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Articles A Cook's Guide To Balsamic Vinegar Balsamic Vinegar A Cook's Guide To Balsamic Vinegar by Michael Sheridan. Balsamic vinegar is the 'wine' of Modena, Italy. It is rich, thick, expensive and marries up beautifully with food such as steak to produce an unusual finish that greatly enhances the look and flavor of the meat. But be warned. Not all vinegars labeled 'balsamic' are the real thing. In fact, most are decidedly not even though the label may insist they are. There are three things to look for on the label; either this; 'Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena' or this; 'Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale de Reggio Emilia', plus the fermenting age which should be at least 12 years for the very best results. With the true Modena or Reggio Emilia brands you can tell the age from the label. Both use gold labels for balsamic that has aged for 25 years or more, and you will pay accordingly. Read more...   Fannie Merritt Farmer - Mother of the American Cookbook Fannie Merritt Farmer Fannie Merritt Farmer - Mother of the American Cookbook by Terry Kaufman. When a person, whether a foodie or just someone appreciative of good, well prepared food, thinks of delicious, innovative meals, the name Fannie Merritt Farmer springs to mind. Her story is one of determination in teaching the public that one did not have to be a professional chef to live an ideal life in the kitchen and around the house. Bostonian Fannie Merritt Farmer (b.23 March 1857) was the eldest of the four daughters born to a strong Unitarian family headed by John Franklin Merritt and Mary Ann Watson. Her parents strongly believed in a sound education for their girls and it was a given that each of them would complete college. Unfortunately for her, Fannie, while still in high school, suffered a paralytic stroke in her left leg, possibly an after effect of polio. Treated as an invalid for several years, she was not allowed to return to school. Read more...   Pizza Facts – What Do You Want To Know? Pizza Pizza Facts – What Do You Want To Know? by Stevie Jones The biggest pizza ever made was baked in Norwood, South Africa in 1990. It was a massive 100 feet across. The word pizza was originally spelt as “pitsa” Americans eat billions of slices of pizza every year; in fact the annual per capita pizza consumption is 23 pounds! Saturday night is traditionally the biggest night of the week for eating pizza. America's favourite pizza topping is pepperoni. America's least favourite pizza topping is anchovies. Americans eat 90 to 100 acres of pizza per day. Read more...   Chinese Cooking - The Flexibility of the Wok Wok Cooking Chinese Cooking - The Flexibility of the Wok by Liz Canham. Chinese food can be cooked using any pan at all but if you want a really versatile implement in which you can stir fry, braise and deep fry, you must have a wok. This simply designed yet incredibly useful tool has been used in Chinese cooking (and indeed the cooking of other Far Eastern countries) for centuries but even today is indispensible to professional chefs and home cooks alike. Woks come in many shapes and sizes; some with flat bottoms, some with two handles and some with one. Cast iron is often used in wok manufacture but the resulting pan is very very heavy and cumbersome to use. Non-stick woks are also available but the surface can't withstand the very high temperatures needed for Chinese cookery and aluminium pans, while conveniently lightweight and cheap, don't conduct or retain heat as well as cast iron. However, by far the most effective is the classic wok which is made of beaten steel, has a rounded bottom and a single wooden handle. Of course, if the purpose of the wok is purely for serving, it doesn't matter what it's made of and all sorts of decorative varieties can be found. Read more...   The Cuisines of India - Rajasthani Cooking Rajasthani Thali The Cuisines of India - Rajasthani Cooking by Liz Canham. Only a Brahmin may cook in a Marwari kitchen and they must bathe and change their clothes before doing so. If a non-Brahmin even enters the kitchen, all the utensils, pots etc. will have to be cleansed before they can be used again. So that no other person may touch a pan or spoon, serving dishes are not used; individual meals are served on thalis, which is the word both for the dish (a metal tray, usually containing more tiny metal dishes) and these days, the meal itself. A typical thali may include a salad of white radish, fresh ginger and green chilli, vegetables such as spiced aubergine, potato and cauliflower cooked with cumin and ginger, a dal, a yoghurt dish and a desert. In the centre will be Indian bread such as roti and papadums may be served, signifying the end of the meal. In contract to the strictly vegetarian Rajasthanis, historically, the Rajput warriors of Rajasthan cooked meat and rice dishes similar to those of the Moghul emperors. However, the exception to the Muslim diet was that the Rajputs hunted and ate wild boar, even cooking the fat and skin with coriander, cumin, garlic, ginger and fried onions and using it to flavour a dal. Read more...   More... Posole, the Bowl of Many Blessings How Green Is Your Wine Buying? Kindle Your Love Of Outdoor Cooking Year-Round Healthy Cooking: Starting With Organic Ingredients << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next > End >> Results 1 - 9 of 63 [ Back ]