Spicy Fried Brinjals & Tow Yew Bak

                                            Spicy Fried Brinjals

 

Ingredients

8 Green brinjals 
15 Red chilies, seeded
1 tsp Ground cumin 
1 tsp Sugar 
8 tbsp Cooking oil 
2 tbsp Water 
Seasoning
1 tsp Salt 
1/2 tsp MSG 
1 tsp Sugar 
1 tsp Lime juice 

Method

Halve brinjals lengthwise and soak in water with some salt for 15 minutes. Drain. Combine chilies, cumin and sugar and pound. Heat 6 tbsp cooking oil in a frying pan and fry brinjals until cooked. Transfer to a serving plate. Leave oil in the pan and add the remaining 2 tbsp oil. Fry the chili paste over moderately low heat for a minute. Add seasoning ingredients and stir. Leave to cook until oil seeps through. Add water, stir and remove from heat. Pour sambal and oil over brinjals and serve.

 

                       Tow Yew Bak (streaky belly pork in soy sauce)

 

Ingredients

455 g Streaky belly pork, with skin 
½ tsp Salt 
1 tbsp Dark soy sauce 
2 tbsp Lard or cooking oil 
2 tbsp Sugar 
2 petals Star anise 
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and lightly crushed 
2 tbsp Soy sauce 
½ tsp MSG 
230 ml Water, hot

Method

Scrape pork skin of bristles, wash and drain. Rub salt and dark soy sauce into pork and leave to marinate for ½ hour. Heat lard or cooking oil in a pan, add sugar and caramelize. Add star anise and garlic and fry for a minute. Add in the prepared pork, soy sauce and MSG. Continue cooking for 2 minutes. Turn pork over, pour in half the hot water and boil over moderately high heat for ½ hour. Add the remaining water, cover saucepan and cook over low heat until pork is tender. Lift pork onto a chopping board and slice. Place pork on a deep plate. Pour gravy over and serve.

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Basic Aspects Of Food Branding And Marketing

If you think of food branding, think about the concept more as multiple methods rather of a single notion. This type of marketing and advertising is just not just regarding the brand, but in addition in-store displays and promotions through social and mobile media and your site. A knowledgeable branding agency can allow you to with these components.

A promotional approach for the current line of products for sale can begin with all the initial brand philosophy. This philosophy can exist as representation for an complete line of food. An critical element of this advertising and marketing would be to develop brand retention amongst consumers as they shop and compare distinct brands. This may possibly support enhance overall sales as much more individuals recognize your product from the other people on the shelves at a retailer.

Working as well as the brand is packaging. Inventive food package design can push your item out ahead with the competitors inside a retailer. There may possibly be something particular and readily identifiable about your packaging that possibly implies something for the customer as a matter of comfort. Think about how your packaging may possibly make a difference.

Ease of use can be a large determining element in how consumers pick your items over the competition. Different package design, like a pouch container for liquids or sauces, may be a method to set your line of items apart from others. Keeping your style of products updated can support to introduce your items to a new audience of prospective buyers who may be seeking the latest versions of an item or even a various type of presentation or packaging.

Your design and brand identity may have to be flexible having a standard look that you simply can alter slightly to meet the demands of an altering marketplace. As new generations and their very own buying habits take hold in a retailer, you will need to discover factors that influence them in purchasing choices. A perceptive brand agency can use this sort of data when operating with your brand when it truly is time for an updated style.

As social media and mobile marketing and advertising develop in significance, an agency might allow you to recognize different methods to strategy an updated marketing campaign to target a wider audience. Print and broadcast mediums are just the start off of ad promotions. On-line campaigns take on new which means when you see the information with regards to the energy and scope of reaching people by way of this new era of marketing.

Your product internet site on the web also could benefit from upgrades or modernization to far better reflect your latest promotional campaign. A powerful site can support a lot more clients and serve as useful targeted traffic management for new customers. It is possible to create brand retention with promotions from the internet site that work along with the social and mobile media ads.

Food branding will be the basis for taking your products towards the next level when it comes to customers recognizing your items and generating them a regular part of their grocery lists. Devote time talking using a marketing specialist on how promotional perform could help you update or introduce your line to a larger audience. Modest changes may possibly bring massive results to your company.

Italian Salad of Tomatoes and Sweet Onion with Roquefort Dressing

Tomatoes and sweet onion with Roquefort dressing is a traditional Italian salad that easily lends itself well to Italian meals such as Osso Bucco and to lighter meals such as salad and Minestrone soup. Popular Italian restaurants such as Olive Garden serve similar meals of soup and salad.

You can find this simple salad served in New York at some to the finer Italian restaurants as well as on the tables of many Italian families around the world. The Roquefort cheese gives a strong distinctive flavor that pleases even the pickiest of salad eaters. 

The beauty of this Italian salad is that it is so versatile that it can be served with just about any meal.

Ingredients

Ripe tomatoes

Sweet onions

Basic Italian Dressing

Green scallions

Roquefort cheese

Dried oregano

Salt

Pepper

Direction

Slice ripe red tomatoes and sweet onions very thin. Place four tomato slices on each plate. Over the top of the tomatoes lay the onion slices. Drizzle over the top Basic Italian Dressing. Place the two green scallions along the edge of the plate. Crumble the Roquefort cheese over the top and sprinkle with dried oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Basic Italian Dressing

6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, mashed

2 Tbs red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Diretion

Place all salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk together with a wire whisk until well blended.

Learn more recipes here which is easy to cook.

Easy Spaghetti Recipes

Spaghetti has always been a favorite family meal. My teenage daughter will eat leftover spaghetti for breakfast, lunch, and as a mid-afternoon snack. Not everyone loves spaghetti so much that they will go to that extreme, however, and the same meals can getting boring after awhile. 

Here are some ways to jazz up this old favorite:

Italian Sausage Spaghetti

• 2 lbs. Italian sausage
• 48 oz. spaghetti sauce
• 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
• Green pepper, sliced thin
• 1 lg. onion, sliced thin
• 1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes
• 1 c. water

Place sausage in skillet and cover in water. Simmer 10 minutes; drain. Meanwhile, place remaining ingredients in crock pot. Add drained sausage and cover; cook on low 4 hours. Increase to high; cook 1 hour more. Cut sausage in bite-size slices and serve over cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle with more Parmesan, if desired.

Irish Italian Spaghetti

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Dash of red pepper
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. tabasco sauce
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 (8 oz.) package spaghetti
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Brown onion in oil. Add meat and seasonings. Brown lightly, cover. Simmer 10 minutes. Add soups, cover and simmer 45 minutes. Cook spaghetti. Cover with sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Baked Spaghetti

• 1 c. chopped onion
• 1 c. chopped green pepper
• 1 tbsp. butter or margarine
• 1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes with liquid, cut up
• 1 (4 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
• 1 (2 1/4 oz.) can sliced ripe olives, drained
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 lb. hamburger, browned
• 12 oz. spaghetti, cooked and drained
• 2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, saute onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, and oregano. Add ground beef. Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Place half of the spaghetti in a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Top with half of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with 1 c. cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. Mix soup and water until smooth; pour over casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Six to 8 servings.

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

• 1/2 c. margarine
• 1 c. chopped red bell pepper
• 1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped hot pepper rings
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 c. cooked chicken, chopped
• 1 (4 oz.) can diced pimento
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 oz. chopped slivered almonds
• 1/2 lb. spaghetti, broken
• 4 slices American cheese

Melt margarine and cook peppers and mushrooms until tender; add flour and blend well. Add chicken broth. Cook and stir until thickened. Add chicken, pimento, and seasonings; heat and add almonds.

Cook spaghetti in boiling water for about 9 minutes. Drain and mix with previous ingredients. Place in casserole dish and cover with slices of  cheese. Heat at 325 degrees until cheese is melted (approx. 30 to 45 minutes). Serve.

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Fun Facts About Pasta

Pasta in History

Popular legend has it that Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy following his exploration of the Far East in the late 13th century; however, we can trace pasta back as far as the fourth century B.C., where an Etruscan tomb showed a group of natives making what appears to be pasta.

The Chinese were making a noodle-like food as early as 3000 B.C. And Greek mythology suggests that the Greek God Vulcan invented a device that made strings of dough (the first spaghetti!).

Pasta made its way to the New World through the English, who discovered it while touring Italy. Colonists brought to America the English practice of cooking noodles at least one half hour, then smothering them with cream sauce and cheese.

Thomas Jefferson is credited with bringing the first €macaroni€ machine to America in 1789 when he returned home after serving as ambassador to France.

The first industrial pasta factory in America was built in Brooklyn in 1848 by, of all people, a Frenchman, who spread his spaghetti strands on the roof to dry in the sunshine.

Facts & Figures

The average American consumes 20 lbs. of pasta annually. This makes it the 6th highest food per capita in the country.

As of March 2012, the average price an American pays for pasta is $1.45 per pound! This makes it one of the most affordable meals.

24% of the global consumption of pasta is by Americans - the largest of any country in the world. Americans consume 6 billion pounds of pasta each year.

The United States produces 4.4 billion pounds of pasta annually, making it the second largest pasta-producing nation.

Convenience

You can enjoy pasta on any budget, and thanks to its incredible versatility, you can have a different and delicious low-cost meal every day of the week.

Keeping pantry staples like dry pasta on hand is always helpful, especially for those days when the cupboard is a bit bare. No need for pricey takeout! It's easy to make a delicious, healthy meal in minutes that will satisfy your whole family.

Nutrition

Pasta is the perfect foundation for a healthy, delicious and satisfying meal. As an ideal delivery system for other nutritious foods, pasta meals can easily become nutritional all-stars. (Be sure to keep an eye on portion sizes to keep calories at bay. A one-cup serving of cooked pasta is roughly the size of your fist).

Overly-restricted diets take the joy out of eating. With so many options for building lower calorie, nutrient-rich pasta meals, you'll never get bored or feel limited while eating pasta.

Avoiding or limiting carbohydrates can leave you feeling sluggish, tired and unable to concentrate. Complex carbohydrates like pasta provides the optimum type of €fuel€ to power your muscles and brain, as it is digested more slowly, it provides a slower release of energy to keep you going throughout the day.

Pasta is an ideal partner for other nutritious foods that are essential to a healthy diet. It's great to pair with fiber-filled vegetables and beans, heart healthy fish and oils, antioxidant-rich tomato sauce and protein-packed, poultry and lean meats.

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Chicken Penne Pasta Rrecipe

Everyone loves a great pasta dish from my nonna. Pasta can go with just about anything and also is a great necessity for your kitchen cabinets. It is one of those foods you can go to and make a meal with little preparation. I had some penne pasta in my cabinet and couldn't think of a recipe to make. Usually I make a recipe and change it to my liking since that is what cooking is all about your personal love for the dish to share with others. I saw a chicken and pasta recipe online with all the ingredients I had in the cabinets and refrigerator and decided to make my version of it. I omitted a few ingredients and added others to make chicken and penne pasta.

Ingredients

1 lb chicken

1 package penne pasta

1 bunch broccoli

¼ cup dry white wine

1 can chicken broth or stock

2 to 3 leeks

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp Italian seasoning

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Direction 


Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and set aside. In a saucepan add chicken stock and dry white wine. Chop the garlic cloves fine and add to the stock along with the Italian seasoning. Clean the chicken breast and add to the stock and cook until done. Once the chicken cooks remove chicken and reserve 2 cups of the liquid draining the stock through a strainer. In another saucepan cut and cook the broccoli and set aside. Slice the leeks lengthwise into thin strips. In saucepan add the 2 tbsp olive oil then add the sliced leeks and sauté for a few minutes about five then add the 2 tbsp flour to the leeks. The leek flour mixture will get thick. Add in the reserved broth and cook until thick and bubbly. Dice the chicken into chunks and add the broccoli, pasta and chicken to thickened sauce. Stir all the ingredients well with the sauce. If the sauce is too thick add some more of the extra stock to the pot.

At the time I made this recipe I only had pepper jack cheese and sprinkled about 1/3 cup to the pasta dish and it was pretty good. It was a spicy cheesy pasta dish that was simple to make. You can choose to use parmesan or mozzarella or whatever cheese you like. I would serve this meal with homemade garlic bread using french loaf with garlic butter, parmesan cheese, and parsley.

Italian Food Culture, All About Joy, Family and Tradition

Certainly Italian food and culture go hand in hand, we may say there is no difference. For Italians food is not merely a means for survival. Food defines us. It belongs to our history and culture as much as Raffaello and Leonardo da Vinci do. 

The main aspect of Traditional Italian food culture
By all means this is conviviality and joy. And slowness of course. Enjoying a meal with friends or family is the main ingredient of any Italian dish. 

Italian Sunday lunches are the best example, a unique experience you should try at least once.

They say only 5% of Italians eat out on Sundays, while 95% are at home eating as much as humanly possible. Sunday lunch is usually spent at some relatives' home, in my case my grandparents'.

In any household there is always a grandma or aunt who thinks you are malnourished, too skinny and need to be filled as a Christmas turkey. You will not be able to leave your grandma's table if you do not eat every single crumble she thinks you need.

This will also be your fate if you are invited for lunch at an Italian gathering... be prepared!

Lunch usually starts between 12am and 1pm depending on the region, and can last literally all day, sometimes even until dinner time. It's the main occasion to bring the extended family together, and the only time ALL courses are included.

Starting from antipasto, closing with dessert, followed by caffe' and ammazza-caffe' (lit. coffee killer, a small amount of liquor or spirit). Even the poorest class used to save their meat for this special weekly gathering.
Classic antipasti are usually made of charcuterie, cheese, pickles and whatever the matriarch comes up with.
In Italy the main course is usually split in two, primo and secondo (first and second courses).Primo consists always of pasta, risotto or a soup like minestrone. Traditionally, pasta is freshly hand-made on the same day. Secondo varies from region to region but is usually based on meat or fish, with countless side dishes.

Usually at family gatherings it's all about traditional local food. This means the food will be excellent, locally sourced and tested countless times.

A few pieces of cheese usually close the main part of the lunch. But the fun has still to come... Sunday lunches go to the long distance with desserts, fruit, coffee and ammazza-caffe'.

The socializing fun usually starts over a cup of coffee and a bit of limoncello (lemon liquor). Forget about your afternoon commitments, if you have any. And be prepared to endless chats. 

Tradition and regional diversity

Another pillar of Italian food culture is regional diversity. Every dish, even the most simple, has roots in the past and traditions of that particular region. While travelling from the north to south of Italy you could experience as many different dishes as you travelled around the whole continent.

For example, in the north you can try polenta (a dish made with corn flour), but you will hardly find it in the southern regions.

Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan) is produced only in Emilia-Romagna because cows used for it are typical of that region only. As it is for buffalo mozzarella in Campania. 

Narrow-mindedness
I think the downside of Italian food culture is a sort of narrow-mindedness. The family matriarchs do not generally like to experiment with other types of cuisine... even if from other Italian regions. At family gatherings every one expects the same local traditional food.

The easiest way to learn Italian culture is to hang around at the local bars!

This aspect is quickly changing among younger generations.

I managed to serve macrobiotic brown rice and a raw chocolate dessert at one of my family gatherings, but my older relatives did not take this act with a light spirit.

Needless to say, Italian food culture has also strict rules.