More Southern Cooking Techniques

I know this first technique may sound unrelated to Southern Cooking , but you will see the connection as we proceed. Here is the first tip, which should be applied to all your recipes, not just Southern Cooking.

The Chinese figured this out long ago. Combine sweet and sour in your cooking. That is, in a dish that is intended to be sweet (deserts), add a pinch of salt, vinegar or hot spice. In a dish that is intended to be sour (not sweet), such as vegetables, chili, meats, add sweet. I prefer syrup or molasses rather than regular sugar to add sweetness.

As an example, in Southern Recipes, I add a teaspoon of molasses to greens (turnip, collards, mustard), green beans and breakfast gravy. One exception to the adding sweet to sour is in cornbread. If you want real Southern cornbread, never put sugar in it. Sorry, that is not cornbread, it is cake (or Yankee cornbread.) I also add a teaspoon of regular sugar to my cole slaw and chili.

Likewise, in all deserts I cook I add a pinch of salt. You are probably aware that most desert recipes call for this anyway.

I have discussed the next technique at length in my other articles and on my websites, but it is so important I want to repeat it here. You must use cast iron cookware for most Southern dishes, especially cornbread. First, it is the traditional way to cook Southern. Additionally, the cast iron transfers heat unlike any other material, making it uniquely suited for Southern dishes. So, please use cast iron.

This next technique is employed in many Southern recipes. Southerners use cornmeal in many fried dishes to coat the food. This produces a crunchy texture and adds flavor. When frying chicken, coat (batter) the chicken in flour, but add cornmeal to the flour mix at a 3 to 1 ration. In other words 1/4 cup cornmeal to 1 cup flour. Also, fried okra should be coated in a pure cornmeal mix (with salt and pepper, no flour.) Here is the point...experiment a little. When a recipe calls for flour or just because you have always cooked it that way, try substituting cornmeal for flour.

Here is something I remember from my grandmother's kitchen. She was a great cook of traditional Southern food. She made the best biscuits I ever tasted. At first, I thought it was her recipe, until I found out there was nothing unusual about it (I think she got it off a bag of flour.) It was not the ingredients that made them so good. It was the size of the biscuits. I always knew she made bigger biscuits than I was use to but I did not make the connection until after I found out her secret was not the ingredients. Larger biscuits will have more of the soft insides and a larger area outside for the brown crust. They are especially good with gravy or anytime you will be using a sauce. Here is what she did. She rolled out the biscuit dough to about 3/4 inch thickness. Then she used a biscuit cutter that was a little over 3 inches in diameter (who knows where she got it...it was probably a hundred years old.) The results were some large, fat biscuits. A word of caution if you use this technique for your biscuits, do not make the dough over 3/4 inch thick. You may think that if 3/4 inch is good, then 1 1/2 inches should be better. Not so. The 3/4 inch rule seems to be the optimum for Fat Biscuits. If you make them much thicker the tops will crack and they will have a doughy flour taste. So, if you are one that has always made slim 2 inch biscuits, give these a try. And, try out the other techniques mentioned for real Southern Cooking.

Ceramic Cookie Jars

Cookie jars are used for keeping biscuits inside. If the jars are made of ceramic material, then it is called as "Ceramic Cookie Jars". In early days, the cookie jars were made of glass with lids. You can screw or unscrew the lid of the jar. Nowadays the jars are made of ceramic materials, which would make the appearance of the jars more appealing.

Ceramic jars are used to store any of the following items.

Cookie
Biscuits
Candy
Once you keep the biscuits or cookies inside, you have to screw the jar and lock it so that it gets air tightened. This is safe for keeping the cookies or biscuits inside. As it is air tight, the eatables will be crispier inside for more days.

Why Ceramic Products?

Ceramic materials are used to prepare more decorative materials. So with the use of ceramic materials, it is easy to prepare ceramic jars more attractive. If you use glass, you cannot make it more decorative as you can make using ceramic materials. Most of the ceramic products are manufactured from china. The products made from china looks good and it can be bought online.

How to buy the jars?

You can buy any ceramic jars either online or by visiting the shop. Nowadays a lot of online stores are available which makes more easy purchase of the ceramic jars. You can visit a lot of trusted sites to buy ceramic products.

Next Step: You can buy ceramic products online by visiting any of the websites.

Trans fats KEEP fat!

Trans fatty acids, lurking like hydrogenated fats and oils in processed foods known. Everything from fast food and ready meals, biscuits are full of them - even margarine! Look on the ingredient list of your favorite foods. If you do not eat list.

This type of fat is a man of similar structure in plastic, added to food to give them a longer life and very difficult process for the body. Avoid like the plague if you have a good health and a lackencouraging number! You'll be surprised how many times this name appears in the foods we eat ...

"Trans fats" have no nutritional value and the body finds it almost impossible to digest or treatment of these deadly deceiver! They are really good quality fats give a bad name! Trans fats are used by food manufacturers, instead of hydrocarbons, which reduce costs, expand the product and help the durability, perceived taste and texture of the food improved.

"Trans fats, often described as the heartAttack in a Box "

These fats, called trans-fatty acids are also a blockage of the arteries, cancer-causing fats formed when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening, fried foods to be used in cakes, biscuits, confectionery and.

Not only do trans fats in many foods, but are known to increase the "bad" cholesterol, while lowering the good cholesterol. " Trans fats can also help type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and many othersserious health problems. Enough said!

Simon TIPS: trans fats

Look for 4 suspects first Trans Fat. Trans fats can be disguised as one of the following four ingredients. Come and sniff out the bad fats: hydrogenated vegetable oil, "" partially hydrogenated vegetable oil "," vegetable fat "and / or" margarine ".

Be sure to check the ingredients list. If the words "partially hydrogenated" appear in the list of ingredients the product contains trans fats. If the wordoil "shortening" in the list of ingredients, the product may contain partially hydrogenated - Trans Fat.

Know where trans fats are lurking. Be aware that most crackers, marketed as a healthy, trans fat! Trans fats are many thousands of everyday foods, including margarine, pastries, cakes, biscuits, some vegetable oils, cheap chocolate, ice cream, puddings and pudding mixes, pizza, French fries, donuts, salsa and tomato sauce mix, prepared meals and food marketsThe children, including some sugary breakfast cereals. These fats are also buried in snacks, fried foods and baked goods, as well as in fast food. 40% of the products in the supermarket contain trans fat!

Ditch margarine and butter in the diet instead opt. Butter and margarine-like spreads are high in trans fats. They can be marketed as a healthier alternative to butter, but they are not! Go for unsalted butter in the kitchen and use the bread.

Method Madness - methods of cooking explained

Also note the different ways in cookies, muffins and cookies? Cakes also have their own particular way. Why do I have to cream butter with sugar, if so cookie dough? Why should not I fully muffin batter Mix until smooth and creamy? Why be so hard? WHY '?

Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit '. Just a little '.

There are no grounds for the madness, and I am here to explain some things. I'll also share a few tips on how to make yourBiscuits and cakes taste even better.

First of all, cooking is a process that requires patience. This is why many cooks do not like to cook. We must not measure the patience, the right mix of ingredients and things. In reality things, especially when it comes to biscuits, muffins, cakes and quick breads. I am one of those rare chef who loves to cook, which is probably a reason there are so many cooking recipes stacked a mile high in my kitchen.

Cookie method:
CreamButter and sugar together. Sift dry ingredients together. Eggs on time consecutively. This process distributes the ingredients. With cookies, you should not worry too much excess or a cookie "airy".

Muffin Method:
Sift together the dry ingredients (including sugar). Mix the wet ingredients. Mixing the two together until just blended (batter slightly lumpy). Over mixing causes tunneling. What is tunneling? I'm glad you asked. If you mix the dough,Holes and spaces are created in the muffin. The tunneling. A good muffin is a slightly higher dome, well rounded, not pointed. Use this method for the production of pancakes, and will be light and fluffy.

Cake method:
This depends on the cake you make. Angel Food is different from the white, how to bake a cake. Suffice it to say what you want to get into baking a cake more air incorporated into the dough to give it a soft texture. A basic yellow cake mixafter the "level 2" method. That is, add the liquid in 2 stages. First, the fat cream and sugar, then add eggs. Then add dry ingredients (sifted together), alternating with milk. Depending on the cake, sometimes eggs in the second level added to the milk. If you have an Angel Food Cake proteins are folded in the final.

Biscuit Method:
Cold butter / fat and liquids. Cut the fat into the dry ingredients. Moisten theMixture of liquid and wet enough to form a dough. Not to interfere in order to remain as a small lump of butter on the dough so that steam and forces the dough to rise.

Suggestions:

When cookies, muffins and cakes, make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature. Recipes usually give too soft butter (room temperature), but rarely are the eggs. Make sure eggs are at room temperature produce a better result. Beat the eggs warm cold butterto solidify the butter, no matter how fast the mixture. It produces a fat - not exactly what you want.
Separate the eggs when cold. Beat egg whites at room temperature when.
Use only unsalted butter. You never know how much salt is in salted butter.
Preheat the oven. Be patient. Let it reach room temperature. E - not the door open all the time on your delicious baked goods control, either. You are to let heat out! Patience.
Remove muffins andCookies with the pots within the first 5 minutes after removing from oven. This prevents soggy. Space with shelves of biscuits or muffins (or sweet) also allow for cooling.
For a screen to another or not, I do not admit it always visible, but beat together the dry ingredients. This is fine if it's cookies or muffins and I am not in a competition. But when it comes to delicate cake, flour. And 'the air from the meal and help in the dough to mix better.
YouSize matters? Yes I am talking of eggs, of course. Get your head out of the gutter. Geez. large eggs work better in many recipes. Use the extra large, jumbo or small to make omelets and scrambled eggs.

Measurement:

Scoop and sweep method for the flour. Scoop the flour into the measuring cup and sweep the tip of the back of a knife.
packaged method for sugar cane.
The most accurate way to measure the dry ingredients is to weigh. Professional bakers use stairs. A cup of flourand a cup of sugar weigh 8 ounces or weigh the same amount. The only two ingredients that are the same weight of the volume of butter and water. 1 cup of butter weighs 8 ounces. Just so you know. Most recipes are written for the home cook.
Always measure the wet ingredients in a measuring cup wet. get dry ingredients measured in standard measuring cup. Simple and accurate.

With these tips your cakes, cookies, muffins and turn out to be great. Care to share some withRest of us?

Southern cooking techniques

I know that the first technique that may seem like nothing cooking with the South, but you're going to see the connection as we do. This is the first piece of advice that should be applied to all your recipes, not only cooking of the south.

Chinese thought has for a long time. Combine sweet and sour in your kitchen. That is, in a shell, which are intended to sweet (deserts), a pinch of salt, vinegar or hot spice. In a bowl, which have the purpose of acid (not fresh), vegetables, chili,Meat, add sweet. I prefer syrup or molasses sugar normal, rather than added sweetness.

For example, in Southern recipes, I add a teaspoon of molasses to greens (turnip, kale, mustard), green beans and gravy breakfast. An exception to the addition of bitter sweet cornbread. If real Southern cornbread that he never sugar. Sorry, not corn bread is sweet (or Yankee cornbread.) I'm also a teaspoon of sugar in my coleslaw and regularChili.

Similarly, in all the deserts I cook a pinch of salt. You probably know that most desert recipes for your time anyway.

I finally discussed the next technique in my other articles on my websites, but it is so important, I want to repeat it here. Do you need cast iron cookware for most Southern dishes using mainly votes cornbread. First, is the traditional way to cook Southern. Moreover, cast iron, heat makes it different from any other material that clearlysuited for Southern dishes. So, please use cast iron.

The following technique is used in many recipes in the south. Southern fried foods in many corn flour to coat the food. This creates a crunchy texture and adds flavor. When the fried chicken, coat (batter), chicken in flour, but add cornmeal, flour mixed with ration 3-1. In other words: corn 1 / 4 cup flour 1 cup of flour. It should also be fried okra in a blend of pure corn flour by hand (with salt and pepper, no flour.) Is theThe point ... a little experiment. When a recipe for flour, or just because you have always cooked this way try to replace the wheat flour to the flour.

Here is something I remember my grandmother's kitchen. It was a great cook of traditional Southern cuisine. He made the best biscuits I ever tasted. At first I thought it was her recipe, until I was out to find nothing unusual in it (I think she has a lot of flour.) It was not the ingredients that made them so good.It 'was the size of the cookie. I always knew that made more use of cookies when I was but I did not connect until I discovered her secret was not the ingredients. Biscuits are larger than the soft interior and a larger surface outside of the crust brown. They are especially good with gravy or anytime you find yourself with a sauce. Here's what he did. He rolled the cookie dough to about 3 / 4 inch thick. Then use a biscuit cutter,was little more than 3 cm in diameter (who knows where they get it ... it was a hundred years.) results are some big, thick cookies. A word of caution when using this technique for your biscuits, do not Use the dough about 3 / 4 inch thick. You would think that if three quarters of an inch is good, then 1 1 / 2 inch should be better. Not so. 3 / 4 "The rule seems to be the optimum for fat cookies. If they break more often than the peaks and make it adoughy flour taste. So if you try to have a 2-inch cookies that always thin, you will enter. And try the other techniques mentioned for Real Southern Cooking.

Campfire cooking a delicious challenge

There is no reason to be on food or flavor, if you skimp with nature during a camping trip. Campfire cooking can be a challenge, but with a little preparation and the right tools, you can easily meet to ensure the most delicious tea appetite. The key word is the challenge, because you could get a few missing as you practice cooking over an open fire!

Roasting options

Roasting is the easiest of all campfire cooking options requires onlysome tools to cook food on fire. Long forks are used for cooking hot dogs, marshmallows and everything else, and spit can be used. Kabobs are popular and easy to make and almost any kind of meat can be seasoned and skewered like shrimp, chicken, pork and beef along with vegetable favorites like potatoes, carrots, peppers and tomatoes.

There are also those types of cast iron with long handles, where the food on the stove and cook. You canSandwich bags in them as well as cook biscuits, eggs and even mini-pies.

Grilling Ideas

One of the most popular methods of cooking on the grill and a fireplace with a grill fire to heat the food even more. Burgers, steaks, chicken breasts and pork chops all do well on an open-flamed grill and you can even plant pockets from aluminum foil and place on the grid. All you need is a good fire, keeping a wire mesh leaf and with a support of some kindJournal square grid on the fire.

Ideas Dutch Oven

Many scouts and girl scouts are familiar with the style of Dutch oven cooking fire as it is practically a tradition with their troops. You can literally cook almost anything in a pot of cast iron Dutch oven over an open fire or hot coals. say for easy cleaning, and for the cast iron Dutch oven with the line of a sheet of aluminum, although many fans of true blue fire cooking that "gravity" is the cast iron pot, thebest way to go.

You can cook lasagna, cobblers, casseroles and more with the methods of Dutch oven cooking fire. The secret to cooking food in a consistent manner, so also holds the hot coals without losing heat. It takes some mastering, and you can not deviate too much in cooking, but the rewards are delicious!

Campfire cooking has become cumbersome, so many people happy during their camping trips because they often fix tasty foodsnormally not at home. In addition, there is something to dine al fresco with the accompanying flickering lights of the fire that the best experience.

cookie cutter Can Make cooking fun

The cutter has a function in any kitchen for hundreds of years. We all have childhood memories of our first bake cookies in the kitchen with our mothers like to do with a cookie cutter beautiful forms. The first drills were immersed in molten tin, iron coat made them.

The metal was cut into strips, which were then shaped and rounded corners for safety. The strips were then shaped by hand, in standard form. Alternatively, detailed printswere made available so that samples could be hit in the cookie dough before baking. Kläsener make a drawing and the model was created in the material, which was usually made of wood, ceramic or plastic molding.

Over time the phrase has become synonymous with a cutter means for people to describe the lack of original ideas. In fact, a device to repeat the same pattern with no change of any kind, so there's a pretty apt description. Of course, theShape can be changed with the use of another form.

If you find traditional gingerbread man is a little passe, why not for something fun and interesting shapes. After a Christmas party? Why not decorate the tree with cookies shaped like Christmas trees? Halloween for children with cookies shaped inspire Halloween pumpkins, bats, angry cats, spiders, webs, new moon, or witches hats.

Plan a Valentine's dinner and for dessert, make aBiscuits in the shape of hearts, doves or cupids flying. treated for a wedding, could Iced cookies in the shape of wedding cakes, champagne glasses, brides and grooms, lips, or birds love.

Thanksgiving Day, you could see the delicious biscuits shaped squirrel, maple leaves, pumpkins, turkey or oak leaves. As an interesting idea for a birthday party with a safari theme and serve biscuits in the shape of elephant, giraffe or use, lions, flamingos, camels, crocodiles, hippos,Kangaroos and monkeys.

Celebrate a holiday or the child's mother stork, submitting forms to the shower with a basket full of biscuits in various. horses, storks, baby bottles, strollers, crayons, children's rattles, pacifiers, rocking, party hats and shoes for children are just some examples you can use.

You can buy pretty cookie cutter gift set with a variety of forms. biscuits form of entertainment not only for young people and adults can enjoy with equal fervor. Have a nautical themeParty cookies are all dressed as sea creatures and serving in the shape of seagulls, octopus, penguins, whales, turtles, tropical fish, starfish and dolphins. You are limited only by your imagination, be creative and have fun.

Buy healthy dog biscuits? Know your ingredients to keep your dog healthy and safe

Good nutrition for your dog food, healthy dog biscuits and treats. If you feed your pet a balanced nutritious diet, good health will follow. They often take the food we buy in the store is a quality product. This is not always so. Not all dog treats or dog food is safe to consume for our pets. You know what to look at the label of ingredients? Lets face it, is very confused. So, make your own natural dog> Cookies and even natural dog food is a better alternative.

Poor nutrition

Store bought foods can preservatives, additives and artificial colors, to name a few. They may also contain fillers to make the product cost less. Too many of these ingredients have a negative impact on the internal health of your pet and cause chronic diseases.

Oral Hygiene

A canine oral hygiene is also affected by poor nutrition. CorrectThe amounts of vitamins and minerals are necessary components to build strong teeth. So a good mix of hard and soft foods are needed. The harder varieties of natural dog biscuits and food are actually working for the dog's teeth clean, waste disposal, and keep gums healthy puppies.

You know ... The Five Elements Nutrition should never eat a dog?

Chocolate, tea, coffee
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco
Grapes, raisins, macadamiaNuts
Bones of fish, poultry or other meats
raw eggs, onions or garlic

Also, Hard Candy to give your puppy can be avoided. Salt and salty snacks in finding food is a no-no. The reasons for the points on this list range from the diet of a dog by the possibility of choking, digestive problems and the apparent problems alcohol and caffeine, which is excluded also occur in humans.

Cooking With Tajine

Tajine is a cooking implement. It is the Moroccan traditional slow cooker. Made of clay, tajine comes in to two parts, a base section where food is layered and piled and then covered with a cavernous cone shaped top section, and slowly cooked to tender perfection. The round shallow base has a flat-bottom with a lip where the cavernous cone shaped top section sits. It is designed to capture and retain condensation and to avoid dryness during the cooking process.

Traditionally, a tajine dish contains meat, either lamb of beef in addition to pulses or lentils and vegetables. For vegetarians cooking in a tajine cannot be any simpler. You can substitute the meat with either tempeh or hard tofu, or even the extra soft round tofu.

Cooking with a tajine is really easy and not dissimilar to an electric slow cooker. All the ingredients are layered in the base section, starting with root vegetables like slice potatoes and cubed carrots followed by chunky meat. Concentrated stock or chopped tomatoes well seasoned with condiments, spices (like ras-el-hanout, stock cube, etc.) and fresh herbs like parsley or coriander can be added to the tajine.

Cover the tajine, place over a low heat source and allow to simmer very slowly for at least 90 minutes to 120 minutes, depending on the volume of food to be cooked. As a result dishes cooked in a tajine is thoroughly moist with a soft melt-in-your-mouth texture.

If using a clay tajine, a heat diffuser, also know as a simmering mat is crucial. It helps to distribute the heat evenly over the flat surface of the tajine and also protects the tajine from over heating. Repeated direct contact with flame can cause clay tajine to crack over a period of time.

In Morocco tajine is served as a centrepiece where it is customary to share a meal. It is often serve with bread, rice or couscous.

Zainil Zainuddin
Copyrights reserved

Microwave Cooking For Kids

Kids can use the microwave at a younger age then cooking in the oven if taught accordingly. Begin by teaching proper use of the microwave and handling objects taken out of the microwave.

Then try simple recipes such as:

Steamed broccoli and cheese-add a small amount of water less than ¼ cup with broccoli florets. Place a microwavable plate or plastic wrap over the top of the bowl and cook for 4-5 minutes until broccoli is tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan or other cheese desired and stir.

Warming up food is a good start that kids can learn the basics of the microwave.

Pop popcorn whether using microwavable popcorn or by placing a ¼ cup of popcorn kernels in a brown paper bag with 1 Tablespoon oil. Staple shut and pop for several minutes until kernels stop popping. Season with different flavors like cheese or taco.

Try various recipes for fondues or hot dips such as pizza dip or artichoke dip.

Simple fudge recipes that call for melting chocolate and stirring ingredients together are great for the microwave.

Baked apples are another simple and great treat.

Meatballs can be cooked in the microwave and then added to a jar of spaghetti sauce to warm up.

Breaded chicken patties can be cooked in the microwave and then add a slice of ham and slice of cheese for a quick chicken cordon bleu meal.

Always teach your children kitchen safety and the importance of using supervision at all times. And kids will love the freedom of using the microwave and being able to help put quick and easy meals on the table for the family.

5 Fun Kids Cooking Activities

Do your children like to spend their time making awesome mud pies or are they constantly stirring up some of their best grass soup? Then maybe it's time to let them loose in the kitchen with these fun kids cooking activities.

1. Allow your kids to create a new recipe. Pick out 5-7 ingredients that you think might go together and can be baked in a pie pan. For example, eggs, cheese, barbecue sauce, salt, flour, garlic powder, and corn chips can go together. The kids can also try a combination of cinnamon, eggs, flour tortillas, caramel sauce, and bananas. You may need to help them figure out "reasonable" amounts of each ingredient. There's no right answer; just have fun with it.

2. Start a Kids' Recipe Book. Everyone has recipes they love, including the kids. Have your child pick out 10 of his or her very favorite recipes. Either you or they can type the recipes out on the computer in a cool font with borders and some clipart. Print them out and "laminate" them with clear contact paper. They can then put the recipes in their very own cooking notebook.

3. Give your child an easy kid-friendly recipe to prepare on their own. Kids love to spread their wings and do things "all by myself." Give them the opportunity by handing them a super easy recipe and explaining how to do it. Depending on their age and skill, talk about kitchen safety and that you will be handling the oven/stove part of the task.

4. Have the kids take pictures of each other while cooking. They can make a small scrapbook filled with photos of their proud cooking moments. They will really enjoy this now, but also after they've grown up. Looking at the scrapbook and their kids' recipe book may remind them of good family times.

5. Decorate the cupcake challenge. Most kids have no problem creatively decorating a cupcake when given the proper toppings. Add a twist to the activity by getting out any possible toppings you can think of and asking them to decorate the cupcake to look like a cat or a flower. They'll come up with some decorative toppings you didn't think of.

All these kids cooking activities give you the chance to teach your kids the ins and outs of cooking. Your children also get the chance to learn many things in an atmosphere of fun. Give your child every opportunity to be creative in the kitchen and your child will thank you one day.