Food - Best Places of Interest

February 6, 2017 Food

Sweet Temptations

New Year and Christmas has just gone by and am sure like me most of you have also loaded up on every kind of sinful dessert, sweets, pudding, cake, tarts and whatever you could lay your hands on.

cupcakes decoration sweet dessert food pastry
Image credit- pixabay

The term ‘dessert’ can be applied on a wide variety of confectionery such as cakes, tarts, cookies, pastries, ice creams, pies, puddings, custards and fruits as well. The word dessert originated from the French verb desservir, meaning to clear away (the table) referring to the fact that dessert was served after the table had been cleared of other dishes and cutlery.

The origin of confectionery can be traced back to about 2000 BC to the ancient Egyptians who made sweets by combining fruits and nuts with honey.

The Romans, Greeks and Chinese made sweets with sesame seeds. The Aztecs in Mexico used the cocoa bean to make a bitter drink over 3000 years ago. The drink was sweetened with sugar after 1500 years.

Hahndorf Hot Chocolate-dessert — A cup of hot chocolate

Eventually, the combination of sugar and cocoa, set the confectionery story alright. The addition of sugar in the drink made it more palatable, but it took almost another 100 years for the new drink to reach the rest of Europe. The first shop for selling drinking chocolate was opened in London in 1657. In the late 17^th century the rich began eating chocolate ice cream. Until the 19^th century chocolate was only for drinking and not for eating. Joseph Fray made the first chocolate bar in 1847. Then in 1875, Henry Nestle and Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate.

The history of various confections is truly an adventure in the culinary world. When you look back and trace the history of certain desserts, you can easily see that were it not for the explorers and inventors, many of the recipes of desserts as we know today would not have existed.

Next…Dessert recipes

January 28, 2017 Recipes

Recipes – Roasting

It is a continuation to my earlier post on ‘Roast and boast‘. Following are 2 roasting recipes

Roast leg of lamb with onions and potatoes in white wine

leg of lamb-roasting — leg of lamb
Image credit -Pinterest

Ingredients–

1 kg of mutton,

6 cloves garlic cut into slivers,

2 tbsp. olive oil,

1 tsp each salt and pepper,

1 tbsp. tenderon powder + 2 tbsp. tabasco sauce if you like it spicy.

3 each large potatoes and onions, peeled, halved and cut into thin slices rubbed with ½ tsp each salt, pepper, and thyme.

1 cup white wine, juice of 1 lemon and a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary.

Method:

Make a few cuts on the leg of mutton and insert a sliver of garlic into each slit reserving the remaining. Make a paste with salt, pepper and tenderon and olive oil and rub all over the leg. Cover and leave overnight. In a large, non-stick pan, brown the piece of leg on both sides to have a nice browned crust. Preheat the oven to 250c/ gas mark 9. Grease a large oval baking dish and line with the potatoes and remaining garlic slivers on the bottom of the dish too. Place the leg of mutton over this, arrange a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary around the meat and drizzle 1/ 2 the wine and lemon as well as some freshly cracked pepper all over and cover with foil and roast for 20 minutes. (If you like a little heat and spice, sprinkle some chilly flakes or add some tabasco to the initial paste.)

Reduce the heat to 200c/gas mark 6, pour the remaining wine and lemon juice and cook covered for the first hour and then uncovered for 45 minutes until well browned and done to your liking. Baste with the pan juices every 20 minutes during the cooking process to keep the meat moist. After you remove from the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Whole roast chicken with rosemary, garlic and lemon

Ingredients: 1 whole chicken (1.5- 1.8 kg),

2 tbsp. butter,

1 tbsp. garlic paste,

1 tsp each salt, pepper,

2 tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves chopped,

Rind of 2 lemons,

½ cup of whole garlic pods,

2 lemons,

Few sprigs of rosemary,

olive oil,

salt and pepper as required,

juice of 1 lemon.

Method:

Preheat oven to 200c/ gas mark 6. Wash and clean chicken and pat dry. Make a paste with the butter, garlic paste, salt, pepper, chopped rosemary and lemon rind. Loosen the skin and rub this mixture evenly all over.

Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the garlic pods, 2 lemons cut in half and a few sprigs of rosemary. Seal with tooth picks or metal skewers. Rub the chicken all over with some olive oil, salt and pepper and tie the chicken, folding the wings, behind. Grease an oven proof dish; sprinkle the remaining garlic pods and rosemary around the chicken, drizzle with juice of 1 lemon, cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Reduce the oven to 180c/ gas mark 4. Baste with some more lemon juice or with the pan juices and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until done. Test by inserting a sharp knife into the thigh area and if the juices run clear, it is done.

Serve with mashed potatoes or roast potatoes.

January 23, 2017 Food

Roast …and boast!

They say a meal roasted in the oven can magically transform an ordinary day into a grand celebration. With minimal effort, virtually any food can be roasted- from meats, poultry and seafood. The result is a wonderfully caramelized piece of meat on the outside, yet juicy and tender on the inside.

That reminds me of another saying: “A kitchen is never truly your own until you’ve roasted a chicken in it!”

roast chicken — Roast chicken Image courtesy- pixabay.com

There is something wonderfully elemental about roasting, a tradition that reaches back to when the first foods were cooked over an open fire. Even though most roasting today is done in home ovens, the results are enticing and often with irresistible aromas.

Once the roast is in the oven, most of your work is done apart from the occasional basting, turning, or glazing.

The terms generally associated with roasting are trussing, trimming, seasoning, stuffing or marinating. Trussing is just trying a bird/poultry to make it compact for even cooking and to retain shape. Whole fillets of meat are also normally marinated and tied with kitchen string at regular intervals so the piece of meat retains its shape and is easy to carve.

Trimming is the simple task of removing excess fat or making slits along the membranes at regular intervals in which herbs or pieces of garlic can be inserted.

You do not need to use a whole poultry or chicken for stuffing; you could use cuts of meat or just legs with skin. Breast pieces could be slit and stuffed with cheese, aromatic herbs or chutney and the skin under the legs or breast pieces could be loosened and marinated with a mixture of butter and herbs and smoked paprika or stuffed with prosciutto or bacon.

Marinating is best done overnight so all the flavours are absorbed and keeps the meat tender and juicy during the cooking process. Here, a heavy-duty zip lock bag is ideal. Just put all your mixture in the bag, place the bird or piece of meat in it, make sure it is well-coated, press out the air from the bag, seal it and refrigerate it.

Marinating, stuffing, glazing is all connected to enhancing flavour and conserving moisture of your roast. Marinating is the most common way to flavour a roast. Wet marinades also add moisture and they have a tenderizing effect.

Seasoning blends, known as dry marinades, are rubbed directly onto the surface of the roast. Stuffing’s even simple ones, tucked under poultry skin, also add flavour while holding in moisture.

One of the most important tasks a cook must perform is to baste regularly by spooning or brushing on juices, a marinate or a glaze. Thus, the formation of a crust is promoted and the fresh stays moist. Trying bacon on top of a roast or stuffing butter or oil mixed with a dry-marinade beneath poultry skin, also helps the fresh to baste itself as it cooks.

Roasted Indian Chicken fast food — Roasted Indian Chicken
Image credit-Pixabay.com

Whenever you roast, pay attention to the suggested cooking time. Start testing for doneness at the earliest time suggested, by either using a fork or a sharp knife or as suggested in your recipe. With smaller items, a closer look may give some ideas of doneness whereas whole roast poultry is traditionally tested by piercing the thigh to see if the juices are clear.

Large cuts of meat are more problematic. Once you are experienced in the art of roasting, simply pressing a fingertip against the roast will give you your answer about the degree of doneness just by the resistance you feel.

Present your roast beautifully and make it a memorable meal.

A Traveller’s Guide -Top Cuisines in Europe

TOP LOCAL CUISINES

Local cuisines in Europe — (photo source: shutterstock.com)

Europe is also famous for its cuisine. Many people are going to Europe just to have a taste of their delicacies and their drinks.

Here are some of the best dishes you can eat and the restaurants you can visit to satisfy your cravings:

1. Chickens – For poultry lovers, you can try Nandos restaurant in the United Kingdom. It is one of the most famous restos in the UK. Nandos originated in South Africa. If you are in Italy, the Real Italian Chicken Pepperoni Mozzarella Pizza is a must-try.

2. Meats – One of the most famous dishes in Germany is the German Sauerbraten which is a pot roast that has a variety of meats. Traditionally, Germans would use horse meat. There is also this restaurant in Falkirk UK called The Scottish Steak Club which offers a lot of steak choices.

3. Seafood – For seafood lovers, if you are coming to the northern part of Europe then you should definitely try going to the Edgy Fish Restaurant located in Denmark. They offer a wide variety of raw and cooked seafood dishes.

4. Veggies – For vegetable lovers, Loving Hut in Paris is a good place to dine because of the fusion of French and Asian vegetables. In London, Manna offers a variety of vegetables for vegetarians.

5. Best European Desserts – Churros are very popular in the world but there is nothing like tasting the Churros in Spain where it was first made. Casa Aranda is a good restaurant in Spain where you can have a taste of Churros. Also, a very popular dessert is waffles which originated in Belgium and the best-tasting waffle can be found in The Waffle Factory located in Bruxelles, Belgium.

6. Beers and Wines – The best beers and wines can be found in Europe and the Atak Chmeilu in Poland, the Camden Pils in London, and the N17 Rye Ale in Ireland are just some of the most tasted beers by travelers. Wine tastings are frequent in Spain. In fact, people around the world are going to Spain just to have a taste of raw wine in the Rioja region.

Author Bio:

Mark Aldrin Hipolito is a daytime writer for Slow Tours, an Australian online agency that provides intimate getaways with tours of Europe’s most charming and breathtaking places. Mark also enjoys traveling to different places and he uses his experiences as inspiration for writing.