Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Best of 2010 Cookbooks

Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook (Betty Crocker Books)The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2010 (Best of America's Test Kitchen Cookbook: The Year's Best Recipes)The Recession Era Cookbook 2010 (Cookbooks By Sheri)Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2010: An Entire Year of Recipes (Food & Wine Annual Cookbook)if you haven't tried newer recipes from the cookbooks of 2010, and still keen on trying new dishes from cookbooks, look at this review. You may find something that you exactly want, or something that may surprise you.

Check it out!


Best of 2010: Crack open the cookbook cream of the crop
Enhanced by Zemanta

Grilled Tuna With Chickpea and Spinach Salad

Spinach SaladImage by ulterior epicure via FlickrI found a recipe on  in the web, but I cannot copy it to my blog. Anyway, click on the link below for the full details. The site is a health mine, with focus on the food that we eat, and on many others. So it would be worth your while to visit that page.

Find the recipe here: Grilled Tuna With Chickpea and Spinach Salad
Enhanced by Zemanta

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Cooking with Kids

Here is another article on recipes with the particular aspect of having the different age brackets do their part cooking.

Let's cook!
-----


Cooking With Kids on Thanksgiving (Recipes)
November 22nd, 2010  By Julie Negrin


Many people consider Thanksgiving a marathon. For my large family who entertains all year long for the Jewish holidays, it’s more of a brief jog around the block. When I was a kid, my family of six often cooked and ate meals with my aunt, uncle and my four cousins who lived across the street. In my world, cooking a turkey feast for 20 is called Sunday Dinner.

You may think we are a family of trained chefs or, at the very least, had some extra help. But neither was the case. The adults realized early on that they had a crew of sous chefs already in-house. They may be barely three feet tall, but kids are often an incredible source of energy, creativity, and assistance in the kitchen.


People don’t always believe me when I tell them that I teach kids as young as two years how to cook. Yet, historically, children have participated in many aspects of food preparation from planting and harvesting crops to prepping and cooking multi-course meals. The frustration many modern parents feel during meal time, when their kids reject dinner or won’t come to the table, can often be alleviated by simply including them in the meal preparation. Kids feel good when they have a job. And they especially love the idea of feeding other people.

Cooking together is also an excellent way to expand their palates and expose them to nutritious foods.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to get everyone in the kitchen–even the little ones can be given simple tasks like juicing a lemon or mashing potatoes.

It’s a win-win for everyone. The adults have extra help in the kitchen, kids get to feel important while learning something new, and everyone gets to spend quality time together.

Here are a couple of recipes from my new cookbook, Easy Meals to Cook with Kids, along with instructions on how to include kids of all ages in preparing two tasty appetizers.


Tangy Tzatziki (Cucumber and Yogurt Dip)

If kids can dip it, they’ll eat it! This kid-friendly dish tastes better the longer it marinates, so plan on making it a day or two before your holiday meal. Traditional tzatziki calls for draining the yogurt and cucumber for at least half an hour but this is a much quicker recipe and turns out just as good.

1 cup plain whole milk yogurt or Greek yogurt
½ cup sour cream
½ English cucumber, grated (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic, minced (about 1 clove)
2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
½ teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

KIDS 6 and up: Drain the yogurt of excess liquid by carefully tipping the container
over the sink. Scoop the yogurt into a medium-sized bowl, add the sour cream, and stir.

KIDS 2 and up: Gather the grated cucumber into your fists and squeeze out as much liquid as you can until it’s drained of moisture. Add the cucumber to the yogurt and sour cream mixture. Stir in the vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dill, salt, and pepper and combine well. Serve immediately at room temperature with Crispy Pita Chips or marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours so that the flavors blend.

Prep time: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes
Yields: 2 cups

Recipe from Easy Meals to Cook with Kids by Julie Negrin © 2010




Crispy Pita Chips

2 whole-wheat or white pita pockets
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt or sea salt to taste
Optional: minced garlic or dried herbs such as oregano, basil, parsley

ADULTS: Preheat the oven to 350ºF degrees.

KIDS 8 and up: On a cutting board, carefully slice each pita into eight triangle-shapes with
a pizza cutter or a knife. Pull each triangle in half so that one pita pocket will yield a total of
16 pieces. Lay the pita pieces close together on a greased baking sheet (or one lined with
parchment paper). Pour the olive oil into a small bowl.

KIDS 2 and up: Brush each piece of pita generously with olive oil using a pastry brush.
Sprinkle with salt (and herbs and garlic, if using).

ADULTS: Bake the chips for 12-14 minutes, or until crispy and golden-brown around the
edges. Store the pita chips in a sealed container or bag at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Prep time: 10 minutes Total time: 25 minutes
Yields: 32 chips

Recipe from Easy Meals to Cook with Kids by Julie Negrin © 2010



Julie Negrin, MS, CN is a nutritionist, cooking instructor, and the author of Easy Meals to Cook with Kids. She has been teaching adults and kids how to cook for over twelve years and writes about how to cook simple meals with real foods on her blog, My Kitchen Nutrition.


This article was lifted from below source:
Cooking With Kids on Thanksgiving (Recipes)


Enhanced by Zemanta

Salmon Chowder

Clam chowder appetizer - surprisingly good!! L...Image via WikipediaThere's so many chowder soups out there, and there is usually one or two that you will be very fond of, a taste that you will prefer to the rest. If you like salmon chowder, here is one.

Happy eating!

-----


Recipe Finder: Salmon Chowder
By JULIE ROTHMAN - The Baltimore Sun


Don Neuman of Longview, Wash., was looking for a recipe he has lost for salmon chowder. He said that the recipe came from the label on a can of Veg-All back in the 1950s. As he remembers, the chowder was made with canned salmon and also called for a can of Veg-All and other ingredients he cannot recall. After some research, I learned that Veg-All is the brand name for canned mixed vegetables that has been around since the mid-1920s. The product is still being made today. Unfortunately, a search of the Veg-All website did not turn up a recipe for salmon chowder.

However, I was able to locate many simple salmon chowder recipes that sounded as if they might come close to what Mr. Neuman was looking for. I tested and modified a recipe I found on http://www.tastebook.com, submitted by Denise Pettiford-Bulluck. The major change I made to her recipe was to substitute a high-quality canned salmon for fresh cooked salmon. The resulting soup was hearty and flavorful and, hopefully, comes close to what Mr. Neuman was wanting to make again.


SALMON CHOWDER
Makes: 8 servings

  • 1 (14.75-ounce) can salmon or 2 cups cooked cubed salmon
  • 2 cups diced peeled potatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon celery seed (optional)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup tomato juice or 6 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 2 cups milk
  • Fresh chopped parsley or dill for garnish

  1. Remove skin and bones from canned salmon.
  2. In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, combine the potatoes, vegetables, onion, celery seed, water and tomato juice or plum tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add to vegetable mixture.
  3. Stir in reserved salmon; heat through before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley or dill.



This recipe was taken from below source:
Salmon Chowder

Enhanced by Zemanta

Children should learn to cook!

Homeschooled children in the kitchenImage via WikipediaI found this article in the web, and I agree with that it is saying. Read on...
-----


Children are more likely to eat what they do. With its forces for their culinary creations Most children probably eat their own creations, because they are proud to be. Moreover, they know what is in food and helping them make healthier decisions.

Increased self-esteem that comes from completing a project is priceless. Children learn the recipes and real life skills in preparation for the real food. From planning, organizing and making good food selection for the implementation of a plan to stop the cooking is a great way to learn these skills important stages of life at an early stage.

Children feel that they are for the family and the feeling of satisfaction in using that helped contribute to the whole family.

All the time, children learn more about proper nutrition and conscious of the food we eat in the mouth. Home Plus makes it fun to cook and eat, it's cheaper than eatingout and usually healthier. Children can start to rainy days, like the kitchen or cooking is a perfect indoor activity when the weather is bad outside. Start with simple recipes and snacks such as fresh fruit skewers, taking into account the restrictions for the little chef. As children make their own food and even get breakfast and lunch, are designated trust with all kitchen appliances and dishes under the supervision of adults. This teamwork with a parent or sibling alsopromotes quality time with family and bonding. So those are some good reasons for cooking have children, enjoy the kitchen and comes with some tasty, healthy meals for the whole family.

There are no videos to find great teachers, children begin to help, including a group of children's videos for children on the kitchen http://www.fitforafeast.com/kids_. Htm.




This article is taken in whole from below source:
Why children should learn to cook?


Enhanced by Zemanta