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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

A Big Job in Little Rock

Im heading off to historic Little Rock, Arkansas, to shoot a series of videos for a new corporate client. I leave today, and will return Thursday. I cant give any details at this time, but you will see the fruits (not a hint) of my labor on this blog at some point. As usual, you can follow along with my adventure on Twitter. By the way, I do have some new video recipes already filmed, which Ill post as soon as I can finish the editing. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Salad Recipes Satisfaction healthy meals in All In one

Salads are packed with nutrients that what unwanted additional weight gain can provide all us with our daily nutritional needs without fear. They are very easy to make and healthy alternatives to fast food take outs for busy people who are always on the go.

We can have it packed for a light lunch at work; to help us with the right amount of energy we all day to keep going. The good news is that there are many salad recipe-s we can find on the Internet, give us plenty of salad dishes that we have for each day of the week.

Salads are a great way to help, their vegetables began our children eating recipe-s, which especially concocted for children.

Salads for lunch and dinner

With some light and during day satisfaction layers can our energy boost; during dinner can light salad us a good nights sleep without feeling every hunger Pang in night or suffering indigestion due to heavy dinner were we right before bedtime.

We dont have to go with the usual salad recipe-s carried out basically with lettuce and tomatoes; We can try different vegetables and. We can also check out different chicken and seafood salads like shrimp, trying to make salads more flavorful and appetizing salads.

A simple shrimp salad, tomatoes, paprika plus herbs of our choice, threw in extra virgin olive oil can already for a light but satisfying meal, the us up to our next mealtime above tide can.

Broccoli, mixed with slices Bacon, cheese and onions, tossed in a Federation of Mayo, vinegar and sugar on the other hand, can help us often dreaded broccoli seem more attractive for our children to make.

Salads for Weight loss

Salads are a great way for us to lose weight. As mentioned, with nutrients to us go the day keep packed and still they are easy enough to keep help us our caloric intake under control.

Low-calorie salad-recipe-s are available online, so now we can try some of these to help s to create a healthy menu for the week with different recipe for every day of the week.

ENTR?e salads are meals perfectly and you are healthy for us, you can as cheaper than most other regular courts. Whats more, you must cast not always salads; We can try Salad Wrap salads for more variety.

We can kommen-Up with our own recipe s healthy salads and using of fat - free or light ingredients for our dressing, such as fat - free sour cream and light mayonnaise, we can whip up salad perfect for our Weight loss-menus.

If we want to mix of chicken in a small amount we should not forget, are on the skin and breast parts use because it less fat-Ty as other chicken are parts. Throw in like cashew nuts can add the taste.

Click here for more information about recipes salads or know of grapes sizes.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Grass Fed Beef in Pomegranate Sauce

Snow on the ground means time for delicious beef in pomegranate sauce.

Have I got a slow cooker recipe to soothe winter weary spirits. Why? The mesa is clouded in white this morning- again. We woke to a fresh dusting of snow. Im posting on a laptop in bed, snug beneath a Pendleton blanket, hoping Steve lights a fire in the kiva soon.

Although consensus is that New Mexico is drop dead gorgeous in the snow, I am so not a winter person. By mid January I am bored with fussing with boots and itchy sweaters and jackets. The tedious layering. (I never choose the right winter coat, so I gave up- I havent owned one in two years- and besides, who knew you needed a winter coat in New Mexico?) And then there is the loopy ritual of locating gloves that migrate to the oddest hiding places- inside boots or under folded pillow cases. If it isnt obvious to you, Perceptive Reader, I am more than ready for spring. Until she arrives, I remain a big fan of winter comfort food.

Last night I tossed together an intuitive combination of pomegranate juice and balsamic vinegar sweetened with pure maple syrup. Odd, you think? Just taste this.

And by the way, my recipe is featured in the fab new cookbook: Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking.

Slow Cooker Grass Fed Beef in Pomegranate Sauce Recipe

You can slow cook this in a slow cooker like we did or slow simmer it, covered, on the stove top. Its an easy sauce- no fuss. And huge on flavor. Big, bold lip-smacking flavor. I could regale you with factoids about how good pomegranate juice is for you- with all those nifty antioxidants and all- but you know what? Its just tastes so crazy good. Try it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds grass fed beef or buffalo roast or steak, fat trimmed
Sea salt
Light olive oil, as needed
1 onion, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1 14-oz can Muir Glen fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar- omit for yeast-free
1/8 cup pure maple syrup- or use agave to keep it lower glycemic
1/2 cup fresh cranberries or golden raisins
1 teaspoon dried French herb mix or Bouquet Garni
A small pinch of cinnamon

Instructions:

I slow-cooked my recipe in a slow cooker because thats what works for me here at high altitude. You can follow suit and Crock Pot your little heart out. Or do it old-school style, in a heavy Dutch oven or soup pot.

Salt the beef on all sides. Wait a few minutes. Kiss the cook. Get your slow cooker situated and turned on to High.

Heat a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef on all sides to sear in the flavor, using long tongs to turn the pieces. This doesnt take but maybe five minutes, or so. Remove the beef and set aside.

Add a small dash of olive oil to the crock. Add in sliced onion and garlic. Stir to coat with the olive oil. Place the beef on top.

Pour in the pomegranate juice, crushed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Stir to combine. Add the cranberries or raisins, dried herbs, a pinch of cinnamon, sea salt and ground pepper.

Stir a little bit to co-mingle ingredients.

Cover and let the magic happen- about 4 to 5 hours.

Taste test the sauce for seasoning adjustments. My intuitive combo was the perfect balance of tart and savory with a hint of sweetness.

We served ours with a generous mound of whipped mashed potatoes. Heaven. Seriously.

Serves 4.

Recipe Source:

Friday, April 11, 2014

Prawns in Black Bean Sauce

In my quest for thin-dom, or at least thinner-dom, I have been cooking with minimum fat and maximum vegetables. No need to lose out on taste or to feel hungry!

This recipe was inspired by a Rosemary Conley recipe, but I have changed some of the ingredients and used more of a casserole technique rather than stir fry. So pretty much all that is left is the name and even then I have used prawns which were not in the original! If you dont eat fish or meat, this would still be good without, just add a few more vegetables, perhaps courgettes or deseeded cucumber.

Prawns in Black Bean Sauce

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

200g raw tiger prawns

3 small aubergines

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped into large pieces

2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 tbsp soy sauce

Jar of blackbean sauce

2 tomatoes, chopped

seasoning to taste

1. Gently saute the onion and garlic in a tsp of oil until soft. Add the diced aubergine and cook for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and cook slowly for about 30 minutes until the aubergine is cooked and soft.

3. Add the raw prawns and cook for a few minutes until they turn pink.

4. Serve with rice or noodles.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Homemade Pizza in 3 Acts

Made properly, pizza at home can be just as good, and probably better, than the stuff you have delivered. Except for the pizza pan you’ll see later, I tried not use any special equipment, like pizza stones, or exotic ingredients you would have a hard time finding.

Act 1: The Pizza Dough (Pay attention or you’ll get pizza D’oh!)

In clip one I make a very simple standard pizza dough. It’s amazing how intimidated people are when it comes to making any kind of dough or bread at home. Hopefully this demo will cure that. By the way, I will add ingredients to all these clips so you can have the exact measurements. This is only really crucial for the dough. The sauce recipe and final pizza can be varied as you see fit. So, let’s get this Pizza party started right! The key to a great pizza dough is a moist, sticky dough. We only want enough flour to be able to work with the dough…too much flour will result in a dry, tough pizza.

The “Sponge”:
2 teaspoons dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2/3 cup bread flour

The Rest of the Dry Ingredients:
4 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 cup rye flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup olive oil

Act 2: The Pizza Sauce

The sauce for our pizza is also very simple. A fast and tasty base for whatever wonderfully creative toppings we decide to go with later. This is an important point. If you’re going to top the pizza with lots of spicy and/or salty ingredients, your sauce better be fairly basic. Regardless, this quick, homemade sauce will destroy any canned grocery store sauce, as well as most pizzerias. By the way, I’m giving away an ancient family secret in this clip, so pay attention, my Grandmother is watching from pizza sauce heaven!

1 can whole peeled tomatoes (28 oz) “San Marzano” if possible!
3 cloves garlic
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt to taste
1/2 tsp dried Italian herb mix (basil, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, etc.)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch sugar
small pinch baking soda (shhh)

Act 3: The Pizza

OK, so I’m not giving a list of ingredients for the finished pizza. You know what you like. But, here are a few key mistakes most people make when doing pizza at home. They put too much sauce. They put too much cheese. They put too many toppings and when they try to eat it, it all slides off on to the floor and all their left with is a wet piece of steaming bread. Don’t be that person. Watch me restrain myself and also watch how my pizza pie ends up being the shape of a heart. Wow, what a great Valentines gift idea for you guys out there…make your lady a heart shaped pizza! By the way, go to the local Bed, Bath and Beyond, or other kitchen wares store, and get one of the pizza pans with holes in it that I used in this clip. It really makes crispy crust a reality without the 70 pound pizza stone that you probably aren’t going to pull out of the bottom cupboard anyway.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Youre a Viewer and Have a Choice Please Vote for Chef John in the Tasty Awards!

One problem Ive always wanted is not being able to keep track of which online awards Im up for, and which contests I should be asking people to vote in. Well, my wish has come true.

As many of you may know, I was nominated for a 2011 Tasty Award in the "Home Chef in a Series" category, but I forgot to inform everyone that there is also a Viewers Choice Award, which quite frankly is my best shot at heading down to Hollywood and taking home a trophy. So, if you would like to help make my Tasty dreams come true, please click here to vote! Its the fifth category. Thank you so much!

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Coconut Milk Corned Beef and Cabbage Irish American Thai Fusion is Going to be Huge in 2011!

Whenever I travel in Thailand, I always make it point to seek out each citys Irish-American neighborhoods so I can enjoy a steaming bowl of coconut milk corned beef and cabbage.

Okay, so Ive never been Thailand, but if there are any Irish-American neighborhoods, and if they do have corned beef available, they may possibly make something vaguely similar to this. If not, thats fine, since I wasnt really trying to make a Thai dish anyway.

I was craving corned beef and cabbage recently, but the thought of doing the same old New England "boiled dinner" had me yawning. I tried to think of some new, interesting braising liquid, and thats when I remembered Ive never had something stewed in coconut milk that I didnt like.

Since I had no previous experience to go on, I was pretty conservative with the ingredients in general, and the red curry in particular. That said, I was really happy with the results. The coconut milk gave the broth a subtle sweetness and richness not present in the classic brew.

Its my hope that those of you trying this will be sharing any additions the rest of us may find interesting. I think a little cilantro or basil would have worked, as would the addition of small eggplants, or bell peppers.

Now, how does a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich made with the leftovers sound? Enjoy!

4 pound corned beef brisket (do not add the spice packet to the recipe!)

1 (15-oz) can coconut milk

1-2 teaspoon red curry paste (I used a Taste of Thai brand red curry paste, and their products are found at most large grocery stores that stock an ethnic foods aisle.)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoon tomato paste

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 quart water

1 onion

2 rib celery

2 carrots

1 pound potatoes

1/2 small green cabbage

View the complete recipe

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Food Wishes The Highest Ranked Blog in the World!!

That’s right, and the screen shot I took of the Technorati blog ranking stats proves it! Part of my usual weekend site admin duties is going over to Technorati to check my blog’s rank. You can imagine my excitement when I realized I was now the author of the top ranked blog in the world. Well, that didn’t take long. I guess I better call my broker and begin discussing my IPO.

The blog has been climbing steadily in rank ever since I first began tracking these statistics a few months ago. Back then, Food Wishes was ranked like 120,000th. At first, I was kind of depressed that after all the hard work I hadn’t even cracked the top hundred thousand blogs. But when I saw that the total number of tracked blogs was an amazing 71 million I felt a lot better, since that put me well within the top 1%. Last week when I checked I had climbed to the 70,000th ranked blog. So, I figured at that rate of ascent it was only a matter of time before I took over the top spot. I just didn’t think I would pass 70,000 blogs in one week.

Well, much to my chagrin, I soon found out that Technorati was doing some type of site maintenance and that every blog in the world was given the top ranking for a few minutes. When they finished their work I saw my real rank; a respectable and still rapidly climbing 60,930. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

And the Winner for Best Home Chef in a Series is… Food Wishes! smattering of polite applause

We did it! Im proud to announce that Ive returned from Hollywood, Tasty Awards trophy in hand! It was a very long, short two-day trip, so Im going to keep this brief. I cant thank you all enough for taking the time to vote.

Every single time Ive asked for support with a contest or award, you faithful foodwishers come through like champs. Its one of the oldest clichés in the business, but its so true, without the audience, there is no show.

I met some amazing new people, and got to visit some dear old friends. Speaking of friends, I have to give a big shout out to my buddy Sara (aka Average Betty), who won the 2010 Home Chef award, and was nominated in more categories this year than any other show. Unfortunately, she was robbed, but it was an impressive showing nonetheless.

Los Angeles was a lot of fun, but Im excited to be back and cooking in chilly, not-quite-as-glamorous San Francisco. Thanks again, and stay tuned for a bunch of new videos airing soon!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

VENICE IN WINTER ON A RAINY DAY

VENICE is like a dream..and I am posting few photos and experience on demand from my friends ( some foodie foes also) . March is the worst time to visit Venice , but I did not have much choice. The Feb was busy with Venice carnival and I did not have enough money to visit during carnival. So I and Sunny ( see Cinque tere and Begamo blog) decided to go in March with Mrs and Mr. Rajaraman , my colleague.

Being a reasonably lazy person I always excused ( Hypocrisy) myself out from seeing places. So Sunny and I framed a strategy, decide a place where to go, and book ticket. These tickets are not refundable, so we had to go and in the bargain saw beautiful places of Northern Italy. You can see my earlier blog here on Bergamo and Cinque Tere..( More to come on lakes).

Milano is connected by fast and passenger trains to all places in Italy. So one fine morning we set out to see Venice. ( Venice is there in my blood because I spent many days in 1998 on some official work on main land and used to stay in Venice and commute.)

So here are some photos ..it is pretty depressing beacuse of the rain and cold....but who will post cloudy Venice photos ? So you can treat these as rare ha ha .

We took a train from Milano Centrale in the morning and were in Vencie by 10-40 AM.

It was cloudy , drizzling and the temperature was 5 deg C.

We got out of the station and my colleagues posed for a photo in front of the Grand canal. (Hummmm, no one took mine :-( ) I liked the big advertisement in the back drop....so took the photo quickly

(NOTE: PLEASE CLICK EACH PHOTO TO ENLARGE AND ENJOY THE DETAILS, I HAVE POSTED REASONABLY HIGH RESOLUTION PICS.)

In front of Venice station, with my colleagues,Sunny and Mr. Rajaraman and his wife (the Canal Grande in the back ground)

I love big hoardings, and always try to take photos of hoardings.. See the picture above and you will know from where I captured this photo at 10X zoom..so very unrealistic.

In front of the Venice station, you get ferry (water bus) to travel through the grand Canal. Always buy a whole day ticket for about 18 Euro and you can make as many trips as you want. A single ride will cost about 6 Euro.

We boarded the Bus for the main destination," San Marcos Basilica", which is an hours ride. The bus crisscrosses the canal to pick up or drop passengers.

Here are the photos taken from the water bus on the grand canal.

The Austrian bridge, 1st of the 3 bridges (Old ones) as you proceed down the canal

View of buildings along the Grand Canal ( The yellow bordered jetty on the right is a bus stand)

The Academia Bridge ( 2nd one)
The most famous Rialto Bridge
Rialto Market
The end of the Grand Canal, to the right is the "Basilica di Santa Maria dela salute"
We got off at San Marcos stop and proceeded towards the Besilica of San Marco.
We are now walking through the Piazetta San Marco ( Piazza San Marco is different) to the Basilica of San Marco and the Piazza.To the right is the Doges palace and Basilica in front
Piazzeta San Marco
This is the Lagoon side entry, photo taken from the Basilica, to the left is the Doges palace and to right is Biblioteca Marciana. The famous twin pillars representing Marco and Todaro are at the water front.

Campanile
Make it a point to go up the tower and have a look. We didnt have time . I had gone up the tower earlier, need to fish out the photos with bright sunshine.
Basilica San Marco
This is the Jewel of Venice, the most beautiful piece of architecture with breathtaking mosaics and interiors. The whole Venice was depressing due to cloud cover and lack of sunshine. You must see the night view. The view is obstructed due to maintenance of structures!
View of Mosaics in the Basilica ( Click to enlarge )
At the entrance
Few other mosaics ( click to enlarge)

Piazza San Marco
It is in front of the Basilica. Also called as Courtyard of Europe by French Poet and the tourist hot spot..very good eating joints, shops etc. You can see, even on a rainy day , tables are laid out. If I had time , I would have sat down with a bottle of wine and some tit bits.
Walk around

We just strayed around the narrow lanes full of souvenir shops, eateries. I bought few standard ones like famous Venice masks and few magnetic stickers for the fridges of friends.

The small masks at a shop window
While walking around, I was delighted to see a Sardarji family on the Gondola, who waved at me

The Gondola ride.
Gondola ride is expensive ( for me, but worth it) at 150 Euro for one hour and 6 persons. We took a ride, I mean the Gondola man took us for a ride. It was really nice and memorable.
In the picture below, we are entering Rio di Palazzo. This place was used for off loading straw (the place is called Ponte della paglia (straw) ) . Walls on both sides are covered for maintenance..,,to the left is Doges palace and to the right and at the backside is the famous prison. Beyond the bridge in front, you can see another bridge, which is called Bridge of sighs.

The bridge of sighs
The white bridge connects the court to the prison on the right. The walls are now all covered, so have a look at internet to see how it looks. Many people think that the name has come from lovers who failed in their affair and used to sigh, standing on the bridge. ( How Bollywoodic and romantic!!!! I wish....ha ha ). This is not true. The sighs were of condemned prisoners, who might be seeing the outside world for the last time,( while crossing over to the prison.)

More pictures from the Gondola

The famous fish market on Grand canal ( from the Gondola), going to the Grand canal is part of the deal)
Back to the Gondola staring point and the famous Island San Giorgio Maggiore in the back ground
Now it was time to get back and we stopped for few minutes at
Santa Maria
Dela Salute

That famous statue at Santa Maria ( The one below , not the one above, thats NO ONE of SOMEONE)

Bye Bye Venice
At railway station ( Train at 18-20 to Milano Centrale, just enough time for ice cream )

NOTE:
Dear friends
Venice is well publicized on the net. You get all the information there, and much better Photos and description and guidance, to visit. I am just sharing what I saw.
I am running short of recipes to post ( because I am cooking from my treasure which I dug out from your food blogs, thank you, for this favor). I am planning to add the word "TRAVEL" to my blog tittle .
Happy cooking and exciting travel too....