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Friday, 14 September 2007

Gaeng Liang : Southern Thai Vegetable curry

CLICK for Big Picture - Gaeng Liang - Southern Thai Vegetable curry

Ingredients
Spice mixture

  • 10 black pepper corns
  • 1 tablespoon shrimp paste - Gapi
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce - nam pla
  • 10 shallots - or small red or purple onions
  • 1/2 cup dried shrimp


Other ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon red curry paste
  • 2 tablespoons chili paste in oil
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce - nam pla
  • 5 cups of vegetables
  • 5 stems of fresh thai basil4 cups vegetable stock


Method
1. In a mortar and pestle or food processor, grind the spice mixture ingredients to a smooth paste.
2. Bring the stock to a boil and add the spice mixture, curry paste, and chili paste in oil, and stir until thoroughly mixed.
3. When it is again boiling, and mixed, stir in the fish sauce.
4. Add the vegetables and basil,
5. stir until cooked.
The vegetables should be minimally cooked.

***Taste and adjust the saltiness by adding more fish sauce if required

Spring Rolls











Ingredients
  • 1 Head Green Cabbage
  • 6 oz. minced or ground Chicken (pre-cooked)
  • 1 med. Carrot
  • 2 med. stalks Celery
  • 1 oz. sliced Mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • sprinkle Black Pepper
  • 4 oz. Tempura powder mixed with water
  • 1 package Spring Roll Skins


Technique

Begin by shredding the cabbage, carrots and celery. In a large wok over low heat add the vegetables. Mixed several times until the cabbage begins to soften. Add the other ingredients and toss well. When the vegetables have become wilted, place the mixture in a strainer. Place the stainer in a refrigerator. Allow to sit for 2 hours or until the mixture is cool to the touch.

Begin making the spring rolls by placing 2 oz. of the stuffing on a corner end of the spring roll skin. Fold the bottom forward and over the top. Roll 1 full turn. Tuck the sides in, while continuing to roll forward. Place a dab af the tempura mix on the tip of the skin. Roll over the tempura mix to seal it closed.

To cook, pre-heat vegetable oil to 350 degrees. Place several rolls in at a time. Fry until golden brow (2-3 min.) Serve with your favorite sauces.

Kaeng Som Pla : Thai Sour Fish Curry

CLICK FOR LARGE IMAGE - Thai Sour Fish Curry - Kaeng Som Pla


Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 tbs sour curry paste Khuang Gaeng Som
  • 1 lb of fish, diced
  • 2 lbs of fresh vegetables (your choice)
  • 10 small tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and diced
  • 3 tbs lime juice
  • 3 tbs fish sauce - nam-pla
  • 1 tbs tamarind concentrate mixed with 3 tablespoons water
  • 3 tbs prik chee-fa, or jalapeƱo peppers thinly sliced
  • 1 tbs hot chili sauce (sri racha)

Method
1. Wash and dice the fish.
2. Place the fish in a bowl
3. add the lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind sauce, chili sauce and sour curry paste, and leave to marinade for at least an hour.

1. Bring two cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan or wok and add the liquid from the marinating fish,
2. then add the vegetables and boil for about two minutes.
3. Adjust the flavour to taste (it should be a little salty and a little sour, and as hot as you desire it at this stage).
4. Add the tomato and bring back to the boil.
5. Add the remaining ingredients, return to the boil
6. stir occasionally until the fish is cooked.

Tuesday, 11 September 2007

Blackberry Fondue

The winter months are still here, and the weather is getting colder. This is the time of year where everyone is looking for something different to try for dinner, which will still keep them warm. The 80’s favourite of cheese fondue has had a revamp for the 21st century with recipes like Chocolate fondue and Caramel fondue.

Savoury and sweet versions of this classic have appeared, using ingredients from around the world. Fondu recipes are quick and easy to make. They usually involve creating and heating a sauce and providing items to dip, such as meat, marshmallows and fruit pieces. Most fruit used in fondues in the past was for dipping, however versions have also started appearing like the Blackberry recipe below, where the fruit is used to create the sauce.

  • 1 lb Blackberries.
  • 4 teaspoons of Cornflour.
  • 1 ¼ cup of Single cream.
  • 1/3 cups of Icing sugar.
  • 3 tablespoons of Framboise(or other Raspberry Beer).
  • 2 x Egg whites.
  • 2/3 cups of Icing sugar.

Sieve the Blackberries through a medium sieve and discard seeds. Put the puree to one side while you prepare the rest of the fondue.

To produce quick meringues:
1. Preheat the oven to 320 F.
2. Cover a baking sheet with non-stick paper.
3. Place the egg whites and icing sugar in a bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of hot water. With an electric whisk, whisk until mixture in stiff and forms into peaks.
4. Put the egg mixture in a piping bag fitted with a 1 cm star nozzle. Pipe small blobs onto the lined baking sheet.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until crisp on the outside.

For the fondue:
1. In a saucepan, mix the cornflour smoothly with a small amount of the cream.
2. Slowly stir in the rest of the cream then add sugar and Blackberry puree.
3. Cook over a low heat until smooth and thickened.
4. Stir in the Framboise then pour into a fondue pot.

Serve with the meringues for dipping.

Whether to eat on your own or for a dinner party, 2007 is definitely the year to bring out your fondue set and try something new

***Article by
Fiona Dutton

Monday, 10 September 2007

Easy to Make Fudge Your Family Will Love

Who doesn't love fudge? Set out a tray of home-made fudge or fudge brownies and your family and friends will soon have them eaten. Fudge is also great for office parties. Chocolate fudge has become a very traditional dessert in the U.S. not only for the holidays but year-round.


There are many different variations to making fudge. Unless you choose to do so you never have to make them the same way twice. The recipe included here calls for the use of nuts, but you can substitute your favorite food items to make fudge that will be perfect for you. Perhaps you don't like nuts, but prefer candied cherries, coconut, or marshmallows. Those and many other things can be substituted for the nuts (or added along with them) when you create your fudge. If you do use nuts in your fudge, peanuts, pecans or walnuts are the best, but any nuts will be fine.

To make your fudge extra special you may want to add a topping to it such as peanut butter, nut pieces or cherry slices.

Don't be afraid to experiment with different combinations of ingredients. To make peanut butter fudge simply substitute peanut butter in the place of the chocolate chips.

Fudge Recipe

  • 2 1/2 cups of sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine
  • (You will also need additional margarine to coat the foil)
  • 7 ounces of marshmallow creme
  • 2 cups of chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup chopped nuts
  • 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a 13x9 inch pan with aluminum foil or wax paper and spread butter or margarine on the foil or paper. Using a large sauce pan mix the sugar, margarine and evaporated milk. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat making sure to stir constantly for 5 minutes.

Remove the mixture from the heat and add the marshmallow and chocolate. Stir until it becomes smooth and even. Next, mix in the nuts and vanilla extract.

Pour your fudge into the prepared 13x9 pan and let it cool to room temperature. Once it has cooled you may cut it into squares and put it into the refrigerator until it becomes firm.

***Article by
David Slone

Erotic culinary

Topic - love-erotic culinary, - will probably cause someone’s open protest. Someone will shrug his shoulders, grinning: well, what’s the connection between kitchen and erotic? However, probably there will be some ones (and they will be in majority), who will treat such an unusual kitchen conversation with an evident interest. Let’s be glad for them, as the information they’ll receive will be useful for them for sure.
It will help to bring a freshness of sensations in a usual family mode, create an atmosphere of soul peace in a house, make a man and a woman partners not only in bed, during short moments of intimate closeness, but also in kitchen, where a big part of family life takes place. Such culinary serves as a base of family relations, as it teaches a husband and a wife to remain attractive and sexually active, regardless of age and life troubles.

However, every of you will be able to assure in this in practice. But let’s start from theory.
The first country, where a system of cooking food in a so-called love style was developed, is considered to be India. Indian cooks were the first ones who noticed that a taste of sexual secretions depends on a taste of food. They paid a huge attention to scents, as, to their opinion, scent of food influenced body smell a lot, and the last, in it’s turn, stroke the keynote of love games.

Agree, it’s quite a logic conclusion. A heavy smell of body, caused by heavy food, not suitable to sexual needs, will hardly awaken sexual attraction. That’s why, dear married couples, if you want to be always desired, appraise critically what you eat, and if necessary, introduce proper amendments into your ration.
Fried food, especially in deep fat, affects a person negatively. Unfortunately, nowadays this is the most popular way of food treatment. Fats are heated up to 200 C and form carcinogenic substances.
We can say easily that fried food is contra-indicated to erotic mystery. In India any food, having a strong smell of fried, is considered to be harmful for sexual games. Such food creates an excess of slime, contributes to adiposity, tiredness, heaviness. As a result, when time comes to a love game, it isn’t accompanied by trembling and excitement, and turns into a usual satisfaction of physiologic needs.
According to Indian culinary traditions, taste of food affects not only sensations, but also affects Spirit on a thin level. One combination of gustatory senses may cause delight and eroticism, and another – irritability and anger. Advantage of Indian cuisine is in freshness and natural foods, practical absence of preservatives, dye stuffs, various artificial additions, improvers of taste and other inventions of civilization. Fresh natural products, subjected to minimal temperature treatment, are wholesome not only for health, but also for love.
Chinese cooks are real trendsetters in erotic culinary, they eat exotic food, to our views. They do like swallow's nests, stuffed eggs, fermented (black and looking like paste) chicken eggs. And a dish “Dragon’s fight” is cooked of snake, frog and tiger.

Of course, we shouldn’t necessarily obtain such products for a family meal. Nevertheless, you can take something from Chinese cuisine. Why not paying more attention to decoration of dishes? You know, food, decorated in a cranky way (say, cookie, baked in the form of woman’s lips, breast, nates) will attract attention for sure. Such culinary specialities will cause a gust of emotions, awaken imagination and fancy, tune to a proper sexual mood.

An idea of ritual dinner, ruling in Chinese cuisine, will be useful too, and, first of all, an idea of famous Chinese tea-drinking. This prolonged ritual contributes not only to rest, peace, removal of stresses, but also to rallying of all members of a meal, strengthening of a family.

Since long ago, only men have been cooking in China. Men-cooks are good judges of erotic cooking, like nobody else.

By the way, in China, having a thousand-year erotic culture, there was a special cook-erotic in an emperor’s staff. He cooked food, which allowed emperor to contact with hundreds of concubines constantly. It’s known, that one of potions was cooked of antlers. Comminuted antlers were poured with honey and vodka, extracted on a special sort of wild cherry. Then 40 sorts of herbs and spices were added. A Chinese emperor drank such drink before entering harem. Servants of harem watched closely that emperor satisfied all the concubines (presumably, about 30 ones daily). Erotic power allowed to judge whether he’s able to rule a country.

Certain food products have great impact on male and female sexuality. Products, bringing stimulant beginning, can be divided into 3 general groups: animal, vegetable and mineral. They are used either separately, or in combination, considering a concrete person’s gustatory addictions.

Eggs of different birds are in the first group (chicken, goose, quail), milk (especially goat's one), game (hazel grouses, quails), genitals of animals, mussels, oysters, caviar. Among exotic products of animal origin, antlers, musk gland, whale ambergris, rhinoceros horn have stimulant effect. Animals should be young and healthy, then all these remedies will be efficient.

Second, more numerous group, includes ginger root, fennel, ginseng root, mushrooms, black beans, some sorts of onion, pumpkin, carrot, rhubarb, figs, almond, pistachio and cedar nuts, fir seeds, sesame seed, cinnamon, nutmeg, saffron, some sorts of poignant pepper, raisins, walnuts, honey, millet, orange seeds, pomegranates. All plants should be ob high quality and gathered in a certain time.
It’s known that sexual hormones are formed in organism under enough quantity of “vitamins of reproduction” A and E. They are contained in animal fats, chicken eggs, cod-liver, carrot. Vitamins of group B provide efficient conductivity of impulses through nerves, what is extremely important for sexual excitement process. They are contained in cereals and legumes, potato, dairy products, meat and fish dishes. Vitamin C contributes to normalization of blood circulation and affects genitals condition beneficially. Citruses are especially rich in vitamin C (oranges, lemons, grapefruits).
If meat, then only on a “pillow”
There’s an opinion that a man becomes a real sexual giant in bed, if you feed him to satiety with meat beforehand. This myth was invented by women, who didn’t know peculiarities of male physiology. On the contrary, meat is some kind of narcotic, after which a man becomes weaker and loses self-control. After hearty supper, rich in meat dishes, he doesn’t need sex already. His organism is tuned on other task’s fulfillment: he should digest heavy meat food, what leads a man to drowse and apathy. This doesn’t mean that meat food should be completely excluded from erotic culinary. On no account: you know, meat is a strong source of energy. We offer you to bring to minimum unwanted affect of meat food on male potency through a special culinary trick: cook meat on a vegetable “pillow”.
Cutlets can be cooked this way especially well. You can add any vegetables, herbs and spices in minced meat. Meat food requires a special dish to be served up, so that a cooked dish would be not only tasty, but also appetizing, showy. For example, you can pour shashlik or meat chop with cognac and burn before serving up. The effect is striking!
Earthenware crockery is very comfortable for cooking of meat dishes. Firstly, meat isn’t fried in them, but stewed in an oven. Secondly, you can interlay it with various vegetables in several layers.

Every day – a surprise
Cuisine should be various. You shouldn’t allow the same food appearing in it every day. Use various seasonings, sauces, spices, which can add an aroma of newness even to the most usual food. Say, why not adding dried apricots and raisins to a usual boiled buckwheat once, and slightly fried onion and walnuts – another time? In short, try, invent!
A real cook’s skill is in his ability to cook something original of usual products. For example, a usual apple pie will cause lots of new sensations, if it will be with a surprise. You may use several sweet peas, added to pastry. The one who finds such surprise, will become a “master” in a bed-room in a coming night of love. The more often married couple will arrange such culinary performances, the more inventiveness, fantasy and merriment they will show while doing this, the stronger their love passion will flame up.

Full stomach and sex are incompatible
Don’t allow gluttony while meal. Supper shouldn’t be bountiful. On East they observe the following rule: in order not to overeat, you should fill half of your stomach with food, quarter – water or other liquid, and quarter should be empty, to control breathing.
The following advices will also help to avoid overeating. It’s better to start meal with some liquid: fresh tea, herb extract. Then vegetables and then – meat dish. It’s desirable to finish meal with raw vegetables, fruits, roots, but not liquid (it was in the beginning) and fat high-calorie sweets.
Raw and sour vegetables, herbs, roots, natural dairy produce (milk, skim cotton cheese, kefir, cheese) should be on your table at any season.
Short period of hunger can have stimulant effect under condition that it is used with moderation and carefulness. It’s known that vegetarian food can stimulate erotic desire. Indeed, it’s important to combine vegetable food with meditation, philosophy and good mood.

Love drink to your own receipt
Erotic games are impossible without wine. It relaxes, removes stress, and muffles uneasiness. However, don’t misuse alcohol while meal before intimate relations. Learn cooking light drinks of fruits and herbs, rising mood and increasing sexual activity.
If you want to feel real love bliss, aura and mystery, then you shouldn’t drink strong drinks – vodka, cognac, rum, gin. Create a receipt of your own love drink, which shouldn’t be stringer than 10-15 degrees, otherwise it will stupefy you.

Include beer in your arsenal of love nectars. Japanese researchers consider it to be a God’s drink. It can be extracted on spices, herbs and leaves, like wine.

First rest, then food
When your man comes home from work, try to distract his thoughts from food somehow. Make him relax, forget about his problems, rise his mood, burn a fire of passions in him, and only after this prelude invite him to meal. Remember that a man in good mood is a pledge of full value sex, which will be able to bring satisfaction and pleasure to both husband and wife.

Men, to a gas-stove!
You are so tired after work and will hardly cook something with joy and happiness, and good mood is very important for cooking. So, allow your man to cook for yourself.
Many connoisseurs of culinary art consider that men always show more imagination and creation in kitchen, that’s why dishes they cook distinguish themselves with more delicacy and piquancy, whereas women can cook traditional food better.
A man is always improvising, cook not according to a cook-book. He’s quick, movable, energetic, merry and active on kitchen. It’s such a pleasure watching him. But helping him or although inspiring with your presence and praising will be even better. The main is that you never should lash your man for unfortunate cooking. This will dispel his entire further wish to cook.

Stewed beef “Forest games”
Beef – 100g, cowberry – 0,5 glass, melted butter – 1 table spoon, 1 onion, tomato paste – 1 tea-spoon, flour, meat broth or water, bay leaf, pepper, salt to your liking.
Slice meat and fry in melted butter till forming of ruddy crust. Add tomato paste, crumbled up onion, salt and pepper and fry for 7-10 minutes more, then add flour. Pour meat broth or water, put cowberry and bay leaf and stew till readiness.

Salad “Beet bacchanalia”
1 beet, dry peppermint – 1 tea spoon, 1 onion, 1 table spoon of skim cotton cheese.
Peel off beet and grate. Grind dry peppermint. Chop onion into small particles. Mix vegetables with cotton cheese and serve up. If you can, decorate with leaves of raspberry, currant, nettle, dandelion flowers. Such salad leads to weight loss and good sexual state.

Salad “Dolce Vita”
Sweet red cayenne – 6 pods, chopped nettle leaves – 4 table spoons, 1 carrot, chopped green of mint – 1 table spoon, vegetable oil – 4 table spoons, lemon juice – 1 table spoon, salt, ground black pepper to your liking.
Cut cayenne in straws, chop nettle in small particles, grate carrot. Mix products, add salt, pepper, lemon juice and vegetable oil. Pour with chopped green of mint.

Drink “Soul song”
Dry red wine – 1 glass, buttermilk – 0,5 glass, honey - 1 tea-spoon, grated beet – 1 tea-spoon, dry mint – 1 tea-spoon.
Mix beet with mint, pour with buttermilk and heat till boiling, then remove from fire at once and leave for 20-30 minutes. Filter extract and mix with wine, heat and serve up hot, adding honey. Such drink can be cooked with white wine too.

Liqueur “Love bliss”
Vodka – 1 glass, water – 0,5 glass, red ashberry – 0,5 glass.
Wash ashberry carefully, smash to pieces, pour with boiling water and leave for 40 minutes. Then pour off liquid, mix with vodka and leave for day-and-night. Serve up cool.

Mushroom pudding
Fresh mushrooms – 400 g, 1 onion, 300 g of white bread, 0,5 glass of milk, 2 eggs, butter, flour, grated cheese, pepper, salt to your liking.
Peel off fresh mushrooms, wash, cut in small particles. Cut onion and fry in oil, add mushrooms, salt, pepper and stew covered till readiness. Soak bread in milk. Separate whites from yolks and whisk. When mushrooms are ready, mix them with soaked bread, yolks and beaten whites. Put this mass in a mould, oiled and poured with flour, put mould in a dish with water and stew on a water bath on a gas-stove or in an oven for 40-50 minutes. Serve up, pouring with grated cheese.

Salad “Honeymoon”
1 radish, 1 table-spoon of honey.
Wash peeled off radish carefully, cut off core, crush with a knife, mix with honey and fill in hollow with this honey mixture. Leave for 24 hours under room temperature, until juice is exuded. Then eat honey mixture like a salad. You can drink juice exuded separately or pour honey mixture with it.

Vinaigrette “God’s grace”
Small fresh mackerel, 2 beets, 2 potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 onion, mayonnaise or vegetable oil – 2 table-spoons, salt.
Here’s an example of cooking food on a vegetable ‘pillow”. Cleanse mackerel and cut to pieces together with bones. Cut vegetables in small circles. Put a layer of beet on a bottom of a saucepan, then carrot, then pieces of mackerel, on top potato and onion. Put ready vinaigrette on a plate. Add vegetable oil or mayonnaise in broth and pour vinaigrette with it.

Drink “Female secret”
Cognac – 2 table-spoons, dry mint leaves – 1 tea-spoon, dry flowers of calendula – 1 tea-spoon, dry leaves of dog-rose – 1 tea-spoon, water – 3 glasses, caraway – on a knife’s edge.
Pour the whole mixture of dry herbs in boiling water, boil again, remove from fire quickly and leave for 20-25 minutes. Pour off broth, add cognac. Drink it warm. Mince the body that is left after broth, mix with equal quantity of honey and serve up with tea instead on jam.
Many Eastern lords used an ancient receipt, which prolonged male sexual activity. Boil duck eggs, peel off, prick in several places and put in an extract of vodka with anise-tree, cinnamon, ginger, sweet pepper, parsley and dill for 2 hours. Eat on the eve and during sexual games.

***Article by
Yana Mikheeva

Argentine Chimichurri

One of the favourite cooking methods in Argentina is, without a doubt, grilling. This style of cooking is derived from the original Argentinian Gaucho tradition of cooking fresh meat over a charcoal fire.

To add flavour and tenderise the meat, Argentines often marinate meats in Chimichurri. Food without Chimichurri just wouldn't be tolerated in Argentina especially grilled meat to which it adds an amazing flavour.


Argentine Chimichurri

  • 1/3 packet of garlic salt
  • 6 chilli peppers
  • 2 sachets bouquet garni
  • 1 large onion
  • ½ tub of dried peppers
  • 1 pint (500ml) of vinegar
  • 2 pints (1 litre) oil

Boil all the ingredients, excluding oil, together in the vinegar for five minutes.
Wait until the mixture cools.
When the mixture has cooled, add the oil.
Store in refrigerator.

When you're ready to barbecue or grill, marinade meat in chimichurri overnight. Barbecue, grill or cook in the oven. Enjoy!

Many thanks to friends who gave me this recipe whilst we were living in the Falkland Islands.

For further tips and ideas for cooking great and traditional food from around the world, visit Argentinian Recipes

This article was submitted by Jen Carter, owner of the Worldwide Recipes website.