Pizza-zz!

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

Pizza-zz!

Pizza is one of the greatest food inventions since bread. It was originally baked in mud ovens by the ancient Mediterranean folk, among them the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, who seasoned the bread with olive oil and topped it with native spices. It soon made its way to Italy where the topping of tomato sauce was introduced by the creative cooks of Naples. It can be said that its history is as old as the church, too, because the first documentation of pizza went as far back as 997 AD in the Italian town of Gaeta, where it is said that a bishop required a tenant to give him “duodecim pizza” or 12 pizzas every Christmas day and another 12 every Easter Sunday.

The bishop must have had quite the spartan pizza, though, because cheese is said to have been added only in 1889 when the Royal Palace commissioned the Neapolitan pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito to create a pizza in honor of the visiting Queen Margherita. Tales have it that the Queen took a liking to the pizza presented in the colors of the Italian flag: red from the tomato, green from basil, and white from the mozzarella. So Pizza Margherita was born-and remains popular to this day.

In Italy, according to well-traveled foodie Aleth Ocampo, people have remained true to the art of making Pizza Margherita that some establishments such as the Pizzeria Spontini serve nothing but this flavor-and have been doing so for the past 50 years!

Today, some of the more popular pizzas are the New York pizza and the Chicago deep dish pizza. Rachael Ray even hosted a contest on her cooking show that pitted New York against. Chicago. But in fact the Americans were late in welcoming the pizza. The first establishment to introduce pizza to American shores was Lombardi’s in Manhattan, the United States’ first licensed pizzeria, in 1905 (Lombardi’s is still around). In its authentic form, however, with garlic and oregano, it was not immediately popular.

In fact, in 1947, a New York Times article had a worldly-wise food writer lamenting how the United States was missing out on this incredible dish: “The pizza could be as popular a snack as the hamburger if Americans only knew about it.” Possibly in response to this observation, the Italian pizza was Americanized and soon enough forever changed the American culinary landscape.

By the 1950s when pizza had well inched its way into American soil, the burger and the hotdog had to make way to accommodate pizza as among the most popular American dishes. Wrote the Times in 1953: “The highly seasoned pizza with its tough crust and tomato topping is such a gastronomical craze that the open pie threatens the pre-eminence of the hot dog and hamburger.”

This craze soon enough hit Manila. Arturo Fernandez and wife Lita Gonzales, who had previously been based in Brooklyn and learned to make pizza from their Italian neighbors, brought authentic New York pizza to Manila when they moved back to Manila and opened Di Mark’s Pizza Garden, which was named after their son. It was literally located in the garden of their home on Menlo Road, Pasay City, on April 1, 1957. Today Di Mark’s has several branches, although the most popular branch on Pasay Road has closed. (http://www.dimarkspizza.com).

It took another 20 years since Di Mark’s opened before the pub-style pizzeria called Shakey’s opened in 1975. In the ’80s, the pan pizza and family-style pizza of Pizza Hut shook Shakey’s market. But Shakey’s has since redeemed itself and regained its throne as the most popular among the franchise pizzas, with the Manager’s Choice flavor still topping the list for pizza-lovers. We have to admit, the thin-crust pizza with greasy cheese to this day remains the most popular pizza among discerning Pinoys.

Meanwhile, among the thick-crusted pizzas, the most popular now is Papa John’s. The dough is light although thick, and the toppings packed with flavor and swimming in gooey cheese, plus you have the option to dip the pizza in butter. Most popular is the Super Papa’s and the All the Meats pizzas. Make sure to crush and then spread the jalapeños and drizzle your pizza with butter for full effect!

For the vegetarians, all these brands have their own versions for non-meat eaters. But standing out is Stella’s Truffled Mushroom pizza. It is cooked in a wood fire (pugon) oven so the dough is toasted beautifully, while the mushrooms’ flavors leap at you.

For Filipino loyalists, Sandy’s Pizza has mastered the pizza for the Pinoy palate. Sandy Arellano has created flavors such as Tocino Pizza, Laing Pizza, Spanish Sardines with Capers and even a Filipino Adobo with Kesong Puti pizza which are all as delicious as they are Filipino.

For gourmet pizza, there is Puccini’s at The Fort. Even foodie First Lady Imelda Marcos used to visit this place for an Italian pizza fix. More affordable brick oven pizza can also be found at Gino’s Brick Oven Pizza on Katipunan. Their pizza margherita is simple yet hearty and for the prices offered, absolutely worth it.

But the best budget pizza is found on Connecticut in Greenhills, at a (sometimes) events venue named Torch. The pizzas are thin, like flat bread, and rectangular-y (it’s not strictly a rectangle; it’s quite shapeless, actually!), and take on the flavors of sandwiches. A popular flavor is the Hermanos pizza which is very spicy if you bite into a piece of chili; it’s very Mexican. But most recommendable is the Philly Cheesesteak pizza which is packed with meat and not shy on flavor. For only P360+ for a 16” pizza, it’s a steal!

If you only care about size and are not too picky about flavors, there’s Big Guys Pizza. It’s no gourmet pizza but it will definitely feed a LOT of people! This 36-inch pizza is so big the delivery boy needs to carry it on his head like plywood. If Mahal (the actress) stood behind this box, she would be fully covered. You can literally wrap a baby in this pizza. It is sliced into squares to give you over 70—that’s right, 70—slices. One pizza can have four different flavors. Same concept goes for Calda’s pizza.

If you are craving a real New York pizza, former New Yorkers swear by Nolita at The Fort. These are large in size but have a thicker crust and it’s the kind you need to fold for a full benefit of flavors. The Wild Mushroom Walnut Ricotta, Spinach and Artichoke (P220) is most impressive and you will remember it for days.

Let’s pray that Mariela Luna and Tony Cancio of Kanin Club and Cafe Breton finally share with the public the pizza that they serve but to a few lucky guests at their farm in Upper Silang, Cavite. It uses fresh Italian oregano and arugula right from their garden and is baked in their personalized brick oven.

Finally, for dessert, L’Incontro offers (aside from their own gourmet pizza) a chocolate pizza with strawberries on top! A merging of the two most popular dishes on earth: pizza and chocolate. What’s not to love?

Clearly the pizza has conquered the world. It has definitely come a long way from being just a simple mud-oven unleavened bread topped with spices and olive oil! If that bishop back in 997 AD were alive today, I’d bet he’d still be ordering 12 pizzas every Christmas! •

Sandy’s Pizza. 683 J. Abad Santos St., Little Baguio, San Juan. Tel. 721-8334

Stella. Bonifacio High Street Central, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Tel. 799-2888

Big Guys Pizza. Madison Square (Libis) Tel. 584-6702; Visayas Avenue (Quezon City) Tel. 921-5791; Makati Avenue (Makati City) Tel. 868-1715

Calda Pizza. N. Domingo (Quezon City) Tel. 726-7344; Pioneer Street (Mandaluyong) Tel. 470-2863; Blue Ridge (Katipunan Ave.) Tel. 421-0908; P. Noval (Sampaloc, Manila) Tel. 735-6719; Makati (Malugay) Tel. 478-5127

L’Incontro. 207 Nicanor Garcia St., Makati City. Tel. 899-0638

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from pizza to Home Page

If you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors – check out these sites THEY ARE FREE. Spanishchef more than doubled its ‘New Visitors’ last month simply by signing up to these sites:

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

Go Back To Your Roots with Parsnips

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

parsnips

Go Back To Your Roots with Parsnips

FOR most of us, the Great British Parsnip is synonymous with the Sunday roast, but as the popularity of this traditional family meal declines, farmers are trying to encourage consumers to get a little more creative with their parsnip recipes and start enjoying them in a range of dishes throughout the whole year.

British parsnips are not only healthy and good value but they also have a very long British season stretching across 11 months of the year, so you’ll be doing yourself and the environment a good turn if you add them to your weekly menu repertoire.

It’s incredibly easy to do as they are so versatile, delicious in soups with ginger and a dollop of crème fraiche or simply cut into chips and oven baked with a flour, paprika and mustard powder coating (the fluffy sweet inside and crunchy spicy coating is to die for!); they are also a brilliant addition to vegetable bakes and particularly delicious baked with mild, salty Lancashire cheese, caramelised onions and fresh thyme.

Or why not take some inspiration from the celebrity chefs. Jamie Oliver fries sliced parsnips with pancetta and tosses them into pasta, Nigel Slater enjoys them in “lovely soft, sweet gratins” and Masterchef’s John Torode makes them into bhajis, but they are also great in spicy curries, grated raw into salads, chopped into stir fries, warming stews, mashed or pureed or even in sweet cakes or bread or enjoy on their own roasted with a yoghurt or sour cream dip.

Research shows that during the winter months only around 20 per cent of British households regularly buy parsnips, with under half that figure regularly purchasing them during the summer months. But when you appreciate that you can treat them in much the same way as you would a potato, roasted, mashed, in soups, as chips or crisps, you begin to realise the parsnip’s full potential.

Parsnips were held in high esteem in ancient times, and even valued for their medicinal purposes, so it is about time we started slicing, dicing and chopping them into more of our meals and not just roasts! Why not try the scrumptious recipe below to start you off – Crunchy Coated Parsnip Chips? Or find out more about this fantastic root veg on their carroty cousin’s website www.britishcarrots.co.uk (coming soon).

Crunch Coated Parsnip Chips

Prep time:10 mins Cook time: 25-30 mins Serves 4

Per serving: 177kcal, 3.2g protein, 19.2g carbohydrate, 10.3g fat, 1.1g saturates, 6.3g fibre, 0.41g salt Counts as 1 of your 5-a-day and contains over a third of your RDA of folic acid

750g parsnips

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp plain flour

2 tsp mustard powder

a pinch of cayenne pepper

1 Preheat the oven in 220oC (Fan 200oc) Gas Mark 7. Place a large roasting tin in the oven to heat up.

2 Peel the parsnips, then cut them into evenly sized chunky chips about 2cm in diameter. Place them in a large pan, cover with water add the salt and bring to the boil.

3 Let them boil for 2 mins, then remove from the heat and drain. Return to the pan and add the oil and toss to coat. Shake the flour, mustard, pepper over the parsnips, then stir until evenly coated.

4 Remove the hot roasting tin from the oven, tip in the parsnips and shake so that the chips are in a single layer. Roast for 25-30 mins, turning the chips half way through the cooking time until they are golden and crisp. Serve straight away sprinkled with a little salt if liked.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from parsnips to Home Page

Diabetic alert dog becoming lifesaver for Myrtle Beach girl

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

Diabetic alert dog becoming lifesaver for Myrtle Beach girl

MYRTLE BEACH, SC – WBTW – Diabetes used to be a disease that affected people over the age of 45. And many times diabetes is associated with obesity, but that’s not always the case. Ainsley Jordan of Myrtle Beach doesn’t fit either category.

Ainsley is an active 7 year old. She was diagnosed at the age of 5 with Juvenile Diabetes. Her family never expected the diagnosis. They noticed she was using the bathroom more frequently and losing weight. A trip to McLeod Children’s Hospital in Florence pinned down the diagnosis, which was Type One Diabetes.

Ainsley’s mother, Christina, said it was a lot to take in all at once. “All this information at one time of giving her shots and all the food she needed to eat, and just so much can happen in such a short amount of time.”

Ainsley took it in stride and she already liked fruits veggies so it didn’t alter her diet that much. But being so young, she can’t always tell when her blood sugar gets out of whack. So they enlisted some help of Daisy. Daisy is Ainsley’s diabetic alert dog.

“A diabetic alert dog can help to sense that and alert to the mom or dad or the child when they’re older, so that they can check their blood sugar and then have sugar if they need it or glucose.”

Daisy is a beagle. She was chosen because she has a great sense of smell. “They smell the changes in the body chemistry and then you just have to train them to alert when they smell that smell.”

Daisy became a member of their family when she was eight weeks old and underwent obedience training, which is an ongoing process. “She follows Ainsley everywhere and she’s always on the job.”

Christina says Daisy is a blessing. “It’s very scary to know that your child can have a low blood sugar and not be aware of it and they can have seizures, they could go into a coma, and possibly even die.”

Christina is actually teaching daisy her diabetic alert dog skills. Daisy has already proven to be a fast learner. “We came in the house, she came up to say hello, smelled Ainsley and went into the kitchen and grabbed the Bringsel which is a little alert stick and she brought it to us.”

A simple gesture to alert the Jordan’s to a very serious situation.

Ainsley and her family are participating in this year’s Walk to Cure Diabetes which will be held at the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Stadium on Saturday, September 29, 2012.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans will host a give-back night for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on Monday, August 20, 2012. Half of all the ticket sales purchased through JDRF will go towards the Myrtle Beach Walk to Cure Diabetes. For more information on the walk and The Palmetto Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, visit www.jdrfpalmetto.org.

For more information on diabetic alert dogs visit www.diabeticalertdog.com.

For more information on Juvenile Diabetes visit the American Diabetes Association’s website at www.diabetes.org.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from diabetic to Home Page

Food allergies and intolerance

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

Food allergies and intolerance

By Dr. Marian J. Wymore, Extraordinary Health for Busy People
Thursday, June 28, 2012 5:22 PM PDT

Q: I think I have food allergies. I intermittently suffer from sinus congestion, and my asthma flares up. How can I get tested? Should I give up glutens and dairy?

A: True food allergies will initiate an immune reaction shortly after you are exposed to the offending food. The symptoms vary in intensity, but may include nasal congestion, wheezing, itching, hives, eczema, swelling, gastrointestinal disturbances, migraines, or even life-threatening anaphylaxis. There is a difference between true food allergies and intolerances to foods that are less serious and don’t trigger an immune response. Respiratory symptoms may also be triggered by pollens and airborne allergens.

The biggest culprits for serious food allergies are peanuts (and other nuts), fish and shellfish, eggs, wheat, soy, and milk. Food allergies may be triggered by ingestion, cooking surfaces contaminated with the offending food, cross-reactions with other allergies or even exercising after eating certain foods.

If you have a suspected food allergy, see your doctor or an allergist for evaluation and treatment. There are allergy blood and skin testing available for some food allergies, but they are not 100 percent reliable. Often the diagnosis of food intolerance is made by your history, so keep track of what foods you’ve eaten when you have a suspected reaction. Eliminating all suspected foods from the diet and gradually reintroducing them one by one is another way to identify the culprits. The best treatment is prevention, so avoid the offending foods. Read labels, and be careful when you eat out.

You’ll need to be instructed by your doctor about what to do if you are exposed to a food that you are highly allergic to. Antihistamines and epinephrine may be prescribed. Always keep your epinephrine injections with you just in case you have to give it to yourself. Seek emergency medical care for symptoms of anaphylaxis like difficulty breathing, swelling of the tongue/throat or airway, fast pulse, dropping blood pressure, dizziness or passing out. Even if your symptoms seem to improve after your injection, they may worsen when the shot wears off so get to an emergency room ASAP.

Food intolerances to dairy, glutens, corn and food additives are common but not life-threatening. In the case of lactose intolerance, digestive disturbances may improve by supplementing with lactase before ingesting dairy and limiting intake. Celiac disease (inability to process gluten) causes an autoimmune inflammation of the intestinal lining causing diarrhea, bloating, pain and malabsorption of nutrients. Wheat sensitivity, however, may cause milder symptoms but doesn’t actually alter the lining of the intestines. There are tests available for Celiac disease.

Food Allergies with Bill & Sheila

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from allergies to Home Page

2 cups of coffee may shield heart (but more won't)

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

2 cups of coffee may shield heart (but more won’t)

Drinking coffee moderately may reduce the risk of heart failure, but drinking too much makes this benefit disappear, according to a new review.

People who drank two cups of coffee a day were 11 percent less likely to have heart failure, compared with people who drank no coffee. Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the demands of the body, and can be caused by factors ranging from high blood pressure to pregnancy.

Constantly drinking too much coffee, however, negates this benefit: no difference in heart failure risk was seen between non-coffee drinkers’ and those who drank more than three cups a day.

“As with so many things, moderation appears to be the key here,” said study author Dr. Murray Mittleman, director of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

The study showed an association, not a cause-and-effect link.

Still, there is reason to think coffee lowers heart failure risk, the researchers said. Moderate coffee consumption may increase drinkers’ caffeine tolerance, which could in turn limit their susceptibility to high blood pressure. Additionally, coffee drinking has been shown to lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes and hypertension are major risk factors for heart failure, Mittleman said.

People who have already have heart failure should consume no more than one to two cups of coffee per day, according to the American Heart Association.

The finding “is good news for coffee drinkers, of course, but it also may warrant changes to the current heart failure prevention guidelines, which suggest that coffee drinking may be risky for heart patients,” said study author Elizabeth Mostofsky, a research fellow at the center.

The researchers looked at data collected on 140,220 people in Sweden and Finland who participated in five previous studies. There were a total of 6,522 cases of heart failure between 2001 and 2011. The causes of heart failure often cannot be reversed, but the condition can be treated.

The researchers took into account the differing serving sizes between Europe and the United States (European servings are generally smaller), however, they did not account for coffee’s strength or whether the coffee was caffeinated, though they noted that in northern Europe, it typically is.

The study was published yesterday (June 26) in the journal Circulation Heart Failure.

Pass it on: Moderate coffee drinking lowers the risk of heart failure.

Follow MyHealthNewsDaily on Twitter @MyHealth_MHND. Find us on Facebook and Google+.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from coffee to Home Page

The Food Movement releases Vegan Vitamin D-3 to U.S. Health Food Store Market - Virtual

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

The Food Movement releases Vegan Vitamin D-3 to U.S. Health Food Store Market – Virtual

For the first time, The Food Movement is making a plant-based form of essential nutrient Vitamin D-3 (cholecalciferol) available for the vegan and vegetarians.

Schaumburg, IL (PRWEB) June 29, 2012

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient which is vital for human health in relation to immune function, bone density, hormone metabolism, and other critical areas. When it comes to dietary supplements, there are two forms of Vitamin D available; D-2 (ergocalciferol) and D-3 (cholecalciferol). A growing body of credible scientific research has demonstrated that vitamin D-3 is the superior form of this essential nutrient.

However, until very recently, D-2 (the more poorly absorbed form) was the only form not derived from animal products, and therefore suitable for vegans and strict vegetarians. D-3 was generally available only as an extract from Sheep’s wool lanolin. Therefore, vegans and strict vegetarians were only able to consume the moor poorly absorbed D-2 without compromising their dietary ethics.

In light of these facts, The Food Movement is proud to announce the brand new release of their Vegan D-3 product, made with Vitashine (TM) cholecalciferol. Vegan D-3 is derived from a unique species of lichen, a member of the plant kingdom.

Two forms of the product, a 5000 IU vegetarian capsule, and a 1000 IU liquid spray, are being made available to the specialty health food store retail market in the United States. In addition, the products will be distributed through select internet-based e-tailers.

The Food Movement is an Illinois-based natural products company formed with a dual mission; to bring the world superior nutrient-dense plant-based nutrition, and to help end world hunger. To this end, Food Movement donates at least 11% of their profits to various worthy organizations around the globe.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/6/prweb9646740.htm

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from vegan to Home Page

Raw blood black pudding and Damson Jelly...? Manchester encouraged to ...

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

Raw blood black pudding and Damson Jelly

By Sean-Paul Doran

Black pudding, blood pudding or blood sausage is a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. The dish exists in various cultures from Asia to Europe. Pig, cattle, sheep, duck and goat blood can be used depending on different countries.
In Europe, typical black pudding fillers include meat, fat, suet, bread, sweet potato, onion, chestnuts, barley, and oatmeal while in Spain, Portugal and Asia, potato is often replaced by rice.

As German Americans are one of the largest ancestral groups in the United States, foods like blood sausage (sometimes still called Blutwurst) are still eaten in the country, although often by older generations. Among other English-speaking North Americans, the consumption of British-style black pudding and similar dishes is largely confined to recent immigrants from Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and so forth. This Old World tradition also continues with French Canadians and Cajuns (Acadians). Blood sausages are very difficult to find in American supermarkets, and are often made at home, especially by the older generations.

In Wisconsin, Brussels and Sturgeon Bay are all home to local grocers who produce blood sausage, due to their large Belgian American populations. Supermarkets throughout Maine also carry locally produced blood pudding due to the state’s large French Canadian population. In southeastern Michigan, Polish-style Kaszanka can be found in supermarkets throughout the year and is very popular.

An Italian-American version of black pudding in the San Francisco Bay area is called biroldo and has pine nuts, raisins, spices, pig snouts and is made using either pig’s or cow’s blood.

Cajun boudin is a fresh sausage made with green onions, pork, pork liver(making it somewhat gritty/grainy), and rice.Pig’s blood was sometimes added to produce boudin rouge, but this tradition became increasingly rare after the mid-twentieth century due to the decline of the boucherie (traditional communal butchering) and government health regulations. As a result, Cajun boudin is now usually made without blood.

Renowned food institution Booths say Mancunians are rediscovering Forgotten Foods and standing up for the best of British produce.

Booths are fighting for food heritage and drew up a list of Forgotten Foods to stock across their 29 UK stores, including their MediaCityUK branch.

Damson jelly, raw blood black pudding, Formby asparagus and Morecombe Bay potted shrimps are among the delights that are flying off the shelves as hungry Brits rediscover the once-endangered foods.

Booths’ MediaCityUK branch opened in October 2011 and manager Richard Ford says Mancunians have embraced the initiative, claiming there is still an appetite for local produce.

He said: “The Forgotten Foods products have been a real talking point in the store. They give us a chance to tell the story behind our food, who produces it and how black pudding made.

“Trading next to the BBC buildings also gives the Booths brand some recognition outside the region.

“I’ve lost count at how many times a London based BBC employee says, when can you open a branch in the south? They’re astonished at the range, choice and quality of what we sell.”

Mr Ford credits the success of the initiative to Manchester being blessed with having an abundance of quality local producers and emphasised the range of products in the MediaCityUK branch.

“There’s something great about being a Northern based retailer, I think Booths as a business is closer to their producers and their customers,” he said.

“Regional foods and campaigns like the Forgotten Foods programme underscore the fact we’re not like other supermarkets.

“What you find at Booths is a great range of excellent products made by people who really take pride in what they produce.”

Booths created the Forgotten Food campaign in partnership with Slow Food, a global movement celebrating cultural traditions and food heritage with 100,000 members across 150 countries.

Slow Food began in Italy in 1989 as founder Carlo Petrini wanted to defend good food from modern changes in food consumption and to encourage people to relax and enjoy their food.

“Slow Food was founded as a rebellion against fast food and fast culture,” said CEO Catherine Gazzoli.

“The movement stands for many key issues like defending edible biodiversity, the right to pleasure when we eat, and taste education.”

Full details of the range can be found on http://www.booths.co.uk/forgotten-foods

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from black pudding to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

Bread Pudding for Dinner or Dessert

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

Bread Pudding for Dinner or Dessert

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

I still remember the first time I tasted bread pudding — a heavenly concoction conjured up at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. But it was only recently that I learned how easy it is to make bread pudding at home after trying a chocolate-pumpkin bread pudding recipe from the vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli. (Coconut milk makes it irresistible.)

This week, Martha Rose Shulman takes the dish to the next level, offering both savory and sweet varieties certain to please any bread pudding aficionado. She writes:

The savory bread puddings I’ve always made have been Italian strata, casseroles made with cubes or slices of bread, milk, eggs, cheese and vegetables. I was recently introduced to an Alsatian version of a sweet bread pudding, in which the bread is soaked in the milk first, then beaten with eggs, sugar and flavorings, folded with beaten egg whites, and poured into a baking dish over fruit. I loved this technique, because there were no hard, dry edges of bread after baking, so I applied it to my savory bread puddings too (without separating the eggs), and got delicious results. The puddings are moist, with a bonus layer of custard that seeps out of the bread crumbs at the bottom of the casserole dish. The sweet ones, in which the eggs are separated, puff like soufflés.

You can use baguettes or country bread for these, white or whole-wheat. I tried them with whole-wheat sandwich bread, but the sliced bread didn’t hold the custard as well and the puddings were a bit soggy.

Here are five new ways to make bread pudding.

Savory Bread Pudding With Swiss Chard and Red Pepper: Half of a stale baguette soaked in milk makes for an incredibly moist dish.

Savory Bread Pudding With Grated Squash and Feta: Dill or mint lends Greek overtones to this comforting dish.

Savory Whole-Wheat Bread Pudding With Seared Tomatoes and Mushrooms: If you’re eager to use the season’s first tomatoes, this is a good vehicle for them, as they can be slightly underripe.

Cherry Bread Pudding: A lighter version of a traditional Alsatian dish called a bettelmann, this sweet dish features a classic pairing: cherries and almonds.

Apricot Bread Pudding: Even apricots that aren’t at the peak of sweetness develop an intense flavor as they bake.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from bread pudding to Home Page

Barbecue gadgets make grilling more fun

Posted on June 30, 2012 by bilrob

Barbecue gadgets make grilling more fun

By far, my favorite grilling gadget is Quirky’s Slider, a stainless steel double-prong 14-inch skewer you can load with meat and vegetables. Its heat-resistant slider lets you get your food off the fire in seconds, struggle-free.

The skewers come in a set of four for $24.99.

The Stake ($29.99) does exactly what its packaging describes: Grip it, flip it and serve it.

The all-in-one device has a spatula, a fork and tongs with a wooden handle.

When it’s locked together, you have a simple 3.75-inch-wide spatula; separate it, and you have tongs; or slide the fork out of it.

Another multifunctional gadget from Quirky is the Porter Grab and Grill ($39.99), a tray that keeps raw food separated from cooked.

The simple gadget (19.5 by 11.5 by 4 inches) has a container on top that holds food for the grill along with a metal mesh caddy on the side for condiments or seasonings.

When you’re finished cooking, just lift off the top tray that held the raw meat and you have another tray for the cooked items.

www.quirky.com

Heat Shield Spatula

The Grill Daddy Heat Shield Spatula ($24.99) is a stainless-steel grilling tool that does a lot of things well. Its main function is to keep your hands from being cooked along with your food.

It does so with a swinging handle that gives your hands a layer of metal protection. No matter where you reach on the grill, it pivots to keep you protected.

One of the models expands an extra 5.5 inches.

It’s referred to as a 10-in-1 grilling gadget because additional accessories ($5.99-$8.99) are available, including a 5-inch-wide fish spatula, tongs and basting brush.

www.buygrilldaddy.com

Wireless grill thermometer

One item I wrote about last year deserves to be mentioned again: the iGrill.

It’s an electronic wireless thermometer that connects via Bluetooth to an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

To work it, load the iGrill app (free in the iTunes Store) and insert the prong into the meat on the grill. All your cooking information is displayed on your device’s screen, safely away from the heat.

Along with the temperature, it features new alarms, graphs, timers, individual probes, time-remaining functions and presets for fish, chicken and meat.

A silicone cover ($19.99) shields the high-priced ($79) device from moisture, food and heat.

www.igrillinc.com

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Click here for more information

Return from grilling to Home Page

Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER

Spending summertime in Spain

Posted on June 29, 2012 by bilrob

Rigor’s Sunday Paella

Spending summertime in Spain

Summers usually provide lots of time to enjoy (usually) warm weather and longer evenings. Several summers ago, my wife Susanne and I had the opportunity to spend June and July in Alicante, Spain. We had travelled there as part of a Master’s degree program through Central Michigan University.

It was a great opportunity to learn about Spain and its culture. Both Susanne and I did spend many days and nights studying. But we did leave some time to discover local culture since that seemed to us an important part of being in Alicante. And we liked what we saw — and ate!

Perhaps not as well-known to Americans as Barcelona or Madrid, Alicante is a spot that northern Europeans have been acquainted with for some time now. The provincial capital of Alicante is a beautiful city located right on the Mediterranean Sea. I must admit that my first hours there in June of 2000 gave me a good opportunity to ‘discover’ the city. The day Susanne and I arrived our luggage didn’t so I decided to wander around town looking for clothing and shoes despite the afternoon heat. It was interesting to see how Alicante is both modern and traditional. All the Spanish department stores and shops are there yet the city also boasts beautiful churches, a fortress overlooking the sea and the lovely ‘Explanada de España’, a beautiful walkway close to the harbor that is very animated both at night and during local festivals.

During our stay in Alicante, my Danish wife and I witnessed the famous local festival celebrated on feast of Saint John known in Spanish as ‘las Hogueras’. All over town, people had built elaborate effigies of famous people or other characters. Some were literally as tall as local buildings and were beautifully decorated and painted. On the evening of the 24th, these artistic creations were burnt amid huge crowds of spectators and firemen. Despite the high local temperature and extreme heat of the fires, it was a spectacle worth watching.

While we were studying in Alicante, Susanne and I lived in the apartment of a local woman who rented out rooms to students. At that time she also housed a young female Texan student and a French teenager. Our Spanish ‘mom’ cooked for all of us. When we returned from university each afternoon, she would always have lunch ready. My favorite was her ‘paella’, a typical rice dish of the region that she prepared with rabbit. She almost always apologized that the dishes she prepared were so simple and plain but Susanne and I loved what she made. Her fish, which was lightly sautéed in a pan, was superb. Her tortilla española (in Spain, tortilla refers to a type of egg and potato omelet and not the Mexican kind of tortilla) was excellent! And all the grilled vegetable dishes were wonderful, too!

Even though our meals were included in the price we paid, Susanne and I made several trips to local markets and supermarkets to learn more about local cuisine. To be honest, the area offers a wealth of fresh produce for cooking. The local rice, similar to medium grain rice here, is delicious and produces wonderful paella dishes (there are lots of variations of paella). The area also produces wonderful olive oil, delicious wines, fruits and vegetables such as melons, apricots, cherries, tomatoes and beans. Then there is the sea! Due to its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, there is an abundance of seafood available at local markets. I have always been a big tuna fan and it was interesting to taste salted tuna served in a restaurant as part of an evening of ‘tapas’ (Spanish appetizers that can become a whole meal). Each time Susanne and I visited a local supermarket or outdoor market, we always bought so much that our host ‘mom’ complained that we had already paid for food and we weren’t getting out money’s worth. We simply explained that this was part of our learning experience.

I have already opened some of my notebooks where I jotted down recipes from Alicante. I figure that at least a few evenings this summer will be spent outside with family or friends. Those will be the perfect occasions for sharing foods from Alicante, the beautiful provincial city located on the sunny, Mediterranean coast. Susanne and I fell in love with Alicante. If we can’t go there, we’ll bring the taste of Spanish Mediterranean coast here.

Greg Lopez is a Midlander who loves travel and food. He combines those two passions in a monthly column for the Daily News.

Paella de atún y conejo – Tuna and rabbit paella

2 pounds rabbit, cut into pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt

1 pound fresh tuna, cut into large chunks

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, cut into fine strips

2 medium tomatoes, seeds removed, finely chopped

2 cups medium grain rice

4 1/2 cups chicken bouillon

1 teaspoon saffron

1 cup cooked chick peas, drained (garbanzo beans)

Heat a large, flat frying pan (with a lid) over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Add the rabbit pieces and sauté for at least 10 minutes. Make sure the rabbit is nicely browned. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Remove from the pan. Then add the tuna and sauté in the oil until it is nicely browned on all sides. This will take about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan. Add the onions, garlic, tomatoes and bell pepper. Sauté in the oil for several minutes until the vegetables turn into a thick sauce. Add the rice and stir well. Add the rabbit, tuna, chick peas, bouillon and saffron. Stir well and then cover with a lid. Do NOT stir the rice again! Cook over medium heat about 25-30 minutes or until the rice is completely cooked. If necessary, add 1/4 cup water to the rice, cover and cook a few minutes longer. Note: Serve with lemon slices, a nice salad, French bread and a nice wine. You may substitute chicken for the rabbit, if you like.

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.