Our cooking club needs food themes for this year. Any ideas?
Last year we tried Mexican recipes, Chinese recipes, Creole recipes, Slow Cooker recipes, and Tailgating recipes.
The ethnic themes are always fun, try greek, italian (there is more to italian cooking than pasta and red sauce), appetizers, wine and cheese tasting, favorite comfort food, favorite foods as a kid. A cookie or dessert party. Another idea is "What would I take to a picnic, a tropical theme, a pig or lamb roast. Your favorite wedding food theme. A night at the movies serving your favorite stars food. Good luck and sounds like fun.
The Culinary Tour: a Gem in the Realm of Vacations
If you’re an avid traveller, you’re likely to have taken all the ‘usual’ vacations – from beach breaks and mountain retreats to spa getaways. And if you don’t get the opportunity to travel much, you’ll undoubtedly want your trips to be extraordinary and well-worth your time. The reality is that while there are countless types of fulfilling recreational pursuits out there, travellers are always looking for new and interesting ways to spend their vacations. After all, everyone wants to come away with a holiday experience that’s not only unique, but unforgettable.
A gem in the realm of vacations has long been the culinary tour. Yet this type of getaway has kept a perpetual sense of novelty, quite simply because there are so many ways to relish it. When you go to a beach, you can expect sun, sand and waves; but when you take a tour reflecting all the cultural and culinary influences upon the cuisine of a region, you might come away with much more than you bargained for. Simply put, if you love travelling, enjoy trying new things and can’t get your fill of good food, a culinary tour is the perfect type of vacation for you.
No matter where you go these days, there’s something delicious to eat. But there are certainly parts of the US which boast a rich culinary history. One of these is undoubtedly New Orleans, Louisiana. Sure, New Orleans is famous for its Mardi Gras celebration and Jazz Fest; but the city, known as “The Big Easy,” is also world-renowned for its culinary customs. New Orleans is noted for its mix of cultures, each of which has held on to its past traditions in some way – and food, like music, just happens to be one of the most prominent of these traditions.
Tour the city’s most famous kitchens and dining rooms – particularly in the French quarter and along Bourbon Street – and learn about the many ethnic influences that have helped shape its history and unique cuisine. Pick up on the culinary contributions of historic restaurants in the area, dating from 1840 to present, and learn the distinctions between Creole and Cajun foods! No matter how you go about it, you can’t go wrong with a culinary tour in New Orleans.
Alternatively, why not combine a culinary tour with a wine-tasting excursion? Napa Valley, California is undoubtedly the ideal destination if this idea strikes your fancy. Napa Valley is the American capital of food and wine, and a region which attracts countless visitors from around the world each year. By touring a winery, you can come to appreciate the various processes involved in producing an exquisite wine – from harvesting and fermentation to ageing. And aside from all the fantastic culinary treasures and premium wines, you can expect stunning, picturesque scenery. Whether you’re a novice or an accomplished wine connoisseur, a wine and culinary tour in Napa Valley is guaranteed to delight you. Moreover, Napa Valley is just 30 miles north of San Francisco, so you could easily make your way down to try the culinary treats of the “Golden Gate City” – which includes those in America’s largest Chinatown.
If you’re considering a culinary tour, rest assured that you’ll find a number of fantastic options for accommodation – regardless of whether you’re off to the east coast, west coast or deep south. A culinary tour is truly one of the best ways to become acquainted with a city’s culture and unique character – so why not book a culinary tour today and prepare to have your taste buds dazzled!
Martin Mcallister
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/the-culinary-tour-a-gem-in-the-realm-of-vacations-90949.html
Cajun Sesame Sticks, NOW Foods – 9 oz.
Enjoy NOW Foods Cajun Sesame Sticks as a tasty nutritional treat. Cajun Sesame Sticks is 100% natural with no synthetic flavors, preservatives, additives or colors. Nutrition Facts: Serving Size 25 Sticks Serving Per Container – 8.5 Amount Per Serving Calories 160…..Calories from fat 90 %Daily
Setting Up The Professional Kind Of Kitchen
Kitchens for the serious cook are the ones that are stocked with all the right kinds of tools. Cooking well takes having the right tool for each kind of task, just like with any other kind of task. What do you need on your kitchen to be able to cook the kinds of foods that you like the best?<br /><br />When you set out to make a recipe and it asks for vegetable to be cut in a certain way, it means a lot to have the right tools to do that with. If you need to have a certain cut, you certainly cannot get it without a knife that will allow you to do so.<br /><br />If you would like to make sure that you will be able to have the right kinds of ingredients for your recipes, then one thing you are going to need the <a href=’http://www.knifesetstore.com’>knife sets</a> that can give you the right cuts. Many sets, however, are cheap and will cause you more trouble than they are worth in trying to cut through foods like meats. Choosing the kind of knives that are going to be good ones is what you need to do.<br /><br />You should make sure to have your cutlery handy and easy to get to while you are cooking. Having to dig for what you need in a drawer full of assorted tools is aggravating and time consuming. You should display your knives in a <a href=’http://www.knifesetstore.com’>knife block set</a> in a place out on the counter that you can get to easily while in the middle of other tasks.<br /><br />Slicing a tomato will be messy if you do not have a good sharp knife. Slicing cheese will be a problem when you do not have a tool that is sharp enough to do it correctly. There are many foods that will turn into a hassle while trying to slice in a certain way. This is the reason you need a knife set that is going to provide you with the cuts you need.<br /><br />If you would like to have a quality set of knives in your kitchen, then you should check out the <a href=’http://www.knifesetstore.com’>henckels knife set</a>. These knives are easy to keep sharp and are made to last. You will not have to worry about handles breaking while trying to cut thick meats nor will have to sharpen them every time you use them.<br /><br />During those times that you have guests over and you are at the table slicing up that roast you worked so hard in making perfect, you will certainly be glad you spent the money to get a good slicing knife. Cutting meat needs to be done in a precise way that will allow for thin and easy slices.
How To Cook And Store Meat SafelyCooking And Storing Meat – Safety Tips
Safety is important when it comes to eating meat and staying healthy. Food poisoning can be a huge problem for those who do not cook or store their meat correctly. Here are a few safety tips for cooking and storing meat.
- It is really important that you wash your hands with soap before you touch any meat and afterwards too. Our hands carry around quite a lot of germs and bacteria; in fact you might be shocked if you knew exactly how much. Studies have shown that even those who do wash their hands often don’t remove all the dirt and germs.
- Another thing to ensure is that all your utensils are clean before you use them to cook meat.
- All frozen meat should be thoroughly defrosted before you cook it. If you need your meat defrosted in a hurry you can get some help from a microwave but the best thing to do is to allow it to defrost naturally at room temperature.
- It is important that you have a separate cutting surface for your meat and your veg.
- If you want to keep any leftover meat you need to make sure that you refrigerate it within two hours of allowing it to cool. You will have to eat the meat straight away if you don’t put it in the fridge within this time or else it will have to go in the bin.
- You will reduce the chance of infection by using clean plates and cutlery when serving meat; as well as that it will also look much nicer too.
- You will have to either use meat immediately or throw it out once it has been re-heated. If you have re-heated something, then do not put it back in the fridge.
- Meat which has defrosted in a freezer due to a power cut, will either have to be thrown away or binned as it would be very dangerous to re-freeze it because of the risk of food poisoning.
In the modern world, more and more people are interested inhealthy diet. As well as this, plenty of these people also like to find out about nutrition or even iron rich foods.
Cajun Cooking for your anniversary?
Cajun Cooking
I’d like to cook something special for my anniversary dinner. Each year I pick recipes from the world and I thought this year we could try Cajun Cooking. The one who gives me something like “family recipes” (I mean a recipe that is not taken from the internet) gets 10 pts.
Thank you and hugs from Italy 
Cajun Cooking
Traditional Cajun Cooking would include Turduckins (duck breast stuffed in a chicken stuffed in a turkey) & stuffed chickens. (Both are traditional French recipes long forgotten but rediscovered here in creole & cajun country)
With either, you would first de-bone the bird or ask your local butcher to do it for you(except for the wings), season the interior, then stuff with your choice of dressing. I like to stuff my birds with crayfish etoufee, Jambalaya(my favorite), dirty rice, Boudin, or something more “american” say Broccoli & Cheese rice casserole. Then I like to cook my bird in a clay pot.(I know that you can get your hands on a clay pot for sure in Italy!) Take root vegetables (potatoes, onions, shallots, carrots’ parsnips) & some mushrooms & place them on the bottom of the clay pot. Add a good full bodied red wine like Cabernet, merlot, sangiovese, granache or pinot noir (not chianti!) to the bottom to give a good flavor & add moisture. Place chicken on top of vegetables. Add fresh rosemary, garlic, sage & thyme then season appropriately with sea salt & fresh ground pepper. Cook at 375 for about 1 hour (get a meat thermometer)
DON’T FORGET TO SEASON THE INSIDE OF THE BIRD BEFORE STUFFING!!!!
Remove the bird onto a large cutting board & let cool for 10 minutes. Then with an extremely sharp knife slice the bird from side to side. This should create “Roulades” which should look like a meat circle filled with the stuffing. Season to taste & enjoy a true masterpiece!
For dessert make a white chocolate bread pudding complemented with a whiskey sauce.(recipe on the internet for bread pudding. Just add white chocolate!)
Or go for Bananas Foster
I am a manager at a Cajun Specialty Meat market & we sell about 1000 stuffed chickens every month. For more cooking instructions & ideas go to stuffedfoodstores.com
Because I think that you are in italy here are some leads on some prepackaged products that you can order; Zatatrains Jambalaya(the best), Tony Chaches creole seasonings. Paul Prudhommes seasonings (incredible)
Good Luck & happy anniversary.
Cajun Cooking
Coffee Contributes 31% Of Total Daily Antioxidants
“Coffee is the number one antioxidant molecule in the American diet,” claims expert on polyphenols at symposium of science writers
Dr. Vinson is Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. He spoke at a symposium, Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Genes, Nutrition, and Health. The educational event was held here to introduce science writers to nutrigenomics, the new study of how foods affect our genes and how individual genetic differences affect the way we respond to nutrients in foods.
The chemist said that chronic diseases cost our society over $200 billion per year in medical costs and lost productivity. He explained, “These diseases have a pathology that is initiated by free radicals. Recent epidemiology has shown that polyphenols consumed in foods may be the major agents responsible for their health benefits – not the antioxidant vitamins C and E as we’d all originally assumed. Unfortunately, measuring individual phenolic compounds is a difficult if not impossible task, due to the very large number – it’s 8000 and growing – of these compounds in plants. And that’s just one of the obstacles we encounter.
Dr. Vinson’s group accepted the challenge, “Our research group used market samples of common fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, grains, oils and beverages to determine the total amount of phenols in foods and beverages using an analysis that measures the extract’s antioxidant activity. We also measured the quality of antioxidants in foods and beverages by means of an in vitro ‘heart disease in a test tube’ model.”
Dr. Vinson told the group that foods and beverages are better antioxidants than are antioxidant vitamins. He noted, “With the polyphenol content data and the USDA database of per capita food consumption, the contribution of each type of food to the average estimated intake of phenolic antioxidants was calculated for 2003. Total per capita phenolic antioxidants in the United States diet was 2.2 g. Polyphenols are the major antioxidants in foods and beverages, with the vitamins primarily being minor contributors. The beverage group produced the largest percentage of the total per capita intake of phenolic antioxidants – totaling 49%.”
Professor Vinson explained that “Coffee was the largest single contributor on a daily basis for the average American, contributing 31% of the total daily antioxidants. Coffee is high in phenolic acids and chlorogenic acid, and is the number one antioxidant molecule in the American diet.”
“But do high polyphenol foods and beverages act as antioxidants in the body?” he asked. “Coffee given to humans increases plasma antioxidant capacity, and the polyphenol metabolites act as antioxidants at the level of low density lipoprotein (LDL), decreasing its oxidizability, a possible benefit for slowing down the atherosclerosis process and lowering the risk of heart disease. Recent studies have shown that milk drunk in coffee does not inhibit the absorption of polyphenols in a cell and animal experiment, although recent research suggests that milk in tea interferes with biological effect and presumably antioxidant absorption. Other high polyphenol foods such as tea, chocolate and red wine have the same effects on plasma antioxidant capacity and LDL oxidation.”
Dr. Vinson said that polyphenols, including those in coffee, can also affect oxidative stress by acting both directly as antioxidants and indirectly by affecting cell signaling and gene expression. He concluded, “Polyphenols have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, anti-angiogenic, antithrombic and vasorelaxive properties, which can affect disease and its pathology.”
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An Excellent Kitchen Companion – Slow Cookers
mortgage refinance There are two types of cookers nowadays. One is the type of people who have a very modern kitchen, probably with only 2 walls communicating with the living room. They use the microwave oven to cook. This way they don’t make smells in the entire house.
juegos Compared to traditional ovens and stoves, especially older, less energy-efficient models, the crockpot uses much less energy. You can load an entire meal into a crockpot and not turn on the oven, stove, or microwave.
You’ll need raw ingredients for the crockpot, which means you’ll save money buying fresh items opposed to boxed and processed goods. Frozen or boxed side items, as well as processed entrees, can cost up to two times as much as their fresh, raw counterparts.
Next time you’re at the grocery store, equip a calculator and add up your purchases, separating your produce and raw meats to your frozen, canned, and boxed goods. You’ll probably be surprised.
By avoiding boxed and processed foods, you’ll also be doing your health a favor. Compare the ingredient list of frozen mashed potatoes to the ingredient list on a bag of raw Russet potatoes. Compare the wall of preservatives and chemicals in a large frozen family meal to the ingredients of fresh onions, squash, mushrooms, and a chuck roast from the meat aisle.
homes for sale They allowed for unattended cooking of standard home food such as stew, rice and other dishes. People loved these because they just had to put in the ingredients, leave the cooker as it is, go to work and come back to a freshly prepared dish. With the advent of fast food joints and with the introduction of microwaves, slow cookers had lost their charm.
The best thing about the crock pot recipes is that even though they take 8 hours to get cooked, in that 8 hours you don’t care at all what happens to the food. Because it can’t get burned. The recipes are also very delicious. This is because the seasoning has enough time to fully combine with the meat.
These recipes haven’t been that popular in the past. Maybe this is because the crock pots used to be expensive. But now it’s not the case. These recipes are the new wave in cooking.
* Save money by buying fresh ingredients and in-season produce, as well as helping your budget through reduced energy costs
* Improve your health by cooking with and appreciating fresh produce and meats
* Save time by prepping and “cooking” in the morning before work You can be published without charge. You can to republish this article in your website or blog. Please provide links Active.
Cajun Recipes for my anniversary?
I’d like to cook something special for my anniversary dinner. Each year I pick recipes from the world and I thought this year we could have a cajun menu. The one who gives me something like “family recipes” (I mean a recipe that is not taken from the internet) gets 10 pts.
Thank you and hugs from Italy
Traditional Cajun recipes would include Turduckins (duck breast stuffed in a chicken stuffed in a turkey) & stuffed chickens. (Both are traditional French recipes long forgotten but rediscovered here in creole & cajun country)
With either, you would first de-bone the bird or ask your local butcher to do it for you(except for the wings), season the interior, then stuff with your choice of dressing. I like to stuff my birds with crayfish etoufee, Jambalaya(my favorite), dirty rice, Boudin, or something more “american” say Broccoli & Cheese rice casserole. Then I like to cook my bird in a clay pot.(I know that you can get your hands on a clay pot for sure in Italy!) Take root vegetables (potatoes, onions, shallots, carrots’ parsnips) & some mushrooms & place them on the bottom of the clay pot. Add a good full bodied red wine like Cabernet, merlot, sangiovese, granache or pinot noir (not chianti!) to the bottom to give a good flavor & add moisture. Place chicken on top of vegetables. Add fresh rosemary, garlic, sage & thyme then season appropriately with sea salt & fresh ground pepper. Cook at 375 for about 1 hour (get a meat thermometer)
DON’T FORGET TO SEASON THE INSIDE OF THE BIRD BEFORE STUFFING!!!!
Remove the bird onto a large cutting board & let cool for 10 minutes. Then with an extremely sharp knife slice the bird from side to side. This should create “Roulades” which should look like a meat circle filled with the stuffing. Season to taste & enjoy a true masterpiece!
For dessert make a white chocolate bread pudding complemented with a whiskey sauce.(recipe on the internet for bread pudding. Just add white chocolate!)
Or go for Bananas Foster
I am a manager at a Cajun Specialty Meat market & we sell about 1000 stuffed chickens every month. For more cooking instructions & ideas go to stuffedfoodstores.com
Because I think that you are in italy here are some leads on some prepackaged products that you can order; Zatatrains Jambalaya(the best), Tony Chaches creole seasonings. Paul Prudhommes seasonings (incredible)
Good Luck & happy anniversary.
What is ur hubby’s fav dinner?
I have a bf who is picky with vegetables but corn! He is from Louisiana and love cajun foods and seafoods but im getting tired of those foods! He also is crazy over meats and noodles such as alfred chicken, meatballs, cheese spaghetti, etc but I want try cook different and hope that he will love my cook…is there any good recipes? =D thanks!
Lord yes, honey, i do declare, my man loooves the spicy food too!!! I tell ya what, buttercup, try to throw on a little green peppers and onions on some italian sausages in the oven and see if he likes that. Also use paul prudhommes blackened seasoning, it works miracles, baby! If he dont like that, just let him settle with some popeyes chicken and a sam jackson beer, laws yes, we works hard in the kitchen and them men folk dont appreciate it! but give it a shot, butterbean, you never know. Godd luck curly sue!