Storing Your Kitchen Knives

It’s important to store your knives properly for safety reason and and to prevent damage and premature dulling of your the blades.

It’s not a good idea to store knives loosely in a kitchen drawer because it can be dangerous to unwary cooks and the blades can easily be nicked as they slide around with the other kitchen gadgets. If you want to store your knives in a drawer, there a couple of safe options. Knife sheaths or guards wrap around the knife blade and prevent the blade from coming into contact with other utensils or, worse yet, fingers. If you like this option, try to avoid the sleeve type sheath that opens only enough to slide the blade in. These can be very difficult to clean and can harbor dirt, germs and even moisture. The better option in knife guards is a knife safe. Knife safes are made of durable, food grade plastic and come in a number of different sizes to fit different size blades. The safe opens flat and then closes over your knife, completely covering the blade, with tabs and rubber pads that hold it in place, allowing safe storage and transportation. These work well because, since the hinge allows them to open completely, they are easy to wash. In fact, many are dishwasher safe.

Another drawer storage option is a drawer block. This is basically a thin wooden block with slots to keep the knives in place. Because drawer blocks can tend to be limited in both the number and types of knives it will hold, a drawer block is best for people who don’t plan on owning a large number of blades and for those who don’t have limited drawer space.

Another storage option for knives is a wall-mounted magnetic strip. This alternative has several advantages. The magnetic strips are sanitary and can hold a large number of knives and, as long as the magnet is strong enough to handle the weight, there’s no restrictions relative to the size and shape of the knives you can store there. However, this option is probably best for someone who has an area in their kitchen that is very low-traffic so as to avoid the strip being bumped accidentally. Along the same reasoning, it’s probably best not to use this storage method in a household where there are small children, rowdy pets or clumsy cooks. In addition, keep in mind that ceramic knives are not magnetic. So if you plan on owning ceramic blades, this storage option won’t work for you.

The most popular way to store knives is with a knife block and for good reason. Knife blocks are a safe and convenient way to store your knives and are great if you have more countertop space than drawer space. But, knife blocks are not without their problems. In particular, knife blocks can be tough to keep clean. Dirt and moisture can get stuck in the slots and can be difficult to get out. Even with this issue, I use a block to store my knives because I haven’t found a better alternative that works for me. But, I make sure that my knives are clean and dry when I put them into the block. (Really, no matter how you store them, knives should always be completely dry before putting them away.) And, I use canned air like they use to clean computer keyboards to remove dust from inside the knife slots.

Vegetable Biryani

There are several Indian foods which are famous worldwide, biryani being one of them. There are many variations of Biryanis- chicken biryani, mutton biryani, pea's biryani, vegetable biryani. While most of the people in the world are vegetarians, the mix vegetable biryani is very famous amid the lot. Here is the easy preparation, cook and enjoy.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed well
2cm/1in piece of fresh root ginger, sliced into small pieces
1 teaspoon finely ground turmeric powder
1D2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
100g red lentils, picked and rinsed
3 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 brinjal, cut into small cubes
A good quantity of vegetable stock, as per preferences, cut and rinsed
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
350g basmati rice
100g French beans, halved
225g cauliflower florets
225g mushrooms, quartered
50g unsalted cashew nuts

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan (non sticky pan preferred), add the sliced onions and fry gently for around 2 minutes.
Put in the crushed garlic, ginger and other spices and fry gently, while stirring frequently, for about 1 minute. Take enough care so that it should not stick to the bottom.
Add the lentils, tomatoes, brinjal and 600 gm of the stock. Stir well, then cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Add the pepper and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the lentils are tender and all the liquid has been absorbed.
Meanwhile, rinse the rice under cold running water. Drain and place it in the pan with the remaining stock. Bring to the boil, add the French beans, cauliflower and mushrooms, then cover and cook gently for 15 minutes or until the rice and vegetables are tender.
Then remove from the heat and keep aside, covered, for about 10 minutes.
Add the lentil mixture and the cashews to the cooked rice, and mix lightly together.
Serve hot. Eat with passion.

Great Cupcake Recipes for Kids

Cupcakes are a favorite treat for children of all ages. Cupcakes can be decorated for all seasons and reasons. These are quick, simple cupcake recipe that kids can make with adult supervision.

These cupcakes could easily be made beginning with a boxed cake mix but what is the fun in that? With these recipes, you and the kids begin from scratch and make memories as well as some delicious mouth watering treats.

Lemon Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients:

*3½ oz softened butter *3½ oz softened cream cheese *2 tsp finely grated lemon rind *2/3-cup superfine sugar *2 eggs ½ cup all-purpose (plain) flour *1/3 cup self-raising flour

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325oF
2. Line a 12-cupcake pan, with cupcake papers.
3. Beat the butter, cheese, lemon rind, sugar and eggs until smooth and creamy.
4. Sift the flours together
5. Add the flour gradually to the cheese mixture and beat on a low speed, until just combined.
6. Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin tins
7. Bake for 25 minutes until firm to touch.
8. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

Yields: 12 cupcakes.

Cover with Lemon frosting… enjoy

Basic Vanilla Cup Cake Recipe

Ingredients: * 5 oz Butter - softened *5 oz superfine sugar *6 oz self-raising flour *3 eggs *1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350oF
2. Line a 12-cupcake pan, with cup cake papers
3. Crack the eggs into a cup and beat lightly with a fork
4. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl
5. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and creamy
6. Divide the mixture evenly between the cake cases
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and firm to touch
8. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack
9. Allow to cool fully before icing

Make the Freshest Salads

When shopping for salad ingredients look for fresh, crisp greens. Pass up any with withered leaves, brown or yellow edges, or slimy spots. Salad greens are highly perishable, so buy at a market that keeps them under refrigeration. With bagged greens, check the "sell by" date for optimum freshness.

Greens that come wrapped in cellophane should be stored in the wrapper, then cleaned when you're ready to use them. Otherwise, clean before storing, discarding any bruised, discolored, or wilted leaves. Proper cleaning of greens is as follows.

Iceberg lettuce: Hit stem end on counter; twist and lift out core. Rinse core end with running cold water, then invert head and let drain.

Leaf lettuce, Romaine, Boston, Bib, Curly Endive: Cut off bottom core and wash leaves under running cold water.

Spinach, watercress, arugula (and other greens with small leaves): Swish leaves around in a large bowl of cold water to remove any dirt or sand; let the debris settle in the bottom of the bowl and life out the greens carefully. Repeat until no debris collects in bowl. Break off and discard tough stems. Hydroponic greens and others sold attached to their roots keep best refrigerated, with the roots immersed in a glass of water or wrapped in damp paper towels and covered with a plastic bag.

Drying salad greens is an important aspect in keeping them tasty and fresh. Excess moisture dilutes the salad dressing if you're serving salad greens right away, and will speed deterioration if you're storing them. Place washed salad greens on a clean towel and gently pat dry. Or use a salad spinner. This is easier, quicker, and just as thorough.

To store your salad greens, wrap dry greens in a damp cloth towel or between layers of damp paper towels, and place in a plastic bag or in an airtight container in the refrigerator crisper.

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Chinese vegetable eggplant chili sauce

Eggplant Garlic Sauce Recipes selected by the collective taste buds of the masses from Group Recipes. This popular Szechuan dish is made with Chinese eggplant, which is thinner and longer than the short and thicker eggplant that is commonly available in supermarkets. Both Chinese eggplant and chili garlic sauce are available at Asian markets. This spicy side brings a large pot of boiling water to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the eggplant: cut the ends off the eggplant. Cut the eggplant crosswise in half. Cut each half lengthwise into quarters.

Chili garlic sauce is a common ingredient in Chinese markets. Drain the eggplant on paper towels. Finely mince the garlic and ginger. Finely chop the green onion. In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients (the dark and light soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine or dry sherry, sugar and chicken broth) and set aside. Alternate cooking method: Instead of boiling the eggplant, you can stir-fry it before combining with the pork and other ingredients. Heat the wok and add 3 tablespoons oil.

Vegetable Chinese eggplant is more slender than a regular eggplant, and it is said to be less bitter. In another small bowl, use your fingers to mix the black pepper and cornstarch into the ground pork. Heat the wok and add 1 tablespoon oil in the wok on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, ginger and green onion. Stir-fry for 10 seconds, then add the ground pork. Stir in the chili garlic sauce. Stir-fry until the pork turns white and is nearly cooked (about 1 minute), using a spatula to break the pork into small pieces.

History and evolution of the pizza.

Trying to trace the history of the first pizza is a surprisingly controversial subject. Some claim that this popular food is based on early unleavened breads served in the early centuries in Rome. Others trace a connection from modern pizza back to the pita breads of Greece.

It's fairly well established that the first pizza as we know it today was created by a man named Raffaele Esposito from Naples, Italy. Esposito's creation was designed to honor the visit of Queen Margherita to Naples in 1889, and he decorated it with the colors of the Italian flag, using white cheese, green basil, and red tomatoes (tomatoes, which had arrived from the west about 60 years earlier, were originally thought to be poisonous, but by Esposito's time they were already embraced by Italian cuisine).

As the years passed and the turn of the century came about, Italian immigrants brought this recipe with them to America. The first pizzeria was opened in America in 1905. It remained popular almost exclusively among immigrants until the end of World War II, when American soldiers returned to their home soil and brought back a love of the pizza they had discovered overseas. With that, the pizza boom in America began and this food became a mainstream meal instead of an underground Italian snack.

The concentration of Italian immigrants in New York in those olden days explains the fact that many people feel you must visit New York to get true pizzeria-style pizza. It's where the pizza got its American start, after all. And nobody who has experienced New York style pizza can disagree. New York is famous for its pizzerias, where a true slice of pizza consists of a thin, wide crust loaded with plenty of toppings and marinara and smothered in heady Italian seasonings. A side of garlic bread and some heady pastas and tortellinis usually round out the menu. Pizzerias in New York are not for the faint of heart.

In the early 1940s, the city of Chicago, IL took pizza in a different direction. It is believed that the first pizzeria in Chicago was Pizzeria Uno, opened in 1943 by Ike Sewell. Sewell's pizza creation was a new twist on the old New York standard. He created what is known today as deep-dish pizza, where the pizza is sunk low into a deeper pan, and the crust is allowed to rise in thick bubbles around the edges. People flocked to Sewell's pizzeria, and a whole new way of looking at this favorite food was born.

To this day you can find yourself in some pretty heated debates if you argue with a New Yorker or a Chicagoan about what constitutes authentic pizzeria-style pizza. But whatever crust style you choose, pizza is a unique food with a foggy past and a definite appeal that has lasted through many incarnations.

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Cooking With Cast Iron

Cast iron has several advantages over other cookware. Cast iron pans have excellent heat conduction and retention, so you get even heating over the whole surface of the pan. If there are no wooden handles on your cast iron cookware, you can use it either on the stove, or in the oven. Properly seasoned and cared for, cast iron is just as non stick as any fancy non-stick pans. Cast iron is very durable. Some of you may have cast iron pans from your grandmother's kitchen that are still in excellent condition. Cast iron pans are very inexpensive compared to the fancy copper pans.
On the other side of the coin, there are some disadvantages to cast iron. Cast iron pans are very heavy. If not properly treated, cast iron pans can be prone to rust. Cast iron pans must be hand washed, they are not dishwasher safe. Cast iron pans require a bit more maintenance than regular pans (but not too much more).

If you properly care for your cast iron, it will give you many years of use. Some cast iron comes pre-seasoned, so you don't need to season it yourself. If you need to season it, simply rub it with oil, shortening, or lard, and heat for an hour in a 300 degree oven. Then remove the pan and let it cool. You can repeat this process a couple more times to strengthen the bond of the seasoning. What seasoning does is it fills in the pores in the iron with the oil, helping to prevent food from sticking and to create a protective coating.

Tips For -hosting A Dinner Party

First off set the mood! A good dinner party is all about ambiance. Consider going to your local dollar store or discount store to purchase some inexpensive tapers and candles. They are an easy way to brighten up a room, and encourage conversation. Don’t be afraid to try something fun, either. Try a themed party like a Hawaiian theme, or an 80’s theme. The possibilities are endless, and it will help break the ice among your guests. Encourage your guests to dress up, for instant glamour.

Once you have the mood set, it’s time to think about food. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to serve a seven course meal. Stick with cheap appetizers and fingers foods. Fondue parties are a blast to throw, and cost very little to pull off. Encourage your guests to bring their favorite dippers, to save you even more. A wine tasting party is also a fun event, and can cost you almost nothing to throw. Ask each guest to bring a bottle of their favorite wine. All you have to do is supply the wine glasses! If you choose to go a more traditional route, try buying your food online. There are many websites that sell discount goodies, and you can save even more by using an e-coupon site. If you go through one of these coupon sites you can purchase lobsters, wine, chocolate, steaks, appetizers, and just about anything else you can think of. It only takes a few minutes to shop, and many vendors offer free shipping. It couldn’t be easier!

Pay special attention to the dinner party invitations. A good invitation will help convey the theme of the party, and instruct the guests on any food or items that they need to bring to the event. You can create cheap, one-of-a-kind invitations, by using supplies available at your local craft supply store. Each invitation shouldn’t cost more a few cents apiece. Don’t forget to address the envelope in your own handwriting; it gives it a personal touch. Good luck!

The Italian Pantry

Traditional Italian regional cuisines were perfected in home kitchens and have been shared among family and friends over generations. Italian cuisine offers an abundance of ingredients--fresh seafood, seasonal veggies, cured meats, beautiful cheeses, savory herbs--prepared in ways from simple to elaborate.

Oregano: Used liberally in Italian cuisine (particularly pizza, spaghetti sauces and other tomato-based sauces), oregano is strongly aromatic and slightly bitter. Its pungent flavor is composed of earthy/musty, green, hay and minty notes. Mediterranean oregano gained popularity in the U.S. after American soldiers returned home from World War II.

Flat-leaf parsley: Parsley's flavor and aroma profile is green and vegetative. It is popular in egg dishes, soups, stews, stocks and with other herbs to bring out their flavor. Parsley also adds visual appeal to many dishes.

Basil: Used in tomato sauces, pestos, pizzas, cheeses, and Italian seasonings, basil is slightly bitter and musty--tea-like, with green/grassy, hay and minty notes. Early Romans made basil a symbol of love and fertility; young Italian suitors wore sprigs of it as a sign of their marital intentions.

Fennel: Used to flavor fish, sausages, baked goods and liqueurs, fennel has a sweet, licorice-like flavor similar to anise but less intense, with slight menthol and musty/green flavor notes. It is also one of the few plants where the roots, stalk, seeds, fronds and pollen are all used. Originating in the Mediterranean, fennel was carried north from Italy by monks, and today it is used in nearly every cuisine.

Rosemary: Popular in seasoning blends for meats and Mediterranean cuisines, rosemary has a distinctive pine-woody aroma and a fresh, bittersweet flavor.

Sage: Highly aromatic, with piney, woody notes, sage is ideal for flavoring pork, beef, poultry, lamb, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, rice, pasta and much more. Traditionally, sage was used for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.