How Can You Use Gouda In Cooking?

By Jet M Perreault

Everyone knows that there are many varieties of cheese available but one that is least frequently used in cooking is Gouda. That is because although this cheese is popular for cheese trays, many people do not realize quite how versatile it can be in cooking as well.

Gouda cheese is originally from the Netherlands and is unique because of the exterior of bright red wax. It usually comes in a wheel ranging from 3 to 15 inches and the cheese itself is the color of straw. The taste is generally buttery and mild and the texture is cream but firm. Before determining how to cook with Gouda cheese, you need to know the age of it as different ages are best used in different ways.

Baby Gouda

You can distinguish baby Gouda because although its wax coating is red like older cheese, this is a much softer variety. Because of that it melts much quicker than ages of the same cheese. Because of its texture (semi-soft to firm) and mild nutty flavor, young Gouda is ideal for seasoning salads and on cheese trays. It also tastes great spread on certain fruits.

If you want to actually cook with the cheese, it works well on casseroles because of its quick melting nature as well as its great flavor. You can also try to make some homemade macaroni and cheese using Gouda mixed with other cheeses.

Aged Gouda

Aged Gouda cheese is also coated in red wax but has a much more astringent flavor than baby Gouda. In addition to the astringent flavor, aged Gouda also gives off a hint of butterscotch. Because of this, it goes great in desserts that are based on apples or pears.

For something a bit more creative, you can try adding it to a homemade pizza. A great combination would be a barbeque chicken pizza with both mozzarella and Gouda. You can also try swapping out your normal omelet cheese for Gouda if you want to give it some different flavor.

Smoked Or Flavored Gouda

You can generally tell Gouda that has been smoked or flavored apart from plain Gouda as it will be wrapped in brown or black wax as opposed to red and may include caraway seeds. Some of the flavored options will include additions such as pepper, jalapenos and herbs. This type of Gouda has an intense flavor that makes it fairly versatile in terms of cooking.

Like the other types it can do well with desserts, fruits and macaroni and cheese. Smoked Gouda is also great for making quiche as the flavor can add a great deal. Try pairing it with spinach for a delicious breakfast quiche. It can also be a great way to add a bit more flavor to your mashed potatoes.

The Revival of Fondue and Other 70s Foods

By C M Baker

Those of you who grew up in the 70s or who are familiar with the era have probably had a sense of déjà vu recently. Why? Because 70s cuisine has had a surprising revival. It's surprising mostly because some of the food at the time was as strange as the fashion! Think Salmon Dill Mousse, Space Food Sticks, Hamdingers and Garden Salad Jello. But thankfully, not all the food from the 70s was bad - in fact, we have the 70s to thank for such dishes as Stroganoff, Goulash, Black Forest Gateaux and Crepes Suzette. Here are just a few more 70s favourites that are making a comeback today...

Fondue

First introduced in the 50s, Fondue parties were very popular by the 70s. Whether you choose traditional cheese fondue or chocolate fondue for dessert, it's a fun way to share food with friends or family. And now, you can even get yourself an authentic fondue set for that real 70s feel in store or online.

Arctic Rolls

What's not to love about sponge, jam and cream? It's not surprising that this 70s favourite has made a comeback. The frozen variety is still available in the UK - or you can easily make your own at home.

Chicken Kiev

The Chicken Kiev was introduced in Britain in 1976 as a ready-made meal. The dish has continued to be a popular favourite around the world - whether it's the homemade, or store bought variety. And it's not surprising - the Chicken Kiev makes an interesting twist on a simple chicken breast. Crumbed and stuffed with herbs, butter, cheese, or ham, it's something the whole family can enjoy.

Angel Delight

This easy, whipped custard dessert is making a comeback with families who love the convenience. Originally launched in 1967, it's now more popular than ever. However, the flavours are much more palatable - instead of flavours like candy floss, bubblegum, popcorn and tangerine, it's now only available in strawberry, butterscotch, chocolate, raspberry and banana.

Whether it's in fashion, music or food, retro revivals are common. When we're looking for novelty in today's world, we can just look back to the 50s, 60s and 70s and be sure to find something strange or interesting. So, if you're looking for an exciting new dinner party theme, a unique dessert idea, or just a way to change up the way you cook, join others in reviving some of these 70s classics!

Being a Good Chef in Your Own House

By Martin Swan

Once you have learnt to handle fundamental techniques of preparing different types of food, you will be on your way to being a good chef in your own kitchen. Some of these important techniques include baking, boiling, braising, frying, grilling, roasting, poaching, sauces, sauté, steaming and stewing. Cooking is more than just recipes, but is about taking ingredients and making them taste good. One of the most important joys of cooking entails finding the right path. Having knowledge of the common cooking techniques helps you to take a spin in a whole new direction. Some of the simple ways of becoming a good chef include:

· Attend cooking classes

If you have gotten away without having learnt how to cook, this is the right time to learn. You should consider finding some cooking classes in your town or state that will help you acquire the necessary skills in slicing, dicing and cooking some tasty dishes. Being in perfect control of your meals plays an important role in getting rid of junk from your diet. This way, you will be in a position to support yourself by ensuring healthy eating habits.

· Remove your obstacles

One of the greatest obstacles many people face is the attitude they have towards their kitchen. They dislike how the kitchen feels and looks and therefore this proves detrimental to their attempts of cooking. It is important to set up an easy but desirable kitchen space to cook. In addition, the counter top should not be utilized as a storage space for paperwork. To prepare meals, it is important to have a space that is always kept clear. It is advisable to remove the non-essential cooking items, away from the counter. Therefore, the task of putting away things will not stand in the way of cooking when you arrive home.

· Invest in proper tools

It is common to find people using the wrong knife to slice tomatoes or onions, ending up with extreme frustration. Furthermore, it is important to avoid chopping vegetables and cutting meats using steak knives or regular table knives. These types of knives help when they are used at the dining table. To help prepare food easily, it is important to make good use of the correct gadgets intended for preparing food. Purchasing a proper chef's knife is an important investment you get to keep for a very long time. The chef's knife features a blade that runs down the length of the knife's handle. This way, the knife acquires more balance and strength.

Cooking With Coconut Oil On A Paleo Diet Grocery List

By Walter Gleason

Most of you have probably heard great things about coconut oil and let me assure you most of them are probably true. There is rarely a food that has so many health benefits as does this one. Cooking with this plant based oil is actually one of the healthiest changes to make in your dietary habits, especially in combination with a great paleo diet grocery list. One of the many benefits of the oil that is derived from coconuts is that it is very heat resistant with a high smoke point. This means that it can be used in a high variety of different paleo diet recipes such as in stir-frys or even as a replacement for grass fed butter. It is an excellent and healthy type of fat to use when baking. Not only are your pies not gonna burn as easily as they usually do, but they will also have a naturally sweet flavor to them. Coconut oil is so healthy you can actually eat it on its own as a supplement that will supply energy and boost your immune system.

A lot of people who report yeast overgrowth or the symptoms of candida albicans should try adding a bit of this natural fat to their diet as it is known to actually kill yeast infections not only on your skin but also inside your body. This is one of the reasons why people on the paleo diet experience such drastic reduction of bloating. In addition to that, coconut oil's high MCFA and lauric acid content ensures that the body's metabolism is working at a fast rate, meaning food will be processed more rapidly and effectively as it goes through your digestive tracts. This means that you will be experiencing higher levels of energy but also will parasites inside your body have a harder time making use of the nutrients you consume. There is even evidence to support that this super food prevents or reverses the effects of Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that it would have an effect on your brain's neurogenesis. What that means is that the nutrients inside coconut oil actually help to rebuild brain cells making it an excellent food for the weekend binge drinkers or your son or daughters at college. Cooking with the various different fats on a paleo diet grocery list also improves cholesterol levels on a long term basis. That means that your cardiovascular system is not only safe by substituting oil's such as this one for less healthy ones, but it does in fact improve. Whenever you experience symptoms of a cold or flu I recommend you try having a hot tea or soup and add some coconut oil to it.

Not only will the taste be sweeter and more exotic but you will actually experience a reduction of your cold and flu symptoms. Those of you who experience fluctuating energy levels throughout their day will usually experience a relief of symptoms while eating with a paleo diet grocery list because it is so reduced in refined carbs and sugar. In addition to that, many of the foods on the paleo diet grocery list such as this one actually have beneficial effects in stabilizing your insulin levels meaning that your energy levels throughout the day will be even more constant than through simple reduction of carbs.

If these benefits do not convince you you may try sticking with grass fed butter or other healthy types of paleo approved fats but given all of its health benefits you really might want to give this fantastic nutrient a try!

How To Cook Dirty Eggs

By S.D Allen 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! As a Type 2 Diabetic, I cannot skip meals, especially breakfast. I also have to monitor my intake of carbohydrates. No worries! My "dirty eggs" are a healthy answer to morning cravings for a satisfying start to the day! I call them "dirty eggs" because they look dirty after I cook them. No worries! I don't use dirt or mud. I promise the taste will overshadow the appearance! Follow these cooking instructions and you will enjoy a delicious, nutritious breakfast!

 

The first thing you need to do is get yourself some egg whites, bacon, sea salt, black pepper, a spatula and cheese (optional), a frying pan, and a measuring cup. I prefer white American cheese. I don't like the texture of the yellow American cheese. Get your frying pan and turn the stove on high to heat it up before you add the bacon. When the pan is hot, add four slices of bacon and reduce the heat so the bacon doesn't cook too fast. I usually flip the bacon every few seconds after it begins to cook so neither side has the chance to burn.
When you have cooked the bacon, lay it aside and pour 3/4 of the bacon grease into a measuring cup. The remainder of the grease stays in the pan. Now add your egg whites. I usually pour about 1/4 of a carton into the pan. You can use your judgement about how much you want to add, but my suggestion is to add enough to make the eggs the star, so to speak.

Sprinkle some sea salt and black pepper over the egg whites. I actually think the sea salt slows the whites from cooking so fast. The egg whites will begin to cook quickly so you want to stir them until they turn to a solid, remove the frying pan from the stove top and continue to stir them. They will still cook even if they are not on the stove top. Stir until the whites are cooked to your satisfaction. Now you are ready to enjoy your bacon and egg whites, or as I call them, "dirty eggs." The bacon grease mixed with the egg whites makes them look dirty, so that's where I got the nickname.

Now you're wondering, "What about the cheese?" No worries! If you are adding cheese, place it in the center of the egg whites as they begin to cook and stir them into the whites. Continue to stir so the cheese is mixed in well with the egg whites. Remember to remove the egg whites from the stove top when they become solid and continue to stir until the whites are scrambled.
Enjoy your "dirty eggs!" Add a couple of pieces of wheat toast and a glass of milk and you're good to go until lunch!

Using Food the Right Way: Making It Healthy All The Way

By Martin Swan 

The quality of food you take in your house all depends on how well you prepare it. Considering you are the chef in your house, it is good to make sure you do not feed yourself or your family to destruction. Below are three tips to guide you in making health a routine in your home:

1. Minimize on fats, sugar and salt
   
   This does not mean your food should not have flavor at all. In case you are baking, use half the amount of butter you would have used. Applesauce (unsweetened) or mashed potatoes can replace the other half. Fat replacers that are prepared commercially could come in handy as well. To boost or upgrade sweetness, sugar is not necessary. Spices like cinnamon, vanilla extracts and other flavoring spices can replace the sugar. Foods like salads or main dishes can have the salt reduced or removed completely. Baked stuff that does not need the yeast can have the salt reduced. Reducing salt in foods that need yeast is not necessary to allow for leavening.


2. Substituting healthily
   
   These substitutions help in boosting the amount of nutrients and lower the fats, salt, and calories in your recipes. In case you want to prepare pasta, consider whole-wheat and not enriched. This will help in that the calories will go down and fibers up. When preparing desserts, consider using milk that does not have fats, which lower the calories and fats at a great degree. Intake of meat, poultry products and fish should be reduced and substitute with veggies in casseroles. Moreover, you will have added more of fiber and other nutritional values.


3. Reduce ingredients used
   
   Cutting back on ingredients when it comes to some recipes can bring out a healthy meal. Ingredients that act as toppings for appearance purpose should be eliminated. Examples of these include cream and coconut toppings. Condiments contain a lot of salt, fats, and calories. They should therefore be eliminated from the recipe. Examples of these include butter, soy sauce, and syrup. If you are required to use a certain amount of cheese in a given recipe, make sure you use have the amount indicated.

Finally, recipes are at our display but how well you juggle with the ingredients depends entirely on how healthy you want your meal to turn out to be. When you hear that a small leak can sink a great ship, do not think of the titanic but rather of the minute calories, fats and salt that could destroy the big you!

Sub Continental Chicken Biryani With Easy Cooking Steps

By Soraya Tami

Rice is a very popular grain food and its numerous kinds are grown in different parts of the world according to climatic conditions. In fact the natural factors of a region determine what could be grown there. Pakistan fortunately has such a fertile soil and other conditions that allow farmers to grow the best rice of world in its pluvial areas. Pakistani Rice has characteristics that are peculiar so always in demand in every corner of earth. Many types of dishes are prepared with it and few of them are quite popular among masses of various regions. In Subcontinent Biryani and Pulao are very famous for decades due to its taste and use of chicken in them as an intrinsic ingredient. I would like to share a recipe that could let you enjoy taste of Chicken Biryani with a great ease.

 

Ingredients

1. Basmati Rice 1kg
2. Chicken 1kg
3. Oil 2Cups
4. Onions (Sliced) 4
5. Ginger & Garlic Pas 4 Table Spoons
6. Red Tomatoes (Chopped) 2
7. Black pepper Powder 1 Table Spoon
8. Salt 1 Table Spoon
9. Cinnamon Sticks 4
10. Cardamom (Green) 4
11. Cloves 6
12. Yogurt (Beaten) 0.7 kg
13. Coriander & Mint 2 Hand full
14. Fresh Green Chili 4

Steps of Cooking

1. Soak Basmati Rice in water before starting the cooking
2. Put 2 cups of Oil in kettle heat it and add spices into it and sliced onions too keep frying till onions get slightly brown.
3. Now you can add ginger & garlic paste in it and keep stirring slightly for a minute or two.
4. Add pieces of chicken in it and cook them well along with other ingredients.
5. Then put well beaten yogurt and red chopped tomatoes in the same kettle and keep on cooking till tomatoes get softer.
6. Now add black pepper and salt in it along with a cup of water and make the underneath flame low for five minutes.
7. Now put coriander, mint and fresh green chilies in it and after few minutes take the kettle off from hearth.
8. Take another pot fill it with four liter water and add salt to taste along with 1 stick of cinnamon, two green cardamom and cloves. Let the water boil.
9. Add soaked rice in boiling water and keep them boiling till ¾ done. During that time strain excessive oil from chicken gravy.
10. Strain rice through strainer.
11. Now make layers of chicken gravy and boiled rice in a bigger pot and put it on hearth with very dim flame for 10 to 15 minutes. The pot must have a tight lid so that Biryani gets fine ending touch.
12. Now it is ready for serving.

I hope you will try it with my easy steps of cooking and enjoy tasty chicken biryani of Sub continental style.

The Factors to Consider When Choosing a Wedding Cake Baker

By Martin Swan

As you look around, you will discover that many bakery stores are available in the market, all purporting to offer the best services. When choosing a store, decide on one that is local. This will avert the inconveniences generated by distance. You will need to find a bakery that you can trust to design your dream cake. The factors to consider when choosing a wedding cake baker include:

· Recommendations from friends and family
The wedding cakes prepared in other people's weddings offer insight to their skills. In case you have attended a wedding recently and have loved the presentation of the cake, you may consider finding out which bakery is behind such an excellent job. Also, consider asking friends, family or colleagues to recommend bakeries. This way you will be able to find several bakeries that can be trusted to do a good job.



· Reliability
The reliability of the cake maker can be determined from the testimonials leveled against them as well as their reputation. The customer reviews come handy in determining whether a particular bakery can be relied upon. However, many of the testimonials that a bakery may seek to offer you or those that they seek to publish on their websites are unlikely to publicize most of the negative testimonials. Many times reliability and professionalism go hand-in-hand and therefore it is important to determine how professional the bakery is. Some of the bakeries take many orders so that a delay in a single cake could easily jeopardize delivery of your order. The right baker will deliberately take up fewer orders to give himself or herself some degree of flexibility.

· Competence
It is important to find a bakery store that will be in a position to get you the desired cake. The store needs to exercise professionalism to achieve the desired results. The best way of finding out the level of competence is to have a look at their work. Many of the bakery stores have websites that offer pictures of the work done. This way, you will be in a position to get a good sense about how professional and experienced they are.

· Consultation
It is advisable to consider a face-to-face meeting with cake maker to help them understand your requirements. Consultation gives you the ideal opportunity to discuss the finer details concerning the decorations of the cake. During the consultation, the baker will be able to offer suggestions regarding any alternative options that could have been overlooked.