Becoming Familiar With Grains of Paradise

Grains of Paradise, Aframomum melegueta, are a species in the ginger family and related to cardamom. Sometimes known as Guinea Pepper or Melegueta Pepper, this spice has been out of vogue for a long time. In the 14th and 15th centuries, production of the spice was so important that the Gulf of Guinea coast became known as the Melegueta Coast. The ease of access to Europe made this spice a popular substitute for pepper from far away Asia.

Grains of Paradise are actually small reddish brown seeds that are found in 2 - 3 inch long pods, whereas pepper comes from the berries of the pepper plant. The little pyramidal shaped grains are separated from the bitter white pulp of the ripe fruit and allowed to dry. The Grains have long been used as a stand in for pepper and are known to be less irritating for the digestion. When tasting these Grains there is an inviting heat, but a gentler version than the harsher heat of pepper. There is an herbaceous and citrusy character with warm spicy undertones of cinnamon, cloves or cardamom, though the components that make up the flavor of cardamom are present only in traces. The pleasant heat lingers for a while on the finish.

Largely unknown these days in cooking outside of the West African Coast, some popular chefs have once again begun making Grains of Paradise a sought after spice. It is sometimes used in the spices flavoring Scandinavian Aquavit, as well as some popular beer. The intriguing flavors lend themselves to flavoring foods both sweet and savory. They are a great addition to something like a gingerbread or spice cake, with the gentle warmth. Grains of Paradise work well with other herbs such as rosemary and thyme, or lemon thyme to pick up the citrusy note. It can be used in most any place pepper is called for, though the flavor is not that of pepper. I believe they would be a perfect substitute for pepper in Pfeffernusse Cookies.

In the African countries where Grains of Paradise originate, they are used both for food and for folk medicines. The Grains are excellent in braised lamb dishes and with potatoes or eggplant. They are generally an addition to the Moroccan Spice mixture called Ras el Hanout, loosely meaning Best of the Shop. This spice mixture can have up to 30 ingredients. This is my own version of Ras el Hanout, and it is great used as a spice rub for pork, beef, lamb or chicken before grilling, and adding into Moroccan tagines or other long braised stews.

Ras el Hanout

1 tablespoon Grains of Paradise

1 tablespoon allspice berries

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

2 teaspoons cardamom seeds

1 teaspoon ajwain seeds

1 teaspoon black cumin, bunium persicum

2 six-inch sticks true cinnamon

6 cloves

3 whole nutmegs

1 tablespoon lavender flowers

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground galangal

10 rosebuds

1 teaspoon mace blades

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon Spanish Saffron

In a hot, dry skillet, separately toss the first 8 ingredients, removing each to a spice grinder as they become fragrant. Crush the nutmegs ahead of time and add, along with the remaining ingredients and grind to a fine powder. Store in a sealed glass jar in a cool, dry place.

Other Uses

I have used cracked Grains of Paradise in my own version of Steak au Poivre in place of cracked pepper. Prior to grilling, I mixed about a tablespoon of the cracked Grains along with 4 cloves of smashed garlic, a teaspoon or more of minced fresh rosemary, some salt and olive oil to make a paste with my mortar and pestle. This is rubbed onto 4 large steaks and left for at least a half hour or more, if time permits, before grilling.

If you can find Grains of Paradise, they are a worthwhile addition to your spice shelf. Folk medicine claims these grains relieve flatulence and have diuretic and stimulant effects, in addition to the fact that they are easier on the digestion. New flavor dimensions are always fun to explore. Discover these sometime soon.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hope it was informative and helped you along your own culinary journey. You will find many more recipes and helpful tips on my web site. I am on Facebook at A Harmony of Flavors and share a recipe or tip each day to the fans that have liked my site. I hope to see you there soon.

My name is Chris Rawstern and I have been on a cooking and baking journey for 42 years. Many people have asked what A Harmony of Flavors means. Have you ever had a meal where the visual presentation was stunning, the smells were incredible, the taste was so remarkable that you ate slowly savoring every bite, wishing the experience would never end? Then you have experienced what a truly harmonious meal can be like. My passion is to teach people how to create a Harmony of Flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things. I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Visit my Web site http://www.aharmonyofflavors.com/ my Blog my Marketplace or Facebook page A Harmony of Flavors

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Key Steps For Choosing Your Cookery Lessons in London

We have all been there: we want to have cooking lessons in London and leave behind the usual curry delivery or frozen Chinese dumplings, but just the idea of preparing a meal from scratch is daunting.

We might even have considered in the past giving cookery lessons as presents to family and friend, but then again we do not want to lose the friends because they might feel unprepared and end up taking the gift as a curse.

And even if could master enough self-confidence, how would we choose from the myriad of suppliers of cookery lessons in London?

Our suggestion: go for a provider of cooking lessons at home. Rather than having to go somewhere in the middle of nowhere at a set time and fight for the attention of the chef while trying to make sense of recipes you would never cook again, agree the menu and timing beforehand and have the chef and ingredients dispatched to your kitchen.

Too good to be true? Not at all. These type of cooking lessons in London are not yet as popular as the "group lessons", but are extremely interesting. Price is not so outragious as someone might think and the convenience is extremely high, as well as the learning arising from the experience.

In any case, they need to be chosen carefully. There are many weird cookery lessons in London, and finding the right one might be an issue.

Check for how long the company has been in business, and always give them a call beforehand. You want to be sure they know what they are talking about. Ask for a few references and about the chef's history. Having the right person on board is key for a good outcome. You can also check out gift and voucher providers. They usually have plenty of cookery lessons in London and UK on offer. But be careful. Of course they need to make some profit, therefore the price is higher than the one you might find on the individual website of the lesson provider. You might end up with a free pizza at your favourite deli if you decide to go direct.

Learning Best Cookery Lessons In London is a very good option to enhance your cooking skills . It is nothing complex but one need to practice every day to let others say Invite Me To Dinner.

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Kobe Beef Nutrition Facts And Simple Recipes You Should Know

Kobe beef is steak cuts exclusively from the famous Wagyu cattle, which were first raised in Hyogo Prefecture of Kobe, Japan. This beef has been made famous for its high level of marbling and exceptionally fine taste.

The rich flavor and succulent meat taste of Kobe beef is due to the high lean-to-fat ratio, which makes it an absolutely healthy choice. Because of this, the demand of Kobe beef greatly increased despite its high price. Today, Kobe beef is also being produced in the United States, where Wagyu cattle have been cross bred with Angus cattle.

Kobe Beef Nutrition Facts

Kobe and Wagyu steaks are said to be the healthiest meat that has ever been produced because of the higher percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids, which has the ability to increase high density lipoprotein levels while reducing the total cholesterol level. It is also rich in linolenic and linoleic acid that has numerous health benefits including protection against heart disease, depression, Alzheimer's, and prevention against numerous kinds of cancers.

Kobe beef is also a good source of calories, protein, iron, and even fat and sodium. The good thing is that the fat in this steak is more of the healthy fat and humans do need fat to protect the organs and insulate the body. When consumed in moderation, this type of steak fits perfectly into a healthy diet regimen.

Must Try Dishes with Kobe Beef

Kobe beef is known to melt in the mouth and leaves a buttery taste that lingers. Because of this, it has been a favorite main ingredient in most dishes. Examples of most-favored dishes include sashimi, steaks, and shabu-shabu style meals.

There are many recipes for Kobe steaks online that can easily be made at home. Because of this, the demand for this luxurious ingredient grew even more.A traditional recipe of Kobe steaks is to marinade it in some garlic, thyme, rosemary, grape seed oil, red wine vinegar, and chili flakes for several hours and sear it until caramelized. It is best to cook to meat to medium rare.

For sashimi style, chefs usually just put some soy sauce, dashi stock, and spring onions. Shabu-shabu style dishes are cooked briefly in broiling broth.

Whichever of these two recipes you decide to try out will still retain the natural meat's flavors.

No matter which way you prefer to cook Kobe steak, you are sure to end up with a mouth-watering meal.

The rich flavor and succulent meat taste of Kobe beef is due to the high lean-to-fat ratio, which makes it an absolutely healthy choice.There are many recipes for Kobe steaks online that can easily be made at home.No matter which way you prefer to cook Kobe beef, you are sure to end up with a mouth-watering meal.

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Where is The Need For Survival Food Storage?

Have you ever thought about people stuck in flood water or in a civil war? Do you ever think how these people survive the tough time? It is certainly horrifying to think of such a situation, where you have to remain under house rest for long time. People living in areas that often become of fury of nature rely on survival food storage.Special food items that can last long without losing their taste and nutritional value are included in survival food storage. Available in packing of different quantities, these items can meet individual needs. Since this ready-to-eat meal is available on the web, people can buy fresh stock of food as and when required. Packed items come with a date of expiry hence they can be stored for a certain time period beyond which they become useless.

Stocking emergency food is a technical matter. You would stock packets containing ready-to-eat meal and you would keep record of the stocked food so that your investment doesn't go waste. Buy packets that are suitable to provide you enough food for a couple of weeks and use the packets before they achieve their expiry date.Emergency food is different from home cooked meal in two respects. First former is tastier than latter. Second is former has more nutritional value than latter. But the greatest different between the two is former can be kept ready-to-eat for long time while latter needs to be consumed within a few hours of preparation.

With survival food storage, you can have peace of mind. If you happen to meet an emergency, you can use the stocked meal and in this way save your life. If there is no emergency, you can consume the stocked meal and in this way save your time and money. Meal for emergency use is made ready-to-eat. These food items are supplied to defense persons guarding the borders. Mountaineers, hikers, hunters and campers also take this meal when going out for adventure.For survival food storage, you don't need to make special arrangements at home as the packed meal can be stored at any convenient place where you can access the meal in a hassle free manner. Stock the packets that you can use one at a time because once opened, the meal would come into contact with external elements and the external elements would spoil the entire content of the packing within a few hours.

Forsberg Larry has been associated with the companies which primary deal in supplying the highest quality, lowest priced Freeze Dried Foods. The author has also been a famous cook.For More Information Please Visit Survival Food Storage and Canned Meats.

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Supper Foods-what Makes Your Cooking Smart?

In many countries of the world including US, the largest meal is considered to be the night time meal and this night time meal is termed as supper. Whether it's the supper foods or any other food taken at any time during a day, what really matters is the nutritional values of such food as a human body requires a blend of various minerals, fibers, proteins and multivitamins as its diet which if taken regularly ensures a good health and a vibrant life. There are various factors which one needs to consider while cooking supper foods as it is normally something which the whole family loves to enjoy thoroughly. For making your supper ready well before the whole family or your loved ones join you on the table, you need to plan the preparations as you need to know the preparation techniques which can make a recipe be prepared in lesser time. Always prepare the cut vegetables well before time because cutting normally consumes a long time and especially when you have a big family for which large proportions need to be cut.

Now let's just give a look into few ideas for supper foods or meals that are not only delicious but are also high on the nutritional values. A steamed fish which is fully cooked can be prepared in about 10 minutes with your home bamboo steamer made of stainless steel. Marinate the fish fillet that you have and then place it in your steamer along with some sliced vegetables such as carrots, broccoli and some shredded cabbage. Just let the ingredients face the steam for six minutes and then you have a delicious steamed food which does not only possess the Vitamin D of the fish but also contains the carbohydrates, essentials oils and iron of the vegetables.

The exposition is not to give you different recipes but is also very much targeted to induce you with the very idea of how you need to take your supper foods seriously because after the whole hectic day of hard work, one really need to catch on the energy and the refreshing catalysts that nature has bestowed upon us in the form of food. Now eggs make a tremendously delicious, energizing and easy to make supper which can be utilized for coming up with a variety of recipes. Avoid the extra cholesterol that is found in the yolk by using a single yolk along with the whites of other eggs. Now you can make them even high on nutritional attributes by just adding different fresh vegetables and try to use some non sticky pan. Also try to cut short on the high fats and calories that you induce in them when you fry them in butter. Cheese can also be added to make the variety even more delicious and all of this can be prepared without having to expense much of your time. So remember that smart supper foods ideas should not only comprise of the easy procedures but should include items which really give your body the natural care and growth.

I have 5 year experience of writing articles about health related issues and products my expertise are herbal supplements and vitamins this article is all about supper foods if you want to know more about natural herbal products visit this website http://www.vitanherbs.com/

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Artichoke Asiago Cheese Bread ♥

Today's fun recipe for spring, a savory quick bread studded with artichoke hearts, olives and cubes of asiago cheese.

Who else regularly falls down an internet rabbit hole? What, who me? who you? It starts so innocently, doesn't it? Just a mindless click of a finger, following a link or a Pin or a Facebook share, never realizing that ten minutes later, we'll look up, wondering, Now, where was I? Acck. Our screen-filled lives make it so easy to get lost, to focus intently on something of momentarily great but altogether fleeting import.

And then again, the rabbit hole can lead to cheese bread! A savory cheese bread, to be exact, plump with artichoke and if you like, olives too. Last week, I asked if favorite recipes should be added to my small collection of artichoke recipes. E-mail subscriber Louise Black wrote back right away, "We have visited Castorville, California (the Artichoke Capital) many times and eaten at the Giant Artichoke Restaurant there. They serve Artichoke Quiche, Artichoke Quick Bread and lot of other artichoke food! Would love to have the recipe for the quick bread and quiche."

Hint, hint. Artichoke quick bread? Dowwwwwwwwwwwwn the rabbit hole I went. And when I returned to screen-free consciousness, this is what emerged from the oven, a moist loaf of cheesy bread stuffed with artichokes and olives. Thanks for the suggestion, Louise, this is one rabbit hole I'm happy to have dropped into!
Keep Reading ->>>

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How to Make the Best Use of Your Fridge

Storing food in your fridge can be quite puzzling at times. So here are a few tips that would help you make the best use of your fridge and preserve your food longer.

You should clean your refrigerator at least once every week.You should not keep open tins in your refrigerator. It's because normally most of the foods are slightly acidic in nature. When you leave open tins and cans in the fridge, this acid can react with the metal and the air and turn your food metallic in taste. You should put your leftover tinned food in a separate clean container, cover it with a lid or a cling film and then label its contents and put the date.You should also wrap any other foods that are not properly sealed with a cling film or keep them in a polythene bag before you put in the fridge. Also keep all the jars and bottles properly lidded. The water in your foods can evaporate and form ice and frosting in the fridge.Store all the raw meats either in the freezer or along with raw vegetables in the bottom shelves. Keep all your ready to eat foods such as sandwiches and cooked meat products above it. This would stop any bacteria from the raw foods contaminate other ready to eat foods. Keep everything wrapped properly.Also you should not overload your refrigerator. Leave plenty of space for proper air circulation.Regularly check and make sure that your fridge temperature stays between 1?C and 4?C.Also vacuum your fridge's condenser coils at least once every year. Pull out your fridge away from the wall or (in some models) clean it from under the fridge. It will make sure that your fridge will run shorter cycles.

Your fridge is your Kitchen's life-line, if you want it to last longer and work efficiently better, you will need to regularly take care of it. It's really not a big ask if you can change your habits.

You can read more interesting tips about safely cooking and storing your food on Carlton Training's website.

Emma is a professional in the adult training industry working for the number 1 training provider in the UK: Carlton Training. She is happy to help you find your way and give you advice. Rate this Article

How to Make the Best Use of Your FridgeRating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Emma Phelps has published 3 articles. Article submitted on March 26, 2013. Word count: 343

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