Giulianas Restaurant & Food Recipes

Archive for 2011

Mary’s Fruit Cake

A casserole dish can be extremely versatile. From meaty stews to moist cakes, these types of dishes are a must have in any bakers kitchen. This cake, cooked as an ordinary fruit cake and decorated with almonds or covered in marzipan or ready-made icing, is the perfect desert to treat your family and friends with this Christmas period. By far, one of the quickest and easiest festive cakes there is.

Ingredients:

·         500g mixed dried fruit

·         425g can crushed pineapple (drained)

·         50g glacé cherries, halved

·         125g butter or margarine

·         175g soft brown sugar

·         1 tsp mixed spice

·         good pinch salt

·         1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

·         150g plain flour

·         150g self-raising flour

·         2 medium eggs, beaten

Method:

Oven: Fan 150ºC, 300ºF, Gas 2

Standard 160ºC, 325ºF, Gas 3

Line the casserole with a pre–shaped 20cm deep cake tin liner, or line with greaseproof paper.

Put the first six ingredients into a mixing bowl and microwave on high power for 3 minutes.

Mix well, then add all the remaining ingredients and mix again.

Transfer to the lined casserole and level the top (decorate with a few blanched almonds if it is to be a plain fruit cake).

Cook below the centre of the oven for approximately 1¼–1½ hours, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out cleanly.

Cool in the casserole for 10–15 minutes then turn out and cool thoroughly.

Of all the gourmet foods you can talk about, none is more rare, so commonly identified with the super-wealthy, and so foreign to non-foodies as the salty fish egg product that is sold under countless names. Imagine a stereotypical woman of glamour — the kind who in a past age would be played by Zsa Zsa Gabor or Loretta Young and today might be portrayed by Angelina Jolie or Beyonce — and it’s likely that the food you imagine her consuming conspicuously contains bounteous portions of salty but ever stylish Beluga caviar.

Though traditionally associated with the Caspian Sea and the neighboring nations of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, today numerous varieties of fish egg products are harvested and processed from East Asia to East Arkansas. Beluga caviar is simply the rarest and most expensive style of this product and other common varieties include Sterlet, Ossetra, and Sevruga.

There are numerous ways to consume caviar, such as eating it on fancy crackers and on top of omelets. In fact, my personal introduction was at Gorky’s, a gourmet cafeteria of sorts and later a brewpub located in an industrial section of downtown Los Angeles, which regularly topped its delicious egg dishes with cheap but tasty caviar — eggs on top of eggs. Gorky’s is gone, but my preference for dolloping a bit of caviar or Japanese salmon roe on top of eggs has never ceased.

It’s also worth mentioning that, while the high salt content means folks with serious hypertension should probably minimize their intake, all fish egg products caviar are filled with Omega 3 fatty acids. These fats are associated with a wide variety of health benefits and are widely thought to be especially valuable in lowering triglycerides, possibly helping to prevent diabetes and heart disease, while also fighting ordinary and post-postpartum depression. Though, on the other hand, if you can afford Beluga Caviar, which often sells for over $100.00 an ounce, it’s pretty clear there isn’t that much you should really be very depressed about.

Most workplace kitchens have a refrigerator and a microwave oven. Invest $20 in a slow cooker, and you can make numerous delicious, healthy meals at the office. Just kick back in your ergonomic chair and enjoy a terrific meal. Here are three easy ideas.

1. Smoked Sausage Ravioli. This serves four. If you want to make less, halve the recipe and use a smaller slow cooker. You’ll need:

25 oz. frozen cheese ravioli

2 cups frozen stir fry vegetables

26 oz. can or jar of spaghetti sauce

½ pound smoked sausage, sliced

Parmesan cheese

Cut up the sausage at home the night before and refrigerate in a zipper plastic bag. At work, put everything except for parmesan cheese into your slow cooker on the “Low” setting. It should be done by lunchtime. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.

2. Easy Lemon Chicken. Put everything into your slow cooker the night before and refrigerate overnight. At work, turn on the slow cooker and it will be ready at lunch time. Makes enough to share, or you can halve the recipe.

4 to 6 boneless chicken breasts, cut in quarters

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1 Tbsp. lemon pepper seasoning

Cook on “High” setting for 3 hours, then turn to “Low” and cook one hour more.

3. Classic Microwave Baked Potato. Only 10 to 12 minutes in the microwave gets you a delicious, healthy lunch.

1 baking potato

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

3 Tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese

1 Tbsp. sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Stick a scrubbed potato several times with a fork. Place on microwave-safe plate. Microwave for 5 minutes, turn over, and microwave for 5 more minutes. Once potato is soft, cut in half lengthwise, mash up insides. Top with salt, pepper, butter, and cheese. Microwave 1 minute more. Remove and serve with sour cream.

It’s estimated that 50% of what people buy at the supermarket is chosen on impulse. And what causes impulse buying?  Lack of preparation, hunger and uncertainty.  Here are six dead-simple ways to save money at the supermarket:

1) Take a list.  Preparation is the best way to prevent overspending. Before you even leave your home, write down everything you need. When you get to the store, only purchase items that are on your list.  Your grocery list is like a map. If you stick to it, you will stay on course. If you deviate from it, you will spend more than you want.

2) Use a small cart or basket.  An object tends to fill up whatever space it occupies. Fish are a good example of this phenomenon. There are some forms of aquatic life that will grow to the size of whatever tank they are kept in.  The same goes for grocery shopping. If you use a large cart, you will end up filling any empty space with unnecessary items.  Choose a small cart or basket and you will be swimming in extra cash.

3) Look for store brands.  Store brands are always less expensive than name brands. Most of the time they have the same taste, texture and nutritional content, but because they don’t carry a well-known logo, they can be sold for much less.  You can find cereals, milk, meats and desserts from affordable, lesser-known companies.

4) Buy in bulk.  Items that are individually prepared, such as bagged lettuce, can weigh down the wallet over time. Whenever possible, purchase whole, bulk foods. A head of lettuce prepared at home will cost significantly less than a prepackaged bag of greens.  Pasta is another great item to buy in bulk. The boxed brands of pasta may seem cheap, but not when compared to the bulk pasta you bag and weigh yourself. Nuts, grains and candy can also be purchased in bulk at many stores.

5) Don’t shop hungry.  Hunger does strange things to people. It confuses their senses and amplifies their urges. Everything looks good when you are hungry. It has to. That is how your body ensures survival.  When you go to the supermarket, make sure that you have eaten within the last hour or two. If your stomach is full, you will be able to shop with your brain, and not with your cravings.

6) Buy more with less. Enroll in online coupon Websites, get coupon apps for your smart phone and use a credit card that offers you rewards for each dollar you spend.  (The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is one that I use).   Shopping during off-peak hours can get you discounts on bakery items and other things the store wants to unload so they can prepare for the next business day.

Shopping shouldn’t be a stressful, budget-drubbing experience. You should be able to walk into the store, fill your cart with everything you need and still have enough money to pay the gas bill.

The Jack Daniels Whisky is the favourite whisky of the American public, for now over one hundred and fifty years. Jack Daniels whisky is made from the very best ingredients, and is aged for a long period of time.

The quality of the ingredients and the long aging process give Jack Daniels Whisky a flavour and aroma entirely its own. This is so because Jack Daniels Whisky is prepared by employing the best practices and with a strict quality control mechanism in place. These factors have been chiefly responsible in making Jack Daniels Whisky the first choice whisky, not only of the American public but of all the people with good taste all over the globe.

Jack Daniels Whisky, because of its rugged cow boyish charm and taste, plus its masculine aroma, is the number one, best selling whisky in America. Jack Daniels Whisky, also has a historic and nostalgic appeal, as it has been time and again portrayed in Hollywood block busters as the drink preferred by the macho men.

Jack Daniels Whisky is a must for any home bar to be complete. In addition, It is also one of the best gifts you can give to a loved one. All in all Jack Daniels Whisky, is a must for any festive occasion, may it be a wedding or a cozy candle lit dinner.

Cooking is an activity that you cannot resist. When you cook, you know what to do. When you cook, you gain satisfaction and happiness. This kind of feeling appears because you know that your dishes cam please those who eat them. You have talent and skill in cooking. But this skill cannot grow itself unless you practice more and more. The way to practice is by learning a new recipe, do some experiments of your own, and modify the existing menu into a brand new dish type.

Suppose that you want to learn how to modify some barbeque dishes. BBQ Chicken makes a lovely option because you love this white meat menu. You know what to do with chicken wings and breast, but you want to know more. This is why before modifying the recipe, you have to open the channel4 and read the chicken barbeque section, as there are a hundred of different recipes related to chicken and turkey.

Besides the recipe, there are also some additional tips on grilling barbeque from the cooking champion, as well as some tips on using different barbeque sauce and creating the salads to complete your BBQ dishes. Next after you know the recipes, you can try to modify it on your own and see if your cooking skill has reached the next level or not.

Add pureed vegetables to the inputs reduces the amount of calories without sacrificing texture or taste of food, said a team from Pennsylvania State University who did the test without patrons’ knowledge.

The use of “hidden vegetables” had a double benefit, since some of the participants doubled their consumption of fiber and vitamins without knowing it. The study included 20 men and 21 women who agreed to eat in the lab once a week for three weeks.

The food was always the same: carrot bread for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch and rice with chicken casserole for dinner. They served the amount you wanted to eat, along with bread, strawberry yogurt, broccoli and peas, as the food. They also received snacks to eat at home during the afternoon.

Without the diners’ knowledge, cooks the dishes they added steamed vegetables, mashed cauliflower, squash or carrots, on the input.

The result was preparations, although they had the same look and taste as the original version had 15 to 25 percent by weight vegetable puree. Some participants received the original version of the tickets hidden vegetables.

The volunteers who ate the special entries “were still receiving the same amount of food, but with fewer calories,” said Alexandria Blatt, a doctoral student in nutritional sciences who participated in the study.

According to the team, the calorie intake of group fed the altered food declined by around 360 calories per day when tickets include 25 percent of puree. And vegetable consumption increased to about two servings per day, a great improvement over the typical American diet.

With 360 fewer calories a day, you can lose half a kilo of body fat in 10 days.

Although half of respondents indicated at the end of the study who had noticed something different in the preparation of entries, only two were aware of the extra vegetables. “For all the appearance and taste were very good,” Blatt said in a telephone interview.

In a real kitchen, where there to “fool” the guests, the use of plants is more flexible. “In the lab, you have to make the recipes so that participants can not identify with vegetables hidden entries”, said Blatt.

Richard Mattes, professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, said that promoting the consumption of fruits and vegetables is “highly desirable”, but said that is not the panacea for weight loss.

Mattes, who was not involved in the study, found that even people who lose weight with a diet rich in fruits and vegetables are hard to follow a meal plan. “Many said they could not spend extra money on fruits and vegetables or spending more time in shopping or preparation,” he said.

For now, Mattes said, Americans do not seem likely to adopt a healthy diet.

And the premise of the study again (cover foods to improve diet) that resistance testing. “It’s interesting that we have to go that far to get people to eat” more vegetables, she said.

Ingredients

* 3 / 4 pound carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
* 2 / 3 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
* 2 / 3 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs
* 2 / 3 cup ground pecans
* 1 / 3 cup white sugar
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 1 / 2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon orange enthusiasm
* 1 teaspoon crumbled fresh ginger root
* 1 / 4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 / 4 teaspoon ground mace
* 1 / 4 teaspoon ground allspice
* 2 (8 ounce) cream cheese packages, diced and softened
* 4 eggs
* 1 / 4 cup cut pecans

Preparation

1. 4 cups water Bring to a boil, and cook carrots until very supply approximately 45 minutes. drain cooked carrots. return them to a moderate heat for a minute or so to cook off excess moisture.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees c). In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, the gingersnap crumbs, 2 / 3 cup connected to ground nuts, and sugar, take it. work in butter until mixture is crumbly. should tap off the bottom and sides of a smeared with butter 9 inch springform pan. Bake the crust for 7 minutes. lower oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees c).
3. Transfer carrots to food processor and puree for 30 seconds. scrape down the side, and puree again until completely smooth. add brown sugar, anime, lemon juice, enthusiasm, orange, cinnamon, mace and allspice to the processor, and puree for 30 seconds. scrape down the sides, and repeat. position allowing the mixture to cool.
4. Add cream cheese to the cooled carrot mixture and puree for 1 minute, scraping down the sides every 20 seconds. paste in eggs, one at a time. beat the rain in the crust, and sprinkle with remaining 1 / 4 cup chopped walnuts.
5. The thing baked for approximately 50 minutes, the cake tester come out clean. let cool. cover loosely and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

Whirly Pops

Whenever we see someone wearing apron, it brings back childhood memories of when our mother wearing aprons while prepared for dinners in the kitchen. Aprons have become part of cooking activity to protect clothes from getting dirty. In restaurant, cafe or traditional market, you will see people who wearing aprons as the part of their job. In some hotel or restaurant, if the head of chef forget to wear apron during cooking activity, it will give negative impact for the restaurant, because people will think the chef do not obey the rules of the place he work for.

Apron has changed to be a stylish piece of cloth, people use it not only for professional purpose, but merely because it’s look great on them and it is fun to wear colorful apron. In Apron Point, you can find different style of apron such as bib apron, kitchen apron, and other is an affordable price.

This place specializes in selling aprons, and their apron collections are varied from its color, purpose and material. When you have no idea for birthday or anniversaries present, apron from Apron Point, will make a great present, especially for someone who loves to cook. In Present Point, you can have apron with the lowest prices in the market, and for their customer, Apron Point always continue to make special offering sales, and you can check them out at Apron Point website.

This salad is perfect for summer or any hot day. It is based on a spectacular blend of pasta and vegetables, among which are green peppers, onions and tomatoes. The dressing is a combination of mayonnaise, cream cheese and Italian parmensano. To enjoy this dish now!

Ingredients:

2 cups pasta
1 ½ cup imitation crab meat (chopped)
½ cup diced green pepper
½ cup cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
¼ cup chopped chives
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup Italian dressing
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

In a large saucepan cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Place pasta in large bowl. Add crab, onions, tomatoes and green peppers. If you want to add grated cheddar cheese.

To make the dressing combine mayonnaise, Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese. Mix until well blended and smooth. Pour over salad and toss gently to coat. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours before serving.