Essential Kitchen Accessories for the Garlic Lover

I love garlic. It usually makes an appearance at dinnertime, whether part of a marinade or herb rub, or sautéed with some vegetables, or roasted and garnishing any number of dishes.

You can purchase garlic in many forms; fresh, powdered, minced, chopped, roasted, frozen, and more. My fridge and pantry used to contain garlic in all its forms, but I have since limited my purchases to an ample container of whole, peeled cloves. From there, I can reduce the garlic to any form I desire, thanks to a nice sit of kitchen tools and accessories specifically made for garlic.

While some of these garlic-related kitchen accessories may be a bit eccentric, and probably only of value if you intend to use garlic quite frequently, others are highly practical, and still others are just fun to use. Read More...

Health Benefits of Miso Soup

It might be argued that the best cure for the common cold is no mere medicine picked off the shelf at your local pharmacy, but chicken soup. Indeed, one cannot easily deny the subtle effects a healthy bowl of chicken soup has on our virus-laden bodies, and though it does not always manage to dispel the cold from our system, it certainly puts up a reasonable fight, at least for a short while.

But the fighting prowess and health benefits of chicken soup pale by comparison when placed side by side with a real contender, hailing from faraway Japan. Its name is Miso Soup, and its blend of simple ingredients contain a veritable shopping list of nutrients and health benefits that help to prevent one of the most deadly diseases waging war upon our bodies. Read more...

Cooking with Dashi: The Japanese Soup Stock

Want to make your own miso soup?
The requisite chef's of Japanese cuisine are masters of flavor, often producing genuinely authentic, highly flavorful dishes from the simplest of ingredients. Usually working with all natural ingredients, a Japanese dish is often loaded with vitamins and nutrients, contributing to a healthy lifestyle.

Miso soup is familiar to many, a mainstay in most Japanese restaurants, addictively delicious and surprisingly healthy. But a lesser known, yet highly fundamental soup stock used primarily in Japanese culture is known as dashi, which often serves as the base for miso soup. Read more...

The Best Kitchen Scales for Under $30.00

If you like to follow recipe instructions to the very letter, or if you consume food only in strictly regulated proportions, or if you simply need to determine the weight of an object or ingredient, then you need a scale in your kitchen. Even if not used regularly, a kitchen scale is handy to have around. After all, with certain ingredients, such as hot chili peppers or pungent spices, the just the difference of an ounce or two can greatly affect a recipe.

Usually small and compact, many kitchen scales can fit easily in your pantry or cabinets, or you can leave them on your countertop if the style compliments your kitchen decor.

Unless you desire a high-end kitchen scale with multiple functions, you can find a kitchen scale perfectly suited for the purpose of weighing objects accurately for just $30.00 or less. Read more...

What you may need before cooking Thai Food recipes

So you've decided you want to prepare your own authentic Thai meal. Recipes are numerous and easily found, either on the internet or in that new Thai cookbook you've recently purchased. But in perusing the various recipes, you've discovered that many of the ingredients sound unfamiliar.

Don't feel intimidated. Many supermarkets now carry an extensive supply of ethnic ingredients, as the popularity of such cuisines is steadily growing. But there are still quite a few obscure items that can only be found at Asian supermarkets or specialty shops. I have attempted to provide a comprehensive list of the most common and some uncommon ingredients and items used in Thai cooking. Once you are familiar with some of them, hopefully the task of preparing a Thai meal will seem less daunting and more enjoyable. After all, prepared correctly, a Thai meal is a glorious adventure of satisfying flavor! Read More...

Turmeric: Applications of the Indian Spice

One cannot fully appreciate the multitude of spices in the world until you begin to cook with them, learning about their many applications and healthy properties. As I begin to delve into the challenges and excitement of Indian cuisine, I have found another spice of significance that until now remained in a small, sealed spice jar in the pantry.

A staple of Indian cooking, Turmeric is a major factor in Indian curries, and a welcome guest in many other foods. Related to ginger, the roots of the turmeric plant are boiled and dried, and then ground into a fine yellow powder, used to enhance both flavor and color of foods. Read More...

Recipe of the Day: Grilled Meat Skewers With Bay Leaves

Grilled Meat Skewers With Bay Leaves

2 lbs pork or beef tenderloin, cut into 2 inch chunks
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
15-20 bay leaves, preferably fresh

1. Prepare the grill for a moderately hot fire and place rack about 4 inches from heat.
2. If using wood skewers, soak in water while you prepare the meat.
3. Toss meat with oil, salt, pepper and garlic.
4. Skewer meat alternately with bay leaves.
5. If leaves break, secure by pressing between meat chunks.
6. Grill meat 2- 5 minutes per side, depending on heat and how well done you like your meat.
7. Remove and serve.

Bay Leaves: Culinary Uses and as an Herbal Remedy

Unless you've a decent amount of cooking experience, specifically in soups and stews, then you might have overlooked an important herb. The bay leaf, also known as bay laurel and sweet bay, is a flavorful herb used extensively to flavor soups and stews. A necessary staple of any well-stocked pantry or spice rack, bay leaves are often used in Mediterranean cuisine and are now commonly found everywhere, especially in North America. Bay Leaves are great for adding distinct flavors to many dishes, and bay leaves also possess a few important health and nutrition properties. Read More...

Recipe of the Day: Garam Masala-Crusted Chicken

Garam Masala-Crusted Chicken

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon garam masala
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Two 3 1/2-pound chickens
Salt

Preheat the oven to 450°. In a small bowl, mix the garam masala with the oil. In a roasting pan, rub the chickens all over with the garam masala oil and season with salt. Roast the chickens for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° and continue roasting for 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting twice. Return the oven temperature to 450° and roast for about 15 minutes longer, or until the chickens are browned and crisp. Transfer the chickens to a carving board and let them rest for about 10 minutes before serving

Using Garam Masala & Making Your Own

The literal translation of garam masala is "hot spices", in Indian, and "warm spice mixture" in Hindi. The actual spices used in this flavorful blend can vary depending on the region and brand. Traditionally, the most common spices contained therein are cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. Other worthy additions to the mixture include garlic, mustard seed, coriander, cumin, ginger, and many more. Garam Masala has also been referred to as Curry Powder, though you will find many wildly different variations of curry powder as well. Read More

Recipe of the Day

I'm also going to attempt to begin a daily recipe posting, at least on Monday-Friday. Since todays original post was on salt and pepper, I've picked a recipe that somewhat reflects that.

PEPPERCORN CHICKEN SZECHUAN
1 whole chicken
2 tbsp Szechwan pepper blend
2 tbsp coarse (kosher) salt
1 cup chicken broth

SAUCE
1 tbsp oil
¼ cup green onion; chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger (1 teaspoon ground)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp Vodka (optional)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare chicken for baking. Combine salt and pepper and rub on outside of entire chicken. Roast on rack of baking pan, breast side up. Add 1/2 cup broth to pan. Ro ast uncovered for 1 hour.

Remove chicken to a platter. Skim fat from drippings and reserve drippings.

Heat oil in small skillet. Add green onion, ginger, and garlic, cooking over medium heat until green onion is softened, about 2 minutes. Carefully stir in vodka, if using, vinegar, soy sauce and reserved drippings. Carve chicken into serving pieces. Serve with sauce.

Yields 6 servings.

Salt, Pepper, and other Seasonings

I'm going to be focusing on various seasonings this week, starting with the basic seasoning loved by almost everyone except slugs, Salt, and its kitchen table counterpart Pepper.

While many of you are content to simply season your meal with a little salt & pepper during or after the cooking process, you might be surprised to know that salt has many uses and properties, as well as many varieties that can impart different flavors to your meal. To read more about the interesting uses of salt, click HERE. To find out about the many varieties of salt, such as Fleur de Sel and Grey Salt, click HERE.

Of course, many of us watch our salt intake for health reasons, but not all salt is created equal. Regular table salt is in fact the least healthiest of all available salts on the market, of which there are quite a lot. You may not find a large selection in your normal grocery store, but gourmet and specialty food shops will often stock a large variety of various salts that have undergone little to no processing, thus making them somewhat healthier than table salt, with the healthiest of all salts being Celtic Sea Salt. A large list of trace minerals and nutrients makes this salt the healthiest in the world. To read more about the health benefits of Celtic Sea Salt, click HERE.

And lets not forget about pepper. Pepper is also available in several varieties, and you may want to experiment with different peppers to truly see how the subtle differences can enhance certain dishes. Find out more about pepper HERE.

Memorial Day Recipes

Memorial Day unofficially begins barbecue season, as many families often celebrate the holiday by hosting a barbecue either simply for themselves or with a gathering of friends. Hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks and even fish all make a worthwhile appearance, but if you truly want to prepare something dazzling to commemorate the holiday, then check out these sites for a variety of delicious Memorial Day recipes that go beyond the basic simplicity of a bit of meat on a grill.

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Lobster and Crab

We start off the tips with two useful reference articles.

In "How to Boil or Steam a Lobster", you'll find out that preparing a fresh lobster isn't as hard as you might think.

In the second article "Cleaning a Hardshell Crab to Get at the Meat", learn the best way to eat these tasty creatures with minimum mess and fuss.

Recipe Software for the Macintosh

As with most software for Windows-based computers, there is a large assortment of recipe software available to choose from, some of it good, some of it bad. Those of you with Apple Macintosh computers may have to search a little harder for adequate recipe software, but you should be happy to know that there is indeed a fine assortment of it available at a minimal cost, and some of it even for free.

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You'll find links to the recipe software located on the sidebar.

Welcome to the Kitchen Index

Fresh from the oven and ready to serve!
The Kitchen Index was created to help gather together all the best tips, tricks, and tutorials regarding food prep and cooking, both in the kitchen and outdoor on the barbecue. A large focus of the Kitchen Index will be to focus on different ingredients, from spices and herbs to ethnic sauces and exotic fruits and vegetables.

I'll feature weekly tips and articles culled from my own stockpile, as well as user-submitted information. As this blog is fairly new (only 2 minutes old as of this posting), information at the moment will be rather sparse, but will be added continuously over the coming days, so be sure to check back often.

If you have your own tips or tricks regarding anything in the kitchen, feel free to submit it. I'll pick the best and feature them weekly. If you have a website or a blog that focuses on like-minded information, feel free to inquire about cross-linking.