The Four Natural Enemies of Olive Oil

A high-quality extra virgin olive oil is a must-have staple in many kitchens, partly because its delicious flavor and versatile nature allow it to be used in countless ways. For starters, extra virgin olive oil is perfect in homemade salad dressings, on roasted vegetables and as a key ingredient in a wide range of recipes.

In addition to tasting great, olive oil is also good for you. Naturally low in saturated fat, it is a healthy alternative to butter, margarine and many other oils. Versatility, great taste and a healthy profile make it easy to see why many cooks and chefs always have a bottle close at hand.

What many people do not realize about olive oil, however, is that it is actually a perishable fruit juice with some finicky preferences. This mean proper care and precautions must be taken in order to keep your olive tasting and smelling the way it should.

The Four Natural Enemies of Olive Oil

1. Time. Because it is a perishable fruit juice, olive does not have an unlimited shelf life. Try to choose bottles with a clearly marked “harvest date” and make sure that date occurred within the last 18 months to 2 years. It is also recommended that you only buy as much olive oil as you can use within 15 – 30 days of opening.

2. Temperature. Heat will cause olive oil to degrade quickly. Therefore, do not store your olive oil near your oven or cooktop because the higher ambient heat in those areas will cause it to break down faster.

3. Oxygen. Like a fine wine, exposure to oxygen for any length of time will cause your olive oil to turn rancid. To prevent this, store your olive oil in an airtight container with the lid securely fasten whenever it is not in use.

4. Light. Exposure to light will also cause olive oil to degrade more quickly. Avoid storing your olive in clear bottles or out on your counter tops. Dark green bottles are the best for blocking out sunlight, but other dark bottles will also work. Storing bottles inside a cabinet when not in use can also prolong the life of your olive oil. A cool, dark place is your best bet to prolong the life of your oil.

Avoiding the four natural enemies of olive oil will keep it fresh and full of flavor for a longer period of time. With a little bit of effort, you can preserve the delicious natural flavors of your quality olive oils.

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Kitchen Seasonings: A Quick World Tour

Herbs, spices and other seasonings are a natural and healthy way to add a lot of flavor to your recipes without adding a lot of extra calories. With a little practice, you can create an endless variety of delicious recipes, such as Mediterranean-inspired favorites bursting with the fresh flavors of lemon, garlic and rosemary and spicy Mexican dishes featuring cilantro, cumin and chili powder.

Of course, your options won’t end there. A wide range of herbs, spices and seasonings are used throughout the world to make food taste better, and in some cases, last longer. Over time, certain flavors have come to represent the culinary identity of the areas where they originated. In large part, the seasonings you choose will define the direction of your own culinary development, as well.

With a little creativity, you can put a fresh spin on some of your favorite tried-and-true recipes by simply swapping out the herbs, spices and seasonings you use. For example, if you add fresh or dried basil or oregano to diced tomatoes, chopped onion and finely minced garlic, you have the makings of a wonderful red Italian pasta sauce. On the other hand, if you replace the basil and oregano with cilantro and lime juice, those same ingredients become the foundation for a fabulous homemade salsa recipe.

To help inspire you, the following chart shows some of the most popular culinary ingredients based on geographic region.

Most Popular Kitchen Seasonings From Around the World

Cuisine: Popular Herbs, Spices & Seasonings

Italian
basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, parsley

French
thyme, French tarragon, rosemary, basil, sage, mint, marjoram

Greek
dill, lemon, oregano, fennel

Spanish
saffron, smoked and regular paprika, rosemary, thyme

German
mustard, rye, caraway seeds, borage

Mexican
cilantro, chili powder, cumin, Mexican oregano

Indian
curry powder, coriander, cumin, turmeric

Chinese
five-spice powder, star anise, fennel seed, cloves, cinnamon, ginger

Thai
Thai basil, cumin, turmeric, lemon grass, cinnamon

Of course, this chart is far from comprehensive, but it can serve as a good reference point for assembling your own collection of must-have herbs, spices and seasonings.

Keep in mind, some herbs, spices and seasonings, such as salt, black pepper and garlic, have an almost universal appeal that isn't limited by geographic borders. Chances are you will notice those items popping up in recipes from all over the world. As a result, you may want to keep an adequate supply of these basic ingredients in your own pantry or spice rack.

You will also see a lot of crossover among dishes from countries that border one another. For example, French, Italian, Greek and Spanish dishes often feature many of the same herbs, such as basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme. Of course, this isn't surprising when you consider how these populations interacted with and melded together over the course of history. Depending on your personal tastes and cooking habits, these ingredients may be good to keep on hand, as well.

While assembling your own collection of herbs, spices and seasonings from around the world, remember you can save money by growing your own. Fresh herbs are super easy to grow from seed or from cuttings in your own garden and many can be brought indoors for year-round enjoyment. However, if growing fresh herbs isn’t your thing, many popular fresh and dried varieties are readily available. Dried herbs can be a great alternative to fresh, but take note of expiration dates and suggested storage methods. Dried herbs, spices and seasonings can be quite expensive, so buy smaller amounts at one time if you won’t be using them often.

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Quick and Easy Recipe Dishes for Daily Cooking

Every time we wake up in the morning we start to think about what the day will bring. Among the things that you will think about is work, your job, the commute to the office, your deadlines, and what to eat for breakfast. Yup, food is one of things that come to mind. It is only natural. You need something to fire you up for the rest of the day. There are several quick and easy dishes intended for daily cooking that you should learn yourself if you want to become independent from the unhealthy breakfasts beings served in fast food joints.

Let’s begin with some easy breakfast dishes. If you have several leftover potatoes from your dinner the previous day, you can eat if for your breakfast. What you do is pan fry the potatoes after you have already chopped them into bite sized pieces. You should add onions and some pepper to taste. Allow the potatoes to fry until a little crisp on the sides. This is a good, full breakfast meal. You can side it off with a serving of side salad and being washed down by a fruit shake or smoothie.

Or create your own sandwich. You can experiment with whatever slices of ham, sausages, or even leftover chicken or turkey. You can try using English muffins as your sandwich bread to make it a little different. Add egg and cheese to your filling including some tomatoes, romaine, mayo, mustard and ketchup. If this breakfast sandwich won’t keep you going the whole day, or just until the next meal which is lunch.

Beef pitas can be quite good for a lunch meal. Get some ground beef out of your fridge. You mix it with some yogurt, mustard, and bell pepper. You stuffed your pita with this mixture and you’re done. You can pack and bring this to your office.

If you’re fed up with sandwiches and even pitas for lunch, you can always go with some ramen. You can cook it in a microwave. It is fast and quite tasty. To make it heavier, you can always add some chicken, turkey or beef leftovers in it. And to have a healthier approach, avoid using the seasonings provided in the package. Try to make your own. You can easily make something out from lemon pepper and/or chili powder. Some soy sauce or even oyster sauce might do the trick.

If you’re a little bit weight conscious, you can pack some tuna pasta or tuna salads. All you need are some greens, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, olive oil, and maybe some nuts or cranberries, and tuna. Just mix everything up, add some pepper if you like it and munch away. You can replace tuna with turkey or chicken. You have a good and fulfilling lunch right there.

You can have pasta as well. Prepare a sauce from pesto add some cheese and spicy Italian sausages and voila. Combine with some bread and you’ll survive until dinner.

If you have time before you go to work, you can already prepare some burger patties for a dinner meal. Your patties can be made from pork, turkey, or chicken mixed with breadcrumbs. Add some salt and pepper to taste and you’ll have pretty tasty burgers on your plate. Grill or broil the patties and serve with sauce, mustard or ketchup.

You see if you know some quick and easy recipes for daily cooking, you won’t go hungry. Plus you will have variety and you and your family will enjoy more of your every day meals.

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WHAT MAKES AN IDEAL KITCHEN

It is a mistake to suppose that any room, however small and unpleasantly situated, is “good enough” for a kitchen. This is the room where housekeepers pass a great portion of their time, and it should be one of the brightest and most convenient rooms in the house; for upon the results of no other department depend so greatly the health and comfort of the family as upon those involved in this ‘household workshop’.

Every kitchen should have windows on two sides of the room, and the sun should have free entrance through them; the windows should open from the top to allow a complete change of air, for light and fresh air are among the chief essentials to success in all departments of the household. Good drainage should also be provided, and the ventilation of the kitchen ought to be even more carefully attended to than that of a sleeping room. The ventilation of the kitchen should be so ample as to thoroughly remove all gases and odors, which, together with steam from boiling and other cooking processes, generally invade and render to some degree unhealthful every other portion of the house.

There should be ample space for tables, chairs, range, sink, and cupboards, yet the room should not be so large as to necessitate too many steps. Undoubtedly much of the distaste for, and neglect of, “housework,” so often deplored, arises from unpleasant surroundings. If the kitchen be light, airy, and tidy, and the utensils bright and clean, the work of compounding those articles of food which grace the table and satisfy the appetite will be a pleasant task.

It is desirable, from a sanitary standpoint, that the kitchen floor be made impervious to moisture; hence, concrete or tile floors are better than wooden floors. Cleanliness is the great desideratum, and this can be best attained by having all woodwork in and about the kitchen coated with polish; substances which cause stain and grease spots, do not penetrate the wood when polished, and can be easily removed with a damp cloth.

The elements of beauty should not be lacking in the kitchen. Pictures and fancy articles are inappropriate; but a few pots of easily cultivated flowers on the window ledge or arranged upon brackets about the window in winter, and a window box arranged as a jardiniere, with vines and blooming plants in summer, will greatly brighten the room, and thus serve to lighten the task of those whose daily labor confines them to the precincts of the kitchen.

The kitchen furniture.
cooking purposes.

One of the most indispensable articles of furnishing for a well-appointed kitchen, is a sink; however, a sink must be properly constructed and well cared for, or it is likely to become a source of great danger to the health of the inmates of the household. The sink should if possible stand out from the wall, so as to allow free access to all sides of it for the sake of cleanliness. The pipes and fixtures should be selected and placed by a competent plumber.

Great pains should be taken to keep the pipes clean and well disinfected. Refuse of all kinds should be kept out. Thoughtless housekeepers and careless domestics often allow greasy water and bits of table waste to find their way into the pipes. Drain pipes usually have a bend, or trap, through which water containing no sediment flows freely; but the melted grease which often passes into the pipes mixed with hot water, becomes cooled and solid as it descends, adhering to the pipes, and gradually accumulating until the drain is blocked, or the water passes through very slowly. A grease-lined pipe is a hotbed for disease germs.

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5 Commandments Of Cooking Healthy Meals

Cooking healthy for your family is important for everyone. Not only will you be eating healthy meals, but your children will learn a lot from eating healthy. They will get to experience healthy foods that they may have not even tried before, or wanted to. They will learn how to cook healthy meals so that they can pass down this tradition to their own children in the future. They will also come to enjoy healthy meals better than junk or foods that are bad for them.

Cooking healthy meals for your family will give everyone the energy they need for a full day, give them better concentration and focus, and help them do well in life. This will not deprive your family in any way. You will all be getting the proper nutrients you need without completely passing on all treats. Eating healthy is important for your health not just now, but for the future as well. Studies have shown that eating healthy can help to reduce the risks of various ailments, heart disease, stroke, and many cancers. You can help your family lead a healthier life by cooking healthy meals.

Guidelines For Healthy Cooking

1) Use Plenty of Fruits And Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are often overlooked in today?””s diet. However, fruits and vegetables are very important because they have vitamins, minerals and even antioxidants to keep you healthy, strong and help you fight illnesses. It is important to use fresh ingredients when cooking. Do not overcook your vegetables, as this will take out some of the nutritional value of them. Consider serving your vegetables raw or just blanch them (boil for about 5 minutes). Kids will especially love blanched veggies because it brings out their colors and makes them a little bit softer. Blanching doesn?””t take out nutrients because you are only boiling them for 5 minutes. Just wait for the water to boil and place the veggies in. Put them on ice after the 5 minutes to stop the cooking process. You may also want to serve fruits with dinnertime as well. Most people don?””t and that is why most people don?””t get enough fruit in their daily diet. Serve a fruit and veggie with each meal.

2) Stick To Lean Meats And Fish: Lean meats and fish are an important part of your diet. However, too much meat can actually cause health problems. This is why adding fish to at least two meals a week can increase your health. Lean meats are better for you because they have less fat and sometimes less cholesterol than the other meats. Look for lean meats in your grocery store. Don?””t be afraid to experiment with different types of fish: salmon, tuna steaks, haddock, cod, etc. Fish has important fatty acids that are excellent for your body and mind.

3) Watch The Fat You Use: Try to wean off of real butter and other fatty foods. If you must use real butter remember that just one tab of it a day is enough no more. There are other options to choose from than just butter or lard. Add some of these items to your kitchen and your meals: olive oil, avocado, vegetable oil, butter spread made from olive oil, etc. You can also try using spices for your meals instead of fats. Try balsamic vinegar on your salad instead of salad dressing, or vinegar and olive oil. These can make great alternatives to other fatty foods.

4) What You Drink Counts Too! Do not forget about what you drink. As adults, we tend to not pay any attention to what we choose for beverages. A simple can of soda can have a lot of calories, sodium, sugar, and more in it. It doesn?””t really matter if it is diet or not. It is still unhealthy. Cut down on drinks like soda, juices, coffee, and tea. You can healthily have coffee and tea about two times a day that?””s two cups a day, especially if you use sugar and cream. Try using lemon in your tea instead of honey or sugar. The best thing to drink is water. Always try to choose water over any other drink. Kids should not have more than two cups of juice a day because of the sugar. Make sure they get water everyday and you too!

5) Treats In Moderation Are Ok: This is not a fad diet. This is a lifestyle change for you and your family. Yes, you can have treats in moderation. Have something every once in a while.

Are you ready to give healthy cooking a try? Start by getting your free menu planning basics report now at:http://www.menuplanningcentral.com

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Compare Famous Filipino Food Recipes

Compare Famous Filipino Food Recipes at WWW.Lutong Bahay.com byWebDotcom LocalSeo

Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike who love to cook can now try out and comparefamous Filipino food or “??pagkaing Pinoy”?? recipes. They can access and download any of these Filipino food recipes online quickly and easily at the www.lutong bahay.com website from anywhere in the world with a working internet connection. The website should be differentiated from lutong pinoy.com. The www.lutong bahay.com website is more of an active community of food lovers where Filipinos and non-Filipinos can gather to create new friendships, reunite with old friends and learn more about cooking.

Specify any of the dishes that belong to Filipino lutong bahay foods and you can most probably find it at www.lutong bahay.com. Pilipino cuisine is presented beautifully to be appreciated and enjoyed by everyone. The free recipes are made even more attractive with pictures from the Philippines. Pinoy breakfast recipes, viands or lutong ulam recipes and snacks or merienda recipes can be found in the website.

People around the world know Filipinos to be true lovers of good food and eating. In fact, even the simplest Filipino celebration is always marked by a lot of festive food. It is only logical, therefore, that there are a lot of Filipino dishes under Filipino or Pinoy cooking. Generations of families have regularly used and improved on these Philippine or Pilipino foods recipes through the years. This has given rise to many versions of traditional recipes and new spin off dishes. There are even cookbooks that contain only the many variations of the adobo dish. In fact, anyone who wants to really compare the many Filipino dishes can try to cook a different dish for the three meals of every day and will still need several months to go through all the dishes.

“??Mga lutong bahay”?? and “??lutuing bahay”?? are Filipino phrases that mean home cooked food while “??mga lutong Pinoy”?? and “??lutong Pilipino”?? mean Filipino cooking. The very best healthy and easy Filipino foods recipes are found in the online collection of lutong bahay free recipes or lutong Pinoy free recipes from the Philippines. Different combinations of regional specialties such as Ilocano, Pampanga, Tagalog and Visayan foods, dishes and recipes can enliven any lutong Pinoy menu. Busy cooks can still tackle traditional Filipino recipes using the Mama Sita recipes that feature ready mixes.

An exciting menu can include dishes like the ever popular Batangas bulalo recipe of Batangas province; the pancit chami recipe which is a fiesta mainstay in Lucena, Quezon; and the pigar pigar recipe of carabao meat from Dagupan, Pangasinan. They can be accompanied by vegetable recipes such as sinigang sa bayabas, sinigang sa miso, ginisang togue and a saluyot recipe.


Filipino food recipes made from fish and seafood are recommended for people who have health issues that prohibit too much intake of pork, beef and chicken. These dishes include seafood kare kare recipe, the popular sweet and sour lapu – lapu recipe, the Spanish sardines recipe, the rellenong pusit recipe, the ginataang tilapia recipe and the crab Maritess recipe. While the ginataang tilapia recipe seems to taste best when cooked in a palayok or earthen pot, this need not be required.

The free Filipino recipes at www.lutong bahay.com also include a Jollibee style spaghetti recipe and a siopao sauce recipe as well as a hopia recipe, a sylvanas recipe and the best ube chiffon cake recipe. Instead of the recipes of sweets, fresh fruits can also be chosen, such as the sweet lanzones from the upcoming Lanzones Festival 2010 on the third week of October.


Lutongbahay.com
Website: www.lutongbahay.com
Lutongbahay.com is an interactive cooking portal site that highlights regional Filipino food recipes.

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Delicious, Yet Healthy Meals

by Stacey Day

Mention organic foods to a room full of people and chances are a majority of them will turn up their noses, expecting for the food to be revolting. Why is this? Why do many individuals automatically assume that just because food is organic that it doesn’t taste just as good as non-organic? Well, one reason why people do this is they simply aren’t educated about what exactly organic food is. Organic food is food that was grown and/or processed without any artificial chemicals or additives.Organic food is usually more flavorful, has more vitamins and minerals, as well as enzymes, which help you to properly digest the food that you eat.


Non-organic foods could actually do more harm than good. The amount of pesticides and other chemicals that are on the outsides of regular produce is astronomical. Even if rinsed prior to consumption, this type of produce still harbors a large amount of harmful chemicals, which can build up in the body and cause various problems. And let’s not forget meat. Lots of people love meat, but non-organic meat is often injected with harmful antibiotics and hormones while the animal is still alive. And why do farmers do this? Well it’s the same reason why others do so many other things that could be potentially harmful to people: Money. The farmers’ rationale is that they inject the cattle and other animals being raised for meat, to prevent any type of disease. They can’t sell diseased meat to supermarkets. Their reason for using hormones on the animals is to get them to mature a lot faster, which creates a quicker turnaround for the farmer. But what happens when we eat this meat, laden with these unnatural products in them? Well, the antibiotics can cause the people who eat the animals that contain them on a regular basis to become antibiotic resistant. This means that when they contract an illness requiring the treatment of antibiotics that the medication that their doctor prescribes may not work because their body has built up a resistance to the particular drug. This could be extremely dangerous, depending on the type of illness a person contracts.

The hormones that are injected into cows, pigs, chickens, etc. can cause people to have hormonal imbalances, and can even affect thyroid functioning. So why take a chance with your body? Organic may be more expensive, but it’s worth the cost.

Stacey Day writes about Gourment.org Coupons, cooking Coupons code and Kitchen products

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A Pasta Meal in a Flash, Quick and Easy Recipes

Pasta meals are pretty easy to cook. The pasta itself just needs to be placed in boiling water and can be cooked in 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the type of pasta of course. And while the pasta is boiling you can already prepare your desired sauce, whether it may be tomato based, pesto or cream based, you can be finished in now time. You can have a pasta meal in a flash, provided you know what you’re doing.

To those experienced in the kitchen, this kind of meal is easy to make. But to the novices might still find pasta a little daunting or troublesome. One thing that you should watch out when cooking pasta is the noodles. You need to test every now and then to see if the noodles are done. The pasta cooks pretty quickly and leaving it too long can result to soggy noodles.

Avoid placing the pasta when the water is not yet boiling. This will help prevent the pasta from becoming all mushy, soft and sticky. Also, keep the water at a boil at all times. You can help make the pasta firmer if you add salt into the boiling water. Note that you should not cover the pot when you already placed the pasta. When the pasta is done, take it off the boiling water. The pasta will continue to cook if you leave it there. With that, one half of your pasta meal is done. The other half would be the sauce.

The good thing about pasta is having several choices for sauces. Actually, at some point you will be stomped on what kind of sauce to make due to the varieties. If you’re a pasta person then having a couple of sauces stored in your refrigerator would be the best ways to go. If you have pesto, you can use that to sauce your pasta. Add additional garlic, some mushrooms or even Italian sausages and topped with cheese and you can have a good meal.

Bottled or canned sun-dried tomatoes can go well with pasta. I always try to have some sun-dried tomatoes ready since you can just pour it over your pasta and voila! A tomato based pasta without the traditional tomato sauce and pastes. Top with grated cheese and partnered with bread and you can have a fulfilling meal in no time.

If you want a cream-based sauce, just prepare some sliced olives, cream, oregano and grated cheese. Mix the cream, olives and oregano together with your pasta and finish off with grated cheese on top. A simple cream-based pasta but can be quite joyous to the palette.

Olive oil is also a staple sauce for pasta and can be quite easy to use as well. You can mix olive oil with canned seafood or slices of meat or sausages to create a sauce for your pasta. You can add basil for flavor and don’t forget the grated cheese. If you want to experiment, try adding spicy flavored meat or canned seafood. Spicy pasta may not be for everyone but still a good dish in my account.

A pasta meal in a flash is really just that. In a span of 15 to 20 minutes you would have already prepared a good, hearty meal of pasta in either tomato, cream or olive-based sauce. It is a quick meal that I personally won’t get tire off.

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Eating your Tofu, Quick and Easy Recipes

Tofu is one of the healthier foods that you should incorporate in your diet. It is low in cholesterol and calories yet it is high in protein and vitamins. Also known as bean curd, tofu is often used in soups. It is quite easy to prepare and with some quick and easy recipes you can have a meal with tofu any day in the week.

You can pan fry it, add to it salads, combine it with meat, fish, and even make it info sandwich fillings. There are a lot of things that you can do with your tofu. For one, you can prepare it as a dip for your crackers and chips. All you need is to add sautéed garlic and onion to tofu, blend in a food processor and add some salt and pepper to taste. Make sure that you remove as much water as you can from the tofu, first before you mix them all up. This is a very healthy dip which you can use for snacks and even for parties.

In recent years, more and more people are becoming acquainted with tofu and loving it, if I might add. Tofu sales in the supermarket have been on a steady increase. Tofu is a good substitute for meat protein because compared to meat it contains more protein and less cholesterol. And with a lot of new recipes to cook tofu, you won’t get tired of it.

Tofu dishes are often quite tasty because every seasoning or ingredient will stand out. Tofu in itself is not very tasty. So with even very little seasonings, you can create quite a tasty tofu dish. You just need to know how to prepare them. You can easily put square tofu on top of a dish but its not really the best way to prepare tofu.

One dish that is quite easy to make is combining tofu with mushrooms. You will need large mushrooms for this one since you will be stuffing the hollowed part with tofu. Prepare the tofu stuffing by adding green onions, crushed garlic, a little bit of soy sauce, a little bit of oyster sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Once you’re done stuffing the mushroom, you bake the lot not more than 15 minutes. This is quite a treat.

If you want something to spice up your meal, a chili tofu dish might do the trick. What you do is marinate cube tofu in a bowl of chili powder mixed with soy sauce and garlic. After marinating for 15 minutes or so place the tofu along with the marinade in a heated pan with olive oil. Cook the tofu until they are crispy on the sides. To get that excess oil out of the tofu, placing them on a kitchen towel should do the trick.

You can of course combine your tofu dish with other combinations. Lamp, burger, crab meat, potatoes, noodles and even rice would go perfect with your tofu dishes.

You can even make a tofu burger. All you need is to mix tofu with flour to form the patties and fry on a pan or grill. You can add ketchup and mustard afterwards. If you want to be fancy, adding barbecue sauce would be great as well. These are just a few of the quick and easy recipes for your tofu dishes which you can make.

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DIFFERENT WAYS TO COOK RICE

Rice needs to be thoroughly washed. A good way to do this is to put it into a colander,  in a deep pan of water. Rub the rice well with the hands, lifting the  colander in and out the water, and changing the water until it is clear; then drain. In this way the grit is deposited in the water, and the rice left thoroughly clean.
The best method of cooking rice is by steaming it. If boiled in much water, it loses a portion of its already small percentage of nitrogenous elements. It requires much less time for cooking than any of the other grains. Like all the dried grains and seeds, rice swells in cooking to several times its original bulk. When cooked, each grain of rice should be separate and distinct, yet perfectly tender.

Steamed rice.
————-
Soak a cup of rice in one and a fourth cups of water for an hour, then add a cup of milk, turn into a dish suitable for serving it from at table, and place in a steam-cooker or a covered steamer over a kettle of boiling water, and steam for an hour. It should be stirred with a fork occasionally, for the first ten or fifteen minutes.

Boiled rice (japanese method).
——————————
Thoroughly cleanse the rice by washing in several waters, and soak it overnight.  In the morning, drain it, and put to cook in an equal quantity of boiling water, that is, a pint of water for a pint of rice. For cooking, a stewpan with tightly fitting cover should be used. Heat the water to boiling, then add the rice, and after stirring, put on the cover, which is not again to be removed during the boiling. At first, as the water boils, steam will puff out freely from under the cover, but when the water has nearly evaporated, which will be in eight to ten minutes, according to the age and quality of the rice, only a faint suggestion of steam will be observed, and the stewpan must then be removed from over the fire to some place on the range, where it will not burn, to swell and dry for fifteen or twenty minutes.
Rice to be boiled in the ordinary manner requires two quarts of boiling water to one cupful of rice. It should be boiled rapidly until tender, then drained at once, and set in a moderate oven to become dry. Picking and lifting lightly occasionally with a fork will make it more flaky and dry. Care must be taken, however, not to mash the rice grains.

Rice with fig sauce.
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Steam a cupful of best rice as directed above, and when done, serve with a fig sauce. Dish a spoonful of  the fig sauce with each saucer of rice, and serve with plenty of cream. Rice served in this way requires no sugar for dressing, and is a most wholesome breakfast dish.

Orange rice.
———–
Wash and steam the rice. Prepare some oranges by separating into sections and cutting each section in halves, removing the seeds and all the white portion. Sprinkle the oranges lightly with sugar, and let them stand while the rice is cooking. Serve a portion of the orange on each saucerful of rice.

Rice with raisins.
——————-
Carefully wash a cupful of rice, soak it, and cook as directed for Steamed Rice. After the rice has began to swell, but before it has softened, stir into it lightly, using a fork for the purpose, a cupful of raisins. Serve with cream.

Rice with peaches.
——————
Steam the rice and when done, serve with cream and a nicely ripened peach pared and sliced on each individual dish.

Browned rice.
————-
Spread a cupful of rice on a shallow baking tin, and put into a moderately hot oven to brown. It will need to be stirred frequently to prevent burning and to secure a uniformity of color. Each rice kernel, when sufficiently browned, should be of a yellowish brown, about the color of ripened wheat. Steam the same as directed for ordinary rice, using only two cups of water for each cup of browned rice, and omitting the preliminary soaking. When properly cooked, each kernel will be separated, dry, and mealy. Rice prepared in this manner is undoubtedly more digestible than when cooked without browning.

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ABC OF SOUP MAKING

Lean, juicy beef, mutton, and veal, form the basis of all good soups; therefore it is advisable to procure those pieces which afford the richest succulence, and such as are fresh-killed. Stale meat renders them bad, and fat is not so well adapted for making them. The principal art in composing good rich soup, is so to proportion the several ingredients that the flavour of one shall not predominate over another, and that all the articles of which it is composed, shall form an agreeable whole. To accomplish this, care must be taken that the roots and herbs are perfectly well cleaned, and that the water is proportioned to the quantity of meat and other ingredients. Generally a quart of water may be allowed to a pound of meat for soups, and half the quantity for gravies. In making soups or gravies, gentle stewing or simmering is incomparably the best. It may be remarked, however, that a really good soup can never be made but in a well-closed vessel, although, perhaps, greater wholesomeness is obtained by an occasional exposure to the air. Soups will, in general, take from three to six hours doing, and are much better prepared the day before they are wanted. When the soup is cold, the fat may be much more easily and completely removed; and when it is poured off, care must be taken not to disturb the settlings at the bottom of the vessel, which are so fine that they will escape through a sieve. A tamis is the best strainer, and if the soup is strained while it is hot, let the tamis or cloth be previously soaked in cold water. Clear soups must be perfectly transparent, and thickened soups about the consistence of cream. To thicken and give body to soups and gravies, potato-mucilage, arrow-root, bread-raspings, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice, or oatmeal, in a little water rubbed well together, are used. A piece of boiled beef pounded to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and rubbed through a sieve, and gradually incorporated with the soup, will be found an excellent addition. When the soup appears to be  too thin  or  too weak , the cover of the boiler should be taken off, and the contents allowed to boil till some of the watery parts have evaporated; or some of the thickening materials, above mentioned, should be added. When soups and gravies are kept from day to day in hot weather, they should be warmed up every day, and put into fresh scalded pans or tureens, and placed in a cool cellar. In temperate weather, every other day may be sufficient.
Various herbs and vegetables are required for the purpose of making soups and gravies. Of these the principal are, Scotch barley, pearl barley, wheat flour, oatmeal, bread-raspings, pease, beans, rice, vermicelli, macaroni, isinglass, potato-mucilage, mushroom or mushroom ketchup, champignons, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, turnips, garlic, shalots and onions. Sliced onions, fried with butter and flour till they are browned, and then rubbed through a sieve, are excellent to heighten the colour and flavour of brown soups and sauces, and form the basis of many of the fine relishes furnished by the cook. The older and drier the onion, the stronger will be its flavour. Leeks, cucumber, or burnet vinegar; celery or celery-seed pounded. The latter, though equally strong, does not impart the delicate sweetness of the fresh vegetable; and when used as a substitute, its flavour should be corrected by the addition of a bit of sugar. Cress-seed, parsley, common thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, winter savoury, and basil. As fresh green basil is seldom to be procured, and its fine flavour is soon lost, the best way of preserving the extract is by pouring wine on the fresh leaves.
For the seasoning of soups, bay-leaves, tomato, tarragon, chervil, burnet, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, black and white pepper, essence of anchovy, lemon-peel, and juice, and Seville orange-juice, are all taken. The latter imparts a finer flavour than the lemon, and the acid is much milder. These materials, with wine, mushroom ketchup, Harvey’s sauce, tomato sauce, combined in various proportions, are, with other ingredients, manipulated into an almost endless variety of excellent soups and gravies. Soups, which are intended to constitute the principal part of a meal, certainly ought not to be flavoured like sauces, which are only designed to give a relish to some particular dish.

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THE CHEMISTRY AND ECONOMY OF SOUP-MAKING

Stock being the basis of all meat soups, and, also, of all the principal sauces, it is essential to the success of these culinary operations, to know the most complete and economical method of extracting, from a certain quantity of meat, the best possible stock or broth. The theory and philosophy of this process we will, therefore, explain, and then proceed to show the practical course to be adopted.
As all meat is principally composed of fibres, fat, gelatine, osmazome, and albumen, it is requisite to know that the fibres are inseparable, constituting almost all that remains of the meat after it has undergone a long boiling. Fat is dissolved by boiling; but as it is contained in cells covered by a very fine membrane, which never dissolves, a portion of it always adheres to the fibres. The other portion rises to the surface of the stock, and is that which has escaped from the cells which were not whole, or which have burst by boiling. Gelatine is soluble: it is the basis and the nutritious portion of the stock. When there is an abundance of it, it causes the stock, when cold, to become a jelly. Osmazome is soluble even when cold, and is that part of the meat which gives flavour and perfume to the stock. The flesh of old animals contains more osmazome than that of young ones. Brown meats contain more than white, and the former make the stock more fragrant. By roasting meat, the osmazome appears to acquire higher properties; so, by putting the remains of roast meats into your stock-pot, you obtain a better flavour.

Albumen is of the nature of the white of eggs; it can be dissolved in cold or tepid water, but coagulates when it is put into water not quite at the boiling-point. From this property in albumen, it is evident that if the meat is put into the stock-pot when the water boils, or after this is made to boil up quickly, the albumen, in both cases, hardens. In the first it rises to the surface, in the second it remains in the meat, but in both it prevents the gelatine and osmazome from dissolving; and hence a thin and tasteless stock will be obtained. It ought to be known, too, that the coagulation of the albumen in the meat, always takes place, more or less, according to the size of the piece, as the parts farthest from the surface always acquire that degree of heat which congeals it before entirely dissolving it.
Bones ought always to form a component part of the stock-pot. They are composed of an earthy substance, to which they owe their solidity, of gelatine, and a fatty fluid, something like marrow. Two ounces of them contain as much gelatine as one pound of meat; but in them, this is so incased in the earthy substance, that boiling water can dissolve only the surface of whole bones. By breaking them, however, you can dissolve more, because you multiply their surfaces; and by reducing them to powder or paste, you can dissolve them entirely; but you must not grind them dry. Gelatine forms the basis of stock; but this, though very nourishing, is entirely without taste; and to make the stock savoury, it must contain osmazome. Of this, bones do not contain a particle; and that is the reason why stock made entirely of them, is not liked; but when you add meat to the broken or pulverized bones, the osmazome contained in it makes the stock sufficiently savoury.

In concluding this part of our subject, the following condensed hints and directions should be attended to in the economy of soup-making:

Beef makes the best stock. Veal stock has less colour and taste; whilst mutton sometimes gives it a tallowy smell, far from agreeable, unless the meat has been previously roasted or broiled. Fowls add very little to the flavour of stock, unless they be old and fat. Pigeons, when they are old, add the most flavour to it; and a rabbit or partridge is also a great improvement. From the freshest meat the best stock is obtained.

If the meat be boiled solely to make stock, it must be cut up into the smallest possible pieces; but, generally speaking, if it is desired to have good stock and a piece of savoury meat as well, it is necessary to put a rather large piece into the stock-pot, say sufficient for two or three days, during which time the stock will keep well in all weathers. Choose the freshest meat, and have it cut as thick as possible; for if it is a thin, flat piece, it will not look well, and will be very soon spoiled by the boiling.

Never wash meat, as it deprives its surface of all its juices; separate it from the bones, and tie it round with tape, so that its shape may be preserved, then put it into the stock-pot, and for each pound of meat, let there be one pint of water; press it down with the hand, to allow the air, which it contains, to escape, and which often raises it to the top of the water.

Put the stock-pot on a gentle fire, so that it may heat gradually. The albumen will first dissolve, afterwards coagulate; and as it is in this state lighter than the liquid, it will rise to the surface; bringing with it all its impurities. It is this which makes the scum. The rising of the hardened albumen has the same effect in clarifying stock as the white of eggs; and, as a rule, it may be said that the more scum there is, the clearer will be the stock. Always take care that the fire is very regular.

Remove the scum when it rises thickly, and do not let the stock boil, because then one portion of the scum will be dissolved, and the other go to the bottom of the pot; thus rendering it very difficult to obtain a clear broth. If the fire is regular, it will not be necessary to add cold water in order to make the scum rise; but if the fire is too large at first, it will then be necessary to do so.
When the stock is well skimmed, and begins to boil, put in salt and vegetables, which may be two or three carrots, two turnips, one parsnip, a bunch of leeks and celery tied together. You can add, according to taste, a piece of cabbage, two or three cloves stuck in an onion, and a tomato. The latter gives a very agreeable flavour to the stock. If fried onion be added, it ought, according to the advice of a famous French chef, to be tied in a little bag: without this precaution, the colour of the stock is liable to be clouded.

By this time we will now suppose that you have chopped the bones which were separated from the meat, and those which were left from the roast meat of the day before. Remember, as was before pointed out, that the more these are broken, the more gelatine you will have. The best way to break them up is to pound them roughly in an iron mortar, adding, from time to time, a little water, to prevent them getting heated. In their broken state tie them up in a bag, and put them in the stock-pot; adding the gristly parts of cold meat, and trimmings, which can be used for no other purpose. If, to make up the weight, you have purchased a piece of mutton or veal, broil it slightly over a clear fire before putting it in the stock-pot, and be very careful that it does not contract the least taste of being smoked or burnt.

Add now the vegetables, which, to a certain extent, will stop the boiling of the stock. Wait, therefore, till it simmers well up again, then draw it to the side of the fire, and keep it gently simmering till it is served, preserving, as before said, your fire always the same. Cover the stock-pot well, to prevent evaporation; do not fill it up, even if you take out a little stock, unless the meat is exposed; in which case a little boiling water may be added, but only enough to cover it. After six hours’ slow and gentle simmering, the stock is done; and it should not be continued on the fire, longer than is necessary, or it will tend to insipidity.

Note. It is on a good stock, or first good broth and sauce, that excellence in cookery depends. If the preparation of this basis of the culinary art is intrusted to negligent or ignorant persons, and the stock is not well skimmed, but indifferent results will be obtained. The stock will never be clear; and when it is obliged to be clarified, it is deteriorated both in quality and flavour. In the proper management of the stock-pot an immense deal of trouble is saved, inasmuch as one stock, in a small dinner, serves for all purposes. Above all things, the greatest economy, consistent with excellence, should be practised, and the price of everything which enters the kitchen correctly ascertained. The theory of this part of Household Management may appear trifling; but its practice is extensive, and therefore it requires the best attention.

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