Posts Tagged ‘eating’

Grilling Chicken For The Best Results

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Chicken is an incredibly versatile meat, and it only gets better when the weather starts getting warmer and you can break out the grill. We are always ready for a break from the usual stir-fried, pot pie, and baked methods of cooking by that point, so grilling is a welcome change. It does not matter whether you favor charcoal or gas. A great grilled chicken is the same everywhere.

Birds that have been grilled well have a crisp, burnished skin, and are never burnt on the outside or raw on the inside. The meat is moist and juicy, and the flavor will be lightly tinged with smoke. Do not expect good grilled meat to be underdone in the middle or dry. Having trouble attaining this ideal? Here are a few tips that could help you fix the problem.

There are multiple ways to prepare grilled chicken recipes, from use of different cuts to various glazes, marinades, and rubs. No matter what recipe you are using, you can adapt it to create a delicious result. Just make sure you follow a few simple rules to turn out tender, moist meat with a crisp, delicious skin.

The grill temperature and cooking time are going to be affected by the kind of meat you are cooking. Different pieces need different time and heat to avoid drying out. Remember that, as a lean meat, it is less forgiving of high temperatures than pork or beef, which are protected by their high fat content.

You need to think about the temperature the bird is on the inside, since it dries out pretty quickly above the minimum safe temperature for this meat. One option that can be a big help is buying an instant read meat thermometer and keeping it close to hand while you are grilling. This is a particularly good idea for large, bone-in cuts that can be hard to predict and have wide temperature variances.

You might have to take a few tries to figure out the timing of the grilling process, but there are lots of simple grilled chicken recipes out there that you can use and work with, so you will probably eat fairly well while you are working it out. This learning process is one you are going to look forward to and is easier than you think to achieve.

If you will be grilling a whole bird, you will need to butterfly it so that it will cook evenly throughout. This is best on birds that are between three and four pounds. You use sharp shears to remove the backbone of the bird, then press firmly on the breastbone to flatten it for even cooking.

Of course, if you do not feel like dealing with butterflying or bone-in verities, there are some other options. Boneless breasts and thighs among them do very well on the grill, cooking quickly and evenly without much fuss. Just remember that their thinness and consistent texture means they could be overdone very quickly, so you will need to watch them carefully. A little attention will help you get fantastic grilled chicken every time.

Have you ever wondered how to make chicken fried rice? It is really simple! You will be able to make real fried rice for your family on a regular basis. This easy recipe can make an entire meal or be served with other delicious Asian dishes.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Famous Italian Dessert

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Famous Italian dessert recipes always stand out in the history of desserts. They can be anywhere between slightly bitter and moderately sweet and most these dessert recipes go very well with a glass of wine or liqueur. The Italians are actually just as likely to enjoy a piece of fruit for dessert as a rich, creamy tiramisu or gelato.

You can see many varieties of biscotti and cookies on display in any Italian bakery. A lot of Italian cookies are sweet but not overly so and they are often flavored with light glazes, candied fruit, or nuts. Biscotti are popular in the United States but the Italians are fonder of hard, slightly sweet twice baked cookies. These cookies are baked twice to remove a lot of moisture, making them dry and crumbly. The Italians dunk their biscotti in red wine.

Which is the Most Famous Italian Dessert?

Tiramisu is a heavenly combination of espresso, liquor, lady finger cookies, eggs, mascarpone cheese, and cocoa. It is thought to have originated in Siena. Tiramisu was Duke Cosimo de Medici’s favorite dessert recipe and Italian immigrants spread the recipe worldwide.

Panettone is a tasty Italian dessert cake. It is originally from Milan and is found in cafes and Italian bakeries all over the world during the festive season. Panettone is dome-shaped and flavored with candied fruit and raisins. The Italians eat it with mascarpone cheese or zabaglione custard and some liqueur or wine on the side.

Italian gelato is also a famous Italian treat. It is essentially ice cream made with milk, sugar, and flavorings. It is churned less than other kinds of ice cream, making it dense and rich, rather than airy and light. For some people, most Italian sweets are too rich and too sweet. Others love the heavenly flavors. If Italian desserts are too rich for you, why not tone them down by making your own and altering the ingredients?

Using Jello in Italian Dessert Recipes

A good example of this would be gelato. Italian ice cream is almost air free, making it super rich. If you combine gelato, jello powder, and boiling water, the result is a wonderfully light dessert with a great flavor and interesting texture. If you use sugar free jello, you can halve the calories in the dessert because sugar free jello makes up half the dessert and contains no calories.

If you have an ice cream making machine, you can make gelato with kool aid and jello by making the kool aid as normal, adding half a pack of jello, and adding it all to the ice cream maker. Jello combines well with all kinds of ingredients. Fruit trifle is a good example.

Jello also goes nicely with fruit pieces, with custard or zabaglione or with chocolate. In fact, it is one of the most versatile dessert ingredients you can get and it is great for making dessert recipes lighter. Dessert making is a creative process and you might feel like making a rich, luxurious tiramisu one day and healthier layer jello recipes the next.

If you like to make jello recipes but are stuck for creative ideas and inspiration, there are plenty of jello recipes at JelloRecipes.net, including jello cake recipes, jello salad recipes and many more. You can make both sweet and savory dishes with jello and gelatin, that the whole family will love.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Planning Food For Your Event

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

You want to throw a party and now it is time to plan the food. What do you serve? How will you get everything prepared? You want your guests to be satisfied with their snacking choices. You decide that appetizers will be the way to go.

What appetizers should you make? It may help you make up your mind if you know what kind of gathering you are hosting. Will it be formal or casual? You would probably choose different foods if you are planning a corporate gathering instead of a casual barbeque. Use the reason for your event to help you plan the food.

Make some of your appetizers ahead of time if you can. There are many types that let you do so without compromising the quality of your food. Hot dishes can be reheated just before the party. Make sure you have enough space to store your hors d’oeuvres until the party. You may need to clean out part of your refrigerator or freezer.

Make sure you choose hors d’oeuvres that complement each other in flavor, texture, and temperature. Contrasts are good. If all of your offerings are similar in these three categories, your guests will get bored with your food. Remember to make some vegetarian options for guests who may be abstaining from meat. Offer a variety between spicy and mild as well as soft creamy dishes and crispy dishes.

Consider how large your party will be. If you are expecting less than ten guests, choose at least three or four kinds of hors d’oeuvres to eat. From ten to 45 guests, make six or seven types of dishes. For large parties over 45 guests, you will need a minimum of eight different dishes to keep them fed. Always err on the side of too much food instead of too little.

For cocktail parties, you can figure that each guest will eat at least twelve or so. Remember that hot hors d’oeuvres will fill your guests better than cold ones, but they will also be eaten more quickly. Plan accordingly so you do not run out. By providing both hot and cold dishes, your guests will have more choice.

It is simple to find many appetizer recipes online. You can easily fill out your menu in a few moments of browsing the many recipe sites that exist. Do all of your shopping at least two days before the party. This gives you time to prepare some ahead of time. It also gives you plenty of time to thaw ingredients if need be.

Let your imagination run free. While it is good to offer some traditional choices, do not be afraid to offer something exotic, too. Chicken satay or a seafood dish may put your party on the map with your guests. A couple of these kinds of dishes will impress your guests and keep them enjoying the food all evening. These kinds of dishes will make your party memorable for a long time.

Everyone has their favorite dip recipes. Perhaps you like ranch or spinach dip. Cocktail sauce makes a wonderful dip in a pinch, as does chunky salsa. Serve up your dips in a nice bowl on a platter to hold whatever you are dipping. You can dip crackers, bread, vegetables, fruit and more.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Tips For Delicious Fried Chicken

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

Warm weather for many of us means thoughts of summer, great weather, and memories of homemade fried chicken. If you love this dish, but have not had much luck recreating Grandma’s secret recipe, you could benefit from these cooking tips.

After all, with all the panic about fat, it can be hard to remember that a little once in a while is not so bad. Fried chicken makes a great Sunday dinner main course with potatoes and cream gravy. There are plenty of great ways to make this dish, but every truly good chicken recipe has some things in common. Good fried chicken is cooked all the way through, with flavorful, moist insides. The outside is crispy and fried but not greasy.

There are a few things that are important to the success of any batch of fried chicken. One is making sure the tips have been cut off the chicken wings at the last joint. Almost no one eats them, and they will be great for stock later. Removing them now means you will have more room in your skillet to make sure your chicken gets done perfectly.

The amount of space the chicken pieces have in the pan is extremely important. They can touch, but should not be crowded. A twelve inch diameter skillet or more is important, and it should be made of a heavy material such as cast iron or heavy steel that will retain heat effectively.

Cooking oil is a popular fat for frying chicken, but some people also choose melted shortening for its high smoke point. Look for oils that can get to high temperatures without smoking, and mind the heat of your oil. Fat that is too hot burns the outside and leaves the inside raw, while too little heat will cause greasy chicken that takes a long time to cook.

A half inch to three quarters of an inch of oil is ideal, since you are pan frying, not deep frying. This works well for chicken fried steak and other dishes done in this style, as well as fried chicken. Too little oil and the sides will not cook properly. Too much and your chicken will swim.

Flouring chicken can be done using a strong paper bag with spices and flour in it. Just drop a few pieces of chicken in at a time and shake to coat them completely. This is a non messy method that works great.

Using a shallow dish to coat your chicken requires putting the flour and spices into a dish such as a pie pan or casserole, then rolling them in the mixture. This still coats well, and it allows you to see more easily, what you are doing. However, it does result in a bit more mess. Most people will use one method or the other according to personal preference and what their Grandma used.

You will need to remember to work with the amount of chicken listed in your recipe for the best result, and to trim fat and excess skin. If you are using chicken that has been deboned or with the skin removed, cooking times are going to be a lot different. These kinds of chicken cook faster, and you will have to reduce frying time to make sure the chicken does not get dry. Whole birds and bone in chicken take longer, and you may want to use a meat thermometer to tell you when they are done.

Want to know the secret to making great tasting Kentucky fried chicken at home we have a recipe that is so close to the real thing you’ll have a hard time telling them apart.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Making Pizza Sauce At Home

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

A good pizza sauce can make or break a pizza. Once you know the right ingredients, you can make your own pizza sauce that is as good as or better than what you can get at your local pizzeria. It may take a few tries to perfect it, but it will be worth it.

Tomatoes form the basis of pizza sauce. Fresh plum tomatoes are meaty and have traditionally been used for tomato sauce of all kinds. Once they are picked, they will need to be blanched, peeled, de-seeded, and chopped before cooking. If fresh tomatoes are not available, you can always use canned tomatoes. They are available year round.

Canned Tomatoes

You can get canned tomatoes at the store. They come whole, diced, chopped, and crushed. You can also choose from tomato puree and tomato paste. A combination can be used to make great pizza sauce. You can also add fresh tomatoes to the mix if you have them available. All canned tomato products should be a bright red color when you open the can. A dark color means that too much heat was used in production, while an orange color means that the tomatoes were not ripe.

Whatever tomato products you have chosen to use need to be cooked together. If you have chopped canned or fresh tomatoes, you will get a wonderful texture. Cook over a low heat, stirring frequently. Keep an eye on it so the sauce does not cook too long.

Additional Ingredients

With a good base of tomato, you only need to add spices and herbs to make a wonderful pizza sauce recipe. Garlic, pepper, and salt are basic seasonings you need to round out the depth of flavor. You may want to add a little bit of sugar too. Sugar serves to cut the tomato’s acidity, making it more palatable. If you choose tomatoes with low acid content, this may not be necessary.

Most pizza sauces contain herbs. Oregano is the most common herb used in pizza sauce. Marjoram is very similar to oregano. It can be substituted for oregano if you prefer a milder form. Another traditional Italian herb is sweet basil. Other herbs commonly used in pizza sauce include tarragon, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. If you use bay, be sure to remove it from the sauce before putting it on the pizza.

If you want a spicy sauce, you can also add some cayenne, hot paprika or red pepper flakes to your sauce. A little stretches quite a bit, so do not overdo it. A little pinch will put some oomph in your sauce. If you have people whom like spice and people who don’t, put the red pepper flakes on the table instead. Your family and guests can add it or not, as they choose.

Adding a little olive oil to your sauce will give it that traditional Italian flavor. It adds some authenticity. The green olive oils will taste more of fresh olives. A little bit of your favorite wine can add more depth to your sauce and a bit of richness as well.

If there is anything you have been wondering about pizza, such as where did pizza originate, what were the toppings on the first ever pizza or how can you make healthy pizza recipes, you can find all the answers at our site as well as lots of pizza recipes to tempt your taste buds.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace