Monthly Archives: April 2010

Let Slow Cooking Crock Pots Do the Work

To bring out the best flavors of your dishes, slow cooking is recommended. And one way to effectively do this is by using the kitchen appliance crock pots. A lot of dishes of dishes are using these pots to provide that extra attention and effort in cooking them slowly and lengthy. Popular dishes that are can be perfect through slow cookers are vegetables, meats, soups and desserts.

This style of cooking has been around for years now. And it seems that every home just cannot simply live without it. It has become a necessity for every homemaker to have these at home. These pots come in different shapes, styles and sizes. The best selling are the mini crock pots. These may be smaller than the usual pots but can be equally efficient when it comes to slow cooking.

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Baked Eggplant With Onion, Tomato, and Bell Pepper

Eggplant has never been more popular at the dining table, enjoying a growing and loyal audience around the world. Eggplants come in many varieties, shapes, sizes, colors, textures and tastes. As supermarkets and farmers markets have expanded, new and different eggplant varieties have become readily available. Eggplant has a rich texture when baked, and absorbs the other flavors in the dish well.

Eggplant slices are layered with onion, tomato, bell pepper, celery, and green olives. Seasoned with dried oregano and saffron, and topped with a sauce featuring heavy cream, soy milk and cashews. The tasty eggplant casserole makes a nice side dish to fish or poultry. If serving sizes are doubled, the casserole makes a hearty vegetable entree that can be served with hot baked bread.

Baked Eggplant with Onion, Tomato, and Bell Pepper

Ingredients:

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Recipe For the Ultimate Spaghetti Bolognaise

In this article I am going to share with you my secret recipe for the ultimate spaghetti bolognaise. This recipe was passed down to me from my mum who got it from her mum who probably learned it from my Great Grandma! So it’s pretty special. I love a big bowl of spaghetti bolognaise covered with lashing of parmigiana cheese and a dash of extra virgin olive oil. My girlfriend absolutely loves this dish – it never fails to put a smile on her face. Just remember to hide yourself a portion somewhere because everyone’s going be coming back for seconds! So let’s get to it.

What you will need:

Ingredients:

Spaghetti
Aberdeen Angus Steak Mince
Tomatoes Purée
Tinned Tomatoes
Herbs de Provence
onion
mushrooms
Worcestershire sauce
garlic
Oxo stock cube (beef)
Salt

Equipment:

Large Saucepan
Large Frying Pan
Cooking Utensiles

Method:

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Chicken Marsala For You

There are so veal recipes that work great with boneless skinless chicken breasts, but Chicken Marsala is a personal favorite. Chicken Marsala presents the rich flavor of sauteed onions blended with the taste of two sweet wines. Whether it’s an intimate dinner for two or for four: I hope you enjoy chicken Marsala as much as I have.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Flour

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

1 onion –sliced

2 cloves of garlic — crushed

1/4 cup Chablis

1/2 cup Marsala

Flatten the chicken breasts to 1/4″ thickness. Cover them with wax paper and beat them with a meat mallet. No mallet? Use a rolling pin. No rolling pin? A 750 ml wine bottle will do. Sprinkle both sides of each breast with flour, salt and pepper. Set aside.

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A Little Bit About Beef Jerky

Beef jerky is believed to have originated in South America in the early 1800s or earlier. Ancestors of the Inca Empire made a product similar to beef jerky, using the meat from game animals such as deer, elk and buffalo. They salted strips of meat and allowed them to dry in the sun or over hot coals for long periods of time. This method of drying allowed the natives an excellent source of food when fresh meat was not available. The dried meat, if properly stored, could be kept for very long periods of time. Upon the arrival of the Spanish explorers the secrets of ch’arki (charqui) were shared with the rest of the world. The pioneers of North America built smoke houses and hung pieces of meat, (buffalo and beef) over a fire to smoke cure the meat. Beef Jerky is made when the meat is flavored first and then dried and smoked. By adding spice and herbs they were able to make the dried meat much more palatable. Over the years Beef Jerky has become a very popular snack and comes in many, many different flavors and flavor intensities. It takes about 5 pounds of meat to make 1 pound of jerky. You can use most wild game meats, deer, moose, or elk to make jerky as well as domestic meats, including beef, pork and turkey.

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