Stir Fried Beef

This is my very first foray into stir frying beef. After taking inspiration from Simcooks, I proceeded to the supermarket, bought myself some beef flank slices, spring onions and ginger and did this. As I did not memorise her recipe, I more or less guessed the seasoning involved. There was an added bit of anxiety as we had two friends over for dinner and I was going to serve them something I am cooking for the first time. Glad they liked it.
Some of the beef flank slices were a bit chewy – must be the ligaments or tendon or what-not. If you see some whitish looking “rubber” in the meat, just slice it offThis is my recipe for Stir Fried Beef with Ginger and Spring Onions
Ingredients
　　350 grammes of beef flank or tender slices
　　8 slices of old ginger (have more if you are using young ginger)
　　5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
　　3 stalks spring onions (cut to 6 cm lengths)
　　30 ml warm water
　　Corn starch (add 1 tablespoon corn flour to 3 tablespoons of water and mix well)
　　1 1/2 tablespoons Cooking oil (palm oil)
Seasoning
　　2 teaspoons oyster sauce
　　Salt to taste
　　a dash of white pepper powder
　　a dash of black pepper powder
　　1 teaspoon chinese cooking wine
Method
Heat oil in wok and fry ginger till aromatic. Add garlic and continue to saute till beginning to brown. Add beef and spring onions and stir fry whilst adding seasoning. Stir fry till beef changes colour like above. Finally, add about 2 tablespoons of corn starch and stir well prior to serving.If you find it too dry, add water gradually. If you added too much water, add a bit of corn starch to thicken the gravy.

Delicious Asion Food

One of the earliest dishes I tried out at Japanese restaurants was the Chicken Teriyaki. Lightly grilled and basted with the mildly sweet teriyaki sauce, the tender pieces of chicken always go well with steamed rice. Though I’ve seen the teriyaki marinade being sold at the supermarket shelves, I never got around to buying them until a few months ago – now that I have an oven at home.I never knew that it was so easy to prepare a dish of oven-roasted chicken teriyaki to perfection but that would be a recipe for another day to share with you. For today, let me share with you what I attempted for the first time which resulted in a thumbs up from my wife Stir-fried boneless chicken with capsicums in teriyaki sauce may be a long name to pronounce but definitely short and easy to cook. Ingredients are simple and cooking time is minimal. I do think that this dish would be better if a couple of slices of onion are included but you won’t be disappointed even if you don’t have it. The capsicums themselves will give a slight robust taste to this dish, not to mention, a crunch to the otherwise tender pieces of chicken.For the chicken, I chose the whole leg of chicken, completely deboned with skin removed. Breast meat may not be suitable as it is less tender. The skin is removed so that the dish will turn out less oily. Moreover, it would not be suitable to stir fry the chicken with meat intact. If you prefer to have the chicken skin on, roasting would be a better option. I never knew chicken teriyaki was so simple, and this recipe could even withstand the toughest restaurant reviews – it’s that delicious

Classify Reactions To Certain Foods

By Richard Foxx There has been a lot of debate about food allergies in recent years. In particular, medical professionals have been trying to classify reactions to certain foods by distinguishing between food allergy and food intolerance. The topic is usually broached with a little skepticism in the health news. After all, a food allergy is a lot more serious than a mere food intolerance -- or is it? Of course an anaphylactic response to a certain food is a very serious health problem. But food intolerances can also cause you a lot of suffering.
You can experience headaches, fatigue, stomach pains, breathing difficulties, achy joints and muscles -- you name it. Whatever your symptoms and health issues, a food intolerance could potentially be the trigger. While many doctors may consider a food intolerance as a psychosomatic problem -- more based in the mind than on any real physiological change in the body -- the concept has been around since the ancient Greeks. The Greeks recognized that some unpleasant symptoms could be specifically linked to the ingestion of certain foods. One of two things can happen to trigger these symptoms: either a message gets sent to your immune system to produce antibodies as a potential defense; or a much slower response takes place in the gastrointestinal system. The first is considered an allergy; the second, a food intolerance.
Another way to look at is that a food allergy is a toxic reaction, while a food intolerance is non-toxic. The bottom line here is that food intolerances are real. The good news is that the best alternative cure is simply to avoid the offending food. This should clear up any symptoms. You can investigate your own food intolerances by trying an elimination diet. If you find yourself suffering from uncomfortable symptoms and don't know the cause, try leaving out one food from your daily meals and see if anything improves. The challenge with food intolerances is that symptoms can appear hours and even days after a triggering food is eaten. It may take a little time to zero in on the one food that is causing symptoms to appear.

Delicious Snacks

Xi'an is hXi'an is honored as the "Capital of Delicacies". If you travel to Xi'an without trying out its local food. Maybe you will feel a bit regretful.Here you can get some information about famous snacks in Xi'an, China. The history of Xi'an is said to be as long as the national's civilization, retaining the table characteristics of the Qin, Han and Tang dynasties. In Xi'an, snacks play the vital role in the citizens' daily lives. A trip to Xi'an it's a nice choice to taste famous Xi'an specialties:

Dumpling Banquet: in the north China, dumping or Jiaozi in Chinese is very popular food. At the banquet, nearly 20 varieties of dumplings that are steamed and stuffed with different delicious fillings such as vegetables, meats and seafood are served, these dumplings are not only tasty, but also characteristic with their colors and fragrance, style and culture meanings, all these make this dinner unique.Tang Dynasty Banquet: Tang Dynasty Banquet is in the style of Tang cuisines, the dishes in the banquets are diverse and plentiful and with special flavor.  It is a perfect choice to taste some interesting food with full of cultures and legends with ancient styles.Beyond the above metioned, there are still many other Xi'an local snacks:

Guan Tang Baozi in Chinese: it means steamed buns filled with sauce. The choices of yours include mutton, beef, prawn, vegetable, or a combination thereof. Trying out this snack at Jia San Soup Parcel Restaurant on Muslim Snack Street is the best place to go.Rou Jia MO(Fan's pancake with stewed meat): It's also a favorite food for the local people. Fanji is the good restaurant where you will have a nice taste with a piece of good-quality (youzhi) bread and a bowl of mung bean flour soup.Buckwheat noodles: according to some research that this food has been in the Yuan Dynasty. It's the staple of the local people, and it's almost always filling and warming.

Yangroupo(steamed buns soaked in mutton soup): a bowl and one or two pieces of flat bread will be served, then you need to tear the hard bread into tiny chunks all by yourself and add them to the soup, after doing this, you can enjoy the delicious.Shannxi Liangpi(Cold Noodles): cold noodles are considered to be a seasoned snack, often offered in summer, but in cold winter, some vendors also offer it.Snacks in Xi'an are plentiful, want to know and try out them, welcome to Xi'an, here, you will eat delicious

Nutrition is Expensive

The medical media is telling the public that a healthy diet is expensive and could make it difficult for Americans to meet new U.S. nutritional guidelines, which tells people to eat more potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium. The media and government officials though are leaving out other obvious and important nutrients like magnesium, iodine, bicarbonate, vitamin C and selenium.
The main point that the journal Health Affairs makes is that adding just the nutrients they point to above (potassium, fiber, vitamin D and calcium) would add hundreds more dollars to family's annual grocery bill. The study found introducing more potassium into a diet is likely to add $380 per year to the average consumer's food costs, said professor Pablo Monsivais from the Department of Epidemiology and the School of Public Health at the University of Washington.
Just as food prices are skyrocketing we see that at present consumption costs and patterns, Americans are malnourished and are up a creek without a paddle in terms of being able to afford better diets. Even without survival scenarios the situation is grim in terms of nutritional fitness and people's chances of standing up to the increasing toxic threats, which of course includes increasing levels of radiation due to Fukushima.
And if all that is not bad enough Byron Richards is alerting us to the fact the government actually wants to make nutrition more expensive. "The FDA and Senator Durbin's latest attack against the dietary supplement industry should leave consumers looking for natural health options at affordable prices up in arms. This attack will target some of the most popular and effective dietary supplements, removing them from the free market and placing them under control of large pharmaceutical companies. This move will drastically drive up the price of dietary supplements while severely limiting access to extremely safe and effective nutrients. For example, the GlaxoSmithKline prescription drug version of DHA fish oil (at a therapeutic dose) sells for $189 a month, whereas the equivalent, therapeutic amount of molecularly-distilled DHA sells for $35 a month in the dietary supplement marketplace. Proven to lower triglyceride levels at therapeutic amounts, it is not surprising that DHA is one of the first nutrients the FDA plans to go after."

Quick Korean Food at Home

Cafe Drake never prepares Korean food at home, mainly because it's a Herculean kitchen task to recreate the vast number of dishes typically served at a traditional meal (or at any Korean neighborhood restaurant). Like you we select favorite grill houses based on the largesse of the banchan (complimentary appetizers) selection!

A craving for super spicy tofu stew had to be sated recently however and Cafe D. didn't feel like braving the chilly, pouring rain for a trek to nearby (Korean restaurant enclave) Sunnyside, Queens. Soooo . . . as above, we made a fiery and satisfying tofu and yam stew - it's heat derived from Korean chili peppers and wedges of kimchi - along with brown rice and zucchini namul. Please see our recipe for the latter dish below.

ZUCCHINI NAMUL

Namul are rapidly prepared stir-fried vegetables; generally several varieties are served at the Korean dinner table.

1 T. vegetable oil
2 t. sesame oil
1/2 an onion, sliced thinly
2 medium zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
about 1/2 t. salt or more to taste
2 T. sesame seeds (toasted first in a dry skillet)
Black Pepper
Dried Chile Flakes

Heat the oils in a large frying pan over a medium-high flame. Add the onion and saute for 1 minute. Now add all the other ingredients and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Adjust seasoning. A namul should be quite spicy so add as much chile as you can bear!

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature.

Lovely Desserts You Can Make by Yourself

Any Indian festival, including Raksha Bandhan, which is celebrated without eating delicious sweets is unheard of. Sweets with their mouth-watering taste, makes the occasion more grand. Raksha Bandhan, commonly known as Rakhi is a festival which is celebrated to honour the eternal bond between brothers and sisters. Apart from the ritual of tying a Rakhi thread on the brother’s wrist by sisters, exchanged gifts is also an indispensable part of this festival. Once all these customs are completed, siblings feed sweets to each other to celebrate this joyous event.

Thus, on Rakhi 2011, surprise your brother by making him some delicious sweets. Here are some simple dessert recipes which you can prepare yourself at home.

Badam Phirini (Almond Pudding)

badam phirnisIngredients:

2 tbsp rice
2 cups milk
3 tbsp sugar
1/4th cup blanched almonds (sliced)
1/2 tsp kewra essence
1 tsp green cardamom (crushed)

silver or gold foil paper (varak)

How to make badam phirni:

1. Soak rice in water for few hours, then drain water and grind rice into a smooth paste.

2. In a non-stick saucepan bring milk. Over a moderately low heat add rice, sugar and cardamom and stir constantly till milk turns thick.

3. Remove from heat and add almonds

4. Put in serving bowl and chill.

5. Garnish the badam phirni with silver or gold foil paper (varak) and serve.

Doodh Pak

doodh pakIngredients:

1/2 cup Almonds
1 litre Milk 250 grams Sugar
1 teaspoon Saffron
1 teaspoon Cardamom powder
1 1/2 tablespoon Raisins
1 tablespoon Pistachios

Preparation:

1. Soak the almonds in warm water for 1 hour. Peel and grind to a fine paste. Dissolve the saffron in 1 tablespoon of warm milk and keep aside.

2. Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed pan, stirring constantly. Add the almond paste and simmer for 30-35 minutes, stirring regularly.

3. Add the saffron, sugar, pista and raisins. Cook on a very low flame till thick. Sprinkle cardamom powder.

4. Serve doodh pak hot or chilled.

These lip-smaking delicacies will surely make your brother savour its taste for several days.

But, if you are miles away from home, it will not be possible for you to prepare these mouth-watering dishes for your brother. Instead of this, you can make his day special by sending an attractive Rakhi to India along with gifts with the help of GiftstoIndia24x7.com. From men’s wear, accessories, watches to men’s personal care, watches, perfumes, etc, you will find these all here. But, before you send Rakhi to India with gifts, keep your brother’s preference in mind, if you want him to appreciate your gift. You do not want to gift him something which will be ultimately end up in the basement.

If your brother is a teenager, then along with an attractive Rakhi to India, you can send him a latest mobile phone, watch or some stylish men’s jewellery. We offer you mobile phones from popular brands such as Nokia and Samsung so you need not worry about their quality and durability. Hence, send Rakhi to India along with a latest hand-set from our site and make your brother’s day truly memorable. For your working professional brother, you can opt for a pair of cuff-links, neck-ties or some formal wear as Rakhi gifts.

Pubs vs. Bars vs. Clubs vs. Taverns

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I am found of drinking establishments. It would be odd, as a writer of a book covering whisky, if I did not have at least some affection for these sorts of locations.
What's striking to me is how distinctive my needs are for these sorts of places. Or rather, how many places out there cannot meet these needs. Because, when I examine them, these characteristics that I am looking for in a watering hole are, while distinctive, are still quite easy to meet. They are, in no particular order:

• The establishment must create a sense of community. I'm not saying that the drinking place must be an upstanding member of the chamber of commerce or members of the local Fraternal Order of Moose. Instead, these places need to illicit a feeling within the customer that they are part of something special. And by customers, I mean all customers, regardless of age, gender, or social status.
• The place in question must not be intimidating. It must be warm and inviting.
• Finally, it must be a place of celebration, or of laughter. Typically if the other two items are met, this third one will happen by default. But sometimes not, so it is worth mentioning.

What amazes me when it comes to bars, pubs, clubs, and taverns, is how many fail to meet these three items. This suggests to me, as a simple observer, and one who has routinely dismissed any idea of running such an establishment, that either it's quite difficult to hit these marks, or that owners have no idea that these are desirable traits in their business, or that they simply do not care to cater to those who want that out of their social drinking experience.

We see this last point demonstrated in many places. Clubs ( who, almost by definition, seek to exclude) are typically the worst offenders of this, seeking to market themselves to a select clientele, be they under-25 supermodels and celebrities, or white males over the age of 65 who hide out in their Eagles, Elks or other similar social clubs . I'm not stating that such exclusion is improper, only that such exclusions exist and should be noted.
And let's not kid ourselves. There are some places out there who accomplish their exclusivity through sheer intimidation. This can be and is still done intentionally, in many locations. One need to only be of the wrong race, or gender, or have the wrong sexual preference to see this up front, and at times, in your face. In a great majority of the drinking establishments throughout the United States, the straight male rules the roost.
But intimidation comes in other forms as well, sometimes without the owners even realizing. Everything from liquor and beer selection to where the bar is located is enough to get a place labeled as "snobby" or "elite". There are times when nothing will run out a customer faster than to not have their beer selection available to them, be it Guinness, Duvel, or Budweiser.
As I get older, bolder, and wiser, I find myself no longer willing to settle for places that seek to exclude, even if I meet whatever unspoken requirement needed to stay at these locations. And in my travels, I have found that, for the most part, those places that call themselves "pubs" rather than bars or clubs, meet my needs.
I find this peculiar for a variety of reasons, with the first being that this is not a hard and fast rule. There are bad pubs in America, just as there are cozy bars and taverns. Secondly, Pubs, at least from a legal definition, are bars. Let's make no mistake here. The fact that owners of these "pubs" have called them as such demonstrates to me how important it was to differentiate these places from the bars, clubs, and taverns. Yet many of these self proclaimed pubs are often based, not on actual British or Irish pubs, but rather on the American idea of what a British or Irish pub is or should be. In essence, many of these pub owners have taken the traditional pub ideal, and have created places that are similar, yet they are distinctive enough to be their own entity.
And now that I reflect upon it, the taverns here in Washington State (where 'tavern' has a definitive legal meaning that marks them differently that bars and clubs) seem to have more in common with British and Irish Pubs in terms of substance and feel than the British and Irish pubs that dot our American landscape. Note to self: research this for a later post.
That aside, there seems to be a concerted effort on "pub" owners here in the States to create a sense of community amongst its patrons. Some bars do this as well, and they need to be commended for this as much as anyone else. But in my experience, if one is looking for those three items listed above, the odds of finding them in a self-proclaimed "pub" seem higher than finding them at any other drinking establishment.

The Illusion of Taste Make You Feel Great

I love articles such as this one, as they tend to affirm my own experiences and world-view. Its basic thesis is this:

A survey of hundreds of drinkers found that on average people could tell good wine from plonk no more often than if they had simply guessed.
In the blind taste test, 578 people commented on a variety of red and white wines ranging from a ?3.49 bottle of Claret to a ?29.99 bottle of champagne. The researchers categorised inexpensive wines as costing ?5 and less, while expensive bottles were ?10 and more.
The study found that people correctly distinguished between cheap and expensive white wines only 53% of the time, and only 47% of the time for red wines. The overall result suggests a 50:50 chance of identifying a wine as expensive or cheap based on taste alone ? the same odds as flipping a coin.

If there's one I've pulled from this, it is as follows - Taste, as always, is subjective.
Yes, yes. there's a vast difference between poorly made foods and those that have been made adequately. But that line between good and great? First off, trying to define that line is difficult unto itself. After all, there's a reason why there are hundreds of recipes for bolognese out there; there's more than one, proper way to do things. How do you or I or anyone else state emphatically that there's only one way to make wine, whiskey, or any number of other of the hundreds of thousands of recipes out there?


So, if we can't determine the one and only way to make something, then there will be variations introduced. Variations of technique, variations of ingredients, and variations of portion size. Hell, even presentation matters when it comes to how we interact with our food. And once variation is introduced, all bets are off as to what can claim to be "better than" good enough. One variation is introduced, what matters to taste can be boiled down to the two words that are a bane to marketers and publicists everywhere - personal preference.


Why does personal preference create even more turbulence when trying to define taste? Because it is influenced by things far out of control of the food producer. Things such as country of origin, or which socio-economic class one was born into all play their part in determining what a person likes and doesn't like.

So when a person drinks a glass from a ?3.49 bottle of Claret, and goes "That's delicious!", it's as valid of an opinion as someone who can taste the nuances in a $100 bottle of Grand Cru Burgandy.
I'm not trying to diminish those who have a refined palate, and can tell the differences between good wines and great ones. Life is made grander by those who seek out the best and have the skill to do so.


Ultimately it doesn't matter that much when it comes to putting the glass to the lips. Most people haven't put in the time and effort to refine their palate to make such distinctions in their food or wine, and will rely upon others to tell them what is "great". But remove those influences, be they experts in the field, or advertisers on the television, and your typical consumer is left to their own devices. And what we find out, time and time again, is that refinement of the palate cannot be bought. Remove the price tags and we find that most people cannot tell the difference between what is simply good and what is a work of utmost craftsmanship.

Food can make you make many good friends

I've broached this topic before, but it is worth repeating.
For all of the talk surrounding local food movements, or the kitchen chops of the chef du jour; For all of the e-mails sent to us by marketing firms extolling the virtue of yogurt or the commercials that praise the glory of cheese; a fair majority of the food media seems to forget the critical ingredient involved in every food consumed. The food is secondary to your relationship to yourself and the friends you break bread with.


If you hate yourself, the wine will taste less sweet, and eating alone becomes something to avoid rather than something to relish. Sharing a moment with friends over food or drink makes those items taste that much better. Remove positive relationships from the equation, and suddenly dinner becomes dull, and drinking becomes more of an exercise of avoidance than one of celebration.
This has been made extra-clear to me of late, as Tara and I go through two very stressful situations. The first is a move from Seattle to Redmond*. The second is a legal issue that I can't yet go into full detail here. The results of these issues have brought forth the following:

• Friends offering to help us move - with pizza as payment.
• Friends offering to go out to eat with us in our new city, for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
• Nights out at a local pub to let off some steam.
• Friends offering us dinners out to give us a medium to talk about our stresses.
• Friends listening to me vent about our current situation over coffee.

And, not to paint my world as completely bleak, there are the good times we are celebrating. We've given out gifts of spirits of late in order to celebrate successes, and plans to Europe are being made with trips to distilleries, restaurants, pubs, bistros, and beer halls all on the agenda, with the intent of us sharing in the experiences of these places.


I have been thinking a lot about food and friends of late. For everyone trying to sell me on something, be it a healthy life style or a bottle of tequila, through television commercials or the self-important ramblings of a food blogger, the question that I wish to have answered by these folks is simply this - would either me or my loved ones care?


You would be surprised on just how much white noise this question filters out.Yes, it's interesting to know the good from the mediocre. But all of the events that I've mentioned above would have the same value to them, regardless of the food or drink. Sure if the wine or beer was bad, we would bitch about it, or if the pizza was amazing we would be sure to order from them again. But the food items involved here don't add or subtract from the quality of the relationships. They are little more than window dressing.


As I go through my RSS feeds of a few of my favorite food blogs (and some that I love to hate), it amazes me how often this aspect of our relationship to food and friends is glossed over, if mentioned at all. Go to eater.com or slashfood and review a sampling of posts, and apply the question I have mentioned above to them. I'd love to hear the answers you come up with.