Crock Pot Cooking

An entry by admin on 08/04/2008

Crockpots are good cooking utensils to make main meals for individuals or families. Crock pot cooking makes meats more tender chicken, turkey more moist and fish more soft and flaky. When cooking in a crock-pot the best flavors will come from whole herbs and spices. Crushed herbs and spices rapidly lose their flavor during the long cooking time, while whole spices can keep the original flavor during the entire cooking time. In addition, crockpot recipes create great main courses with little time preparing.

variou kinds of food are suitable to be cooked with crock pot. Frozen foods are not tasty with the common cookwares, while it can obtain good flavor in crock pot cooking. When cooking frozen means you should use at least one cup of warm liquid along with the meat. Upon cooking these types of meals you should have to wait for four to six hours on low temperature or two hours on high. Even though the time required is a little longer, it is worth waiting for the enjoyment of sense of taste.

Contrary to the popular belief, raw meat made in the method of crock pot cooking is very safe. During the cooking process, the internal temperature of meat can reach approximately 170 degrees for beef and 190 degrees for poultry. Two important priciples to remember however is to always cook the meat for its complete recommended time according to the recipe. Secondly, do not remove the lid from the slow cooker. There is no need to brown meat beforehand unless you prefer the look and taste of browned meat.Desserts and baked goods can be applied to crock pots cooking as well. You should make sure not to overcook breads and cakes and always follow the recommended recipe guidelines. Never add extra water to the crock pot unless it specifically requires to do so. It is better to allow cakes and breads sitting and cooling for five to seven minutes before taking them out of the pan.Vegetables like potatoes and carrots can also be cooked with crock pot. Those vegetables should be cut no larger than 1cm thick, and put in the bottom of the pot since they require more time to cook. Crock pot cooking can be delicious for both meals and desserts when some basic guidelines are followed.

Crock pot cooking can offer some very tasty meals and desserts, however, some basic rules should be followed when using a crock-pot. You should be careful not to over stir food while it is cooking. Taking the lid off during cooking may cause vast amounts of heat to escape. Therefore the food should only be stirred if it is clearly stated in the recipe. In additon, some elements can only be added at the end of the cooking steps. When using milk and sour cream, be sure to wait until the last fifteen minutes before adding these ingredients. Unless the recipe states, seafood only needs to be added during the last hour of cooking time.

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Cooking Utensils

An entry by admin on 07/28/2008

Cooking utensils are very important to a household because we can not live without eating so we can not do without cooking utensils. In fact, the utensils that are used to cook food often do more than just holding food.

Cooking utensils have various functions in the course of cooking. Can you imagine the days when all cooking utensils are gone. People from the ancient time began to learn how to make cooking utensils to cook food. They can be made of stone, aluminum and iron. In the past, cooking for housewives is a painstaking and time consuming task. Fortunately, nowadays kinds of utensils are invited which make life more convenient than before.

Many substances can be absorbed from the utensils into the food that is being cooked, some of which are essential to human health. Cooking utensils are usually made of three of the substances: aluminum, lead, and iron. Up to about 52% of all cookware is made with aluminum and the amount of aluminum leached into food from cookware is very small. As for the cooking utensils made of lead, research has shown that children should be protected from ceramic cookware containing lead. Acidic foods such as oranges, tomatoes, or foods with vinegar will cause more lead to be leached from ceramic cookware. More lead will leach into hot liquids like coffee, tea, and soups than into cold beverages. There is significant evidence that cooking in iron pots increases the amount of iron in the diet. This is usually a very small source of dietary iron. Nutritionists recommend using the iron-made cookware for the purpose of keeping good health.

People care so much about cooking utensils also because they have an affect on nutrition of any cooked food. A good cook knows clearly what kind of utensil should be chosen for a certain kind of food to keep both nutrition and taste. A proper cooking utensil should be suitable for heating on both thermal and induction heat sources. Utensils of poor quality can not used for a long time. What is even worse, they can result in great dangers when cooking. In order not to pose any risks, you had better buy your cookware in the reputable retail stores.

People may like collecting stamps, books, coins and clocks. Likewise, many housewives have the habit of collecting cooking utensils, not for just holding food but looking upon them as favorite art of works. Cherishing them like antique vases, ladies carry them with great care, fearing that they will drop when their grip is loose or crash if they hold on too tightly. Cooking utensils can be brought as present given to friends, which bring a touch of family atmosphere. In a word, cooking utensils are not only a carrier of food, but reflect the warmth of home.

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Cooking Measurements

An entry by admin on 07/23/2008

People cook everyday. For achieving the good taste and flavor of dishes, people pay much attention to the choice of ingredients, time of cooking and cooking measurements. In fact, cooking is not an exact science, but many facts show that proper using of cooking measurements can achieve the right taste.

Different measurement systems are used in different countries, for example, cooks in the United States tend to measure all ingredients by volume, while it is common in Europe to measure dry ingredients by weight. Cooking measurements are sometimes exact while at other times they can be loose terms which will depend on cultures even on the certain cook. The concept of cooking measurements is different depending on different cultures. In the European countries, especially in Germany, people have accustomed to using cooking measurements in daily cooking. Usually, the standard of measurement is also exact in the form of unit and number, for instance, 1 tablespoon, 1/4 cup, 1 quart and 16 ounces, etc. These are just a few cooking measurements that one needs to know about to be able to meet the standards of the recipe. On the contrary, in Asian countries, especially in China, it is totally not the case. Chinese like using approximate terms to measure during the course of cooking. They would like say: “put some salt and add more sugar.” For the European cooks, those non-specific terms are really confusing. It is wise for the Chinese recipe writer to give the cook a clear idea of just how much the measurement should be.

As for the specific cooking measurements of Chinese, here some basic ones will be introduced as follows. These cooking measurements are also on the top list that can confuse you. The first one is a dash. A dash of pepper or a dash of cinnamon is usually used as one of cooking measurements. For those cook who have no idea of the exact measurement of a dash, they will take for granted that it is right to shake the pepper container or cinnamon container a quick dash over the food. If the holes of the container are big, then a lot of the spice can go to your food, while smaller holes will yield less spices. In actuality, a dash measures about a teaspoon. Next one is a pinch. A pinch of salt makes you have the idea of getting salt with your fingers with a pinching of both thumb and forefinger. These kinds of cooking measurements can lead to different amounts because everybody has different size of fingers and different ways of pinching. A pinch is actually just 1/8 of a teaspoon.

Cooking measurements are usually important for a good cook. Measuring accurately is probably the most important cooking skill for some people. For others, they can do well without considering any of these measurements. No matter what kind of system or method of cooking measurements you would like to use, the best result is cooking the delicious food. In a word, you can adjust these cooking measurements according to your own preferences and tastes.

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Cooking Games

An entry by admin on 07/18/2008

Are you a game lover and looking for some delicious entertainment? The internet provides you all kinds of games, such as role play games, puzzles even cooking games. You can download many cooking games and play for free! Playing the cooking games is the most enjoyable way for you or the chef to kill time while online. Whether having a few minutes or a few hours, you can learn a few different techniques and tips and race the clock and other competitors. Whether it is word games, puzzles, or video games, you have endless options to wile away the leisure time.

I have searched many online cooking games and have come up with the following fantastic web sites for any competitive-natured game lover. This site, CDKitchen.com can be ranked as the first one I recommend to you. I love this site because the cooking games keeps me busy for hours. I am a huge PhotoHunt player. The graphics of this cooking game are excellent, and the music is entertaining. You are free to play and no sign-up required. Food PhotoHunt gets my vote for best cooking games online.

Pbskids.org is a wonderful site that offers cooking games which are mainly for kids. Pbs.org has a cooking game available in English and Spanish called “Cooking with Abuela”. Children can pick a recipe and then find the ingredients on screen. Children have to “drag” the ingredients to the counter top. Ingredients can be found inside cabinets, in the refrigerator and on other counter tops of the virtual kitchen. Different levels of difficulty are also available. This cooking game can be seen as a valuable tool for teachers when teaching Spanish. The feature of the cooking games on the sites is that bright and interesting graphics are of a cartoon nature. Recipes can be printed out.

EBaums World is a very good website which offers many classical cooking games like “Papas Pizza”. The object of this online cooking game is to keep Papas Pizza open by filling pizza orders. You drag and drop ingredients on to the top of the graphic pizza to complete orders that are found to your right. When you complete the order, drag the pizza paddle to put pizza in the oven and begin the next order. Many cooking games get progressively more and more difficult as you advance. “Papas Pizza” is not so easy to pass as you come to a higher level.

Nintendo is another cooking games website, and it has a game called Cooking Mama in which the contender races the clock trying to prepare quality food. What’s great about this game is it also offers tips on the screen that you can make use in your real kitchen. The player has to chop vegetables, fry, grate, peel, mash and all the other things a cook does in their real kitchen.

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Italian Cooking

An entry by admin on 07/13/2008

Italian food is regarded as a prime example of the Mediterranean diet, and is imitated all over the world. Italian cooking is diverse, and each area has its own proud specialties, primarily at a regional level, even at a provincial level. Italian cuisine is not only highly regionalized, it is very seasonal. The high priority placed on the use of fresh, seasonal ingredients distinguishes the cuisine of Italy from those of other countries.

One of my favorite Italian cooking recipes is delicious Italian tart with a mixture of ricotta cheese and custard. The preparation of this Italian recipe is simple and you should pay attention only when you cook custard in order to not make lumps and the ingredients that you need are only flour, eggs, butter, sugar and lemon. Above all, place in a bowl flour, sugar, butter in pieces, eggs and yeast. Then mix all these together in order to obtain homogeneous dough that should stand for about 30 minutes in fridge covered with film. Preheat the oven to 150 – 180°C. In the meantime prepare the custard: place in a pan the yellow part of the lemon peel, boil the milk and mix the sugar with the yolks. Add the flour mixed with the vanilla in order to obtain a homogeneous batter. Then place the pan on a low flame and add little by little the boiled milk. Let the mixture boiled and continue cooking for about 5 minutes stirring from time to time until you obtain a sort of cream. Now let the cream cold and then mix the ricotta cheese all together. When the dough is ready, dampen a sheet of baking paper and place it on the bottom of a baking pan, and pour the mixture of custard and ricotta cheese on it. Now bake for about 1 hour or until the surface of the ricotta mixture become golden. Let it cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve. When you look at the final result of the food, you will have a watered mouth for sure upon seeing the masterpiece of the Italian cooking.

Risotto with Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the famous dishes on the Italian cooking list. This traditional Italian recipe is simple but delicious. It is made with easily available ingredients like onion, butter, stock, and Parmigiano Reggiano. Firstly, melt half the butter in a large pan and cook the onion gently until very soft but not colored. Add all the rice and thoroughly toast the grains for about 5 minutes. Then add the wine and stir for 1 minute or until all the alcohol has evaporated. Then add 3 ladlefuls of stock and stir thoroughly .As soon as the rice is cooked, it should be tender but still slightly firm to the bite. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano and the remaining butter. Taste and season as required. Cover the pan and let the risotto rest for about 4 minutes, then stir again and serve on individual plates.

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