Zchug: Israeli Salsa

Zchug, a type of chili sauce from Yemen, migrated with Yeminite Jews to Israel. Hot with chili, pungent with garlic and fragrant with exotic cardamon, it has become the Israeli national condiment. Think ketchup to Americans and salsa to Mecxicans, kim chee to Koreans. Without these blessed sauces, national cuisines would be bare naked indeed. Why is tschug so popular? It’s hard to say, but it seems to be because its sweat-inducing fire is a good fit for the hot desert winds that blow intermittently in every country ringing the Mediterranean.

You may not have time to take a trip to Israel, but surely you can catch a taste of the land by making some tzchug. Make this right and you will start to get an idea of Israeli cuisine. Here’s how to make yourself a bit of delicious zchug. Watch out, though, it’s spicy hot! Continue reading “Zchug: Israeli Salsa”

Top 7 Mother’s Day Gift Ideas – To Express Your Thankfulness to Her

From the time, a woman knows about the beginning of a new life within her body, she becomes a mother. The pain she bears and the sacrifices she makes in bringing a new life into the world, makes her the supreme epitome of love. In fact, the love between a mother and her child is incomparable. To make every mother feel loved and special for all that she did in shaping the world with her affection and efforts, Mother’s Day celebration has come into account.

This year on 13th of May, people will be thanking and honoring every mother for all that she deserves. Thus, it is quite obvious for many to feel perplexed over the idea of mother’s day gift. However, the right selection of gift is always important as she is the one who deserves the most wonderful and heart-winning token of love.

Here are some impressive and top mother’s day gift ideas that are sure to help everyone willing to gift the best to his/her momma on this Mother’s Day. These are: Continue reading “Top 7 Mother’s Day Gift Ideas – To Express Your Thankfulness to Her”

3 Delicious Tofu Recipes That You Should Try On Sunday

Sweet Chili Tofu:

Sweet chili tofu is an easy dish to cook. And it also goes well with rice. We suggest you use Firm Tofu or Extra Firm Tofu to prepare the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Firm Tofu/ Extra Firm Tofu (Diced)

• Cornstarch

• Salt

• Pepper

• Olive Oil

• Bell pepper (Red/green)

• Onion

• Sweet Chili Sauce (From supermarkets)

Preparation:

1. Add cornstarch, salt, and paper in a bowl. Then coat the tofu in it.

2. Get ready with your preheated pan and fry them with olive oil for about five minutes until they are slightly brown. And keep them on the side.

Continue reading “3 Delicious Tofu Recipes That You Should Try On Sunday”

3 Guilt-Free Desserts For A Healthier Lifestyle

Congratulations on your healthier new lifestyle! Plenty of things will change, including your diet. But don’t worry, nobody said that you can’t have your sugar fix when you crave for it! Although you have to be more careful with the ingredients of your desserts, it doesn’t mean that the delicious taste will be compromised!

Try these 3 guilt-free desserts that are incredibly mouth-watering:

Apple Extravaganza

What you need:

2 apples, sliced into skinny wedges
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons chocolate chips, divided
2 tablespoons chopped pecans
1 tablespoon peanut butter
4 teaspoons coconut oil, divided
1 teaspoon finely shredded coconut

Continue reading “3 Guilt-Free Desserts For A Healthier Lifestyle”

12 Amazing Uses for Pepper You Didn’t Know About

Various forms of pepper have long been used to satisfy our culinary experience but as it turns out, there is a lot more to pepper than meets the eye.

Let’s have a look at some of the things pepper can be used for other than to spice foods:

1. If your old clunker is starting to get a slow leak in the radiator, pour some black pepper into it plug up small holes. This will buy you time to get it fixed properly.

2. Are you having trouble with biting ants in your yard? You don’t need to use harsh chemicals for this. All you need is about a half cup of black or cayenne pepper poured down the hole and voila, no more ant problem.

3. This also holds true for hungry ants looking for something sweet in your kitchen. You can put white pepper in their path and they will disappear thinking there are no meals here. Continue reading “12 Amazing Uses for Pepper You Didn’t Know About”

Decluttering Blueprint – Step 3 – Organizing Your Kitchen

If your kitchen isn’t living up to your expectations, give it a makeover for convenience and pizazz using the steps below.

Take stock of your kitchens purpose. Is it for cooking, baking, eating, and storing food? If so, move all the items that are unrelated to the purpose of your space (such as papers, magazines, tools, etc.) to other, more appropriate rooms of your home.
Identify the major categories of items to be kept in your kitchen. For example:

Continue reading “Decluttering Blueprint – Step 3 – Organizing Your Kitchen”

How Do You Cut an Onion Without Tears? Some Useful Tips

Onions are our common vegetables in our kitchen, thanks to its unique taste. Of course, this vegetable needs to be cleaned first. After cleaning and removing the outer shell, the onion should be cut. The cuts cause almost always tears. We give some tips how you can prevent this.

Why do we tear up when cutting an onion?
By cutting the onion, an ingredient that contains sulfur comes free. If this material comes in contact with water (our eyes), it creates sulfuric acid. This acid, irritates our eyes and the eyes become more moist.

Genetic modified onions prevent tearing
A Japanese team led by Shinsuke Imai of the House of Food Corporation, has localized the enzyme that produces propanthial S-oxide, which causes our eyes begin to tears when cutting onions. Thanks to this discovery it is perfectly possible for bring an onion on the market which causes no tears and which still has the same taste. Continue reading “How Do You Cut an Onion Without Tears? Some Useful Tips”

Cream Cheese Dainties – A Serious Christmas Cookie

Here’s a serious Christmas cookie; it’s white like snow, has a little red Christmas color in it, and it’s full of fat, like Santa. How could you go wrong? It’s also sweet with a crispy texture, and has a hint of almond flavor. This recipe comes from my grandma. She’s been making these cookies at Christmas time for as long as I can remember Christmases. The funny thing is she brings these to Christmas every year but I refused to try them til about two years ago. I think I was afraid of the cherry piece in the middle. So I’m here to tell you don’t be afraid, they’re good, even if you don’t like cherries. Be brave this year and try that Christmas cookie that looks weird and has too many nuts stuck to it, you just might like it.

Tip: to crush cereal use a food processor or place cereal in sealed bag and crush with a rolling pin. These cookies also freeze well.

1/2 cup butter Continue reading “Cream Cheese Dainties – A Serious Christmas Cookie”

Catering Equipment That Make Life Easier

There is a wide variety of catering equipment out there. Some are necessities and there are some that simply make your life much easier. Here is a list of catering equipment that is designed to make your life easier.

Avenia Rice Cooker. This rice cooker has an 8.5 litre capacity unit with a power output of 2650 Watts. It is designed to cook the rice for you automatically while you proceed to other food preparation tasks.
Avenia Soup Kettle. Once you’ve made the soup, you tend to keep it on the stove to keep it warm. But when you do this, the soup tends to burn at the bottom. This soup kettle keeps the soup warm for as long as you need without the burning bottom. It is also suitable for sauces, curries, stews and breakfast porridge.
Robot Coupe Food Processor Combo. This is a nifty unit. It comes with four different blades: slicer, grater, julienne and cutting discs. Each disc gives you the convenience of preparing vegetables faster and with less fuss than before. You simply insert the vegetable and out of it come the sliced, grated, julienned or cut vegetables. No more chopping vegetables by hand.
Ankor Dough Mixer. If you are someone who loves to bake cake or other dough based confections then this catering equipment will take a lot of hassle out of the baking process. The spiral shape is designed to ensure that the dough is perfectly mixed within a few minutes. It has an electronic timer, 2 speed motor and a silent transmission system.
Butcherquip Biltong Slicer. If you’re a fan of biltong or a butcher then this is the gadget for you. It is an electronic unit that enables you to quickly cut biltong into thick slices for easy consumption.
Cheese Cutter Hand Held with Wire. Slicing cheese is no picnic if you don’t use the correct utensil. Having a cheese slicer at hand when you’ve prepared a cheese platter is convenient for guests. The ideal unit is one that has a slicing wire and a base. The slicing wire slides through cheese seamlessly and without a mess.
Delux Ice Crusher. This mini electric unit is so powerful that it can crush up to 10 kilograms of ice in an hour. That’s a neat party trick. You can serve your party guests fun cocktails and drinks without struggling to crush ice.

Continue reading “Catering Equipment That Make Life Easier”

The Coffee Grinder: Handy Tool For Coffee Lovers

Grinding coffee in your own kitchen provides the opportunity to touch and smell the beans, as well as anticipate the sweetness, acidity, taste and flavor of the cup. The coffee you prepare is rich and fresh and the aroma filling the room is a great way to start a new day. There are tools and appliances that are prized possessions on the kitchen counter full-time. Yours may be different from the ones someone else prefers but they probably include several of the following: a coffee maker with a built-in grinder or a standalone coffee grinder, a blender, juicer or food processor, a set of quality knives, and a radio.

The choices of grinders available are many. Antique grinders in cylinder shaped mills. Manual grinders you place above a bowl to catch the ground coffee. Hand-cranked grinders with a drawer below the blade for the grounds. The mortar-and-pestle coffee grinder is another antique version that requires manual strength and patience to grind the coffee. Other types of available coffee grinders include electric and manually operated models with conical or wheel burr grinding. Continue reading “The Coffee Grinder: Handy Tool For Coffee Lovers”