Indian cuisine.

Rice was introduced to the Caribbean by the Chinese and is now a staple. The Chinese also unleashed mustard on the islanders while the Portuguese sailors did the codfish. Most of the fruit trees that are familiar to the visitors to the island were actually brought here by the Spainish.

This included orange, ginger, lime, figs, plantains, sugar cane, tamarinds, grapes, and coconuts. America brought with it the various beans, squash, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and chili pepper. In fact, some of these foods spread to the rest of world through the Caribbean.

Caribbean cuisine is truly a mix of several cooking styles from all over the world. It retains much of the original culinary skills of the islands native inhabitants. If you are bored with what you eat daily Caribbean food will cure that.

If you do not have time to go on a lengthy Caribbean vacation then bring the beaches and the sunshine right into your home through your kitchen using a Caribbean recipe. These are but a few reasons why Caribbean food is so unique and creative. Flavors from all over the world have found a home in Caribbean food through countless generations and the flow of history.