Posts Tagged ‘Gourmet’

Can a Beef Crock Pot Recipe be gourmet?  

by bunchofpants

Can a Beef Crock Pot Recipe be gourmet?  

Article by Lisa Paterson

Find some quick tips to take your crockpot beef recipe from everyday to gourmet.

Can beef crock pot recipes really be more than beef, vegetables and a can of soup?

We often get in the routine of using our slow cooker for a few ordinary dishes and don’t venture outside that. But your crock pot can be used for so many different types of beef recipes.

Generally beef slow cooking conjures up images of slow cooker beef soup and a crockpot stew. While these meals are yummy, there is much more you can do in your kitchen with your crock pot.

Not a week goes by that Neil and I don’t receive an email asking for a new easy beef crockpot recipe. A crock pot beef recipe that is gourmet and that they have not seen before.

Well, we have heaps of them, and add new ones all the time. And do you know why? It’s not because we are professional chefs, because we are not. We are just home cooks like you. But we continuously experiment and adapt conventional recipes.

We don’t invent the wheel we just adapt it. We source the best recipes from the best chefs and then just adapt their recipe to suit the crock pot.

There is no reason why you can’t do this at home as well. All you need remember is that the vegetables go in the crock pot first, then the meat and then pour the liquid in. It really it that easy.

Now you can adapt your favorite oven casserole recipe if you just keep these basic rules in mind.

Step one is to find a conventional beef recipe you would like to try.

Next. Remember put the vegetables in the bottom of the crock pot. Then add the beef. We do it this way so that everything cooks at the some rate.

OK that was easy. So now for the liquid part of the beef recipe.

We generally find that we need to reduce the amount of liquid the recipe asks for. As a rule of thumb add enough liquid to cover the vegetables. And you are good to go, just remember to always cook with the lid on.

About half an hour before you want to serve your beef meal, take the lid off and take a look. If there is too much liquid, add some corn starch mixed with water and stir it in. Flip your crock pot to the high setting and allow to cook. When you are ready to eat, the liquid should be thick and delicious.

Nearly there. Just on last thing to consider. Due to the long, slow cooking process herbs and spices tend to loose their flavor. So about an hour before serving, take a taste and just add more if required.

And there you have it your very own original beef crock pot recipe. Share it with us at http://www.A-Crock-Cook.com, so we can put it on the web for you.

Enjoy Cooking!

Lisa “The Crock Cook”

About the Author

Add your own crock pot beef recipe, at http://www.a-crock-cook.com.

**Webmasters – Please feel free to add this article to your site. Just remember to ensure the links remain live and static. Regards Lisa**

More Crock Pot Soup Articles

Gourmet Chocolate With or Without Nuts?  

by Rami ™

Gourmet Chocolate With or Without Nuts?  

Article by Mary O’Coughlin

Chocolate with nuts or without is a choice influenced by your tastes, preferences and your health concerns. Many individuals choose not eat chocolates with nuts, especially those made with peanuts, due to possible allergic reactions. There are extreme cases in which even a small amount of nuts can be lethal and can possibly lead to death. However, for many chocolate lovers, chocolate with nuts is the only way to go. These include chocolates with almonds, peanuts, cashew nuts, macadamia, and walnuts, just a few of the popular nuts mixed with chocolates.

Chocolate with nuts is generally the more popular choice than plain chocolate without nuts. This is evident by the number one chocolate bar worldwide has been for the longest time. The winning chocolate candy is Mars’ Snickers bar. This chocolate bar is made of peanut butter nougat topped with roasted peanuts and caramel covered with milk chocolate. Snickers is considered to be the bestselling chocolate bar of all time with annual global sales of about US billion. However, at present, we, as a society, have become more health conscious and are opting to eat dark chocolate without nuts, nougats or caramel, among other combinations. A higher content of cocoa in chocolates is preferred because according to medical studies this is healthier and not as fattening due to the absence of the cocoa fat usually found in milk and white chocolates.

We have become more aware of what we eat so that even the pleasure of eating chocolates has changed to fit our health needs. Plain dark chocolates with high cocoa content is the preferred kind of chocolate most especially those with calorie disorders, who are afraid of becoming fat as well as those that suffer from allergic reactions due to nuts.

The most commonly used nut ingredients are either dried fruit nuts from trees or peanuts, which is a variety of legumes. A percentage of chocolate lovers avoid chocolate with nuts because of allergies that may incur and lead to a severe nut allergy reaction called anaphylaxis. The symptoms for this include sudden drop of blood pressure and edema of bronchial mucosa which causes difficulty in breathing. If not treated right away, anaphylactic shock can even lead to death.

Some of the most popular nuts used with chocolates are almonds, peanuts, cashew nuts, macadamia and walnuts. These nuts are used whole, crushed or powdered depending on the chocolate recipe. Some of the most popular chocolates with nuts include peanut or almond chocolate covered M&Ms, chocolate covered Macadamia Nuts, Hershey’s Almond Joy and Hershey’s chocolate bar with almonds, Dove Promises, Dove Caramels & Chocolate Covered Almonds, and Snickers, among many others.

Whether you prefer your chocolates plain or with nuts is based on preference and taste as well as a health choice. While most people worldwide, as shown by the longtime bestselling chocolate bar being nuts-filled Snickers, prefer to eat their chocolates with nuts, eating anything should always be in moderation. Chocolates, with or without nuts, just have the added bonus of being yummy!

About the Author

Mary is single parent, writer and lover of all things chocolate, she recommends that you checkout: http://www.ultimatechocolateshoppe.com

Seared Steak – Whole Gourmet Natural Cooking

Whole Gourmet Natural Cooking – Pan Seared Steak with Red Wine Reduction Sauce. Easy, step-by-step instructions on how to prepare delicious and steak and red wine sauce in your own kitchen. DIY

Homemade Gourmet Fudge by Swiss Maid | National Fudge Day Interview

Swiss Maid Fudge showcases their gourmet fudge from their handmade candy store on National Fudge Day, in Wisconsin. www.swissmaidfudge.com Great Valentine chocolate gift ideas! Everything from valentine candy gifts to valentine caramel chocolate apples, and SO much more!
Video Rating: 5 / 5

BBQ Ham & Fig Compote Gourmet Country Recipe Easy to make, prepare ahead of time, western

Join Chef Candice in the kitchen with a new western twist on a traditional easter ham. Easy to make and can be prepared ahead of time. Make your own BBQ Sauce with champagne and pear vinegar, Grand Michaud Honey from France. Complimented by a fig onion compote, featuring organic avocado oil. Chilis galore but not too hot, Gourmet Country also shows you how to make the au jus for the final presentation on easter day or any holiday.
Video Rating: 0 / 5

Gourmet Tea Lu Yu TeaMaster Tea Brewer

Gourmet Tea Company present the US patented LU YU TeaMaster Automatic Tea Brewer. It uses important aspects of brewing tea such as effective brewing times and balanced tea/water ratios to bring out the true essence of the tea’s flavor.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Gourmet Coffee Tasting Party with Gevalia Coffee Makers 1 of 2

This gourmet coffee tasting party was filmed just outside of NYC in December using Gevalia coffee makers and accessories. Gevalia’s new year’s resolution is to create more and more delightful experiences in the home. Let us know your thoughts about Gevalia, coffee and how we can make your home experiences delightfully delicious! www.gevalia.com
Video Rating: 5 / 5

GROSCHE Gourmet Tea and coffee wares slideshow

GROSCHE slideshow Tea pots, steeper tea cups and coffee presses. Animation with Music. Artistic designs of tea ware.
Video Rating: 0 / 5

Stacey Hawkins, Time Savor Gourmet Real Meals makes Chocolate Truffles for Valentine’s Day

Part 2. Feb 2009Join Stacey Hawkins, the Time Savor Gourmet and hero to busy moms everywhere as she prepares a chocolate Valentine’s Day Feast. This series runs on both Cablevision and Time Warner Cable in the Hudson Valley of NY. All recipes are made from scratch and all made quickly, easily and healthily. Easy to follow, delicious, quick and easy!
Video Rating: 1 / 5

Gourmet Coffee Drink Recipes : Tips for Making a Coffee Espresso

If you love coffee espresso, get tips from an expert on how to make it in this free coffeevideo. Expert: Simeon Lowe Bio: Simeon Lowe has worked for Biggby’s coffee for two and a half years. He helped open a new store, and he is the currently the manager there. Filmmaker: Bartholomew DiVietri
Video Rating: 0 / 5