Microwave cooking tips

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If your kitchen is like most kitchens these days, you’ve probably got a microwave oven sitting in it. And what do you use it for? Reheating? Melting butter or chocolate when baking? Maybe the kids throw a hot dog in once in a while. Well, if that’s how your microwave gets used, you’re missing out on a great cooking tool. After all, why heat up your oven when you can do the whole job in the microwave in the time it takes to pre-heat your oven?

A couple of good reasons to use your microwave instead of your oven are that no pre-heating is needed and the cost is greatly reduced. Using your microwave for 100 hours will cost about $7.00 compared to about $70.00 for 100 hours of conventional oven use.

Understanding how a microwave works will also help you rethink using it a little more, too. Molecules of fat, sugar and water within food attract microwaves that reflect against the metal walls of the oven. The molecules begin to vibrate against one another causing friction and that’s the heat that cooks the food. The microwaves can only penetrate food 1-1&1/2 inches so larger dishes need the vibrating molecules to move from the outside edges to the center of the food for it to be cooked. That’s why food placement, dish quality and cooking quantity are all important when cooking in the microwave.

Microwaves can pass through plastic, paper, wood and glass but not through metals. That’s why you’ll get “Arching” or sparking if you put metal in the microwave.

A good rule to remember when cooking in the microwave is that approximately 6 minutes per pound will cook most foods including meat, poultry and fruit and vegetables. Seafood will take less time and reducing the power of your microwave will require longer cooking time. About 20% of the cooking time takes place after the oven turns off so make sure you remember that your food will continue cooking after you’ve removed it.

You might be used to your ovens temperature in degrees but you can convert your microwave’s temperature that is described in power or watts. A microwave on high or 100% power is about the same as having your oven at 425 degrees. A 350-degree oven would be about the same as a microwave at 50% power.

You can determine the wattage of a microwave by placing 1 cup of tap water in a two cup measuring cup. Heat on high for two minutes. If the water boils in two minutes or less, the microwave is probably 700 watts or more. If it takes longer than it is 600 watts or less.

Different foods will require different temperatures to cook properly and while you should follow the 6 minutes per pound rule, add more minutes as you drop the power. Using 50% power, you’d want to cook your food for about 11 minutes. Cooking something that takes an hour in the oven should take about 15 minutes in the microwave.

Here are some helpful hints when cooking in the microwave:

Arrange food in dish so that the thicker part is on the outside and the thinner part inside for more even cooking.

Using a dish with a cone in the center will also help distribute heat evenly.

Let foods such as cakes with baking powder in them stand a few minutes before cooking to allow the leavening agents to work.

Don’t use as much liquid — if a recipe calls for milk and water, cut back on the water. You might want to use fewer spices as well.

Open covers away from you to release steam.

If you cover it in the regular oven, cover it in the microwave too.

Ready to try it yet? Get out your favorite cookbook and get cooking. You’ll be saving time and money and still eating those foods you love.

How To Cook Salmon Tips & Methods

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Salmon is a versatile fish for the reason that there are numerous ways to prepare the fillets. Its a healthy protein filled with Omega 3 Fats which have many health benefits, including enhanced brain function and overall wellness. Salmon is a flavorsome fish therefore can choose to cook it unseasoned or you can add a range of spices to add even more flavor. The most common ways of cooking salmon include baking, pan frying and poaching. Keep reading for a few helpful tips about how to cook salmon.

To bake the salmon, put the fillets in a dish which has been sprayed with olive oil apply or wrap the salmon in foil with various spices i.e. experiment with different spices and herbs or a squeeze of lemon juice or a hint of soy sauce. Bake the fish inside a pre-heated oven for about 15-20 min’s or until cooked the way you like (note – cooking times may vary depending on the size of your fillets). Serve the unseasoned salmon with mayo or djonaisse as well as a lemon wedge. For seasoned fillets, there is no need to serve with additional condiments. Serve the salmon with a mixed green salad for a healthy and also balanced meal.

Salmon is tasty pan fried or cooked on the Barbecue. As with the baking technique, you can pan-fry or BBQ salmon without seasoning or it is possible to add sea salt & spice up or even a herb crusting. Once pan-fried, the exterior of the seafood may become crispy, specifically if you maintain the skin. Spray the fish with extra virgin olive oil spray or brush it with olive oil just before cooking on a medium-high heat right up until it is cooked (generally about 4-5 mins on either side.) Serve the salmon together with your favorite mix of greens or perhaps vegetables.

The actual healthiest way to cook salmon would be to poach it. To get this done, fill a medium-sized pot with around 5 centimeters of water and bring this to the boil. Gently position the salmon in the water, then reduce the heat to a mild, simmer where tiny bubbles seem round the fish. Cook for about eight minutes, or before the trout becomes opaque. It is possible to flavor the liquid to give the trout additional flavor. Attempt poaching the trout in a some chicken or even vegetable stock, or even in milk using a bay leaf plus some peppercorns. Poached salmon is actually fantastic flaked or cut and used in eating salads, sandwiches and also stirred in pasta.

Regardless how you choose to cook your fish or the seasonings you add (or dont), once you know how to cook salmon, you can incorporate this particular delightfully flavorsome seafood in your family members diet on a regular basis.

Delicious Recipes For Children With Cooking Games

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On the Internet there are quite a few free cooking games for ladies, but are these folks as enjoyable as the real point? It doesn’t matter if you have young children which are fussy eaters or if your young children could eat close to every little thing which is in entrance of them, pam cooking is something a lot young children enjoy. Which is why there are so many free cooking games online. One can put your kid in entrance of the computer and let them play free cooking games, or one can consider some time and truly start off pam cooking for and with your young children. It is the great way to combine your really like for super food and your really like for your young children.

Cooking games for ladies are really preferred simply because these folks are basic, enjoyable, educational and can train ladies the pam cooking basics and offer them a basic knowledge of the food-service industry.

If you wish to grow the enthusiasm flowing for your ladies, enable them to play cooking games as an alternative. Cooking games are not solely enjoyable to me but these folksre exhilarating mastering how to prepare dinner sure foods, to bake a cake or prepare dinner the a lot delicious food items these folks could actually imagine. Cooking games offer accurate mastering event for those who wish to further their kitchen skills and event delicacies these folks dont eat on a regular basis.

Cooking games is really simple to play by ladies of all ages. Every little thing is explained with definitions of elements, utensils, preparatory terms, techniques, basic lingo, helpful hints.

Cooking games is more than just a sport is really interactive, providing quite a few quality recipes from throughout the world. It has been high received by customers and critics alike, and may high be the best sport for mastering a thing or two regarding super food and preparation.

In the free cooking games for ladies, there are games where these folks are shown how to prepare dinner breakfast; these folks want stir the eggs and so on. They are really basic and one can choose which to prepare dinner or bake: sandwiches, burger, sushi, pasta, pizza, soup, taco fresh salad, chocolate cheesecake, banana sour product, pumpkin pie, Ice Product and quite a few a lot more

If you enjoy pizza just choose Pizza Cooking Games. In the pizza games, you are making some strong dish specials for the imaginary customers. As the pizza chef, you could be slinging pastry in the digital feeling as you pile as a toppings and make the pizzas to purchase. The orders could velocity up, naturally, making you do the job which considerably swifter to get the pizzas forced and in the range just before the following purchase will come in. Fairly quickly you could sense enjoy you are until your elbows in digital flour and cheese.

There are mostly two varieties of cooking games. One breed is the digital cooking area sort and the other is the electronic cookbook variety. Digital cookbook is a larger choice as it incorporates a lot of healthy and internationally acknowledged quality recipes to pick from. A lot of them are simple to make and might be built in utensils which are accessible at home. You additionally get to comprehend a lot a lot more regarding the quality recipes as there could be feedback additionally regarding these quality recipes.

If you dont have a good amount of elements, one can choose from a substitution list of elements to make you favourite dish. If these folks dont give you any substitution write-up, you could need to study as a world wide web or other resources to come across one a lot more component which might be applied as a substitute.

All of these cooking games assist ladies so once these folks do get into the cooking area, these folks’ll have some thought of which these folks are doing and be inclined to prepare dinner hands-on.

Cooking Brisket in the Oven – A Beginners Guide

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Did you know that at one time, brisket was considered a very poor quality meat? History has it, that two brothers from Germany, back in the 1950’s decided to smoke up some leftover brisket they had. They left the brisket inside their smokehouse for an entire weekend. When they returned to work they sliced up the meat and served it to their customers. The meat was so flavorful and tender that it quickly became a hit.

I remember the first time I had the pleasure of eating beef brisket. It was at this fabulous little Barbecue Restaurant in Croton-On-Hudson, NY called Memphis Maes.

New York isn’t known for its BBQ, so my wife and I were a bit skeptical. But after we took our first bite of the “Texas BBQ Beef Brisket”, we became believers! My wife then looked at me and said , “You have to make this!” Not wanting to let the lovely wife down, I took it upon myself to try and recreate the BBQ brisket at home. I don’t own a smoker, so I needed to improvise and cook the brisket in the oven.

Believe it or not, the oven makes a pretty darn good BBQ brisket. Many BBQ enthusiasts will tell you that a smoker is the only way to cook brisket, but I can tell you from experience this is simply not the case.

The secret to a good beef brisket is to cook it nice and slow at around 225 degrees for several hours. So if you are looking for a quick and easy meal tonight, cooking brisket in the oven is not the way to go.

You will have to prepare this particular recipe one day in advance and you will need to plan some extra time to cook the brisket as it takes several hours to finish cooking.

Lets Talk About Dry Rubs

There are a variety of different dry rub recipes you can use for your beef brisket. One such recipe is listed below. Don’t be shy with your dry rub. You want to really coat the brisket well. Its not called a rub for nothing, so really rub those spices into the meat with your hands. After the rub has been applied put the brisket in the fridge and let it marinade over night.

DRY RUB

– 1/4 Cup Paprika – 1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar – 2 Tbs Chili Powder – 2 Tbs Kosher Salt – 2 Tbs Freshly Cracked Black Pepper – 1 1/3 Tbs Granulated Garlic – 1 1/3 Tbs Granulated Onion – 2 Tsp Ground Cumin

THE SAUCE

We need some type of liquid to slowly braise the brisket in the oven. Braising is an excellent way to cook brisket in the oven because it keeps the brisket moist and very tender.

What I do is mix some good quality store bought barbecue sauce with a little beef broth to thin it a bit. I like to use a smoke flavored barbecue sauce. To give it a little more smoky flavor, I also add a few drops of liquid smoke. This makes a very tasty braising liquid.

LETS START COOKING ALREADY!

Before we start cooking, lets do a little preparation.

Remove the brisket from the fridge and leave it on the counter for 30 minutes or so to allow it to come to room temperature.

Really Useful Time Management Tips from a Cooking Show

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In life, there are lessons available to use everywhere. We just have to have our eyes open to spot them. I have picked up some really useful time-management tips from watching a cooking show. Suspend your disbelief and let me explain further.

I dont watch a lot of television because it can be a huge time drain. But I enjoy experimenting and cooking, so I do watch a few cooking shows now and then. One of my favorites is 30 Minute Meals hosted by the ever perky Rachel Ray. Her claim to fame is that she can show you how to prepare healthy, great-tasting home-cooked meals in 30 minutes. Who can resist that?

After experiencing more than a few episodes of her program, Ive come to realize that she is a master at using time. Thats how she can get so much accomplished in 30 minutes. And here are her secrets that you can easily adopt.

Spend time in Planning

Most cooking shows lasting 30 minutes will feature maybe one item. In 30 Minute Meals, Rachel Ray generally prepares three to five items working alone in her kitchen. She doesnt have helpers and the ingredients havent been pre-chopped or diced or julienned ahead of time. She doesnt have another perfect souffl sitting in the oven waiting for her to whip out at the end to show you how it should turn out. She really does the cooking in real time. So how does she do it?

Before Rachel Ray even steps foot into her kitchen, she has the entire process for preparing the meal planned out. Does the dessert take longer to cook than the entree? If so, then it makes perfect sense to start the preparation of the dessert first. She knows which sequence of steps is the most efficient based on the planning. She knows exactly which ingredients she needs from the refrigerator so that she only needs to make one trip, which saves her time.

So, heres our real life application. When you look at your list of things to do, or errands to run, how can you use planning to become more efficient? How many trips to the refrigerator can you save by improving your planning?

Utilize Every Minute

This may sound like a no-brainer, but how many of us are really experts at this like Rachel Ray. She constantly talks about her pockets of time. When the water is heating up for pasta, she uses her pocket of time to chop onions, butter bread, cut up chicken, and anything else she can fit in. By using these little pockets of time, she whips up a meal in 30 minutes.

Now for our real life application: how many times have you put off doing something because you only had 15 minutes and the task takes an hour? What if you cant find a whole hour to work on that task for another week, but you can actually squeeze in 15 minutes everyday for the next 4 days? By using your little pockets of time, you are able to complete the task this week instead of next week. Thats the secret to getting more done.

Become a master at this like Rachel Ray. If you only have 10 minutes before you have to go to a meeting, return one phone call. This gives you the perfect incentive to be efficient about concluding the call. Pick up pockets of time everywhere and see how much more you can accomplish during your day.