Showing posts with label cooking tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking tips. Show all posts

Monday, June 30, 2025

Four (4) Uncommon Cooking Ingredients Explained (Guest Post)

Below is a short explanation of four (4) uncommon cooking ingredients and how to use them in cooking. 


1.  Clear Jel is a refined cornstarch that reacts better for freezing and canning recipes in particular; cornstarch tends to go cloudy in these situations. Clear Jel is used in the same proportion of cornstarch (1:1) in baking recipes. Like traditional cornstarch and the health store alternatives - arrowroot and potato powder, etc. - this product needs to be combined with the sugar (or flour) called for in the recipe prior to adding to any other ingredients in order to reduce clumps from forming.

2.  Sea salt is healthier than regular table salt; the fact that it requires less processing means it also has a smaller ecological impact. It is a natural source of iodine, which, along with other nutrients, is essential for a healthy sex life. A local herbal consultant once told us that sea salt can also be used in place of Epsom salts in your bathwater.

3.  Tamari is considered to be less salty than soy sauce and is often stocked in health food stores. You can find low-salt versions of both tamari and soy sauce. Tamari sauce, however, has enzymes that aid digestion and promote healthy intestinal bacteria.

4.  Orange Zest, citrus zest or citrus powder are all terms referring to a similar product - to simplify we personally call it 'citrus zest'. It is used to bring out other flavors and to condition flour. Chop lemon, orange or lime peel and allow to dry (or use a dehydrator) - turn this into a powder using a blender or grinder, and store in the cupboard as you would any spice or herb. 1 Tbsp of fresh zest is equal to 1 tsp. of dried; while 1 Tbsp of fresh zest is equal to 6 Tbsp. juice. As such, this one ingredient in the cupboard offers more ways of reducing grocery costs.  Making your own citrus zest at home is a fantastic way to move toward a more frugal kitchen, while reusing "waste" (the peels). 

Now that you know more about these ingredients, hopefully, it will give you the confidence to use them in your kitchen.


AUTHORS:  Lillian and her husband Dave are the team behind Brummet Media Group, high-fiving cheerfully as they pass each other on the way from checking off one item or other from their long to-do list. Their business includes Dave's music studio and percussion accessory products and graphic design work, as well as popular blogs and numerous award-winning non-fiction books

(Original Source: EzineArticles.com, republished with permission.)

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Use of Spices Explained for Foodies by Chris Donald (Guest Post)

To make the food good and very palatable, you will need to use the spices as well as various condiments. These spices will make the food more appealing, and for sure, there is no way that you can eat food that is bland and non-spicy.

The herbs and spices that need to be added to the food to make it tasty will be based on two things, and these are the freshness of spices as well as the proper quantity.



A proper mix or proportion is very important for the addition of spices. Most of the spices come in the powdered form or in the leaf form.


The compatibility of spice with certain types of food is a must-know. You should know which spice to use with which food. This operates on the same principle as the wine does, which is that you should know what wine to serve with what kind of food.

There is no sure-shot method of the quantity that can be used in the food. Your help for the quantity is the online food sites, as well as recipe books available all over. Make sure that you do not add more spices because more is generally not acceptable, but less is acceptable.

If you are reading the recipe books, they generally tend to border on the more commercial side of things, which means the quantities and styles are more over the top. You may need to use your own estimate for the home-cooked food.

To keep the freshness intact of the spices, make sure that you buy the good brands which have good packaging as well as make sure that once you have opened them that you seal them properly to retain the flavor and the aroma.

  • Article Credit:
Donald, Chris "Use of spices explained for foodies." Use of spices explained for foodies. 17 Feb. 2009. uberarticles. 8 Dec 2012 <uberarticles.com/food-and-drink/use-of-spices-explained-for-foodies/> (archived copy).

Suggested spice storage products:







Friday, September 6, 2024

Foodie Friday : Pesto Around the World

Going to take aim at pesto for my foodie Friday topic.  Another wonderful delight for enlivening salads, adorning sandwiches, dressing pasta … you name it! Always sing the praises of salsa. This time, doing a song and dance routine for pesto.

Hear the word pesto and one usually always thinks Italian. Right? But different cultures have their own version of pesto. Africa. Mexico. Australia. This link is an awesome foodie find! Not only does it tell you the main ingredients in everybody's version but it introduced me to a new word. Permaculture”.

Preserving With Pesto – It’s Not Rocket Science




Preserving With Pesto - It's Not Rocket Science




Wheatgrass Pesto Recipe | inSpiral


Wheatgrass Pesto Recipe | inSpiral

Here is a quick recipe for Raw Wheatgrass Pesto, using our premium, organic, raw super food powder. This will m ake your taste buds go wild! Adds a good dose of vitality to any diet. Made in a blender there is virtually any preparation to do! Just the way we like it!

Mexican Pesto Recipe by emilie_ 1 - Key Ingredient



Thai Basil Pesto


Thai Basil Pesto

This one's for my Thai lovers. But before I even start talking Thai basil pesto, I feel moved to have a little rant about how much I love Thai food. It's like an instant exotic vacation right in my kitchen.

Raw Macadamia Pesto | Vegan Semi-Dried Tomato Pesto | The Blender Girl


Raw Macadamia Pesto | Vegan Semi-Dried Tomato Pesto | The Blender Girl

This raw vegan semi-dried tomato and macadamia pesto is super easy and seriously delicious. Just throw everything into your food processor.

African Blue Basil and Lavender Pesto


African Blue Basil and Lavender Pesto

Combine all ingredients, except cheese, in bowl of food processor. Process, adding additional oil or water, until desired consistency is reached. Stir in cheese. Use immediately or store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. (Tip: pesto can also be frozen in ice cube trays.)

Chimichurri Pesto Sauce - Culinary Envy


Chimichurri Pesto Sauce - Culinary Envy

Chimichurri Pesto Sauce combines Italian parsley, cilantro and basil with jalapeño and parmesan cheese. It is vibrant, nutty and tangy. Perfect for pasta. I will never forget the first time I tried Chimichurri Sauce. It was at my incredibly talented friend Bibi's home. She had me over for dinner and prepared the most mouth-watering steak.



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Content first appeared at Persona Paper on July 27, 2015.


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Thursday, August 15, 2024

World Cuisine: Four (4) Nigerian Dishes You Must Try (Guest Post)

Nigeria is regarded as the largest black country in the world, having over 150 million citizens and over 250 ethnic groups, with 3 major ones. Each ethnic group has some peculiar cuisines associated with it. Below are some of these foods and how to prepare them.  This article explores some mouth-watering Nigerian cuisines you should try.



1. Ofada rice with stew: Ofada is a small town in the South-Western part of the country. Its residents are known to be rice farmers, hence the rice grown is named after the town. This rice is brownish in colour and sold across the country.

Ingredients: 2 and a half cups ofada rice, 5 cups water, 1 tsp. vegetable oil (optional), 1 tsp. Salt.

Direction to cook includes heat up the 5 cups of water in a pot till it boils, rinsing the rice thoroughly with cold running water and pouring it into the pot of boiling water. Add salt and oil. Thereafter, cook for 35 minutes or until it's ready (soft to eat).

2. Pounded yam and melon soup (egusi): This delicacy is also known among the southwestern Yoruba people. The ingredients for 2 servings include 1 tuber of yam, 2 cups of ground melon, fresh tomatoes, fresh pepper, 1 medium-sized ice fish, Palm oil, onion, stock cube, 1 tsp of salt, 1 small bunch of ugwu leaf.

Directions to cook: Peel, wash, and boil the yam till it's well-cooked. Pound in a mortar with a pestle, mould into balls, and set aside. Add a little water to ground egusi in a pot to form a thick paste with blended pepper, onion, and tomatoes. Stir the mixture and allow it to cook before adding palm oil. Pour in some water to lighten the soup if too thick, stock cubes, salt to tast,e and your fried ice fish. Finally, add chopped ugwu leaf and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Serve pounded yam and egusi soup.


Afang Soup:  Yemisi Ogbe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3. Afang soup
is eaten by the Efikis/Ibibio people of Nigeria. This soup has a bit of a bitter taste, but highly nutritious and tasty.

Ingredients are Smoked fish, beef or assorted meat, ground crayfish, periwinkle (optional), Afang Leaves (dry or fresh), Water leaves (Alternatively, lamb lettuce or Spinach), Palm oil, Stock cubes, Fresh pepper or ground dried pepper (to taste), and salt to taste.

Directions to cook: wash and cut Afang leaves, pound or blend them, and set aside. Then, slice the water leaves and set aside. Cook until tender the assorted meat, smoked fish, or beef and stockfish with chopped onions, one stock cube/seasoning cube, and salt to taste. Then clean the dried fish in hot water, remove the bones to avoid choking while eating, and add the fish to the pot of cooked meat. Add the Palm oil, pepper, ground crayfis,h and stock cube to the pot. Mix well and then add periwinkles (if you are using any). Add salt to taste. Cover the pot and leave to boil for about 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, add the Afang leaves, leave to simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, and then add the water leaves. Afang soup is ready to be served hot with Starch, Pounded Yam, Wheat meal, Eba, Fufu, Semolina, and Amala.

4. Tuwo shinkafa is popular throughout the northern parts of Nigeria. It is a unique dish consisting of rice flour or soft, short-grained rice and water.

Ingredients: 1 cup white rice (non-parboiled) and 3 cups water

Directions to cook: Wash the non-parboiled rice in a pot. Add water to the rice and let it cook till the water is dry and very soft. Next, using a wooden spoon, mash the rice against the edges of the pot to bring the rice together. Stir and mash continuously until it forms one nice lump. Tuwo Shinkafa is often served as an accompaniment to various soups and stews such as egusi, miyan Kuka, miyan taushe, and stew for overall nutrition.



Original Source: "Nigerian Foods, Tips and Cooking" by Olaniyan Taibat (no longer published online)

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RELATED LINKS:

Friday, February 23, 2024

Salt is Beautiful

Salt is so commonplace that we tend to take it for granted. It is much more than just a food seasoning. People have very interesting ways in which they use it. Despite the fact that many say it’s bad for your health, it’s not really all that bad.

This seasoning is invaluable to our daily lives and it has amazing health benefits. It also has a spiritual application. Jesus likened His disciples to “the salt of the earth”.

No doubt in my mind. Salt is beautiful.



#1 Salt in History

#2 Salt in Peaceful Protest

#3 Salt in Health

#4 Too Much Salt is Not Good

#5 Salt Sampler


#6 Salt Shakers


Click to continue viewing “More Salt LUV” 
#7 Jada Chicken Salt is Becoming Popular
#8 Salt in Therapy
#9 Salt Lamps Make Great Gifts
#10 Vegan Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream

Friday, July 14, 2023

Foodie Friday : Let's Do Sushi! Keep It Kosher!

Determined to make your own sushi? The four ingredients listed below are considered the "basic sushi essentials".

  1. Gari, thinly sliced and pickled ginger.
  2. Wasabi, aka Japanese horseradish
  3. Nori, dried seaweed used to wrap the sushi roll
  4. Sushi rice, a Japanese rice that is sticky and short-grained.

Got these tips from Bani Grill. Great basic information to get started. But beyond this point? Uuuhh ... Let's go together.




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"Revolutionizing the way you eat sushi."

Starting with:
KOSHER SUSHI











Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Cooking Tips : No Need For a Special Diet to Use Ingredient Substitutes

Whether you believe eggs are good or bad, at least there are egg substitutes, in case you run out of eggs.



Imagine.
It's a holiday. 🎄
You're preparing a scrumptious meal. 
Many of the recipes require eggs. 
But! You run out of eggs! 
PANIC!! 
All the grocery stores are closed because ... it's a holiday! 
Can't borrow from the neighbors because every egg they have is CRITICAL!!  They're celebrating the holiday too.  

What do you do? 😨


This food chart (below) was made for vegans. But you don't have to be on a special diet to use cooking ingredient substitutes or alternatives.

By the way.  If this doesn't convince you to keep a ready supply of applesauce and tofu on hand, nothing will!  



Top 9 Plant-Based Egg Substitutes For A Healthy Diet



Similar links of Interest:

Za’atar is a spice mix or a spice blend used in Arab and Israeli cuisines. It is used in recipes the same way Westerners use salt.


Sure many recipes are tradition! But if you won’t eat a dish because of that one vegetable that you just don’t like, then go ahead and substitute the veggie for the one you do like! It’s OK. That’s not illegal!





Friday, April 1, 2022

Foodie Nuggets: Red Pepper Flakes Are a Secret Ingredient

Lidia Bastianich is an award-winning TV chef.  Her specialty is Italian food.  She says that the “secret ingredient” in Italian recipes is RED PEPPER FLAKES.  I did not know that.  I have tried to cook Italian food and never thought to add red pepper flakes.  Although I do sprinkle it on my pizza. 


I don't usually have red pepper flakes in my spice cabinet.  If you don't happen to have any, here are 6 alternatives or substitutes.

1. Ground cayenne pepper

2. Ground habañero pepper

3. Paprika 

4. Chile de Arbol powder

5. Hot sauce (Tabasco OR Sirachi)

6. Chili powder

REF:  Substitute For Red Pepper Flakes: 6 Fantastic Alternatives

Fortunately, I usually have Paprika OR Chili powder on hand.  

What about you?









Friday, February 18, 2022

Inexpensive Meals: Lentils are Hearty, Healthy and a Small Bag Can Feed a Crowd

LEBANESE RECIPE: Mujaddara

I did not start eating lentils until I got married back in the 70s. It was never served in my mom's house. I learned how to cook them because my husband liked them. I usually seasoned them with smoked turkey and added diced carrots, onions, and celery. Learned that lentils are a common dish in the Middle East. They are legumes and they come in different colors: black, brown, red, and yellow. They can not be eaten RAW. Also, you don't have to soak them before cooking.


Mujaddara is a dish of cooked lentils together with groats, generally rice, and garnished with sautéed onions.

Mujadara is served across the Middle East in various forms and goes by differing names, depending on where you are. It has many spelling variations: mujadarra, mujadarah, majadra, mejadra, moujadara, mudardara, and megadarra.”

The good thing about lentils is that they are very inexpensive and one small bag (16 oz.) can make a big pot to feed a lot of people.



Original source

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

The Ratio of Dry and Fresh Herbs (Guest Post)

Herbs are expensive to buy, but because they take so little space, they are also really easy to grow your own. If you purchase fresh herbs from the grocery store, you can extend the life of any fresh cut herb by wrapping the stems in a damp paper towel and place the entire bunch inside a bag for refrigeration. To deal with the excess before it goes bad, you can chop, add a little oil and freeze 1 tsp. or 1 tbsp. blobs on a sheet, and then bag for use later.

You can also dry herbs. Wash and remove leaves from the stem, simply place on a paper towel over a cooling rack, or use a dehydrator tray. Place where the air is warm and there is less light (sunlight will reduce the essential oils). Once dry, store in repurposed clean jars in a dark cupboard. If you are drying large amounts, keep the bulk of it in whole leaf form and only lightly grind the amount meant for storage in the kitchen cupboard.

Dry herbs? Fresh herbs? The answer is: either. The ratio of replacing dry herbs with fresh herbs goes like this:

  • 1 tsp. dry herb = 1 Tbsp. fresh herb

However - IF the dry herbs are older than 2 years, increase the ratio to:

  • 2 tsp. dry herb = 1 Tbsp. fresh herb

Some herbs such as bay leaf, parsley and cilantro, become quite mild after dehydrating, so cooks often double the amount:

  • 1 leaf = 2 leaves
  • 1 tsp. = 2 tsp.

If herbs have accidentally been ground into a powder, this fine flour is now more concentrated and this is the ratio:

  • 1 tsp. fine ground dry herb = 1 Tbsp. dry herb


Hope you find these cooking tips useful!



AUTHORS:  Lillian and her husband Dave are the team behind Brummet Media Group, high-fiving cheerfully as they pass each other on the way from checking off one item or other from their long to-do list. Their business includes Dave's music studio and percussion accessory products and graphic design work, as well as popular blogs and numerous award-winning non-fiction books. 
Visit the Brummets @: http://www.BrummetMedia.ca



Original Source


Friday, August 20, 2021

Foodie Friday : Little Things Shares Delightful Recipes and Cooking Tips

LittleThings is a website/platform that serves as home to a myriad group of content creators. The publishers don't just share info about food, but that's where my interests lie. Celebrate your inner chef!


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Some people make a meal just eating appetizers.  Try these bruschetta recipes.  I could eat a plate full.



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When the season changes to fall or winter, do you always look for pumpkin and squash recipes?  I do!



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Bought my son a waffle iron for Christmas once.  He used it at first and then became bored.  These recipes are proof that he simply lacked creativity and cooking inspiration.





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We all know pasta is comfort food.  But isn't a pasta dish quick to make?  Sure!  Some are.  But some pasta meals can be cooked in the slow cooker and you'll be glad you took the time.



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Most of my friends say they don't bake bread because they don't have time.  Wonder if they ever tried baking bread in a jar?



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You can use this dessert recipe to celebrate Easter and if you don't celebrate that holiday, then celebrate Spring!  It's dessert!  Surely you can come up with an excuse to eat cake!



Hope you enjoy these recipes.

Friday, July 16, 2021

Foodie Friday : Edible Flowers

From time to time I randomly choose food topics, publish posts and tag them “Foodie Friday”. I have been doing research on edible flowers and that's what this Foodie Friday post is about.

When I was a child we (my sibling, my friends, and me) ate the hibiscus flowers that grew in the front yard of my childhood home. Don't know why but the thought never occurred that there were lots and lots of edible flowers. Then one day I was watching a TV cooking show. It was Rachel Ray. She made this dish, garnished it with flowers, and pointed out that the flowers were not just for decoration. You could eat them! Part of me was happy and wondered what they tasted like. The other part of me was sad because the food was just so pretty. I hated to destroy the work of art. 


Anyway. The more I explore, the more I find. A fellow food lover who contributes articles to an online writing community where I have been a member for almost 10 years, published a list of 25 Flowers You Can Eat. At the end of the article, she shared a link and I made an amazing foodie discovery: Crystallized Flowers. The recipe is so simple. You don't have to be a professional baker or pastry chef and you can decorate all kinds of desserts with them.
  • ImPORTaNT CooKING TiP: Use organic flowers that have not been sprayed with pesticides. 
I am very pleased with the progress of my research project. Hope you are happy with my findings as well.



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