Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Rotisserie Cooking on the Grill - Healthy and Delicious

By Stephen Daniels

Not long after fire was discovered, mankind began enjoying the benefits of rotisserie cooking - tender, juicy meat roasted on a rotating spit. Modern barbecue chefs are still roasting meat on spits over a fire, but the flame is probably an enclosed gas, electric, or charcoal grill, and the rotisserie is likely to consist of an automatically rotating spit placed at just the right height over the heat source for optimum results. Decks and backyards everywhere boast these easy to install devices.

While not an issue for our caveman forefathers, rotisserie cooking has become a favorite method for today's health conscious chef not only for the delicious flavor it imparts, but for its very real health benefits as well. Since no extra fat is needed for searing or browning the outside of the meat and excess fat drips into a tray below as the meat turns on the spit, this is one of the lowest fat methods of preparation known for cooking meat.

A very versatile method of preparation, rotisserie over the grill can be used to cook almost any meat. It is an excellent way to cook fatty meats like lamb, beef or pork ribs or hams. Tougher cuts of meat such as shoulder, rump or chuck roasts are also good choices for slow cooking on a spit over a grill. Juices are held inside the meat while the outside becomes browned and flavorful.

While rotisserie cooked meat browns beautifully, it never burns, unlike meats grilled directly over a backyard BBQ or an open flame. As turning at a safe distance above the heat source makes it an indirect heat method of cooking, this makes certain that there are no deadly carcinogens produced as when meat is charred on a grill or in a pan.

Rounding out the meal with vegetables is another healthful choice. Some vegetables can be skewered directly on the spit while others are best cooked in a special vegetable basket. All develop the healthy and delicious flavor typical of rotisserie on the grill as they slowly turn over the fire.

With roasting on a spit replacing simple grilling as a preferred preparation method, most new grills either come with a rotisserie attachment or have one available as an add-on. Older grills can almost always accommodate an attachment with a spit. In any case, adjusting the distance of the spit above the grill for more or less browning is a simple task.

Cooking using a rotisserie on a grill is surprisingly easy, for all its health and flavor benefits. Skewering the meat on the spit, adjusting the grill heat to low and setting a timer is all that is needed. Most chefs also insert a meat thermometer to make sure the meat reaches the correct internal temperature for the degree of doneness desired.

Marinades, seasoned rubs or broth injections all can add additional flavor to meats, as can special BBQ sauces or treated chips for adding wood smoke flavor. Seasoning methods are limited only by the imaginations of creative chefs, and all will help produce a healthy and delicious meal.

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Getting Restaurant Food From Your Own Home

By Michael Clatter

Many restaurant recipes are offered to you, you merely need to know where to locate them. Which means that you can cook your favorite restaurant foods from your favorite location, your home. This helps to reduce the cost down extremely, which can help you to trim your budget.

The best part is, you wont feel deprived due to the fact that you still get to have your favorite foods. You can locate these recipes offered right on the web by joining a recipe membership site. Simply find one, type in the name of the restaurant and the recipe name, and then you will be in your own kitchen cooking up these dishes.

Now, if you are looking for other recipes, you can find loads of the best restaurants offering their recipe versions. If you love a really good burger and good portion of French fries, you shouldn't have to settle for anything less than that? There can't be anything better than a classic, homemade American apple pie? Maybe, if you top it with a scoop of ice cream!

If you are trying to find many of these American recipe dishes the good news is that there are many database membership sites on the internet that offer these recipes. You get to pick from meats, seafood, pasta dishes, and vegetables. Even desserts are available. You can locate many recipes that are in this tradition as well.

Finding these recipes also goes for spicy Mexican recipes. One of the best things to do when it comes to this type of cuisine is to find a high quality spice blend that just shout's out Mexican! There are many out there that you can quickly pick up, bring home and use in your recipes to recreate a restaurant recipe or to assist you in coming up with that old recipe that you remember your grandmother making when you were growing up. You can find recipes to help you create these recipes as well.

Today, it is very costly to go to a restaurant for a nice meal. And if you have more in your group, the more outrageous the prices are. Regardless, for a lot of people, there is frequently a craving for that exceptional plate or that special dessert.

You might be one of the many that has this trouble, fear not. There are plenty of online recipe websites where you can go to, to lookup the top restaurant recipes out there to tempt your taste buds in your own kitchen.

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How to Write an Informative Restaurant Review

By Adriana Noton

Writing a restaurant review is a fun way to share your thoughts and impressions about your dining experience. To write an informative review, you need to have knowledge about what key points you should include in your review. Not only is properly describing the food important, but you must have an understanding about the details of the restaurant. Once you have knowledge of the essential points to include, you then can present a well structured and organized restaurant review.

The following are a number of helpful tips to help you write a restaurant review:

1. Before you write a restaurant review, it is important to know how to structure the review. Make sure you are very descriptive and detailed. It is a personal review so emphasize your own writing style. Write complete sentences and use plenty of descriptive words and phrases. Write it in chronological order that includes from the moment you enter the restaurant to when you pay the bill and leave. Describe the restaurant in the present tense and in the second person. Using your own personality will help make the review unique.

2. Pick a restaurant you want to review. For example, you might choose Restaurants in Montreal. Or it might not even be a restaurant - it could be a cafe shop in Montreal. You want to make sure that there will be food that you like. When you enter the dining establishment, note such details as the interior appearance that includes the arrangement of tables, furnishings, decorations, colors, lighting, and the cleanliness of the restaurant. Make sure you check out the condition of the bathrooms. As well, make a note of the friendliest of the staff, how long you have to wait to be seated and its location, and if the hostess asks if you would like a beverage. When you are seated, make a note of the atmosphere of the restaurant. Is it friendly, extremely busy and loud, or relaxing?

3. Once you receive a menu, note the variety of meal choices, prices, any unique dishes, and if there are any healthy meal options. You should have an appetizer, entre, and dessert to get the full dining experience. When you receive the meal, note if the food is cooked properly. Does it have a distinctive taste such as spicy or sweet? What is the portion size? When you make your meal selection, make sure it something you normally enjoy eating, As well, note how you are treated by the servers. Are they friendly, well dressed, courteous, knowledgeable about the food and specials, and attentive? Make a note of the meal's presentation, taste, smell, and if it is hot or cold. Make sure that you use descriptive and creative words. Suggest who may enjoy the food such as families or people who enjoy fine dining dishes. As well, note how long it takes to receive your bill.

When making your recommendation, make sure you have made a note of anything you disliked about the restaurant and the total cost of the meal and if you received good value for your money. When ending the review, make a statement about whether or not you would return. Writing a restaurant is more than just reviewing the food. By understanding the key elements that should be included in the review, you will have a fun restaurant review experience and hopefully provide valuable consumer information.

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

A Brief Summary To Purchasing Digital Kitchen Scales And What To Look At

By David Staats

No one cooks in the same way so everyone by that statement will use different instruments to cook the same thing. Digital kitchen scales are no different there are many models available each containing different features. Therefore it is a good idea to first think what kind of things you will be weighing with your scales. An important feature for one person might be not so important for another.

One feature to consider is the maximum weight that the scales can hold. This information will be displayed on the box or if you are browsing online then it will be displayed within the technical information area. This number will easily tell you if the scales you are looking at are appropriate for your needs.

The above statement is an important one as the greater the maximum weight the greater the cost of the scale. Consider carefully the uses for your scales a turkey for example will weigh a lot more than some flour if you are just using it for the later then you can save yourself a little bit of money by buying scales with a smaller weight limit.

The type of bowl that comes with the scales is also important if any bowl comes with it at all that is. The bowl can either be fixed or removable. This is more of a personal preference than a cooking issue. Although a removable bowl help with the cleaning of the scales if not anything else.

Aquatronic scales are able to weigh both wet and dry ingredients thanks to their glass surface. Not only does this make it convenient for measuring both states of food but it also allows for easy cleaning.

The Liquid items can be placed in the container of your choosing and then weighed but remember to weigh the container first, you don't want to cut out some of the liquid.

Digital scales aren't for everyone some people prefer to buy ready meals and some just don't mind how it tastes. Digital scales are for the passionate cook who appreciates the time and effort that goes into cooking.


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How to Shop for a Kitchen Knife Set

By Moses Harun

Hominids have employed knives for the last 2.5 million years. Predicatbly, since that was the Stone Age, fairly brittle materials like obsidians and flint were used as blades, and as the technology became available, wood and bone were occasionally used. These days, knives may come in a whole universe of metal materials that extend across the range from the very predictable steel to cutting-edge ceramics, carbon fiber and titanium. And another advancement is that we are able to use kitchen knife sets rather than only one all-purpose tool.

Back in the 21st century, while you are thinking about investing in some kitchen knives through employing customer reviews as your basis, always read the reviews completely, specifically while you are ordering from a website and are unable to sample the knives for yourself. Useful customer reviews, be they positive or negative in tone, ought to describe the knives' traits with regard to functionality, materials and construction,weight and comfort in handing and use, and ease of maintenance.

Functionality

Most kitchen knife sets these days are sold in sets of 6-8 knives plus a storage block. You may be fooled into believing that the more, the merrier in your kitchen. Well, actually, you merely require three knives to be effective in your kitchen - the chef's knife, the paring knife and the utility knife. The rest - trimmers, clam and oyster knives, cook's knives, filet knives, and mezzaluna knives, among others - are interesting trimmings to the knife set yet can be done away with.

Materials and Construction

The knives in these knife series will be crafted with several types of materials such as stainless steel and its high-carbon counterpart, titanium, ceramic and plastic while also using a host of production methods such as forging, stamping and sintering. Any manufacturer's product description ideally should include information about materials and construction, since your purchase ought to mainly be influenced by that information. For example, nearly all users generally advise purchasing forged knives instead of stamped knives, and titanium knives can be chosen against plastic knives in the general sense.

Weight and Comfort in Handing and Use

Usually, the weight of a knife in addition to the degree of comfort experienced as you are working with them are just as crucial as the materials and construction used for the knives. Consequently, when looking at descriptions of kitchen knife sets, potential customers have to scan for terms like "ease of use ", "lightweight" and "right size for the job". Naturally, since everyone's hand is different, what may be good for another person could not be good for you but, at least, you should have a general idea.

Ease of Maintenance

No one prefers to spend their time in a kitchen sharpening knives when they can do the cooking, right? As a result, you have to study the product descriptions with regards to upkeep and correlate them to the consumers' opinions through their reviews. For instance, titanium knives are simpler to maintain an edge on than high-carbon blades.

Certainly, as regards a kitchen knife set, staying safe is better than being sorry. As you probably know, quite a few injuries come as many times from incorrect use of knives as from the knives' faulty materials and construction. Again, always study the reviews, attempt to hold the knives and try them out on cutting boards, if that is possible. At the end of the day, you might find that choosing the ideal knives could make your time spent in the kitchen easier, as well as let you look like a professional chef even when you only vaguely can tell the difference between croquettes and mashed potatoes.

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The History Of Sesame Oil

By Joseph Devine

Sesame oil is generally called ginger oil, and it is a type of edible vegetable oil, that's derived from the sesame seed. It's not only used as cooking oil in South India, but it is also used as an enhancer of flavors for Chinese, Korean, and Southeast Asian dishes. Sesame oil has the following fatty acids in it - Oleic, Palmitic, Stearic, Palmitoleic, Linoleic, Eicosenoic, and Lioneleic.

Before 600 BC, Sesame oil, been used by the Assyrians as a food and a medicine, also as a salve. It was quite expensive, therefore getting hold of it had been difficult, so solely those affordable people used it. The oil has been considered as sacred by Hindus. The cultivation process of sesame oil is quite troublesome because it involves a lot of physical labor, this is often why the oil is not cultivated much in western agriculture. Typically the seeds are protected by a capsule, which doesn't open until the seeds are totally ripe. This ripening time can different from 1 to the other, therefore the farmers usually like to chop the sesame plants by hand, and then place along in an upright position which allows the ripening process to proceed on for some more days. After the capsules have opened, the seeds are shaken out on a cloth.

Sesame oil will return in a variety of colors - cold pressed sesame oil is colorless, Indian sesame oil is golden, and therefore the Chinese sesame oil is typically a dark brown shade. This is often because of roasted or toasted sesame seeds. It's well known that toasted sesame oil has a lot of more flavor than cold pressed sesame oil. Most Western health outlets sell cold pressed sesame oil, but hot pressed sesame oil is most well-liked in most Asian countries.

Sesame oil is high in natural antioxidants, that means it's not likely to turn rancid when it's kept in the open. Light sesame oil also features a high smoke point, that suggests it's ideal for deep-frying, however some sesame oil includes a lower smoke point - therefore it can be used for stir frying or for seasoning. The utilization of sesame oil within the south Indian states of coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, is nearly like the use of olive oil in the Mediterranean region. However sesame oil is really popular in several alternative regions of Asia as well.

Sesame oil is understood to be smart for oil massage, and specialists say that application of this oil to the hair can improve the hair quality and end in darker hair. It's assumed that it reduces the warmth of the body, and additionally prevents hair loss. Sesame oil will additionally be used for the manufacture of pickles in India, and the refined variety can be used for margarine in Western countries. Ayurvedic medicine do have a little bit of sesame oil in them. The oil is also used as half of alternative medicine.

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Using a Colon Cleansing Detox Diet with a Colon Cleansing Program

By William Wallace

Detoxification, or detox, is done by removing potential toxins from the body. While most commonly associated with drug and alcohol treatment, it is also used to describe diets, herbs and a variety of other methods for removing toxins to increase overall health. Colon cleansing detox is one of the methods.

A variety of detox diets are available and are meant for short duration. Check with your doctor to find out which one may be right for you. Unhealthy eating habits leave our body without the nutrients that it needs to flush the toxins out of our system. Air, water and food bring these toxins in as well. Studies show that as a result, the toxins are stored in our body's fat cells. Breathing techniques, sauna and hydrotherapy, exercise, supplements and herbs may be part of the diet regimen.

The overload from built up toxins and waste matter in our bodies is believed to cause illnesses and is known to cause hormonal imbalances, impaired immune systems, nutritional deficiencies and sluggish metabolism. Muscle pain, poor skin, fatigue, bad breath and indigestion are all thought to be some of the signs. People frequently report increased energy, clear skin, regular bowels, improved digestion, and being able to concentrate after a detox diet.

Consult with your doctor before starting any colon cleansing detox. People who suffer from certain genetic diseases, terminal illness, cancer, autoimmune, thyroid or kidney disease, diabetes, eating disorders or anemia, several other chronic conditions as well as those who are nursing or pregnant need to stay away from detox diets. It is also not meant for children.

Headaches are the most common side effect for coffee lovers when using colon cleansing detox diets because of caffeine withdrawals. Consider decreasing caffeine consumption gradually before beginning the diet. Start the diet on a weekend or a few days off from work if possible. Fatigue, hunger, weight loss, irritability, constipation, diarrhea and acne are some signs. To avoid dehydration or constipation, increase the amount of water you drink. Consult your doctor if symptoms worsen or new ones develop.

Those who support colon cleansing detox diets suggest performing them one to two times a year for overall health improvement and disease prevention. Using the diet more than twice a year is not recommended without medical supervision. There are times alternative practitioners might suggest it be used more often or for a longer period of time.

To avoid complications with a colon cleansing detox, slowly bring other less restrictive, healthy foods back into your diet when the term is over. Healthier lifestyles can begin with these detox diets as the fruits and vegetables you enjoy are available on and off the diet. A reduction or stopping of medication should never be done without consulting a physician.

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