Healthy Cooking Techniques

Here are some Cooking Techniques I found online that I'd like to share that's why O posted it here.Healthy cooking doesn't mean that you have to become a gourmet chef or invest in expensive cookware. You can use basic cooking techniques to prepare food in healthy ways.

The methods described here best capture the flavor and retain the nutrients in your food without adding excessive amounts of fat or salt. Once you've mastered these techniques, use them often to prepare your favorite dishes.

Baking - Besides breads and desserts, you can bake seafood, poultry, lean meat, and vegetable and fruit pieces of the same size. Place food in a pan or dish surrounded by the hot, dry air of your oven. You may cook the food covered or uncovered. Baking generally doesn't require that you add fat to the food. In some cases, you may need to baste the food to keep it from drying out.

Braising - Braising involves browning the ingredient first in a pan on top of the stove, and then slowly cooking it covered with a small quantity of liquid, such as water or broth. In some recipes, the cooking liquid is used afterward to form a flavorful, nutrient-rich sauce.

Grilling and broiling - Both grilling and broiling expose fairly thin pieces of food to direct heat. To grill outdoors, place the food on a grill rack above a bed of charcoal embers or gas-heated rocks. For smaller items such as chopped vegetables, use a long-handled grill basket, which prevents pieces from slipping through the rack. To broil indoors, place food on a broiler rack below a heat element. Both methods allow fat to drip away from the food.

Poaching - To poach foods, gently simmer ingredients in water or a flavorful liquid such as broth, vinegar or juice until they're cooked through and tender. The food retains its shape during cooking. For stove-top poaching, choose a covered pan that best fits the size and shape of the food so that you use a minimum amount of liquid.

Roasting - Like baking, but typically at higher temperatures, roasting uses an oven's dry heat to cook the food. You can roast foods on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan. For poultry, seafood and meat, place a rack inside the roasting pan so that the fat in the food can drip away during cooking.

Sauteing - Sauteing quickly cooks relatively small or thin pieces of food. If you choose a good-quality nonstick pan, you can cook food without using fat. Depending on the recipe, use low-sodium broth, nonstick cooking spray or water in place of oil.

Steaming - One of the simplest cooking techniques to master is steaming food in a perforated basket suspended above simmering liquid. If you use a flavorful liquid or add seasonings to the water, you'll flavor the food as it cooks.

Stir-frying - A traditional Asian method, stir-frying quickly cooks small, uniform-sized pieces of food while they're rapidly stirred in a wok or large nonstick frying pan. You need only a small amount of oil or nonstick cooking spray for this cooking method.

Using herbs and spices - Creating meals using spices and herbs is one of the best ways to add color, taste and aroma to foods. Choose fresh herbs that look bright and aren't wilted, and add them toward the end of cooking. Add dried herbs in the earlier stages of cooking. When substituting dried for fresh, use about one-third the amount.

Proper Way In Light ing Charcoal Grill

Some people don't like charcoal grill because it's time consuming and sometimes messy. I don't know if you guys know that food that is being cook in the charcoal grill taste much better. Well people here are just use to comfort and fast moving face. Unlike in some other country like Philippines, people are used to charcoal even though it’s kinda messy. Well giving the option of using a gas or electric grill? I think people there would also love to use it. But the thing is, gas grill is so much expensive that’s most people would there are opted to use Charcoal in grilling anything.

Ok below is the step by step process on how to Light The Charcoal Grill.

1. Use good quality charcoal. We recommend all natural hardwood lump charcoal. This will give your food the best flavor possible. Most briquette charcoal and automatic light charcoal use binders which give off a harsh smoke.
2. If using the entire 2' x 5' surface, start with 30 lbs of charcoal. (Use 15 to 18 lbs for 2' x 3' fires).
3. Make several small piles and use lighter fluid to light the piles.
# Once the charcoal starts to turn white, spread the charcoal piles out in an even layer.
4. The charcoal is at its hottest and ready to cook on when it has a thin layer of white ash covering the pieces of charcoal.
5. If cooking for a prolonged period, the fire will need restocking over time. You may wish to have a separate container to start additional charcoal. You will need an additional 10 lbs. of charcoal for each hour of cooking time. Add your supplemental charcoal after it has been burning for at least 10 minutes.
6. Adding unlit charcoal during the cooking process will give your food a harsh taste

Choosing Good Strawberries

If are having trouble on choosing good Strawberries, then you should read the whole thing. You will know if the strawberries is good if it is a bright shade of red and the caps on the berries should be green and fresh looking. Berries that are green or yellow are unripe and will taste sour.

Strawberries have the most vitamin C of the berry family. Strawberries have been known since the time of the Greeks and Romans and cultivation of strawberries began in 1624. Commercial growing in America began about 1800 on the east coast of the United States. Strawberries moved west with the pioneers and now there are more than seventy varieties of strawberries, many of which are grown in California and Florida. This familiar fruit is usually available fresh year round with a peak from April to July.

4 Foods To Fight Breast Cancer

As a woman, reading about an article related to a woman’s body as well as psychological aspect, interest me a lot. As I’ve read about this new article that I’me going to share, it makes me feel responsible to share this to all my readers. It’s something about what we can eat to cut cancer risk
Sometimes, some woman or mother rarely has time to cook because they are working. Figuring out on what to have for dinner is hard enough without having to factor in the latest news about food and cancer. Below are types of foods you can eat according to Lucy Danziger articles.

What to Eat
Fish: Fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and herring are high in omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy fat that's believed to have anticancer properties. Aim for two to three servings a week.

Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage are powerful cancer fighters and appear to contain chemicals that turn on your body's natural detox enzymes. Eat them raw or slightly steamed (cooking breaks down the protective chemicals). Shoot for five servings a week.

Berries: The more colorful, the better! These fruits are rich in antioxidants, which protect cells from damage, and strawberries and raspberries contain ellagaic acid, which has been shown to protect against breast cancer in lab studies. Sneak these in wherever you can...toss some in your smoothie or even have some with dessert.

Whole grains: Lowfat sources of fiber, such as quinoa, unbuttered popcorn and cereals like All-Bran and Fiber One, may regulate your levels of estrogen and insulin, two hormones that both have been linked to breast cancer. Aim for 25 grams per day.

What to Watch
Red meat: You don't have to forgo the occasional burger (thank goodness!), but eating more than 1.5 servings of red meat per day can nearly double the chances of developing breast cancer. Limit your intake to three servings of lean cuts (such as filet mignon, flank steak or sirloin) a week or fewer.

Alcohol: As few as two drinks a day may increase breast cancer risk by 20 percent, possibly by raising estrogen levels. There's nothing wrong with having some wine with dinner, but it's safest to average no more than one drink a day. (Savor it! I mix soda water in my white wine to make one glass last through dinner.)

Eight Time-Saving Cooking Tips

Cooking often takes time, which most of us have very little of these days. So why not learn how to prepare meals for your family and still have time to enjoy one another? Ok guys here are the tips... Plan ahead...

1. Plan meals at least a week in advance to incorporate the use of leftovers. For example, have baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy for dinner Sunday, and then use the leftover gravy as the base of beef stroganoff Monday.

2. If you know you're not going to have time to cook one evening, prepare two dinners the night before and just reheat one the next night.

3. When preparing a meal using grated cheese, chopped onions, etc., prepare more than the recipe calls for and refrigerate the rest for another meal.

4. Clean your kitchen workspace as you go. When you're done, there will be little left to clean.

5. On grocery shopping day, have your children help individually wrap their cookies, snacks, etc., for their lunches. Makes lunch preparation for the rest of the week a breeze and snacks don't disappear before lunches are made.

6. Don't hide your cookbooks away. Organize them where you can get to them easily, and you will use them a lot more.

7. Keep a notepad on the front of the refrigerator for your shopping list. When you run out of something write it on the list right away. Encourage family members to do the same.

8. Prepare favorite beverages like lemonade, tea or Kool-Aid in gallon-sized pitchers, and you won't have to make them as often.

Corn Tip

Put a pot of water on the stove, and while it comes to a boil, pick your corn and husk it. Drop the corn into the boiling water, when the water starts to boil again, remove the corn. IT'S DONE!

This is from an Indian man in Copper Canyon, Mexico. Leave the husk on when you boil corn on the cob. As soon as the water boils, turn the heat off. The husk holds the flavor (vitamins and minerals) in. Not overcooking helps, too. Serve ASAP, but you can keep the corn in warm water for a while. Remove the husk only when serving.

How to Unmold Gelatin

1. Before unmolding, gently pull gelatin from around edge of mold with moist
fingertips.

2. Dip mold in warm water, just to the rim, for about 15 seconds.

3. Lift mold from water, hold upright and shake to loosen gelatin.

4. Place moistened serving plate on top of mold.

5. Invert mold and plate; shake to loosen gelatin.

6. Remove mold and center gelatin on plate.

Alcohol in Cooking

Contrary to what most people believe, and that includes most professionals, when using beer, wine or other alcoholic beverages in recipes, a lot of alcohol is left after cooking.

Here are the facts from the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA (1989).

Alcohol remaining after preparation:
100% Immediate consumption
70% Overnight storage
85% Boiling liquid, remove from heat
75% flamed

Alcohol remaining: baked or simmered:
40% 15 min.
35% 30 min.
25% 1 hour
20% 1.5 hour
10% 2 hours
5% 2.5 hours

Substitutions for Alcoholic Beverages in Recipes
Choose the substitute considering the sweetness of the dish

White Wine substitutes in recipes
Apple juice or carrot juice.
Vegetable stock or Chicken stock straight or with a little white wine vinegar
1/2 cup rice vinegar and 1 tablespoon white grape juice.

Red Wine substitutes in recipes
1/2 cup of grape juice with 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar.
1/2 cup water and 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar.
Beef stock or chicken stock straight or with a little red wine vinegar.

Champagne substitutes in recipes
Ginger ale, sparkling grape juice.

Brandy substitutes in recipes
Apple juice, peach juice, white grape juice, pear juice.

Marsala substitutes in recipies
Orange, peach or pear juice.

Orange Liqueur substitutes in recipes
Frozen orange juice concentrate.

Beer substitutes in recipes
Chicken broth, beef broth, ginger ale.

Tips

This is one of cooking tips I would love to share to all of you.


1. Acids

Acids help proteins coagulate, so adding either vinegar or lemon juice to water used for poaching eggs helps keep the eggs from spreading out.

2. ALLSPICE

(Pimenta officinalis; Pimenta dioica)

1 pound allspice = 6 cups
1 ounce = 6 tablespoons
1 tablespoon = 1/6 ounce


3. Black Eyed Peas, Dried

Storage - Store dry black-eyed peas in a cool, dry place off the floor. High temperatures cause hardening of the black-eyed peas; high humidity may cause mold.

Uses and Tips - Cooked black-eyed peas may be used cold in salads, in soups, casseroles, or stews, in chili, or as a vegetable side dish. They are also excellent mixed with rice