What is brining? Why do it?

Brining is soaking meat in a salt heavy solution. Just like humans, most mammals are mostly made up of water. When meat is soaked with brine, the water in the meat will be drawn out into the brine because the moisture inside the meat is greater than the moisture outside due to the salt. This happens until the point the that the brine dries out the meat so much that there’s more moisture in the brine. The meat will then start drawing in the brine and until the moisture is equal. This is when the brine mixes all throughout the meat. Simply put, soaking meat in a salt heavy, flavored, and seasoned solution will replace the water in the meat with the solution, something no amount of basting can achieve. This alone is reason enough to brine before cooking, but brining also breaks down proteins which make it harder for the meat to lose moisture by non-liquid means. So brining can evenly season and flavor meat and also makes meat more juicy after cooking. Brining is also the best way to season deep fried turkey or chicken, since basting is not possible and outer seasoning is limited to dry rubs or batter.

How to brine:

The basic brine is about 1 cup of salt per 1 gallon of water. Many brine recipes will have equal parts sugar or brown sugar and salt. Sugar will help brown and crisp the outside of the meat while cooking. Other than salt and water, any other seasoning can be used in the brine. Some of the water can be substituted with broth, fruit juices, wine, or beer. Coarse herbs, seeds, and fruit can be added. Use whatever seasoning you want the meat to be seasoned with, including just black pepper.

Once you’re ingredients are picked out, add them all in a pot with enough water to easily mix and cover the salt and sugar. Boiling is not necessary, just heat until all the salt is dissolved. You can also just boil water in a tea kettle and pour into your ingredients. The brine needs to be cold before adding the meat. You can wait until it’s cooled, or just add it to the rest of the cold water and use ice cubes to cool it down faster.

Brining takes 6 to 12 hours. Brining overnight is usually all that’s needed. At least double the amount of brine solution as the amount of meat is needed and at least enough to submerge the meat in the container. Three times the amount of brine as the amount of meat and in a spacious container is best. Smaller items such as pork chops can be easily put in plastic containers with lids or even a large plastic zip lock  bag if it’s strong enough. Chickens or ducks may require a large stock pot with a lid. It’s always best to brine in the refrigerator. Use a closeable cooler for brining turkeys and keep the cooler cold and packed with ice. Never brine in the sink or an open container. Although the salt in the brine greatly slows the breeding of bacteria, the brine and the raw meat are contaminated and should be treated as such. Prevent it from spilling or other items in the refrigerator from touching it.

After brining and before cooking, rinse the meat with fresh water and dry. Do not add anymore salt during or before cooking. Also keep in mind that most all meat cooks faster and browns faster after brining. Expect brined meat to cook about 10% faster than unbrined meat.

Stephen French, owner and user of http://www.turkeyfryercamp.com
Selling Bayou Classic turkey fryers, stock pots, and other indoor and outdoor cookware.

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When it comes to kid friendly vegetarian recipes, parents often have no idea what to do and how to do them. There are only three things parents need to know about how to supply the kids with proper vegetarian nutrition so that they can grow up healthily. They are variation, experimentation and catering. I will explain each of them in this article, and show you how to leverage them to come up with the kid-friendly vegetarian foods.

It would be meaningless without taking specific individual kids into consideration. Different kids have different response to the same vegetarian food. Some like liquid. Others like sticky food. So different recipes should be made in accordance to individual kids. Besides, the same kid may also have different response to the same vegetarian recipe at different ages. So the recipes should be adjusted accordingly to meet the requirements of different kids at every stage of growth.

In order to address the variations that are featured in the process of providing the proper nutritional vegetarian foods effectively, experimentation is the thing that we should do next. Let us take sweetness as an example. Most kids like sweet foods. Instead of producing sweetness by adding white sugar or honey to the food, why not add some sweet potato or carrot? When the kid is very little, we can use smashed sweet potato or even well cooked soup. If the kid can eat solid food, we can add steamed sweet potato dices into the meal. Finding the preferences of the kids out would facilitate the next step – catering.

Catering requires some well designed recipes or diet plans to begin with. It is necessary to consult with nutritionists as well as books. Then as time goes, you can mix your experience into the recipes and plans so that you can come up with the one or ones that perfectly match with the situation of a specific kid. You will have become a fantastic parent then.

Variation among kids teaches us to understand the individuality of each kids. Experimentation will tell us what will and will not work for one specific kid. They lay a very solid foundation for catering which is a process of finding the proper recipes or plans. Put these principles to use today and raise a healthy kid.

Enrich your three meals everyday with authentic Chinese vegetarian recipes.

Go to http://www.chinesevegetarianrecipes.org now!

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Rice Bran Oil…Gently drawn from the nutritious bran of rice grown on the temperate plateaus of Pelotas, Brazil. 
Rice Bran Oil is simply pefect as a cooking oil.

Rice Bran Oil is quickly becoming a favorite in commercial frying to replace hydrogenated oils that contain trans fat. This is due to rice bran oils health, flavor and performance benefits. Rice bran oil is vastly superior to traditional cooking oils and can be considered a nutraceutical (food as medicine) oil that is perfect for all your healthy cooking oil needs.

As a heart healthier substitute for traditional cooking oil in frying and stir fry, its light viscosity & high smoke point (490°F) help reduce oil absorption up to 20%.

All-natural and hypoallergenic with no cholesterol or trans fat rice bran oil contains an array of health and nutrition benefits; including Vitamin E, phytosterols and Gamma Oryzanol.

Rice Bran Health Benefits:

• Zero Cholesterol
• Zero trans fat
• Non-GMO
• Hypoallergenic
• Non-hydrogenated
• Rice Bran Oil has an excellent balance of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats as recommended by such organizations as the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization.

Rice Bran Oil is truly “The World’s Healthiest” edible oil, containing vitamins, antioxidants, nutrients and is trans fat and cholesterol free. It’s not just delicate and flavorful, it can help lower cholesterol, fight diseases, enhance the immune system, fight free radicals and more.

With a delicate, nutty flavor, rice bran oil complements the natural character of food and is an excellent choice for frying, stir fry, baking, sauteing, and preparing salads.

Rice Bran Oil Uses:

Frying/Stir-Frying:
Rice bran oil is also a great choice for use in stir-frying. While its delicate, nut-like character complements the natural flavor of stir fry meats, sea foods and vegetables, it never overpowers them. A further advantage is its natural resistance to smoking at high frying temperatures. Not surprisingly, rice bran oil has quickly become the oil of choice by many high-end Japanese and Asian-American restaurants.

Salad Dressings/Dipping Oils:
Rice bran oil emulsifies easily and is perfect for preparing dressings and dipping oils that require delicate flavors to come through without a greasy mouth feel or aftertaste.

Baking:
Because of rice oil’s light flavor, it has found favor in baking applications. Brownies and other baked goods made with rice bran oil turn out light and delicious. Baking sheets and cake pans coated with rice bran oil allow the baked goods to come out of the pan or off the cookie sheet with no trouble at all.

Rice Bran Oil is the most balanced and versatile oil on the market and closest to the AHA recommendations.

Rice bran oil is a superior frying, stir fry, baking, sauteing, and salad oil which leaves no lingering after taste. The high smoke point prevents fatty acid breakdown at high temperatures. Its light viscosity, allows less oil to be absorbed in cooking, reducing overall calories.

Rice Bran oil mixes better in salad dressings and improves the taste of baked goods, providing cholesterol reduction, nutritional and antioxidant value.

A proprietary stabilization process developed by NutraCea is the key to maintaining rice bran oils delicate character. After stabilization and extraction, rice bran oil is carefully processed to ensure that its light flavor is preserved without the loss of it’s natural health benefits.

Rice Bran Oil is highly regarded by discriminating chefs everywhere.
Rice Bran Oil is delicate, with a slight nutty character.
Rice Bran Oil has a favorable balance of saturated, monounsaturated & polyunsaturated fatty acids for health conscious consumers.

Fry studies have repeatedly shown that foods prepared with rice bran oil consistently absorbs less oil than other vegetable oil choices. Less oil absorption means less excess calories in prepared dishes.
Rice Bran Oil gives an ideal color and desirable texture to all types of fried foods.

Try Rice Bran Oil today and you will find yourself quickly attached to it as your cooking oil of choice.

It Truly is Simply Perfect!

About the Author

The author has been involved with NutraCeaOnline.com for over 3 years and is considered an expert on the health and nutritional benefits of stabilized rice bran products.

NutraCea produces stabilized rice bran natural health super food nutritional supplements packed with advanced nutrients and antioxidants, plus Omega 3 & 6 for your overall good health, weight management, and also as an instant energy source.

For more information sign up for his monthly “Nutrition By Nature – Newsletter” Today!

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If you are living in the UK and think that you will not be able to get the real spicy taste of Indian food then you are highly mistaken. India food has become globalize and one can find different Indian restaurants and outlets at different parts of the world. Indian food preparation is so unique that it lures every food lover. The use of spices, herbs and other ingredients is amazing. Below are given some of the tips to enjoy authentic Indian food.

•    Some of the tongue licking appetizers like cutlets, samosa, pakora and bonda are prepared from rice flour and Indian spices and vegetables. If you are a meat lover then you can have famous chicken pakora with spices and chutney. Indian chutney is really famous for its spicy taste and favor. It is prepared from fresh concoctions of spices and herbs. Some of the varieties of chutney include mint, onion, coconut and peanuts. Chutneys are really liked by people when served with Dosa and idlys which are made from rice batter.

•    A vegetable puree is also a good side dish which is also known as bharta. How one can forget about India curry? Indian curry is prepared with vegetables like tomoato, ginger, eggplant, onion and garlic. It also uses some of the famous Indian spices such as coriander, peppercorn, cumin and chili powder.

•    All Indian curries and vegetable dishes are enjoyed with delicious Indian breads. Some of the Indian breads include naan, roti, phulka and paratha. These are usually fried in oil and placed in a dish known as ‘poori’ and served with chenna masala and chickpeas.

•    Once you had your main course the next dish is the desert. Indian deserts are generally made from sugar, butter and milk. Some of the famous Indian deserts include gulab jamun, rassagollas, payasam which is made from lentil or rice noodles and many more.

So, all these are few tips how you can enjoy the authentic and tasty Indian cuisine. Keep all these points in mind when you go out to have your lunch or dinner. For more information visit http://www.thebombaybicycleclub.co.uk.

The author writes about authentic Indian food and gives an insight on different traditional Indian food cuisines. To know more about Indian curry , visit http://www.thebombaybicycleclub.co.uk.

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Taking a look at the quantity of books that are promoting vegetarian diets, one can tell that vegetarian diets are extremely popular nowadays. Although it is very healthy to include a lot of vegetables in your diets, the level of carbohydrates is often neglected by many vegetarians.

It might look hard to go low carbohydrates for vegetarians. But it is very possible to achieve once you take the following tips into serious consideration and intentionally include the corresponding foods into your cooking list.

The first tip to go low carbohydrates is not to eat carbohydrates individually. Adding some soy protein into your meal will help you achieve that.

The second tip to go for diets with low levels of carbohydrates is to eliminate vegetables that have high sugar content from your diets. Carrot and corn are two of the high sugar vegetables. Broccoli is one that is low in sugar content.

The third tip on eating low carbohydrates is to reduce the consumption of processed products such as pasta and white sugar. Whole foods and quality proteins should be more welcome.

The fourth tip on going for low carbohydrate diets is to eat apples, nuts, olive oil, water, low carbohydrate bread as mush as possible.

The last tip that I am giving out in this article is that cooking matters. To make your family as healthy as possible, we should take it as our first commission to cook delicious foods that the family members like. After achieving that, the nutrition can be taken care of by applying proper cooking methods.

Click here to find authentic Chinese veg recipes now.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/cooking-tips-articles/tips-on-going-for-low-carbohydrate-vegetarian-diets-1627554.html