Owner: Twin Cooking Blog URL:http://twincooking.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:57:38 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Cooking Wellness, Fitness and Diet Site statistics:Click here
Hosting a Fun and Educational Wine Tasting Party 2007-07-19 09:23:00 You don’t have to be a wine specialist to host a terrific, fun and educational wine tasting party. This is a great way to socialize with your neighbors and friends and learn a little about wine at the same time. Hosting
a wine tasting party is an excellent way to expand your taste buds, find great inexpensive wines that you enjoy and increase your knowledge of wine varieties.You can focus your wine tasting party on a particular style or theme that may compliment the dinner you will be serving later in the evening. For example, if you intend on serving high acid foods like salads with balsamic vinaigrette dressing ask your guests to bring higher in acid wines such as sauvignon blanc that is under $10. Setting a price limit helps prevent that one guest from trying to buy the best wine by bringing the most expensive wine. Follow these simple steps for each bottle to do the tasting:1. Place each bottle of wine in a brown bag and number the bag so the guests cannot see the label. For a mo Read more:Educational
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Use Fresh Herbs In Your Cooking 2007-07-18 09:47:00 Many common herbs that you might use in cooking are well known for there healing properties. Using them in cooking is a great way to incorporate the healing attributes of natural herbs with your meals. Chances are you probably already use some herbs in your cooking like basil and thyme but experimenting with even more herbs can add taste to your dishes while improving health.Cooking with fresh herbs is just as easy as using dried herbs. Just chop up a bit of the herb and season to taste. You will need to use about twice as much of the fresh herb than the dried. You may want to wait until the last 20 minutes of cooking to add the herb so the taste stays crisp. Herbs
can be used to flavor any foods. Commonly used in pasta sauces, herbs can also be added to soups, oils, eggs and even desserts and drinks.You can grow your own herbs in the garden on window sill and have fresh herbs all the time. Some grocery stores have fresh herbs right in the produce section and, of course, you can always
Cooking And Cholesterol 2007-07-17 08:42:00 If you would like to lower your cholesterol level, you will probably need to cook your own meals more often, since many restaurants add heaps of fat and salt to their foods in order to add texture and taste at a low cost. Convenience foods, obviously, are well known for offering bad nutrition and plenty of fat, salt, and sugar.If you want to lower your cholesterol, avoid all fast-food, convenience, and prepackaged meals.That's not hard to do, even if you are a dummy in the kitchen. There are lots of very fast and easy ways to ensure that you can whip up tasty and cholesterol-friendly meals - no matter how harried your schedule:• If you are busy and tired at the end of a long day, a salad and sandwich take less time to put together than it takes to phone the pizza parlor. Wrap some veggies in a tortilla, cut more veggies into a salad, and drizzle the salad with olive oil and lemon juice. Use a mashed avocado or salt-free salsa as the “dressing” on your sandwich. Soups and stir-fr Read more:Cholesterol
Cooking Indian Food at Home 2007-07-16 08:50:00 If you read my article, Curry - A Journey, published on the Curry page of this site, you’ll know that my first experiences of the dish were of the generic variety which the British invariably cooked and ate when living abroad a few decades ago. You’ll also know that I then discovered “real” Indian cookery and decided that as I couldn’t afford to eat out that much, I needed to learn how to cook the stuff myself.My first stop then, was a local bookshop, where the choice of books on Indian cookery was somewhat limited. However, I struck lucky and discovered a book called Indian Cookery by Madhur Jaffrey - what a find. Written in simple language but with lovely descriptive text and recommendations on what to serve with what, it was just what I had been looking for.There was a stumbling block, however, which was the endless list of spices, seasonings and flavourings in the front of the book. I didn’t know where to start - I’d heard of quite a lot of them, having watched a few
Shaking the Salt Habit - a Low Sodium Appproach to a Low Salt Diet 2007-07-16 08:48:00 Congratulations! You have taken the first step towards a healthier lifestyle. First things first, though. Remove that salt shaker from your table and replace it with Mrs. Dash seasoning or a blend of your own choosing. You will soon be amazed at how good your food tastes, now that it isn't clouded by excessive sodium. All foods have their own unique flavor, which is brought out by proper cooking and seasoning, and not covered up by salt. Your taste buds will thank you, (you don't know what you have been missing!) By adding a variety of fresh or dried herbs, the flavors in your favorite foods will wake up and be refreshed. Supermarkets are much more accommodating these days, aware of the growing demand to offer low and no salt products. The Food and Drug Administration has established that "sodium free" labels on products cannot contain more than 5mg per serving. A "very low sodium" label may contain up to 35mg per serving, and a "low sodium" label can have as much as 140mg per servin Read more:Shaking
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How To Cook An Egg 2007-07-16 08:47:00 "How to Cook an Egg" was requested by one of my e-newsletter subscribers. Having been in the restaurant business for over 20 years, I was not surprised by the request. I have actually met chefs who could not properly cook an egg, let alone cook an over easy egg.This request started me thinking about my egg cooking experiences.High school home economics class was my only real experience before I was married and I guess that didn't sink in.The only thing I remember about eggs in that class was making Eggs ala Goldenrod (which I still love) and beating an egg and then measuring it in tablespoons for the purpose of making a recipe that required half an egg. I never, ever came across another recipe requiring half an egg.And I never learned how to cook an egg.So basically as a new (young) bride I had to start from scratch. I married a very finicky egg eater and after being scolded for imperfect over easy eggs, I began throwing eggs away if they weren't "just right."I must have ended up thr
Healthy Cooking 2007-07-14 05:59:00 Healthy cooking or healthy eating doesn't mean denial. Changes that we implement towards a healthier lifestyle will impact our health, the way we feel and perhaps extend our life.Cooking is a personal experience and we can implement different methods for the same meal. For example, if we want to make mashed potatoes, we could boil the potatoes, or we could steam them, we could peel the skin, buy instant mixes, etc. The choices we make will modify and transform the quality and the nutritional value of the food you put on your table. So here are a few tips that you can easily implement in your kitchen.Healthy Cooking For a healthier lifestyle, you may want change what you cook as well as how you cook. Depending on the method you choose, you may be depleting the nutrients out of your food. You could be preparing a meal with the right nutritious ingredients but after you are done cooking, you may end up with a dish that has no nutritional value.When heat is applied, many vitamins and mine
Mediterranean Diet Pyramid 2007-07-14 05:54:00 This Pyramid
, which represents the optimal, traditional Mediterranean
diet, is based on the dietary traditions of Crete and southern Italy in the 1960s.It is structured in the light of nutrition research carried out in 1993 and presented by Professor Walter Willet during the 1993 International Conference on the Diets of the Mediterranean, held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid underlines the importance of the foods making up the principal food groups. Each of these individual food groups offers some, but not all, of the nutrients one needs. Food from one group cannot replace that of another group. All the groups are necessary for a healthy diet. The basic products of the Mediterranean diet, in descending order of quantity and frequency advised, are:Grains: These form the base of the majority of meals in Mediterranean countries - bread (wholemeal or otherwise), pasta, couscous and rice.Fruit and vegetables: Meals are more flavoursome when in-season products are
Thai Prawn Salad (PHLA KUNG) 2007-07-14 05:24:00 INGREDIENTS :# Prawn
s 1lb.# Fresh lemon grass, sliced thin 1/2 cup# Shallots, thinly sliced 1/4 cup# Young ginger, julienne 1/4 cup# Kaffir lime leaves, sliced very thin 4 - 5 leaves(4 servings)DRESSING :# Lime juice 3 tbsp.# Fish sauce 4 tbsp.# Sugar 2 tsp.# Fresh spur chili peppers,# thinly sliced 6GARNISHES :# Lettuce# Mint Leaves1. Peel the prawns and clean well. Blanch the prawns in boiling water until just done and soak them in cold water to stop them from over cooking, drain and put aside.2. Toss the prawns and salad ingredients with the dressing. Mix all the herbs well and spoon this salad onto a platter lined with fresh lettuce leaves. Decorate the dish with fresh mint leaves.TipsThis dish has many variations and is very popular with drinkers in Thailand because its spiciness goes well with either beer or whisky.By www.thaicuisinerecipe.com Read more:Salad
Breaded Fried Fish with Spicy Dipping Sauce (PLA CHUP PAENG THOT) 2007-07-14 05:22:00 INGREDIENTS : Breaded Fried
Fish# Vegetable oil for frying 3 cups# Whole fish, flounder or similar white flesh 1 -1 1/2 lbs.# Eggs (whole) 2# Flour 1 cup# Bread crumbs1 1/2 cups(2 servings)INGREDIENTS : Spicy
Dipping Sauce# Fish sauce 1/4 cup# Sugar 2 tbsp.# Lime juice 3 tbsp.# Water 1/4 cup# Bird's eye chili peppers 1 tbsp.# Julienne raw mango or# green apples 1/2 cupBreaded Fried Fish1. Clean and gut the fish. Using a sharp knife score each side of the fish into large diamond shapes. Wash and pat dry.2. Immerse the whole fish in flour and roll the fish in egg white, then dunk in bread crumbs.3. Once the bread crumbs stick firmly onto the fish, place the fish in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before frying.4. Heat up oil in a frying pan and fry the breaded fish over a medium heat until it is golden brown and cooked. Take the fish out of the hot oil and drain on absorbent paper and serve the fish with julienne raw mango dipping sauce.Spicy Dipping Sauce lnstructions1. Melt the
Stuffed Crab Shells (PU CHA) 2007-07-14 05:20:00 INGREDIENTS : The stuffing# Ground pork 5 oz.# Crab meat 4 oz.# Garlic, chopped 1 tbsp.# Onion, chopped1 1/2 tbsp.# Spring onion, chopped1 1/2 tbsp.# Egg 1 whole# Fish sauce 1 tbsp.# White pepper, ground 1 tsp.INGREDIENTS : The Shells
# Crab shells 2# Egg 1 whole# Vegetable oil for frying 2 cups(2-4 servings)1. In a bowl, mix together all the stuffing ingredients but not to the point where the mixture becomes a sticky ball of paste.2. Stuff the crab shells with this mixture. If you do not empty crab shells, you can use large scallop shells and pack the stuffing in tightly.3. Steam these stuffed shells in a steamer until done (20 minutes). Lift the shells from the steamer and let cool.4. Pour excess juice off the shells. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Dip the whole shells in beaten whole egg to cover then fry the whole shells face down first until golden brown then turn to finish the other side. This frying process is merely to give the stuffed shells color and heat.5. Serve hot.TipsTh Read more:Stuffed
Egg Fried Rice (KHAO PHAT KHAI) 2007-07-14 05:18:00 INGREDIENTS :# Left over rice, at room temperature 1 1/2 cup# Vegetable oil 1/2 cup# Egg 1 whole# Spring onions, chopped 6# Fish sauce 2 - 3 tbsp.# Ground white pepper 1 tbsp.(1 servings)1. Heat oil in a wok or saute pan. While the oil is heating, beat the egg in a bowl.2. Add the beaten eggs to the hot oil and scramble to a soft scramble stage by stirring constantly.3. Add cold (left over) rice to the wok or saute pan and stirfry to heat up the rice and spread the scrambled egg evenly over the rice.4. Once the rice is hot, add chopped spring onions. Toss and season with fish sauce and pepper. Serve this fried rice with sliced cucumber and spring onions. This dish usually accompanies other main dishes which are eaten Thai style.TipsFried
rice tastes better when the rice kernels are allowed to scorch a little at the bottom or the side of the wok or pan. This gives the rice a toasted flavor and is very tasty. At all times use a high heat when making fried rice.Do not use freshly cooked r
Boiled Chicken in Spicy Sauce 2007-07-14 05:16:00 Saying this chicken is boiled is not the full story, it is first pan fried to get some flavour from the browning, then simmered slowly in a stock, and finally served up with a delicions spicy dark sauce. It’s healthy chicken but with an unhealthy taste!Ingredients# 500 gms Chicken
Breast with Skin# 1-2 Coriander Root# 2-3 Garlic Cloves# 1/2 Teaspoon Peppercorns# 3 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce# 2 Tablespoons Butter# 500 ml Water# 1 Chicken Stock CubePreparation 1. Clean the chicken breast and add the light soy sauce. 2. Into a mortar, mix the garlic, coriander root, peppercorns and pound until ground up. Add this to the chicken, mix it well together so that the chicken is covered and leave to marinade for 30 minutes. 3. Put the butter into a pan, fry the chicken in this starting skin side down until the skin is browned, then turn it over and brown the other side. The aim is to just add some flavour, not to cook the chicken. 4. Place the chicken, water and stock cube in a saucepan, Read more:Spicy
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Phat Thai (PHAT THAI) 2007-07-14 05:00:00 INGREDIENTS :# Vegetable oil 1/3 cup# Garlic, chopped 1 tbsp.# Pressed beancurd, sliced into small pieces 1/4 cup# Prawns, fresh and peeled 6 oz# Chanburi rice linguini, soaked in water and drained 2 cups (packed)# Fish sauce 1 - 2 tbsp.# Coconut sugar 1 - 2 tsp.# Unsalted, toasted peanuts, chopped 2 tbsp.# Thai chili flakes (prik pon) 1 tsp.# White vinegar or tamarind pulp juice 1 - 2 tbsp.# Bean sprouts, roots picked 1 cupGARNISHES :# Omelet julienne 1# Fresh red spur chili peppers, julienne 1 tbsp.# Spring onion, julienne 1 tbsp.# Fresh lime wedges 2(2 servings)1. For best results, this dish should be cooked in a wok, Prepare all your ingredients in advance and have them ready beside you. Heat up the oil in a wok until almost smoking.2. Add the chopped garlic and pressed beancurd to the wok. Stirfry until cooked but not browned; add the prawns and stir quickly.3. Prawns cook very fast so do not over cook them. Once the prawns are slightly white add the flat thin rice noodle from Cha
Grilled Chicken Breast ( KAI YANG ) 2007-07-14 04:58:00 INGREDIENTS : Kai Yong# Boneless chicken breast with skin 6 pcs. X 5 oz.# Fish sauce 2 tbsp.# Coriander roots, chopped 2 tbsp.# Garlic, peeled and chopped 1.5 tbsp.# Ground white pepper 1 tsp.# Ground dry turmeric 1.5 tsp.(4 servings)GrilledChickenBreast
Thai Style (Kai Yang)1. Wash chicken and pat dry, flatten slightly with wooden mallet to ensure even cooking.2. Make a marinade by blending together coriander roots, garlic, white pepper and turmeric in a food processor adding fish sauce to form a smooth paste. Marinade the chicken pieces in this mixture for at least half an hour.3. Grill the chicken pieces over charcoal on a moderate heat until cooked and golden. (Ten minutes if the chicken pieces are not too thick). You can also roast the chicken in the oven, skin side up and uncovered at 220 C for 20 minutes.4. Served with sweet chili dipping sauce.Fresh coriander or cilantro is now available in good supermarkets all over the world, usually in the fresh herbs section. Coriander ro
Marinabe for Grilled Skewered Pork ( MU PING ) 2007-07-14 04:55:00 INGREDIENTS : Mu Ping# Soy sauce 1/4 cup# Sweet dark soy 1.5 tbsp.# Soy seasoning sauce (Maggi)1/4 cup# Granulated sugar 3 - 4 tbsp.# Ground pepper 1 tsp.# Chopped garlic 2tbsp.# Chopped coriander roots 1 tbsp.# Pork, sliced into thin strips1 lb.# Bamboo skewers 15 - 20 piecesMarinade for Grilled
Skewered Pork (Mu Ping)1. Marinate the pork strips in the seasoning mix for two hours or more.2. Skewer the pork strips onto the bamboo skewers which have been soaked in water, leaving enough exposed skewer for handling when grilling.3. Grill skewered pork over charcoal or broil until cooked. Serve hot with steamed sticky rice.By www.thaicuisinerecipe.com
Carrot or Papaya Salad (SOM TAM) 2007-07-14 04:52:00 INGREDIENTS :- Carrot
s or raw papaya or- cabbage or cucumber, shredded 2 cups- Fresh bird's eye chili peppers, bruised 8- Unsalted, toasted peanuts,- oarsely ground 4 tbsp.- Dry shrimps, ground 5 - 6 tsp. SALAD DRESSING :#SALAD DRESSING :# Fish sauce 1/4 cup# Brown sugar 1/2 cup# Lime juice 1/2 cup# Garlic chopped 2 cloves1. To make the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients together and set aside.2. Grate the carrots or any of the vegetables mentioned above, rinse in cold water and drain well.3. Toss the salad with the salad dressing adding the creshed bird's eye chili peppers should your salad spicy. Add a teaspoon of the peanuts and ground shrimps and toss thoroughly.4. Plate the salad and garnish with ground peanuts and ground shrimps.TipsSom tam became famous during the Vietnam war when American G.l'.s came to Thailand for R and R and were introduced to this salad from the North East. Raw papaya is difficult to get in some countries so we suggest you use carrots or cabb Read more:Salad
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Hot and Sour Soup with Prawns (TOM YUM KUNG) 2007-07-14 04:46:00 INGREDIENTS :- Chicken stock 2 cups.- Fresh mushrooms, quartered 5 oz.- Fish sauce 4 - 5 tbsp.- Fresh prawns, peeled 8 oz.- Kaffir lime leaves 2 leaves- Bird's eye chili peppers 4 whole- Fresh coriander leaves 4 sprigs- Fresh lemon grass, sliced thin 3 tbsp.- Fresh lime juice 5 - 7 tbsp. 1. In a pot, bring to the boil the chicken stock, kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass. 2. Allow the stock with the herbs to boil for one minute to allow the herbs to impart their scent to the stock. Add fresh mushrooms and boil until done (one minute). 3. While the liquid is still boiling add the prawns and season with fish sauce and lime juice. Garnish with bird's eye chili peppers and coriander leaves, serve immediately. Do not over cook the prawns, once the prawns turn white, turn off the heat. Tips Both lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves are available in Asian grocery stores the world over. They are usually dried then exported so rehydrate them before using. Tom yum kung is a well known dish. I Read more:Prawns
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