Hot Tomale!

Archive for August, 2007

Fried rice is one of those lovely comforting foods that everyone in the world seems to like. No one is intimidated by fried rice. Somehow all these rogue ingredients have crept into restaurant versions over the years, such as corn, peas, ham and the like. I find the trick with fried rice is to keep it really simple and traditional – just some really fresh and fluffy eggs, onion, bacon or Chinese sausage, ginger and some spring onions.

Vegetable fried rice is a light-weight alternative to heavy food. Vegetable Fried Rice is what all of you must have cooked and eaten at home or in restaurants. It’s a really simple dish to make, and healthy too because of all the veggies that it has. I describe my recipe for making Vegetable Fried Rice which goes extremely well with my Vegetable Fried rice. Here is the recipe for my version of Chinese style Vegetable Fried Rice. Vegetable Fried Rice is Very easy and very tasty too. It is best eaten with tomato ketchup or a hot and sweet sauce.

The answer could depend on how you define “chili”. For this article, I am defining chili as “any stew made with significant amounts of chiles”. The Americanized recipe consisted of dried beef, suet, dried chile peppers, and salt, which were pounded together and left to dry into bricks. Through research, I have found three possible origins of chili.

Back in the early 1840’s, many Texan cowboys headed west for the California gold fields or out for a big cattle round-ups. These cowboys pounded beef fat and dried beef with chili peppers and salt to make a sort of a paste. This paste was easy to carry, and it made a food that wouldn’t spoil quickly. They would boil this concoction with water while they were on the trail to make a hearty, hot meal.

Others claim that these cowboys would plant oregano, chiles, and onions along their well heavily traveled trails in patches of mesquite. This kept the foraging cattle from eating them. As they moved along the trails, they would harvest the spices, onions, and chiles that they planted and combine them with beef to make a dish called “Trail Drive Chili”.

It’s a way of cooking the food in a relatively low temperature to decrease water quantity and get the best result. It’s the countertop to electrical cooking, popularly known as crock-pot recipe.

Slow Cooker and Crock-pot recipes are interchangeable. A slow cooker is oval cooking pot made of ceramic or porcelain that comes in variety of sizes. Many crock-pot recipes simply call for the ingredients to be put in the crock and have almost no preparation. The crock-pot can then relatively safely be left to run unattended. This makes for a very convenient cooking method. Generally, minimum water should be maintained to avoid uncontrollable heating. Some slow cookers are supplied with recipe booklets.

The advantage of slow cooker recipes is it can avoid overcooking and useful to tenderized smaller cuts. It utilized rated power while the success of every crock-pot recipe relies on careful timing. However, the disadvantage is that the vitamins & nutrients are tending to be lost due to longer cooking. Below are slow cooked recipes you will enjoy from appetizer to dessert.

Here is an appetizer that is so easy to prepare, best before taking the main course. Crock pot Cream of Mushroom Soup:

Boiling water without burning it may seem like a simple process but in reality there are some individuals who simply do not know their way around the kitchen. They cannot tell you the difference between saute and broil. Culinary students who are interested in the top culinary schools must have some background in the kitchen if they hope to become an executive chef one day.

They have to know the basics if they want that ‘A’ on their souffle. It can be a demanding career and one that is tough on the body, mind and ego but for those who have the determination the pay off is extraordinary.

Top culinary schools are not everywhere. There are many located throughout the United States that offer a comprehensive cooking degree upon completion, yet there are some that do not and so you must go online. The only online school that may be applicable, should you want to run the front end of a restaurant, is The University of Phoenix with their Hospitality and Business Management program. However, this program will only teach you how to run the front of a restaurant, as it will not include any instruction in the culinary arts.

If you are pursuing a career as a professional chef, you will need a degree to help you get the job of your dreams. Local cooking schools offer a culinary education that is convenient and sometimes less expensive, but a local school may not necessarily be the best choice for your career. Knowing the pros and cons to local cooking schools can help you make your decision.

The Pros of Local Cooking Schools

Convenience
This is a biggie for most people. There is something to be said for being able to go to school without a major move and a new city to disrupt your life. For some a long commute is even worse. Local cooking schools, on the other hand, will save you money on moving, student housing, and/or gasoline for long commutes.

Local connections
Another advantage to attending a local cooking school is the local connections it offers. Cooking schools often have relationships with local businesses, so that they can offer student internships or post-graduation job placement. Attending school in your hometown can help you get a job nearby, too.

I love these recipes. I used chicken breast. I also like to make it with angel hair spaghetti. It is absolutely yummy and very easy to make. I like to sprinkle crushed pepper on top. My family loves this, even my oh-so-picky 5 years old! I use the cream of chicken with herbs soup, we like the extra kick.

Ingredients of chicken spaghetti recipe #1:

1 chicken

1 cup onion, chopped

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup bell peppers, chopped

½ cup butter

1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of chicken soup

1 (10 1/2 ounce) can mushroom soup

1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce

16 ounce spaghetti

2 cups Velveeta cheese or parmesan cheese, for topping

Methods of chicken spaghetti recipe #1:

Boil chicken with onion, celery, butter, salt, and pepper until chicken is done.

Take chicken out of broth and remove from bone, while spaghetti is cooking in broth until done.

Put debunked chicken back in with spaghetti and broth.

Add cans of cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup.

Add the tomato sauce.

There are some basic cooking tips that anyone could learn and use to help out in the kitchen. With today’s busy lifestyles becoming more prevalent, learning and using these basic cooking tips will save you time and headache.

The following fifteen is just a tiny handful of the many basic cooking tips that you could integrate into your everyday life to save time and money.

• Bacon: Reduce shrinkage by running cold water over it before frying.

• Beans: Stop gas attacks by adding a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda in a big pot of beans while they are soaking.

• Boiled Eggs: Add some vinegar or a little salt to the boiling water when boiling eggs. This basic cooking tips will keep the egg in the shell if it cracks.

• Ripening Fruits and Vegetables: Put your unripe fruit and vegetables in a brown paper bag and place the bag in a dark cupboard for few day. Using this basic cooking tips is an excellent way to save money on fruits and vegetables that has to be ripened.

• Salads: Cut your iceberg lettuce into wedges instead of tearing salad greens to save some time making a salad.