cooking classes london uk: April 2013

Sopa Thai de Langostinos

Hoy comenzaremos a explorar los secretos de la cocina Tailandesa, con la receta de una Sopa Thai de Langostinos realmente espectacular. Las proporciones indicadas alcanzan perfectamente para que la disfruten tres personas como plato de entrada, aunque se hace casi imposible no repetir. Así que seguramente alcanzará para dos personas como plato principal.

Como la comida entra primero por los ojos, es importante crear una cierta atmósfera, presentándola en cuencos orientales con sus respectivos palitos. En Buenos Aires, podrán conseguirlos facilmente en el Barrio Chino, donde podrán elegir entre diferentes diseños.

Vamos a la receta...

Continuar leyendo »

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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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Ensuring Your Food Security With Survival Food Supplies

What is your source for survival food supplies? If you are relying on your departmental store owner for emergency eat then you are risking your meals security. First thing is to understand the true meaning of emergency meals. It is not meal prepared in haste or arranging a party in short notice. It is ensuring eat safety, when the normal life has been thrown out of gear.Contemplate the situations that can disrupt normal life. It could heavy downpour, devastating cyclone or an earthquake. Stuck in a natural calamity, you might need to spend time in house arrest. With everything from electric supply and transportation effected, you might not find anything to eat. In this situation, you can save your life by consuming the stocked meal.

If you are thinking that you need to prepare meal in advance and store the meal in ready-to-eat condition for use in emergency then you are thinking in right direction. Prepare the meal that can last long so that you don't need to prepare fresh emergency meal every other day. Home cooked meal can't last long without refrigeration. Emergency eating lasts longer and it remains delicious and nutritious throughout its life period.Look for an emergency maker for survival food supplies. Find packed meal on the web and get the eat packets delivered home as soon as possible. You might need calculating the amount of food that you need to store. Find a food calculator on the website and determine the amount of meal you need to store. You would find a food calculator at every emergency food maker's website.

After getting the meals packets delivered at your home, you need to store the packets at a convenient place where you can access the packets as and when required. Second thing is keeping track of stored. Consume the meal before it expires so that you can save your investment from going waste. Contact an emergency eat maker for survival food supplies today.With survival food supplies, you can make sure that your family doesn't start in case there is an emergency like flood or terror attack. Stocking food for a couple of weeks won't cost you much but it would give you peace of mind forever. Investing in emergency food would provide you an opportunity to enjoy quick friendly gatherings without worrying about food and drinks. The best part of the emergency fooding is that it is available in different flavors and varieties.

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 Supplies and Emergencies Preparednesss.

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Five Best Kitchen Items to Have on Hand

Over the years, I have amassed a huge amount of things for my kitchen. Some are used daily and some rarely, though all have their place. The five items I will discuss here are ones I use all the time. From the most inexpensive little piece of molded plastic to a pricey item worth every penny, read on to learn more about them.

Item one is the Zyliss or Suzi Garlic Press.

Prior to owning this press, I had a generic garlic press that might manage to squeeze out a couple of drops of garlic juice. I figured garlic presses weren't worth what they cost, so I just left it in the back of a drawer and forgot it. Then I discovered the Zyliss.

The first time I used my Zyliss garlic press, I was nearly in tears of joy, seeing the entire clove of garlic nicely and finely minced on the counter. I love using garlic, so this was a revelation. I use it nearly every day, and it is as easy to clean as it is to use.

Item two is the Jar Pop.

The Jar Pop is a little, inexpensive plastic gadget that just makes life simpler. That something so simple can do such a great job is a marvel. Any time I want to open a vacuum sealed jar, I pull out this little gadget. It hooks under the lip of the jar, you lift up a bit. The pop of the vacuum being broken is a delight to hear. Once the vacuum seal is broken, the jar is nearly always simple to unscrew. That little piece of plastic is almost worth its weight in gold.

Item three is the Thermapen.

This is an amazingly fast instant read thermometer. There are many instant read thermometers on the market. Most are a lot less than instant. While you may be able to use one that takes a whole minute to display properly, sometimes the oven door should not be open so long when something is baking. From reading the internal temperature of a baking loaf of bread to the most expensive prime rib roast, the Thermapen gives a reading in less than 5 seconds flat.

This wonderful technology comes at a price, of course. This is the high end of the scale, but once you have seen it in action, it is really hard to go back to those others. Anyone who is looking for a great gift for the chef of the household, think of the Thermapen.

Item four is the Oven Glove.

This is an oven glove, not a mitt. It has places for all the fingers, so there is flexibility and ease for gripping. It can be worn on either hand. It is a heavy woven cotton glove with silicone stripes or ridges on the outside. This provides good grip when handling hot pots or casseroles. It also has a very deep cuff, so it protects the wrist and lower arm. It is great for barbecuing, or flambeing. Such a simple design, yet the best I have come across as a heat barrier. You almost need to try it out to believe it.

Item five is mini ice cream scoops.

There are many types of mini cookie or ice cream scoops available on the market. These are less for ice cream than portion control. When making cookies, it is far too easy to have many sizes of cookie go into the oven, and some get done more quickly than others. With the little cookie scoop, each cookie is the same size. Any cookie that calls for dropping onto a baking sheet or forming into a ball will benefit by the scoop, giving equal amounts for each cookie.

Obviously these are not only for cookies. The little scoops come in various sizes. I currently own two. One is 1 1/4 inch across and holds just over two teaspoons. The other is 1 1/2 inch in diameter and holds one tablespoon. I use the larger one when making meatballs, and each meatball is the same perfect size. The scoops can be used for making truffles, or for scooping out the center of a candy or dough to insert something into, such as a cherry. Larger scoops can portion out cake or muffin batter. The uses are only limited by your imagination.

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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PASTAS DE VINO - RETO DE TIA ALIA

Este mes en el reto de Tia Alia voy a publicar la opción dulce pero no sé muy bien porqué. El mismo día hice las dos recetas....así que después del reto publicaré la opción salada (una delicia). Esta receta me ha encantado por aquello de la jícara...me imaginaba en la cocina de un pueblo de Castilla (tampoco sé porqué de Castilla y no de Extremadura, por ejemplo, que hay pueblos también preciosos y con unas cocinas estupendas) con el horno de barro donde se asan los corderos, los bollos preñados, los bizcochos, los dulces y estas pastas. La verdad es que la receta era fácil, yo sigo con el horno mal y posiblemente le sobraron 30 segundos pero, aún así, quedaron fantásticas. Las hice pequeñitas, a excepción de unas cuantas, para picotear después de las comidas con el cafe y un licor. En esta ocasión he utilizado vino de Moscatel...a lo mejor no era el más adecuado porque es más "flojo" que un Oporto, por ejemplo, pero al ir a echar mano de él casi no me quedaba y ya tenía todo preparado...así que de Moscatel y acompañado de una mistela....estupendo. Por jícara utilice la medida de una taza así que no hubo ningún problema.

Ingredientes: 8o ml de aceite (1 taza), 160 ml de vino de Moscatel (2 tazas) y la harina que necesite (unos 250 grs). Para adornar un poco de azúcar glas.

Preparación: En un bol grande eché el vino y el aceite y fuí echando harina y removiendo con una cuchara de madera hasta que empezó a coger consistencia que empecé a amasar con las manos.

Una vez obtenida una masa para trabajar fácilmente, la envolví en plástico de cocina y la dejé reposar un rato en la nevera.

Se precalienta el horno a 140º y se pone una lámina de papel vegetal.

Se estira con el rodillo hasta que quede fina y se empieza a cortar con cortadores o con cuchillo para darle distintas formas o simplemente con un vaso de chupito.

Las metí en el horno hasta que empecé a verlas tostaditas (como he dicho les hubieran sobrado 30 segundos...o no). Se sacan, se enfrían en cero coma, y se espolvorean con azúcar glas.

La copa para el licor es mini-mini....de la cristalería de toda la vida de mi madre y de la que quedan muy pocas piezas.

Éstas son un poco más grandes

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Get to Know Mahlab. A Pleasant And Aromatic Spice

Outside of Turkey, the Middle East and Greece, Mahlab is little known. This spice is the inner kernel of the pit of the St. Lucie Cherry, Prunus mahaleb. In these countries and others the name is slightly different and can be found spelled as Mahaleb, Mahleb, Mahalabi, Mahiepi and others. The tree is deciduous and can grow to 40 feet in the right climate. The bark is smooth and red. The fragrant flowers are white, on long stalks and in clusters. The fruits are small, only up to about 3/8 inch, turning black when ripe. It grows wild in southern Europe, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Turkey. It is also grown as an ornamental tree as it has a somewhat weeping habit. It can be grown from seed, is quite disease resistant and its strong root stock can be used for grafting.

The tiny inner kernel of Mahlab is an oval, 3/16 inch long, buff or tan colored with wrinkled skin and a creamy colored interior. The scent is a pleasant mix of sour cherries, bitter almonds and a hint of rose. This lends most greatly to baked goods such as breads, cakes and cookies, but this should not have to be its only use. Biting into a kernel raw will leave a bitter note, but once baked the flavors transform to fruity and rich, but subtle. A little can go a long way. Think of nutmeg when using Mahlab. A spare hand will yield excellent flavors, but it can make all the difference between a plain dessert and something uniquely alluring.

Suggestions for Using Mahlab

When using this spice, it should be ground just before use, as the flavors dissipate quickly once ground. It is easy to grind with a mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder. If grinding by hand, use some of the sugar and or salt called for in the recipe, as the grains help with the grinding action on the seed kernels and yields a nice powder. As for amounts to use, approximately 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per 2 cups of flour in a recipe is a good rule of thumb. Mahlab is a good addition to breads, sweet pastries, cookies and biscuits. It would also be a great way to transform simple pudding or rice pudding. The flavors lend themselves to milk based foods and cheese.

As the spice is native to the Middle East, Turkey and Greece, most recipes that use this spice are ones from these cultures. Sweet, rich egg dough calling for mahlab is made into rolls called Choereg in Turkey and Armenia. Similar bread called Lambropsomo is made in Greece at Easter time. All over the Middle East are cookies called Ma'moul. The spelling is different in different countries, but these are filled with either a nut or date mixture and pressed into a mold before baking. Each different filling has a different patterned mold to distinguish between them. Many recipes for Ma'moul on the internet do not call for mahlab, mainly because it is less known here in the States, but if you can find it, this spice makes these authentic.

Try to find mahlab kernels and use a new spice flavor the next time you make cookies or breads. Search out one of the many recipes for Choereg or Ma'moul and try out a recipe from a different culture. There are so many rich cultures using less known spices that just cry out to be made.

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Enjoying The Diverse Foods of Guatemala

When I married and moved to Guatemala, I had little experience in the kitchen. My culinary expertise at age 20 covered making coleslaw from scratch, making wieners with canned beans and cheese over top as a casserole, and making a cake from box. I was ill prepared for all I had to learn, as the quality of boxed or canned goods in Guatemala was poor and the selection extremely limited.

First Encounters, Black Beans and Tamales

The first time I went to Guatemala was at Christmas with my Dad. I was to marry the following spring, and he wanted to meet the family and see the country I was moving to. One of the first foods I encountered was black beans. They were pureed. I had never seen pureed beans of any kind before, and I had no idea what these were. They tasted good, and I continued on. At Christmas in Guatemala tamales are an absolute must. Tamales Rojos y Colorados, two kinds mainly seen at the holidays are a savory variety and a sweet variety. Either kind had many flavors that were unusual to me and it took time to become accustomed. Once I did I learned to make them, a long process but rewarding.

Corn Tortillas from Scratch

Another food that was present at every meal was tortillas. In Guatemala they were corn tortillas, made from scratch, by hand at each meal. The smell of corn tortillas baking on the comal is one I will never forget, and one I crave to this day. There is nothing remotely like the real tortillas patted out by hand and baked. The corn tortillas one finds in the stores here are a very poor substitute.

The Lowly Radish, Exalted

Radishes were one vegetable that my Dad grew in his garden and I grew up with them around, though I never cared for them. When presented with a bowl of something pinkish one lunchtime, I had no idea the dish was a radish salad, or Picado de Rabano. I tried it with trepidation, but found that prepared this way it was really delicious. Some days it was prepared as a side dish, but some days it was made into a main course by adding in chopped roast beef in equal parts to the radishes. The use of mint in a dish such as this was extremely strange to me, yet the mint really makes the dish.

Hilachas

One meal I have never managed to make to my satisfaction is Hilachas. Literally called Rags, in many places in the US now we find a similar dish called Ropa Vieja, or Old Clothes. It is a stew made with a roast beef that has been cooked and then shredded into strings, and thus the name. It is mixed into a sauce with a tomato base and usually served with rice and of course, tortillas.

The Versatile Plantain

Plantains are another food I had never encountered, and I found out how many ways they are used. Slightly green and cooked in plain water, they are a side dish used like a vegetable. There is little sweetness this way and that works well. If allowed to ripen more, and cooked in water, they have a sweetness present that the greener variety lack, and they can be used either as a side dish or as a dessert. At times the ripe plantains are just fried. They are delicious just plain, or sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, or topped with cream. Plantains are made into a dessert called Rellenitos, or Filled Plantains. The plantains are cooked, then mashed. A little sugar and cinnamon are added. Separately the pureed black beans are cooked until they become a thick paste, and teaspoons of the beans are encased in a portion of the mashed plantains, which are then fried and sprinkled with sugar. These are a particular favorite. Another way plantains are used is in a mole sauce. Mole is a sauce made with unusual ingredients, such as tomatoes, tomatillos, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon and chocolate. This is all ground together into a gravy type sauce and sweetened. The plantains are fried and added to the sauce. I make this dessert, still.

Stuffed Peppers Guatemalan Style

Stuffed peppers in Guatemala are a treat like no other. Generally using a mildly hot pepper like Poblano, the filling is a mixture of ground meat with vegetables that have been cooked and pickled separately, then mixed together. They are stuffed into the pepper, which is generally left with the stem on. The whole pepper is dipped into an egg batter and then fried. These are served with tortillas and a light tomato based sauce. The first time I was served a Chile Relleno, was between two tortillas with the sauce spilling out from the edges. It was sublime.

These are just a few of the many wonderful foods I learned to love while living in a foreign country. My advice to anyone traveling abroad is to keep an open mind and be willing to try new things. This is what makes traveling a wonderful experience.

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Galangal - A Pungent Relative of Ginger

Galangal or galanga rhizome goes by many names as well as scientific names. There is a greater galangal and a lesser galangal. The formal title for the plant used most for cooking is Alpinia officinarum. It looks very much like ginger root and is related to ginger, but there the similarity ends. It is a rhizome, or underground stem. It is sharper and hotter and more like mustard than ginger. It is one thing that gives Thai cooking some of its heat. Another galangal is perhaps used more often as an herbal medicine by the same Asian cultures. This variety looks far different with long fingerlike roots.

The plant grows in East and Southeast Asia, and also in the East Himalayas and South India. It is used in most of the Asian cultures and was once commonly found exported to Europe. As there are various kinds of galangal, some countries use one variety and other countries another. China uses a different type of than Thailand, for example. The Polish use it to flavor vodka and the Russians still use it to flavor vinegar and some liqueurs. The oil produced from galangal is common in India. A common Southeast Asian use for is making a paste with the root along with shallots, garlic and chiles. This paste is used to flavor seafood or meat curries.

If interested in planting galangal, and you live in a frost free climate, choose a well formed and fresh healthy rhizome, and plant it in well conditioned soil. Allow plenty of room, as once established, galangal gets quite large and grows to about 5 feet tall. The plant has long dark green, spear shaped leaves and white, pink or lavender sweetly scented flowers that strongly resemble irises. It can be grown as an ornamental plant. Once well established, to harvest the rhizome, uproot a section and cut it free.

Galangal root is of harder fiber than ginger and will require a sharp knife to cut. The inside is also much more creamy white than ginger. If using fresh galangal, find a young root, as they toughen with age. Pounding the root helps to release more of its flavors. Its strong flavors blend well with the use of coconut milk, such as in coconut based soups. If using fresh, uncooked root in a hot and sour salad for example, slice the root extremely thinly as it is intensely aromatic and pungent.

As fresh galangal is not available in many places, the alternative is the dried or powdered variety. Dried galangal has a muskier and rootier flavor than the sharp bite of the fresh root. Once ground, it loses flavor easily, as with most ground spices. It is used in some Indian dishes, and sometimes in the spice mixture called Ras el Hanout from East Africa.

It is also used as an herbal medicine much like ginger, for stomach ailments, indigestion and stimulating the release of gastric juices to aid digestion. It is said to be antispasmodic and antibacterial and like ginger, to aid in seasickness.

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ZARAGOZA ABRIL 2013 - ENCUENTRO DE BLOGUEROS GASTRONÓMICOS

El pasado día 20 nos encontramos un grupo de blogueros gastronómicos en Zaragoza. Gracias a Carmen, de Tia Alia Recetas, que recogió el pañuelo que le había lanzado Miquel, de Les receptes del Miquel, empezó a moverse -ella que conoce a un montón de gente en este mundillo- y consiguió hacer realidad esta idea.

El caso es que otro día más teniendo que madrugar pero esta vez no me importó nada...

Se pasó un día fantástico en el que pudimos conocer en persona a blogueros, charlar, no siempre lo suficiente, con la mayoría... y esperando la próxima para poder hablar con los que no.

Empezamos en la estación Puerta de Atocha, los que ibamos desde Madrid. Yo inicié la jornada coincidiendo con Elena en el tren de Cercanías de Renfe porque ibamos por la misma linea. Al llegar, y pasado el control de seguridad, nos encontramos -Elena y yo- con Teresa y con Rosalia, después se fue incorporando el resto del grupo. Tomamos un café y hacia Zaragoza en el AVE. Allí ya nos estaban esperando todos -casi todos- porque fuimos las últimas en llegar. Cogimos un autobús que dejaba cerca del Mercado Central que, en principio, ibamos a visitar pero, al final, no pudo ser. Yo entré a dar una vuelta con Marisa y con Idania -que quería comprar espárragos- y, seguidamente, nos fuimos hacia la Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. Por allí estuvimos haciendo fotos y entramos en la Basílica. Después nos fuimos a tomar un aperitivo a la taberna EL LINCE, cuya tapa estrella es la "guardia civil" que consiste en un bocatín con un lomo de sardina en aceite, una rodaja de tomate, un trozo de pimiento rojo y otro de pepinillo en vinagre. Puede ser picante o no. ¡Qué bien nos supo después de toda la mañana sin parar!... y de allí al Restaurante Antonio, donde comimos como "boas".

Durante la comida muchas fotos, muchas risas, muchos intercambios de información...en fin, una delicia. Visitad los blog de todos los que asistieron porque tienen unas fotos muy buenas.

Después de comer fuimos a comprar frutas de Aragón...¡cómo irnos sin llevarlas para casa!. Nos acercamos a LA ESPAÑOLA de la Plaza de Santiago Sas, llenamos la tienda -claro-. Y desde allí ya nos fuimos para la estación. Los blogueros de Barcelona se quedaron más porque su AVE salía más tarde. Marisa ya se había ido, también Virginia y Beatriz para Bilbao y Logroño...y yo pensaba que seguíamos de marcha y de pronto ya nos habíamos separado los grupos y, creo, que no me pude despedir de todos como Dios manda. Así que....tenemos que organizar otra... aunque sea de acampada, jejeje.

A la llegada en plan tótum revolútum.

Mercado Central...cuando nos escapamos Idania y yo con Marisa

Yo no quería cargar pero Marisa e Idania lo hicieron por las tres...qué buena pinta tenía todo.

Me quedé con ganas de llevarme unos bisaltos.

La nueva, para mí, fuente en la explanada de la Catedral-Basílica

El Pilar

Haciéndonos fotos entre todos

Neus, Ana, Susana, Marga

Qué bien se estaba al solecete, no había tanto cierzo como cuando llegamos

Paula, Nieves y Elena

Catedral de la Seo

Aquí también podemos ver a Carmen de Yerbabuena en la cocina esperando con todas la famosa tapa de esta taberna.

Taberna EL LINCE

Foto cedida por Marisa
Marisa , Mar y Rosalia

Collage en la Taberna EL LINCE

con su tapa "guardia civil".

Collage de la maravillosa comida en el Restaurante Antonio

El vino que tan amablemente cedieron Bodegas Aragonesas

gracias a las gestiones de las organizadoras mañas

Marisa manos a la obra con la cámara

Dolores, Silvia, Ana y Montse

Pilar, al fondo con Idania, Beatriz, Marisa, Dolorss y Miquel

Silvia, Beatriz, Maria José, Virginia, Elena

Miquel y yo (que ibamos conjuntados de cuadros, jejejej)

Elena, Beatriz y Paula

Dolorss, qué sonrisa más bonita

Las "tesoreras": Kuki y Paula

Neus, Yolanda y Virginia

Neus, en plena acción fotográfica, MJ y Beatriz con Marisa al fondo

Carmen, Elena y Nieves

Una foto rápida de esta antigua pastelería FANTOBA

Desde luego la fachada era para haberla observado
despacio y el interior, que no pude ver

Pastelería FANTOBA

El Pilar al fondo

En el autobús de vuelta: Elena, Susana...con su embarazo que ni se le notaba estando de cinco meses, Carmen, Rosalia -mi compañera de Ave...menuda siesta nos echamos de vuelta-, Carmen, Nieves