Hot Tomale!

Archive for January, 2009

Have you ever thought about the possibility of going to culinary school to become a professional chef or start a new career in hospitality management? Maybe you want to go to school just to be a better cook at home? The good news is there are a lot of great schools and colleges in every state to help you accomplish your goals.

Based upon the number of cooking schools opening each year, there must be a lot of folks interested in getting into the culinary world. I recently read an article in our local newspaper about the growth in local culinary schools, and the numbers surprised me. It appears that supermarkets, gourmet stores, local restaurants, colleges, ex-chefs, and just about anyone else who has the room and expertise is putting on an apron and opening a school.

Many of these schools are there for absolute beginners who just want to learn how to boil water and get around in the kitchen without hurting themselves. These classes tend to be more fun where you watch a professional chef prepare a meal and then you get to share it with the rest of the class. It’s a good way to meet some interesting people, learn a few culinary tricks, and taste some delicious food.

One of the “tricks” I find most useful for hosting stress-free dinner parties is to make some of the recipes ahead. I find that too many last minute jobs can overwhelm me, so I plan ahead to eliminate as many as possible.

The more dishes you can prepare a day or some hours before guests ring your doorbell, the more you reduce your stress. Here are some reasons:

• You avoid a last minute crisis if preparation takes longer than you thought it would.

• If you like to cook, you’ll have the leisure to enjoy what you’re doing instead of feeling frantic about a deadline

• You have time to clean up after you cook.

• If there is a disaster, say you burn something, you have plenty of time to come up with an alternate plan.

• If you have prepared the dessert ahead, you don’t need to leave the table for a long stretch just when the conversation is getting really interesting.

If you’re not familiar with a kamado it’s a derivation of an ancient Chinese clay cooking pot that was later adapted by the Japanese (who named it Mushikamado) and it finally made it to the western world in the middle of the last century. Nowadays the clay has been replaced by high performance ceramic, it still typically is fuelled by charcoal but the versatility of the ceramic barbecue grill is pretty amazing. There’s a variety of brands on the market such as the Primo kamado and the Big Green Egg but it has to be said that trying to find a kamado ceramic barbecue in Europe is still a thankless task.

The kamado is so versatile in that you can use it as a grill, smoker or even as an oven. The temperatures you can reach make it possible to cook pizza and I also like to use mine to mimic the tandoor and it’s great for chicken tikka and naan bread. For today however I’m going to concentrate on the whole chicken and use my kamado as a smoker and a traditional oven.

Roast Chicken

Wilton was the founder and Armetale was a new metal developed by Wilton Brass Company in 1963. The name Armetale was coined to signify “art” and “metal”. The new material had the look of pewter and silver, and also met the food service requirements of US Food & Drug Administration.

The Wilton Company used the material to develop cook and serve ware that had more than just utilitarian significance. The products were designed to be suitable for use in different environments – traditional, country, classic, contemporary, eclectic, American colonial, etc.

For example the 1840 Tea Service is a replica of an American pewter coffee pot made in 1840. The pots feature a hexagonal spout and have curved handles with a decorative thumb rest. The set comes with matching creamer and sugar server, and is suitable for use in a traditional or country environment.

Another sample of the Wilton Armetale approach is exemplified by the African series. The products in these series included pitchers, trivets, bowls, casseroles, chip & dip servers, trays and wine bottle coasters with rim designs derived from tribal art displayed on canoes, houses, fabrics shields and other objects in the African countries of Chad, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

When it comes to choosing the most nutritious and delicious foods for you and your family, you may be sitting there scratching your head. You mean you can have delicious and nutritious in the same meal? When you are taking about Mexican food, you most definitely can!

Imagine the happy excitement of your family or friends as you place a steaming hot dish of cheesy enchiladas. Yes, you can make the best foods and meals on the planet when you choose to cook with Tex-Mex recipes. The delicious dishes will be an instant hit even for those finicky eaters. More importantly, you will appreciate the ease by which each of those dishes is made.

There are a variety of Tex-Mex recipes on the internet these days, and each makes promises of being the biggest and the best. However, you will find that the site you choose for your recipe needs is the best for you. Whether you like American cheese, cheddar cheese, or prefer Monterey Jack, makes little difference. In reality, you will find Mexican food types of recipes will be flexible allowing you to customize your meal.