Pupusas

Pupusas is the traditional Salvadoran dish.  

Image from: Serious NY Eats

Ingredients:


1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated (2 cups)
1 cup cooked small red beans or kidney beans, rinsed and drained if canned
1 cup finely chopped chicharrón (fried pork rind)
4 cups corn tortilla flour (masa harina)
3 cups water at room temperature

Procedure: 


Toss together cheese, beans, pork rind, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl with your hands, then press mixture firmly into 16 (1 1/2-inch) balls (for filling).

Combine tortilla flour, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and knead with your hands until a uniform dough forms, about 1 minute. (Dough should be moist but not sticky. If necessary, knead a little more tortilla flour or water into dough.)

Flatten 1/4 cup dough between moistened palms into a 4-inch disk. Wrap disk around a ball of filling, enclosing it, and form into a smooth ball. Reflatten between your palms into a 4-inch disk (1/2 inch thick; filling should remain hidden). Put on a tray lined with plastic wrap and cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Make 15 more pupusas.

Heat a comal or large (2-burner) griddle over medium-low heat until hot, at least 2 minutes. Brush lightly with oil, then cook pupusas in batches, turning and pressing lightly with a metal spatula every 2 to 3 minutes, until crusty and browned in spots (some cheese may ooze out), 10 to 12 minutes total per batch. Serve immediately.

Cooks' notes:

Pupusas can be formed (but not cooked) 2 hours ahead and chilled, covered with plastic wrap.

Pupusas are best eaten right away but can be kept warm in a 250°F oven while cooking remaining batches. Recrisp on comal 1 minute per side before serving.

Recipe From: Epicurious 

Cooking Healthy

* Get into the habit of measuring the oil you use while you cook,
rather than just pouring it out of the bottle. It will be much
easier to moderate the amount you use.

* Use non-stick cookware so that you don't have to use as much,
if any, fat. When sauteing, use a small amount of chicken broth
or wine instead of butter or oil.

* To make fat-free broth, chill your meat or chicken broth. The
fat will rise to the top, and you can remove it before using
the broth.

* Many vegetables and fruits, including potatoes and apples,
retain many of their nutrients in their skin. So when possible,
leave the skin on your fruits and vegetables and cook them whole.

* Romaine lettuce is loaded with vitamins compared to iceberg.
It has three times as much Vitamin C and six times as much
Vitamin A.

* Vitamin C is destroyed quickly in cooking - so cook your
vegetables with Vitamin C in the smallest amount of water
possible and for a short amount of time.

* Stock up on spices. One of the keys to cooking low-fat and not
getting bored is to spice your food well. When you have finished
your recipe, always taste it and adjust the spices to meet your taste.

* Purchase the best (i.e. heaviest) set of non-stick cookware you
can afford.

* When cooking a dish with both vegetables and meat (i.e. in stir frys
and stews), reduce the amount of meat by 1/3 and increase the amount
of vegetables by 1/3. You will hardly notice!

* Thicken gravies with milk or broth blended in the blender with
flour. Be sure to cook long enough to remove the raw flour taste.
You'll never notice the lack of fat.

* Use olive oil for cooking when appropriate. It adds to the taste
of the dish and is better for you


If you wanr more tips you can go to : e-cookbooks

Healthy Balance

A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve health. It is important for the prevention of many chronic health risks such as: obesity, heart disease,diabetes, and cancer. A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts of all nutrients, and an adequate amount of water. Nutrients can be obtained from many different foods, so there are a wide variety of diets that may be considered healthy diets. A healthy diet needs to have a balance of macronutrients/energy (fats, proteins, and carbohydrates) and micronutrients to meet the needs for human nutrition without inducing toxicity from excessive amounts.

The role of poultry in a healthy diet:

Chicken meat is power packed with proteins it makes one of the favorite food for body builders due to its muscle building potential. skinned chicken meat is very low in fat if we compare it with other meats.

Chicken legs have the ablility to reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.



The role of pasta in a healthy diet:

Pasta meals are efficient “delivery systems” for healthy foods. Pasta is eaten with its plate partners, such as vegetables, fish, olive oil, cheese, tomato sauce, beans, poultry and meat. By pairing pasta with ingredients, the complete pasta meal is nutritious and satisfying.

Carbohydrates like pasta provide glucose, the crucial fuel for your brain and muscles. Pasta is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, which provide a slow release of energy. Unlike simple sugars that offer a quick, yet fleeting boost of energy, pasta helps sustain energy. 

Balance diet chart.

Different types of pasta

Different types of poultry

Meat Cookbooks

Meat Cookbooks: "Vegetarians, avert your eyes, now! This year there are several cookbooks dedicated to cooking meat. If you are like me, you are eating less meat, but being more particular about what you consume. I no longer buy meat at the supermarket. I am too haunted by images of factory farming. But I am still eating meat and while it makes up less of the plate, the few days a week I do cook it, I want it to be as deliciously satisfying as possible. Each of the following books are written by James Beard award-winners who know their stuff. Their recipes work, their writing is clear and their knowledge unassailable.

James Peterson is an experienced cooking teacher, he not only knows how to cook, but knows how to explain it clearly to just about anyone. Meat, A Kitchen Education is his latest book. All kinds of cooking methods are covered in it and it's worth pointing out his book includes chicken, turkey and fowl. Step-by-step photos show how to carve, make dishes like salt pork and veal chops in papillote. The book focuses on classic dishes like Irish Stew, and Beef Wellington but also has more creative ones such as Oxtail Stew with Grapes, and Mostarda di Cremona. Particularly helpful are illustrations that show where each cut comes from on the animal. The book has 175 recipes.

The most massive tome out this season is Good Meat, subtitled the complete guide to sourcing and cooking sustainable meat, by Deborah Krasner. If you are concerned about sustainability, this is your book. It answers the questions you may have about grass-fed beef, Halal and Kosher meat, the flavor of pastured meat, 'pink veal' and other modern meat issues that are not necessarily covered in other books. It is lovingly written, I don't know how else to describe it. The photos are stunning of both animals and dishes. There are recipes for using offal, pheasant, and pig's tail, in addition to much more accessible cuts and types of meat. Recipes I can't wait to try include Lamb Sausage, Eggplant and Orzo Salad, Pork Loin Chops with Ruby Port, Prunes, Cinnamon, Turmeric and Ginger and Beef Stew with Vermouth, Yam, and Mint (it included pomegranate molasses). The book has over 200 recipes.

The smallest format book is Falling Off the Bone by Jean Anderson. This is a straight-forward recipe book. Not all the recipes use meat on the bone, but all are for succulent style dishes that will make you swoon. It's a book of comfort food, plain and simple. It includes and braises, soups and stews. There are old fashioned dishes like Country-fried Steak and more out of the ordinary dishes like Aegean Lamb and Fennel Stew, Far East Spareribs on Sesame Sauerkraut and Danish Fricadeller in Onion Sauce. Unlike the other books, this one includes just beef, pork, lamb and veal, and no poultry or game. The book has 163 recipes.

DO NOT STEAL! ©2010 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

"

Drinks

Here are other recipes of different cocktails and smoothies.

Bacardi Mojito

Chili & Passionfruit Martini

Bluberry Coconut Smoothie

Healthy Breakfast Smoothie

Entrees

The word entrèe is French. It originally denoted the "entry" of the dishes from the kitchens into the dinning hall. An entree is specifically a smaller course that preceds the main course. It can be either cold like salads or warm like soups.

Here are other types of entrees' recipes besides salads and soups.

Sweet and Sour Shrimp Puff


Mediterranean Pinwheel

Make Your Own Spice Mixes

  FIVE SPICE POWDER
    1 tsp. Ground cinnamon
    1 tsp. Ground cloves
    1 tsp. Fennel seed
    1 tsp. Star anise
    1 tsp. Szechwan peppercorns
 
  ITALIAN HERB SEASONING
    1 tsp. Oregano
    1 tsp. Marjoram
    1 tsp. Thyme
    1 tsp. Basil
    1 tsp. Rosemary
    1 tsp. Sage
 
  CINNAMON SUGAR
    7/8 cup Granulated sugar
    2 Tbsp. Ground cinnamon
 
  TAMARIND PASTE
    1 tsp. Dates
    1 tsp. Prunes
    1 tsp. Dried apricots
    1 tsp. Lemon juice
 
  CHILI POWDER
    3 Tbsp. paprika
    1 Tbsp. ground cumin
    2 Tbsp. oregano
    1 tsp. red or cayenne pepper
    1/2 tsp. garlic powder



Information from: e-cookbooks

Sneak peak to a dessert! Bananas in Coconut Cream

Ingredients:
 
6 bananas (firm, underripe)
For the sauce:
2 cups coconut cream
½ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon jasmine essence
Garnish:
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
 
Preparation:
 

1. Peel the greenest bananas you can find, split them lengthwise as for a banana split, and cut each half into four pieces.
2. Mix the sauce ingredients with 1 c water.
3. Add banana chunks and bring to a gentle boil.
4. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes (if the bananas are not green enough they will go mushy).
5. Put into individual serving bowls, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve hot.

 
Servings: 6
 
Recipe from: Recipe Land 

This Recipe is from Thailand.

Importance of a recipe

<-- Recipe Book


Without a recipe, or not knowing how to do a meal, how would you made it?
The importance of using recipes is that when you are making a dish for the first time, it helps to know how the dish is originally supposed to taste, therefore make it according to the standard recipe. Afterwards, you can alter the recipes to cater to your own individual culinary taste.


Cooking is 10% art and 90% chemistry. Recipes are to cooks what formulas are to chemists. In the same way that a chemist is only one missing ingreidient away from disaster, a pinch more of an ingredient can ruin a meal. For consistent results, it is very important for cooks to follow recipes whenever possible. One vital cooking element provided by recipes is proportion. Another benefit of following recipes is consistency. Each ingridient in recipes seres one or more specific purposes, from generating gases to creating glutens to binding other ingredients together. Elimanating one of these essential ingredients also removes the chemistry behind it.

International Cuisine

Are you tired of preparing and eating the same food every day? Are you one of those who likes to experience new flavours? Well then, Let's Cook International is the perfect web site for you.  Discover a whole new sensation of flavours around the world. Find out about Argentina, China, United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico Peru, Spain, Tailand, and United States of America's cuisine. Learn how to prepare simple recipes as 1, 2, 3. Even without cooking experience, just by following the recepies, you'll be able to make different kinds of drings (alcoholic and non alcoholic), entrees, poultry, meat, seafood, pasta and desserts.