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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Clams As Food

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Photo: foodrepublik.com

Clams have been around for 100s of millions of years and humans have been eating them for nearly 200,000 years according to anthropologists. Now personally I believe that is because they taste great, and although most people agree, opinions do vary. Some types of clams do not taste good, for example cockles, and some may even be borderline inedible, but many are commonly consumed. These include soft shell clams, often called steamers, quahogs and ocean quahogs, two totally different yet very similar species, geoducks, and surf clams. Technically a clam is a bivalve that burrows in sediment as opposed to swimming bivalves like scallops or bivalves that attach themselves to substrate like oysters. Clams are filter feeders, and some species are commonly enjoyed raw as well as cooked a variety of ways. We explore several below.
Steamers are northeastern Americans soft shell clams that are steamed until the shells open, which normally only takes 3 or 4 minutes maximum. I often eat them as is, but it is traditional to dip them in the water they were steamed in first to remove any sediment and then in melted butter. Other types of clams can be served steamed as well, but to many clam aficionados they are not true "steamers." Steamers are accompanied very well by cold beer.
Clams can also be served deep fried, and these are simply called fried clams. They are dipped in bread crumbs before frying, although in some places a choice of batter or crumbs may be offered. Most people prefer crumbs and in fact most places only after crumbs. These may be eaten as is or dipped in tartar sauce or less commonly cocktail sauce. The best for frying are soft shelled clams, the same type as used for steamers, and may be called "whole clams" to distinguish them from deep fried strips of surf clams, a larger hard shelled species.
Quahogs are the variety most often served raw. They are open, half the shell removed, and served with lemon and cocktail sauce on the side. Although there are potential health issues many people eat them every year with only positive effects. Smaller quahogs are usually the ones eaten raw, and are traditionally called littlenecks for the smallest ones and cherrystones for larger ones.
Other methods of preparing them include baked stuffed, which involves chopping up the meat and mixing it with breadcrumbs and seasonings before placing back in half a shell and baking, clamcakes which are similar to baked stuffed but formed into a patty, and various types of clam sauces for pasta dishes, and much more.
For a lot more on eating clams, please visit Clams and Steamed Clams.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ted_Demopoulos

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6453073

Monday, July 18, 2011

Ways With Chicken: Balsamic Chicken Over Rice and Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Casserole

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Photo: inlinethumb28.webshots.com

Most families love chicken and most cooks use a lot of it. After all, chicken can be easily stretched to feed a family economically. If you are looking for some new recipes to prepare chicken, these recipes are for you, and your family will love them! You will notice I use brown rice. If you aren't already doing so, you should switch your family to brown rice. They probably won't notice the difference and it is a healthier alternative to white rice. If you start your children eating healthier while they are young, it will become a way of life for them. Don't have brown rice? Go ahead and use your white. It won't make any difference to the recipe. In the second recipe, you could use the low-fat cream of mushroom soup and no yolk noodles if you want to make the recipe a little healthier. You could also use low-fat cheese. Your dish will taste the same but you will have made a little healthier dish. These dishes are quick and easy to prepare. Add a bagged salad and you have a meal!
BALSAMIC CHICKEN OVER RICE
1 tbsp olive or canola oil
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, sliced
4 (1 lb) skinless boneless chicken breasts halves
1 1/2 large bell peppers, sliced
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
2 cans (14 1/2-oz each) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups hot cooked brown rice
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes. Add the chicken and cook 4 minutes per side or until browned. Add the bell peppers, balsamic vinegar, fresh mushrooms, Italian seasoning and tomatoes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is done through. Serve over the hot rice.
Yield: 4 servings
QUICK AND EASY CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE
1 can (10 3/4-oz) cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables or California blend
2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken
2 cups curly egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish, stir together the mushroom soup, milk, pepper, Parmesan cheese, mixed vegetables, chicken, and noodles. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the top.
Enjoy!
You can find more of Linda's quick and easy recipes at http://grandmasquickfixrecipes.blogspot.com
She shares slow cooker/crockpot recipes at http://grandmasslowcookerrecipes.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Carol_Wilson

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Moroccan Chicken Pie

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Photo:  cdn.taste.com.au

Don't let the simple title fool you. Moroccan bastillas are a time consuming affair. They are not difficult to put together but their preparation can take upwards of up to 2 hours to prepare and put together because of their numerous steps. This recipe took a total of 2 hours from start to finish, so if you have the time and are up to the task it is well worth the time and effort because the results are worth it.
Yield:6 Servings
Ingredients:
1/2 large onion, peeled, finely chopped
1 handful cilantro, leaved removed from stems, finely chopped
1 handful parsley, leaves removed from stem, finely chopped
4 oz. almonds, slivered
1/3 c butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ras al hanout
2 Tbsp. orange blossom water
7 Tbsp. water
2 eggs, beaten
8 sheets filo pastry
1. Toast the almonds in a dry pan over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes till they become slightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter and the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the chicken breast on both sides with salt and add to the pan. Cook until both sides are browned well. Take the chicken out of the pan and set aside.Lower the heat a little.
3. Add the onion to the skillet and brown them.Add the cinnamon and ras al hanout and stir together till evenly combined. Add the orange water, water and bring to a boil.
4. Return the chicken breasts to the skillet and cook for an additional 10 minutes over low heat.
5. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside. Turn off the heat and remove the onion/spice mixture to a separate bowl.Cut the chicken into small pieces.
6. Add the beaten eggs to the onion/spice mixture then add cilantro and parsley and mix well.
7. In a 9 in. pie dish, stack 4 filo pastry sheets overlapping each other and brush with melted butter. Pour the onion/spice mixture into the pie dish and cover with the filo pastry.
8. Repeat with the remainder sheets. Add the almond pieces and evenly distribute the chicken pieces on top. Fold the pastry sheets on top covering the chicken completely and tucking the edges that are loose. Brush top of bastilla with olive oil.
9. Bake for 10-15 minutes until top is lightly browned. Remove from heat, wait for it to cool and serve warm.
For this and more North African,Middle Eastern and Gulf Arab recipes check out http://www.pomegranatesandzaatar.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cecilia_R._Miranda