Cooking Tips

Even if you’ve never baked before, the rewards of home baking are within your reach. Many recipes for baked goods aren’t at all difficult. Plum-Good Coffee Cake is a prime example. The coffee cake is a good way to add more fruit servings to your diet for breakfast, brunch or a late-night snack and, best of all, it’s easy to make.
For success, start by gathering all the ingredients and equipment. Let the butter sit at room temperature until it’s soft. This makes it easier to beat the butter with the sugar so they take in air and form a fluffy, creamy mixture. Adding cold eggs to the creamed butter and sugar could harden the butter again and make the batter curdle. To prevent this, take the eggs out of the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before you use them or put them in a bowl of warm water while you’re assembling the other ingredients.Low speed on the mixer helps keep the flour mixture from flying in the air. Because overbeating the flour could toughen your cake, beat just until the batter is smooth. Use a rubber scraper or spoon to add half of the fruit by hand. Be gentle to avoid crushing the plums.In about half an hour from the time you pop the pan into the oven, you’ll have a cake you can proudly serve to family and friends. Nobody has to know how simple it was to bake!
Plum-Good Coffee Cake
1 (9-inch) cake or 8 servings
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar  4 eggs  1 teaspoon vanilla  1 cup all-purpose flour  1 teaspoon baking powder  1/2 teaspoon pumpkin piespice  1 1/2 cups diced fresh plums(about 8 oz.)  Confectioners’ sugar, optional  In small mixing bowl at medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Stir together flour, baking powder and spice. Add flour mixture to egg mixture. Beat at low speed until smooth. Fold in 3/4 cup of the plums. Pour into lightly greased 9-inch round cake pan or quiche pan. Top with remaining plums.
Bake in preheated 375 F oven until lightly browned and top springs back when lightly touched with finger, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. Cut into wedges. Serve warm or cool.Nutrition information per serving of 1/8 recipe without sugar dusting: 283 calories, 15 g total fat, 137 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 101 mg potassium, 33 g carbohydrate, 5 g protein and 10% or more of the RDI for vitamin A, riboflavin

Alaska is famous for its wild salmon. The flavor of Alaskan salmon depends upon fat content and the environment in which it matured. Alaska’s pure waters and the abundance of natural food give Alaska salmon unparalleled flavor. Although salmon are caught in Alaska’s pristine waters year-round, fishing season in Anchorage and southcentral Alaska really heats up in late May, when the prized king salmon returns home to spawn in the area’s glacier-fed, freshwater streams. The remaining four varieties of Pacific salmon-sockeye, coho, chum and pink-are also found in the general area. Many anglers are now trying to catch what’s known as a “grand slam”-all five species of salmon. Some say an easy way to remember which kind is which is to match them up with the fingers on your hand.
Thumb-Chum salmon (Dog). The best fishing for this fish is mid-July to late August. Chum salmon have a firm texture, tempting orange-pink color and delicate flavor that makes it a perfect fish for smoking. The average weight is eight pounds and they can grow to be 25 to 27 inches long.
Pointer finger-Sockeye salmon (Red). Most available late May to early June or mid-July, sockeye salmon are the second most abundant Alaskan salmon species. This species turns from a silvery color to a bright red body and green head as they begin the journey upriver to spawn. Their average weight is six pounds and they can grow to almost three feet in length.
Middle finger-King salmon (Chinook). The best fishing for king salmon is mid-June to mid- July. The largest species of salmon in Alaska, they are prized for their color, high oil content, firm texture and succulent taste. Average weight is approximately 20 pounds and length ranges from 30 to 40 inches.
Ring finger-Silver salmon (Coho). With its orange-red flesh, firm texture and delicate flavor, cohos are very popular among locals. The best fishing for them is found in early August to mid-September. Cohos are the second largest of the species, with average weights of 12 pounds, and range from 25 to 35 inches in length.
Pinky finger-Pink salmon (Humpy). At the height of their run, millions of pinks swim up the freshwater rivers and streams to spawning grounds. Pinks are the smallest and most abundant of the species and average about two to three pounds. The best fishing for pinks takes place in mid-July to late August.

The word “percolator” has come to mean that special coffee pot that used to sit on Grandma’s stove and bubble away like mad all morning long. Typically they consist of a heat proof pot that holds the water, a long tube (like a straw) that holds a filter basket at the top. This filter is normally made of metal and holds the coffee grounds apart from the water in the main pot. Usually fairly oarsely ground coffee is used and a perforated lid is placed over the filter in order to distribute the water evenly over the grounds. As the water in the pot reached the boil, it is forced up the tube and repeatedly spilled over the grounds in the filter basket. In this way both water and the freshly brewed coffee drips back down into the hot water and over the grounds. Gradually the coffee becomes stronger as the water/coffee continues to drip over the grounds. This process continues as long as the pot is kept at the boiling point.Even though we may hold special memories of percolaters, they are not a particularly good way to make a great cup of coffee. In fact many people rank percolator coffee right beside coffee boiled directly in the water! When it is made in a percolater a number of things happen that produce a less than perfect cup of coffee.For starters, the water is overheated. Boiling water simply extracts too many of the unwanted bitter flavours in the coffee and should be avioded if possible (which isn’t possible with a percolator). Also the coffee grounds become overextracted by repeatedly passing already brewed coffee back over the grounds. Finally the boiling/percolating action of the liquid tends to release many of the desirable flavours and compounds into the air. While this does produce a wonderful aroma of fresh coffee in the house, it can often lead to flat tasting coffee.In the end, it is often best to avoid percolators if you can. There are other affordable ways of brewing great coffee, even if it may mean turning your back on wonderful aromatic memories.

Whether you are a seasoned pro when it comes to the fine art of cooking or an utter novice there should be some cooking classes or resources in your area that can help you learn and improve your existing skills. Surprisingly few people manage to utilize the many wonderful opportunities that are available to them when it comes to cooking classes.

If you are considering a cooking class you should be glad to know that many communities offer them for a nominal fee at night and sometimes on the weekend. These classes are rather basic and often designed to help women learn the basics of a few economical and healthy meals to prepare for their beginning families. If you fit the bill for this, then you should check out your local library for possible leads for these sorts of classes in your area. Even if they do not have the information available it is quite likely that they can point you in the right direction.

If you are looking for cooking classes that you can take with your children, check out your library once again for the first resource. There are also many gourmet food shops that offer cooking classes for parents to take with their children. This is a great opportunity to bond with your child while you both learn to prepare a new dish or two together. It is quite likely that you will be quite surprised by the things you can learn from your child as well as the things you can learn by simply taking the class.

For those among us who are seeking culinary experience with very specific cuisines you will have to search a little more for the perfect cooking classes in which you can achieve your goal. They do exist however, though your chances of learning Thai cooking are much greater in a larger city than in smaller towns throughout the country. If you are really interested in learning some exotic cooking techniques perhaps you should consider a vacation in which you can try out a few new cooking classes while you are there. If you prefer other things on your vacation to cooking you could make a point of attempting one basic class in the cuisine of your choice for each vacation you take. This will give you a little more than the same old souvenir to bring back from your trip and an experience that in many cases is quite memorable.

Finally, if you are looking for a romantic idea, how about signing up to take a couples cooking class? Believe it or not, these classes are often offered in both big and smaller cities. They seem to be all the rage around Valentine’s day, perhaps the hint is that the other partner in a relationship can share some of the cooking responsibility or perhaps the idea is that there is more than one way to steam up the kitchen.

Regardless of the reason for taking cooking classes they can bring not only a great deal of enjoyment to your dining room, but also increase your ease in your kitchen. If you’ve never taken a cooking class, there is no time like the present to do so. No matter how skilled you are in the kitchen there is always something that can be learned.

A food allergy is a type of immunologic reaction due to intake of certain food protein. Recent studies show that there are about twelve millions Americans who suffer from food allergies.

Shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, fish and peanuts are considered familiar causes of food allergies to older people. The younger ones usually suffer food allergies from peanuts, milk and eggs.

Currently, the only cure for people who are allergy-sensitive is to prevent intake of foods which makes them allergic or what is termed as “allergens.”  To avoid food allergy attacks, it is a must to carefully prepare the food that will be consumed by allergy-sensitive people.

At this time there are more than 200 recipes which you can cook. Many of those are free from “allergens.”

Egg-free Diet

Over-reaction of the immune system in the body when proteins from the eggs are ingested causes egg allergy.

You need to avoid prepared foods wherein albumin, egg, and other egg substitutes are present if you have allergies with egg. There are different egg substitute which you incorporate on your cooking recipe such as:

- Puree from apricot
- Plain gelatin with warm water
- Mix of baking powder, vinegar and liquid

You need to check the appropriate amount of each item before you prepare the above-mentioned substitutes.

Peanut-free Diet

All kinds of nut as well as foods that may contain “peanut protein” should be prevented for consumption if you happen to belong to people who have peanut allergies.

These days, there are a lot of peanut-free recipes you can prepare. To name a few of peanut-free recipes are: (1) SoyNut Butter Cookies; (2) Smoothie made from Super Soy; (3) Tofu Pie made from SoyNut and Banana; (4) Ginger soup; and (5) Sauce prepared from SoyNut.

It has been discovered that “soy nut” is the best substitute for food preparation which is free from peanut. A soy nut does not belong to the “nut” family since the term is coined for soybeans that are drenched and baked for a crispier taste.

Milk-free Diet

Milk allergy is an allergic response of the immune system when an individual has consumed one or more proteins acquired from cow’s milk.

If you are allergic to milk, you need not consume foods or beverages which contain milk, butter, different types of cheese, and sour creams. Some of dairy-free recipes which you may want to prepare are: (1) Potato Soup which are homemade; (2) Grilled Salmon; (3) Shrimp which is marinated then grilled; (4) Pecan snack; and (5) Spaghetti with No Red Sauce.

The complete information with regards to the recipes of some cited examples may be searched at the internet. The ingredients as well as the cooking procedures are also available through the internet. All you need to do is type in the keyword.

People who have food allergies can still taste delectable delicacies eliminating the “allergens” which triggers their allergy. The one who is preparing the food must be cautious not to include food triggers. Most importantly, there are a multitude of alternative food recipes which you can cook. The internet is a good source of recipes.

Eating should not be boring for people with food allergies. It takes a lot of creativity and resourcefulness so that you can eat the foods that you want using different food substitutes.

Most families have a hard time trying to figure out what they should be eating and what might be skipped. The problem is that most of the nutritional information out there is too hard for someone to understand. This, along with the need to save time, makes many families susceptible to making the wrong choices when it comes to food. If you see the numbers of harried moms in the drive thru line at your local fast food joint, you know what I mean. They know it’s not right, but they may have no idea how bad it really is for their children.

You should always know the nutritional information about anything you are eating. If you eat often at a certain restaurant, you should look online to see if you can find out more about what you like to have. You might be shocked to see the calories and fat grams in a simple fast food hamburger. The same hamburger made at home will probably have half of what that one has. It is partially about ingredients, and it is also a bit about how they prepare the meals. Many of these places have been put under pressure to release nutritional information, and this is making some more aware of what they are eating.

The same can be said for the foods that we buy in the grocery store. Many of the things listed with nutritional information is not what it might seem. You can see the word “juice” on a bottle of drinks, but you don’t know if that is really juice until you have read the nutritional information on the back of the bottle. Many times you can pick up these bottles to find that they only contain about ten percent fruit juice, and the rest of it is water and sugar. This is not what you want to see when you are looking for real juice.

Nutritional information is very important when you are dieting, or when there may be foods that are bothering your children. There are many preservatives that are questionable in nature, and there are some that believe these might contribute to some strange behaviors in kids. I don’t know if this is true or not, but you don’t know what is in something until you learn to decipher nutritional information. You may find some common things online, and it is a good idea to study up so you know what you are buying the next time you go to the store.

It’s hard to tell which wing sauces are better because we all have different tastes. Buffalo wing sauces are not hard to make at all. The original Anchor Bar Buffalo, NY wing sauce is said to only have five main ingredients. But with so many varieties already available and with such inexpensive price tags, there’s no reason to make them on your own. Buy a variety of wing sauces and try them all out!
If you want to have the widest selection of wing sauces, then you should go to InsaneChicken.com. They carry a VERY large catalogue of wing sauces, condiments, marinades, and barbecue ingredients that are hard to find in some retail outlets. The most popular brands include those coming from restaurants like Anchor Bar, home of the original Buffalo wings, and Hooters. They also carry brands that are extra hot or quite hard to find. Ordering is secure and convenient. Because most wing sauce products are inexpensive, you should try ordering a lot and stock up on this essential ingredient.
Wing sauces aren’t just useful for chicken wings. You can use them on any chicken part. You can even use them on ribs, pork chops and steaks. While wing sauces are typically mixed with the wings after frying, you can use wing sauces to marinate meats as well. They also make great seasonings to such viands like steak, meatloaf and various fried foods.For the best culinary experience, consider serving your chicken wings with your choice of dip. The type of dip you should serve depends on the wing sauces used. For instance, hot wing sauce calls for blue cheese, ranch and mayo dips, while sweet wing sauces go well with sour cream and onion or cheddar dips. Also, remember that fresh salsa, pickle relish or minced tomatoes go well with ANY dish.
Buffalo Wings – Fun Recipe Ideas
Buffalo wings are fun to eat. Adults and children simple never tire of them! They are also very easy to make. You can fry them, bake them or grill them. You can make your own barbecue sauce or buy prepared sauces available in grocery stores. However, if you plan on making a lot of wings and feeding a lot of people, consider buying a variety of at an online specialty sauce and condiment retailer. Below are some fun ways you can prepare wings quickly.
Wings – Coat Me Silly Ideas
Easy Wings. This dish is just perfect for those who don’t have the time to make elaborate dish preparations. Simply get your frozen wings out of the freezer and defrost them in the microwave. Afterwards, you can mix some water and the wing sauce of your choice with the wings, and boil them on the stove. After the chicken and the sauce are thoroughly cooked, simply place the wing in barbecue sticks and sear them with the flames of your gas stove. This recipe is easy and delicious.
Tender Wings – Sweet chicken barbecue that falls off the bone is simply irresistible. It’s relatively simple to make too. Just mix your favorite barbecue sauce into the chicken wings, along with paprika, brown sugar or pancake syrup. Place this in greased aluminum foil and wrap tight. Bake slowly for 3-4 hours and you’ll have mouth-watering barbecue the entire family will enjoy. Enjoy these with baked potatoes and sour cream for a delicious dinner.
Fried Wings – This is a quick barbecue recipe that tastes just as good as its grilled counterpart. Coat your chicken liberally with bottled wing sauce like Wing Time Mild Wing Sauce (for a slightly hot taste), or Jim Beam Wing Sauce (for really hot), or Spontaneous Combustion Chicken Wing Sauce (for ARE YOU CRAZY hotness). Then in a non-stick pan, melt two sticks of butter and add half a cup of olive oil. Fry your wings until brown. This goes well with cucumber salad or some great tasting salsa!

Do you want a attract a crowd of people at a party? You don’t have to tell the best stories or tell the funniest jokes. All you need to do is stand near the chocolate fountain. Adding a chocolate fountain will liven up even the dullest parties. Most people love chocolate and what better way to serve chocolate than have it flowing out of fountain. A chocolate fondue fountain is a great addition to any party.
Chocolate fondue is a great dessert to serve at small gathering but quite difficult to serve at larger parties. Now with chocolate fondue fountains, your guests can still experience the taste of chocolate covered strawberries, bananas, pineapple, pound cake or anything else they want to dunk into the delightful chocolate waterfall that flows out of the fountain. Now, chocolate fountains are becoming popular home appliances. Several companies make home versions and although the quality of these machines varies greatly, chocolate fondue fountains can now be enjoyed at your backyard gatherings or anytime you like. Most of these chocolate fondue fountains work the same way. First you melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Then you add vegetable oil to the chocolate so that it is fluid enough to be pumped through the fountain. The home appliance have small heating units that will keep melted chocolate flowing, but they aren’t hot enough for the initial melting of the chocolate.
Chocolate chips are the easiest form of chocolate to melt and use in your fondue fountain, but using a premium chocolate will make it taste even better. And for adult parties, add a splash of Grand Marnier or a fruit flavored brandy such as blackberry brandy. If you don’t have a lot of time before your party to cut up fruits and cakes for dunking, why not buy a fruit platter. Salty foods will also be a hit in the chocolate fountain. Be sure to put out pretzels and potato chips. People may be hesitant to try them at first but once they do, they’ll be hooked. Marshmallows and angel food cake are also popular. You really have a lot of options when it comes to foods to dunk in your chocolate fondue fountain. Just about anything tastes great when dunked in chocolate.
Cleanup is a breeze if your fountain is dishwasher safe but be sure to keep it running until you’re ready to clean it. Letting the chocolate cool and get hard will turn cleaning your fountain into a major chore.
A chocolate fondue fountain has always been a memorable item to have at a wedding or large party but home versions are also gaining in popularity. Once you’ve seen the attention it draws, you may even add a chocolate fountain to your next party.

What if someone asked you to name the great cuisines of the world? What would you say? French food, of course, is famous. Italians are world-renowned. Greek food has its own following. What about America? Well, what comes to mind when you hear the words “American cuisine”? Perhaps you think of the 1950’s drive-up restaurants, with milkshakes and old-fashioned hamburgers and Coney Islands dripping in mustard.  The textbook definition of cuisine is “A characteristic manner or style of preparing food.” According to that, there’s nothing more American than a hamburger, large fries, and a chocolate milkshake. That meal, served in its own greasy white paper bag, might just be the epitome of everything that is American.

American fast food chains have spread all over the world. They are a symbol of western life in far-off lands, a landmark, loved or hated, by tourists and natives alike. Even the French, who carefully monitor each word that enters their language, have allowed in “hamburger” and “hotdog” to refer to these distinctly American treasures. What exactly is so appealing about this distinctly American tradition of hot, greasy, tasty food on the run?
For one thing, fast food has a constancy about it. Every time you order a cheeseburger from a particular restaurant chain, you know what that cheeseburger is going to taste like. If someone mentions fast food french fries, you can immediately imagine the taste in your mouth and the striped paper pouch in which they arrive, complete with a layer of salt collected at the bottom and that one short, squat little fry, overdone and sharp at the edges. In a constantly changing society, it seems, Americans and others all over the world derive a real comfort from knowing exactly what they are getting. It’s the same thing they’ve been getting since childhood.
Secondly, the massive appeal of fast food comes from the fact that it is, indeed, fast. Where else but America could such a thing have developed? We’re a busy people, with multiple jobs and deadlines and kids and responsibilities, and knowing that we can pick up pre-cooked, steamy hot food in a bag and bring it home to satisfy hunger with minimum fuss is definitely appealing. You technically don’t even need to dirty your silverware.

It may be unhealthy, and it may be expensive, and it may be contributing to the decline of Americans sitting down to dinner together every night. But let’s face it- like the gas-gobbling SUVs we love to drive, Americans have a dichotomy of love and hate with most of the things they’ve created. And fast food, in all of its greasy glory, is here to stay.Besides, sometimes it’s a wonderful thing to be able to overcome your guilt, forget about your arteries for just a minute, and buy yourself a burger. And maybe even super-size it. After all, it’s the American way.

Thank goodness for the lowly blue crab. What would our epicurean lives be without this deliciously savory crustacean. Yet often they do not get the respect they deserve. These small bluish crustaceans are harvested from the mid Atlantic region crab fishery in Chesapeake Bay to Florida and along the Gulf states as far west as Texas. In its scientific name, calli is Greek for “beautiful”, nectes for “swimmer”, and sapidus is Latin for “savory”. Most crabs, except the luxurious King Crab, live out their meek and humble lives in the shadow of the lobster, the king of seafood. Yet for those in the know, that is ok because that just means more for us, right? Seriously, where would ‘imperial’ be without blue crab meat and delicious ‘Maryland Style’ be without tender and tasty blue crabs? Ah yes, many nights spent in bittersweet joy, after having your fill at the dinner table with those lowly crustaceans. Slurping, picking and dipping those juicy morsels through butter, old bay, or whatever seasonings you prefer, all the while feeling so sorry for those pitiful crabs that get no respect. Some will say that they hate to pick out the meat because it is so much work for very little crab meat. Well in a way their complaint is justified. Typically the blue crab will yield only 10% to 15% of it’s body weight in crab meat. The crabs grow by molting or shedding their shell and growing back a larger one. Just prior to molting, the crab will be encased in both the soft, new shell which is forming underneath the hard old shell. The formation of a new shell is evident along the margins of the swimming paddles of a crab. The crab is referred to as a “peeler” or “shedder”. Immediately after the molt, the crab’s new shell is soft, pliable and easily stretched. At this time the crab would be referred to as a “soft shelled crab”. Many crab lovers will only eat a soft shell, which is simply a delightful dish when lightly tossed in flour and pan fried.
Types of Crabmeat
•Lump is from the largest pieces of meat from the body, adjacent to the backfin and is the most expensive form of crabmeat.
• Backfin is the white body meat including lump and large flakes and is used for crab cakes and crab imperial.
• Special are flakes of white body meat other than lump and is used for crab cakes, soups, dips and casseroles.
• Claw meat is brownish meat from the claws and is best for dips and soups.

Some more Blue Crab facts:
• Callinectes sapidus means “Beautiful swimmer that is savory”.
• Crabs reach maturity in 12 to 18 months.
• Few crabs live longer than 3 years.• The largest crab recorded from Maryland was a male measuring 9 inches; however bigger crabs (10-11 inches) have been captured.
• The annual harvest of hard crabs from Chesapeake Bay accounts for over 50% of total U.S. landings.
• Cannibalism of young blue crabs by larger crabs is common and may regulate population abundance.
• A spring-spawned crab can reach a size of 2½ inches by their first winter.
Serve and enjoy blue crabs at your next party or cook-out and guarantee yourself the adoration of an appreciative group of seafood lovers.