• Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts (1 per person)
• 1 c. flour seasoned with salt & pepper
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• Minced garlic to taste
• 1 lemon cut in half and only 1 half sliced thinly the other use for juice
• 1/4 c. white wine
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1/4 c. capers
• Parsley for garnish

FLATTEN/BEAT THE HECK OUT OF the chicken between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper to 1/4-inch thickness.

DREDGE chicken in flour mixture.

HEAT butter and olive oil over med high heat. When hot brown both sides of chicken. Then and add garlic cook 30-60 seconds (don’t let it burn).

DEGLAZE pan with wine; make sure to scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add chicken stock and lemon slices and juice. Heat to a boil; then reduce heat.

COOK until liquid is reduced by half and chicken is done. Garnish with parsley and lemon slices.

Serve with your favorite noodle with your favorite sauce or buttered with parmesan cheese and a little parsley and your favorite veggie.

Nostrovia! ~E

Ravioli Ingredients:

1 butternut squash
olive oil
2 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
50-count package of wonton wrappers
3 Tbs. cornstarch, mixed with equal parts cold water
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tbs. Italian parsley
1/4 cup tomato, diced

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half, remove seeds and brush cut sides with olive oil. Place cut sides down on lightly greased baking sheet and bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. Cool.

2. Melt butter in skillet and sauté onion and garlic. Transfer to a large bowl. Scoop out squash and place in the bowl with ricotta cheese, basil, salt and pepper. Mash to a coarse paste.

3. For each ravioli, place a wonton wrapper on a lightly floured surface. Spoon an amount of filling, about the diameter of a 50-cent piece and about 1/4-inch thick, onto the center of the wrapper. Lightly wet the edges of the wonton with the cornstarch mixture. Lay a second wrapper over the filling and press the edges onto the bottom piece. Trim edges with ravioli cutter.

4. Carefully place filled ravioli in a large pot of boiling water, one at a time and stirring very gently. Cook for about four to five minutes.

5. Remove cooked ravioli with slotted spoon and place on plate. Add lemon cream sauce (recipe below) or other sauce and top with Parmesan cheese, tomato and parsley.

Lemon Cream Sauce

Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 cups dry white wine
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• salt and white pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. In a medium saucepan over high heat, add white wine, shallot and garlic. Reduce liquid to half a cup.

2. Strain out shallots and garlic. Stir in cream, lemon juice and sugar, and reduce to one cup of liquid. Season with salt and pepper.

Roasted & Fried Butternut Squash Ravioli with Apple Cider Dipping Sauce

1 butternut squash

1/2 cup ricotta or cottage cheese

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

Coarse salt and pepper

50 count package wonton wrappers

3 Tablespoons cornstrach mixed with equal amout of sugar

4 Tablespoons Butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half, remove seeds and brush cut sides with olive oil. Place cut sides down on lightly greased baking sheet and bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender. Cool.

2. Scoop out squash and place in the bowl with ricotta cheese, parmesean cheese, salt and pepper. Mash to a coarse paste.

3. For each ravioli, place a wonton wrapper on a lightly floured surface. Spoon an amount of filling, about the diameter of a 50-cent piece and about 1/4-inch thick, onto the center of the wrapper. Lightly wet the edges of the wonton with the cornstarch mixture. Lay a second wrapper over the filling and press the edges onto the bottom piece. Trim edges with ravioli cutter.

4. Carefully place filled ravioli in a large pot of boiling water, one at a time and stirring very gently. Cook until just tender, about 1 minute. Remove ravioli to a kitchen towel lined baking sheet.

5. Heat butter in non-stick skillet, when sizziling add ravioli. Cook until golden brown about 5 minutes, flip and cook until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat process with remaining butter and ravioli.

Apple Cider Sauce

6 Tablespoons Butter

1/3 cup chopped shallots

1-1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup apple cider

1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Melt 2 TBLS butter ina large pan over medium heat. Add Shallots, saute 1 minute. Add stock and cider; simmer 10 minutes. Add parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce sauce on low heat until reduced to 1 cup.

2. Remove from heat. Add 4 TBLS butter, 1 TBLS at a time. Whisking constantly until all incorporated.

3. Place ravioli onserving platter and top with a little Parmesean. Place sauce in a bowl in the middle of the ravioli.

Try it sooner than later and you will find it is another CulinaryPrep meal to remember. You won’t be disappointed.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons cooking oil or bacon fat
• 1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 ¾ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
• 1 onion, cut into thin slices
• 2 large green bell peppers cut into thin strips
• 4 teaspoons paprika
• 1 ½ cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
• ¾ cup sour cream
• ¾ pound egg noodles

How to Prepare

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Toss the pork with the flour, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper. Add about half the pork to the pot and brown for about 3 minutes. Remove. Repeat with the remaining pork and an additional tablespoon oil. Remove.

Reduce the heat to moderately low and add the remaining tablespoon oil to the pan. Add the onion and bell peppers. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and the paprika. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the pork with any accumulated juices and the broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, partially covered, until the pork is just done, 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to very low and whisk in the sour cream.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the egg noodles until just done, about 7 minutes. Drain. Serve the stew over the noodles.

Nostrovia! ~E

The Ingredients

1 cup (250 ml) red wine
1/2- 3/4 cup (150 ml) soy sauce
1 Tbsp (15 ml)   rosemary leaves, crushed
1 Tbsp (15 ml)  fresh black pepper
6  cloves garlic, crushed
1 Fresh lemon worth of lemon juice
1   half leg of lamb, butterflied

1. Mix together all of the other ingredients except the lamb. Place the lamb in a bowl or pan, a glass 9 x 13 (22 x 33-cm) pan works well.  Only needs to be in there for 10 minutes prior to cooking.
2. Pour most of the marinade over the lamb. Swish the lamb around and get it soaked on both sides.
3. Place lamb on grill. Cook the first side for 20 minutes, basting with the mixed ingredients. Turn the meat over and cook another 20 minutes.

TIP: After 10 minutes on the second side, start checking for how well the meat is cooked. Contrary to many people’s ideas, lamb should not be well done but should still be a little pink. When done, slice thin and serve.

I hope you find this recipe to be a consistent hit for you.

Nostrovia! ~e

The Ingredients

• 2 lb (1 kg) chicken pieces, cut up or whole
• 6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped (yes, 6!)
• 4 Tbsp (50 ml)   soy sauce
• 1 tsp (5 ml) ground black pepper
• 2 cups (500 ml) water
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Tbsp (25 ml) of olive oil

The Directions

• Put bay leaves, pepper, soy sauce, and water in a saucepan. Cover and cook slowly about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the cooking oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan. Peel the garlic, break the cloves into chunks, and brown them over medium-low heat (about 5 minutes).
• Add the chicken to the fry pan and brown it over medium-high heat (about 5 minutes).
• Add the broth to the fry pan and simmer, partly covered, until done (about 25 minutes).
• Remove the bay leaves and serve over rice.

While this recipe uses chicken, doesn’t need to you can also use this recipe for pork or use both for a single meal if you are feeling adventuresome.  Since this is such a HIGHLY flavored meal, wouldn’t recommend wine – beer should work!  In case you haven’t notice, I think everything can use a little garlic.
Nostrovia!  ~E

Home-style Pot Roast

• 1 Oven Bag, Large Size
• ¼ C flour
• 2/3 C water
• 1 envelope (1 oz.) onion soup mix
• 1 can Cream of mushroom soup or low fat cream of mushroom soup
• 3-3 1/2 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme & your favorite seasonings (optional)
• Your favorite seasonings
• 6-8 small (1-inch in diameter) whole red potatoes
• 1-2 medium onions cut in quarters
• 1 package (16 oz.) peeled baby carrots

PREHEAT oven to 325°F.

SHAKE flour in Oven Bag; place in 9×13×2-inch or larger baking pan with sides at least 2 inches deep.

ADD water, soup mix and soup to oven bag. Squeeze bag to blend in flour. Rub thyme on both sides of roast, if desired. Add roast to bag. Turn bag to coat roast with sauce. Place potatoes, onion and carrots in bag around roast.

CLOSE oven bag with nylon tie; cut six 1/2-inch slits in top. Tuck ends of bag in pan.

SLOW COOKER METHOD: In slow cooker, add vegetables, and then roast. Blend soup, soup mix and water; pour over roast. Cook covered on LOW 8 to 10 hours or HIGH 4 to 6 hours or until roast is tender. Remove roast and vegetables to serving platter. To thicken gravy: blend 1-2 tablespoons of flour with ¼ cup warm water and stir into juices in slow cooker. Cook covered on HIGH 15 minutes or until thickened.

• 1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1/4 lb. (4 oz.) Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut up – yes velveeta team
• 2 cups frozen broccoli florets
• 12 manicotti pasta, uncooked
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 1/4 cup 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese

PREHEAT oven to 400ºF. Mix soup, water and Velveeta in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 3 min. or until cheese is melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 2 min. Pour one-third of the soup mixture onto bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish; set aside. Add broccoli to remaining soup mixture.

STUFF pasta with chicken; place in an appropriately sized baking dish. Cover with remaining soup. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover with foil.

BAKE 45 to 50 min. or until pasta is done and chicken is cooked through.

4 servings, three stuffed manicotti each

Healthy Facts

Save 50 calories and 7 grams of fat per serving by preparing with velveeta low fat and reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, yeah I know not that interesting when you heard Velveeta – it really doesn’t taste bad.

Nostrovia! ~E

• 1 boneless pork shoulder (3 lb.)
• 1 bottle (18 oz.) your favorite BBQ Sauce
• Juice from 1 large orange
• Mayo, recommend Duke’s, but only if you are in the south, at least I don’t think they have it outside the south
• 12 sandwich rolls, split, toasted

PLACE meat in slow cooker; top with barbecue sauce and orange juice. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours). Remove meat from slow cooker; cut into small pieces or shred with fork. Return meat to slow cooker; stir until meat is evenly coated with the barbecue sauce mixture.

SPREAD mayo onto cut sides of rolls. Fill rolls evenly with meat mixture.

ITALIAN-STYLE PORK CHOPS

• 2 tsp. butter
• 4 Pork chops (trim fat)
• 1 lg. green bell pepper, chopped (1 c.)
• 1 lg. onion, chopped (1 c.)
• Minced garlic (to taste) — Copious amounts are OK —
• 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
• Sprinkle of sugar to cut acid.
• Italian Seasonings you love to use (to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Melt a bunch of  BUTTER or the recommended amount in large skillet over medium high heat; add pork chops; cook 2-3 minutes per side until browned. Remove to shallow 2 1/2 quart casserole or baking dish.

Add green pepper and onion to skillet; cook over medium heat 5-7 minutes. Add remaining ingredients to skillet; stir to blend. Pour over pork in casserole. Cover; bake in preheated 350 degree oven 45-50 minutes until chops are tender. Makes 4 servings.

I made this dish for two people as well as almost twenty and it works regardless of table size, I wouldn’t push it much beyond 15 though – just too much juggling. When cooking for two I prefer the one pot stovetop method. After browning the chops remove to a plate. Sautee the onions and peppers in the same pot. Add remaining ingredients; stir to blend. Add pork and cover with the sauce; simmer until chops are tender.

Serve with rice or noodles with butter & parsley and a fresh green salad.

Whichever cooking method I use it always comes out perfect. BUT the best flavor is achieved if you grill the veggies in a grill basket versus sautéing. Grilling just adds a wonderful fire roasted flavor that really can’t be beat. I have also thrown in mushrooms, squash or what ever extra veggies I have around.

Nostrovia!

~e

Ingredients

• 8 – 10 ounces shredded cook chicken
• Olive oil
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 4 ounce can sliced mushrooms drained
• 2 cans green beans
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (reduced fat works)
• ½ – 1 cup sour cream (reduced fat works but fat free gives it a real funky taste)
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• Chow mein noodles

Directions

Heat large pan over med-high heat. Add enough oil to lightly coat pan (less than 1 tbs)
Add onion and cook until translucent. Add green beans, mushrooms and soup cook until heated through. Stir in sour cream (add ½ a cup and add more if you think you need it). Heat 1 minute and serve over a bed of chow mein noodles. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!

Nostrovia! ~e

Chicken Salad Waldorf Style

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 cup halved green grapes
• ½ – 3/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 2 teaspoons finely minced onion
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper and whatever else you like to taste

Directions

Combine chicken, bacon, water chestnuts, celery and grapes in large bowl; set aside. In another bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients; add to salad and toss to coat. Chill until serving. Serve as sandwiches or over lettuce for a salad. That’s it – now EAT!

Chicken Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound corkscrew pasta – cooked until al dente drain & cool under running water , drain well
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn kernels
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 3/4 cup Italian-style salad dressing
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 cups cooked and cubed or shredded chicken meat
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Combine mushrooms, olives, celery, onion, cheese, corn, green bell pepper and chicken with pasta; mix well. In a small bowl, whisk together dressing and mayonnaise; pour dressing over salad and toss again to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I hope one of these ideas hit the spot for you – enjoy!

~nostrovia!

Word to the wise: you do not need an 8 pound chicken for two adults and two kids. But this way I have plenty of leftovers to make some really yummy leftover chicken dishes. First and foremost you need to make sure you cook your chicken right. Dried out and flavorless chicken usually can’t be saved no matter what you add to it.  Sorry

Basic Chicken Salad

So here are the ingredients you are going to need:

• 8-12 ounces or about 2 cups cooked chicken cubed or shredded
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion – or ½ tablespoon dried minced onion (rehydrated)
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped celery
• 1 large egg hard boiled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon dill relish or about 1 spear chopped
• 1/3 to ½ cup mayonnaise (duke’s is the best)

There are other ingredients to use for seasoning like Salt, Pepper, & whatever other spices you like all to taste
I like dill, tarragon, rosemary, garlic powder, mustard powder & thyme is this myself.  Your call, Your dinner.

The Directions

Really not a hard thing to make.  Combine chicken, onion, celery, egg, and pickle in a bowl.   Add mayo to your liking. Add seasonings, taste it, add more. Serve as sandwiches or with a salad or anyway you want.

Enjoy!

~nostrovia!

Pork Chops (usually 1 per person)
Bread Crumbs
Flour
Egg slightly beaten
Breadcrumbs (I like the Italian style breadcrumbs)
Olive oil
Sliced bread (1 piece per pork chop)

PREHEAT oven to 350°F.

PLACE Flour, Egg and Breadcrumbs in separate pie plates or shallow dishes.

DIP pork chop in flour, then in egg, then bread crumbs turning over to evenly coat both sides of each pork chop. Discard any remaining coating mixture.

HEAT oil in pan on stove until hot. Place slices of bread on baking pan or cookie sheet.

BROWN both sides of chops. This should only be about 10-30 seconds per side. Remove chops and place on bread. The bread is used to soak up the oil and juices so the chop doesn’t end up soggy.

BAKE until meat thermometer reads 170°F. Depending on the thickness of the pork chop this could be 30 minutes to 1-½ hours for a VERY thick chop. If the chops are more than 1 ½” you should also turn the heat down to 325°F so they don’t dry out).

REMOVE chops from bread and serve. These are great with applesauce (store bought or homemade) and Mac and cheese or potatoes.

GIVE the bread to your dogs… They’ll love it.

Nostrovia! ~e

• 3/4 cup Light Salad Dressing
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. vinegar
• 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets (6 cups) – a floret is the end point.
• 6 slices bacon chunk/bits, crisply cooked, drained and crumbled
• 1 small red onion, chopped

MIX dressing, sugar and vinegar in large bowl.

ADD remaining ingredients; mix lightly.

REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour before serving.

Nostrovia! ~E

Some recipes are simply expected to be found on the holiday table, while many are prepared and given as Christmas gifts to friends and family. There are specific family recipes as well that are always prepared for certain times like Christmas breakfast or a family Christmas dinner. Last Christmas, I prepared my family a delicious Christmas Crock Pot Breakfast. Imagine the aroma filling house when the kids awoke Christmas morning after the crock pot had been working all night long! And breakfast was a breeze.

Christmas Crock Pot Breakfast Recipe

1 bag (32 oz.) frozen hash brown potatoes

1 lb bacon, cut into pieces, fried and drained

1/2 c diced onions

1 green pepper, diced

3/4 lb cheddar cheese diced

1 dozen eggs

1 c milk

1/2 tsp dry mustard

salt & pepper

Layer the hash browns, bacon, onions, green pepper and cheese in a slow cooker, layered. Add the cheese. Beat eggs, milk and mustard, salt & pepper together; pour over mixture and cook on Low for 10 hours. Serves 8.

And to continue the recipe tradition throughout Christmas Day, here, I have a special Cornbread Dressing recipe that is sure to become a holiday favorite and may be handed-down throughout your own family. Give it a try!

Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing Recipe

10 cornbread muffins, crumbled

6 slices wheat bread, crumbled

5 c chicken broth

1 med onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 tbsp margarine or butter

½ lb mild pork sausage

2 eggs, beaten

Salt & pepper

Soak cornbread and wheat bread in chicken broth in a large bowl until the liquid is absorbed. Sauté’ onion and celery in butter until tender and then add sausage and then cook until browned; drain. Add sausage mixture to bread and then add eggs, salt and pepper, mixing well. Spoon dressing into a greased 13×9 inch baking dish and bake for 1 hour at 350 F or until lightly browned. Serves 8.

For more delicious quick and easy dinner ideas and easy crock pot recipes please visit ‘Quick and Easy Dinner Recipes’ http://quickandeasydinnerrecipes.blogspot.com and ‘Family Crock Pot Recipes’ http://familycrockpotrecipes.com

Author: Sherry Frewerd
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Some recipes are simply expected to be found on the holiday table, while many are prepared and given as Christmas gifts to friends and family. There are specific family recipes as well that are always prepared for certain times like Christmas breakfast or a family Christmas dinner. Last Christmas, I prepared my family a delicious Christmas Crock Pot Breakfast. Imagine the aroma filling house when the kids awoke Christmas morning after the crock pot had been working all night long! And breakfast was a breeze.

Christmas Crock Pot Breakfast Recipe

1 bag (32 oz.) frozen hash brown potatoes

1 lb bacon, cut into pieces, fried and drained

1/2 c diced onions

1 green pepper, diced

3/4 lb cheddar cheese diced

1 dozen eggs

1 c milk

1/2 tsp dry mustard

salt & pepper

Layer the hash browns, bacon, onions, green pepper and cheese in a slow cooker, layered. Add the cheese. Beat eggs, milk and mustard, salt & pepper together; pour over mixture and cook on Low for 10 hours. Serves 8.

And to continue the recipe tradition throughout Christmas Day, here, I have a special Cornbread Dressing recipe that is sure to become a holiday favorite and may be handed-down throughout your own family. Give it a try!

Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing Recipe

10 cornbread muffins, crumbled

6 slices wheat bread, crumbled

5 c chicken broth

1 med onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 tbsp margarine or butter

½ lb mild pork sausage

2 eggs, beaten

Salt & pepper

Soak cornbread and wheat bread in chicken broth in a large bowl until the liquid is absorbed. Sauté’ onion and celery in butter until tender and then add sausage and then cook until browned; drain. Add sausage mixture to bread and then add eggs, salt and pepper, mixing well. Spoon dressing into a greased 13×9 inch baking dish and bake for 1 hour at 350 F or until lightly browned. Serves 8.

For more delicious quick and easy dinner ideas and easy crock pot recipes please visit ‘Quick and Easy Dinner Recipes’ http://quickandeasydinnerrecipes.blogspot.com and ‘Family Crock Pot Recipes’ http://familycrockpotrecipes.com

Author: Sherry Frewerd
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

While you are usually safe trusting recipes from sites like Food Network, where most of the recipes come through their kitchens or from one of their on-air personalities, once you get away from such places you’re launching your boat into unknown waters. Even on the Food Network site, you’ll occasionally find recipes with disclaimers saying they are untested by the FN chefs.

But, you say, if someone took the time to post the recipe online, isn’t it safe to say that it’s workable? Why would someone post something that won’t work? It’s rarely out of malice, of course, but usually it is a lack of editing that throws free online recipes off track.

Take, for example, the home cook who posts his or her recipes online at their favorite food site. That person, while she may produce delicious foods from the stove or oven, is likely not a professional cookbook editor, and in all likelihood will type in the recipe, save it and never look at it again.

The error there will most likely be in the process, or directions. The home cook knows how she makes the recipe, and has all the steps in her head. If a step is very small, or something she perhaps added on to the original recipe and never wrote on the recipe card, it may not make it to the computer screen. It takes a different sort of mindset to translate from note card to screen, and a very careful mental filter.

The other most common error is in ingredients, either through omission or failure to use. An ingredient may be left off the list, and mentioned in the directions, or put in the ingredients and never mentioned in the description.

Read any recipe that catches your eye very carefully before you hit the print button. If it doesn’t make sense to you, don’t print it!

Ann Marie Krause has been making cookies for over 30 years, at persent I am retired, for over 23 years I owned a Gourmet Bakery called The Cheese Confectioner.You can visit my site at http://www.annsgoodies.com

NOTE: You are welcome to reprint this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the about the author info at the end).

Author: Ann Krause
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

1. Websites – Two of my favorites are The Reluctant Gourmet and Easy Gourmet Recipes

2. Magazines – There are many good ones I recommend Food and Wine, Bon Appétit and Gourmet Magazines.

3. TV Shows – Some of my favorites Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals and Robin Miller’s Quick Fix Meals

Good websites are a great source of gourmet recipes and related tips, links and material to make the process easier. Magazines are a convenient source that you can take anywhere and view at a moments notice. TV shows are a great way to visually see the recipe being made and see how a cook will vary the recipe. Integrating all these sources into your search coupled with your favorite cookbook will greatly accelerate your learning.

Keep a constant watch for new recipes that you find interesting in multiple sources. This will be a great help in your development as a cook. This habit will help you pick up tips and ideas that will really help you in the kitchen. Finding just one easy gourmet recipe a week will really broaden your knowledge and accelerate your capability and enjoyment in the kitchen. Your family will be amazed at your new found confidence in the kitchen. Being more confident in the kitchen will make the experience more fun for you.

Hugo Felix is a cooking and time specialist specializing in making great cooking easy. To learn more about him visit The Minute Gourmet. For some lively discussion on making great cooking easy also visit Hugos blog.

Author: Hugo Felix
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

A favorite line of editors always refers to the measurements used, which are often given in both metric and Imperial. You are cautioned to use one set of measurements or the other, but never to mix them. The implication is that if you do, disaster will be the result. It’s a bit like the exhortation which goes something like “three free-range eggs”, as if the dish cannot be produced with any other type of egg.

This is the sort of thing that has inexperienced cooks quickly turning the pages, looking for a recipe with less ingredients or abandonning the idea altogether and heading for the takeaway. I call it ‘the tyranny of the recipe’. It’s as unnecessary as it is silly.

If you are one of those who ignore a recipe simply because the list of ingredients is too long, or looks too complicated, please keep reading. You don’t need to change your cookbook. You just need to change your mindset.

The first thing to remember is that recipes are written by people trying to pass on a method they use to cook something. They are a convention for exchanging information which has developed over many years and which, on the whole, work very well. But that’s all they are. You are not dealing with chemical formulas that will blow up in your face if you measurements happen to be a few grams out, or you change one ingredient for another.

In just about any recipe you can not only change ingredients around, alter the amounts used and so on, you can also leave them out altogether. You may not achieve exactly the same dish as the cook who wrote the recipe, but so what? Who’s to say that your version won’t be just as good, or even better?

Good cooks, and that really means experienced cooks, will read through a recipe, grasp the general idea, and proceed to put it all together using previous knowledge and their own tastebuds. How things taste to you, and even how they look, are far more important than any written instruction and far more liberating.

Try this simple test. Open two different cookbooks at the chicken recipe section and compare the recipes. It will very quickly dawn on you that the recipes in one are simply variations on the listings in the other, the biggest variation being in the flavorings used. So the conclusion must be, if the recipes can be varied in flavors and quantities between cookbooks, you can do exactly the same thing and still come up with some stunning dishes for your friends and family.

Using cookbooks as a source of ideas only is an enormously liberating experience for most people, turning a chore into a pleasure. As a bonus, it often produces far superior results as well. For example, did you know that many of the dishes published in cookbooks have never actually been cooked? They are frequently just rewritten from notebooks and archives. That’s because the professionals know that the contents are not critical. It just makes us look more highly skilled if we pretend they are.

Don’t be trapped in this way. One of the most influential cookery writers of her day, Elizabeth David, put only the barest of information in her recipes and often didn’t bother to mention quantities at all. Beginner cooks might have struggled a little, more through nerves than anything else, but more experienced cooks were quickly at home creating their own versions of classic French recipes.

And that’s something to bear in mind when you are cooking for the family. Professionals did not invent cooking, ordinary people did. Many of the classic Italian and French dishes are not the results of swanky restaurant posing, but simple food prepared from fresh ingredients with many regional variations. They have nothing to do with the culinary antics of celebrity chefs.

Take a break from tyranny. Close the cookbook and make something you have cooked before, but change it a little – or a lot if you wish. Add, substitute or take away one ingredient, taste or smell everything before you use it and get used to the idea of cooking with your palate, which really means your nose. You will probably find that you surprise yourself by how much you instinctively know and how much you have learnt. You will also be pleasantly surprised by how much easier life in the kitchen has become.

Copyright © 2006, Michael Sheridan. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Michael Sheridan is an acknowledged authority and published writer on cooking matters. His website at http://thecoolcook.com contains a wealth of information, hints, tips and recipes for busy home cooks.

Author: Michael Sheridan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Here are the top 10 most popular recipes in France:

Roast Chicken

Indeed roast chicken is not a notorious french recipe but cooked everywhere around the world from Asia and Africa to America. However it is the most popular french dish. Roast chicken is not stuffed inside. The secret is to baste the poultry several times during roasting with butter and cooking oil and to add an onion in the roasting pan. Roast chicken is traditionally served with potatoes and green beans.

Boeuf bourguignon

The most famous beef stew in France. Boeuf bourguignon is a traditional recipe from Burgundy. A recipe that french people use to cook at least once every winter. The beef meat is cooked in a red wine sauce, obviously a red wine from Burgundy. Bacon, onions, mushrooms and carrots add flavor to the recipe. But thyme, garlic and beef stock are essential to cook a good boeuf bourguignon.

Mussels mariniere

A typical summer recipe very popular along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast. Mussels are fresh and cooked in a white wine sauce with parsley, thyme, bay leaf and onion. It takes only 5 minutes to cook a tasteful mussels mariniere. The secret is to season carefully the meal and to discard any mussels that don’t look good enough.

Sole meuniere

Although sole is an expensive fish, the taste is so elegant that it is considered as the noblest fish. Sole meuniere is a recipe from Normandy. The fish is cooked in a butter sauce with a little bit of flour and lemon juice. Sole is traditionally served with rice or green vegetables.

Pot au feu

A typical family meal coming once again from Normandy. Pot au feu is a boiled beef with pork, chicken and vegetables. It takes about 4 hours an a half to cook as the beef has to simmer slowly to extract all its flavor. Pot au feu is also called Potee Normande in France.

Sauerkraut

Quite similar to the german sauerkraut, the french sauerkraut called choucroute comes from Alsace. However the french recipe can be traced back to 6 centuries ago ! Sauerkraut is a fermented cabbage. Commonly sauerkraut includes sausages, pork knuckle and bacon. Two essential ingredients are alsatian white wine and juniper berries.

Veal stew

Called blanquette de veau in France, this is another stew recipe from Normandy. The veal meat simmers in white sauce – as blanquette from blanc stands for white in french – with mushrooms and onions. The white sauce is made of egg yolks, whipping cream and lemon juice. Veal stew is usually served with rice.

Lamb navarin

Another stew but this one is made of lamb meat. It is also called spring lamb as it comes with green vegetables available in spring. Navarin comes from navet which stands for turnips in french. Other ingredients are tomatoes, lamb stock and carrots. This stew takes less time to simmer than any other.

Cassoulet

A strange recipe that english people often confuse with their traditional breakfast! A traditional meal from south west of France. Each village has its own recipe but it always includes beans and meats. Cassoulet is a rich combination of white beans and depending on the village lamb, pork, mutton or sausage meat. Cassoulet is the cornerstone of the french paradox study describing why people from south west of France suffer less than others from infarcts.

Bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse is closely linked with the city of Marseille on the Mediterranean coast. The recipe is a fish soup from local fish and seafood products including crabs, scorpion fish, monk fish and others. Provencal herbs and olive oil are essential. For a long time, the recipe was a secret jealously kept by the people from Marseille.

All these recipes are available at Cuisine-France, french recipes: http://www.cuisine-france.com, french cooking and recipe guide.

Author: Phil Blasco
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

One of the great things about jello is its versatility. It can be used to color, flavor and add texture to dessert recipes and there are lots of different flavors you can choose from. You can also choose from jello gelatin and jello pudding.

A Few Jello Ideas

For Christmas, you might like to use a jello mold, perhaps a Santa or a Christmas tree. You can use red and green jello for a festive look to your jello mold recipe. Jello cookies are also very nice at thanksgiving and Christmas and they are also great for birthdays.

A jello poke cake is a very easy recipe to make. You can bake a cake using a cake mix and simply poke holes in it with a fork and pour jello over the top. The jello soaks into the cake, coloring it and adding flavor and you just need to let it set for a couple of hours. This is a great method of making a homemade cake recipe the easy way.

How to Make Easter Jello Eggs

This recipe makes twelve jello eggs and it is a fun recipe for kids. In fact, you can let the kids choose which flavors of jello to use for making this jello eggs recipe. You do not have to stick to the flavors suggested in the recipe. To blow out eggs, you need to make a hole in one end, poke a needle through the egg to pierce the yolk and use a thin drinking straw to blow the egg out. The hole must be big enough for this to be possible.

Afterwards you should run water into the eggshell to remove any egg traces. Finally, microwave the eggshells for fifteen seconds to dry them and strengthen them.

What you will need:

• 12 eggs
• 4 packages Knox gelatin
• 1 package strawberry jello
• 1 package blueberry jello
• 1 package orange jello
• 1 cup cold water
• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

How to make them:

Add a cup of boiling water to each jello flavor and stir well until the jello powder dissolves. Dissolve the gelatin in the cold water and stir in the lemon juice. Mix a third of this mixture into each jello and boiling water mixture. Blow out the eggs by making a hole in the base and letting the raw egg run out.

Pour the liquid jello into the eggshells and store them hole side up in the egg box in the refrigerator until the jello sets. This will take a couple of hours. Take the jello eggs out of the refrigerator half an hour before serving them and peel them like hard boiled eggs.

Serve them on some green colored coconut flakes. You can make these by stirring a few drops of green food coloring into a dish of coconut flakes.

There are all kinds of things you can do with jello, including making fun holiday recipes like Easter jello eggs. There are jello recipes for all occasions, so whether you are looking for patriotic jello recipes for the fourth of July, Christmas recipes, Thanksgiving recipes or another holiday recipe, there are plenty of fun desserts you can make with jello.

We Don’t Make the Products We Just Make Great Desserts with Them!

Author: KC Kudra
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

You can spice up pretty much any Mexican food recipe by adding some minced chili or chili powder. If you are making guacamole or salsa, you can decide how hot you want it. Guacamole is usually served alongside spicy food because it is cool, creamy and cools the mouth but fiery salsas can be really flavorful and the fieriness of the chili contrasts brilliantly with the sweet, cool tomatoes.

Authentic Mexican food recipes like Mexican stew and Mexican casserole can be made as spicy as you want. If you are feeding a family or mixed group, you might want to make your Mexican food mild and leave a bottle of hot sauce on the table. That way, people can adjust the spiciness of their own meal.

Sweet and Spicy Food

The Mexicans also love to combine sweetness with spice and snacks like caramelized jalapenos or chili flavored chocolate are not unusual in Mexico. The sweetness and spiciness complement one another in a way you would only understand if you have tried it.

You can get a similar taste if you combine sweetness and spice in a savory Mexican food recipe. Corn is sweet, as are fresh tomatoes and these are also Mexican staples. Try adding chilies to a corn or tomato based dish and you will see how the flavors go together.

Mexican Style Spicy Bean Burgers

This is a very simple recipe for Mexican bean burgers. Beans are one of the primary Mexican staples and whether you are looking for a vegetarian Mexican recipe or just something a little bit different, this healthy, wholesome, and tasty bean burger recipe is guaranteed to satisfy your hunger.

This recipe makes four to eight bean burgers, depending how big you make them. If you want to make appetizer recipes for a Superbowl party or similar event, you can make mini bean burgers or, if you want to satisfy a raging hunger, make them big and juicy and serve them with lots of toppings!

What you will need:

• 16 oz can red kidney beans
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/2 white onion
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/8 cup chunky salsa

How to make them:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Drain and rinse the kidney beans. Peel, steam and mash the carrot. Chop the onion and bell pepper. Combine everything to make balls and shape the balls into patties. Bake them for 20 minutes, and then serve on buns with salsa, lettuce, and tomato. Top each spicy bean burger with a slice of Mexican cheese if you like and serve right away.

There are plenty of easy Mexican recipes you can make, and this includes both spicy and non-spicy Mexican food. At our site, you will find Mexican food for all occasions, including traditional Mexican foods, soups, stews, tacos, salads and much more.

MexicanFoodRecipes.org When it has to be Real Authentic Mexican Food

Author: KC Kudra
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

If you love fish, a host of lip-smacking recipes for fish are available on various online sites and books. Some of these recipes include steamed fish, vegetable topped fish fillets, steamed Trout or Salmon with lettuce and peas, just to name a few. Each of these microwave dishes can be prepared easily and within the least period of time.

A recipe for dessert preparation can easily catch anybody’s attention as desserts are almost everyone’s favorite. One can try for pineapple cake with fresh strawberries which can be prepared in a microwave within 15 minutes. In your local book stores or online sites, you can also find out a microwave recipe for chocolate bark, almond roca, chocolate fudge and many others.

Varieties of appetizers and soups like vegetarian mini Mexican pizzas, creamy parmesan fondue, Mexican baked cheese with shrimp, sausage soup ole, California corn chowder and chicken noodle soup can be cooked in a microwave. A recipe for any of these appetizers or soups can guide a user to prepare the dish without facing any trouble.

Preparing breakfast in a short time has become possible because of microwave ovens. You can search for microwave recipes for delicious breakfast. Some popular breakfast dishes that can be cooked in a microwave include French dip sandwich, pork burgers, chili egg puff, macaroni and cheese supreme, loaded baked potato, to name a few.

All the microwave recipes available in different sources provide clear instructions for cooking. So anyone who has limited knowledge of cooking and would like to experiment with their culinary skills can try his or her hand at preparing a sumptuous meal with the help of a microwave.

Best Microwave Recipes

Author: Tarik Metti
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

The WeightWatchers program helps you create a new set of habits around how you eat and exercise that virtually guarantee that you will lose weight you need to and, best of all, enjoy this change process! Here’s how to find recipes:

1) Join the W.W. website. If you’re already a member and attending meetings, here’s your chance to get instant access to hundreds of watchers recipes online. There is a monthly fee for the services of this website, but I personally found it very helpful in my weight loss process.

2) Look at the blogs of other WeightWatchers participants. They frequently post great recipes of different sorts. And being in the same boat as you are, the recipes are design for making the weight loss as enjoyable as possible. Search on sites such as Blogger and WordPress, that’s where you’ll easily find most blogs.

3) Pay a visit to Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone. This is hands down one of the best resources on the web for WeightWatchers information. There you will find recipes, shopping lists, the points for each meal at certain restaurants and fast food joints. Just do a Google search for Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone, and hop right in.

4) Allow Google to serve you. New sites on weight loss, fat loss recipes are being added every day, and if you just look for “Watchers Recipes” in Google you’re bound to find something you like. There is really an abundance of recipes out there. A recommendation might be to bookmark only sights that are current and updated often. That way all you have to do is come back to the same great resource for more helpful and tasty recipes to choose from.

5) Print them and collect them. After doing a night of recipe research, print them out and gather them all in your own “Watchers Recipes”-binder for easy access in the kitchen.

6) If you own an iPhone or iPod, do a search in AppStore for WeightWatchers and you’ll probably find some great collection of tips, support and recipes for tasty foods that have a low point in the Weight watchers program.

For More Information on How To Find More Delicious Weight Loss Recipes, Go To Watchers Recipes!

Author: Karin S. Clayton
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Knowing the secret to a chefs’ dish is much like knowing the secret to a magicians’ favourite illusion. When it comes patronizing our favourite restaurants for their first class services and mouth-watering recipes, we are more than happy to dig deep into our wallets and let the credit/debit cards sort out the outcome of the services rendered. It is nice to eat out with friends and family occasionally but the problem is, how often would you be able to enjoy some of the best recipes on the long-listed menus of these famous restaurants?

One important fact we should bear in mind is that these recipes are cooked in a particular manner by trained chefs, but the mouth-watering ingredients are the same everywhere. Sometimes two restaurants could have similar range of recipes but one would bring more authentic flavours to your taste buds than the other. The reason being that the secret lies in practice, cooking techniques, precision timing and above all, experience. Whether or not you have the flare for cooking, there is always a first time for everything. Some of you might be wondering if this is for you. Yes, I would say this is for everyone, irrespective of your background or cooking experience. Practice makes perfect as we all know. Once you get the hang of it, you will be a champion at it.

With the present global economic downturn, eating out is becoming more and more expensive and adding that expenditure to other household utility expenses blows the family budget out of the window. Your better option is to adopt a cost-cutting measure of bringing those mouth-watering restaurant quality meals into your own kitchen. The only and best way to do this, is to get yourself a quality cooking guide packed with good and healthy restaurant recipes. Owning one of this could guide you towards preparing authentic recreations of the same dishes you pay 5 to 10 times as much for in the restaurant.

Any good recipe book breaks down the procedure into simple step by step cooking instructions. Do not worry if you are not a good cook. All you need is the passion and flare to try something new in your kitchen. Once your family and friends start to enjoy your newly found cooking expertise, they will keep coming back for more. Apart from bringing relief to your wallet or purse, you get the opportunity to master the authentic recreations of restaurant quality dishes. It is fun having quality conversation with your family or friends over some mouth-watering home-cooked meals, the recipes of which come directly from the restaurants themselves. When executed properly, your audience is left asking; “How did you do that?”

Here are some of the benefits of having a quality cooking guide packed with some great secret restaurant recipes:

1) It allows you to spice up your cooking repertoire
2) It saves you time
3) You keep the family home for dinner
4) You choose and cook to order
5) Always some great food from your kitchen
6) The recipes are easy to make
7) You save loads of money
Dozens of some famous restaurants to choose from
9) You are proud of the fact that you made it
10) You can have seconds and a doggie bag
11) It saves you a lot of time
12) Hundreds of recipes to choose from
13) You never seize to amaze your friends with those mouth-watering recipes

Can you afford to ignore the above benefits? Cooking may not be everybodys’ cup of tea, but I guess you would like to spice your cooking repertoire.

For more info on this cookbook jam packed with 580 secret restaurant recipes and some FREE bonus recipe eBooks, visit: http://www.laud-enzo.com.

Author: Laud Vincent Tetteh
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

If you knew how to make the famous Spago restaurants Chicken Chardonnay, would you? Wouldn’t you love to know how to make meals such as this one every night of the week if you could? Are you thinking that the ingredients for these items must cost a small fortune and it’s keeping you from trying to get your hands on the secret restaurant recipes that you really would like to have? It doesn’t cost that much to cook like a pro and you don’t have to be a Souse Chef to make these delightful dishes in your very own home. To make things even better, you will find that you don’t have to use every pot and pan in your home and you won’t be rushing around your kitchen trying to find some obscure seasoning which you never bought in the first place. These recipes are easy to read, easy to follow and can often be made with just what you have in your home.

If you could cook one of the famous Emeril secret restaurant recipes that you will never find on his cooking show, would you give the meal a try? You probably would. It can be scary to try to make these meals at first, but you need to know that you can get step by step instructions to these recipes and more and you won’t have to wonder what to cook next. You will learn what to begin cooking first, when to make your sauce and side dishes and how to season your meats in a way that will make them melt in your mouth.

Now you can get top notch secret restaurant recipes so that you won’t have to be stuck in the same old boring meal train every day. Instead of wondering what you will make for dinner again that your family will tolerate, you can start cooking like a professional and you won’t have to go to cooking classes to learn how. Not only that, but you can get access to hundreds of great family friendly secret recipes that the best chefs in the world have invented and now they are sharing them with you.

If you are feeling as if every meal you cook is boring, then you should consider getting secret restaurant recipes to not only make mealtime more fun, but learn to be a better cook in some easy, fun steps. Don’t make your family suffer through another year of boring meals, why not spice things up a little bit when it comes to family meal time.

Patricia Harris provides many cooking tips and recipes. For more information on the 5 star secret restaurant recipes and for the ‘Secret recipes from the world’s finest restaurants”, visit ‘Cooking Any Style’ http://cookinganystyle.com/cooking-reviews/

Author: Patricia Harris
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

But first, a few introductory notes. These recipes begin at the grocery store. And most of them are very basic recipes. As a matter of fact, you will find that most of them involve chicken and vegetables. Kind of goes without saying, because there’s not really a cheap recipe out there that has filet mignon or a piece of Red Snapper in it.

Most of these recipes will also involve “staples”. Things like rice and pasta. So, when it comes to purchasing these things, unless you have a need for organic food in your life, there is no reason to go up the price chain when purchasing these items. The store brand of spaghetti will do just as well as the most expensive one. I worked in the restaurant business for close to twenty years, and it is beyond me when people can tell you that one brand of spaghetti tastes better than another. Sure, if you only tasted the spaghetti, and it was in a side-by-side comparison, you may be able to notice some minor differences, but mixed in with a recipe I really don’ think anyone can tell.

I also think this goes for chicken as well. I have actually had people tell me that one brand of chicken tastes better than another. And honestly, I just don’t get it. What, does one company kill chickens from a better neighborhood than another company? Of course, with your veggies, be discerning and find the best quality. As I’ve mentioned before, a local farmer’s market should be your best bet.

These recipes that I will give you usually have no “amounts” to them, so you’ll probably need at least the smallest bit of cooking ability to put them together. One of the main reasons why is that a lot of time, the recipe I come up with is called a “refrigerator-cleaner-outer”. Now when I was single, this process involved nothing more than dumping all the leftovers in my fridge into a pot, heating it up and eating it (I also had a flashy name for this recipe-I called it “Dave”. My roommates loved it!!). Now that I am married with a son, I do have to get a little more creative.

Let me tell you about what I prepared for dinner last nite. My family doesn’t really like to eat the same dish more than 1-2 days in a row, so our fridge has a tendency of filling up with small amounts of various leftovers. This is probably true of most fridges. So, yesterday this I what I had in my fridge:

–about 5 oz. cooked carrots.
–about 3 cups cooked brown rice.
–1 boiled chicken breast.
–about 1 1/2 scrambled eggs
–very small amounts of fresh, uncooked asparagus, mushrooms and zucchini.

This I what I did with it. Sauteed off a little yellow onion, threw in the mushrooms. Thawed out one pack of frozen chicken, cubed it and threw that in. When it was almost cooked, I added the cooked carrots, the leftover cooked chicken, the diced asparagus, and the cubed zucchini. I also chopped up some snow peas and threw those in.

I then found some teriyaki/stir fry type sauce or marinade and added that. Let it all simmer for an extra 5-10 minutes, served it over the leftover rice and topped it with the scrambled eggs.

What did I end up with? Well, it was probably a little bit of chicken stir fry, and a little bit of some kind of Chinese chicken dish. It was fantastic, and it cleaned out my fridge. Now, you might think that I contrived this list of stuff in my fridge and made the whole thing up, but this is exactly what we had for dinner last nite.

So, there you have it-the first of my “frugalicious” recipes. Soon, I’ll get into more traditional recipes where you’re not trying to clean out your refrigerator, but these types of things come in handy when the leftovers start to pile up

As I see it, saving money is more about a state of mind than it is about sacrificing things in your life or how much money you make. Want to learn more tips and strategies on how to save money on your bills, how to spend less money in general and some great methods for generating income in your life? Visit me at my personal finance blog http://yourfinances101.com/blog.

There you can check out my recently published book, “Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life.”

Author: David Bakke
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Although the food is delicious, it can become a problem going out to dine every night. It gets expensive real quick, you have to wait in lines, and you have to leave comfort of your home and eat with many others rather than enjoying a quiet dinner. Secrets recipes will give you step-by-step instructions to help you make some of the most wanted recipes straight from your very own kitchen.

By following this guidebook, you will be able to save time that would have otherwise been wasted attempting to recreate dishes using other cookbooks. End imitating and begin enjoying the same dishes that have an uncanny similarity.

Now, you too can prepare your favorite restaurant taste recipes at home and thrill your family and friends. How do you feel when your kid comes and says, Hey, MOM (Dad) your cooking ROCKS. Yes, Dad, you too can become a Master Chef. Isn’t it nice to hear that?

With the economy the way it is today, few have the money to waste eating excellent food at fabulous restaurants. It can quickly mound up on you by eating out two or three times a week. And on usual, Americans eat out two or more times a week. You can save over $170 each month by cooking these meals once per week according to Recipe Secrets.

what you will notice is precise instructions that will benefit you perfect every little detail of the meal. As an alternative of guessing and eager for the best, each recipe has been written out to the exact proportions with the exact amounts of ingredients needed to get that delightful taste you fell in love with.

In ordering this package, you will gain admission to both volume one and two of Recipe Secrets. Beside with that, you will also find 6 extra gifts to take advantage of. One of the bonuses is lifetime access to the secret recipe collection that is updated publication with fresh new recipes. Another bonus is the book Secret Sauces Exposed. After all, different dishes just are not the same with out that special sauce.

The creator is so confident in this package that there is an eight week money back assure. If you are not content with the product, you can get full money back.

However, the results from the complete products you cook up are fabulous. You will be surprised at how comparable the meals taste right from your kitchen compared to your favorite restaurants. Stop wasting time and money going to those expensive restaurants and start enjoying them from the comfort of your own house.

Rachel Rae is an online product reviewer. Learn more about how you can prepare famous restaurant recipes then you must visit the world’s best resource. Go to this site http://www.famousrecipes-4U.com/

Author: Rachel Rae Rodriguez
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

I am often asked to make a wedding cake for people who do not like marzipan and want to avoid the traditional cake covering of marzipan and fondant icing.

So how do you make white butter cream when butter is always some shade of yellow? The answer is that it is not strictly possible to get bright white butter cream but there is a way of making it paler.

Below is a method for doing this, the amounts below should fill and cover an 8″ round cake.

112g butter (as pale as you can find) or half butter half margarine (room temperature)

3 tsp superwhite

Superwhite is a concentrated white powder made by Sugar Flair Colours ltd. It can be added to whiten off white royal icing and in this case butter cream.

It is helpful to have an electric mixer with whisk attachment for this recipe. You can use a hand held electric mixer although there is a lot of whisking required for a prolonged length of time – the longer you whisk the paler the colour will be. Might make for a sore shoulder!

Begin by whisking the butter on medium speed. If you are using a mixer with whisk attachment you can weigh and sieve the confectioners sugar while the butter is being whisked.

Add the sugar a little at time (if you add lots you will be covered in a cloud of white dust). As you do this you can add a little milk to help the butter and sugar mix – do not add too much at this stage.

Add the vanilla essence or rose water.

Add the superwhite a tsp at a time – this way you can judge when your butter cream is white enough. Add more if you want a whiter result.

Once all the sugar is added continue to whisk the mixture on a meduim speed until the texture is smooth and the colour is pale.

Add more milk if necessary to reach a consistency that is suitable for covering your cake.

I have specified 3 tsp in the recipe because it gives me a satisfactory result and as spuerwhite is sold in 20g pots it would get costly to add large amounts of it. Although if you only have make this recipe once in a while it would be worth buying a little more superwhite.

If you find that this butter cream is not white enough there are alternative recipes such as white swiss meringue which is a combination of egg whites, butter and sugar. It requires the use of a thermometer to get the sugar and egg whites to the right temperature.

When reading some of these type of recipes they can seem really complicated with the possibility of failure if you don’t get every single bit right.

Don’t be put off though, have a look at a few and try one out.

Scaling up recipe for larger cakes.

It is not as important to scale up a butter cream recipe as a cake recipe but it will avoid the wastage that can come with simply doubling or trebling a recipe.

If you wanted the recipe for a 10″ cake the formula is as follows:

10 (10″ cake) divided by 8 (size of cake in recipe) which gives you 1.25

All you need to do then is multiply your recipe amounts by 1.25

For example 112g butter multiplied by 1.25 gives you 140g butter

For an 11″ cake you divide 11 by 8 giving you 1.375

You then multiply your recipe amounts by 1.375

You can use this method for any cake recipe. Just remember to divide by the size of cake in the original recipe.

You can see this article with images on my blog, White Butter Cream Recipe

Amanda Macleod – Cake Designer, Venus Cakes

Wedding Cakes by Venus Cakes

Wedding Cakes designed by Venus Cakes. Individual hand crafted wedding cakes, birthday cakes, celebration cakes delivered in the Essex area and the UK

Author: Amanda Macleod
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

If you do a search for KFC’s Original Recipe on the Internet, you will find plenty of “imitation” recipes. These recipes may come close to the real thing, but lack that special pizzazz that makes KFC so unforgettable. Our recipe is not a “copycat” recipe, but the one and only Original Recipe.

The KFC recipe is difficult to replicate on your own because it requires a mix of eleven spices and herbs. This mixture is what gives the KFC recipe its legendary flavor. For the first time, it is available, herbs and spices included. Our recipe also requires no special appliances or kitchen tools-its natural flavors are the key to its tastiness.

By cooking the Kentucky Fried Chicken Original Recipe at home, you can truly make it your own. You can cook your own sides, or you can adjust certain ingredients to put your own special spin on KFC’s recipe. You can also cater KFC for a party without shelling out big bucks for it! With this recipe, you are no longer a slave to the KFC drive-thru, and you can spend your money on things that matter.

Ingredients

* 1 whole frying chicken, cut up
* 6 cups vegetable oil (to 8 cups)

Marinade

* 4 cups water
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon msg

Coating

* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup milk
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
* 3/4 teaspoon msg
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon allspice
* 1/4 teaspoon sage

Directions

1. Trim any excess skin and fat from the chicken pieces. Preheat the oil in a deep-fryer to 350-360°.

2. Combine the water, salt and MSG for the marinade in a large bowl. Add the chicken to the bowl and let it sit for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken a couple times as it marinates.

3. Combine the beaten egg and milk in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, combine the remaining coating ingredients (flour, salt, pepper and MSG).

4. When the chicken has marinated, transfer each piece to paper towels so that excess liquid can drain off. Working with one piece at a time, first coat the chicken with the dry flour mixture, then the egg and milk mixture, and then back into the flour. Be sure that each piece is coated very generously. Stack the chicken on a plate or cookie sheet until each piece has been coated.

5. Drop the chicken, one piece at a time into the hot oil. Fry half of the chicken at a time (4 pieces) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until it is golden brown. You should be sure to stir the chicken around halfway through the cooking time so that each piece cooks evenly.

6. Remove the chicken to a rack or towels to drain for about 5 minutes before eating.

How would you like to recreate the most famous popular recipes at home? This famous cookbook exposes all of the most famous and most delicious secret recipes on the planet including restaurants such as Kentucky Fried Chicken. Don’t waste your time like I did!

Click here to check it out

Author: Cecilia Kelly
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

POTATO SOUP

This recipe is another grocery store give-away recipe.

6 med potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 small onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 tsp seasoned salt

Dash of pepper

1 tbsp parsley flakes

4 cups water

2 cups milk

3 tbsp margarine

Combine potatoes, onion, celery, salt, pepper, parsley, and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 20-25 minutes until potatoes are tender. Reduce heat and add milk and margarine. Cook until heated through. Serve hot.

PORK SPLIT PEA SOUP

1 lb dry green split peas (2 cups)

8 cups cold water

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried marjoram, crushed

1/4 tsp pepper

1 lb ground pork

3/4 tsp sage

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3 med potatoes, peeled and diced

Rinse split peas. In a large kettle or Dutch oven combine split peas, cold water, onion, celery, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, marjoram, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer till peas are tender, about 1 hour. Do not drain. Meanwhile, combine ground pork, sage, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Mix thoroughly. Shape into twenty-four one-inch balls. Drop balls and potatoes into soup mixture; return to boiling. Cover, simmer 20 minutes longer. Season to taste if needed.

Serves 10 to 12

Enjoy!

For more of Linda’s recipes and diabetic information go to http://diabeticenjoyingfood.squarespace.com

For more of her vintage recipes visit her blog at http://grandmasvintagerecipes.blogspot.com

Author: Linda Carol Wilson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

The beauty of making restaurant recipes at home is that typically you can make them healthier, cheaper, and if you know what you’re doing, even better than the real thing. Now the down side of course is that it will take a little more time and energy than simply sliding in to the booth at the local Olive Garden, but in the end both your pocket book and your family will thank you for it.

The secret to cooking copycat recipes at home and having them turn out right is two fold. It basically comes down to ingredients and equipment. To illustrate the point, one very famous restaurant recipe that people often try and cook at home is the secret KFC chicken recipe. If you’ve ever tried this than you probably found your self saying, “now this is good, but it sure doesn’t taste like Kentucky Fried Chicken.” This recipe is one of the most common requests I get from my restaurant recipe newsletter and it is one that people have the most problems with. But as mentioned above, the reason most people get this recipe wrong is because of improper ingredients and equipment.

For example, KFC chicken is cooked in a pressure cooker. This is a simple but huge difference. You could take an actual piece of battered KFC chicken and throw it in your fry pan or deep fryer and you would get something completely different.

The other secret to cooking restaurant recipes is ingredients. Let’s just face it, many chain restaurants make food that is loaded with preservatives and ingredients that you don’t often find in the grocery store. They may not be healthy but often they taste good. This is where you need to make a personal choice as to whether or not you want to modify the recipe and loose some of the traditional taste but improve its health, or seek out the guar gums, MSG, and poly-saturated fats and include them in your recipe.

The only other obstacle to making great restaurant recipes at home is actually finding a good copy of your favorite Top Secret Restaurant Recipe.

Feel free to browse my recipe database at Restaurant Recipes Exposed.

Author: Paul S. Hudson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Most loaf recipes are incredibly easy to follow and the baked goods will delight your taste buds, as well as those of your friends. They will be amazed at how great a cook you have become and will be begging for all the recipes. Take the time to bake and see how quickly everything disappears!

Sweet bread recipes and biscuit recipes are perhaps some of the easiest quick breads to make from scratch. They do not have to rise and you will be able to eat them within an hour or so. There is definitely no fuss and no muss to these recipes.

One great sweet loaf recipe involves canned biscuit dough. It is called monkey bread and is a great dessert or breakfast treat that will wow any guest. The ingredients are very simple: two rolls of canned biscuits (the cheapest kind), a stick of butter, a jar of caramel sauce, sugar and cinnamon. Imagine simplicity and taste, all in one bite!

Take the preformed biscuit dough and cut it into quarters. Each quarter will be rolled in cinnamon and sugar before being stacked in layers in a bundt pan. As you stack each layer take the caramel sauce and lightly drizzle the layer.

This is optional and will add a hint of sweetness to your finished product. Continue until the pan is 3/4 filled, then take the remaining melted butter along with the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture and sprinkle on top. Sweet bread recipes and quick bread recipes are easy to prepare and a delight to eat.

A great website to check out for delicious quick bread recipes is “Allrecipes”. They have pancake recipes, sweet bread recipes, banana bread recipes and a whole lot more to tickle your taste buds. They are all super easy to prepare and you can enjoy them in under an hour.

Just imagine some sweet banana loaf with a gooey cream cheese frosting just waiting for you when you get home from a long, stressful day at work. It is an ultimate comfort food and is well worth the little bit of time it will take to make and bake.

Visit us for free tips and training to help you make quick easy money and have the financial freedom you deserve.

Author: Mike Selvon
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Like in most countries, the common dishes are prepared in villages; to acquire specific Sri Lankan Recipes will be very difficult. They don’t create recipes with the aid of a cookbook. Everything is by working through taste and adjustment of seasonings. This is how Sinhalese women prepare their dishes, and there are no women who cook similarly. Every women uses a different ingredient to prepare a Sri Lankan Recipes, therefore how they interpret a dish is entirely special. When Sinhalese women told you of a specific measurement of a seasoning or any ingredient, she will demonstrate it to you with her hand gestures. When you want to prepare a Sri Lankan Recipes, you better take a look on how the women in the country cook their meal and you must make a trial and error method of cooking the food. Once you achieve a perfect meal you should write it down so you can remember how it is created.

One more thing with regards to the regional features of the place, several of the well known dishes mirrors influences from other regions. After so many years, it doesn’t matter anymore how the cooking style was established to them by foreigners who resided in their area, such as British, Dutch, Portuguese, Moors, Malays, Arabs, and Indian. The recipes they provided was accommodated to the local ingredients, though they sustained their original feature. They dishes are not established as Sinhalese’s though it is acknowledged and loved as piece of the abundant and diverse cuisine.

The Muslims and Malays influence are the ones accountable for the utilization of various flavorings like saffron, rose water, korma, pilau, biriani which became Sri Lankan due to adoption. During the period when Portuguese governed the country for about 150 years back in the 16th – 17th century, they left statements that worked in the language and traditions that became part of the rural and the urban living. A lot of Sri Lankan Recipes end with the procedure to “temper” the meal. This term came from the Portuguese word “temperado” meaning “fry and season”. Portuguese contributed numerous sweetmeats that are well known today. These foods are severed at special occasions, Sri Lankan loved to celebrate every joyous event and the people take huge pride in traditional family recipes.

When Dutch came and govern the country for 138 years, their posterity resided on their bountiful land. These people also contributed such cooking with eggs and butter which is a real Dutch custom, though in areas who love spices, they adopted some of the newest seasonings such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, mace and nutmeg. The Ceylon Christmas cake in traditional method of cooking was one of their greatest example, this a fruit cake that stands among the rest of richness and flavors.

Treat your taste buds with these delicious, easy and healthy sri lankan curries. All Sri lankan recipe secrets revealed here at Sri Lankan Recipes and Delicious Sri Lankan Recipes

Author: Nalini Ranasingha
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

A recipe-free cook is a genius in the kitchen. He or she can assemble a great meal out of the materials at hand and often manages to do it quickly, easily and without seeming to think too hard about what seasonings to use, how much of this or that goes into a dish, or what the exact temperature of the stove or oven should be. Some of us were lucky enough to grow up in the homes of recipe-free cooks, and were constantly amazed at the way they used to recombine the same ingredients again and again, but somehow placed before us a unique and tasty meal that might resemble but was never exactly the same as what we’d eaten before.

The resourcefulness and creativity required to become a recipe-free cook are not as hard to learn as you may think. The ability to improvise successfully in the kitchen can be gained by mastering a distinct set of principles and practices that can be applied to cooking under virtually any circumstance, from a well-equipped modern kitchen to a wood-fire in the wilderness. An understanding of the roles of different ingredients, the taste spectrum of spice groups, and some basic cooking techniques can expand your horizon far beyond the pages of a cookbook, into the realm of culinary adventure. The time you take to learn these basics of recipe-free cooking will be far better spent than the time taken to memorize a recipe and you’ll never be at a loss when the unexpected happens in the kitchen.

Here are the three most important components of recipe-free cooking:

Know your ingredients

Recipe-free cooks understand that there are food “families”; categories of ingredients that can be used interchangeably to achieve similar effects. There are ingredients that provide texture (thinners, thickeners, coarseners and smoothers); ingredients that provide flavor (strong tastes–spices–or unique and specific tastes–for example, duck, oysters, mushrooms); ingredients that provide bulk (anything that adds substance to a dish, from cabbage to rice to chop meat, to flour); ingredients that stimulate the receptors in our taste buds (sweet, sour, salty, bitter); and ingredients that cause specific chemical reactions (baking soda and powder, yeast, gelatine). Many ingredients fall into multiple categories; for example eggs can add bulk (to a quiche or omelette) and be an important part of a chemical reaction (in breads), and be a smoother and thickener (in puddings or sauces).

A recipe-free cook doesn’t need to know the specific qualities of every ingredient — just the ones he or she uses more often. Understanding the properties of the tomato opens a world of possibilities, for it can be turned into sauces, soups, or stews; sliced and served fresh or dressed; or, dried to intensify its flavor. Lightly cooked or raw tomatoes can be pureed to thin a dish, or they can be cooked and reduced to thicken. Diced into chunks they give a dish one texture, and liquified they give a dish another. If you know the potential of an ingredient it can turn one food item into dozens of cooking possibilities.

Know your flavors

Spices are almost as old as humankind, dating back at least 50,000 years. Flavor groups evolved geographically as people explored the properties of locally available plants. New spices were introduced as trade routes developed, populations relocated, and nations colonized and conquered. The spices associated with particular cuisines are the result of history and circumstance. Long before we imagined the modern global economy, spices like cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper circumnavigated the globe with explorers, travelers, and traders, becoming integral parts of cuisines in lands far from the point of origination.

Recipe-free cooks understand that a spice group is like a color palette and learn to combine spices to match the “flavor hues” of their favorite ethnic cuisines. For example, a Mexican spice palette could include achiote, annatto, chiles, cilantro, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, garlic, onion, oregano, and tarragon. Greek food also might feature chiles, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, garlic, onion, and oregano, but diverges at that point, substituting allspice, anise, cardamom, cloves, curry leaf, ginger, mustard, nutmeg, olive and sumac for the rest of the “Mexican” ingredients. All cultures have their spice palettes, and a simple shift of two or three flavors can take our taste buds halfway around the world.

Know your techniques

To become recipe-free, a chef must understand the difference between a variety of different cooking techniques. As with spicing, to single cook must know all the techniques, but all cooks must know several techniques in order to vary the menu and open a myriad of possibilities for their end results. The exact same ingredients grilled, roasted, fried, sauted, boiled or braised will come out very differently. Think of the difference between fried chicken and chicken soup; between roasted potatoes and potatoes boiled and mashed; between grilled vegetables and those pan-sauteed in butter.

Your choice of cooking technique will determine, in large part, the texture of the dish as well as its taste. If you brown onions, garlic and meat before adding them to broth the end result will be very different than if you add them all raw to a stock and boil them together. In the first case the flavors will remain distinct, with a hint of toasting from the browning. In the second case the flavors will blend smoothly. Each is desirable under the correct circumstances. A recipe-free cook knows how to determine which method is right for the occasion.

As an exercise to expand your recipe-free skills, assemble your ten favorite ingredients and five favorite spices. See how many different dishes and combinations you can create. Be adventurous. Experiment! You’ll be amazed and how easy it is to achieve excellent results with improvisation.

To further explore the recipe-cooking process, visit Recipe-Free Cooking and read the subject guides or try the exercises.

In addition to being a scholar, Shawn Scott, Ph.D., is a culinary enthusiast and has worked as a professional caterer and chef. Now retired from teaching, Scott has decided to share the collected wit and wisdom of almost forty years of cooking and food lore. You can read more about Scott’s ideas on innovation and improvisation in the kitchen at “Recipe-Free Cooking“: recipefreecooking.blogspot.com

Author: Shawn Scott
Article Source: EzineArticles.com