Food Blurb: Herbs and Spices: Name the Sexy Spices

These herbs and spices are credited with spicing up your sex life: saffron, fenugreek, fennel, cloves, garlic, nutmeg, and basil. The Italians refer to basil as the “grass of kisses”. Perhaps for Valentine’s Day or any romantic occasion, you should get your beloved a basil plant.

Many #herbsandspices are considered #naturalaphrodisiacs. They are often used to awaken desire and passion. Can you name the sexy spices? ~ https://t.co/boPIC2W7yK pic.twitter.com/FV5utkeWpx

— EverydayExoticSpices (@EverydaySpices) January 26, 2019

Source: Virily.com

Fenugreek Improves Sexual Performance in Men

In the study, 54 men with an average age of 41 were enrolled and divided into two groups. Twenty-seven of the men received twice-daily doses of 300 mg of fenugreek combined with 17 mg of magnesium, 15 mg of zinc and 5 mg of pyridoxine (the brand name of the fenugreek used in the study is Testofen).

Fennel - a source of estrogen and vitamin C - Eat Something Sexy

As an aphrodisiac, fennel is noted as more useful to women than men. You see, it is notably high in phytoestrogens, natural estrogen-like chemicals found in plants. In fact, in the 1930's, it was considered as a possible source for synthetic estrogen. Throughout history, fennel was linked with healthy circulation, improved vision and inflammation reduction.

The Benefits of Garlic for Men - Eat Something Sexy

Garlic is widely recognized as a health food. This relative of onion is a source of a surprising number of vitamins and minerals for something delivered in such a small package. The benefits of garlic include magnesium, selenium and vitamin C. And all of these nutrients are considered essential to sexual health.

"An Experimental Study of Sexual Function Improving Effect of Myristica Fragrans Houtt. (Nutmeg.)"

Nutmeg is a spice which has been used traditionally to treat male sexual disorders, such as erectile dysfunction. A study in rats demonstrated the ability of an alcohol extract of nutmeg to increase male libido and potency. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the sexual effects of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), it's side effects and toxicity.

Daily Basil Consumption Can Enhance Libido In Men - By Dr. Rahul Gupta | Lybrate

Basil leaves are small plants commonly eaten as fresh vegetables and has a distinctive aroma. Besides as fresh vegetables basil leaves benefits turned out to be one kind of food that can arouse sexual desire of men or so-called aphrodisiac substances.

Green Leafy Vegetables : On a Roll With Escarole

Made a New Year's Resolution to eat more green leafy vegetables.  Been doing pretty good too!  It's September and this is, I confess, the only resolution I have managed to keep.  However, there is one green leafy vegetable I have yet to try.  So I collected some recipes.

Escarole a.k.a. common chicory, broad chicory, or Batavian endive, is a vegetable that I recently discovered can be cooked in a variety of delicious recipes.  Here is my collection.  

How about you?  Are you an escarole lover?  If you have more please feel free to share in the comments.

Escarole and Bell Peppers With Olive Oil

• By MARK BITTMAN
  New York Times Diner’s Journal
  ”This classic braised escarole dish, which uses a series of techniques that can be applied to almost any green vegetable, relies on a hefty amount of garlic and olive oil, which are added both at the beginning and at the end of cooking, the final additions to freshen and intensify flavors.”

: Escarole and Beans

• By: KristaP: "This is a creamy concoction of escarole and beans. It's rich, and it's divine! It's also best served with a warm crusty Italian bread."
  

: Fettuccine with Escarole and Brie

• Food & Wine's Grace Parisi use of escarole and brie in this recipe is masterful.
  

: Escarole Sausage Soup

• "I’m a fan of escarole. It’s a crunchy green with a bit more heft than lettuce, and it makes a great salad: on it’s own simply dressed or tossed with 10 other things to make a grand main course salad. In my heart though I’m a cooked greens fan, always. I like escarole cooked up with garlic in my Standard Cooked Greens Recipe: garlic oil heat cleaned cooking green: apply together and you have a great side dish or taco stuffing." –Julia

: Escarole Siciliano

• By: Tammy
  "This lemony salad is served hot from the wok. Escarole is a bitter green, but can be less so when grown shielded from the sun. In general, lighter green leaves indicate a milder flavor. Thinly sliced tomatoes are a great accompaniment. This recipe can be doubled. For a larger party, cook in batches."

* * *  So many fabulous ways to enjoy this vegetable.  If these recipes are not enough there are lots more Escarole OR Endive Recipes.  * * *  

Food Blurb: Five (5) healthy and holistic ways to get more energy

 Five (5) healthy and holistic ways to get more energy: 

1. Water-hydration 

2. Exercise (a brisk walk – really!) 

3. Super Foods 

4. Detox Green Smoothies 

5. Aromatherapy 

SOURCE: Lynnis Woods-Mullins, PraiseWorks Health and Wellness, www.praiseworks.biz

♦  Related Posts At This Blog:

• When You Say 'Eat Healthy', I Think 'Eat Salad'

• 100 Healthiest Foods ~ Is Your Favorite Food on the List?

• Do You Know What Gives You Energy?

♦  Twitter Accounts to Follow:

Carrot Halwa or Gajar ka halwa, is a delicious dessert made with grated carrots, milk, sugar, cardamom and almonds. This is a healthy and light dessert from North India, which we have made in the Instant Pot.https://t.co/xmqGiLuo9M pic.twitter.com/asaWhzKYb7

— Meeta (@pipingpotcurry) July 16, 2021

Summer keeps rolling along here at Food52, and the latest episode of Sweet Heat, with Rick Martinez, is no exception. Today he's sharing his shrimp summer rolls with three different tasty sauces (one is peanut, one is sweet & sour, one is a spicy hoisin): https://t.co/WcuPxZ9AlW pic.twitter.com/ah1NNqyHhK

— Food52 (@Food52) July 16, 2021

Pad Thai - Juicy king prawns and tiny little shrimp all fried together with rice noodles in a sweet and spicy sauce. ?￰ﾟﾍﾤ?￰ﾟﾍﾜ#padthai #streetfood #noodles

⁠https://t.co/Y9cOyhUZDF pic.twitter.com/nVxnvKIt9p

— Kitchen Sanctuary (@KitchenSanc2ary) July 15, 2021

Box Cake Mix or Cake From Scratch - Throw Down!

American TV personality Martha Stewart is the richest and most famous housekeeper/homemaker divas in the world.  Various reports put Ms. Stewart's occupation “Businesswoman”.  It should say “Phenomenal Businesswoman par Excellence”.  In 2011, Forbes.com reported her net worth at $638 million; and in 2017, it was $970 million.

Image found on Pixabay.

On her Martha Bakes TV series, Ms. Stewart teaches you how to make all sorts of wonderful culinary delights, especially cakes, from scratch.

Jill Nystul, not as well-known as Ms. Stewart, but a diva in her own right, shares her tips on how to enhance a basic cake mix and turn your efforts into Crave-Worthy Cakes.

Stewart versus Nystul?
I'm in Nystul's corner.  ♥

Others Who Agree With Nystul: Related Articles:

* * *

Food Wishes Video Recipes: Grilled Hoisin Beef – Not Necessarily Mongolian (Reblog)

From Food Ways to Food Wishes. It's not that far. 👉

Chef John has been active on Blogger since 2007. He publishes Food Wishes Video Recipes, a wonderful food blogger and vlogger who likes to share a wide variety of recipes from A to Z, from African cuisine to Vegetables and Weekend Fillers. (No Video Category for the letters X, Y, and Z. But close enough!)

Over 200 food preparation "how to" videos and recipes for Vegetables, Appetizers, and Sauces; over 100 videos for Cooking Tips and Techniques, meat (Beef, Chicken, and Pork plus Seafood and Cheese); and specialties like Spicy food and Italian Cuisine. And of course, there's Dessert. You can find so much more because he has made the blog very easy to search.

Below is the cooking video that led me to his blog. I love hoisin sauce. Do you?

♦ ♦ ♦

GrilledHoisin Beef Recipe - Grilled Beef Skirt Steak with Hoisin Glaze |Food Wishes

• Food Wishes Video Recipes: Grilled Hoisin Beef – Not Necessarily Mongolian (Reblog)

* Also sharing the links to two other blog posts. One post I'm sharing because in my opinion a party is not a party without great appetizers. The other post I'm sharing because I heart pomegranates and because I've never seen a non-red pomegranate. Have you?

Let's Get This Party Started Right - Announcing a New Appetizer Category!

Let's Get This Party Started Right - Announcing a New Appetizer Category!

Just in time for your New Years party planning; I've added a new video category for Appetizers . Many of the videos I've previously done wi...

Back By Popular Demand...The Secret Underwater Pomegranate Trick

Back By Popular Demand...The Secret Underwater Pomegranate Trick

I already ran this video demo a long time ago, but when my mother sent me a photo of some "Sweetheart" pomegranates (below right), I thought...

♦ ♦ ♦



👉 After you finish visiting with Chef John at Food Wishes, follow these links to some interesting and fun food history and trivia about the pomegranate and the other pomegranate.  Enjoy!

My Foodie Luv First Food Experiences: Veggie Burger

Veggie burgers look like burgers but they don't contain meat. Do you remember the first time you ate a veggie burger?

Can you remember your first veggie burger experience? I can remember mine. I ran away!  Me? Eat a meatless burger? I think not!

I was working at a state hospital and there was a small restaurant open for breakfast and lunch. Most of the employees and managers ate there. On a certain day of the week, the owner’s special was soy burgers. The burgers looked delicious! I would have eaten it too if she (the owner/manager) had not casually mentioned before I was about to order that it was a meatless burger.

I’m like: No beef! It’s a hamburger with no meat! Forget about it!

She laughed at my reaction and told me that so many people would order those soy burgers that she would run out of them. She never had enough to serve all the customers. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would have thought she was just kidding me. But she wasn’t kidding! Her customers really loved those veggie burgers. But I wasn’t convinced.

Fast forward about 10 to 15 years later and for personal reasons, major dietary changes had to be made for the sake of a certain family member. I found myself not having to choose whether I would eat a veggie burger, but what kind of veggie burger was I going to eat? Oh my! There are only thousands of recipes and several brands in the store that you can buy ready-made.

Me personally, I like veggie burgers made with mushrooms. They at least have a “meaty” taste. Several years have passed and now I’m perfectly OK with eating veggie burgers. Of course, they don’t taste like a hamburger. But they don’t taste nearly as awful as I imagined that they would. I don’t know what I was thinking when I worked at the state hospital. After all veggie burgers are made out of foods I usually eat anyway: beans, chickpeas, mushrooms, nuts, oats. The only difference is they shape those foods into a patty to make it look like a burger. Duh!

It’s so true. You eat with your mind. LOL.

Do you have a favorite veggie burger?

The 12 Best Veggie Burger Recipes | The Spruce Eats

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Like to know about some of my other “First Food Experiences”?

• Bagels

• Eggplant

• Baked Potato Topping

• Roasted Pig (Lechòn)

• Zucchini Muffins

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Content published elsewhere on the web.

Recipe Sharing: Chinese Pork Pies (Guest Post)

The Chinese do such wonderful things with pork.  Like Chinese Pork Pies.  Here's the recipe published via Taste.com.mt.  

(Apologies.  This recipe was found on Noise.Cash, a social platform that no longer exists.  After diligent research via the Internet I found the content published elsewhere and corrected the link.)

INGREDIENTS

400g pork sausages, casings removed

4 spring onions (shallots), thinly sliced

2 teaspoons Chang‘s Pure Sesame Oil

1 1/2 teaspoons ground star anise

125ml (1/2 cup) warm water

50g lard or butter

300g (2 cups) cake, biscuit & pastry plain flour (see note)

1 tablespoon warm water, extra (optional)

1 egg, lightly whisked

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Tomato chutney, to serve

Watercress sprigs, to serve

METHOD

Step 1

Place the sausage meat, spring onion, sesame oil and star anise in a bowl. Use your hands to knead until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.

Step 2

Stir the water and lard or butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes or until the lard or butter melts. Place the flour in a food processor. Season with salt. Add the water mixture and process until the mixture comes together, adding the extra water if necessary. Transfer to a clean surface and quickly knead until smooth.

Step 3

Preheat oven to 180oC. Divide the pastry into 2 portions, one slightly larger than the other. Roll out the larger portion until 2-3mm thick. Use an 11.5cm round pastry cutter to cut 6 discs from the pastry. Line six 80ml (1/3 cup) muffin pans with the discs. Divide the sausage mixture among the lined pans, pushing the mixture into the side of each pan. Roll out the remaining pastry until 2-3mm thick, re-rolling the excess pastry if necessary. Use a 9.5cm cutter to cut six discs from the pastry. Place the discs on top of the pork mixture and crimp the edges to seal.

Step 4

Bake the pies for 30 minutes or until they start to brown. Transfer to a baking tray. Brush the tops with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool. Serve with the chutney and watercress sprigs.

* * * 

Tomato, Peach and Whipped Ricotta Salad (Guest Post)

Wouldn't you love to serve this tomato, peach and whipped ricotta salad?  Here's the recipe.  Here's where you can find more awesome recipes like this one:  Everything About Food | Noise.Cash.

(Apologies.  A link to the original post was provided but the social platform (Noise.Cash) shut down and the content was unpublished.)

After a diligent search, I found the recipe republished via Taste.com.au.

* * * * *

Credit to original source: Found on https://noise.cash/.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

400g tomato medley mix, halved

2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced

3 yellow peaches, stones removed and discarded, cut into thin wedges

375g fresh ricotta

3/4 cup plain Greek-style yoghurt

1 small garlic clove, crushed

1/4 cup pistachio and thyme dukkah, plus extra to serve

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

METHOD

Step 1

Whisk vinegar and oil in a large bowl until well combined. Season. Transfer 1 tablespoon of mixture to a small bowl and reserve. Add tomatoes and peaches to large bowl. Gently toss to combine.

Step 2

Process ricotta, yoghurt, garlic and dukkah in a food processor until well combined. Season.

Step 3

Spread ricotta mixture over base of a large serving platter. Drain tomato mixture, discarding liquid. Arrange over ricotta mixture. Top with basil and extra dukkah. Drizzle with reserved vinegar mixture. Serve.