The truth is that Indian food is an acquired taste and if you are not a fan of spicy herbs and spices then you should probably avoid Indian cooking recipes. However, if you like Mexican, Japanese or Chinese cuisine and consider yourself a fan of zesty exotic spices, then you will probably love Indian dishes. Indian cooking uses, garlic, ginger, cumin, turmeric, coriander and chilli peppers and if you are already using these spices, try cooking an Indian dish. Cooking herbs and spices certainly spices up a meal.

Easy to Make Recipes

Once you understand an Indian cooking recipe it is very easy to follow. For example, it is possible to put a delicious chicken curry together in just half an hour. Your personal taste will allow you to modify the recipe so that it is less or more spicy. There are even some very quick Indian microwave cooking recipes for those people who have a particularly hectic schedule. Tandoori Aloo and Paheer Tikka are just two examples of simple, yet delicious dishes that you can easily cook quickly in a microwave oven.

Health Benefits In The Herbs and Spices

Indian cuisine can do a great deal to improve the overall health of you and your family. Apart from the spices mentioned before, garam marsala, cayenne pepper, cardamom, fennel, tomatoes and onions are used and are packed full of nutrition. Recent studies have shown that curry and other Indian cooking recipes may help to combat cancer, cardio vascular diseases and several other serious health conditions.

You will be surprised how inexpensive Indian cooking recipes are. The spices are the most expensive to purchase, but you use little and do not have to replace them very often. My Spice Sage herbs and spices are extremely reasonably priced if you need to buy any. When you are making Indian cooking recipes you can prepare them in bulk and freeze what is not consumed, so that they feed the family more than once and you save even more money. Indian cooking recipes offer an exotic alternative to buying take away food, or dining in restaurants and are very good value for your money. They are also much healthier and less fattening than junk food.

Finding Indian Cooking Recipes and The Herbs and Spices

Indian cooking recipes can be found on the Internet. If you prefer, go to a book store and purchase one to keep. If you have the money and planning a holiday, consider India and get lessons from an authentic Indian chef to learn more about Indian food. If you are lucky enough to be friendly with some Indian people, they may share their tips and secrets on their favourite dishes with you.

To prepare your Indian cooking recipes you need to start with the right herbs and spices, so it may pay you to investigate a MySpiceSage Review. It is an online treasure trove of exotic herbs and spices. There are hundreds of gourmet items to spice up any meal. There is a section on Indian herbs and spices, so finding what you need is very easy.

So if you want to dish up a delicious healthy meal to your family, add some herbs and spices to a spicy Indian recipe.

Technorati Tags: cooking, Cooking Recipes, Herbs and Spices, My Spice Sage

Doesn’t everyone love a good pizza pie? From thick to thin, piled high with toppings or plain cheese, pizza is always a favorite with people of all ages. Plus, pizza is fun and easy for the whole family to make at home.

Even if you consider the kitchen foreign territory, you can make an Italian homemade pizza with just a few easy steps. The first step is making the dough. If you’re short on time, you can purchase pre-made pizza dough at your local grocery store. However, handmade pizza dough is not difficult to make, not to mention it’s delicious!

For this Italian pizza recipe, try using Father Dominic Garramone’s recipe for making pizza crust. A Benedictine priest, Father Dominic has written educational and inspirational books on spiritual growth through baking bread. He also hosted the PBS television show, “Breaking Bread with Father Dominic.”. This recipe will make one 15 inch thick-crust pizza, or a couple of smaller thin-crust pizzas.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 cup of warm water
½ cup cold milk
1¼ tsp. salt
2 Tbs. of olive oil
3 – 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

In a medium size bowl, add yeast and brown sugar to warm water and stir to dissolve. Let the mixture stand for about five minutes. Stir in the olive oil, cold milk and salt. One half cup at a time, add 2½ cups of flour and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for about five minutes, adding small amounts of flour to keep the dough manageable. Using olive oil, lightly oil the dough’s surface. Place the dough in a clean, medium size bowl. Then cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rise in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.

About two hours before you want to make the pizza, punch down the dough. Then, knead it lightly, and form it into a ball. Cover the dough with a dry, clean towel, and allow it to rest on the counter until it comes to room temperature. To form the crust, use your hands to flatten the dough, then roll it out on a lightly floured board to your desired size. Father Dominic suggests preheating the oven to 500 degrees fahrenheit and preparing the crust on a pizza stone.

Once the dough has been prepared, it’s time to choose your pizza toppings. What Italian pizza recipe is complete without Italian meat? The best place for Italian meat toppings is Volpi Foods, America’s oldest and most prestigious producer of authentic, hand-crafted Italian meats. Whether you use your favorite tomato sauce or plain olive oil as your base, Volpi’s wide variety of dry cured meats will add flavor and excitement to any pizza.

For a twist on the traditional pepperoni pizza, try using Volpi’s hot Sopressata for a spicy pizza pie. If you’re in the mood for a salty and sweet combination, use slices of Volpi’s famous melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto. Add fresh spinach leaves, sprinkle with goat cheese crumbles, then layer with thin slices of prosciutto. Bake in the oven until the crust is light golden brown, then slice and serve immediately.

This simple and delicious Italian pizza recipe is a guaranteed crowd pleaser for parties or a family cooking night at home. Try it tonight at your house. You’ll be transported to Tuscany at first bite. Buon appetito!

Technorati Tags: handmade pizza, homemade pizza, Italian homemade, Italian meat, Italian meats, Italian pizza recipe, Italian traditional

Less than fascinating commercial times prompt you to have a look for ways to save on the grocery bill, while busy days inspire you to have a little stockpile of meals that can be brought quickly to the table. 

One of the easiest ways to satisfy both objectives is to spend a Saturday making 2 quarts each of 2 or 3 simple soup recipes.  Portion the soups in individual or family size servings to freeze for future inexpensive, quick-to-fix and tasty meals. 

Here are 2 such straightforward soup recipes to get you moving.  These recipes can be followed exactly as given, but they are also common recipes.  Substitutions give a similar texture and body, but with different flavors.  Recommendation for alternate ingredients follows each of these straightforward soup recipes. 

One uses a cream base while the other uses a broth.  You can be confounded to find how a few minor changes to each recipe can provide many distinctly different easy soup recipes. 

Simple CLAM CHOWDER SOUP

three Tb.  Butter
three Tb.  Flour
6 cups milk
2 large potatoes, cooked till virtually done, diced in 2-inch cubes
two 3.5-ounce cans clams, with juice
one 15-ounce can corn
3 large mushrooms, sliced
1 big onion, diced
3 green onions, cut
1 tsp.  Thyme

Melt the butter in a huge saucepan.  Use a whisk to mix in the flour.  Cook over low heat till the roux thickens.  Continuously add the milk, stirring continually.  Add the remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 30-45 minutes, or till soup takes the thickness you prefer.  Garnish with fresh parsley if you like. 

instead of, or as well as clams, try shrimp, crab, Krab (, crawfish or catfish nuggets.  Substitute celery, water chestnuts or spinach for any of the veggies.  Chives are good in place of green onions.  Use a teaspoon of tarragon or [*FR3] cup fresh cilantro in place of the thyme. 

simple CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP

eight cups chicken broth
two chicken breasts, cooked and sliced in 1-inch cubes
1 15-ounce can green beans
1 15-ounce can corn
one large red bell pepper, diced
1 massive onion, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, cut thinly
1 tsp.  Sage
two tsp.  Minced garlic
A pinch of cayenne

Drain the canned vegetables.  Mix all ingredients in a big saucepan over gentle heat.  Stir occasionally.  Cook for 45 minutes. 

Turkey, sausage or chopped ham works just as well as chicken.  In place of the green beans, try fresh, sliced zucchini added to the soup just five minutes before serving.  Substitute one orange and one yellow bell pepper for the beans and corn for a colourful and mouth watering soup.  Rosemary, thyme or marjoram can replace the sage. 

once you try these simple soup recipes, you’ll see how flexible they are.  Use your brains.  Remember to use any leftovers from the frig.  In just a few hours, you can have many lunch or dinner servings good to go in minutes!

For more information about food and useful cooking tips, check out cooking101.org and also have a look at how to make scotch broth.

Technorati Tags: chicken, Clam Chowder, soup, Vegetable

Lean, juicy meat, mutton, and veal, form the basis of all good soups ; therefore it is a good idea to gain those pieces which afford the richest succulence, and such as are fresh-killed.  Off beef renders them bad, and fat isn’t so well adapted for making them.  The principal art in composing good rich soup, is so to proportion the several ingredients that the flavour of one shall not predominate over another, and that all of the articles of which it is composed, shall form an agreeable full.  To do this, care must be taken the roots and herbs are very well cleaned, and so the water is proportioned to the amount of beef and other ingredients.  Sometimes a quart of water might be permitted to a pound of meat for soups, and 1/2 the quantity for gravies.  In making soups or gravies, gentle stewing or simmering is incomparably the best.  It may be remarked {, however ,} that a really good soup can never be made but in a well-closed vessel, although, perhaps, bigger wholesomeness is obtained by an occasional exposure to the air.  Soups will, in general, take from three to six hours doing, and are miles better prepared the day before they are wanted.  When the soup is cold, the fat may be much easier and fully removed ; and when it is poured off, care must be taken not to annoy the settlings at the bottom of the vessel, which are so fine that they can escape thru a sieve.  A tamis is the best strainer, and if the soup is strained while it is hot, let the tamis or cloth be previously drenched in cold water.  Clear soups must be perfectly clear, and thickened soups about the consistence of cream.  To thicken and give body to soups and gravies, potato-mucilage, arrow-root, bread-raspings, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice, or oatmeal, in a little water rubbed well together, are used.  A piece of boiled beef battered to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and rubbed thru a separate, and continuously incorporated with the soup, will be found an excellent addition.  When the soup appears to be too thin or too puny, the cover of the boiler should be taken off, and the contents allowed to boil till some of the watery parts have evaporated ; or some of the thickening materials, above mentioned, should be added.  When soups and gravies are kept from day by day in hot weather, they should be warmed up every day, and put into fresh scalded pans or tureens, and placed in a cool cellar.  In temperate weather, every other day could be sufficient. 

Numerous herbs and vegetables are needed for the purpose of making soups and gravies.  Of these the principal are, Scotch barley, pearl barley, wheat flour, oatmeal, bread-raspings, pease, beans, rice, vermicelli, macaroni, isinglass, potato-mucilage, mushroom or mushroom ketchup, champignons, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, turnips, garlic, shalots and onions.  Cut onions, fried with butter and flour till they’re browned, and then rubbed through a sieve, are excellent to increase the colour and flavor of brown soups and sauces, and form the basis of many of the fine relishes furnished by the cook.  The older and drier the onion, the stronger will be its flavour.  Leeks, cucumber, or burnet vinegar ; celery or celery-seed pounded.  The latter, though equally strong, does not communicate the delicate sweetness of the fresh vegetable ; and when used as a substitute, its flavor should be corrected by the addition of a bit of sugar.  Cress-seed, parsley, common thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, winter tasty, and basil.  As fresh green basil is rarely to be gained, and its fine flavor is shortly lost, the best way of preserving the extract is by pouring wine on the fresh leaves. 

For the seasoning of soups, bay-leaves, tomato, tarragon, chervil, burnet, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, black and white pepper, essence of anchovy, lemon-peel, and juice, and Seville orange-juice, are all taken.  The second imparts a finer flavour than the lemon, and the acid is much milder.  These materials, with wine, mushroom ketchup, Harvey’s sauce, tomato ketchup, combined in diverse proportions, are, with other ingredients, manipulated into an almost endless variety of glorious soups and gravies.  Soups, which are meant to constitute the principal part of a meal, definitely ought not to be flavoured like sauces, which are only engineered to give a relish to some particular dish.

If you enjoy cooking and making food, visit cooking101.org for more recipe and guides on how to cook quality meals. Along the way, you might want to check out recipe for chicken stock.

Technorati Tags: cooking, Easy Cooking, Simple Soup, soup

- 6 large green onions
– two green peppers
– one or two cans of tomatoes
– three Carrots
– one Container ( 10 oz.  Or so ) Mushrooms
– 1 bunch of celery
– Half a head of cabbage
– one package Lipton soup mix
– one or two cubes of bouillon ( optional )
– 1 48oz can V8 juice ( optional )
– Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc . 

Slice green onions, put in a pot and start cooking.  Cut green pepper stem end off and cut in half, take the seeds and membrane out.  Cut the green-pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.  Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.  Clean carrots, cut into bite size pieces, and add to pot.  Cut mushrooms into thick slices, add to pot .If you would like a spicy soup, and add a touch of curry or cayenne pepper now.  You may use meat or chicken bouillon cubes for seasonings.  These have all of the salt and flavours you will need.  Use about 12 cups of water, cover and put heat on low.  Let soup cook for a considerable time – two hours works very well.  Season to taste with pepper and salt. 

This is the recipe I found, and from chatting to many people this is my conclusion : if you stick to the plan, it can work for you, yet this whole cabbage soup business is for people that can actually appreciate it.  As for me, I truly believe that one should consume not only what would make his loose weight, but also something that would taste good!  What would be the point of suffering if your last goal is to feel good?  I believe that one should enjoy not only the result but also the process! 

Try this cabbage soup recipe.  You will not regret it.  There aren’t a lot of tatsy and sensible food as the cabbage soup.

Do you enjoy cooking and learning more about food? If yes, you may also visit cooking101.org to learn more about the many different kinds of recipes and cooking ideas that will be useful next time you are in the kitchen. Also, you might want to check out bouillabaisse soup.

Technorati Tags: Cabbage, Healthy, recipe, soup