Category Archives for Cooking

A Look into the Vietnam Food Culture and Experiences

A Look into the Vietnam Food Culture and Experiences

A Look into the Vietnam Food Culture and Experiences

When it comes to food variations you aren’t going to find many places that come close to Vietnamese food, let alone beat it. From the more modern day dishes to the traditional native flavours from the past, the food in this part of the world really does provide an insight into the climate, and trade that has helped to inspire and guide Vietnamese cuisines.

Rice itself plays a main staple to the diet of Vietnamese people but because of the seacoast and routes inland, there is also a rich tradition of fresh fish that has helped influence stir fries and noodle dishes in the area.

In today’s post we wanted to look a little more closely at the main types of food you can experience in Vietnam, but foods that you can also try your hand at even if you don’t live in the country. Just like we make fresh pizzas in the UK or US, which are Italian based dishes, we can also experiment with Vietnamese cuisines right from our kitchens.

The Oriental Duck Salad

The Oriental Duck Salad

Duck is known as an expensive meat but you would be surprised at just how cheap it can be when sourced properly. In this recipe, we use duck, noodles and other inspirational Vietnamese ingredients to whip up a tasty and colourful lunchtime snack that can be prepared anywhere in the World.

The first thing you need to do is set your ovens to about 220C, so it is nicely preheated ready for the duck leg. Grab some five-spice and rub this all over the duck leg to season it and then place that onto a baking tray ready to roast in the oven for about 25 minutes.

Once the duck leg is in we can prepare the salad part of the dish. To do this take about 150g of rice noodles, and cook them in a boiling saucepan for a few minutes, drain them and then let the cool down. Sometimes running them under cold water does the trick, as you don’t want to be adding cold carrot and celery to hot rice noodles.

Once cooled down thrown in your celery, carrot, spring onions and cucumber to the noodles.

At this point your duck leg should be cooked so you will need to remove the duck meat from the bone and shred it. Place the salad onto a plate and then add the duck meat to the top of the salad.

No Vietnamese dish is complete without a nice dressing for the top and one of the most authentic dressings consist of hoisin sauce and soy sauce, mixed with roughly 2 tablespoons of water. That is all you need for a great dressing, and this can be drizzled evenly over the top of the duck meat and salad, ready to be served.

The Hot and Sour Fish Soup

The Hot and Sour Fish Soup

Our next dish to get your taste buds tingling is a soup that combines chillies, ginger, limes and mint into an exquisite recipe.

If you are looking for a quick lunchtime snack then this is your best bet. Take some coriander seeds and ginger and add them to a saucepan. Pour in some stock and bring the ingredients to a boil, and then let them simmer for 5 minutes before you take it off the heat and leave it to stand.

While this is left to stand cook some rice noodles in a separate saucepan for a few minutes, then drain them, but make sure you keep them warm.

Add some fish sauce, chilli and garlic to the stock saucepan and put that back onto the heat so it starts to boil. Once it hits boiling point reduce the heat and again let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Now you can add the fish to the saucepan, so place some prawns and salmon to the saucepan and let these cook until they are firm (usually takes around another 5 minutes on a gentle cook).

The final step to the soup is to add the spring onions, herbs and lime juice to the mixture which will give it that sour taste, that will combine so well with the hot chillies and garlic that we added to the saucepan earlier on.

The Oriental Duck Salad

Take the warm noodles and put them into a bowl, at the bottom, and then use a slotted spoon (with holes or slats in) to take out the prawns and salmon which you can lay across the top of the thin rice noodles. Pour the rest of the stock over the top of the bowl and then you will have these ready to serve up to your guests, or for you to eat.

If you want to add a little something else to the dish then spring rolls are the perfect accompaniment to the hot and sour soup.

What Do I Need to Cook Dumplings?

How to Cook Dumplings for Your Winter Stew

How to Cook Dumplings for Your Winter Stew

With the Winter weather starting to set in, and those dark cold nights creeping up on us, we all enjoy comfort foods to make us feel good inside. There is no better Wintery comfort food than a hot dumping stew with the meat of your choice either, and for today’s article we wanted to share our top secret beef and dumpling stew focusing on how to get the perfect dumplings.

For beginners, dumplings never really come out as expected they are either too big, too small, or they just end up crumbling into pieces as soon as they hit the moisture of the stew. There are however a few tips that we can share with you today in order to impress your dinner guests and even yourself when you come to sculpting a dumpling stew.

So get your pans at the ready and let’s get cooking!

What Do I Need to Cook Dumplings?

What Do I Need to Cook Dumplings?

You will need 5 main ingredients for the mixture and they are:

  • Water (this will help build the mixture into a dough for you)
  • Salt
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 60g of suet
  • 125g of plain flour

That really is all you need to make the perfect dumplings, it’s the process of creating them that tends to fool people, so before we begin talking about the rest of the stew let’s talk you through the dumpling stage first.

How to Make The Perfect Dumplings

How to Make The Perfect Dumplings

Take the 125g of plain flour, and then grab yourself a sieve as you will want to sift the flour through this into a bowl so the flour doesn’t contain any unnecessary bumps or lumps. Once you have done this at a pinch salt to the flour, along with that teaspoon of baking powder.

Take 60g of suet and add this to the mixture and just bring all those ingredients together before you add the final ingredient of water. Add the water to the mixture slowly, you don’t want to overdo it or you will ruin it. What you are looking for at this stage is enough water to make a thick dough, that’s all.

Once you are happy with the dough it’s now time to separate that big dough ball into separate small balls that will form our dumplings for the stew. To do this you need a little extra plain flour, making sure that you flour up your hands as well. Roll spoonful’s of the dough into about 8 smaller sized dough balls (or 10-12 if you want smaller dough balls).

How to Cook The Dumplings

How to Cook The Dumplings

Usually at this stage of proceedings your beef stew has been cooking for a few hours so that the meat becomes tender to the taste.  You will have taken a large saucepan and added beef, garlic, vegetables, wine, stock and herbs into the mix, along with some salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce for a nice kick.

The next stage is to simply take each of the prepared dough balls from the above step and simply lay them on top of the stew. It’s important not to just dunk them under the broth here, you want to rest them lightly across the top and around the edges of the bowl, leaving enough space to cover the stew with a lid.

There is a tip we can offer here though, if you like golden bronzed tops to your dumplings with a slight crunch, then don’t put a lid on the stew, just return it to the oven as it is.

At this point it takes a further 20 minutes for the dumplings to cook and what you need to look out for is a few things. A cooked dumpling will firstly be tender but you will also notice that the size of the dumplings have expanded during that 20 minute cooking phase. This is why when you come to rolling out your dough balls you need to make sure that you roll them smaller because they will swell to a larger size as they cook.

How to Serve Your Dumplings

How to Serve Your Dumplings

The stew and dumplings have now been cooked and the best way to serve this Wintery dish is one of two ways, you can either serve the stew and the dumplings together for your guests or you can add a side dish of light and creamy mash potato. Usually mash potato and stew dishes go hand in hand with each other, and your guests will love eating these three foods together.

To add the final touches to dish, and to really polish off the presentation of each plate you can sprinkle some finely chopped parsley across the top of the stew on each person’s plate.

There you have it, you have just cooked the perfect dumplings and you now know what they can be served with to make the perfect dinner for your guests.

Oven Baked Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks

How to Cook the Tastiest Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken

Chicken drumsticks are one of the nation’s go-to foods when looking for a quick snack because they are cheap to buy and can be used as part of many different dishes. You wouldn’t believe the amount of different ways that you can cook them and our advice is to try some of these methods out and experience new tastes that will tingle your taste buds.

One area that people struggle with is cooking times, and more often than not you will find that people overcook chicken through worry that they haven’t cooked it thoroughly. There are a few little tips to knowing when chicken has been cooked enough, and we will show you exactly what to look out for further down this article.

Oven Baked Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks

Oven Baked Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks

If you like spicy foods then you will love the Buffalo chicken drumstick recipe which adds some hot sauce and oil to the mix before you place them into a preheated oven.

To make these drumsticks all you need to do is add some hot sauce and oil to a small dish and then brush the mixture onto each chicken drumstick adding some black pepper over the top for that final touch.

To cook them is simple, all you need to do is add them to a wire rack and cook them on each side for about 15 minutes. As the sauce can be quite messy and sticky we suggest that you use foil underneath the rack to keep the grill area clean.

Cuban Chicken Drumsticks with Vegetables

Cuban Chicken Drumsticks with Vegetables

The second recipe on our menu is a slight twist to your traditional chicken drumsticks whereby we use a Cuban touch.  To cook these you will want to put together your drumsticks with some chopped cilantro, olive oil, cumin, garlic, oregano, salt and some butternut squash into a pan to begin cooking.

Once they have begun cooking pour over ¼ cup of orange juice and then mix this in well so everything is covered nicely.

Put the pan into the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the ingredients after 15 minutes, and then with any leftover cilantro mixture, drizzle over before you serve.

Oven-Fried Drumsticks

Oven-Fried Drumsticks

This one happens to be the ideal party food for guests who want to treat themselves to some irresistible fried drumsticks, cooked in the oven rather than deep-fried. Just make sure your freezer is stocked up with chips to serve with these, as they are the ultimate compliment food.

To create the dish you will need to beat two large egg whites together in a dish, and add some mustard as you go. Usually honey-Dijon mustard is the preferred type to use for the best results. Mix some plain panko crumbs, ginger and garlic powder together in another separate bowl.

You should now have your egg white and mustard dish one side and the bread crumb bowl on the other side. Take each drumstick and roll them through the egg-white mixture, let the excess mixture drip off before you take the drumstick over to the crumb bowl and then coat the chicken drumstick thoroughly in this mixture to prepare it for cooking.

In a preheated oven of 475F lay the chicken drumsticks down and cook them for around 25 – 30 minutes until the crumb coating has turned a golden brown. There you have it, oven-fried chicken drumstick. Delicious!

Creamy Dijon Drumsticks

These are a favorite whatever season you are in because of the way they are cooked. You will need to get your hands on a pound and half of red potatoes that you can place into a saucepan with enough water to cover them. Add some sea salt and then boil them up on a medium-low heat and let them simmer away for about 10-15 minutes.

Take your chicken drumsticks and brush them with 3 tablespoons of Dijonnaise, and then roll them in some bread crumbs (Panko is usually ideal if you have it).

Bake these in a preheated oven set at 450F, for half an hour, until the juices of the chicken run clear (this is when you know chicken is cooked). The breadcrumbs should have also changed to a nice crispy golden bronze colouring.

By now your potatoes will be ready so drain these and put them into a serving bowl. Add some celery, black pepper and some Dijonnaise to coat your vegetables, and go ahead and make some potato salad.  The chicken can then be dipped into the potato salad mixture for a real lunchtime snack, or they are perfect for summer treats for your dinner guests.

How to Cook the Tastiest Chicken Drumsticks

Oven baked chicken drumsticks are usually the ideal cooking method but feel free to experiment for deep frying and even boiling as they will all provide different taste experiences that you may want to consider in the future.

Simple Ways on How You Can Cook Lobster Tails

Simple Ways on How You Can Cook Lobster Tails

Simple Ways on How You Can Cook Lobster Tails

Lobster has always been referred to as a luxury delicacy across many parts of the world, and cooking them requires plenty of knowledge and skill. However, you would be surprised at just how easy cooking a lobster tail actually is, and the best part is that your guests don’t need to know any differently!

So instead of throwing away your lobster tail just take note of the following tips and ways of cooking them.

Getting Your Lobster TailsGetting Your Lobster Tails Prepared

Like any type of food it’s important to prepare what your about to cook in order to get the very best results. If your lobster is still frozen then you will want to let them thaw out before you cook them. There is nothing wrong with cooking them frozen but because they are in a solid state you won’t benefit from a tender taste when they are finally cooked.

If you need to thaw them then the best method is to just transfer them from freezer to fridge and let them naturally thaw over the course of half a day to get the best results.

Now, depending on your chosen cooking method it will vary in the way that you remove the meat from the shell. For example, grilling the tails, you wjust need to cut the tail in half or you can leave it as whole. This is done because the shell will take the full intense heat protecting the meat. However for pan searing you are best to remove the meat completely from its shell casing and cook the meat on its own.

How to Grill a Lobster Tail

How to Grill a Lobster Tail

You will firstly need to preheat the grill to a medium heat, and while this starts to heat up you can prepare your lobster tails by cutting them each in half, right down the middle with a clean snap. Now you should visibly see the white meat, you now want to dress the meat with some butter (or oil it’s up to you), and then some seasoning such as pepper, salt or lemon.

Grilling lobster tails is usually very quick to do, and you only need to cook them for about 5 minutes on each side, with slightly more time spent on the shell side as it will need to penetrate through the shell to cook the meat.

You will know the tails are cooked by just looking at the meat itself, it should have changed in consistency from translucent to opaque. You can now take them off the grill and away from the heat.

Serve them up with a dressing or salad for the perfect appetiser.

How to Boil Your Lobster Tails

How to Boil Your Lobster Tails

The second step is to boil your lobster which is usually the more popular option out of the ones that we are going to talk you through today. For boiling, you can leave the tails intact as they will cook better, and then you can scrape the meat out after they have cooked through. The shell is also said to maximise the flavour of the meat.

Get yourself a large saucepan and then bring some water to the boil, but add some salt first (you can add between 1 and 2 tablespoons).  When the  water is boiling just add the tails to the pan and then reduce the boil to a gentle simmer, and take into account that 1 ounce of tail minute equates to 1 minute of cooking time.

Many people tend to overcook lobster tails, and then the meat becomes dry and tough to eat. We are looking for tender here.

As soon as they have cooked take them out and let them cool down before you begin to crack the shells open. Just be sure you don’t break apart the lobster meat at this stage.

How to Pan Sear Your Lobster Tails

How to Pan Sear Your Lobster Tails

Pan searing is quick and adds a lot of flavour to your lobster tails, but first you need to gently remove the meat from the shell to begin cooking the meat, you can do this by cutting the tail down the middle lengthwise but make sure you don’t cut the meat in half at the same time.

Once you have done this add some butter to a pan and bring it up to a medium heat, then add the meat to the pan cooking each side for a minimum of around 3 minutes. You can add some seasoning such as coarse salt, pepper and lemon juice as it cooks away in the pan, or you can add these at the end.

Once the meat has turned opaque and it no longer in a translucent state you know that your meat is well cooked and then is ready to be served up to your dinner guests.

The Best Ways to Cook the Perfect Beef Brisket

The Best Ways to Cook the Perfect Beef Brisket

The Best Ways to Cook the Perfect Beef Brisket

As we approach the cold months of winter there is no better comfort food on the menu than a slow-cooked beef brisket, and even for the amateur chefs amongst us this specific recipe is one of the easiest to do. Once you have finished you will also have a mouth-watering meal that even Gordon Ramsay would be proud of, so we are about to take you through the best way to cook yourself the perfect brisket to impress your dinner guests, family, or partners.

First of all you will need to have a slow cooker handy and if you don’t have one of these then I suggest you invest in one, not just for this recipe but for many others that you can do in a slow cooker. Besides, these days slow cookers are relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things.

Getting Your Ingredients Together

The Best Ways to Cook the Perfect Beef Brisket

The very first steps in creating this mouth-watering dish is getting your ingredients together. So start rooting through your cupboards now and look for the following:

  • 6 cloves of garlic, which will be finely sliced up
  • Some black pepper and coarse salt
  • 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
  • 2 cups of beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 2 large onions, which can either be red or yellow
  • 3 pounds or just over of fresh beef brisket

Once you have these all together on your kitchen side you need to start preparing your work station, and then get a deep sauté pan on the heat. Place the heat to about a medium level and add a tablespoon of olive oil to it.

Begin the Cooking Process

Begin the Cooking Process

Add the onions to the pan after a few minutes of letting the oil heat up, but keep stirring the onions around until you see them caramelise. It usually takes about 20 minutes on a medium heat for onion to adopt this stage of the process.

Once done take the brisket and just pat it dry of any excess moisture on the outside of it, this will help the seasoning stick to it. Add the salt and pepper and rub it all over the brisket covering every angle of it.  We aren’t going to add it to the slow cooker just yet, we want to make the crust golden brown on the outside of the meat so grab another sauté pan and set that on a medium-to-high heat and just sear the brisket until you see that golden brown colour.

Now its time to add that into the slow-cooker, so place it inside of the cooker and then add those 6 chopped up garlic cloves to the cooker as well. The onions are now ready to also join the brisket so just pour the over the top of the brisket, then begin adding the other ingredients (the sauces, and the broth).

That is literally all the hard part done now, the rest of the cooking process is left with the slow cooker, so what you will need to do now is set the heat setting on the slow cooker to low, or its lowest setting if its numbered. Let the brisket cook for around 7 hours by which time it will be tender, turn the heat off and just let it sit for 20 minutes so that the juices all redistribute around the meat making it tender to eat and moist.

The great thing about a slow-cooker is that you can also leave it on a warm setting which is ideal if you want to cook up some potatoes and veg to add to the dish before you take the brisket out and serve it up.

Serving the Brisket

Serving the Brisket

As the brisket is whole you will need to either slice it up or shred it, whichever method is going to work best for you. As the brisket is tender it will be much easier to cut, you can then add these slices to individual plates and then pour across the juices and the onions as a garnishing to the beef brisket.

You can also easily reheat this kind of meat up without the worry of getting ill, to do this you just need to preheat the oven to 300F and then put the brisket along with juices into a baking dish that has a lid. Keep this in the oven for about an hour and you will have brisket that is ready to serve up again. This method is usually ideal if you have a large brisket that cannot be eaten in one-sitting, you just need to make sure that the left over brisket is stored in the refrigerator before you reheat it so that the meat doesn’t start to turn off.

There you go folks! Your perfect beef brisket!

Cooking a Turkey: The Complete Guide to a Christmas Favourite

Cooking a Turkey: The Complete Guide to a Christmas Favourite

Turkey for many people gets eaten once or twice a year and is part of a traditional Christmas dinner but also the main base on a table for Thanksgiving in the U.S.A at the end of this month.  The main difference between a turkey and a chicken is that Turkeys are much larger and are much richer in taste than a chicken.

Therefore the cooking and preparation process required to take the turkey from raw to fully cooked can take a long time, in some cases a good 5-6 hours if your Turkey weighs in at 5-6 KG. So getting everything in place is the key to success if you are holding a thanksgiving party or playing host on Christmas Day.

Firstly let’s point out that there is only really one way to cook a Turkey and that is to roast it in the oven, as this gets the best results and is the quickest way to get it done. Even though they can take a good 6 hours dependant on weight a lot of people will cook them slowly overnight.

Anyway, let’s get started with the guide for you to follow:

What to do Days Before Cooking

What to do Days Before Cooking

Firstly the whole preparation process for a turkey can start days before you even begin to cook it, this process usually involves letting the turkey sit in a brine solution for a few days prior to being cut up. The salt water solutions will help moisten the turkey and bring terrific results your way at the end of the cooking process.

Beginning to Cook The Turkey

Beginning to Cook The Turkey

Turn up the oven to around 450F and position the rack towards the lower third of the oven. You don’t want it sitting at the top or in the middle at this stage. If you haven’t brined the turkey because you didn’t have time then you will need to season it now before you put it in the oven.

Grab some extra virgin olive oil and your choice of seasoning, this can be just salt and pepper or you can experiment with garlic cloves and lemons.  The oil will simply add a crispy golden-brown skin texture to the turkey for those that love to chow down on the skin.

The next stage is important and something that people forget to do. Don’t just place the turkey into a roasting dish, instead add around two cup fulls of water to the pan and then place the turkey into this water or broth solution (breast side up for the best results, adding some foil towards the end to protect the meat). Once you have done this add the tray to the oven rack and then knock the heat down from 450F to 350F.

How Long Should I Cook The Turkey

How Long Should I Cook The Turkey

This is the part most people tend to get stumped on, and just like the steak article that we wrote-up for you a few days ago its all about key timings. Now, the problem is that every turkey comes in at different weights so people get confused on how long to cook it for, so here is the simple thing to take note:

Each 0.5KGs of Turkey (That’s 1 pound), should be cooked for 13 minutes.

So a turkey that weighs 6.3 KG (14 pounds) should be cooked for around 2 hours and 40 minutes. However, different elements can also change this cooking time such as whether it has been brined or if it has been stuffed or left empty. Just keep checking the turkey every so often and don’t forget to baste the turkey around every 45 minutes.

Ok, How Do I Baste a Turkey?

Ok, How Do I Baste a Turkey?

It’s really easy to do! Just take the roasting tray out of the oven and then tilt the track and use a spoon to pour the liquid from the base of the tray onto the top of the turkey. It may not seem like much of a big deal but believe us that basting plays a major part because it slows down the cooking time of the turkey because the juices you are pouring over the top of it essentially cools the surface of the turkey down which as a result will keep the breast cooking at the same temperature and rate as the rest of the turkey.

Once the turkey has finished cooking leave it on the side for a good 30 minutes (with some foil covered over the top of it) to let all those juices absorb to make the meat tender and moist.  After 30 minutes has passed you can then begin to separate the turkey by carving off the thighs, wings, legs and breast for serving. The additional meat can also be cut from the bones of the turkey and used as leftovers which can be kept for a few days in the fridge or frozen for around 2 – 3 months.

How to Cook a Pork Roast With Extra Crispy Crackling

How to Cook a Pork Roast With Extra Crispy Crackling

There is nothing more wonderful than the smell of a slow cooked pork roast to tingle your taste buds in the afternoon. Many people are often wary about cooking large pieces of meat because they worry that somewhere in the middle of that meat isn’t cooked thoroughly enough and could make them bad. However, you shouldn’t be worried about this and it certainly shouldn’t put you off, all you need to know is exactly how to cook that pork roast and it really isn’t difficult to do.

The key to roasting a large pork joint is to slowly cook it, as this will make the meat tender and moist giving that beautiful mouth-watering taste.

How to Cook a Pork Roast From Scratch

How to Cook a Pork Roast From Scratch

The first thing you will need to do with any large piece of meat is to preheat the oven so you are putting the meat into the oven at the optimal temperature. Usually you will want to whack up the oven to the 450F mark and let it heat nicely over the course of the pork preparation period.

With most pork joints you will see a layer of fat on the one side, it’s important to keep this on and not cut it away because it will essentially help to keep the roast moist and will offer that crispy crackling.

What you will need:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

Oregano

A Roasting Tin

Add a table spoon of the herbs above (so that it equals to one tablespoon, not one tablespoon of each), to a dish. Then pour in about a tablespoon of your olive oiland gently mix the ingredients together. You should get a wet paste where all the herbs are clumped nicely together. Now just add a couple of pinches of salt and bout a pinch of black pepper.

Mix until everything is blended together well.

Take your hands and scoop out the mixtures and be sure to rub it evenly over the pork roast, leaving no area untouched.  So make sure its all over the bottom and the sides of the meat for maximum coverage.

The oven should be now at a good temperature to introduce the pork roast to, so make sure that you place the roast (fat side up) on a rack. Sometimes the grill rack will act just as good, but try and use a rack on top of a roasting tin if you can.
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Keep the oven at 450F for about 10 minutes which will help the roast achieve that golden brown look and then after 10 minutes is up put the temperature down to around 250F which will be the temperature we use for the rest of the cooking process.

Depending on the size of the meat you roast will take a further 50 – 90 minutes of cooking, especially if your roast is short and fat. If you have a thermometer then use this to check the temperature of the meat at its thickest part.

The temperature should read: 145F

After the Roast Has Finished Cooking

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Once the roast has finished cooking you can remove it from the oven and let it rest on the side, preferably with a tent of foil covering it up. What this rest time will do is let the juices be absorbed by the roast which will add to the tenderness and moistness of the meat when you come to eating it. The rest time we advise is about 15 minutes which allows the juices to absorb so you can then cut it.

Again, depending on the size of your meat will depend on how far it can go around the table and this is an important point that you really don’t want to forget about. The general rule of thumb is that you can get 3 servings from a 1.5lbs pork roast, so double the weight to 3lbs and you should comfortably be able to feed 6 people, and so forth.

You can eat the pork with many types of dishes, from oriental noodles, pasta, or more traditional dishes such as a good Sunday roast with vegetables, potatoes and gravy. Although pork isn’t as versatile as chicken it’s still a meat that can be used in a variety of different ways, and above all its one of the most easiest meats to both season and then cook.

After the Roast Has Finished Cooking

Summary

You no longer need to worry about cooking large pork roasts and fearing that a section of it will be uncooked, hopefully our guide here will have helped you gain a better understanding of the times and preparation that is involved when cooking a large sided pork roast in the oven for your dinner guests. Enjoy!

 

 

How Do You Get Into Artichokes and Cook Them?

How Do You Get Into Artichokes and Cook Them?

Artichokes are a strange looking food type, and most people look at these with complete confusion and frustration on their faces because firstly they have no idea on how to get into them and secondly once they fathom this out they just don’t know how to cook them.

Well, ladies and gentlemen we are about to help you with a short guide on how you can make a soup or salad from one of these green and pleasant vegetables. The one thing you need to keep in mind is that artichokes don’t come in one size, they vary in terms of growth so the larger artichokes will take longer to cook then the smaller ones, but there shouldn’t be an alarming surprised in that fact.

How to Prepare Artichokes

How to Prepare Artichokes

Firstly, these are often cooked best when you steam or boil them, with steam being my preferred method as it locks in all the good nutrients that boiling can take out.  What you will find is that the steaming process also locks in a lot of the flavours so it’s by far the best route to take even if you don’t have a steamer unit available in your kitchen.

Now we are ready to begin the preparation so the very first step is to take off that long stalk and steam as it isn’t needed.  Now we will look at the main part of this vegetable where the leaves are growing at the top. You will notice that these are shaped like horns at the end, and the general rule of thumb is that the fresher the artichoke is the more closed up it will be. If the petals are opening up then they won’t be as fresh.

Next, you can take a pair of kitchen scissors and chop off the thorny ends of the leaves so you are left with flat edges leaves. With that and the stem gone the only other thing you need to do is chop the top off the artichoke and you should be ready to start steaming.

How to Steam Artichokes

How to Steam Artichokes

Rinse off any excess dirt or grit that may have been caught up in the leaves before you steam by simply washing it under some cold water in your sink.

Once done grab yourself a large pot and put about an inch of water in it, with the additional seasonings such as lemon, bay leafs, or most peoples favourite; garlic. You will now need to add a steaming basket to your large pot in order to rest the artichokes on so that you can successfully steam them. Bring the water to a boil and then cover the pot with a lid and allow them to simmer for about 20-40 minutes depending on the size of the artichokes and just how many that you have put into the pot.

By the end of the cooking time take the pot off the boil and allow the artichokes to cool on the side for 5 minutes.

How to Eat an Artichoke

How to Eat an Artichoke

Usually a dip comes in quite handy when eating these and I tend to use mayonnaise personally but you can use any kind of dip you like, whether its mustard, butter, or a vinegar based dip, they all work a treat and tingle your taste buds.

After the artichokes have cooked the leaves should have lifted a little, so they won’t be as tightly closed as before you steamed them. To eat an artichoke you just need to peel off a petal one at a time and then dip them in your desired sauce.

Now this next part is important as you don’t actually eat the whole petal. What you need to do is place the petal dip side down into your mouth and use your teeth (as a scraper) to remove the edible part of the petal. You will feel this part come away as you follow that process and the sauce will just add a wonderful taste to the artichoke.

Once you have eaten all of the petals then you don’t need to stop there as you can also eat that middle part, and the heart of the artichoke (but don’t eat the fuzzy part). Grab yourself a knife as you will need these to cut out and scrape those final parts of the artichoke out.

How to Eat an Artichoke

That is all there is to it! It’s a quick and easy way to prepare, cook and then eat an artichoke and the more that you get used to this wonderful green vegetable the easier it will become to do all of those 3 steps without having to think about what to do next. If you haven’t had the chance to eat one of these yet, then what are you waiting for?

5 Great Ways That You Can Eat Acorn Squash This Fall

5 Great Ways That You Can Eat Acorn Squash This Fall

It’s the time of the year for acorn squash and this particular food type is everyone’s favourite in the fall. If you haven’t tried this type of autumn squash before than you really need to grab yourself some because we are going to show you a number of ways you can eat them. The squash is sweet but also offers a nutty taste to it and can be thrown into a range of dishes because of its versatility.

Whether you are a pasta lover or a pie lover the acorn squash shouldn’t be overlooked this fall, as it will provide you and your family with a heart-warming dinner time dish that you will want to eat over and over again as the cold weather sets in.

Acorn Squash Pie Dishes

Acorn Squash Pie Dishes

Let’s start with looking at how acorn squash can be used as part of a pie dish. One of the things you will realise when reading todays article is that acorn squash can be adapted into both main courses as well as desserts.

Firstly we want to get the oven preheated like always, so knock the temperature up to around 425F, and then while that begins to increase to its optimal heat setting we want to prepare the baking tray, by just adding some butter to it so that the squash doesn’t stick to the bottom of the tray making it hard to remove.

Slice the acorns in halve and then line them up on the baking tray or baking sheet and cook them in the oven for around 20 minutes until they soften up, you can then remove them from the oven and scrape out the squash with a spoon.

Now you can begin to bring in other ingredients and acorn squash goes very well with honey so mix together salt, cinnamon, ginger, half a cup of milk, some honey and 4 large eggs. Its best to use a blender at this stage to make sure that you are thoroughly combining all the ingredients together as this will make the inner filling of the pie.

The next step is to create your pie casing; you can either do this yourself or simply buy a premade one. Scoop into the middle of the pie your filling and then take the pies back to the oven and cook for about 40 minutes, the first 10 minutes you want to set the oven to 350F and then for the final 30 back to 425F.

Acorn Squash Pasta Dishes

Acorn Squash Pasta Dishes

Pasta is as versatile as food comes as you can add anything to pasta including acorn squash. You can cook the squash in the same way as the recipe above, but instead of mashing together the squash you want to keep them in large chunks so they combine well with the pasta.

Add some pasta to a large saucepan of boiling water and then cook for 20 minutes until they are soft but firm still. If you are feeling creative you can also sauté some pancetta so the meat is crispy and this can be added to the dish to create extra colours and textures.

Once the pasta has cooked and the pancetta has finished off combine the acorn squash, pancetta and pasta into a large bowl. Now we can add some freshly chopped rosemary and parmesan cheese to finish the dish off.

Acorn Squash Soup Dishes

Acorn Squash Soup Dishes

What do you get when you combine acorn squash and soup? The best autumn dish you can think of that’s what! To make this dish it really is simple and we can tell you how in just two sentences. Firstly cook the acorn squash in the same way as the pie dish at the top and then make sure the squash is mashed up.  You want to achieve a puree here, that’s what you are looking for.

You can then add about half a pound of kale, and 4 strips of bacon as ingredients to the dish which will make for a tasty soup. All you need to do is cook the bacon in a saucepan for 5 minutes until it is crisp, and then cook the kale for 3 minutes in  a saucepan until it is soft. Add the squash puree to the bacon and kale, then tip in 3 cups of water and bring everything to the boil.

To add extra taste once the soup is cooked you can sprinkle some salt and pepper into the soup, and if you are cooking this for guests it’s advisable to leave some bacon left over so you can garnish the top of each soup bowl with it. This will just add a touch of class when it comes to presentation and something that your guests will enjoy to see.

Any leftover squash puree can also be added to containers and frozen for another time you want to make soup.

The Perfect Guide to Cooking The Tastiest Steak

The Perfect Guide to Cooking The Tastiest Steak

More often than not we class steak as a luxury in life, especially the good quality stuff that tends to come at a price. That price though is well worth it if you can cook the steak to perfection which unfortunately a lot of people tend to struggle with.

Now, there are a number of different ways that you can go about cooking steak but the one way that comes out on top is to use a griddle pan. Again, the way you go about cooking steak really depends on whether you like rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well-done, or well-done. The heat settings and time that you need to cook the steak all vary with each of these methods.

If you are cooking for a dinner party who all want a different cooked steak then it can be confusing to know when to take it off the heat and serve it up. Hopefully over the next few minutes you are going to learn a little bit more about cooking steak, so take a seat and listen to what we have to say.

Note: There is literally a few minutes in-between a rare and well-done steak so timing really is of the essence when it comes to cooking the perfect steak.

Preparing Your Steak

Preparing Your Steak

Firstly you will need to take out your griddle pan and get your oil at the ready; also you may want to season your steak if you prefer to add some subtle flavours to the mix. The real key to steak is that everything happens quickly so preparation is must.

Get your pepper and sea salt ready by the side of you, your honey and mustard dressing, or your spice mix if you want to give the steak a nice kick.

The idea here is to add the oil to the griddle first and soon as the oil begins to separate its hot enough to add the steak to. Don’t be caught out by adding the steak to early as you could end up with a greasy steak that doesn’t taste as good as it should.

Once the oil is hot and ready, you can then press your steak into the seasonings that you have chosen and then add them right onto the griddle pan.

How Do I Know It’s Cooked?

How Do I Know It’s Cooked?

Blue steak is the first type of steak which hardly see’s the heat at all. The steak should be dark and look almost blue or purple to you, and will be warm (not piping hot).

Rare is the next steak type and is popular on the European continent. This steak will be dark red and the juices will have been created from its short time on the griddle.

Medium-Rare will look a lot more pink when you cut the steak open.

Medium is probably the most popular type of steak and this will be a pale pink colour but wont have many juices flowing from the outside. Instead the steak will be firm and the juices will have been soaked up by the heat.

Well-Done types of steak are generally for those who don’t want to risk a bad stomach off the other types of steak. You shouldn’t see a whole lot of pink in this steak, instead it will mostly brown in colour but shouldn’t be overcooked to the stage where it has completely dried out.

What About Timings?

What About Timings?

So now you know what steak types should look like we will tell you the times that you need to keep them on the griddle. This is a rough guide as it depends on the type of steak and the thickness of the steak so we are going to provide you with a general average here.

For Blue steaks you are looking to cook a Sirloin steak for 60 seconds on either side.

For Rare steaks you are looking for increase that time to around 90 seconds on either side.

Medium Rare you just need to add another 30 seconds to each side, making this type of steak a 2 minute job on either side.

For Medium steaks you can add around 10-15 seconds on each side.

Finally, the well-done steaks can take almost double the time a medium steak can take. You should be looking in between the 4 and 5 minute mark on either side of the steak to classify it as a well-done type.

Final Tips

Final Tips

Like any meat that has just been cooked you should always leave it to rest properly on the side for about 5 – 10 minutes. What this does to any meat is allows the juices to be absorbed back into the meat and what you will then get is a moist and tender piece of steak that is still warm/hot (depending on the type of steak).

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