Cooking is something almost everyone encounters in his or her life but not everyone can cook. It makes the people healthy and alive because food is what the body needs. Of course when preparing and cooking the meal itself, you need a handy cooking outdoor utensil to make things easier. Just imagine doing it all manually, you will surely have hard time and it will take up too much time. There are electric appliances that do the work for you so you just dump everything in the pan when it is ready.
For some, the kitchen is their haven. They can be whoever they want to be in this place. They can experiment creating mouth-watering dishes to feed for their family, friends and relatives. For individuals who can really cook, it is nice to have a friendly showdown once in a while just like in Iron Chef. That adrenaline rush just keeps you going until the dish is finally over. Nevertheless, what to cook is hard to do since you do not know what ingredient you will use. In addition, pressure with the time limit is sinking in so fast that whatever you will prepare needs to be finished before time runs out.
Cooking outdoors and indoors does not have much difference. The only major difference is the venue and the stove. However, the ingredients and your trusty cooking outdoor utensil are the same ones you use when you decide to cook outdoors. At least you do not need to worry about the exhaust since all the smoke is gone as soon as it appears. The air carries it off thus making you able to breathe fresh air and still enjoy cooking while exchanging stories with your family and friends. Cooking outdoors is fun especially for a reunion.
When you are outside, you do not feel crowded since people are able to walk around freely and unrestraint. Unlike when inside the home, you are concerned about the stains on cloths, breaking of priceless pieces, dirt and filth on the rugs and the like. When compared to cooking outside, there may be some trash but you clean them instantly. You can even put a big garbage bag on one side so that people will know that their trash goes there. It makes cleaning up more efficient and less time consuming. Cleaning is something that must be a group effort too since you all contributed to the mess there is.
Overall, that memory of being able to cook for your friends and family alongside your cooking outdoor utensil is an accomplishment already. At least you know that when these people go back to their homes, you know that they have smiles in their faces and large bellies. Make them enjoy the event itself and try to start a conversation to keep it going rather than waiting for each other to speak up first. Nevertheless, having some quiet time is okay too since everyone needs peace sometimes but not all the time.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Chinese Cooking Preparation Tips, Techniques and Styles
Chinese food continue as one of the most popular styles of food on the planet. Wherever you go on in America or the rest of the world you can find a Chinese restaurant. A hallmark of Chinese cooking is to buy everything fresh. Whether it's vegetables, seafood or grains fresh comes to mind when it comes to Chinese foods.
As opposed to the Western cultures fast food state-of-mind, authentic Chinese cooking demands selecting the freshest live seafood, beef, chicken, fruits and vegetables from local markets and suppliers.
Here's some of the more popular Chinese Food Cuisines
1. Cantonese Food
Cantonese style food is mild and subtle, including sauces. The purpose is to avoid overpowering or drowning out the taste of the freshness of the ingredients of the food. Examples of the top Cantonese dishes include crispy chicken, roast suckling pig and whole steamed fish, to name a few.
2. Sichuan (Szechuan) Food
One of staple ingredients of Sichuan (or Szechuan) style of cooking are red peppercorns and chili peppers. Why? Because they are known to help to stimulate the taste buds of the diner. This style of food has the distinction reputation offering a delayed spicy taste that builds slowly and gradually on the tongue and mouth. One of the more popular dishes is stir fried green beans and Szechuan bee.
3. Mandarin Food
Peking duck considered the most popular style of Mandarin food. Mandarin food emphasizes more beef and noodles, instead of rice or seafood like other Chinese cooking.
Chinese Cooking Techniques
1. Stir-Frying
Considered one of the healthiest forms of cooking because of the small amount of oil and quick cooking techniques. Stir-frying helps to preserve the foods color, texture, and taste in addition to its nutritional values
When stir-frying, the food should stay in motion. For example, spread it, turn it, toss it. By doing this you help the meat, chicken or vegetable stay juicy and flavorful, as well as keep the food from burning.
Make sure you have everything ready before starting. Stir-frying requires you to slice the meats and vegetables, fish, chicken or other foods thin enough to quickly cook through.
2. Deep-Frying
Many of the most popular Chinese dishes require deep frying to add the crunchiness that made them popular favorites. Deep frying requires making sure the cooking oil covers the food. The must have the right temperature before placing the food in it, usually 350-400 degrees depending on the food items thickness and texture. The most popular types of oil use for deep frying Chinese foods is peanut or sesame oil.
3. Steaming
Chinese food steaming involves cooking all sorts of different foods, meats, fish, chicken and vegetables and more. To achieve the best food results the water should have a constant boil. The advantages of steaming helps to preserve not only the nutritional values, but the flavor of food.
As the cost of food continues to rise, the efficiency of Chinese cooking grows more appealing to more people. The added nutritional value of Asian cooking methods increases the importance learning how to prepare different cuts of meats, vegetables and poultry.
As opposed to the Western cultures fast food state-of-mind, authentic Chinese cooking demands selecting the freshest live seafood, beef, chicken, fruits and vegetables from local markets and suppliers.
Here's some of the more popular Chinese Food Cuisines
1. Cantonese Food
Cantonese style food is mild and subtle, including sauces. The purpose is to avoid overpowering or drowning out the taste of the freshness of the ingredients of the food. Examples of the top Cantonese dishes include crispy chicken, roast suckling pig and whole steamed fish, to name a few.
2. Sichuan (Szechuan) Food
One of staple ingredients of Sichuan (or Szechuan) style of cooking are red peppercorns and chili peppers. Why? Because they are known to help to stimulate the taste buds of the diner. This style of food has the distinction reputation offering a delayed spicy taste that builds slowly and gradually on the tongue and mouth. One of the more popular dishes is stir fried green beans and Szechuan bee.
3. Mandarin Food
Peking duck considered the most popular style of Mandarin food. Mandarin food emphasizes more beef and noodles, instead of rice or seafood like other Chinese cooking.
Chinese Cooking Techniques
1. Stir-Frying
Considered one of the healthiest forms of cooking because of the small amount of oil and quick cooking techniques. Stir-frying helps to preserve the foods color, texture, and taste in addition to its nutritional values
When stir-frying, the food should stay in motion. For example, spread it, turn it, toss it. By doing this you help the meat, chicken or vegetable stay juicy and flavorful, as well as keep the food from burning.
Make sure you have everything ready before starting. Stir-frying requires you to slice the meats and vegetables, fish, chicken or other foods thin enough to quickly cook through.
2. Deep-Frying
Many of the most popular Chinese dishes require deep frying to add the crunchiness that made them popular favorites. Deep frying requires making sure the cooking oil covers the food. The must have the right temperature before placing the food in it, usually 350-400 degrees depending on the food items thickness and texture. The most popular types of oil use for deep frying Chinese foods is peanut or sesame oil.
3. Steaming
Chinese food steaming involves cooking all sorts of different foods, meats, fish, chicken and vegetables and more. To achieve the best food results the water should have a constant boil. The advantages of steaming helps to preserve not only the nutritional values, but the flavor of food.
As the cost of food continues to rise, the efficiency of Chinese cooking grows more appealing to more people. The added nutritional value of Asian cooking methods increases the importance learning how to prepare different cuts of meats, vegetables and poultry.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Cooking With Chicken - Making the Most of a Versatile Meat
Because of their life-cylces chickens tend to form a plentiful and cheap supply of meat and have done so, in Europe, from at least the Iron age. Indeed, chickens have been part of human societies since this time. What is interesting, tough, is that chickens have been domesticated twice in human history. Once in Asia, giving us the Asiatic chicken and once somewhere around the Mediterranean area (Europe, North Africa and the Near East) which gives us the chicken type that's most familiar to us today.
Chicken meat, when cooked with care is moist and succulent, which is another reason it's favoured world over. It does not dry out when flash-fried (such as in stir-frying) but it can also be cooked in stews (one pot cooking is still the typical cooking method in much of the world) and it lends itself to European-style roasting or to barbecuing or grilling.
As chicken is not an overly strong meat it also lends itself to be flavoured by the dish in which it is cooked, thus increasing its versatility and even a chicken carcass can be turned into a basic chicken stock or soup, meaning that little of the animal is wasted.
Chickens also supply us with eggs, vastly increasing their culinary usefulness. Below are two chicken recipes, illustrating how chicken can be cooked in very different ways. The first of these is a classic South African Baked Chicken:
South African Baked Chicken
Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large slice white bread
240ml milk
900g chicken, finely diced
salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
3 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
50g chopped almonds (and a few more for garnish)
50g sultanas
80g chopped bramley (or other tart) apple
3 eggs
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings (for garnish)
Method:
Heat the oil in a frying pan over moderate heat and fry the chopped onions until tender and translucent (about 4 minutes). Remove from the pan and reserve.
Meanwhile soak the bread in the milk. Squeeze out the excess milk and reserve both bread and milk for later use.
In a large bowl, combine the fried onions, bread, chicken, salt, pepper, curry powder, brown sugar, lemon juice, chopped almonds, raisins, apple and 1 egg. Combine to mix thoroughly with your hands.
Place the meat mixture in a greased casserole dish and bake, uncovered, in an oven pre-heated to 120°C for 30 minutes.
Mix together the remaining eggs with the reserved milk and pour over the meat mixture. Decorate with the onion rings and extra almonds. Raise the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for an additional 45 minutes.
The next recipe is for a classic barbecued chicken adapted to be cooked in a crockpot:
Barbecued Chicken
Ingredients:
4-6 chicken pieces (breast, thigh or drumsticks)
250ml barbecue sauce
120ml white wine vinegar
80g brown sugar
1 tsp mesquite seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chilli flakes
Method:
Combine the barbecue sauce with all the other ingredients (apart from the chicken). Place the chicken in your slow cooker (crockpot) and pour the sauce you've just made over the top. Allow to cook slowly on low heat for about 4 1/2 hours. Serve with baked beans, coleslaw and buttered new potatoes.
Chicken meat, when cooked with care is moist and succulent, which is another reason it's favoured world over. It does not dry out when flash-fried (such as in stir-frying) but it can also be cooked in stews (one pot cooking is still the typical cooking method in much of the world) and it lends itself to European-style roasting or to barbecuing or grilling.
As chicken is not an overly strong meat it also lends itself to be flavoured by the dish in which it is cooked, thus increasing its versatility and even a chicken carcass can be turned into a basic chicken stock or soup, meaning that little of the animal is wasted.
Chickens also supply us with eggs, vastly increasing their culinary usefulness. Below are two chicken recipes, illustrating how chicken can be cooked in very different ways. The first of these is a classic South African Baked Chicken:
South African Baked Chicken
Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large slice white bread
240ml milk
900g chicken, finely diced
salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
3 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
50g chopped almonds (and a few more for garnish)
50g sultanas
80g chopped bramley (or other tart) apple
3 eggs
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings (for garnish)
Method:
Heat the oil in a frying pan over moderate heat and fry the chopped onions until tender and translucent (about 4 minutes). Remove from the pan and reserve.
Meanwhile soak the bread in the milk. Squeeze out the excess milk and reserve both bread and milk for later use.
In a large bowl, combine the fried onions, bread, chicken, salt, pepper, curry powder, brown sugar, lemon juice, chopped almonds, raisins, apple and 1 egg. Combine to mix thoroughly with your hands.
Place the meat mixture in a greased casserole dish and bake, uncovered, in an oven pre-heated to 120°C for 30 minutes.
Mix together the remaining eggs with the reserved milk and pour over the meat mixture. Decorate with the onion rings and extra almonds. Raise the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for an additional 45 minutes.
The next recipe is for a classic barbecued chicken adapted to be cooked in a crockpot:
Barbecued Chicken
Ingredients:
4-6 chicken pieces (breast, thigh or drumsticks)
250ml barbecue sauce
120ml white wine vinegar
80g brown sugar
1 tsp mesquite seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chilli flakes
Method:
Combine the barbecue sauce with all the other ingredients (apart from the chicken). Place the chicken in your slow cooker (crockpot) and pour the sauce you've just made over the top. Allow to cook slowly on low heat for about 4 1/2 hours. Serve with baked beans, coleslaw and buttered new potatoes.
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