Master of This

I am King of the County, You?

Archive for the ‘Food & Cooking’ Category

Tips for Food Safety and Preservation in Refrigerators

You can buy any of those cheap refrigerators and not to worry about efficient refrigeration as long as you know how to go about proper food safety and food storage. True, the overall safety of your refrigeration in conjunction to the quality of food depends on your hands – you need to know how to store food, where to put them exactly and how long are they going to stay in your fridge. There are lots of things that the home owner should bear in mind to keep the food preservation away from jeopardy.

The following below are some of the most recommended tips to ensure food safety and preservation in your refrigerators on an everyday basis.

o Cover each food well by placing them in individual containers. This way, you can prevent odor transfer which can make way for early food spoilage.
o Ensure that your refrigerator is closed as much as possible. Don’t open it for too long or the temperature will fluctuate.
o Perishable foods, especially meat and other poultry products should not be stored in the door. Ideally, the freezer compartment is the best place to store them.
o Fruits and vegetables should go to the storage crispers. Some refrigerator models have humidity-controlled crispers which can retain their freshness for as long as possible.

o For refrigerators with integrated water and ice dispenser, check your refrigerator water filter (or change it) every 3 to 6 months. You can buy a water filter in any appliance parts and accessories store.
o Do not store too much food inside the fridge because this can hamper the usual cold air circulation inside. If there is a need to, then slightly lower the temperature to ensure that they are chilled and well-refrigerated.

Regular cleaning and maintenance of the fridge, of course, is also highly recommended as well.

Food Handler Certification, Things to Keep in Mind

Often the subject of Food Handler Certification, is a short course that many may look at in an attempt to make sure that a person has all the information they need in making a wise decision that will deliver the type of results they are seeking out so desperately. The main reason for this is because a great number of people see this as a great way to improve their career opportunities. There are a great number of rules that have to be kept in mind when it comes to making a wise decision about pursuing their career.

Taking the needed time to explore all the many options that are present to a person that is looking forward to taking the efforts that they are placing forward and use them to get the best overall outcome from these certifications. Often, the mere thought of this will be enough to motivate a person into making the right decision for the right reason. More and more, time is passing and as a result, there are more requirements in the way of making sure that they are getting the best overall results from a class to be certified. The more that they are able to take these food handler classes, the better prepared that they will be for the road ahead.

Expense is often not an issue, as a good portion of these classes are more than affordable for a number of people, the mere thought of these classes will allow a person the chance to experience all that they can see and do on a routine basis. Often, a class will last a few hours and will not cut into someone’s work schedule. Many restaurants will be willing to pay for the class one time in an effort to get them certified for the level of the certificate that they are aiming for.

These are a few of the many things that need to be kept in mind when looking forward to getting the most from the efforts that are placed into the use of a food handler card. This can help a restaurant on track to be the best around as well as going a good distance in assisting a person to make the most out of the goals that are placed with making sure that someone is certified and ready to advance their career in food.

Easy Strawberry Pancakes

There are two ways to make strawberry pancakes, there is the easy pancake recipe and the long, tedious recipe. Which sounds better to you? This is probably the easiest strawberry pancake recipe you will find short of buying them in a restaurant. It takes some time, but it’s hard to mess up.

Bisquick

Bisquick is the secret ingredient. It can be Bisquick or any kind of pancake mix. The only requirement is that it’s quick and easy. If you have days where time isn’t a factor, use that time to make your own pancake mix. Use your favorite pancake mix and stir together all the dry ingredients, but don’t do this step now because it’s too difficult to be considered easy.

Strawberries

Get some super-tasty, fresh strawberries. Rinse them off and cut off the stems. Slice them thinly and cut the slices in half. Do this with about a half cup of strawberries. Use more if you adore strawberry flavor, but don’t use too much or the pancakes will be thin and soggy.

Mix it Up

Measure out a recipe’s worth of pancake mix and mix up some batter. Add water or whatever other ingredients they tell you to add. To make it even easier, get the Bisquick bottle where all you have to do is add water, shake and pour. Stir the batter just enough to combine and then fold in the strawberries.

Pan Prep

While you get everything else ready, put the batter in the fridge to rest. This is where it gets all bubbly and fluffy. Heat up a griddle to medium high heat, or 350 degrees if it’s an electric griddle that goes by degrees. Lightly grease it with vegetable oil or clarified butter. You can use regular butter, just make sure it doesn’t burn.

Cook

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan to form pancakes spaced at least an inch apart. Cook until bubbles cover the top then flip and cook to brown on the other side. Serve with fresh whipped cream or real maple syrup.

How to Make a Moist Banana Cake

The moist banana cake is a very savory dish which is nutritious and also filling. The banana cake recipe is quite simple and quick to make. Most of the ingredients you will already have at home. It is the ideal snack to have at lunch time especially for working parents to carry to the office or for kids to take to school. It is also ideal as an after-dinner sumptuous desert.

Ingredients:

For making a cake which can be divided into 8 portions you will need two large sized bananas which are ripe, 250 grams of flour of the self-raising type, baking powder single teaspoon, two eggs, brown sugar which is powdered and measuring four tablespoons, some butter and one cup of a mixture of sour cream and skimmed milk. For garnishing you can add some walnuts.

Preparing the Mixture

The bananas have to be mashed up in a large bowl and should form a pulp. The eggs should then be beaten up in a separate bowl and then add baking powder, brown sugar and flour and whip the whole thing until it gets a lather which is fluffy. To this add the mixture of sour cream and milk, and then pour the full contents into the bowl having mashed bananas. Now keep stirring this mixture until it gets a smooth consistency. The more smooth you get it, better will be the taste.

Baking:

Prior to the preparation of the mixture, switch the oven on so that it gets pre-heated to 350 degrees, while you are making the mixture. Take a baking tray and grease the insides with a good amount of butter. Now the mixture you have prepared should be poured in the tray, and on top you can sprinkle some crushed walnuts. Place the tray in the oven and the baking can go on for almost an hour. To test if it is properly baked, stick tooth-picks in the cake and check whether the batter is sticking on them. The cake edges also should have separated from the tray edges. Cool the cake and cut several slices and it can be stored for maximum four days.

by ShareNoesis

Why I Am Recommending the Dual Speed Smoothie Maker

If you ask me to recommend one smoothie maker, then I will advise to get the dual speed smoothie maker. The main reason why I’ll recommend you to get the dual speed smoothie maker is because of the speed control settings which is very suitable for blending the smoothies which involve two or more ingredients. Of course, if you have the single speed Kenwood smoothie maker, then it should not be a problem for blending the simple smoothies. But if you prefer your smoothies to have a few more ingredients and an unique taste, then you should take a look at the dual speed smoothie maker.

When you are handling multiple ingredients for your smoothies, you need to change the blending speed of the ingredients by referring to their hardness. If you use a single speed smoothie maker, then you need to adjust the time of the blend to add in the ingredients. However, it could be tricky to base on the timing alone, and when you can also control the speed of the blending process, it can make things much easier.

First of all, you need to blend the hard ingredients with a high speed to cut them into small bits and draw the juices out of them to make them softer and more compatible for the softer ingredients. Then, you can lower the blending speed and add in the softer ingredients to complete the smoothie. When you blend your smoothie in this way, you will realize that the smoothie has an even texture and you can taste the tiny grains of ingredients.

You can read more about the different types of smoothie makers and their speed control settings on Amazon as they have a section on the smoothie maker reviews. If you want to buy the smoothie maker from Amazon, you can pair it with another juicer machine that can give you more discounts and free shipping.