Archive for November, 2011
1. Purchase ribs that are evenly covered in meat. In other words, don’t buy a slab that is fatty on one end and fleshy on the other. Avoid slabs that have exposed bones!
2. Allow for one pound of ribs per guest. This is a generous helping but for more impressive appetites, make it two!
3. When preparing the meat, make sure you remove the membrane on the underside of the ribs with a sharp knife. If you don’t it blocks the flavor intake.
4. Always marinate your ribs in the refrigerator, not at room temperature.
5. Don’t even think about boiling those ribs! Above all else, boiling the meat causes it to lose all its flavor. If you just have to pre-cook your ribs before slapping them on the cooking grate, try steaming your slabs instead as this will help lock the flavor in.
6. Before placing your ribs on the grate for Barbecuing or smoking, make sure you coat the metal with a generous helping of oil.
7. Barbecuing demands constant attention! As soon as it goes on your grate, stay close by and keep an eye on it. Watch the cooking temperature and avoid going above 250 degrees Fahrenheit — the best ribs are cooked slowly over indirect heat for about five hours.
8. Put down that fork! Always use tongs to handle your meat once it’s on the grate. Why pierce the meat and let the flavor ooze out if you don’t have to?
9. If you’re going to baste during cooking stay away from anything with sugar in it. Your best bet is to use vinegar and/or water-based products only.
10. Only lay on the BBQ sauce in the last 20-30 minutes of cooking. Any sooner than that and the heat will cause the sauce to caramelize and burn your meat.
11. Let the ribs cool for 10-15 minutes before you serve them up. This is just a courtesy — you don’t want to singe your guests’ mouths with smoking hot sauce! You could lose some friends.
When it comes to the nightly meal of the day – dinner meals easily become a victim of repetitive entrees and side dishes. Some individuals and families find themselves stuck in a rut, preparing some of the same meals on a weekly basis – fish on Friday, Meatloaf Monday, bland corn, white rice, and lifeless mashed potatoes. To keep dinner fun, fresh, and in many cases, exciting – there are plenty of ways to stop the boredom that comes with fixing and eating the same dishes. A few ideas include:
1) Try New Recipes
Whether you scan the cookbooks lining the library shelves or browse the infinite number of online resources, there are plenty of recipes awaiting the eager cook. New recipes add excitement and new flavors that not only add spice to the dining room table, but also awaken the taste buds. You never know if you don’t like something if you never try it. Why not experiment with veal or make your first gumbo?
2) Try New Ingredients
Sometimes you can transform an old favorite by simply substituting the ingredients you normally use. There are thousands of different spices, meats, vegetables, fruits, sauces, and other cooking ingredients that you are unaware of. This is also a great chance to explore some of the different worldwide methods of cooking, as you consider the use of cilantro, rose petals, Adobo, hummus, and oyster sauce.
3) Theme Night of the Week
To spice up the dinnertime you have grown accustomed to, theme nights create a great break from the norm. You may select a day of the week that is especially set aside for a particular theme of your choice, such as “Dinner and a Movie.” When preparing a mealtime your family will never forget, you may choose to explore another culture. A few theme night feasts may include: Italian (pizza, cannoli, lasagna); Asian (spring rolls, chicken stir fry, fortune cookies); Middle Eastern (pita sandwiches, falafel); or French (croissant sandwiches, quiche, crepes).
4) Breakfast Food At Night
When you’re tired of the meat and potatoes dinner, there is nothing wrong with setting a hot, stack of pancakes on the table for the last meal of the day. Omelets, waffles, French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon, all make great selections for a dinner that breaks from the norm.
5) Fun Presentation Ideas
Perhaps the things you cook for dinner taste great and are crowd pleasers, but you want to step up the level of enjoyment. Enhanced presentation of food not only heightens the interest of the meal, but also gets the conversation going around the dinner table. One of the most attention-grabbing ideas for meals includes fruit and vegetable carving, where radishes, apples, oranges, and melons become works of art. Sometimes, dinner plates may showcase a bright explosion of foods, arranged according to the colors of the rainbow.
6) Decoration, Decoration, Decoration
To encourage a more enjoyable dinner meal, decorating the dining room table is a great way to boost the level of delight, including colorful napkins, inviting candles, fun silverware choices, decorative tablecloths, new cups and glasses, or beautiful spreads of flowers and plants.
7) Change The Scenery
Sometimes the food served during dinner isn’t the boring part of mealtime, but the monotonous seating and setting at the dining room table sometimes becomes the problem. To change up the scenery, make arrangements to have a picnic dinner, gather on the patio to watch the sun set over a delicious home cooked meal, or plan a laidback feast to enjoy in the family room. Why not hold an outdoor Hawaiian luau, where the backyard is transformed into an island paradise with roasted pineapple, grilled food, and leis?
Overall, if you think coming up with your own creative meal ideas is hard, there are plenty of cooking resources and meal planners to consider. For example, to help cooks keep dinner interesting, culinary exploration reports offered at Menu Planning Central help add life, creativity, and imagination.
On DiningFever, you will be able to access a list of restaurants
offering various services in New York City, and much much more.
DiningFever is a complete source for all your restaurant needs in New York.
You can easily find a restaurant by clicking on the restaurant names’
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the type of cuisine that you would like to have.
The website also has a powerful keyword search feature, where you can
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restaurants, then you should definitely visit the deals section. Here you
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can search the casual dining section. How about going for a take-out or
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If you are a restaurant lover and would like to get up-to-date
information on all new restaurant offers, sign up for the DiningFever
newsletter. Simply provide your email address to have the weekly newsletter
describing the latest restaurant offers delivered right to your inbox.
