Another Way to Make Salmon en Croute

Another Way to Make Miso Salmon

Historically speaking, Spanish cooking has popular roots in the U.S.A, which is regarded as one of the people’s cuisines. Most of Spanish dishes are down-to-earth, uncomplicated food. In addition, the ingredients are available locally or regionally. However, in fact, Spanish cooking seems not quite common in US homes even through many of the techniques actually are very simple to follow, besides, many of the recipes use ordinary ingredients which can be easily found in the supermarket nearby. So, do not let the sense of unfamiliarity with the cuisine prevent you from coming over and saying hello to this kind of delicious food. It is never late to learn. And if you start learning, you will find that cooking is a really marvelous thing that you should have a try.

Once being involved in Spanish cooking, you may find out a variety of national dishes from the Spanish recipe book with an internationally famous reputation, like the paella, gazpacho, tortilla or potato omelette, even through you can not deny the fact that many really typical and popular recipes have gone unnoticed. Many dishes are prepared today using the same cooking methods and ingredients as they were two or three hundred years ago. Nevertheless, the two basic ingredients of all Spanish food are olive oil and garlic which is partially because Spain has very distinct geographical regions, settled by different ethnic and cultural groups, and partially because the different weather from province to province, which eventually result in a variety of food diversity according to different climate and location.

Here is a list of typical ingredients and foods of Spanish recipes:

1. The first one should be its ham, which is a very prized food. Spaniards take their ham very seriously and will pay a high price for top-quality ham. So proud are Spaniards of their ham, that there are several museums of ham.

2. Next should be fish and seafood, because Spain is surrounded on three sides by water and fresh seafood is always plentiful in the markets. Everything from halibut to shrimp and even octopus is common to see in the markets and on menus.

3. Also, there are some essential tools needed for Spanish cooking, including: Mortar and pestle, which are great for mashing such things as garlic and parsley.

4. Cazuela, an earthenware casserole prized for its heat retention.

5. Paellera: A shallow, wide-rimmed pan with projecting handles, designed specifically for paella.

Photo Sources:
1. Spanish Seafood Cazuela
2. Spanish Chorizo Pizza
3. Red Beans and Rice 
4. Chicken Paella
5. Spanish Tortilla

Hot-water Cornbread

One of my favorite soul food is hot-water cornbread.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon salt, pinch baking powder
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon shortening
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1 teaspoon butter, vegetable oil or bacon fat for frying.

Instructions:
Blend cornmeal, salt, baking powder, sugar and egg in a medium-size bowl. Then add shortening and constantly stir until shortening melts and the batter turns thick enough to drop by spoonfuls. Nest, add butter and stir until incorporated. Pour vegetable oil or bacon fat to a depth of 1/2 inch in a big frying pan and heat to 375 degrees. Place heaping tablespoonfuls of the cornmeal mixture into the hot oil. Fry about 5 minutes until crisp and light golden brown on both sides. Repeat until all cornmeal mixture is cooked. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Select Your Onions Carefully

Soul food recipes that contain sweet onions might look comparatively fresh recipes, but most health professionals advocate eating raw onions for greatest benefit. It’s been well documented that onions help prevent thrombosis and reduce hypertension, according to the American Heart Association. The juice of one yellow or white onion a day can raise HDL cholesterol, the good stuff, by 30 percent. Look for sweet onions that are light and golden brown in color. Be sure they’ve a shiny tissue thin skin and firm, tight, dry necks. Avoid onions that have soft spots or surface bruises. Store them in a well sealed plastic zipper lock freezer bag in your freezer.

Soul Food is Evolving

Similar to any precious idea, soul food has been able to reinvent itself and adjust to ever-changing times and circumstances. Today’s soul food keeps going to adapt to healthier cooking methods while maintaining the taste and satisfaction of traditional soul food. For instance, using smoked turkey rather than the traditional fat-back to cook greens, black eyed peas and add flavor to new foods. Additionally, pan frying with lighter oils or baking instead of deep-fat frying and eating smaller portions add to soul foods healthier appeal.

Soul Food is American Treasure

The legacy of soul food plays very important role in history. Nowadays, Afro-Americans celebrate with soul food, particularly during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years holidays. Born out of the throngs of slavery, soul food is now a fashionable food manufacture which has spawned restaurants, books, videos, TV cooking shows, etc. To some extent, soul food is not only an Afro-American treasure, but an American treasure.

Photo Sources:
1. 2nd Image: Cornbread

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.

The spiciest Indian cooking is said to come from its southern regions. Overall, Indian cooking can be divided into 4 basic groups, mainly the northern, southern, eastern and western Indian region. And within those four parts are regional variations depending on cultural influences and climate on the state.

If you want to start Indian cooking at home, you will start to have a basic understanding about the basic spices in Indian cooking. Spices such as turmeric, cardamom and cumin are the common ones. Spices that are toasted and ground fresh are of course the best but those might be too difficult for a green-hand. You can also find recipe books on Indian cooking along with other popular cuisines which covers some basics understanding of the culture behind Indian food.

Even though some Indian food is traditionally packed with ingredients like oil and ghee that most of us avoid for health reasons, Indian cooking methods and food surprisingly become popular and warmly accepted worldwide. As Indian food is mentioned, curry is inevitably thought as synonyms with Indian food and ‘curry powder’ is thought of as its key ingredient. This all-important powder is actually a mix of spices collectively known as garam masala and is added to dishes along with other spices to enhance their flavor and aroma. While the basic ingredients used are the same, each household has its own proportions so that the result will often differ greatly. The better the ingredients used, the tastier the resulting dish is. Most Indians still prefer to prepare their own garam masala just prior to cooking because there is nothing to beat the flavor of fresh garam masala. And it is also true that any Indian dish is complete along with a serving of rice, or the Indian bread known as ‘roti’. However, a complete Indian meal would comprise of appetizers, which are usually the fried or baked snacks. This leads into the main course that comprises of one or two vegetable dishes, along with pulses or a curry, curds blended with salad vegetables, or simply sprinkled with some spices, rice and ‘roti’.

Many people who shy away from trying Indian cooking think the ingredients are hard to find. In fact, this is no longer a problem since Indian spices can be bought in most supermarkets and available in specialist Indian or Asian grocery stores. Most Indian food does not require special cooking utensils so there is no need to buy too many things for a start.

Firstly, it is roasting. Roasting is not a Chinese cooking method which can be done at home since few Chinese kitchens have facilities for roasting. Only restaurants go much into roasts and Cantonese restaurants excel especially in these aspects of cooking. When roasting, kinds of raw ingredients are marinated in seasonings before being roasted in an oven. Marinades should be added from time to time so that the skin remains smooth and shiny instead of rough and flaky, and the meat remains juicy instead of powdery. The Peking duck is one of China’s most famous dishes cooked in this way.
Next method of Chinese cooking is boiling. This means, strictly speaking, cooking food in boiling water.

However, bear in mind that violent boiling should be avoided not only because it wastes fuel but also because it does not cook the food any faster. It tends to make the food break up and spoils the appearance; meanwhile, the liquid is evaporated too quickly with the consequent burning. There are one or two exceptions to this rule; for example, when one wants to drive off water quickly or a sauce to make it thicker, violent boiling with the lid off hastens the process. In Chinese cooking, generally speaking, there is very little big-fire boiling as a complete process. Quick plain boiling is often only a preparatory process for other ways of cooking.

Shallow frying is another typical Chinese cooking method. Shallow frying uses a small amount of oil in a frying pan or cook at a temperature lower than stir-frying. Ingredients are usually cut into slices or flat pieces, slightly coated with batter or rubbed with seasonings. Fish is ideal for this method. Sauces, if called for, are then added after both sides are fried. Food cooked in this way is tender inside with some crispness outside. This method is quite similar to sautéing in the West.

There are some tips for Chinese cooking. Wash green, leafy vegetables beforehand which give them more time to drain so they will not be too wet when you stir-fry. Remember to drain tofu before using, as this allows it to absorb the other flavors in the dish. Marinate fresh meat. Moreover, cut the meat into uniform pieces so that it will cook more evenly. If you’re not using a recipe, a general rule is to cut everything into bite-sized pieces. When deep-frying, to tell if the oil is hot enough, simply stick a chopstick in the pan. When the oil sizzles all around it, you can begin adding the food. If desired, use sugar as a substitute for MSG (Monosodium Glutamate). And finally, in the immortal words of one of my favorite cooking teachers: “the two most important things about Chinese cooking are a hot stove and a sharp knife