Saturday, August 21, 2010

Italian Pasta Recipes: Not Just Spaghetti

By Shelley Lindt

You may think of Italian pasta recipes as somewhat heavy, with dishes like lasagna or spaghetti and meatballs. You may envision a late dinner with candlelight, a robust wine, and lots of thick, meaty sauce. But Italian food, as with the cuisine of every culture, runs the gamut from heavy to light and springy. The gradual change from winter to summer means that people are transcend from the heavier to lighter dishes. On some cool, dark evenings, you may still enjoy the heartiness of the heavier recipes, but this is a time when the lighter, brighter dishes start to appear as well.

Even the name of pasta primavera loosely refers to spring. But some claim it isn't really Italian, since it was introduced to American society by Le Cirque restaurant in New York. Yet according to Foodreference.com, the chef there received it from the painter and writer of Italian cookbooks, Edward Giobbi. So it may be one of the genuine Italian pasta recipes after all. This spaghetti dish uses the first tomatoes of spring, with fresh basil, parsley and garlic, and extra virgin olive oil, making it a lovely lighter dish for the emerging springtime.

Another of the Italian pasta recipes that will work well in spring is pasta pomodoro. The flavor of this dish resides primarily in the pomodoro sauce itself, which begins with the typically Italian combination of tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. You can use some creativity to personalize the dish, adding ingredients such as mushrooms, peppers or sauteed onions. Or you can add some chopped chicken, as the flavors complement each other very well.

Italian pasta salads also become prominent as spring progresses, and they too can be light or a little heavier. Many recipes call for little more than perhaps some olives, fresh tomatoes and chunks of feta cheese with basil, while others are more elaborate. For example, an Italian sausage pasta salad at Epicurious.com calls for chunks of the sausage to be sauteed, adding broccoli and zucchini, with tomatoes, olives, wine and Parmesan cheese added toward the end. But pasta salads also lend themselves well to vegetarian recipes as the sausage dish could easily be adapted to be meatless.

That's something that makes Italian pasta recipes so versatile and almost universal. They can please the most voracious meat-eater, and yet vegetarians who continue to eat cheese can make just a few alterations and enjoy their own versions of the same recipes. Many of the recipes, especially the spring salads, are quick and easy to prepare. Yet someone who wants to take the time to make a rich meat sauce can turn their pasta meal into a hearty main course. Italian cuisine and pasta in particular, can serve almost any occasion and please almost any palate.

About the Author:
For the ultimate in pasta dishes, you can't beat the taste and texture of fresh homemade pasta. If you're ready to take your love of pasta to the next level, click here to learn about the advantages of a pasta rolling machine, and the difference between a hand crank pasta roller and an electric model.

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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Cooking Eggs For Healthy Breakfasts

By Adriana Noton

Although breakfast is very important for someone's health, many people do not eat breakfast or eat breakfast in hurry. People chalk it up to the limited time they have to prepare breakfasts. A breakfast is very important to provide the energy and nutrients you need to go through the day. Teenagers or children need healthy breakfast even more to help their bodies grow stronger. It is actually very easy to cook healthy breakfast. You can even do it in less than ten minutes.

Many breakfast recipes have eggs as the main ingredients. Eggs are rich in protein and calories which make them ideal breakfast food. You can also cook them very easily and very quickly. There are numerous healthy recipes with eggs that are both healthy and tasty or you can make your own variation.

When you buy eggs, you need to select the best eggs you can find. The shell should be clean and the eggs should not smell at all. After you get home, store your eggs in the refrigerator to keep them fresh. Do not keep your eggs too long in the refrigerator. Eat your eggs within a few days of purchase.

You can cook your eggs in so many ways. You can serve them sunny side up, boiled, scrambled, or make an omelet with them. Varieties will make your breakfast even more special. Start with basic easy recipes and create your own variations by adding ingredients to them.

The heat for cooking eggs should be medium. High heat will burn your eggs before it is thoroughly cooked and low heat will make your eggs cook longer. Eggs need to be cooked thoroughly to avoid contamination. If you like your egg yolks runny, you need to be sure you use the highest quality eggs as possible to avoid health issues.

It is very quick to prepare sunny or scrambled eggs which make them great recipes when you are in a hurry. You only need to use little or no oil at all if you cook with a non stick pan. This will make the food healthier. Add some salt and pepper while cooking or after the eggs are cooked. You may want to eat the eggs with toast to make your breakfast more filling.

There are so many variations of omelet recipes around the world, whether it is simple, or more elaborate. Omelet recipes include additional ingredients such as meat, pasta, cheese, or mushrooms. You also can create your own version of omelet by adding your favorite ingredients.

People who have high blood cholesterol can still enjoy eggs . However, they need to omit or reduce the egg yolks. Breakfasts are best served with fruit juice, non fat milk, soy milk, or smoothie which is made with non fat milk or soy milk for health purpose. Eating healthy breakfast is essential to keep your energy level high through the day. You only need to set aside a few minutes every morning to prepare healthy food your body needs.

About the Author:
Love eggs? Looking for easy healthy recipes to eat your eggs with? Check out Egg Farmers of Ontario for breakfast ideas to spice up your morning!

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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Learn How To Keep Food Fresh

By Brian Schwartz

Everyone knows that if you want to keep foods fresh, then you must have a refrigerator. The question is, what is the ideal temperature to keep the foods as fresh and tasty as possible? The best temperature to conserve your food is between 34 to 40 degrees.

It is equally as important for safety reasons that foods such as leftovers are refrigerated as soon as possible. You should never reheat foods that were left out for extended periods of time thinking that cooking will destroy the bacteria, if you did, well you thought wrong, the bacteria can actually grow to dangerous numbers and can produce toxins that are resistant to heat, not even boiling will kill this type.

Here are some tips for keeping foods fresh:

- If you store foods, then keep them away from hot areas. If possible, keep them in cold and dark place where the temperature is about 50-70 degrees.

- Try to keep the food in your pantry within a reachable height so they are constantly in site.

- You should khow what food do well when frozen: meats, poultry, soups, berries and berries.

- And these are the some of the foods that are not good as frozen: vegetables, dairy products and eggs

- Cut leftovers into small portions before freezing, they will freeze much quicker, and thaw more easily

- Also, you should always put a date on the foods you freeze so that when you go to pick them up again, you know if they were frozen for long or not.

- Some refrigerators allow you to see the temperature. If that is your case, then make sure that the temperature inside the refrigerator is always around zero degrees. If your refrigerator does not allow you to see the temperature, then you can use a thermometer.

- You should also check the seals on the refrigerator and make sure that is air tight.

Proper Thawing

Some of the most common methods of thawing are leaving frozen meant on a counter top or putting it under warm water. The problem with this is that some times it can lead to many types of food illnesses. You should avoid those two methods. Instead of it, your should use the refrigerator thawing, microwave thawing or cold water thawing in a sealed leak proof package.

These tips will help your foods stay fresh, as well as keep you safe.

About the Author:
You should have the ideal utensils when cooking. We provide you the best deals like cookware, flatware sets and much more is found on TheFlatwareSet.com. Check us out!

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People Get Excited When They Find A Popcorn Machine For Sale

There are many advantages behind obtaining a good quality popcorn machine for sale in your area. You can even buy one from a favorite internet site as many individuals do this every day. The aroma of freshly made popcorn frequently reminds people of very fond places and events that they would like to re-create. Home made popcorn can usually be prepared in a much healthier manner compared to most snacks. There's lots of other benefits as well.

A great deal of people plan to discuss the way that machine created popcorn happens to remind them of the cinema. Traditionally within society, numerous teenagers encounter their very first day with the opposite sex at such a cinema. Numerous people use the fresh made popcorn that they made through the use of their machine to create a cinematic experience with their television plus a collection of home videos.

A lot of men and women adore the yearly occasion which is often referred to as the county fair. When popcorn is produced with a machine, and butter and oil are added, it can remind folks of the kind of snack that they commonly enjoy when they are roaming the grounds of the county fair. Folks can locate a popcorn machine for sale and attempt to recreate the county fair encounter. When men and women use their backyards to showcase a range of other selfmade treats a really fair like encounter could be made.

Many persons grumble concerning the incredibly fattening nature of many sorts of snack items. This isn't the case when they come across a nice popcorn machine for sale. When popcorn is prepared using this sort of a machine from scratch, you often have the option of creating a snack that is certainly a lot healthier for your body. The machines that use hot air to pop the popcorn kernels could be incredibly effective for these kinds of a purpose. That is why a great number of people tend to not merely purchase them but use them on a frequent basis.

Quite a few of the popcorn products which can be prepared using a home microwave could be of a really low and undesirable quality. This is the reason numerous individuals prefer to not just obtain but frequently use a machine that will prepare the popcorn in a much better fashion. This is just about the most important reason why somebody would wish to search merchants in hopes of finding a popcorn machine for sale. Microwave popcorn bags already have all of the ingredients integrated so they do not leave very much room for the customization of the snacking process.

One of the greatest things appreciated by enthusiasts of popcorn machines is the rather large market that these products have in the typical housewares area. These machines can vary not only in their size but their price tag as well. This enables such a machine to be purchased at every sort of economical level in society. A number of these products might be upgraded at a later time with the addition of accessories that are usually sold on a separate basis.

When a machine is used to cook popcorn people may well discover that there's money that can be saved by way of the process. You can find plenty of smaller machines that can be obtained for an effective price tag. Numerous individuals are happy with the amount of dollars that they save when choosing a cost effective popcorn machine for sale. Let us not forget that popcorn kernels typically arrive in really big bags that are also of a very low price. A good deal of cash could possibly be saved when somebody stops to think of all the money that they are presently spending on microwavable popcorn products.

It's not hard whatsoever to realize that there are several really excellent advantages to be received by somebody that finds a popcorn machine for sale. It doesn't take a great deal of looking to locate a popcorn machine for sale. The smell and taste of fresh machine created popcorn can remind people of very positive memories. The product that's produced by these machines can also be of a very low price. This kind of popcorn can also be considered a much healthier snacking option when it's prepared in a specific way. These are all fantastic advantages a popcorn machine for sale can offer you.

About the Author:
If you love popcorn or you would like to open a popcorn business, then the popcorn machine for sale would be the nicest route. A fine place to look for a popcorn machine for sale would be the Internet.

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