Stay Cheese!

Whether it’s an elegant event or a casual party, cheese is a perfect way to please people. With the right serving accessories and pairings, cheese can be elevated from a simple food to something sensational. Nutrition specialists say, “Climate plays a huge role in the consumption of cheese. Unlike countries like Switzerland, Italy and France, which have a relatively cooler temperature throughout the year, hotter and humid countries consume less cheese which has more calories and protein. Low fat cottage and regular cheese is the safest bet. Cheese made from cow’s milk and skimmed milk is easier to digest and is lighter. Including vegetables with a mainstream cheese dish is ideal for the hot and humid climate.”

Buying cheese
Keep in mind the following points the next time you are buying cheese at a gourmet shop.

• Keep an open mind when you approach the cheese counter. Check for what’s ripe, what’s in season — yes cheeses do have seasons and even vintages!
• Taste before you purchase. This will help you select the right one. 
• Be wary of cheeses that are cracked. If the cheese has a cut side, make sure it looks fresh, the edges should not look dried out. 
• Smell the cheese. If you catch a whiff of soured milk, or a barnyard smell in particular, it could be well past its peak. Also, look out for smell of ammonia, which is often an indication that the cheese has aged too long or hasn’t aged properly. 
• Avoid cheese pieces which are wrapped in plastic. Buy freshly cut cheese. 
• Check for the label and the expiration date if you are buying a packaged one. 

Storing cheese

• Do not store cheese in a plastic wrap. Wrapping cheese directly in plastic is equivalent to flavour suffocation. 
• The best way to store cheese is in a cheese paper inside a container. Or the easiest would be to wrap cheese first in parchment or waxed paper, to prevent drying out. Let it breathe! 
• Consume the cheese as soon as possible, since many tend to dry out if kept in the refrigerator for a very long time. 
• Do not store cheese with foods that have strong odours, as they absorb the smell. 

Pairing with drinks 
According to experts, “Though cheese is paired best with wine, it is completely a personal preference. Soft ripened cheese can be paired with a sparkling wine, martinis, stout beer or coffee as well.” 

Tips

• When preparing dishes using cheese, add the cheese at the end, especially in sauces, risottos and soups. 
• Grating cheese is easier when it’s cold. 
• An expert chef says, “ The style, texture and flavour of the cheese depends on the origin of the milk. To enhance the taste of the cheese, herbs, spices or smoke may be used as flavouring agents.”

Fish and Seafood for gourmets

Fish, chips and mushy peas

ingredients

sunflower oil for deep-frying
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8oz nice white fish fillets, pinboned
• 2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1¹⁄₄ cups good cold beer
• 3 heaping teaspoons baking powder
• 2lb potatoes, peeled and
• sliced into chips (French or home fries)

FOR THE MUSHY PEAS
• a knob of butter
• 4 handfuls of shelled peas
• a small handful of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
• a squeeze of lemon juice
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

method

Good fish and chips are becoming harder to find these days, but there are still some good boysout there making the real deal. However, if you want to make your own at home, here’s the recipe I use. Unless you’ve got a really big fryer I’d say it’s not really worth trying to make fish and chips at home for more than 4 people – otherwise it becomes a struggle. Other things to have on the table are some crunchy sweet pickled gherkins, some pickled onions (if your other half isn’t around!) – and pickled chillies are good too. Then you want to douse it all with some cheap malt vinegar and nothing other than Heinz tomato ketchup.

To make your mushy peas, put the butter in a pan with the peas and the chopped mint. Put a lid on top and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. You can either mush the peas up in a food processor, or you can mash them by hand until they are thick and perfect for dipping your fish into. Keep them warm while you cook your fish and chips.

Pour the sunflower oil into your deep fat fryer or a large frying pan and heat it to 375ºF. Mix the salt and pepper together and season the fish fillets on both sides. This will help to remove any excess water, making the fish really meaty. Whisk the flour, beer and baking powder together until nice and shiny. The texture should be like semi-whipped heavy cream (i.e. it should stick to whatever
you’re coating). Dust each fish fillet in a little of the extra flour, then dip into the batter and allow any excess to drip off. Holding one end, lower the fish into the oil one by one, carefully so you don’t get splashed – it will depend on the size of your fryer how many fish you can do at once. Cook for 4 minutes or so, until the batter is golden and crisp. Meanwhile, parboil your sliced potatoes in salted boiling water for about 4 or 5 minutes until softened but still retaining their shape, then drain them in a colander and leave to steam completely dry. When all the moisture has disappeared, fry them in the oil that the fish were cooked in at 350ºF until golden and crisp. While the potatoes are frying, you can place the fish on a baking
sheet and put them in the oven for a few minutes at 350ºF to finish cooking. This way they will stay crisp while you finish off the fries. When they are done, drain them on paper towels, season with salt, and serve with the fish and mushy peas.

Fish kebabs

ingredients

• 1lb 2oz monkfish tail (or cod or haddock), trimmed of all skin and bone and cut in to 1-inch cubes
• 6—8 skewers or sticks of fresh rosemary,lower leaves removed
• 9 oz boiled new potatoes,halved
• for the marinade - 2 thumb sized pieces of fresh ginger,thinly sliced
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 dried chillies,crumbled
• 1 handful of freshmint
• 4 table spoons plain yogurt

method

Put all the marinade ingredients except the yogurt into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Stir in the yogurt. Using the skewers or rosemary sticks, skewer the fish alternately with the new potatoes. Drizzle with the marinade and grill for 2 minutes on each side.

Two Delightful Seafood Dishes

Home cooks and chefs have spent hours time testing recipes from famous restaurant. Now you can make these recipes from the comfort of your home.

We all have our favorite restaurant seafood dishes. Has it every occurred to you that you can make the same meals at home  Home cooks and chefs have spent hour’s time testing recipes from restaurant secret recipes. These recipes that have the distinctive taste and flavors of your favorite restaurant dishes. Cook your favorite restaurant secret recipes from the comfort of your home. Save time and money. Try  at home and see if you can tell the difference.

Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

1 cup White Wine
1/2 cup unsalted Butter
3 tablespoon minced Garlic
1 pound Shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt & pepper, to taste

Method

Combine the butter, wine, garlic and shrimp in a pan.
Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 7 minutes or
until the shrimp turn pink.
Be careful not to overcook the Shrimp.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve.
Serves 2-4

Red Lobster Dungeness Crab Bisque

Ingredients

1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups half-and-half
1 pound Alaska Dungeness crab meat
Salt, to taste
Chopped parsley

Instructions
1. Sautee onion in butter until soft. Add flour; cook while stirring
for 1 minute.
2. Slowly stir in chicken broth and half-and-half; cook 5 minutes
while stirring.
3. Break crab into chunks; add to broth.
4. Heat thoroughly and add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with
parsley.
Serves 4

Please Remember

Cooking Seafood

1. Purchase seafood fresh or frozen. Clams and muscles should be alive in shell when purchased. With lobster and crab live is best but frozen is a second option.

2. Cook fresh seafood within 24 hours of purchase if not sooner.

3. With frozen seafood thaw immediately before cooking. Thaw fish in refrigerator.

4. When boiling lobster no special preparation is needed. Put the lobster in boiling water head first.

5. When cooking steam crabs done when shells turn bright red.

6. Steam muscles should be cooked for only 2-3 minutes in covered pan.

7. After cooked lobster’s and crab’s shells should be cracked and dip flesh in melted butter. If desired add lemon juice separately.

8. Sautee shrimp, scallops and clams. Can be sauteed in wine sauce, garlic butter, butter, margarine or oil. Watch and remove when cooked to desired taste.

9. For mixed-seafood main dishes steamed shrimp, scallops and clams can be used.

10. Marinated seafood in refrigerator.

11. Baking fish 10 minutes per inch of thickeness at 400-450 degrees F. Halfway through cooking time turn fish. When fish becomes opaque and thickest part of fish flakes.

Broiling
If fish one inch thick or less place 2 to 4 inches from heat. Pieces greater than one inch should be placed 5-6 inches from heat.

Frying
Saute: fish in approximately 1/8 inch of cooking oil or oil covers one side of fish. Cook for 3-6 minutes per side.
Deep Fry: Cooking oil should cover entire fish. Cooking time approximately 2-3 minutes or until fish golden brown.

Boiling:
Shrimp broiled in 4 cups of water per pound of shrimp. Bring water to broil place shrimp and simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Scallops broil for 3-5 minutes

There can be health riskes when consuming raw seafood.

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Mouth watering Fish dishes

Smoked Salmon Roulade

Description

A combination of our succulent hot and cold smoked salmon, which makes a simple yet delicious starter.

Serves 6 (2 portions each)

Ingredients:

• ½ finely diced red pepper 
• 1 finely diced red onion 
• Small bunch of chives and coriander
• 2 tablespoons of crème frâiche 
• ½ a lemon 
• 200g hot smoked salmon
• 200g cold smoked salmon, sliced 

Method:

Put red onion, pepper, oak roast salmon and crème frâiche into bowl
Chop herbs very finely and add to mix
Use a fork to blend the mix, forming a pâté
Add a squeeze of lemon and black pepper
Place slice of cold smoked salmon down flat
Put a decent amount of the oak roast salmon mix in the middle
Roll over the slice of salmon so that it forms a tube. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for ½ an hour before serving.
Cut into 3 or 4 cm segments and serve with dill crème frâiche. 

Seabass Fillets with Spinach

Description

The delicate flavour and texture of this seabass dish can be complemented wonderfully by the more robust milk poached smoked haddock risotto
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 Seabass fillets – skin on
• Olive oil
• 4 large Basil leaves

For Spinach filling:

• Small bag spinach
• Tsp butter
• Tbsp water 

Method:

For Spinach filling:
Place pan on high heat with butter
Add spinach and water
Keeping spinach moving, sweat down until wilted
Take off heat and place in middle of a cloth
Squeeze excess water into bowl and discard

For seabass fillets:
Run finger along flesh discarding any surplus bones
Take skin off four fillets
Slice through the whole skinless fillet so you have two separate pieces of flesh
Place 1 large basil leaf onto cling film with a touch of oil
Place one piece of flesh on top and the other beside overlapping slightly
Add a Tspoon of spinach ¾ of the way down the fillet and season
Start rolling the seabass keeping the spinach tightly inside using the cling film to guide
Wrap the seabass tightly and tie both ends of the cling film
Repeat with remaining skinned fillets
¾ fill pot with water and bring to boil
Place in rolled seabass turn heat down to a simmer
Cook for 6-8 mins until white in colour
Remove and rest in warm place
Heat frying pan add a little oil season seabass either side
Add both halves of the seabass skin side down
Cook for two minutes until skin starts to colour
Turn over and cook for a further minute, leave to rest and cook in the pan off the hob
Cut rolled seabass in half and assemble on  milk poached smoked haddock risotto (see below)

Milk Poached Smoked Haddock

Description

This milk poached smoked haddock is a real winner. Its easy to create and it tastes great!

Ingredients:

• 2 fillets of Isle of Skye Smokehouse smoked haddock
• 250ml semi-skimmed milk
• 2 free range eggs
• 2 free range egg yolks
• 6 asparagus spears (blanched)
• Splash of white wine vinegar
• 250g of melted hot salt & butter
• Squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

For hollandaise:
Place 2 egg yolks, vinegar and lemon juice in a blender. Heat the butter in small pan until hot and melted (this will cook the egg). Begin blending the egg and leave for couple of seconds then add the melted butter very slowly (too fast and the sauce will split). Keep pouring slowly and blending until all butter is used.

Bring milk to the boil and immediately turn heat down to simmer, then add the smoked haddock. This will take around 4-6minutes (depends on the weight and size of haddock), making sure the haddock is covered with milk. Take out and leave to rest.

Stir the milk with a spoon creating a spinning motion within the saucepan, immediately add both cracked eggs to the milk. Meanwhile place asparagus under the grill. The egg should only take a couple of minutes so start plating up!

Prawn Kebabs

Description

These prawn kebabs pack a real punch with the perfect balance of that fresh from the sea taste and all of that great smokey BBQ flavour.

This recipe makes a delicious alternative addition to any barbecue, and serves 4:

Main Ingredients:

• 16 Isle of Skye Smokehouse prawns
• 8 button mushrooms
• 2 red or green peppers, cut into chunks
• 1 courgette, cut into chunks

Marinade Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons of pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon of Worcester sauce
• 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of cornflour

Method:

Turn the barbecue on/ light the charcoal.
Thread 4 skewers alternately with prawns, mushrooms, peppers and courgettes; lay the kebabs in a shallow dish. Mix all the marinade ingredients together, except the cornflour and pour the marinade over the kebabs. Cover and leave for around 2 hours in the cool. Grill the kebabs on a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, turning frequently. In a saucepan, mix the cornflour to a paste with a little of the cold marinade. Bring to the boil stirring all the time, until the sauce has thickened.
Enjoy the delicious sauce with the kebabs and a mixed salad.

Lemon Tart

Description

A tangy tart which cleanses the palate perfectly

Ingredients:

For the pastry

• 250 g plain flour
• 100 g caster sugar
• 112 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1tsp lemon juice
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• ½ vanilla pod, split open
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ tsp of freshly ground caraway seeds

For the lemon filling

• 9 egg yolks (keep the egg whites for the meringues and ice-cream)
• 400 g caster sugar
• grated zest of 2 lemons
• juice of 5 lemons
• 250 ml double cream
• 1 tsp orange liqueur
• A pinch of saffron 

Method:

Sift flour and caster sugar together into a large mixing bowl with caraway seeds and saffron and add in the butter
Rub ingredients together with your fingers, until evenly blended.
Make a well in the centre and add the lemon zest and vanilla seeds from the pod, then add the egg
Knead the mixture with your fingers until everything is combined to a dough
Wrap in plastic film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
To cook the pastry, pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a round cake tin with a removable base (approx. 20cm in diameter)
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a disc large enough to line the tin, allowing an overhang of 1cm or more. Lay the pastry gently into the tin.
Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with enough dry pulses so that sides and bottom are weighted.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pulses and greaseproof paper and trim off the overhanging pastry, then return to the oven to bake for a further 10 minutes.
Whisk the eggs with the caster sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl until smooth
Stir in the cream and then add the lemon juice, and orange liqueur.
Continue to whisk until all the ingredients are mixed together. Skim any froth from the top
Reduce the oven temperature to 120°C
Pour the cold filling into the hot pastry case. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool and set for about an hour
Serve with a lime ice-cream and Italian meringue 

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Who consumes most food?

Two dollars for an avocado, eight bucks for butter, four greenbacks for orange juice—food prices in the United States don’t always seem cheap. But compared to the rest of the world, we don’t know how good we have it. 

Amidst the amber waves of grain and fruited plains, we spend less of our income on food than any other country. In a seemingly twisted world order, poorer countries spend a much higher percentage of their income on food products than wealthier countries, which enjoy a relative cheap and abundant supply. And although much of the world still suffers from malnutrition and food insecurity, an overabundance now threatens our health, though not our pocketbook. 

Eating, By the Numbers
According to the Economic Research Service, a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States has it easy—we spent only 5.7 percent of our total household expenditures on food in 2007. In comparison, people in the UK spent 8.6 percent on food, residents of Denmark spent 10.7 percent, and in Hong Kong, China, residents used 12.5 percent of their income for food. 

In fact, most wealthy countries use a small percentage of their household expenditures on food and top the list of rankings. Those countries that spend the most on food compared to other items are countries where consumers have less disposable income and most of their money goes to the bare necessities. Food shortages and higher relative food prices also account for a greater percentage of money spent on eating. In Jordan, for instance, they spend a whopping 40.9 percent of their money on food; in Indonesia it’s 45.7 percent, and in Azerbaijan, they use the greatest proportion of money on grub—50.4 percent. 

The Real Cost of Cheap Food
It hasn’t always been this way. For Americans, food prices as a percentage of our disposable income has been dropping for decades. In the 30s, we spent around 21 percent of our disposable income on food; in the 50s, it was 17 percent, and on down, hovering around 6 percent for the past decade or so. 

Why has food become relatively cheap? One of the main reasons has been improved efficiency in agriculture. For instance, corn yields in the U.S. averaged less than thirty bushels/acre prior to the 1930s. But with the introduction of hybrid seeds around 1935, the intensified use of fertilizer and herbicide (in 1972, nitrogen fertilizer was added to 96 percent of corn acreage), insecticides, and genetically-modified seeds, by 2008 the average corn yield reached 155 bushels/acre and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. 

Livestock production has also greatly increased in efficiency; instead of grazing on open pastures, many industrialized countries now have factory farms and concentrated animal feeding operations (cafos), growth hormones, and antibiotics. 

Of course, these advancements haven’t come without major health and environmental costs that aren’t factored in to food costs. These externalities rear their heads in outcomes like obesity, pollution, food that’s cheap but nutrient-deficient, antibiotic resistant microbes, and the slew of problems that call to question another price-dropping practice—subsidies. 

Our government, like many others, gives subsidies to farmers, whose livelihood depends on unpredictable factors like weather and crop infestation. We currently subsidize over two dozen commodities, which effectively makes domestic food cheaper, and has loaded our diet with refined grains, sugars, and processed foods. 

Fruits, Vegetables, and Cookies
It’s evident that cheap food means greater supply per person and the calories show it.

According to the World Health Organization, consumption of food, measured in the available kilocalories (kcal) per capita per day, is steadily on the increase. Worldwide, we’ve moved from an average of 2,358 kcal available per person in 1965, to 2,803 kcal in 1999, to a projected of 2,940 in 2015. However, these aren’t distributed evenly. Developing countries had 2,681 kcals available to them per day in 1999, while industrialized countries, such as the U.S. and the UK, had 3,380 kcals available to them, well over the 2,000-calorie average recommendation. 

Calories aren’t consumed in the same way, either. Looking at food consumption across the globe shows absolute prices reflecting economy and availability. In their 2005 book, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, photographer Peter Menzel and writer Faith D’Aluisio document the weekly expenditures and food choices from twenty-four families around the world. In Italy for instance, a family of five spent $260.11 a week; their table is loaded with foods like fish, pasta, bread, and bananas. In Cuernavaca, Mexico, a family spent $189.09 buying avocados, chicken, Coke, and oranges, among other items; a large family in Cairo, Egypt spent $68.53 on foods like okra, mutton, bell peppers, and tomatoes; a six-member family in Chad spent $1.23 for grains, rice, and spices. A family in California spent $159.18 on cereal, bagels, bananas, and corn dogs, while a family in North Carolina spent $341.98 on pizza, chips, fast food, and grapes (their high costs might be attributed to their two teenage boys). Moving from developing to developed countries, it’s easy to see a transition from grains, whole foods, and vegetables to packaged consumer goods and ready-to-eat foods, and in greater quantities. 

Of course, eating outside the homes adds to our food costs and can make even a food-cheap country like the U.S. expensive. But the next time I’m griping about how expensive a whole chicken is ($2.99 a pound at Safeway), I’ll remember that in the grand scheme of things, that’s one cheap bird.

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