Cook Perfect Steaks

Using dry heat is the best way to cook steaks and other tender cuts of meat. Dry heat cooking causes the exterior of the meat to brown and caramelize which gives the steaks a richly browned complex flavor. This is partly a result of the sugars inherent in the meat going through a series of complex reactions called the "Maillard reaction." The moisture on the surface of the meat also evaporates and the juices becomes concentrated, forming the appealing brown crust.
Look for steak with fine texture and firm to the touch. You want the color to be a light cherry red color, not deep red.  Also look for steaks that have marbling, as it is the thin threads of fat running through the meat that make it Prime and gives the wonderful flavor. Marbling is the white fat that you see in all cuts of beef. Remember that a substantial amount of evenly distributed marbling is a good thing. If you don't want much animal fat in your diet, then don't eat steak! To avoid fat in steak is to avoid steak altogether
Choice has less marbling than Prime but more than Select. It is typically found in the service meat case at your local grocery store.

Select has the least amount of marbling of the top three grades, making it leaner but possibly less tender, juicy or flavorful than Prime or Choice. Select is most commonly found in the self-service meat case at your local grocery store. Not recommended for top-quality steaks

MAKE FRUIT SALAD

Want the perfect dessert that you'll love without tipping the scales and can make in under ten minutes? Try a fruit salad!
    Steps
1.Remember that fruit salads are often creative -- you decide which fruits to use and how much. Some tasty fruits are berries (strawberries, raspberries,blueberries, blackberries,) apples, bananas, cantaloupe, grapes, honeydew melons, grapefruits, kiwis, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, and peaches.

2.Wash all your fruits.
3.Put all grapes and berries (except strawberries) in a large mixing bowl.
4.Chop all other fruits into bite-size pieces. For reference, each piece should be a little bigger than your thumbnail.

5.Arrange them on a platter, put into individual bowls or Tupperware, or serve out of the bowl (coat the bowl with lemon juice to naturally sweeten the fruit-this will retard any browning [oxidizing] as well due to the citric acid and ascorbic acid - FruitFresh or crushed Vitamin C tablets will do the same thing).
6.Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Enjoy.

Healthy Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat rotini pasta
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 cups low-fat (1%) milk
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Salt and ground black pepper (to taste)
• 4 ounces reduced-fat (2%) pasteurized process cheese spread, cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes
• 2 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 2 tablespoons plain dried bread crumbs
• 1 medium tomato (sliced thin)

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler. Use nonfat cooking spray to grease 1 1/2-quart baking dish.
2. Heat large covered saucepot of salted water to boiling over high heat. Add pasta and cook about 10 minutes
3. In 2-quart saucepan, add cornstarch into milk; heat to boiling over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Boil 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat; whisk in mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Stir in cheeses.
4. In small bowl, combine bread crumbs with remaining Romano.
5. Drain pasta; return to saucepot. Stir cheese sauce into pasta; spoon into prepared baking dish.
6. Arrange tomato slices on top; sprinkle with crumb mixture.

7. Place baking dish in broiler, cook 2 to 3 minutes until completely browned.

Cookie Recipe

Three Minute Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

3 Eggs
1 cup Vegetable shortening
1 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Raisins
2 tsp Baking powder
3 1/2 cups Quick cooking oats
1 cup White sugar
1/2 cup Boiling water
Rehydrate the raisins with boiling water by pouring it on them in a small bowl and set aside. Combine rest of ingredients, mix until well combined. Drain raisins and add to dough, incorporating the raisins well. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown in 350F oven.
Thumbprint Buttercream Cookie Recipe

1 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Brown sugar
2 Egg yolks
1 Egg white
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cup Flour (sifted)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Nuts (chopped)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all ingredients in bowl, mixing well. Roll dough into small size balls. Dip each dough ball into a stiff beaten egg white. Then dip into the nuts. Place on baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes. Remove the cookies and make impression in the middle of each cookie with your thumb. Bake for an additional 8 minutes. Remove cookies to wire rack, allowing to cool before filling with buttercream icing.
Hello Dolly Cookie Recipe

8 tbsp Butter
1 cup Graham cracker crumbs
1 cup Chocolate chips
1 cup Pecans (chopped)
1 can Eagle brand condensed milk




         Melt butter in a 13x9 inch pan. Spread graham cracker crumbs over the
bottom of the pan. Spread the chocolate chips in a layer over crumbs, then the pecans in a layer over chocolate. Pour condensed milk over all this. DO NOT STIR at any time. Bake at 350~F for 30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

Maple-Glazed Sweet Potatoes

This is a great dish to make the day before. You can get it all ready, stick it in the fridge overnight, and bake it right before serving.

• Some orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, cut into cubes approximately 1 inch square (peel them if you want; I don’t)
• Some amount of maple syrup (grade B preferred—it’s got more flavor)
• Olive oil in equal quantity to the maple syrup
• A handful or 2 of fresh cranberries
• Zest of anywhere from a quarter to a whole orange
• Salt to taste

1. Boil some salted water in a large pot. Add the sweet potatoes and boil until they are starting to get tender (anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour, depending on how many you have and how big your pot is).
2. While the sweets are cooking, mix together the maple syrup, olive oil, and orange zest in a small bowl. Add salt to taste (and yes, this means you will taste it; keep in mind that this will be spread out over all your sweets, so it’s should be a little on the salty side tasted plain).
3. Drain the sweet potatoes and put them in whatever size baking dish comfortably holds them all (I like to use glass, so it looks nice going straight to the table).
4. Add the cranberries, pour the maple-oil mixture over it all, and mix well. Every last chunk of sweet potato should be well coated (and as notes above regarding quantity, there should be some oil/syrup in the bottom of the pan—if there’s not, just mix up some more).
5. Bake at 325º, covered with foil, for half an hour (or until the sweets are cooked all the way through), stirring to baste with the syrup every ten minutes or so.

I like to use the juice from the orange in my cranberry sauce, but you could also just eat it as a snack. If you want less tartness you can replace the cranberries with some dried fruit if you like. Apricots would probably be nice, though I have never tried it. If you want more tartness, you could use lemon zest instead of orange.

How to Cook Chestnuts on the Stove

Snow, presents, yuletide logs, Christmas trees and Christmas carols never fail to surround us with that cheerful holiday spirit. Another thing that never fails to remind me of Christmas is a fresh bowl of roasted chestnuts. The delicious taste and enticing aroma of roasted chestnuts even up until today immediately brings me back to my childhood where each Christmas was spent with the entire family and roasted chestnuts were a "staple snack" during the very jolly December holiday. Although technically roasting chestnuts require you to use a grill but in this day and age, a stove is sufficient.
The first step in roasting the chestnuts is to turn on the fire on the stove and to set it to a low flame. This is to make sure the chestnuts are cooked properly without directly burning them. Before cooking them, poke the flat underside of the nuts with a fork to enable the steam to escape because this prevents the chestnuts from exploding! Since we're going to roast the chestnuts on the stove, the chestnuts are placed in a long handle pan. Throughout the time the chestnuts are being cooked on the fire, sprinkle some water on them to ensure they do not completely dry out.
Leave the chestnuts to roast for about fifteen to twenty minutes, while they're still cooking, remember to stir them around to ensure each chestnut is equally cooked, preventing them from burning. Once they're done cooking, switch the oven off and allow them to cool for about five to ten minutes. After the cooling period, the chestnuts are ready to be cracked open and eaten. You can add salt and sugar according to the wishes of your taste buds to make sure these delectable fruits are enjoyed at its best. What easy steps for such a delicious treat!
Another way on how to cook chestnuts on the stove is to boil them in a pot. Add a little salt to the water while the chestnuts are inside the pot and wait for them to boil. Once the water starts to boil, turn the oven off and drain the chestnuts and allow them to cool down. Once they're cool enough, peel the skin off because the skin would be easier to peel now they've been cooked. The boiled chestnuts can be eaten alone or with a garnish. They are also used as stuffing for turkeys during Thanksgiving and other occasions.
Chestnuts are not necessarily eaten only during Christmas or Thanksgiving but on normal days as well. They're delicious and there's no denying that. No wonder they wrote a Christmas song in dedication to these delicious little fruits!

French toast

I made french toast (recipe below) and tempeh bacon (recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s awesome Vegan Brunch). Ben made vegan pancakes and tofu scramble. Yeah. we had a lot of food. It was very, very good. There was maple syrup involved.

Here’s how to make the french toast:

    * 1 can coconut milk
    * some (a half cup?) almond milk (you can use soy or anything else you have around if you want)
    * 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    * spices of your choosing (I like 1 teaspoon of cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg)
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
    * a loaf of bread (can be stale or not; I like whole-grain sourdough or something with  cranberries and pumpkin seeds in it)
    * some oil (olive, canola, coconut) or non-hydrogenated margarine for the pan

   1. Combine all the ingredients except the bread and the oil in a casserole or  large, shallow bowl and mix well.
   2. Heat a skillet or griddle pan over medium-high heat and add some fat.
   3. Dip slices of bread into the mixture; make sure they are soaked through.
   4. Put them in your hot skillet. Check them after a few minutes, and every minute or so after that. Flip them when they’re browned to your liking.

New favorite quick

I’ve never been a big fan of fried rice ordered in a restaurant, but since last week, when my roommate had a big tub of leftover rice she couldn’t finish on her own, it has become my new favorite weeknight supper.It does depend on having some slightly unusual ingredients in your pantry, but they are worth it. Or just go without. Here’s how it goes:

some peanut and/or untoasted sesame oil (a tablespoon or two?)
some garlic, minced (a tablespoon or two?)
some ginger, grated (a tablespoon?)
some cooked rice (a generous cup or maybe cup and a half for each person you want to serve)
many splashes of soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, and Chinese rice wine
some edamame (a handful or two; frozen work really well); cubed tofu, either plain or smoked/seasoned, would also be great in this
some green vegetable, coarsely chopped (as much as you want to eat)—I used baby bok choy one night and pea tendrils the other, and I think it would also be great with snow peas, spinach, broccoli, and pretty much any green you find at an Asian farmers market
1-2 eggs, beaten with a little water (optional)
some toasted sesame oil (a teaspoon or less)
Heat the oil in a large skillet or saute pan over high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly and not letting them burn.
Add the rice and stir to get each grain coated with garlicy, gingery oil.
Add splashes of soy, vinegar, and wine. Keep stirring.
Add the edamame if they’re frozen. If not, or if you’re using tofu, you can let the rice cook alone a bit and get crispy bits before adding them. Also add more oil if you need to.
Add the green vegetable and slap a lid on there for a minute or two to get things wilted/steamed.
Keep stirring, being sure to scrape any crispy bits off the bottom of the pan.
Make a well in the middle and add some egg. Stir  it up until you’ve got some cooked curds, then stir those into the rice and make another well, and do the same with more egg. Continue until all the egg is cooked.
Turn off the heat and add some toasted sesame oil for the final bit of flavor.
If you’re using broccoli or something else that’s harder/takes longer to cook, add it in step 4 instead of 5.

Some other things to try: onions, scallions (step 1); cilantro (step 7-1/2 or 8); chili oil (step 8), sriracha (step 1 or 8 or both).

P.S. No pic of this meal, since it’s not particularly photogenic—esp on my cameraphone. I am no food stylist. Nuff said.

 

Fast food

According to Wikipedia.org: "Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly…typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away."

Fast food dates back long before the twenty first century however.  In the cities of ancient Rome for instance, street vendors had stands that sold bread soaked in wine as a quick snack in the mornings, and cooked vegetables and stews were sold in simple eating establisments later in the day.  Many people living in urban areas during these times had no means to prepare or cook their own food, so they relied on these vendors for their meals.  During the Middle Ages, large towns and major urban areas such as London and Paris had many vendors that sold dishes such as pies, pastries, flans, waffles, pancakes and cooked meats.  Like the early cities of Rome, many of these vendors catered to people who did not have the means to cook their own food or could not afford housing with kitchen facilities.  Thus, they relied on fast food.

As we fast forward to 1916, a gentleman by the name of Walter Anderson had built the first White Castle restaurant in Wichita Kansas, in which he introduced a low cost, limited menu, high volume hamburger restaurant.  People liked the low cost hamburger, fries and colas that were offered.  As time went on, more and more fast food establishments were opened and familiar sights such as the ‘golden arches' have now become mainstream places to eat.

Along with the popluarity and increase in fast food restaurants, many serious health issues have also become popular and are on the increase.  Nutrient depleted and high-calorie foods, as well as lifestyle choices, are taking their toll on the health of many people.  Obesity, type 2-diabetes (now being coined ‘diabesity' because of the relationship between weight and diabetes), high blood pressure, heart disease, and arthritis are becoming the popular and ‘accepted' chronic diseases of Western civilization, with many other developing countries not far behind.  And researchers are now beginning to admit that diet plays a huge role in the prevention and treatment of disease.

Fast food is highly processed and loaded down with additives.  Many of these additives found in fast and processed foods are substances that damage our cells.  Although many of these chemicals have been approved by the regulating government bodies, they are still foreign to the body and can cause health issues.  If these substances cannot be processed and disposed of (or eliminated), they can end up lodged in our tissues or fatty areas, which creates an acidic pH.  Considering disease can only survive in an acidic pH environment, it makes sense to stay away from foods that are doing this.

Food distributors

When you are sitting in a restaurant eating your favourite mediterranean food or even Turkish food, do you ever wonder how the restaurant manager or head chef managed to procure such foods? food distributors such as restaurant food suppliers play an important but largely unseen role in our society.

They distribute wholesale foods to many places such as the big supermarket chains, fast-food places and restaurants. A restaurant manager or head chef could not simply go to food wholesalers to purchase the food needed, because the quantities would be too big. But food distributors can purchase in large quantities, then break these down into the smaller quantities needed by niche markets such as restaurants.

They also distribute non-food items such as plastic plates and cups, paper napkins and other essentials that the general public often take for granted. Such things are made and packed in huge quantities that would far surpass the needs of a single restaurant or even a chain of them. But by using a food distributor such places are able to access their needs in smaller quantities more suitable for them.

Buying through a food distributor allows smaller markets to compete financially with the larger chains. Smaller markets may even team up together so that their buying power can be extended and this also gives them a more competitive edge. Otherwise they could never offer their customers the kinds of prices that the big supermarket stores do. Smaller markets such as restaurants need not buy a whole truckload of food when they team up with others in the chain.

Food service distribution companies need not be huge companies; often they work out of just one truck for a niche market such as a restaurant or a private fast food place like a fish and chip shop. However there are larger companies that have many large trucks on the road and these would tend to service those larger supermarket chains.