Pressure-Cooked Italian Artichokes

By Anthony J Petrel

Photo: 1.bp.blogspot.com

I love artichokes. I know a lot of people who have never eaten an artichoke, mostly because they don't know what to do with them. They don't know how to prepare or trim them, they don't know how to cook them, and they don't know how to eat them.
Well, I am about to take the mystery out of artichokes, and I am going to tell you how to cook them the fastest way possible...in a pressure cooker (and they come out great). I will even tell you how to eat them.
First here is some cook's tips on how to prepare your artichokes for cooking and what pans not to use:
1. To trim artichokes, cut the pointed tops off, then cut the stem off flush with the bottom. You may want to pull some of the more unsightly outer leaves off too.
2. Never use cast iron or aluminum pans to cook artichokes, as they will cause a metallic taste and discolor the artichokes.
Now let's get down to the cooking part. You can just boil your artichokes in water until tender, but I believe this is the fastest way to get the best results:
4 SERVINGS (PRESSURE COOKED)
- 2 cups water
1. Put the water in a pressure cooker with the rack in the bottom.
- 4 artichokes, washed and trimmed
- Garlic salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Dried parsley to taste
- Extra-virgin olive oil
2. Season the artichokes to taste with the salt, pepper and parsley, then drizzle a little olive oil over the top. (The leaves should be pulled slightly opened to receive the seasoning.)
3. Place the artichokes in the cooker over high heat and bring the cooker to pressure. Turn the heat down and cook under pressure for 15 minutes.
Release the pressure and serve the artichokes plain or with mayonnaise (my favorite).
When eating artichokes, just pull a leaf off and dip the "meaty" end in mayonnaise. Then, while holding the tip of the leaf with your fingers, put the artichoke leaf between your teeth and scrape the soft, delicious "meat" from the leaf.
When you come to the heart (bottom) of the artichoke, spoon or cut the fuzzy part off and you will be left with the heart, which is all "meat" and delicious.
Enjoy!

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_J_Petrel

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Vegetarian recipes

by kelvin

Photo: 2.bp.blogspot.com

More and more people are choosing to eat a vegetarian diet because they know that veggies are healthful food. Using low calorie and vegetarian recipes is one of the most important things you can do to protect your heath and the health of your family since obesity is now an epidemic in the United States and other developed countries. Cooking them is still better than the alternatives to a vegetarian lifestyle or a vegan lifestyle, but we receive the most nutritional benefit from ingesting whole and organic raw foods. They will often include many of the vitamins, minerals, and sources of nutrition that every body needs. These low calorie recipes, usually high in fiber, protect against digestive disorders such as diverticulosis and may offer protection from colon and lung cancers. Many low calorie and vegetarian recipes use soy, tofu, dried beans and peas to add protein to meals. Using low calorie recipes will provide a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes, adding high amounts of all the essential vitamins and minerals. Subscribing to vegetarian magazines, scouring newspaper food sections, and visiting veggie websites will bring you a respectable number of recipes, but it's more convenient to have hundreds and hundreds in one place.


Including a few vegetarian recipes into your diet can quickly improve how you feel and can be part of an overall health plan that will improve your life. And contrary to popular belief, these recipes are full of the taste and enjoyment of many other foods you eat. Incorporating vegetarian recipes into any diet will bring variety and give healthy eating options. Plus, vegetarian cuisine is chockfull of dishes that are robust and flavorful, and a match for any standard meat dish. Such treats as squash with tofu, vegetarian paella, and baked figs with dried fruit and anisette may well convert some confirmed carnivores to part-time vegetarians. Many of these recipes cook faster than those made with meat.


As more people juggle trying to eat healthier with their busy lifestyles, they may find that Vegetarian slow cooking provides an answer. What I like best about slow cooker Vegetarian recipes is that the long, slow-cooking process enriches the flavor of the dish in a way that other cooking methods can't match. The gentle slow-cooking process actually draws more flavor out of the ingredients. In addition to convenience, slow cooking also scores high marks for taste and nutrition since the long cooking time allows both flavors and nutrients to concentrate in the food. While the slow cooker was once synonymous with cooking pot roasts and other meat dishes, just as my friend discovered, the Vegetarian cook will find a vast number of ways to use it.


Exploring vegetarian recipes is great simply to spice up the kitchen with something new. Whether you are choosing to eat vegetarian dishes as a permanent diet or as part of a healthier lifestyle, Vegetarian Recipes is packed with ideas to tempt the most committed carnivore.

Kelvin Hall has worked in the fitness arena and has led a healthy lifestyle by
by dieting and eating vegetarian recipes. If you would like to find out about more about vegetarian
recipes visit: http://www.vegetarianfacts.net

Source: ArticleTrader.com

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Regional Cuisine: As American As Apple Pie

 by panera2

 

Photo: upload.wikimedia.org

We love baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet - or so an old ad for Chevrolet tells us. Apple pie is as American as… well.. apple pie. If baseball is the All-American sport, then apple pie is the all-American dessert. And while the internet and book stores have spread the recipes far and wide, there are classic apple desserts in every region that are characteristic of the cuisine for that area. Wherever Johnny Appleseed spread orchards, there are recipes that make use of other regional ingredients and traditions to create unique desserts with apples and - whatever!

If you think of apple pie as having two crusts and a filling of apples combined with sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, some of the regional variations may surprise you. Apple cobbler, apple pandowdy, apple puff, apple crisp, apple brown betty are all variations of apple pie in different regions. The prevailing apple recipes for any region may be affected by the variety of apple that's hardiest and most popular in that area, as well as the style of cuisine that's prevalent.

In New England, for instance, most apple recipes call for Pippins, Granny Smith's or other firm fleshed, sweet varieties of apple that cook up well and lose little moisture when being baked. In Maine, it's not uncommon to find blueberries in your apple pie. In Massachusetts, cranberry apple pie is a favorite. In Vermont, the apples may be sweetened with honey or maple syrup. And in many restaurants on Cape Cod, rather than vanilla ice cream, your piping hot slice of heaven will be served topped with a slice of melting cheese.

In the Southern states, with their predilection for creamy, lightly spiced foods, the most common apple pie recipes include Apple Cream Pie (made with sour cream) and Apple Bourbon Pie, with raisins soaked in bourbon. Raisins soaked in rum are another popular addition to 'apple pie' in the South, especially in New Orleans. Other additions include rhubarb, diced peaches and walnuts.

Midwestern Apple Pie is the classic apple pie - two flaky crusts packed with thick, sweet, juicy apple slices mounded high and vented to let the fragrant steam escape. In Kansas or Missouri, your apple pie will satisfy any purist - served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that melts into the syrupy filling and adds the perfect touch of creaminess to the mix.

In the South and Southwest you'll find deep-fried apple pie, a variation that matches melt-in-your-mouth flaky fried crust with sweet, diced apples in a syrupy sauce. And in Pennsylvania, the home of the Pennsylvania Dutch, Apple Crumb Pie and Apple Pandowdy take the place of Apple Pie a la Mode on most restaurant menus.

As American as Apple Pie … from coast to coast, Americans have done what they do best - taken a classic and adapted it to suit the ingredients and tastes that surround them. Whether you top it with a sprinkle of cinnamon, a dollop of whipped cream or a slice of sharp cheddar, there's no other food that comes close to being the All-American dessert. 

 

For more Free Resources www.dishadvice.com

Source: ArticleTrader.com 

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How to make delicious sushi rice

by w124e32o

Photo:1tess.files.wordpress.com


There are many kinds of sushi. For example, there are classic cases which is sushi(hand-rolled sushi),sushi roll, sushi pocket. In addition, there are pressed sushi, sushi bawl, TEMARI sushi(which is the shape of small ball.),etc. That it is common is the Japanese food for which they use rice.The heading which I would like to mention first is about the rice.
If it says why I would like to talk about rice, it is because the knowledge about the rice which is an important point is required to make delicious sushi. Even if it can arrange however quality and fresh foods, if rice is bad,we cannot make delicious sushi.

Well, I itemize some points for making delicious sushi rice below.

* Choice: In order to make sushi rice, the rice which is moderately sticky
is good. When making sushi, the rice with strong stickiness is easily collapsed, and it is sloppy texture. If sushi rice is made from rice without stickiness. since it does not have adhesive power, the rice does not stick each other,and then it does not get a form of sushi well. The kind of rice chosen in Japan is sasanisiki. In the overseas, is it
Californian rice? If you can not get the both kinds of rice, there is a good way. When cooking rice, glutinous rice of several percent is added. Let's adjust in order to take out moderate stickiness.

Next, an important point is rice cleaning.

* Rice creaning: When cleaning rice, do no put much power.Because the flavor ingredient of rice is also lost.Let's replace water several times cleaning rice until water gets clear. It cleans quickly so that excessive moisture may not be included in rice. If it finishes cleaning rice, excessive water will fully be drained with a colander.

The 3rd point is how to cook rice.

*Cook rice: Before cooking rice, rice is soaked in water about 30 minutes.Although it is convenient if there is a rice cooker, even if it uses a pot, sufficiently delicious rice can be cooked. The quantity of the water put into a pan is 200ml of water to rice 180ml. How to cook the rice in a pan.The pan is covered, and it cooks over middle-high heat until it boils for about 10 to 15 minutes. If it begins to boil strongly, it will lower the heat and will heat it for 5 more minutes. If a lid is opened and
surface of moisture disappears, fire will be stopped and rice will be steamed for 10 minutes. It is completion, when opening a lid iafter 10 minutes and turning up the whole rice with a flat wooden spoon.

The base of delicious sushi rice was done in the above-mentioned explanation.How to make sushi rice briefly is explained from here.

1. A sushi box is prepared and the inner side of that is wiped with the wet
dishcloth.

2. Cooked rice is moved from a pan to a sushi box, and the cooked rice is
placed so that it may spread in the whole sushi box.

3. A proper quantity of sushi vinegar is added to the cooked rice,
turning a sushi box with the left hand (right hand), the cooked rice
is mixed so that a character may be written with the flat wooden spoon
which it had with its dominant hand. Let's mix the cooked rice,
sometimes cooling with a fan. (Notice:At first, since the cooked rice
is hot, be sufficiently careful of a burn.)

Getting to know the feature of foods to make delicious sushi, I think that we can make it if the feature can be used efficiently.

I am working for the Japanese food manufacture company for 20 years.
For three years of them, I worked in the frozen sushi section and worked for the company which has over 30 sushi shops in Hong Kong as the generalization department manager after that.
"EASY HOMEMADE SUSHI COOKERY"

Source: ArticleTrader.com

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How To Make Homemade Banana Pecan Bread With Recipe

 By Shelly Hill

Photo: farm4.static.flickr.com

When it comes to baking quick fruit breads one of my favorites to make is homemade Banana Bread. I love trying out various recipes for it so that we are eating a slightly different version of it each and every time that I make it.
Years ago I my great grandma shared with me one of her favorite Banana Bread Recipe's and this one calls for chopped pecans instead of your traditional chopped walnuts. What I love about this particular recipe is that it makes a nice big loaf that is super moist with just the amount of perfect sweetness to it.
Great Grandma's Banana Pecan Bread Recipe
Ingredients Needed To Make 1 Loaf
5 tablespoons softened butter or margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 medium or large egg
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups very ripe mashed bananas
1 3/4 cups all-purpose white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees and let oven fully heat up to the 350 degrees before placing pan into the oven. Lightly spray your loaf pan with non-stick vegetable cooking spray or lightly grease with butter.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric hand mixer at high speed until it is light and creamy smooth. Stir in the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Using electric mixer, beat the sugars in with the butter until smooth. Add in the egg, egg whites and vanilla extract. Beat until batter is mixed together, approximately one minute. Pour in your mashed bananas and hand beat the batter until all of the ingredients are well combined. It will be a little lumpy.
In a small bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, table salt. and baking powder. Pour your flour mixture into the wet ingredients and use an electric mixer to combine all ingredients together. You will want to beat the batter for one to two minutes using an electric mixer or for three to four minutes if mixing it by hand. Stir in the finely chopped pecans.
Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and smooth it out so that it is even. Place loaf pan into the oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the center of the bread is done. (it is done when a knife inserted in center comes out clean). Cool your bread for 5 minutes in the pan before transferring it to a wire rack to finish the cooling process.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania who enjoys cooking, baking and canning. You can visit Shelly's online foodie blog called Shakin 'N Bakin in the Kitchen at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for FREE cooking articles, tips and free recipes. You can also find Shelly at her Work At Home Business Options site at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com where you can find articles and tips that are geared towards the work from home mom.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shelly_Hill

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Recipes: Easy meals with one pound of ground beef

 By: Amanda Bennett

Photo: freezermealsrecipes.com

*Sweet Shepherds Pie* Makes 4-6 servings

1lb lean ground beef

6 Medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 can of creamed corn 1 cup each corn nibblets, and frozen peas

1 cup shredded cheese (marble, cheddar, any kind you like)

2 tbsp of butter or margarine 1/2 cup of milk 1/2 tsp each, salt & pepper, garlic powder, and celery salt

*Directions*

1)Preheat oven to 400F

2)Cook ground beef according to above direction

3)In a medium pot, boil potatoes until soft.(As you would for mashed potatoes)

4)Mash potatoes, add milk, margarine, celery salt & pepper

5)Combine all corn and peas together in a bowl.

6)In a 9-12inch casserole dish(can be round or square)Place cooked beef, in the bottom of the pan.

7)Cover with veggie mixture, add potatoes, and top with cheese! 8)Place in oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese starts to bubbles, and potatoes are golden brown.

Spaghetti Sauce that doubles as Chilly Makes 8-10

Ingredients:

1lb Lean ground beef

1 Medium size Onion

3-4 cloves of Garlic chopped fine

2 jars of your favorite Tomtatoe pasta sauce

10-12 Med size mushrooms, washed and sliced thin or into chunks

4 Sticks of Celery washed and chopped

1 tbsp White sugar

1/2 tsp of pepper, oregano, parsley, italian seasoning spice, and any other spice you enjoy

Directions:

1)Precook ground beef

2) Combine Sauce, spices, onions, garlic, celery, and mushrooms in a large pot

3) Cover and cook on med heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally

4) Reduce heat to low and let simmer for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to combine. (longer if you like, some like to let their pasta sauces to slowly cook all day)

5) Turn your left over sauce into chilly in a snap!

6) Add 1 can each Red & White Kidney beans, and 1/4 cup chilly powder.

7) Reheat your sauce slowly on med low heat for 15 minutes. You are done!

Perfect precooked ground beef to add to any of your recipes!(Spaghetti sauce, Chilly, Shepherds pie, Hamburger soup, Spanish rice, almost anything)

1 pound lean ground beef

1 tsp olive oil 1 clove garlic (minced or pressed)

1 med onion (finely chopped) 1/2 pkg onion soup mix

1 tsp or cube beef oxo/broth A pinch of Celery salt

*Directions:

1)Combine oil, garlic, onions in pan on med heat for 2 minutes, add ground beef. Cook till brown, drain grease. (NOT IN THE SINK PLEASE)

2)Add spices,oxo, 2 tbsp water, stir cover and cook over med-low heat for 5 minutes. Now you have the perfect ground beef for whatever you might have in mind for dinner :)


http://www.helium.com/items/1364603-mussles-cooking-mussles-white-wine-mussles-seafood, http://mummiesmoneymaker.yolasite.com/yum-mum-recipes.php
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German Stuffed Bell Peppers

By Sharon Hunter 

Photo: lh4.ggpht.com

Preparation time: 40 minutes. Total Time: 2 hours.
Basic nutritional information:
Each serving contains about 685 calories, or which 500 are from fat. Cholesterol content is 420 mg. Sodium is 1683 mg. Total carbohydrates are about 38 g. These numbers will vary based on the number of servings you make and the types of ingredients you use.
Ingredients:
12 bell peppers (all one color or you can mix it up)
1 lb ground beef
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
1 lb sauerkraut
6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs tomato paste
1 tb granulated sugar
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 bunch dill, finely chopped
1/2 lb feta, small cubes
7oz crème fraiche
4 large eggs, beaten
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to: 400F/200C
If you have a gas oven: set the oven on 6
2. Cut the top off the bell peppers and set aside. You can use peppers that are all the same color, or you can mix your colors. This depends on personal style and desired presentation effects. Now remove the seeds and hollow out your peppers. Wash them out and set them aside to dry.
3. Brown the ground beef in a pan. If you are not using a nonstick pan, add a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the pan to prevent sticking. Rinse the ground beef thoroughly, drain and set aside.
4. Sauté the onion in two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil until they become clear and tender. Add in the sauerkraut and tomato paste. Stir well. Add in the granulated sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally.
5. Add the browned ground beef to your mixture. Stir in well and continue simmering for additional 4-5 minutes to allow the flavors time to mingle and settle.
6. Add dill, feta and three tablespoons crème fraiche to the sauerkraut mixture. Stir well and continue to allow simmering. This is the filling for your peppers.
7. Lightly grease a casserole dish, or you can spray it with nonstick cooking spray. If you choose to use nonstick cooking spray, try to stay away from butter flavored varieties.
8. Spoon the filling into the peppers and set them inside the greased casserole dish.
9. Mix the eggs with the remaining crème fraiche, add a few drops of water and season with the hot paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Pour this over the tops of the stuffed peppers.
10. Place the tops of the peppers back onto their respective bottoms and cover the entire dish with a lid or foil. Seal the edges well and place the dish in the oven.
11. Bake the peppers for 40 minutes.
12. Remove the dish from the oven. Remove the lid, or foil, and lightly brush the tops of the peppers with the remaining extra virgin olive oil.
13. Place the dish back in the oven without the lid, or foil. Turn the oven off and allow the peppers to sit in the oven for another 10 minutes.
14. Serve immediately. If you like you can serve them whole with the lids placed beside them on the plate, or you can cut the in half and lay the halves next to each other. This is also according to you presentation style.
Ideas for a side dish:
Stuffed peppers are generally served as a one dish meal. However, if you are wondering what to prepare to serve with them, here are some ideas. You can prepare a nice rice pilaf, or potato pancakes.
I have also heard of some people preparing a corn or carrot dish to compliment the peppers. This is, again, entirely up to you and your presentation style. Of course, remember that if you add sides, you must remember to adjust your preparation time before your completed meal will be ready to enjoy.

I hope you enjoyed my recipe. For more stuffed peppers recipes and cooking tips, visit stuffed bell peppers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sharon_Hunter

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