Summer is here, the weather is hot and our thoughts often turn to a cool, refreshing salad. It was not always that way. Its only been within the recent past that salads moved from being strictly a side dish to a main dish. In the journey a lot of mistakes have been made.
There are very few foods that can not be made into a salad. Some salads can be very intricate and some are extremely simple. In some cases, leftovers can be used for great salads. For instance, last weekend's leftover steak can be turned into a great main course. You can make up your own mixture, do it all from scratch and have a wonderful salad. On the other hand you can buy a Caesar salad kit from your supermarket, toss it with some shrimp, the leftover steak and some cherry tomatoes and present a grand dish with very little trouble. Sort of your own version of Surf and Turf.
A word of warning. Please do not use a salad as an excuse to cover up poorly cooked foods. If you burned the chicken it will not taste any better in a salad. If the lettuce is Limp it will still be Limp when you toss it in a salad. And, if you overcooked the green beans do not even think of using them in a salad Nicoise. Salads should contain fresh ingredients or leftovers masterful, nothing else.
The dressing you use is really half the salad to make it first rate. Please do not insult the salad, and your guests, by using lite or fat free dressing. If you are obsessed with cutting out a few less calories eat salad. Speaking of dressing, most people use way too much anyway. Dressings are meant to merely anyone the ingredients not drown them!
Below is a recipe for a fruit salad with my own dressing. I came up with it because I really dislike the ubiquitous poppy seed dressing that is so prevalent when fruit salads are served.
First, select a variety of fruits that are in season or that you prefer and cut them into bite-sized chunks. I like Watermelon, canteloupe, apple slices, pineapple chunks and Seedless grapes. I also add strawberries or other berrries if they are in season.
The dressing is made as follows and the recipe is for two people:
1 / 2 package of mixed baby greens or romaine chilled and torn into bite-sized pieces.
1 8 oz. carton of sour cream
1 1 / 3 table spoons of honey. (more if you like a sweeter dressing)
1 / 4 cup orange juice
Place greens on a plate and arrange fruit on top Neatly. Mix all the other ingredients together and pour over the salad. Pass extra dressing.
This other salad is so simple it really is not a recipe. I got it from one of my favorite cookbooks, White Trash Cooking by the late Ernest Matthew Mickle. Do not look at it and dismiss it out of hand - its a wonderful salad somewhat like a tomato and lettuce salad without the bread.
Take one head of iceberg lettuce, wash it and cut it into 2 inch chunks. Cut up three ripe tomatoes into quarters and then Halve the quarters. Toss with mayonnaise good enough to generously coat everything. Add plenty of salt and pepper to taste. If you need more moisture, unlikely, just add a few table spoons of vinegar.
Note: If you can not obtain really good, home grown tomatoes, the salad will still be okay but not great.
Both these recipes can be found in my award-winning cookbook, Help-I Gotta Cook! and can be purchased on Amazon or from my webpage http://www.ineedtocook.com
Like many other chefs, Ed Dugan learned to cook at the feet of his grandmother. His cookbook, Help-I Gotta Cook! was named Cookbook of the Year in 2007 and was written for people who want to learn to cook, or who want to learn to cook better. It contains a comprehensive Cooking Guide and 325 reclpes. If you are really new to the kitchen he has a chapter entitled Training Wheels Meals that will have you cooking a great meal in minutes. Check it out on http://www.ineedtocook.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ed_Dugan
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
2 Great Cold Picnic Food Recipes
Picnics are a great way to enjoy two of life's greatest pleasures, the great outdoors and food. Who does not like a good picnic, well minus the mosquitoes and biting flies those annoying trying to get into your picnic basket, a picnic is a great way for people to gather.
At any picnic the food is the star of the show, without a doubt. It does not matter how well you put together your picnic, how nice the day is, or none of that. If the food is not up to par, there are going to be a lot of unhappy campers at your picnic (even if they do not tell you). The most commonly used food at a picnic are straight off the grill, like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and list goes on. Few people however, consider how cold foods can be a big star at a picnic than a bigger star there hot food counter parts. All of you have to do is know the right recipes. So here they are.
Sandwich Slav / Server 4
Ingredients
* 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
* 2 table spoons, onions, minced
* 2 table spoons, cider vinegar
* 2 table spoons, mayonnaise
* 1 Clove garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoon, granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* Salt, to taste
How To Put It Together
1. Mix the ingredients and refrigerate for a hour.
2. Place a generous amount on each sandwich.
3. Or you can serve it along side the bread.
Caribbean Grilled Shrimp Wrap with Lime Sour Cream and Red Cabbage / Server 1
Ingredients
* 6 21 to 25 shrimp, medium
* 1 table spoon olive oil
* 1 table spoon garlic, finely minced
* 1 teaspoon minced thyme
* 1 teaspoon scotch bonnet pepper, minced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 / 4 cup sour cream
* 1 table spoon lime juice
* 1 14inch tortilla shell
* 1 / 2 cup red cabbage, finely shredded
* 1 table spoon olive oil
* 1 table spoon champagne vinegar
* 1 leaf romaine lettuce
* 1 sliced tomato
How To Put It Together
1. Marinate the shrimp with garlic, olive oil, thyme, scotch bonnet peppers, and salt for 1 hour.
2. Grill the shrimp until just done.
3. Slice the shrimp into strips.
4. Beat the lime juice into sour cream.
5. Spread the tortilla with the sour cream.
6. Toss the cabbage in the oil and vinegar.
7. Add the shrimp, cabbage, lettuce, and tomato to the tortilla and roll tightly, securing with skew.
8. Trim the ends and cut the roll at an angle one third of the length then cut straight at the next third.
For more great cold picnic food ideas please visit cold picnic food recipes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Akilah_Moore
At any picnic the food is the star of the show, without a doubt. It does not matter how well you put together your picnic, how nice the day is, or none of that. If the food is not up to par, there are going to be a lot of unhappy campers at your picnic (even if they do not tell you). The most commonly used food at a picnic are straight off the grill, like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and list goes on. Few people however, consider how cold foods can be a big star at a picnic than a bigger star there hot food counter parts. All of you have to do is know the right recipes. So here they are.
Sandwich Slav / Server 4
Ingredients
* 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
* 2 table spoons, onions, minced
* 2 table spoons, cider vinegar
* 2 table spoons, mayonnaise
* 1 Clove garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoon, granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* Salt, to taste
How To Put It Together
1. Mix the ingredients and refrigerate for a hour.
2. Place a generous amount on each sandwich.
3. Or you can serve it along side the bread.
Caribbean Grilled Shrimp Wrap with Lime Sour Cream and Red Cabbage / Server 1
Ingredients
* 6 21 to 25 shrimp, medium
* 1 table spoon olive oil
* 1 table spoon garlic, finely minced
* 1 teaspoon minced thyme
* 1 teaspoon scotch bonnet pepper, minced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 / 4 cup sour cream
* 1 table spoon lime juice
* 1 14inch tortilla shell
* 1 / 2 cup red cabbage, finely shredded
* 1 table spoon olive oil
* 1 table spoon champagne vinegar
* 1 leaf romaine lettuce
* 1 sliced tomato
How To Put It Together
1. Marinate the shrimp with garlic, olive oil, thyme, scotch bonnet peppers, and salt for 1 hour.
2. Grill the shrimp until just done.
3. Slice the shrimp into strips.
4. Beat the lime juice into sour cream.
5. Spread the tortilla with the sour cream.
6. Toss the cabbage in the oil and vinegar.
7. Add the shrimp, cabbage, lettuce, and tomato to the tortilla and roll tightly, securing with skew.
8. Trim the ends and cut the roll at an angle one third of the length then cut straight at the next third.
For more great cold picnic food ideas please visit cold picnic food recipes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Akilah_Moore
Friday, June 5, 2009
KFC Fried Chicken Recipe
Maybe the most famous secret recipe of all time? The KFC Fried Chicken Recipe is in a new super-secret, high-tech vault to protect it. The recipe that was hand written in pencil by Harland Sanders is now guarded around the clock. The recipe was kept in an Undisclosed location while the new security system was installed.
Only a very few select people know the exact recipe. To ensure the secrecy, no company is allowed to mix all of the 11 herbs and spices. Two companies part of the mix ingredients and a third company mixes the ingredients from the other two companies together. This way no one but the select few at KFC can know the recipe. Other companies like Coke and McDonald's go to these extensive lengths to protect their products.
If the recipe is so secret and the recipe so well protected, how can people say they have the "secret" recipe. Well, they do not actually have the secret recipe, but they have Figured out how to get it to taste as close a possible. Leaders are well trained and can figure out most ingredients in food. And after they have guessed the ingredients and how to make the item, they can experiment with their new secret recipe and get it right.
On a recent episode of Hell's Kitchen, Chef Ramsey had the Contestants try to figure out the ingredients in a dish he prepared. Only one person was able to figure out all of the ingredients. While it's difficult it is possible to figure out someone else's recipe.
If you want to get the secret KFC fried chicken recipe, just stop by HERE! The secret recipes from many famous restaurants are here, including a sampling of some free recipes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robbie_Becklund
Only a very few select people know the exact recipe. To ensure the secrecy, no company is allowed to mix all of the 11 herbs and spices. Two companies part of the mix ingredients and a third company mixes the ingredients from the other two companies together. This way no one but the select few at KFC can know the recipe. Other companies like Coke and McDonald's go to these extensive lengths to protect their products.
If the recipe is so secret and the recipe so well protected, how can people say they have the "secret" recipe. Well, they do not actually have the secret recipe, but they have Figured out how to get it to taste as close a possible. Leaders are well trained and can figure out most ingredients in food. And after they have guessed the ingredients and how to make the item, they can experiment with their new secret recipe and get it right.
On a recent episode of Hell's Kitchen, Chef Ramsey had the Contestants try to figure out the ingredients in a dish he prepared. Only one person was able to figure out all of the ingredients. While it's difficult it is possible to figure out someone else's recipe.
If you want to get the secret KFC fried chicken recipe, just stop by HERE! The secret recipes from many famous restaurants are here, including a sampling of some free recipes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robbie_Becklund
KFC Popcorn Chicken Recipe - Create Your Own At Home!
If you have been stressing over what you can serve the kids at snack time, then your worries are over because not only is the KFC popcorn chicken or chicken poppers are fun and easy to make, they will also give the kids a delicious chicken treat. Not only will the kids enjoy eating the KFC popcorn chicken, you and your friends will, too.
In this article, I'm going to show you my favorite "copy" of KFC's popcorn chicken. It has taken lots of time and effort to "reverse engineer" this one - getting the coating and spices to taste like the real thing is not very easy!
However, with a little trial and error - it will not take you long to find the flavors you're looking for.
Here are the ingredients:
100 grams of boneless and skinless chicken breast
2 tsp. of all-purpose flour
½ tsp. of powdered sugar
½ tsp. of freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp. of salt
1 / 8 tsp. of onion powder
2 egg whites
2 tbsp. of milk (fat-free)
¾ cup of Panko bread crumbs
Olive oil spray for Greasing
What you must do is PREHEAT the oven to 475 degrees Farenheit. Set a tray with a non-stick baking sheet and coat it with the olive oil. Set that aside first. Then you must place the chicken on a cutting board and cover the top with a sheet of waxed paper. Pound the chicken until it achieves a uniform thickness of about a quarter of an inch. After that, Uncover the piece of chicken and cut it up into 25 even-sized pieces that should become your popcorn chicken.
Now you must do the flour mixture. Take the flour, sugar, pepper, salt, and onion powder, and mix them thoroughly in a bowl. Then take the chicken pieces and coat them with the flour mixture. Set them aside for a while, and in another small bowl, mix the egg whites and the milk. Beat them with a fork until the mixture becomes smooth.
Put a large quantity of bread crumbs on a sheet of waxed paper and set it right next to the egg-milk mixture. Now take the chicken pieces dipped in the flour mixture and dip them into the egg-milk mixture and then dip them into the bread crumbs. Do this one by one for the chicken pieces. Place each chicken piece onto finished the non-stick baking sheet which you prepared earlier and make sure that there are equal spaces between the chicken pieces.
Spray the chicken pieces with olive oil and season them lightly with salt and pepper before placing the tray in the oven. Bake the chicken pieces for 5 minutes and flip them the chicken pieces, and bake again for another 5 to 7 minutes in the oven.
If you would really like to make the chicken more like how KFC popcorn chicken recipes are really made, you can try to pressure fry the chicken. But nonetheless, these popcorn chicken pieces are supposed to be delicious and enjoyable regardless of whether you use this technique.
To summarize, this article has shown you one of my favorite popcorn chicken recipes. In particular, I've shown you all of the ingredients you'll need, and exactly what you'll need to do to prepare them. Now you should be ready to get cooking!
If you're looking for more KFC popcorn chicken recipes (and many others) that taste just like the real thing - then you should take a look at http://www.replica-recipes.net - It's the best resource you'll ever found for learning the jealously-guarded secret recipes of your favorite restaurants. You really will not be able to tell the difference between these "exact replica" recipes and the real thing - plus you can make them all easily and cheaply from the comfort of your own home! Click Here to go there now.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Malinda_Grace
In this article, I'm going to show you my favorite "copy" of KFC's popcorn chicken. It has taken lots of time and effort to "reverse engineer" this one - getting the coating and spices to taste like the real thing is not very easy!
However, with a little trial and error - it will not take you long to find the flavors you're looking for.
Here are the ingredients:
100 grams of boneless and skinless chicken breast
2 tsp. of all-purpose flour
½ tsp. of powdered sugar
½ tsp. of freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp. of salt
1 / 8 tsp. of onion powder
2 egg whites
2 tbsp. of milk (fat-free)
¾ cup of Panko bread crumbs
Olive oil spray for Greasing
What you must do is PREHEAT the oven to 475 degrees Farenheit. Set a tray with a non-stick baking sheet and coat it with the olive oil. Set that aside first. Then you must place the chicken on a cutting board and cover the top with a sheet of waxed paper. Pound the chicken until it achieves a uniform thickness of about a quarter of an inch. After that, Uncover the piece of chicken and cut it up into 25 even-sized pieces that should become your popcorn chicken.
Now you must do the flour mixture. Take the flour, sugar, pepper, salt, and onion powder, and mix them thoroughly in a bowl. Then take the chicken pieces and coat them with the flour mixture. Set them aside for a while, and in another small bowl, mix the egg whites and the milk. Beat them with a fork until the mixture becomes smooth.
Put a large quantity of bread crumbs on a sheet of waxed paper and set it right next to the egg-milk mixture. Now take the chicken pieces dipped in the flour mixture and dip them into the egg-milk mixture and then dip them into the bread crumbs. Do this one by one for the chicken pieces. Place each chicken piece onto finished the non-stick baking sheet which you prepared earlier and make sure that there are equal spaces between the chicken pieces.
Spray the chicken pieces with olive oil and season them lightly with salt and pepper before placing the tray in the oven. Bake the chicken pieces for 5 minutes and flip them the chicken pieces, and bake again for another 5 to 7 minutes in the oven.
If you would really like to make the chicken more like how KFC popcorn chicken recipes are really made, you can try to pressure fry the chicken. But nonetheless, these popcorn chicken pieces are supposed to be delicious and enjoyable regardless of whether you use this technique.
To summarize, this article has shown you one of my favorite popcorn chicken recipes. In particular, I've shown you all of the ingredients you'll need, and exactly what you'll need to do to prepare them. Now you should be ready to get cooking!
If you're looking for more KFC popcorn chicken recipes (and many others) that taste just like the real thing - then you should take a look at http://www.replica-recipes.net - It's the best resource you'll ever found for learning the jealously-guarded secret recipes of your favorite restaurants. You really will not be able to tell the difference between these "exact replica" recipes and the real thing - plus you can make them all easily and cheaply from the comfort of your own home! Click Here to go there now.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Malinda_Grace
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