Mastering the kitchen involves understanding healthy fat profiles, variety-specific grain preparation, and safe food handling techniques.
Knackwurst, also known as knockwurst, is a preboiled, fully cooked German sausage typically made from ground beef, pork or a combination and heavily seasoned with garlic. When heated, the outer casing of knackwurst becomes crispy, giving it a texture different from other sausages such as bratwurst.
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At its most elemental level, the art of cooking is about chemistry, namely how food components react with one another. Acids and bases are the foundation of these chemical reactions in food preparation.
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Black-eyed peas traveled to the Americas and the Caribbean with slaves from their home in Africa. They are one of the world’s most widely-eaten peas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also known as cowpeas, black-eyed peas are nutritious and cook faster than many other bean varieties.
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Spaghetti with beef sauce; it's an American twist on the traditional Italian bolognese sauce. Often spotted on serving tables at church socials, in school lunchrooms and in family kitchens across the land, it's a simple and easy meal to cook.
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Cut fresh rosemary from your herb garden to use its aromatic leaves in any of your chicken, fish, pork or meat dishes. The leaves this woody-stemmed plant produces are also tasty in breads, butter, soups, sauces and vegetable dishes.
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Learning how to cook pasta is likely the first lesson most away-from-home college students learn as a matter of survival. Sometimes, culinary experimentation is pursued, owing to enthusiasm or sheer boredom. The discovery that pasta can be cooked in liquids other than water is liberating to both chef and palate.
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Developed in 1940, the Rice Krispies treat traditionally consisted of three ingredients: butter, marshmallows and Rice Krispies cereal. Marshmallow Fluff, a commercial brand of marshmallow crème, is often substituted for the marshmallows in the typical Rice Krispies treats recipe.
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Aside from often being more affordable than artisan or high-end chocolate bars, baking chocolate is found in a different part of the supermarket and distinguishes itself as a treat that’s meant to add flavor rather than to eat out of hand.
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For guilt-free baked goods, applesauce makes a fine stand-in for vegetable oil. Applesauce adds not only moisture and flavor to baked goods, but fiber and nutrients. Using it successfully takes some experimentation, though. Stick with oil or butter for cookies, and substitute only part of the oil initially.
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Banana bread is a “quick bread,” meaning that it is leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda rather than yeast. Banana bread baked in a traditional loaf pan measuring 9 by 5 by 3 inches takes about 55 to 60 minutes to bake. Small loaf pans or mini-loaf pans require less time to bake.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 72 million Americans are classified as obese as of time of publication. Unfortunately, obesity dramatically increases your risks for health problems ranging from diabetes to cancer.
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Few things are more delicious than crusty, fresh toasted garlic bread with spaghetti. Grocery stores sell a variety of pre-made garlic breads, but why buy garlic bread that is filled with artificial preservatives when you can make your own flavorful garlic bread with fresh ingredients.
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Typically associated with Thanksgiving Day stuffing, gizzards are a much more versatile ingredient than you might assume. Located in the upper portion of a bird's stomach, gizzards are responsible for grinding up ingested food. Consequently, they're tough and fibrous and not very flavorful on their own.
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Chicken -- the ubiquitous white meat -- is delicious, nutritious and easy to prepare. However, while there may be a flock of ways to cook a chicken, many recipes call for simply baking or boiling the bird. Both methods produce moist, tender meat with a slight variation in the flavor and nutritional makeup.
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The world has a vast array of rice varieties. Rice varies in texture, size, shape, aroma and stickiness. Rice is also available in a number of colors, including white, brown, red and deep purple. Deep purple rice gets its dark color from its outer coating of black bran.
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Beans are the faithful friend of frugal cooks the world over. Not only are they delicious, versatile and inexpensive, beans provide more protein per calorie than meat, with the added bonus of a healthy dose of fiber.
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Taro root is present in many Indian and South East Asian dishes. High in starchy carbohydrates, taro roots look similar to small, brown knobbly potatoes. The root works in both savory and sweet dishes, though it's best in main dishes. According to Frederic Couton in "The Cannery Seafood House Cookbook,"
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Full-flavored and lean, beef top round roasts lack fat and marbling. This makes these roasts moderately tough, especially when cooked too quickly in a dry heat. Cooking them for hours in a slow cooker causes the collagen in the meat to break down, tenderizing the roast.
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Collard greens are packed with dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, calcium and iron. A staple in Southern cooking, collard greens can be used in place of other leafy green vegetables like spinach, Swiss chard, kale or mustard greens.
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Chickpeas, a highly popular pulse used in Indian and North African cuisine, come dried or in cans. Canned chickpeas don't take long to prepare and cook. Dried chickpeas require soaking before use. Cooked chickpeas add bulk and protein to many tomato-based or curry-style dishes.
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