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Tomatoes: History, Origin, Facts… or fiction!?
by: Kirk Gordon
What is a tomato? You probably think it’s a vegetable, right? As do most people. However, tomatoes are in fact not a vegetable, but rather, a fruit. In 1883 the United States Congress passed a tariff act requiring a 10% tax on imported vegetables; a response to the growing international trade at time.
A tomato importer, John Nix, decided to challenge the law after scrutinizing the Tariff Act. His case relied on the fact that tomatoes were a fruit and not vegetable, therefore, it should not be subjected to the Tariff Act. Nix’s objections brought the case to the Supreme Court in 1893. Although Nix had a solid case, the Supreme Court rejected the botanical facts and continued to refer to tomatoes as a vegetable.
Plant family
Tomatoes belong to the genus Lycopersicon, while potatoes belong to the genus Solanum; Both of which belongs to the same “flowering plant family” solanaceae. The similarities in leaves and flowers justifies this taxonomic grouping.
The UK - Introduction of the tomato
Would you like to prepare the best Garlic Mashed Potatoes that you enjoy at your favorite restaurant, but have no idea where to start to achieve that wonderful and delightful flavor? There are a variety of ways to create the best garlic mashed potatoes that you have ever tasted but when it comes down to which way is best is according to your own taste buds.
When you take a look at garlic you will see that there are various kinds of garlic that you can use for your mashed potatoes such as German red garlic, Spanish Roja garlic, Leningrad garlic, and Yugoslavian. You can find all of these garlic’s in a powder form or use fresh garlic. So, the first thing you need to do is decide which garlic you would like to use. Personally, I like using fresh minced garlic cloves.
Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes Ready In: 35 Minutes
Makes: 4 servings
To serve, place chicken on top of hot cooked rice on each plate and spoon sauce over the top. Wonderful served with steamed asparagus.
Ingredients
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup maple flavored syrup
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
1. Bring orange juice and wine to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat slightly, but keep high enough to continue a low boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in maple syrup and continue boiling for another 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until glossy and just slightly thickened. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl mix together the rosemary, salt and pepper. Rub mixture on both sides of chicken breasts, and set aside.
Written by admin · Filed Under Recipes
Reductions; Proving That Less is More
by: Michael Sheridan
Any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that?
The answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture).
By reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. You can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not.
This is one of the most important tools in the kitchen, believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal.
And literally ANY liquid can be reduced.
A few uses
Wine is frequently used in cooking, both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat.
There are some problems with it though, one of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people.
On the other hand, if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of ‘gourmet’.
Mrs. Butters’ Secret Key Lime Pie Recipe
by: Dr. Larry Winebrenner
“Frozen Key Lime Pie recipe?” Fern Butters asked. “Child, I’ll take that secret with me to the grave.”
Fern Butters’ frozen key lime pie was legend. Every time President Harry S Truman went through Islamorada on Upper Matecumbe Key on his way to the “Little White House” in Key West, he stopped. More specifically, he
stopped at Fern Inn for some of Fern Butters’ frozen key lime pie.
And so did other folks, commoners and dignitaries alike-Papa Hemingway, Cordell Hull, Douglas Fairbanks, Julia Child . And me.
I didn’t see any of those famous folks. Except Julia Child. And I didn’t know who she was. Ignorance of youth.
But I did eat Mrs. Butters’ frozen key lime pie.
I wasn’t a child when I asked her about the recipe. I had recipes for my grandmother’s compressed fruit cake. And my grandfather’s elderberry wine. And a passel of others I’d collected from near and far. So I thought her recipe would fit right in with my collection.
Not so. I was a young pastor at her little church in Matecumbe. But I could have been Gabriel himself.
Japanese Cuisine
by: Troy Pentico
Tempura, sukiyaki, sashimi, sushi - even the words used to describe the most basic of Japanese dishes are exotic and beautiful. Japanese cuisine is easily one of the healthiest in the world, with its concentration on fresh fish, seafood, rice and vegetables. The pungent sauces and delicate flavors of fresh foods complement each other beautifully, and the methods of presentation turn even simple meals into beautiful events.
The Japanese have easily a dozen different names for rice, depending on how it is prepared and what it is served with. The most common meal is a rice bowl, a bowl of white rice served with various toppings or ingredients mixed in. So popular is it that the Rice Bowl has even made its way into the world of Western convenience foods alongside ramen noodles. Domburi is a bowl of rice topped with another food: domburi tendon, for instance, is rice topped with tempura and domburi gyudon is rice topped with beef. The Japanese adopted fried rice from the Chinese, and a century ago, when curry was first introduced, developed Kare Raisu, curry rice. It is now such a popular dish that there are many fast-food restaurants that serve several versions of it in take-away bowls.
This chili recipe is, indeed, a really nightmare! Taste it only when curiosity becomes unbearable and courage is strong! 
)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Pinto beans, dried
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 5 cups Water
- 1 Nutmeg, ground, whole
- 2 tbsp Lard
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tbsp Bacon drippings
- 2 tsp Oregano, dried, pref. Mexican
- 1 Onion
- 4 tbsp Sesame seeds
- 12 oz Pork sausage, country-style
- 1 cup Almonds, blanched, skins removed
- 1 lb Beef, coarse grind
- 12 Red chiles, whole dried
- 4 Garlic cloves
- 1 tsp Anise
- 1 1/2 oz Milk chocolate, small pieces
- 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
- 1 can Tomato paste (6oz ea)
- 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds
- 2 tbsp Vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Cloves, ground
- 3 tsp Lemon juice
- 1 Cinnamon stick, ground
- 1 Soft tortilla, chopped
- 1 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
- Salt
Instructions for this special chili recipe:
Place the rinsed beans in a bowl, add 2 to 3 cups of water and soak overnight. Check the beans occasionally and add water as necessary to keep them moist. Pour the beans and the water in which they were soaked into a heavy saucepan and add 2 to 3 more cups of water.
Written by admin · Filed Under Recipes
Pasta Recipes - Three delicious easy recipes!
by: Jonathan Teng
These pasta recipes are excellent for dinners or parties.
In this article, I’m going to share with you three delicious pasta recipes that you can prepare for any occasion that suits you. The recipes are very easy and can be prepare in less than 30 minutes.
So, here we go
Lemon Tuna Pasta
- 4 tsp Butter
- 18 Black olives, pitted & sliced
- 1 tsp Oil; olive
- 2 can Tuna; chunk, drained
- 4 large Garlic cloves, chopped
- Pasta; penne, cooked and drained
- 1/8 cup Lemon juice
- 4 tsp Butter (add at end)
- 3 tsp Capers, drained
Melt butter with oil in skillet. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add lemon juice, capers and olives and cook another 2 minutes. Turn heat to lowest setting. Add tuna & separate it (do NOT flake) with a fork. Heat through, stirring gently. Drain pasta. Add remainder of butter and sauce to hot pasta, tossing well.
Tomato Soup with Pasta
Any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that?
The answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture).
By reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. You can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not.
This is one of the most important tools in the kitchen, believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal.
And literally ANY liquid can be reduced.
A few uses
Wine is frequently used in cooking, both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat.
There are some problems with it though, one of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people.
On the other hand, if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of ‘gourmet’.
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