10 Great Tips On Cooking Meals

If you are as busy as most people you are always looking for ways to feed your family in convenient, fast, yet not-too-expensive ways. Try the following suggestions:

1. Cooking several meals for the week at one time. It may take a few hours of your time up front but will pay off in the long run when you come home each evening and have a meal ready to eat in a short amount of time. Try cooking a roast and using part of it as a main meal and then using some for sandwiches, beef stroganoff or as part of a stir-fry. Fry several pounds of hamburger and make a casserole, taco meat and chili to freeze for use later in the week.

2. After you return home from the grocery store clean all the fruits and vegetables you can. When it’s time for a meal all you will have to do is cook them or add them to a salad or soup.

3. Get ideas from the cooking shows on T.V. There are great shows that show you how to make a healthy meal in a short time.

4. Develop a revolving recipe file. If you get bogged down by the idea of having to plan 30 meals a month the recipe file is for you. Let family members choose some of their favorites and put the recipes in a monthly file. Flip to day five or fifteen and there is the meal just waiting to be cooked.

5. Enlist the help of the members of your family. As soon as the kids are old enough divide up the cooking responsibilities. Let everyone take turns with specific tasks or the whole meal. Pair these meals with fruit and veggies that have already been washed and cut-up and you are ready for dinner.

6. Share the cooking with friends or neighbors. I’ve known people who cook four or five of the same meal and then trade with four or five other people. This works best when people share the same basic ideas on what they like and don’t like. It’s a great idea though for a very easy week of evening meals.

7. Save coupons for those convenience things at the grocery store. They have entire entrees and dinners either fresh or frozen. Sometimes they are rather pricy but with the coupons they are good to have on hand for an evening when everyone is running in different directions and time is of the essence.

8. It’s O.K. to eat out from time to time. Clip coupons for these occasions and if you have kids keep a look-out for the places that have special prices for children. Some of the fast-food restaurants are trying to offer item choices that are a little more healthy.

9. Many larger cities have businesses that prepare food for the evening meal. They seem expensive at first but are so convenient and available for one person or entire families. There are many menu choices and meals cooked for special diets. When you calculate the groceries you buy and the times you eat out each week, this may work for you.

10. Combine several of the above ideas into a plan that is best for you.

It is possible with a little planning to cook meals that are quick and easy without spending hours in the kitchen every day.

The Chefs Mindset

Have you ever wondered what the difference between a great chef and an ordinary chef is? How can one produce food recipes that are remembered and another produce food that is quickly forgotten? Disregarding all the jokes about never trusting a skinny chef I can only say that the 80/20 rule applies in this profession the same as in other professions. It is a fact of life that 20% of lawyers, doctors, accountants, financial planners etc. are outstanding; the other 80% are mediocre to awful. The same applies to all trades and professions. So the challenge vis-à-vis chefs is to find what differentiates the 20% from the 80%.

The first thing you will notice about the top 20% is creativity; they create meals and set the standard for others to follow. The most obvious sign of creativity is in the way that a meal is served. Can you look at the meal before you start eating and think: This meal appears to be unique? This must be obvious before you taste it; the meal truly needs to stir something (other than hunger) within you. Top chefs are like interior decorators in their presentation; mixing colors, shapes and textures to be sure that they are eye-catching.

Next we come to the recipe itself. Top chefs rarely present a recipe as it is presented in a recipe book; instead they add their own signature to it. This signature is better known as flair and varies from adding a simple extra ingredient to a number of ingredients. It could also be a variation of some ingredient quantities. For instance there is a recipe on our website for chocolate truffles flavored with cayenne pepper. - Now that looks stupid on paper because it is one of those things that you must taste to believe. The result is a truffle that leaves a taste for at least half an hour after you eat it. This is just one example of a chef that thinks outside of the square. There are many more that are not quite so radical.

Another thing I like to test when I eat out is the taste of simple boiled vegetables; you don’t need me to tell you that they can be bland. So, what if you boil all non-root vegetables in chicken, beef or vegetable stock rather than plain water. Also boil them together for the same time. You finish up with extra flavored vegetables and different textures because some vegetables require longer cooking time than others. Does it spoil the vegetables? Only you can be the judge, just remember that vegetables shouldn’t be cooked for too long or you boil the goodness out of them.

Why not start collecting your own top chef’s tips when you eat out. If there is something on your plate that excites you ask the waiter to ask the chef how he achieved that taste. Chefs are like artists and are usually happy to discuss their techniques with people who show a genuine interest.

This article is copyright © David McCarthy 2006. Feel free to reproduce it in the printed or electronic media without alterations or additions.

Olive Oils Explained

Olives and their oil are some of the oldest foods around today. Cultivation of the olive has been traced back as far as 5000 BC. It really is quite surprising, considering it has been around for so long, that many people are still only just discovering it. Not only is it delicious but being loaded with essential fatty acids and high in antioxidants, it is also incredibly healthy. Below is an explanation of some of the common types of olive oil and terms used to describe them.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Is the oil obtained from the first pressing of the olives. It is usually greener than other olive oils, and has very low acidity (it may not exceed .8%). It is ideal for use in dressings, dips and marinades.

Virgin Olive Oil: Is also obtained from the first pressing of the olives, although is slightly higher in acidity (it may not exceed 2.0%). It is very good oil but just not good enough to be designated extra virgin.

Olive Oil: Often consists of a blend of refined oil and virgin oil. The virgin oil gives it the flavour that the heat treated and refined oil lacks. A good all around oil, better suited to cooking as it has a slightly higher burning point than the virgins.

Light Olive Oil: Is refined oil obtained from the latter pressings. Each subsequent press of the olives, results in lighter and less flavourful oil. The term 'light' refers only to the colour and flavour and not the caloric content. It is again suitable for frying or saut'ing.

Pomace Olive Oil: Is oil obtained from the left over flesh and pits after being pressed. To release the remaining oil out of this (pomace) it is often treated with solvents and heat. The resulting oils are then refined to be fit for human consumption; because of this refining it can lack flavour. It is suitable for frying as it has quite a high burning point, but personally I hesitate to use it.

Early Harvest: Simply refers to the fact that the fruit was picked slightly under ripe. The under ripeness of the olive results in a sought after oil that is slightly bitter, peppery and very green. The smaller olives yield less oil and as such Early Harvest oils often sell for more.

Late Harvest: Is oil obtained from fully mature olives and results in a smooth oil that may be described as sweetish and fruity.

Cold Pressed: Refers to the fact that the olives were pressed without the use of heat. Olives that are pressed when heated yield more oil but the heat can destroy some of the delicate flavours that are retained when cold pressed.