Sunday, September 21, 2008

Chinese Food style

Food is an important part of the daily life of the Chinese man. Chinese, not only the pleasure of eating, but my, eating good food can bring harmony and close to family and relationships.
Shopping for daily fresh food is essential for all Chinese. Unlike fast-food company in the United States, China choose to live seafood, fresh meat and fruits and vegetables in season local market to ensure freshness. This means swimming fish, crabs alive, and squawking chicken. He even prepared meals as Dim Sum BBQ duck or orders must shine, shine, and steam, as if straight from the oven.

Chinese man in general are not as concerned about the power of Western culture. They are more with food texture, taste, color and flavor. These are crucial points for good Chinese cuisine. Chinese daily meals consist of four food groups: grains, vegetables, fruit and meat. Since lactose intolerance, Chinese do not consume large quantities of dairy products. Instead, with the Chinese replace the soy milk and tofu, also large amounts of protein and calcium. Vegetables, fruit, meat and generally charge. Some exceptions are canned vegetables such as cabbage, mustard green or snow, acetic acid, also known as "A Thousand Years of eggs or salted fish and dried. Other exceptions are snack items such that the beef coups feel, the smell ink strokes, sweet and acid get plum, mango or dried.

Canned or frozen foods are rarely eaten. Western desserts such as cookies, cakes, pies and ice be eaten only on special occasions like birthdays and weddings. After dinner, families usually eat seasonal fruits for dessert. Chinese desserts like red bean soup, sweet White Lotus Seed soup, papaya soup or steam are served all too often that special treatment to a hot summer night.

Ethnic Chinese cuisine is not well-fried cuisine. The reason, most Chinese restaurants in America dishes like fried pork sweet and sour, almond Fried Chicken, shrimp and fries, promoting economic and send you to Western tastes. This clearly reflects why there is more obesity and hypertension is in Western culture, there is in Chinese culture.

Such ethnic Chinese food mingled with traditional Indian can be enjoyed eating in the restaurant Indo Munch, Indian and Chinese fusion cuisine.

Food is an important part of the daily life of the Chinese man. Chinese, not only the pleasure of eating, but my, eating good food can bring harmony and close to family and relationships.
Shopping for daily fresh food is essential for all Chinese. Unlike fast-food company in the United States, China choose to live seafood, fresh meat and fruits and vegetables in season local market to ensure freshness. This means swimming fish, crabs alive, and squawking chicken. He even prepared meals as Dim Sum BBQ duck or orders must shine, shine, and steam, as if straight from the oven.

Chinese man in general are not as concerned about the power of Western culture. They are more with food texture, taste, color and flavor. These are crucial points for good Chinese cuisine. Chinese daily meals consist of four food groups: grains, vegetables, fruit and meat. Since lactose intolerance, Chinese do not consume large quantities of dairy products. Instead, with the Chinese replace the soy milk and tofu, also large amounts of protein and calcium. Vegetables, fruit, meat and generally charge. Some exceptions are canned vegetables such as cabbage, mustard green or snow, acetic acid, also known as "A Thousand Years of eggs or salted fish and dried. Other exceptions are snack items such that the beef coups feel, the smell ink strokes, sweet and acid get plum, mango or dried.

Canned or frozen foods are rarely eaten. Western desserts such as cookies, cakes, pies and ice be eaten only on special occasions like birthdays and weddings. After dinner, families usually eat seasonal fruits for dessert. Chinese desserts like red bean soup, sweet White Lotus Seed soup, papaya soup or steam are served all too often that special treatment to a hot summer night.

Ethnic Chinese cuisine is not well-fried cuisine. The reason, most Chinese restaurants in America dishes like fried pork sweet and sour, almond Fried Chicken, shrimp and fries, promoting economic and send you to Western tastes. This clearly reflects why there is more obesity and hypertension is in Western culture, there is in Chinese culture.

Such ethnic Chinese food mingled with traditional Indian can be enjoyed eating in the restaurant Indo Munch, Indian and Chinese fusion cuisine.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

How to Cook Up Some Hot Romance With Single Women

Where's one of the best places to meet single women for some hot romance?

Where can you go where the odds of women to men can be 20:1?

This potential hot bed for love, romance, and relationships with single women is cooking classes. That's right...cooking classes!

And, I'll tell you why:

  • Being that you'll probably be the only man or one of very few men in the classes, the women will be vying for your attention.
  • You can pretend that you're helpless when it comes to cooking and the women will feel sorry for you and they will want to go out of their way to give you a helping hand.
  • Being that you will be focusing on cooking, this is a golden opportunity to ask the single women in the class for a cooking date to try out your new recipes.

When selecting a cooking class, try to select the ones that run for a few weeks. That way you'll have more exposure to the single women in the class and have time to get to know each other well and feel very comfortable with each other.

Even if you don't meet anyone special in the cooking classes, you will learn cooking skills that will come in handy and trust me, women admire a man who knows how to cook. It makes a very favorable impression on them.

And to help you seduce women you can invite women over to your place to cook dinner for them. Just add some good food, wine, elegant table setting, soft music, dim lighting, candlelight, fresh flowers on the table, and you've got a surefire recipe to cook up some hot simmering romance.

So, guys if you want to increase your chances for romance, sign up for some cooking classes. You'll be glad you did.

This article written by Don Diebel (Americas #1 Singles Expert). If you would like more free dating tips on how to successfully meet, date, attract, and become intimate with women, please visit his website at: http://www.getgirls.com.

Don Diebel - EzineArticles Expert Author

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Moms Easy Cooking - Fast Meal Ideas For Busy Moms

Every busy mom worries about how to prepare fast, nutritious meals for her family. Working moms often find they have very little time for meal planning and preparation. After a long day at work, the last thing on your mind is spending an hour or more cooking and cleaning up afterwards. A little advance preparation and some creative menus are all you need to make mealtime less stressful. You will save a lot of time and energy if you plan an entire week's meals in advance, and do your shopping all in one trip instead of making several trips to the grocery store each week.

A simple online search will give you some great recipes and meal ideas, most of which you can prepare in less than fifteen minutes. You will be able to find delicious recipes for family favorites such as spaghetti, meatloaf, and stroganoff, all of which can be partially prepared in advance, saving you valuable time in the evenings. Most busy moms worry about nutritious, fast breakfasts. Consider keeping frozen waffles, yogurts, cereal, and microwave items such as Hot Pockets on hand to save precious time in the mornings and still send your kids off to school with a good breakfast.

If your children take their lunch to school, prepare them the night before. You will have more time to make sure your kids are taking nutritious lunches and you will save yourself a lot of time and hassle in the mornings. Lunch items can include vegetable sticks, fruit snacks, cheese, crackers, and convenient juice boxes. Your kids will love the variety and will often be able to prepare their own lunches for the next day.

If you want to save additional time in the evenings, try cooking in a Crockpot. You can cook meat and vegetables in one convenient location, and the best part is your food will be ready when you get home. Your family will love coming home to the smells of delicious Crockpot meals that have been cooking all day. Another helpful idea would be to purchase a bread machine with a timer. You can place the ingredients in the bread machine and set the timer so that the bread will be ready upon your return home from your busy day.

Jennifer Houck is the owner of an ever growing Online Resource Guide for Mothers. Visit http://www.ilovebeingamom.com today!

Grilling Tips ? Safety Comes First at the Barbecue

You're standing at the gas grill in the hot sun, wiping the sweat from your brow, and having your favorite cool drink. You are making one of your favorite grill recipes for the neighbors that are coming over in a few minutes for a home and garden party. You are using your brand new gas grill with all of the bells and whistles. You even went to the trouble of sending out fun invitations you found on the internet and you have just the perfect theme picked out for your party. Your new pool furniture has arrived and the weather is a perfect 80 degrees. Your picnic table is set up for the kids and their friends. Summer life doesn't get much better than that. With every grill recipe, party and backyard barbecue you can still maintain safety and common sense. Your party could be a disaster without first thinking about safety for yourself and your guests. Here are a few tips that ensure safety first:

? If your gas grill is lit, never leave it unattended
? Never move the grill once it is lit and hot
? Be sure to read the owners manual before actually grilling food
? Check all of the parts of the grill to make sure it has been firmly and correctly put together
? Never attempt grilling in a trailer, garage or any enclosed space. The fumes and flames can quickly kill you
? Beware of a windy day when sparks can easily get away from you
? If grilling with charcoal, lighter fluid should be capped
immediately after use and never use gasoline or kerosene to start a flame
? Keep children and animals away from the grill
? Grill away from grasses, trees, shrubs, awnings, umbrellas
? Place the grill on a fire resistant material such as brick or concrete, never grass
? Have fire resistant cooking mitts ready and waiting
? Wear clothing that doesn't hang out over the grill
? Control flare-ups by lowering the thermostat
? Keep a bottle of sanitizer next to your grill to protect your hands from cross contamination
? Have a fire extinguisher close at hand if needed and try baking soda to control a flame that is out of control
? The correct long handled utensils used just for grilling keep your hands safe

Keep your food safe as well as your body and property. Food safety begins in the grocery store when you keep your meat at a cold temperature when you are bringing it home. Don't let meat sit in a warm car or out too long in air temperature. Keeping food safe is as important when traveling to a picnic or just staying at home. When you work with meat, there are all kinds of bacteria and germs that grow so keep your raw meat away from any vegetables you are grilling. Be sure not to put your cooked meat onto the same plate where you removed the raw meat. Don't bring the meat out of the kitchen until you are ready to place it on a hot grill. There is no reason to have it out exposed to the sun and bugs. This all seems like common sense, but you would be surprised how many people don't think about cross contamination between cooked and raw food. Having your guests sick from salmonella poisoning doesn't make for a very fun picnic or party and they won't be returning any time soon. If you love to entertain outdoors in the summer, follow a few safety tips when it comes to handling food and grilling on any style of grill. You will have more fun and so will your guests.

Beverly Marshall is a successful freelance writer offering guidance and suggestions for consumers buying patio and outdoor furniture, hammocks, picnic tables, above ground pools, gas grills, outdoor kitchens and more. She gives information and tips to help you save money and make informed buying decisions.

How to Bake: Muffins (with recipes)

Muffins are a mainstay around our house. They are as nourishing as they are good to eat. They are quicker and easier to make than cookies and usually contain much less sugar and fat. We usually eat them for breakfast but like them with any meal. (For Easter, we served cranberry nut muffins with a ham dinner.) They work well for snacks and desserts as well. Extras can be frozen and heated in the microwave for hot muffins anytime.

Today we will make muffins using the "muffin method". (Just as there are two major makeup methods for quick breads, there are two methods for muffins-the muffin method and the creaming method.) In the muffin method, the liquids and the dry ingredients are mixed separately and then stirred together until just combined. We will include tips and instructions to make the perfect muffin and some streusel and topping recipes to crown your creations with.

To make muffins using the muffin method, choose a favorite muffin recipe that does not call for the creaming of sugar into the fat. (Look for a recipe that calls for oil or melted butter.)

In preparation, grease the muffin tins. We like the spray oils from an aerosol can to reach the corners of the tins. Be sure to cover the top edges where the muffins will flow when baking. (You can use paper liners but since the batter adheres slightly to the paper, you will have slightly less volume to the muffins.)

Set the oven to preheat. Temperature is one of the secrets to those nicely domed muffins that you find in the better bake shops. Commercial ovens use precise heat settings and timers. In the kitchen, we can approximate those results by:

? Making sure that the oven is completely heated before baking. We like to let the oven sit at full temperature for at least ten minutes before baking so that the heat is well-absorbed into the structure of the oven.

? Closing the door as quickly as possible to keep the heat trapped.

? Setting the temperature at a higher initial setting and lowering the temperature later. The higher heat creates a burst of steam that lifts the batter.

? Placing the muffins in the upper third of the oven where it tends to be hotter and more constant.

Always measure flour precisely using a scale if you have one. Muffin recipes are sensitive to the ratio of flour to liquid. Too much flour and the muffin will not rise properly and will be dry. Too little flour and the muffin will flow over the edges of the muffin cup rather than dome nicely. If you need to fine tune your favorite recipe, change the flour by a tablespoon or two.

To make cake-like muffins, use a lower protein flour-cake or pastry flour. Higher protein all purpose or bread flours will make a muffin that is chewier and more bread-like.

Back to the mixing:

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl to make sure that the baking powder and other ingredients are well combined. Set aside.

Whisk the egg in a separate bowl with a French whip or fork. Add the other liquids and whisk again. (Some recipes will instruct you to stir the sugar and salt into the liquids, rather than add them to the dry ingredients, to make sure that they dissolve completely and are evenly dispersed. We prefer to do this with all muffin recipes that are not creamed.)

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid all at once. Stir with a spatula until mixed well and moistened-some lumps will remain. Do not over stir-stirring too much will develop the gluten in the flour and the muffin will not be tender and crumbly. To avoid over stirring, we prefer a spatula to an electric mixer.

If you are using fruit in your muffins, fold them in gently at the end of your mixing with a minimum number of folds. Fruit crushes easily in the thick batter and the juice will stain the batter.

Fill the muffin tins with a large spoon or ice cream scoop. Make sure that the muffin tins are evenly filled so that they bake evenly. Most recipes direct that the muffin tins be filled 2/3's full to allow room for expansion. If your batter is at the right consistency, you can fill the tins for a nice dome on the muffins.

Bake the muffins until they are a light golden brown. The muffin top should spring back when gently pressed with the finger and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Over-baked muffins will be dry and tough. Under baked muffins may be moist and heavy.

It is easy to tear apart hot muffins trying to lift them from the tins. Instead, let the muffins sit for a few minutes and you should be able to easily lift them out intact. Place them on wire racks to continue cooling.

Muffins are best served hot and do not keep well beyond the first day. Freeze any extras.

Now for those streusel recipes that we promised:

Brown Sugar and Nut Streusel Topping

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon cold butter

1. Chop the walnuts into small pieces.
2. Stir the walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon together.
3. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry knife or two table knives.
4. Spoon the streusel mixture over the muffin batter evenly before baking.

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon good quality cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl. When you remove the muffins from the tins, dip the still hot muffins in the butter and then roll the tops in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Dennis Weaver is the general manager at The Prepared Pantry (http://www.preparedpantry.com) with recipes, ideas, and the best selection of mixes and ingredients. Visit the free Bakers' Library for more articles like this, free baking guides, and tested recipes.

10 Wide Open Tips For Food Safety In The Great Outdoors

Hiking, camping, and boating are good activities for active people and families. However, if the food isn't handled correctly, food-borne illness can be an unwelcome souvenir.

1. Choose foods that are light enough to carry in a backpack and that can be transported safely. Keep foods either hot or cold. Since it's difficult to keep foods hot without a heat source, it's best to transport chilled foods. Refrigerate or freeze the food overnight. What foods to bring? For a day hike, just about anything will do as long as you can fit it in your backpack and keep it cold -- sandwiches, fried chicken, bread and cheese, and even salads -- or choose non- perishable foods.

2. Keep everything clean. Remember to bring disposable wipes if you're taking a day trip. (Water is too heavy to bring enough for cleaning dishes!)

3. It's not a good idea to depend on fresh water from a lake or stream for drinking, no matter how clean it appears. Some pathogens thrive in remote mountain lakes or streams and there's no way to know what might have fallen into the water upstream. Bring bottled or tap water for drinking. Always start out with a full water bottle and replenish your supply from tested public systems when possible. On long trips you can find water in streams, lakes, and springs, but be sure to purify any water from the wild, no matter how clean it appears.

4. If you're backpacking for more than a day, the food situation gets a little more complicated. You can still bring cold foods for the first day, but you'll have to pack shelf-stable items for the next day. Canned goods are safe, but heavy, so plan your menu carefully. Advances in food technology have produced relatively lightweight staples that don't need refrigeration or careful packaging. For example:

  • peanut butter in plastic jars
  • concentrated juice boxes
  • canned tuna, ham, chicken, and beef
  • dried noodles and soups
  • beef jerky and other dried meats
  • dehydrated foods
  • dried fruits and nuts
  • powdered milk and fruit drinks

5. If you're cooking meat or poultry on a portable stove or over a fire, you'll need a way to determine when it's done and safe to eat. Color is not a reliable indicator of doneness, and it can be especially tricky to tell the color of a food if you're cooking in a wooded area in the evening. It's critical to use a food thermometer when cooking hamburgers. Ground beef may be contaminated with E. coli, a particularly dangerous strain of bacteria. Illnesses have occurred even when ground beef patties were cooked until there was no visible pink. The only way to insure that ground beef patties are safely cooked is to use a food thermometer, and cook the patty until it reaches 160° F. Be sure to clean the thermometer between uses.

6. To keep foods cold, you'll need a cold source. A block of ice keeps longer than ice cubes. Before leaving home, freeze clean, empty milk cartons filled with water to make blocks of ice, or use frozen gel-packs. Fill the cooler with cold or frozen foods. Pack foods in reverse order. First foods packed should be the last foods used. (There is one exception: pack raw meat or poultry below ready-to-eat foods to prevent raw meat or poultry juices from dripping on the other foods.)

7. Camping supply stores sell biodegradable camping soap in liquid and solid forms. But use it sparingly, and keep it out of rivers, lakes, streams, and springs, as it will pollute. If you use soap to clean your pots, wash the pots at the campsite, not at the water's edge. Dump dirty water on dry ground, well away from fresh water. Some wilderness campers use baking soda to wash their utensils. Pack disposable wipes for hands and quick cleanups.

8. If you're planning to fish, check with your fish and game agency or state health department to see where you can fish safely, then follow these guidelines for Finfish:

  • Scale, gut, and clean fish as soon as they're caught
  • Live fish can be kept on stringers or in live wells, as long as they have enough water and enough room to move and breathe
  • Wrap fish, both whole and cleaned, in water-tight plastic and store on ice
  • Keep 3 to 4 inches of ice on the bottom of the cooler. Alternate layers of fish and ice
  • Store cooler out of the sun and cover with a blanket
  • Once home, eat fresh fish within 1 to 2 days or freeze them. For top quality, use frozen fish within 3 to 6 months

9. If using a cooler, leftover food is safe only if the cooler still has ice in it. Otherwise discard leftover food.

10. Whether in the wild or on the high seas, protect yourself and your family by washing your hands before and after handling food.

Terry Nicholls
My Home-Based Business Advisor
www.my-home-based-business-advisor.com

Copyright © by Terry Nicholls. All Rights Reserved.

About The Author

Terry Nicholls is the author of the eBook "Food Safety: Protecting Your Family From Food Poisoning". In addition, he writes from his own experiences in trying to start his own home-based business. To benefit from his success, visit My Home-Based Business Advisor - Helping YOUR Home Business Start and Succeed for free help for YOUR home business, including ideas, startup, and expansion advice.

Prepare the Best Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Would you like to prepare the best Garlic Mashed Potatoes that you enjoy at your favorite restaurant, but have no idea where to start to achieve that wonderful and delightful flavor? There are a variety of ways to create the best garlic mashed potatoes that you have ever tasted but when it comes down to which way is best is according to your own taste buds.

When you take a look at garlic you will see that there are various kinds of garlic that you can use for your mashed potatoes such as German red garlic, Spanish Roja garlic, Leningrad garlic, and Yugoslavian. You can find all of these garlic's in a powder form or use fresh garlic. So, the first thing you need to do is decide which garlic you would like to use. Personally, I like using fresh minced garlic cloves.

There are two popular ways to prepare the best garlic mashed potatoes. With this recipe you will use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. For the first recipe you will need enough potatoes to feed your family or guests. The rule of thumb is one medium potato per person. But, my family love potatoes, so I have to use 2 per person. Now you will need milk or cream, butter or margarine, salt and pepper and your garlic powder choice. You can either wash and peel your potatoes or you may wash your potatoes and boil them with the skins on. Cut your potatoes into chunks and boil until tender. Drain and pour into mixing bowl. Add salt, pepper garlic powder and margarine and blend with your electric mixer until the combined well. Now, add a bit of milk or cream and beat again until smooth. Add more milk until you achieve your desired consistency.

In this next recipe you will use fresh minced garlic cloves to prepare the best garlic mashed potatoes. This is my favorite way. You will need all of the same ingredients as above except for garlic powder. While your potatoes are boiling, sauté the garlic cloves in a frying pan with the margarine. Let the garlic simmer and blend in with the margarine. When your potatoes are ready to mash and you are adding the ingredients, add the melted butter and sauté minced garlic and blend with the potatoes.

Try both recipes and choose your favorite for the preparing the best garlic mashed potatoes.

Check out http://percentsavings.com for more info plus savings and coupons for all the best online stores

Melody Ralls
http://percentsavings.com

6 Steps to Grill the Perfect Steak





There's nothing better than a nicely grilled juicy steak.

But how come I can't duplicate that restaurant, expensive, juicy, melt-in-your mouth, perfectly grilled steak?

Well, I found out how to grill steak perfectly - and here's how you can too.

1. The choice of meat is important!!! Just because the supermarket has labeled the steak "good for grilling" doesn't mean that it is. Lean meat does not do well. You want a piece that has marbling throughout. And these are good cuts: fillet (mignon), top loin (rib eye) - basically the same cuts that are the ones you love in the restaurant.

2. Next, proper heating of the grill is vital. If you are using charcoal, spread 2/3 of the bricks on one side and 1/3 of the bricks on the other. That way you have a hotter side for searing the meat and a cooler side for cooking the meat.

If you are using a gas grill, you will lose some of the flavor, but you will want to turn the heat down for the cooking portion.

3. Next, rub both sides of the meat with oil and cover with salt and pepper. Be generous with the salt and pepper because it will fall off during the grilling.

4. Place your meat on the hot side for searing. Cook on each side for three minutes to get the nice grilled meat crust color you love. For a hand test, I've been told that you should be able to hold you hand over the heat for 3 seconds before you can't take it!

5. Place your meat on the cooler side for cooking to your taste. The hand test for the cooler side, I've been told, is 6-7 seconds. You will want to use a timer to cook the meat - or use the slice and peak test to see if the meat is done enough for you. Just don't cut and peek too often or you'll lose all the juice!

6. When the steak is done, take if off the grill and let it set for at least 5 minutes. Some people call it "resting". It allows the juices to spread back out so that you'll have a juicy steak with a nice crust.

Follow these steps and you'll be enjoying perfectly grilled, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth steak that will impress and satisfy the most discriminating steak eater!

About The Author

Laura Bankston is author of Internationally selling Cooking with Kids Curriculum: "Homeschool Cooking in a Box" and the "Homeschool Cookbook". She currently home schools her three children, maintains home school support websites, and manages their family-owned service business. For information on her curriculum and free home school support services, please visit http://www.homeschoolcookbook.com


How to Cook Rice Right



The easiest way to make rice well every time is to use a rice cooker. If you don't have one, or don't want one, though, here's a no-fail recipe for rice that one of my grandmothers taught my mother, who taught me. This one, I use mainly for seasoned rice dishes because things can be added to it before boiling, or broth (a plain soup) can be used in place of water.

This is for 4 substantial servings (4 rice bowls).

You will need:

1 large saucepan, or a short pot.

2 cups of white rice, preferably persian, glutinous, or converted, depending on how sticky you like it.

2 tablespoons of butter, margarine, rendered fat, or vegetable oil.

water or broth as needed (usually 3 to 3.5 cups)

salt to taste

Directions:

1.Put the rice in the bottom of the saucepan, and wash it thoroughly by rinsing, and then pouring off the cloudy water. Repeat until you

can recognize grains of rice through the water, and then pour this last rinse out.

2.Put your middle finger in the saucepan until it touches the bottom, and put in water or broth until the level reaches the second line of

your finger.

3.Add your salt and oil.

4.Place on the stove, and cover loosely, which means there should be a centimeter of space between the side of the cover and the edge

of the pot or saucepan.

5.Turn on the stove at medium/low heat, and leave it alone for about 20 minutes.

6.Check to see if it's done, and if not, come back every 5 minutes.

7.If you need to check, and can't tell from looking at the top, stick a spoon in the middle, and push gently to the side to see if there is any

water left. If there is, then move the rice back to cover the hole. Try not to touch it too much.

8.If you run out of water before the rice is the level of softness you want, in the well you make in it for checking, just pour a quarter cup

of hot water to the middle, and move the rice back over to cover the water.

9.When it's done, turn off the heat, and cover the rice completely, and let it sit for 5 minutes.

10.Stir, and then serve.

Then, there is the other absolute sure-fire way that my other grandmother taught me. This is how I cook rice when I want it somewhat plain.

You will need:

However much rice you want up to 5 cups.

A pot of water, salted, with about a tablespoon of oil

A strainer

A large bowl

Directions:

1.Set the pot of oiled and salted water on high heat.

2.In a large bowl, rinse the rice repeatedly, until the water is somewhat clear.

3.Drain as much water as you can from the rice, and then wait 'til your water on the stove boils.

4.When the water reaches a fast, rolling boil, gently pour in the rice.

5.Stir to make sure the rice doesn't stick together, and then wait.

6.Occasionally stir the rice, and after 10 minutes, check to see if it's done.

7.Check every two minutes after that, and when it's as soft as you like, turn off the heat and then pour the contents of the pot into a

strainer.

8.Shake the strainer a bit, to get out as much excess water as possible, and then return the rice to the now empty pot.

9.Season to taste, and then serve.

Rice cooked this way can also be used for rice balls, unless it is parboiled rice. Parboiled rice should never be used if you prefer it sticky on its own, but is the best to use when making the deep fried breaded rice balls.

More Rice Tips

For golden coloured rice, stir a teaspoon of turmeric into the water before the rice begins to cook.

Seasoning blocks or bouillon give a nice flavor to rice. It will need to be stirred after cooking to evenly distribute it though.

Use leftover rice to make fried rice. It can also be used to add a bit of starch to a meatloaf in place of bread crumbs.

Never let cooked rice sit out for more than a couple of hours without keeping it very hot. Rice turns very quickly. To serve it at parties that may last awhile, but keep it from burning at the bottom, put it in a pan atop a pan of water that is over a tea light or other warmer. To cool it off quickly before it turns after a meal, transfer it from the pot to smaller containers.

If you are on a salt restricted diet but don't like your rice too sweet, use a couple of dashes of pepper and salt free chicken broth to enhance the taste.

Niki Singleton Webmatron of http://www.freerecipeclub.com

Monday, August 25, 2008

Easy Cooking and Clean Up

You may really enjoy cooking every meal at home. But, you may be like most people and absolutely hate the clean up you have to undertake after cooking. Some couples have an arrangement: whoever cooks doesn’t clean. This may work if you have a willing partner, but it rarely sticks for more than a few nights. So, if you hate to clean up after cooking, take a look at these tricks to cut down on your mess after a great meal.

Aluminum foil is simply one of the best things to have in the kitchen. You can use it for so many things, including setting the stage for easy cleaning after cooking. You can place it on pans when you are baking anything from biscuits to chicken. When you are done with the pan, simply tear off the aluminum foil and toss it, leaving your pan as clean as it was when you pulled it out of the cabinet.

Another great thing you can do when cooking is practice cleaning as you go. One way you can do this is to unload your dishwasher before you begin cooking. As you use dishes while cooking, simply slip them into your dishwasher. Then when dinner is over, everyone can put their plate directly into the dishwasher, leaving you with very little clean up to do.

So as you can see, cooking doesn’t have to be that messy. You can easily create a plan for an easy clean up and find that you might even enjoy cooking each night.

By Kimberly Chang

Having Fun Cooking

What’s the secret to having fun cooking? Is there a magic
bullet that solves all the problems in the kitchen? Maybe,
Maybe not. However, two undisputable elements of fun cooking
are speed and quality. In other words, making fast cooking
great, makes cooking fun!

Having fun cooking is the key to being able to cook dinner every
day for your family even after a long day at work. That fun feeling
will get you the accolades for a great dinner, which will in turn make
cooking even more fun.

So how do we make fast cooking great? You start by breaking
down the elements of cooking. We can do this by looking at
cooking as a three-part process:

1. Preparation

2. Execution

3. Serving/Cleaning

Typically, the focus is on the execution. Do you have a great
recipe? How much time do I cook the meat for? However all
great chef’s know that it’s the preparation that is the key to
making fast cooking great. In addition, planning for the
serving/cleaning helps the experience remain fun after everyone
is fed.

Before you begin to cook for your family, make sure you
plan your menus before going to buy groceries. After you have a
plan, think about what ingredients have the quality and
convenience that will help you in the process of making fast
cooking great. Thinking about this in the preparation process
will help you whip out great food fast.

In future entries we will focus on some of the things you need
to keep in mind to make sure you get the quality and convenience
in your ingredients that will really make a difference for you
in the kitchen। Until then have fun making fast cooking great।

By Hugo Felix

Friday, August 15, 2008

Where to Find Good Recipes

There are numerous recipe books in the food market and an array of websites which provide good recipes. Most of the websites and books have categorized recipes and you have to decide which category you want to choose. Whether you are a homemaker or professional, good recipes are available in many places and you should use them to make a recipe book for your needs later.

The "Good Cook" website also has categorized recipes. You can browse their site by choosing your favorite food, or you can choose their recipe categories. Select the category which you want and try it out. Their categories range from beverages, bread, main course, seafood and fish to nutrition and health or outdoor cooking. You can get vegetarian food and the different types of meat. There are recipes for special dishes from various regions, various countries and continents and there are recipes which have special diets like low carb, for weight loss or diabetics.

This website also gives you some innovative ideas like baking up cookies for family fun or crock pot recipes to enjoy. Just try them out to get some quality time with your family on the weekend.

You may find exciting recipes on the internet like Beer for Beginners, or 54 Ways to Lose Weight, or even Easy to Make Omelets. On the bbc.co.uk website, you can do a quick recipe search by searching for three ingredients: recipe title, chef or the TV program. There are often interesting wine suggestions as well with the recipes.

On the BBC recipe site you can find a recipe according to the main ingredient, the occasion , meal, taste, texture, cuisine, cooking method, provider and dish. Often there is also a lot of information provided about the recipe and also the nutritional value, so that you know what you are cooking.

The Yahoo Food and Recipe site has many food videos and they are a pleasure to watch. The recipes for low-fat are the favorites and once you have tried them out, you can rate them as well. The "healthy categories" are also popular nowadays, so they could be the categories called Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Low Fat and Low Sugar.

The Hub UK site offers recipes, cookery, food and even a cooking vacation. The recipe given by this site of the famous Yorkshire pudding is one of the best. The site has thousands of recipes again divided into numerous categories.

Indiaplaza.in has recipes from all over the world. The database of good cooking recipes on this website is growing continuously. There is also elaborated information about all the ingredients and directions, so all that you have to do is follow instructions meticulously.

Look for new recipes on Bush's Best Beans and even the simplest recipes are available here. The link is http://www.bushbeans.com/recipes/recipes.php. Finally, a good recipe is what you make of it, by giving each dish a personal touch. For western cooking the measurements are important, and if you take the correct quantities of ingredients nothing can go wrong. But the oriental cuisine does not demand such exactness, and you can unwind while you are cooking, because you can add or change some of the ingredients mentioned in the recipe.

At the Shoppbox Ebook Reviews there is a variety of recipe ebooks to choose from.
Everything from Oriental to Low Carb recipes can be found under cooking and recipes.

http://www.theshoppboxebookreviews.com

By Elvis Foote

A Great Source Of Appetizer Recipe

Appetizers are the most delicious food item in our parties or ceremonies. All participants like to get the taste of appetizer food first. Those who want to make their parties more gorgeously must prepare appetizers and represent wonderfully on their tables.

We also like it in our daily food menu. Our family members of all ages like it's taste, flavour and also enjoy the color and representation of appetizer dish. There are different types of appetizer recipe such as cheese appetizer, appetizer dip, appetizer chocolate, cake appetizer, appetizer salad, appetizer pudding and so on.

We all know the common appetizer recipes. But we like to prepare rare ones. To do that we generally collect appetizer recipe books for book stores or watch recipe programs in TV. The other way to collect appetizer recipes is recipe websites or blogs which I like so much. There are many websites and blogs available in the internet. Maximum websites are known to us. We need a new website or blog. Is there any? Yes, there is a new blog about appetizer recipe named ‘appetizer-recipe.blogspot.com’ available in the internet now. Frequently it is updated and you will get a lot of delicious appetizer recipe free.

Now we will find here a lot of appetizer recipe by which we can prepare food of our choice and can win the heart of our guest. Let’s prepare foods by these appetizer recipes and make our guests happy.

Get into http://appetizer-recipe.blogspot.com and enjoy yourself.

Appetizer Recipe

By Tanvir Ahmed

Chinese Cooking Techniques

The variety of Chinese food dishes and Chinese food recipes available today is wider than in any previous decade. One can easily find Chinese food recipes for Chop Suey, which is not an authentic Chinese dish, along side of Hunan Beef. It is interesting to note that what many refer to as Chow Mein noodles is really a simpler crunchy version of the real thing.

In centuries past when the Chinese still used forks and knives is when the foundation for modern day Chinese cooking was formed. This is back when the cutting techniques and delicate flavors came together to form healthy hearty meals.

This is also when the three primary Chinese cooking techniques were formed.

The first Chinese cooking technique is stewing. Stewing can be either red or clear and is the simplest of the three methods. In clear stewing the clear liquid is brought to a boil and then allowed to simmer until the food is just tender. In red stewing a small amount of sugar and soy sauce is added which gives the stewed food a reddish tinge.

The second Chinese cooking technique is steaming. Steaming can be either wet or dry. The Chinese have used steaming as a primary cooking method for over 3000 years. Before ovens were common place steaming was a preferred method which allowed for moist flavorful food that retained most of its nutrients.

Frying is the third of the traditional Chinese cooking techniques. Frying can be either deep frying in oil or sautéing. When deep frying the food is submersed in hot oil and allowed to cook until it floats. In sautéing the meat, vegetables and garnishes are cooked quickly over high heat in a small amount of fat.

Shauna Hanus is a gourmet cook who specializes in creating gourmet recipes. She has extensive experience cooking with easy to find grocery items to create delightful gourmet meals. She is also the publisher of a no cost bi-monthly gourmet newsletter. Her newsletter is always fun and informational packed with tips and trivia you can use everyday. Sign up for her newsletter and learn more about Gourmayeats Weekly Recipe Club at http://www.gourmayeats.com

By Shauna Hanus
Shauna Hanus - EzineArticles Expert Author

Western Culinary Schools Offer World Class Training

f you are looking for a change, or even just to continue in your chosen path for culinary arts, a western culinary school may be the answer to your educational needs. With English the current language of the business world, studying at a western culinary school could offer many benefits above and beyond just the education you will glean during your enrolment. It will be of true benefit to your potential career to consider undertaking study at a western culinary school.

What sort of courses to western culinary schools offer?

Thankfully, as western culture takes a bigger interest in all things culinary, many famous styles and chefs are coming to the west, thereby enabling western culinary schools to offer many styles of cooking to their potential students. A casual look at schools offered in the west will open your eyes to such styles as cordon bleu French, or traditional Chinese. Western culinary schools are really starting to offer some great courses, and not only in the big cities, even in local and rural areas can you learn such advanced styles.

Western culinary schools are located conveniently for westerners to attend to learn styles from their own countries, and also from across the seas. However, this is not the only function of the western culinary school. No indeed they are also opening their doors to foreign students who wish to learn a variety of styles in one institute, whilst polishing their English skills as well. Western culinary institutes are truly appealing to people from all walks of life. If you are considering a world class education in a cutting edge setting, give some consideration to a western culinary school.

Western culinary schools on the World Wide Web:

There is an abundance of western culinary schools on the world wide web, and bringing these resources into one place can be difficult, however with the help of websites such as http://www.culinarydegreeonline.info you will find the information much more accessible and convenient.

By Arindam Chattopadhyaya Platinum Quality Author