Dress Up With STRAWBERRY

We eat with our eyes first and our mouths next. For this reason, the presentation of a dish is just as important as it's taste. Preparing a strawberry garnish is just as simple as slicing strawberries and looks much more impressive. Give dessert that extra notch above the ordinary by following the steps below to make a simple strawberry garnish.

1. Choose a strawberry that is perfectly ripe and has a more round than long shape.
2. Dampen a paper towel and rub the strawberry to clean it.
3. Place the strawberry on its side on a cutting board with the point side of the berry toward you.
4. Slice through the strawberry at approximately 1/8-inch slices with a very sharp paring knife. Start the slices just below the hull of the berry and keep the top of the strawberry intact.
5. Place your finger over the slices in the center of the berry and gently push down to create a fan shape.

Gristly “COCONUT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES”

Ingredients required for this mouth-watering cookie:-

3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
4 lg. eggs, room temperature
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 c. sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 c. miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several sheets with foil. Butter and flour them. In medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt. In large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat eggs and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes, until thickened and light-colored. Beat in vanilla by hand. Using rubber spatula, stir in flour until just combined. Fold in coconut and chocolate chips.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Bake one sheet at a time, 15 to 18 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire rack and cool 10 minutes. When cool, store in airtight container. Makes approximately 30 cookies.

Elegantly Serve Your Salad

Preparing your salad spread is easy and fun. Simply wash and drain your bagged salads and arrange in serving bowls. Set out smaller bowls of diced vegetables, fruits, meats and cheeses. To serve your salad toppings, you can either leave them in their original containers or present them elegantly in specialized serving-ware.

:: Chef salad: Garden salad, strips of deli ham and chicken, shredded cheese, hard-cooked egg, sliced tomatoes, ranch dressing

:: Classic Caesar salad: Romaine lettuce, shredded Parmesan cheese, bacon bits, Caesar dressing, anchovies (optional) 

:: Classic garden salad: Garden salad or spring mix, baby cut carrots, onion, grape tomatoes, croutons, Italian dressing

:: Cobb salad: Garden salad or spring mix, sliced tomato, sliced chicken breast, hard-cooked egg, shredded cheese, bacon bits, honey mustard dressing

:: Greek salad: Romaine or garden salad, crumbled feta cheese, black olives, sliced onions, balsamic vinaigrette dressing

:: Spinach salad: Spinach salad, hard-cooked egg, sliced onions, honey mustard dressing

Skillet Meal In A Minute

Big on satisfaction and easy to prepare, Red Cabbage & Sausage Skillet can be on the table in 30 minutes! Just five ingredients - easy to keep on hand - make this satisfying supper. Red potatoes, red onions, turkey sausage, caraway seeds and a jar of Aunt Nellie's red cabbage - that's it! The flavorful sweet and sour red cabbage provides a delicious compliment to the other ingredients, eliminating the need for extra seasonings.

To prepare, simply simmer the potatoes, lightly brown the sausage and onion, stir in the cabbage (including the flavorful liquid) and simmer for about 10 minutes. If you like, finish with a sprinkling of caraway seeds. Dark rye bread rounds out the menu.

A jar of sweet and sour red cabbage in the pantry means a quick side dish that tastes like homemade. You don't need a recipe to enjoy this staple. Remove the lid, heat in the microwave and serve. Or try this Aunt Nellie's favorite side: sauté apple wedges, stir in the cabbage and heat through to blend the flavors. Keep a jar in the refrigerator for a chilled side dish that's ready with just a twist of the lid. Either warm, chilled or at room temperature, it's a perfect pairing with pork, chicken and sausages. 

Reciepe Of Dazzling Choclate

Chocolate is made by roasting and grinding up cocoa beans to yield chocolate 'liquor'. This comprises around 50 per cent cocoa solids and 50 per cent cocoa butter (the fat from the beans). In the labelling of chocolate the cocoa solids generally include the cocoa butter - it's basically all the bits of the chocolate that are from the cocoa pod rather than the later additives such as sugar, milk, lecithin, vanilla, etc.

Decorate Your Cake

A cake just wouldn’t be a cake without icing, but did you know there are many different types of icing? If you want to make your cake really attractive then keep in mind that only some types of icing will work with certain cake designs.Flavor is also a consideration and the type of icing flavor should complement the type of cake you've baked.

 These are the Seven most common type of icing:-

Flat icing is one of the most simple icings. The basic ingredients of flat icing are powdered sugar and water. Simple flat icings form the glaze on rolls, danishes and other pastries and can be flavored with fruit or spices to add a new taste to the pastry.

Foam icing comes in a variety of flavors and has a soft, fluffy appearance. A meringue is made of whipped egg whites with a flavored syrup added. Marshmallow foam is a common foam icing, but other flavors such as chocolate or vanilla can also be added to the meringue.
   

Fondant icing gives a cake or pastry an elegant appearance and is popular for wedding cakes and other show pieces. Fondant icing is simply sugar and water, with either glucose or cream of tartar used to produce the proper crystallization to give it a smooth, almost porcelain look.

Fudge icing is thick and rich with a strong chocolate flavor. Other flavors, such as almond, peanut butter or mint, are often added. Using both butter and shortening, , corn syrup sugar and a variety of other ingredients, fudge icing can be somewhat time consuming to prepare, but the finished product is stable and can be refrigerated and used at a later time.

Royal icing is similar to flat icing, but adds egg whites to produce a thicker icing which hardens to a brittle texture. Royal icing can be used to make beautiful, artistic decorations because it hardens when dried, but the same property makes it less enjoyable to eat.   Royal icing is used primarily for decorative additions to cakes and for show work such as sugar sculptures.

Glazes are thin, watery icings which form a hard, crisp shell when poured or brushed over cakes and pastries. Glazes are usually made with a fruit flavor, although other flavors, such as chocolate or coffee, are sometimes popular as well. Like flat icing, glazes can be used on sweet breakfast pastries like coffee cakes. They add flavor, and also help keep the pastry moist and improve its shelf life

How to Use Red Cooking Wine

Any seasoned cook will tell you that the purpose of red cooking wine is not to disguise or alter the taste of the dish, but to fortify it instead. The flavor and the aroma that the dish would normally produce is highlighted further by the wine, and this makes the dish even better than what it should be. Red cooking wine can be used as a marinade ingredient, a cooking liquid or as a flavoring agent in a completed dish.

The most important thing though, is determining how much red cooking wine must be added to the dish. Too little of it will not change anything, and too much of it will end up changing everything. The right amount needs to be added and this is a crucial step that can only be mastered over time and with experience. For those worried about the alcohol content in the wine, it would be fitting to know that the alcohol evaporates when the dish is being prepared, leaving only the flavor of the wine behind. It is also a known fact that red cooking wine must not be added to the dish just before it is to be served. The wine needs to be a part of the dish, and this can be witnessed when the wine has a simmering effect along with the food or the sauce. The ideal time to add wine as a finishing agent would be about 10-15 minutes before the dish is to be served.

Keep in mind though, that not all recipes go well with red cooking wine. There are certain red cooking wine recipes that are not complete without the addition of the wine, and there are some recipes that say nothing about adding wine but get greatly enhanced upon the addition of the wine; but there are also those recipes that the addition of red cooking wine can absolutely ruin.

Adding a pinch of vinegar along with a few spoons of grape juice with the dish is also said to be a decent substitute for red cooking wine, as after all, the wine is nothing but fermented grape juice. Either way, red cooking wine can provide your dish with a great deal of balance and flavor that can enhance the beauty of it.