Good Food
and Drink Ideas
Contents
The
Dinner Party on a Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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How
To Be Ready For Drop-In Entertaining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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How
to Have a Successful Pot-Luck Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Christmas
Baking With Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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How
to Turn Any Dish Into a Diet Friendly Dish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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What
Makes A Great Gourmet Coffee? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Make
Any Drink More Festive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Ideal
Cocktails For Brunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Making
a Kid Friendly Dinner Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Quick
and Simple Main Dishes Using Chicken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Art Of A South Western Burrito . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Beef
Bourguignon: the Old Favorite That is Making a Comeback! . . . . . . . . . . .
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Unique
Dinner Party Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Tips
For Christmas Cooking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Vegan
Alternative Main Dishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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How
To Keep a Well Stocked Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The Dinner Party on a Budget
Dinner parties are not just
for the people who can afford veal and lobster most nights of the
week. And, they are not just
for those who have a large grocery budget. One of the easiest
things to do if you are
looking to entertain is to throw a dinner party on a budget.
When working on a budget, you
will have a smaller list of ingredients to choose from. For
example, you may be forced to
choose from steak or chicken, instead of anything under the
sun. Smaller parties are also
easier to manage and to plan for.
The first thing to do is to
make sure the guest list is complete. Do you have enough space for
everyone? Are the people you
invite likely to come? You don’t want to invite ten people and only
have three show up especially
when you buy enough food for ten. When you make your guest
list out, make sure you have
enough room to accommodate them as well as the budget to feed
them. It’s true that the less
people you have, the better food you can purchase. But at the same
time, you need to consider
what is more important to you for your party; a well rounded guest
list or a gourmet meal.
After you have the guest list
managed, search for a menu that you can work with. Buying frozen
appetizers can look
expensive, but they are usually cheaper than buying the ingredients to
make them yourself. Try to
keep the courses set to three as a maximum. An appetizer, main
course and dessert are the
only things you really need, and dessert can be as simple as a
sweet cocktail. Look for a
main dish that is liked by everyone but still a decent price. This way
you keep everyone pleased as
well on budget.
The next thing to consider is
that you need to keep the setting as simple as possible. I’ve seen
parties where everything is
perfectly matched and the theme is right in your face, and while it
usually looks good, it can
cost more than the food if you are not careful. At the same time you
can have a very simple theme
where you use color or stuff you already have as a great
jumpstart to the best party
you’ve thrown. Just remember that no matter what you do the point is
to have a good time and spend
time with friends. If you start getting stressed out then maybe
you should step back and take
a break, then try again in a few minutes.
How To Be Ready For Drop-In Entertaining
Even the most gracious host
can become frazzled and stressed out when things get hectic and
fast paced, especially when
she is on her own with the hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and the
planning. Imagine how she’d
be when there is last minute extra guests or out of town friends
stop by because they were “in
the neighborhood”!
Despite how much effort you
think it takes to put together a planned party or how stressed out
you think you’d be if you
tried, it’s always so much simpler if you keep a few items on hand and
always remember that if you
want to entertain then almost anything is fixable.
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You can get a decent bottle
of red wine almost anywhere and they keep well in the bottom of
the pantry. And since red
wine is best served room temperature then this would be your best
option for those drop-ins.
Another option when it comes to drinks is to have a bottle of cocktail
mix ready in the fridge, and
as long as it hasn’t been opened then they keep a long time, and it
will be ready and chilled, so
even if your liquor is not, the temperature will still be nice and cold
thanks to the mix. One other
thing to keep in mind is if you think there will be kids. Older ones
like teens may like a
sparkling grape juice, or soda, and younger ones will be just as content
with a juice box. These
things are easy to keep on hand and are usually in your pantry anyway if
you have kids yourself.
As for hors d’oeuvres they
can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like, keeping in mind
that guests who will be
staying just a minute may need something quicker than those who are
staying a few hours. Keeping
some cream cheese and some crushed red peppers on hand is a
real quick way to have a
cheese ball along with some crackers, just use wax paper to roll the
cream cheese into a ball then
coat in the crushed pepper and serve on a plate with crackers
and you have an instant dish
in less than five minutes. For something a little more extravagant
you could keep a box of
frozen stuffed mushrooms or spinach pastries in the freezer and pop
them in when you fix the
drinks.
Keeping a few festive paper
plates on hand can be a real life saver for after guests leave since
you probably weren’t ready
for the mess in the first place so this keeps clean up to a minimum
and prep very quick and
simple.
How to Have a Successful Pot-Luck Dinner
One of the most common types
of dinner parties now is the pot-luck dinner. Most of the time
these are very easy to plan
and usually go off without a hitch, but there is always room for error
with guest serviced parties.
One person might show up with a meat dish to a vegan pot luck or
someone won’t show up with
anything, or even worse, the person who is supposed to bring a
main dish shows up with a bag
of fast food cheese burgers. Now a lot of people will just go with
the flow and try to fix it
their selves, but as we all know this will just make a stressed host and a
party that seemed useless.
Most of these problems won’t
mean much or bother too many people if it was for a children’s
play date or something
casual, but to a more sophisticated party, they can be disasters.
One of the easiest ways to
head off any problems is to assign each guest a dish, you can do
this in any extent you’d like
really, just understand that some guests may balk at the idea of you
telling them what to bring to
a pot-luck so your best approach is to either ask and hope that they
respect your wishes or call
it something other than a pot-luck. One way to assign the guests a
dish is to assign them a
specific course, such as two people bring appetizers and three bring the
main course and then two
bring dessert. Another way to do it is to give each person a list of
dishes on the invites and let
them pick which one they would like to bring.
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The next thing to remember
with a pot-luck is to always have enough plates and silverware
available. Weather they are
paper plates and plastic forks or the best china available, you will
always want to have extra so
that you don’t chance running out. Also make sure that each guest
brings serving utensils for
their dish unless you have enough yourself.
It’s a good idea to have wide
selections of drinks from water and sodas to juice and if it’s an
adult party then cocktails or
an open bar. Another option with this is to have a self serve bar set
up away from the food table
so that no ones in anyone’s way. This can be stocked with glasses
and mixers or a carafe of a
selected cocktail perfect for the theme of the party.
Whatever you do to keep
things stress free understand that the guests are partly hosting as well
with pot-luck parties, so don’t
stress too much if things go a little wrong, just do what you can to
keep problems to a minimum
and enjoy your party.
Christmas Baking With Kids
Christmas is a magical time
for people of all ages, especially so for children. And what better
way to get them to enjoy the
holidays than by encouraging them to bake with you. You don’t
need to limit your baking to
just cookies. You can make cakes as well as edible gifts for family,
friends, and teachers.
Even very young children can
help decorate cookies or cut out cookie shapes from the dough.
Try making some spiced ginger
star cookies which look great in a tissue lined box. Or you can
cut out the ginger star
shapes and make a hole near the top before baking. Once baked, tie a
ribbon through the hole and
hang the star cookies on the Christmas tree. Consider a cookie
swap with parents of other
children. Have everyone bring a different cookie, with everyone
sharing and taking home
cookies in containers. This is a great way to have a variety of cookies
on hand at home without
having to bake so many different kinds.
Come up with creative ways to
package cookies if you’re giving them away as a gift. Cover an
old shoebox with wrapping
paper and line it with tissue paper. Once the cookies are inside you
can decorate the lid with
some holly or other decorations.
Christmas cakes allow for
endless ideas of creativity. Buy a Christmas tree shaped cake tin and
follow a simple recipe for a
sponge cake. Then let the kids go wild decorating the tree with
icing, marzipan, chocolate
sprinkles, or any other topping that creates a masterpiece of a tree.
Cakes make a great gift for
your children’s teachers. Decorate a cake and place it inside a
Christmas cake tin. Or wrap
it up with clear cellophane and tie it up with a box. You might want
to consider including the
recipe with the cake along with a thank you note.
If you have older children
you might want to try making candy for the holidays. Almond Roca is
easy to make and requires
only a few ingredients such as butter, sugar, corn syrup, almonds,
and chocolate. One thing to
keep in mind is that you’ll need to use a candy thermometer to
ensure the mixture reaches
the candy stage. Once done, Almond Roca makes an impressive
gift for your children to
give.
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Have fun baking and creating
with your children. No matter what the ages are, children will be
able to feel proud of what
they make during the holidays.
How to Turn Any Dish Into a Diet Friendly Dish
A lot of people are concerned
about eating healthier. And, a lot of people are put on stricter
diets because of either a
personal reason or as a medical reason such as high blood pressure
or cholesterol. This is
usually easy to follow if you’ve been doing it a while, but at the same time
can get very boring and make
you start wishing for your old favorite that’s now off limits.
The easiest way to handle the
situation is to adapt your favorite foods so they can fit into your
diet. Sometimes this is
easier than others, but at the same time it’s almost always doable. It just
depends on your diet and what
you’re trying to convert to a diet friendly food.
If you’re in a diet where you
need lower calorie foods then using skim milk and cheeses and “fat
free” alternatives can be
something to consider. At the same time you need to make sure that
what you substitute in your
recipe is not changing good calories and nutrients for worthless
ones. Make sure that if you
use skim cheese that it’s not imitation, because then you shave off
some calories, but you also
lose all of the vitamin and calcium. If your favorite desert is
smothered in hot fudge and
strawberry glaze, try switching it out for fresh sliced strawberries
and some shaved dark
chocolate.
Other things to consider are
diets for a healthy heart or high cholesterol. These can be a bit
more restrictive because you
really can’t find a substitute for salt or a big steak. The real things
you can do for a diet like
this though are to make sure you stick to portion size. A serving size of
steak is just one deck of
cards. That’s right, the size of a single deck of cards, and most people
eat steaks two or three times
that size. Using a variety of seasonings other than salt can work
out well also. Try using lime
marinades instead of salt and you still get a little kick from the lime
and it usually is perceived
the same way as salt, so you won’t be missing it for long.
In the end you will
eventually be able to adapt any recipe to fit your specific diet, so don’t fret
about the limited things you
can eat and instead, use your head to figure out other ways to
make those dishes.
What Makes A Great Gourmet Coffee?
Tasting coffee is as much a
ritual for some as wine tasting is for others. When a coffee
connoisseur tries a new
gourmet coffee they are just as focused as the wine aficionado. So
what makes a coffee a great
gourmet cup of coffee? Several things go into determining what
good coffee is all about.
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It all starts before you
start to brew the coffee, with the way the coffee beans smell after you’ve
ground them. The first
impression of the flavour comes to you as you inhale the aroma. As the
coffee is brewed, the
fragrance will come out. And finally there’s the taste as your tongue
comes into contact with the
coffee, releasing the coffee aroma within your mouth.
It’s your tongue that is
going to decide between an okay cup of coffee and one that is
sensational. There are three
basic components that most coffee experts focus on: acidity,
balance, and body.
Within the coffee beans are
naturally occurring acids. These acids blend with natural sugars
which then produce a slightly
sugary taste. It’s this sweetness that gives the coffee its spiciness
or tang.
A balanced gourmet coffee
will have all its flavour characteristics in perfect alignment for that
type of variety of coffee.
The expertise comes by knowing what characteristics a certain coffee
is supposed to have.
The body of the coffee is
determined by the aftertaste in your mouth. Residues of the coffee will
remain in your mouth and on
your tongue. And this aftertaste will vary on the type of
characteristics the coffee is
supposed to have. To simplify this, the body of a coffee is all about
its consistency, thickness,
and texture.
There are many varieties of
coffee to choose from that it can become confusing to find one or
two that you really like.
Some of the best gourmet coffees come from Costa Rica, having the
perfect balance of smoothness
and flavour without being at all bitter. Second in line are
gourmet coffees from Columbia
and Brazil, though they can be slightly bitter. Many African
coffees will have a hard
taste to them, while Asian coffees are often on the sour side.
The key to finding gourmet
coffee you like is by focusing on the characteristics that taste best to
you. For instance, if you
like a sharp, dry coffee you might want to try a Costa Rican or Kenyan
coffee. Coffees with a great
aftertaste are typical of Kenya or Guatemala. No matter what,
gourmet coffee all comes down
to personal taste.
Make Any Drink More Festive
Most all holiday parties will
have either an open bar or a self serve bar, whether it’s cocktails or
just juices and soda. It’s
always more fun for the holidays to make things more festive when it
comes to drinks. Even if you
just down play the decorations around the house, playing it up with
the drinks is a fun and
unexpected way to bring the cheer.
You can use any theme from
Christmas to the 4th of July as a backdrop for
your drink ideas.
Just remember that some
things will add flavors to the drink so make sure they are palatable to
at least some of your guests.
But at the same time, some don’t add any flavor at all so they
would work for anyone.
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Around Christmas time it’s
always fun to add some festive color here and there. This is really a
fun time to spice up the
drinks with a neat garnish. You can use peppermint sticks or candy
canes for swizzle sticks, or
maybe try a chocolate straw for hot cocoa. You could also use
colored sugars such as red or
green for sweet cocktails that generally have a sugar coated rim
to begin with. These idea
work well with cocktails as well as sodas and juices.
Other holidays such as 4th of July or Halloween are great for festive drinks as well.
You could
use food dye to color the ice
cubes red and blue and have some normal or if you wanted the
illusion of them being white,
just use hot water when you fill the trays and every now and then
stick a toothpick into the
ice cubes as they harden. The hot water adds more bubbles than cold
and the agitation from the
toothpick does the same. The more bubbles you have the whiter the
ice will be. If you want to
put a little more work into it you could start out with star or pumpkin
shaped ice cubes then put
those into regular ice cube trays to create an enclosed ice cube.
Things to consider when
creating your bar are to make sure that the garnishes that add flavor
are not going to sour the
drinks or create an odd aftertaste, so it’s a good idea to try those out
before the party. Just keep
in mind that if you have a self serve bar to make the uses for the
garnishes obvious, you would
never guess how many people would think it’s just for a table
display or something else
that is off the wall.
Ideal Cocktails For Brunch
What better way to enjoy a
weekend morning than by serving brunch to your family and friends.
And keep in mind that
brunches are perfect for any occasion, such as Mother’s Day and
Christmas, or no occasion at
all. The varieties of foods you can serve for brunch are endless,
including egg dishes,
decadent French toast, potato casserole, and berries with cream. But
what type of beverages are
you going to serve your guests?
Of course no brunch would be
complete without a great tasting coffee. Why not spice that
coffee up a bit by turning it
into Irish coffee? Just add a little whiskey, fresh whipped cream, and
chocolate shavings on top and
you have the perfect way to start off the morning.
Don’t stop there. There are
many types of cocktails you can serve depending on what type of
brunch theme you want to
create, each with their own light and fruity taste. After all, cocktails
aren’t just for dinner
anymore.
If you’re serving a light
brunch, a Melon Patch cocktail is the perfect choice. Made with vodka,
triple sec, melon liqueur,
and club soda, this drink is a good accompaniment for brunches that
feature fruit. Another
cocktail for a light brunch is the Greyhound, a simple and refreshing drink
made with vodka and
grapefruit juice.
The Bloody Mary is a great
choice for heavier brunches. The tomato flavour combines well with
egg, pasta, and pancakes
dishes. And what about putting a slightly different twist on the
original Mimosa? The Dream
Mimosa combines apricot juice with champagne, mint, and ginger
root.
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For those brunches served on
hot mornings, why not try a Tequila Sunrise, which goes well with
pastries and fruits. This
cocktail is easy to make with tequila, orange juice, and grenadine.
Similarly, the Screwdriver is
delicious in its simplicity by mixing vodka with orange juice, ideal on
a sunny morning.
A Peach Bellini is perfect
for formal brunches when you want to impress someone. The Bellini
goes well with brunches where
eggs, fish, and white meats are served. For more casual
brunches where you still want
to impress, the Kiwi Mango Mint Cocktail is a refreshing cocktail.
Made with kiwi vodka, mango
nectar, and fresh mint leaves, this drink will make your guests
want to linger all day.
No matter what types of
cocktails you serve at your brunch, your main goal should be to match
the drink with the food. With
so many great cocktails to choose from the possibilities are
endless.
Making a Kid Friendly Dinner Party
Dinner parties are common all
year long, whether it’s for a birthday or a congrats party, or any
other reason even if you don’t
have one. They are even more common when the holiday season
hits. From thanksgiving,
Christmas, or Hanukkah, and all the way through New Year’s, holiday
parties seem to multiply out
of thin air. One thing most will have in common is the adult theme,
meaning usually no kids are
allowed or at the very least they are advised against bringing them,
mainly because even the older
ones that are 12 and 13 will be bored and may cause
interruptions.
There are many different
reasons to throw a kid friendly dinner party, the first being that you
may have kids yourself, and
at the same time if your guests have children they may not be able
to get a babysitter or feel
like leaving them behind. If something happens and they need a last
minute babysitter it can be
hard to find one, not to mention that during the holidays finding a
sitter may be hard.
The first thing to consider
when making your party kid friendly is the atmosphere. Is the party a
real formal sit down three
course dinner? If so then try to have a separate room where the kids
can have plenty of room to
play but that’s also okay for them to have dinner in. Make sure there
are plenty of toys for all
the ages involved, so obviously if they are all under five then a game
system shouldn’t be needed,
but at the same time if they are all over five then baby toys will not
be needed.
When it comes to the menu, I
doubt that the kids will want lamb chops with garlic sautéed
mushrooms, so try to plan
accordingly, and if you don’t want to cook an extra dish then have the
parents pitch in for pizza.
Most local delivery places are fairly well priced so you each toss in
about two through five
dollars and you should have enough depending on how many kids there
are.
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Keep in mind that while kids
over eight or nine will be fairly well off without constant supervision,
others under that age may
need a babysitter. This is where one of the older kids comes into
play. If you or one of the
guests has a teen that is good at babysitting, try talking to them a few
days before and see if they
will “baby-sit” in the kid’s room while the party is in effect. Most
teens would jump at the
chance to make a quick fifty or so, depending on how many parents
have the younger children you
could all agree on a total to pay the sitter then divide it up by the
number of smaller kids and
each parent pays their share.
Quick and Simple Main Dishes Using Chicken
When most people complete
their grocery shopping, they keep a list of items handy to
purchase. One of the most
commonly purchased protein items is chicken; chicken breasts,
chicken thighs and sometimes
whole chickens. Without cooking chicken in a variety of ways, it
can become somewhat mundane
over time. Consider the cooking ideas listed below to spice up
your usage of the traditional
staple, chicken.
Roast
Chicken
The easiest thing to do with
a whole chicken is to roast it. Some people shy away from roasting
chicken as they perceive the
process to be too challenging. But, with some simple tips, you can
begin to roast a beautiful
chicken for dinner.
Begin by placing your chicken
into a roasting pan. Toss in about two cups of chopped
vegetables, choosing whichever
vegetables are your favorites. Some vegetable ideas include
carrots, potatoes, squash,
parsnips or celery. Spice to taste and set your oven to roast. You
have just created a simple
meal that is both filing and healthy.
Chicken
Pieces
Chicken breasts are great for
a variety of recipes. One of the best things to do with chicken
breasts is to dice them up
when they are still half frozen. This way you have a nice easy time
cutting them up into bite
size pieces, and then you can just toss them into a pan with some
garlic and a little oil to
sauté. Then, boil some noodles until al dente. Toss the chicken and the
pasta together with a jar of
Alfredo sauce, or any tomato based sauce and serve. This chicken
recipe is as easy as
spaghetti.
Barbeque
Chicken Legs
When it comes to chicken
legs, one of the easiest recipe ideas is to line a baking pan with foil
for easy clean up. Lay the
chicken thighs down in rows and then pour a bit of barbeque sauce
over them. Choose whichever
barbeque flavoring you prefer. This recipe is a really easy meal to
create in any volume and it
goes great with just about any side dish that you can imagine. For
example, you could add potato
salad, Mac n’ cheese or fruit salad to your chicken tights to
complete your meal.
10
Some of these are even as
simple to do with other cutlets of chicken such as thighs or wings as
well, but keep in mind that
they would require more effort to have them come out right.
The Art Of A South Western Burrito
Southwest cooking has often
been described as earthy and full of spirit, with a character that is
complex yet achieved with
only a few simple ingredients. Some of the more common
ingredients that are
considered to be south western include beans, corn, tomatoes, chillis,
avocados, and squash. You can
combine all of these ingredients together in a satisfying and
great tasting meal that
features the tortilla.
The simple concept of filling
a tortilla with savoury ingredients and rolling it up is native to
Sonora, found in the north
west of Mexico. Experiment with chicken, beef, and beans as fillings.
Tortillas are a tasty on
their own and make a great wrap. In Mexico the tortilla is usually used
much like an eating utensil.
You’ll find tortillas easily enough in your local grocery store and find
they come in different
varieties for all palates such as whole grain, corn, or ones made without
hydrogenated oils.
You’ll want to serve salsa
with your burrito to give it that added zing. In past years, salsa has
replaced ketchup as the
favourite condiment. There are countless commercial salsas available
at the grocery store.
However, nothing can compare to making your own fresh salsa in your own
kitchen. Try mingling the
flavours together in a unique salsa by combining avocado, jicama,
celery, red peppers, lime
juice, and garlic. This salsa makes a great accompaniment to any
burrito.
Along with the salsa, serve a
south western potato salad alongside the burrito. Use a waxy
variety of potato that has a
thin skin and won’t fall apart once cooked. Slice up the potatoes and
combine in a bowl with cooked
fresh corn cut off the cob, onions, garlic, a bit of mayonnaise,
lime juice, and cilantro.
South western cuisine doesn’t
have to be hot and spicy. You can use mild chillis to add a
distinctive flavour to any
dish without overpowering it with too much heat. Try roasting the
chilli’s to intensify the
flavour even further. Or use chilli’s found in the grocery store, such as
whole canned green chilli’s
or whole fire roasted red and green chillies.
At the end of the meal serve
a light dessert that won’t take away from the warm sensation your
stomach will be experiencing
after the burrito, salsa, and potato salad. Fruit sprinkled with a bit
of pineapple juice and sugar
makes a nice ending.
Enjoy the many tastes of
south western cooking by starting with the simplicity and great taste of
the burrito.
11
Beef Bourguignon: the Old Favorite That is Making a Comeback!
There are few people that
could not help but love the old French favorite of beef bourguignon.
Originally, it was
exceptionally popular in the sixties and seventies. Unfortunately, the recipe
for
this perfect dish was placed
on the top shelves, out of reach for many decades, but now it is
making a great big come back.
So, your friends can just refrain from turning their noses up, if
you choose to present this as
your entrée, during a dinner party. It is official; beef bourguignon
is now back in fashion.
So, let’s get cracking on
this perfect dish!
First of all, you should dice
2lb or 900g of braising beef into large chunks. Heat a small amount
of olive oil in a frying pan
and then add the beef, cooking for around 5 minutes or until the meat
has been browned enough.
Place the meat into the main pan that you are going to be cooking
with.
Dice a medium onion and
gently brown these in the oil. Add to the main pan and add 1
tablespoon of flour, which
you should introduce slowly to the mixture to absorb all of the juices.
Gradually pour in around
425ml or just short of a pint of red wine and ensure that you stir the
mixture continually, when
doing so. For seasoning, add 2 cloves of chopped garlic, some thyme,
a bay leaf and, of course,
some salt and cracked black pepper. You should then cook for around
two hours on a low simmering
heat, either on your hob, or in a casserole dish.
Next, take 12oz or 350g of
peeled shallots and dice around 8oz or 225g of bacon into strips.
Brown these in olive oil
until they reach a light colour. Finally, you should chop 4oz or 110g of
dark-gilled mushroom. Add all
of these ingredients to your main pan and cook for a further one
hour.
Once your beef bourguignon is
ready, it is ideal to serve this with charlotte potatoes or small
new potatoes with vine
roasted cherry tomatoes on the side.
It is not as complicated to
make beef bourguignon as you may have thought. Moreover, it is a
really tasty dish that will
be enjoyed by most people. So as not to have too much of an overdose
of red wine, beef bourguignon
would be very well served by a nicely chilled bottle of rose wine.
12
Thai
Cuisine: A Fusion of Exciting Regional Flavors.
Thai cuisine really does
incorporate the very best of the foods that are available on their own
doorstep, plus the best
flavors from neighboring countries. There are a large number of
vegetables available to the
Thai cook and many of these grow locally and would be freely
available. Thai cuisine
cleverly uses meats that are accessible at certain times of the year and
the traditional dishes are
adapted accordingly. Fish would be one of the most popular additions
to meals as this would tend
to be more widely available at any time of the year.
When people consider Thai
cuisine, their minds often begin to think about the addition of certain
herbs and spices, which are
synonymous with this type of food. Some of the most popular
examples include lime juice,
lemon grass, ginger, coconut milk and fresh coriander.
The Thai people can thank
India for the introduction of coconut milk into many of their dishes,
especially desserts, and
China for the way a number of dishes are now fried. Fried rice noodles
being a very good example.
The Thais really do take
cooking very seriously. They always try to ensure that there is a perfect
mix of flavor, within any of
the dishes that are prepared. Often, this can lead to a dish having a
combined sweet and sour
mixture of tastes. Many Thai soups tend to follow this trend.
Some popular examples of Thai
soups are Tom Yam Kung, which is a spicy soup with lime
juice, lemon grass, mushrooms
and shrimps. Tom Khaa gai, which is a soup with galangal root,
chicken feet and coconut
milk. Kaeng Som is a soup that may be considered to be the Thai
national dish, as it is
served in slightly varying adaptations across the country.
Shrimps often appear in Thai
main dishes and will regularly be mixed in with other meats, such
as chicken and beef. Khao
phat includes fried rice and shrimps with either beef, pork or chicken.
Other popular entrées include
khao man gai which is sliced boiled chicken over marinated rice.
Khao no phet is roast duck
over rice and laat naa is rice noodles, meat and vegetables in a thick
gravy sauce.
For fans of curried dishes,
Thailand has not escaped the regional influences from India and
China and they have a number
of their own unique choices. Gaengmus sa man is a rich and
spicy curry with beef or
chicken. Gaeng khiaw waan is a curry that is more in keeping with what
you would expect from Thai
cuisine. It is a sweet green curry with coconut milk, shrimps and
either chicken or beef.
Thailand has quite cleverly
taken the best regional ingredients that are available to them and
adapted them to become a
unique style of food which they can be and are extremely proud of.
As Thai cuisine is becoming
increasingly popular, the sampling of one or two of their traditional
dishes. We will soon reveal
the reason why.
13
Why
Not Sample the Delights of Viennese Cuisine?
It would be very fair to
state that Viennese cuisine does not get the attention of food critics as
much as it should. Austrian
food, generally, is extremely wholesome and always includes a
combination of top
ingredients to create some truly scrumptious dishes. Most people would
probably have already heard
of apple strudel and possibly even wiener schnitzel, but they would
not tend to be that familiar
with Viennese cuisine as a whole. Everything is mentioned about
Italian and French cuisine,
but poor Austria seems to take a bit of a back seat. Is this fair, when
they have such gorgeously
unique food to offer?
Viennese cuisine has seen
most of its influence come from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Modern day Hungarian and
Austrian dishes are not too dissimilar, with the well known goulash
hotpots featuring as one of
each country’s national dishes. Influences have also come from
other neighboring countries,
and it is believed that wiener schnitzel itself, may have originated
from Milan in Italy, during
the 15th or 16th centuries.
As Austria can have a
notoriously cold alpine climate, it is common for a main meal to start off
with a steaming bowl of hot
soup. A very popular soup in Austria will seem, at first glance, to be
an ordinary hearty chicken
noodle soup. However, closer inspection of the noodles would reveal
that they are actually strips
of pancakes. Sounds strange, but this really does work.
Wiener schnitzel does remain
as a popular dish in Austria, although it would tend to be made of
either pork or turkey now,
rather than the more traditional veal. The dish is flattened and
seasoned meat, wrapped in
breadcrumbs and is ideal when served with a squirt of fresh lemon
juice.
Austrian Gulasch is very
similar to the paprika seasoned Hungarian goulash and other popular
savory dishes include
tafelspitz, which is boiled beef served with apple and horseradish sauces.
For the more adventurous, and
you would need to be exceptionally brave for this one, you may
like to sample beuschel,
which is a ragout made of calf lungs and heart.
Viennese cuisine is probably
best known internationally for their excellent desserts. Apple
strudel is a popular choice
in many countries, as the apple, cinnamon and raisins, wrapped in
thin pastry is such a simple,
but delicious idea for a sweet. Sachertorte is equally popular in
Austria and is an apricot
filled chocolate cake that is far more complicated to make than the
strudel. People generally
tend to enjoy this in cafés or purchase it from a shop now, as they
have less time in their more
hectic lives. This chocolate cake is often served with whipped
cream and this is perfect to
accompany the richness of the cake.
So, here’s to good old
fashioned Austrian cuisine. Let us not keep it quite so understated in the
future!
14
Mexican
Cuisine: A Multi Colored Feast.
When people think of Mexican
food, tortillas, nachos and tomato based sauces immediately
spring to mind. However, much
like the country itself, the traditional foods offer a carnival like
fusion of colors and tastes,
thanks to the inclusion of many strong and spicy traditional
ingredients.
Like so many dishes, the
ingredients used vary from region to region. The north of Mexico tends
to favor meat based menus, to
include beef, goat, even ostrich! The central region is more
varied and influenced by the
surrounding areas. Chicken proves to be a popular choice, along
with the more specialized
carnitas, made from braised pork, and menudo, a spicy tripe soup.
The south east region,
particularly the coast of the Yucatan peninsula, has a more Caribbean
influence. Often sweeter
dishes invariably containing seafood, spicy chicken, pineapple or
chocolate, the most necessary
ingredient in mole sauce. Ceviche, a raw fish marinated in lime,
or huachinango, red snapper
are popular fish choices here. Pollo pibil is a real Yucatan
specialty. This consists of
chicken marinated in orange with spices, barbecued and traditionally
served in locally sourced
banana leaves.
The basis of so many of the
traditional menus will inevitably include tomatoes, chilies, garlic and
onion. Put these ingredients
together with your choice of meat, fish, cheese, beans or
vegetables. These may be used
to fill a tortilla, a thin flat bread made traditionally from maize or
alternatively wheat flour.
Enchiladas consist of baked, folded tortilla, coated in tomato and chili
sauce, stuffed with meat or
vegetables. Chiles renellos are large chilies stuffed with spicy meat
and cheese, great served with
rice and fresh salad.
Other options are tacos, a
crispy fried tortilla which folds around your choice of filling, making
them a versatile snack to eat
from your hand, when on the move. These can then be
accompanied by jalapenos or
guacamole and topped with melted cheese, washed down with a
Mexican beer, such as Corona
or Sol, or perhaps a tequila based margarita.
No traditional Mexican meal
would be complete without a delicious desert. The most popular
choices are tres leches, a
moist cake, or platanos machos, fried spicy bananas covered with
sour cream. Desert
enchiladas, a rich sweet version of the traditional enchilada where the meat
filling is replaced by fresh
fruit, baked and covered in chocolate laced with cinnamon.
In terms of diversity in
using local ingredients, Mexican food must be applauded for its
imagination in both creating
and displaying its dishes, which reflect the culture of this
remarkable country.
15
Christmas
Lunch: The Traditionally British Way.
The one thing that most
Christian societies worldwide really take seriously is the traditional
Christmas meal, which is
avidly looked forward to each year. This is the one excuse for all of the
family to get together and
enjoy each other’s company and some good celebratory food and
drink. The UK is no exception
to this and when it comes to the Christmas lunch, everything will
be done to ensure that the
prepared meal will have been worth the year long wait.
Because so much emphasis is
placed on the main course and dessert, it is less common for the
British to partake in a
starter or first course. Those that do, would probably be inclined to restrict
this to a light bowl of soup
with a small amount of bread.
The British tend to pull out
all of the stops for the main course. Often the turkey is cleaned,
stuffed and prepared on
Christmas Eve. The designated cook will wake up early on Christmas
Morning to begin roasting the
turkey in the oven. The turkey usually has rashers of streaky
bacon lined along the top of
the bird, to provide some extra basting fat during the cooking
process.
The British absolutely love
their roast potatoes and quite often, the way that these have been
cooked, will be the deciding
judgment on whether the cook has done a good job with the meal
generally. There is a lot of
hype about using goose fat to create the best ‘roasties’, but often
butter will do just as well.
The potatoes should be part-boiled, drained, tossed and then added to
the hot melted butter to
roast slowly with the bird. More so in the English Midlands, mashed
potatoes may also be served
alongside the roast potatoes, but never instead of.
The most traditional
vegetable to serve with the British Christmas lunch is definitely Brussels
Sprouts. Even if some people
may not be particularly keen on them, they will still tend to find a
small pile gracing their
plate. Carrots mashed with broccoli florets, cauliflower, garden peas and
cabbage are all other popular
vegetable choices.
The main meal would not be
complete without all of the traditional trimmings that are expected
alongside. A breadcrumbs and
herb stuffing mix must be included. In recent years, most
households would now opt not
to actually stuff the bird with this mix and tend to prepare it
separately instead. Small
chipolata sausages are also very popular and these are often
wrapped in streaky bacon. The
gravy has to be made using all of the vegetable and meat juices,
to maximize the gorgeous
flavour when it is smothered over such a delicious roast.
When people have managed to
find enough space, which is usually during the Queen’s Speech
at 3 o’clock in the
afternoon, the traditional Christmas pudding is served. This is a very rich and
fruity pudding, often laced
with your favorite alcoholic liquor. Brandy sauce, custard or cream
accompany this pudding
usually, but by far the best way to round it off, is with a large dollop of
thick Westcountry clotted
cream.
America, Ireland and other
countries all have a similar way of preparing their Christmas meals.
But for that perfect
traditional roast turkey Christmas meal, this is the way that things are done
in Britain.
16
Greek
Cuisine : Tastes From the Tavernas
When thinking of Greek food,
Moussaka must be the first dish that would spring to most
people’s mind, understandable
as it is officially the national dish. This is a layered casserole
type dish, made from ground
lean beef mixed with beaten eggs, milk onion cheese and
seasoning, traditionally
topped with sliced eggplant, though this may be substituted by potato.
Another highly enjoyable dish
is Kleftiko, which in Greek translates as stolen meat. This stems
from the legend where the
dish is made from a lamb stolen from an unsuspecting shepherd’s
flock. To avoid detection,
the meat would then be cooked in a hole in the ground, sealed with
mud, to avoid the thief being
given away by steam. In modern day cooking methods the hole in
the ground is fortunately
substituted with paper packaging, in which a shoulder cut of lamb is
added to garlic, lemon juice
and the inevitable olive oil.
Souvlaki is a much lighter
meal , consisting of a choice of meat, for example chicken, lamb or
even swordfish or shrimp,
marinated with oil, lemon and oregano. This is then cooked on a
skewer, the literal
translation, and served with rice and fresh vegetables or salad.
The fried meatball dish
Keftedes is another popular choice, along with Stifado, which is a game
stew cooked in red wine sauce
with onion and cinnamon. Delicious served with Psomi, a
traditional Greek bread.
No traditional meal is
complete without the accompaniment of appetizers, sides, dessert and of
course drink. Meze is the
collective name for a selection of small appetizers, such as calamari,
fried squid, or alternatively
Greek salad or tiganita, which is fried vegetables such as courgettes,
mushrooms, egg plant or
peppers, often served with a yoghurt dip.
For dessert, baklava is
readily available. These are light pastry layers filled with nuts and syrup,
or karidopita, walnut cake.
Children will enjoy traditional Greek cookies, koulouraki, made from
butter or olive oil.
The most readily identifiable
Greek cheese would be feta, a white cheese made from a blend of
goat and sheep’s milk. Other
popular cheeses, often not readily available outside Greece, are
kasseri and graviera.
All good meals should be
washed down by a traditional drink, such as retsina white wine, an
unfiltered frappe coffee. For
those really looking to let their hair down, there is of course the
eighty per cent proof Ouzo,
best drunk with caution, or of course an ordinary beer for the less
adventurous!
17
Experience
Sunny Bajan Delicacies
The island nation of Barbados
seems to have been successful in capturing the best examples of
neighboring cuisine styles,
along with keeping hold of the traditional influences from Africa and
England, in the past. When
you put these factors together, you come up with the Bajan style of
cuisine, which should be
celebrated for being a very unique example of food from the
Caribbean.
Fish is extremely important,
within the Bajan’s diet, as it is so readily available throughout the
Caribbean. Bajan cooking does
also include meats such as pork and chicken though.
It is fair to state that all
Caribbean islands have a particular choice of seasoning that they like to
put in with their food. For
example, Jamaica is World famous for its ’jerk’ seasoning. Barbados is
no exception and whilst the
jerk style of seasoning can be found on the island, Bajan food tends
to have a more unique style
of its own. Thyme, marjoram, green onions and parsley are some of
the herbal ingredients, which
are favored on the island.
The national dish of Barbados
is widely accepted to be flying fish with cou cou. This is quite a
simple recipe which makes
good use of a species of fish that are abundant throughout the local
warm waters. The dish
consists of fried flying fish and the cou cou is a combination of cornmeal,
okra, salt, peppers and
seasoning, which are all made into a mash.
Other popular Bajan dishes
include ’pie and fish’ which is a type of macaroni cheese pie, again
served with the ever popular
flying fish. ’Rice and peas’ is Bajan black eyed peas simply served
with rice and Bajan candied
sweet potatoes are made with plenty of locally grown brown sugar,
which can be fried or even
mashed.
For something sweet, fried
plantains are very popular. These are similar to sweet bananas and
are deep fried and coated
with cinnamon. ‘Conkies’ are a mixture of cornmeal, coconut,
pumpkin, sweet potatoes and
corn flour, which are all served in a banana leaf. These are
particularly popular in
November, when the Bajans celebrate their independence.
There would appear to be a
number of myths about the food that you will find on Barbados. A lot
of people automatically
presume that it will be too hot and spicy, like some other Caribbean
national dishes. Whilst hot
food would be available to you, this does not provide a good example
of overall Bajan food and you
would tend to find that this is quite far from the truth.
18
A
Steaming Hot Bowl of Irish Stew: the Real Winter Warmer!
There is nothing better,
during those long and cold winter nights, than to settle yourself down to
a hearty bowl of steaming
Irish stew. This traditional and rustic Irish favorite, really will take the
chill out of your bones and
make you feel as though you will have a good source of central
heating for any cold night
that may lie ahead. This exceptionally tasty meal is easy to make and
will be a hit with all
members of your family.
To get started, chop 4 medium
potatoes into four pieces each. Then roughly chop 4 medium
carrots and 2 medium onions.
It is advisable to cut the chunks quite large, as this adds to the
dish’s rusticity.
Next, dice about 1lb (454g)
of lamb and fry in a pan for about five minutes to seal in the juices
and lightly brown the meat.
Add the meat to a casserole dish and add the chopped vegetables,
but not the potatoes at this
stage. Pour over about 450ml of lamb stock, which can be very
simply made by adding two
lamb stock cubes to this amount of water. Alternatively, if you have
been using the meat from a
bone, you can use the bones to create a really tasty stock.
Place the potatoes on top of
all the other ingredients to ensure that they are cooked through
steaming.
For the seasoning, you should
then add 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley, some fresh
thyme, one tablespoon of
pearl barley, which is essential for the Irish stew theme, 2 shakes of
Worcestershire sauce and some
salt and pepper.
Place in the oven and cook
for about 1¾ hours at around 160 degrees Celsius. About half way
through this cooking time,
you should prepare a roux, which will help to thicken the gravy in the
stew and give it a much more
hearty consistency. Take 50g butter and 50g flour, mix them in
together and cook in a
saucepan. Add some of the stock, from the half cooked stew, and stir
this in with the roux,
cooking it in the saucepan. Be careful not to allow the roux to get stuck to
the bottom of the pan. Then,
simply add this back into the casserole dish for a thicker and more
appetizing Irish stew.
Once the stew has cooked for
the correct amount of time, all you have to do is to serve it on to
warmed plates and then really
tuck in and enjoy it.
19
Warming
the Cockles With Spicy Mulled Wine.
Nothing takes off the chill
of a cold winter’s evening more than the delightfully spicy aroma of
mulled wine cooking on the
stove. This popular winter warmer is present in many European
cultures, but they all tend
to follow the same sort of ingredients and cooking methods. Mulled
wine has been around for
centuries and is still just as popular today, especially around
Christmas time, as it has
ever been. If you follow these simple directions, you too can enjoy the
very civil sociability of
sharing steaming hot glasses of spicy mulled wine with your friends and
family.
For a large batch, which will
be more than enough to share around, you should take two bottles
of red wine. Apparently,
country wines tend to be better than commercially available wines. For
example, wines that have
hints of bilberry, damson, blackberries and black plums make
excellent choices.
Next, you need to take four
small oranges and insert four cloves into three of them. With the
fourth orange, grate the peel
and keep it to one side. Squeeze the juice and add this to a cup.
Grate the peel from a lemon
and keep to one side, squeeze the juice and add this to the cup of
orange juice.
Add the contents of the cup,
along with the three other oranges, to a pan. Add two, three inch
long cinnamon sticks to the
pan. Also add some fennel and aniseed for a more spicy tasting
wine.
Pour the two bottles of red
wine into the pan and heat gently to around 140 degrees Fahrenheit
or 60 degrees Celsius. It is
essential that you do not allow the contents of the pan to boil, as this
will cook off the alcoholic
content of the mulled wine.
Finally, you should add the
fruit peels, which you should have placed to one side earlier. If the
wine is too bitter for you,
at this point either add sugar or some honey, according to your own
preference. Make sure you
keep stirring it.
You are now ready to serve it
to your friends and family. It is often a good idea to warm some
glasses before hand, so that
the heat of the mulled wine remains for longer. But this is up to
you.
Spicy mulled wine is usually
a hit with most people and is especially popular at Christmas
parties. It makes a perfect
alternative to punch and fills the air with such a delightfully cheerful
aroma. As it is so easy to
make, why not try making your own batch?
20
Sensational
Summer Pudding!
A lot of people take one look
at summer pudding and automatically presume that this dessert is
going to be quite complicated
to make. This could not be further from the truth. Summer
pudding is an easy treat to
make and will guarantee a splendidly refreshing ending to any
summer meal. What is more, it
will make the most of the summer berries, when they have come
in to season.
In order to create your own
summer pudding, take a 1½ pint pudding basin bowl and butter the
insider all around. Place 8oz
or 225g of redcurrants, 1 lb or 450g of raspberries and 4oz or 110g
of blackcurrants into a
saucepan with 5oz or 150g of caster sugar. Heat the ingredients just long
enough for the sugar to have
been dissolved and for the fruit to start exuding some of its juices.
Line the pudding bowl with
pieces of good quality sliced white bread. You should ensure that the
whole bowl has been lined and
that there are no holes to be found. Next, set about half a cup of
the berry mixture to one side
and pour the remainder into the pudding bowl. Take some more
white bread and place over
the top of the mixture. Again, ensure that there are absolutely no
holes.
Place the pudding into the
refrigerator for the night, so that it will set. When you are ready to
serve the pudding, simply
remove it from the pudding basin, on to a large enough plate and
pour over the remaining berry
juices that you are kept to one side the day before. This way, if
there are any last remaining
white bread areas, the mixture will cover them to give them an all
over classical red color.
It is most ideal to serve
summer pudding with lashings of thick cream. If you can get hold of
some Cornish clotted cream,
so much the better, as this will take away the sharpness of the
pudding and provide an
excellent accompaniment.
Summer pudding is best
enjoyed al fresco and when shared with friends or family. A nice and
fruity rose wine will round
the pudding off perfectly.
So, as you can see, summer
pudding is far from being as complicated as you may have once
thought. Try making it
yourself, the next time you are able to lay your hands on these summer
berries and let other people
think that you have spent hours creating a complex master piece for
dessert.
Unique Dinner Party Themes
When most people throw dinner
parties, they tend to focus on one main theme, usually around
a holiday or special event.
While those are the most common concepts in the way of themes for
dinner parties, they are not
the only ones available. If you want your party to be a bit more
memorable than others, a
unique theme is great option.
21
Most people are more focused
on the theme of the party and the festivities than on the menu.
But, if you are looking for a
common, basic theme to begin building around for your menu, steak
or chicken are great options.
At the same time don’t forget that you can involve the menu in your
theme of your party and in
fact, it is often fun to do so.
If you are throwing your
party in July, you could do a Christmas in July theme. This could
involve having your fourth of
July party be a great backdrop for a secret Santa at the end of the
night. With a simple twist of
colors, from red, white, blue and green, your party could serve for
both holiday themes.
Some ideas to include in your
party may be some great candy cane cocktails or sugar cookie
ice cream sandwiches. At the
same time you could reverse the aspects of this party of
Christmas in July and use all
of the summer decorations. For example, you could have as a
backdrop traditional summer
icons while dressing in a sunny dress. Keep the cocktails simple
such as beer and tea and you’ve
got summer twice this year. Don’t forget the bar-b-q!
A black tie event is not
something everyone gets to attend within their lifetime. So if this seems
a bit out of the ordinary for
your crowd, then this is the perfect theme party for you to throw.
Everyone can wear their best
dresses and suits and walk down the red carpet to your door. If
you want to spring for a “paparazzi”
to flash a few shots as the guests arrive, it’s sure to bring a
smile to those arriving.
Keep in mind that the menu
could be heavily influenced here as well. Keeping things simple is
out of the question here so
play it up with all the glitz you can handle. Also keep in mind that
people will be wearing their
best clothing so I’d stick to white wine or champagne. Also keep a
few emergency clean up kits
hidden just in case.
Tips For Christmas Cooking
Christmas is one of the
biggest holidays of the year, a holiday where food becomes extremely
important in homes around the
world. It can also be the time of year when many people stress
over what to serve and how to
prepare everything they want to serve! Following are some tips
that can help you stay sane
during the holiday season.
Christmas wouldn’t be
complete without all that homemade Christmas baking. Many people
have traditional family
baking goodies that they make every year. However, it can be
overwhelming if you decide to
do all of your baking in one day. Try to plan your baking time
across more than one day.
Choose recipes that aren’t too complicated or you’ll soon grow
frustrated as you try to get
them all done before the holidays. Get your kids involved if you can,
but give them tasks they can
perform that match their skill level. A great tip when it comes to
holiday baking is get all of
your shopping done at least a day or two before you plan to bake.
This way you’ll have
everything on hand before you start.
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Perhaps the most important
meal during the holidays is Christmas Day dinner. There are so
many options when it comes to
Christmas dinner, whether you stick with the traditional turkey or
branch out and try something
new, such as cooking an ethnic dish from your heritage. If you’re
cooking for a large crowd don’t
feel shy about asking some of your guests to bring over some of
the side dishes or dessert.
If you try to do it all you’ll surely find yourself far too stressed out to
enjoy the day. A great idea
is to have some people prepare one of their own family traditions to
share at the table.
It seems like every day
during the holidays is filled with cooking and food. All leading up to the
finale of the season, New
Year’s Eve. Consider keeping things simple this year so you can sit
back and enjoy the ending to
the year. If you’re having guests over you can still focus on
festivity without making
things complicated for yourself. Prepare easy appetizers such as
homemade dip, chicken
skewers, mini quiches, and bacon wrapped scallops. Another great
food choice for New Year’s
Eve is a fondue. Although a bit more complicated than appetizers,
you can still keep it simple
by serving a cheese fondue followed by a chocolate one.
No matter what you decide to
bake, cook, and serve this holiday season, make sure you take
the time to sit back and
enjoy what you’ve prepared!
Vegan Alternative Main Dishes
A lot of people in today’s
world have chosen an alternative eating style. Whether it’s vegetarian
or vegan, they are both a
little hard to find meals to prepare at home. Generally speaking,
vegetarian is easier to find
and prepare options that a vegan lifestyle.
If you’re a vegetarian, you
have the option to consumer dairy and eggs, which are both around
in large quantities. But if
you are a vegan, your diet is completely free of all animal products; no
dairy or eggs. This is where
it gets a bit tricky for someone not used to prepare food for
consumption as a vegan. For
example, if you prepare cookies, you may think that they are
harmless. But, they typically
contain butter or eggs.
Green
Beans
The main thing to start with
when making a vegan alternative is to start out with the right
ingredients. This could be
just about anything, but for now we will talk about green beans. I
know that they are usually a
side dish, but for this purpose they can be a main dish. You can
spice them up with a little
bit of almond butter and a vegan pastry. You can also make little
bundles of pastry filled with
green beans, some herbs and a little pat of almond butter and
you’ve got a dish called
money bags.
Tofu
Something else to keep in
mind when preparing vegan dishes is tofu. This is usually easy to
come by, with most grocers
carrying the item in their produce section. There are several
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different types of tofu, from
silken to firm. And, the textures range from very soft and creamy to
firm like a block of hard
cheese.
They also make tofu in plain
and other flavors, but you don’t need to worry if you can only find
plain. Tofu picks up flavors
and holds on very well, usually in only a few minutes and you can
cook using about any
technique possible. The most important thing to keep in consideration is
the texture of tofu. Make
sure that its texture agrees with the dish that you are preparing.
Tofu spaghetti is a great
dish to make that’s very easy. As a matter of fact, you can take just
about any dish and substitute
the meat with tofu. To prepare tofu spaghetti, start out by
chopping the firm tofu into
the sizes you want. Then, sauté the tofu pieces with a little bit of
tomato sauce and a chopped
bell pepper. After a few minutes when the tofu is stained red, you
can add the rest of the sauce
and continue to simmer until fully warmed.
How To Keep a Well Stocked Bar
Most everyone knows that for
any big party you will want a well stocked bar so that you can
entertain your guests.
Whether it’s as simple as a large variety of wines, or as complex as a
mixer for every drink you can
think of, you will want to make sure you have a decent supply as
well as the right equipment.
When it comes to cocktails,
it’s always best to keep a very basic list on hand since most
cocktails are made of just
basic liquor and a mixer. Bourbon, rum, scotch, whiskey, and vodka
are usually your best options
when it comes to having a nice list, but at the same time a lot of
drinks have undertones of
some of the less versatile drinks such as amaretto, grand mariner,
triple sec, vermouth and even
Irish crème liqueur. Sometimes you will even run into drink where
these undertones are the base
instead.
The next important thing when
it comes to the actual drinks is to have a good stock of mixers.
These are almost always
cheaper than the liquor itself and have a large variety to choose from.
With flavors such as appltini
and strawberry margarita, it’s the best thing to have in order to
round out a shallow liquor
stock.
Another thing to keep in mind
is to make sure that you have plenty of the right garnishes for the
drinks you plan on serving.
Some garnishes are almost a required staple, such as celery and
olives, as well as mint and
cocktail onions.
Surprisingly a large amount
of drinks can be made either on the rocks or blended, which means
that a blender will be a wise
choice to have on hand as well as an easy to use bottle opener and
a variety of cocktail
glasses. Other equipment to keep on hand would be coasters, which can be
as simple as cocktail
napkins, or as complex as engraved silver disks. Also a sink and bar towel
are good to have close by so
you can clean up spills and glasses when needed.
If you don’t want or can’t
afford to have a large variety of drinks on hand then you can also keep
a menu type board posted
above the bar so that everyone knows what type of drinks you have
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the ability to make. Another thing
to consider is to make it a drink themed bar. You could use
anything from a wine bar to a
martini bar, which would significantly cut down your supply list and
you could just stock up on a
good list of mixers for the different flavors.
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