Yummy Yum Yum Food Blog

Interior designing plays a significant importance in most accede manner. Now interior designing is upgraded with full fledged methods which require variant assistance to enhance the quality of life, productivity and health. Interior designing is quite aberrant for one’s safety and welfare in most acknowledging manner. Interior designing in restaurants enthralls the usage of restaurant furniture in most elegant manner. Restaurant furniture should be bought after the understanding the color theme of surrounding and after gaining accession to texture so that it has a spellbound effect on various individuals who enter the restaurants. For perfect interior designing it is important that one hires interior designer who is qualified by education, experience and examination in quality lessons of interior designs. If an interior designer wants to acclaim their designs in most profitable manner then one should recalls the following points:

One should analyze the needs and goal of clients so that one can improve accentuate designs.

One should have integrated knowledge of interior design.

Interior designer should be deemed with appropriate concept of functional and aesthetic development.

With help of presentation of media, one should develop and presents final design recommendations.

Interior designer should know how to use furniture, chairs with proper placement.

One should be well efficient in working with drawings, specifications for non-load bearing interior combinations.

One should be equipped with various techniques of using materials, finishes and space planning.

Review and evaluate the designs in most fascinating manner.

An empty room is a blank canvas which requires colors and schemes in it which can acquaint only by furniture in most extravagant manner. Furniture is censorious part of room which can also be enhanced with the usage of cushions, mirrors, lamps in most abundant manner. Furniture should be light in weight and should go hand in hand with the room scheme. Choose furniture which suites to your choice and makes your home more electric and cozy. Every mood has different priorities of furniture which has different styles associated to it. It should have consistent color schemes which offer disdain features. So, learn more about affordable furniture in context to modify your abode now.

There are multiple brands and product types available for Caviar. While some of them are pure, and are prepared as per the FSA guidelines, there are many substitutes available as well. The substitutes are in high demand as they are cheap and almost similar in taste as the pure Caviar. The cost of pure caviar can be an average of $10 K, whereas substitutes are available at less than half the price. The black caviar harvested from sturgeon fish is considered as delicacy and hence, is the costliest one. There are many other varieties of fish which are used to extract the roes for the simple purpose of ensuring high volume of production. One of the fishes used to harvest high volume of Caviar is carp fish. Carp has the ability to lay large amount of eggs and hence making it possible to harvest high volume of caviar. 90% of the world’s caviar including Red Caviar is produced from Caspian Sea. Though, due to the increased pollution levels and sewage entry, the fish population in the Caspian Sea is decreasing resulting in reduction of caviar production.

For a restaurant to invest in the chairs that will be used to beautify its interior will never be a job in futility because there are customers who love such aesthetic works of art and beauty. If you take a brief tour of some of the restaurants that are sitting on the top amidst best ten charts, you will discover that part of the secret of their streaks of success can be attributed to the types of furniture inclusive of chairs and tables they equip their interiors with. There are lots of restaurants around the world which are designed and maintained for high-flyer and high net worth individuals, have the entire set of restaurant chairs constructed and colored as one complete set. The restaurant furniture chairs, tables belonging to a single all-inclusive set of restaurant are especially designed to win over the sights, sounds and senses of every customer with an appetite for desirable furniture design and color.

Restaurant chair and table particularly goes a long way in determining the types of guests that would be staying in a suite. This is because some customers are used to comfort and prestige lifestyles in all that they do; therefore, they wish to have this reflecting in every area or aspect of their lives. Using the above example of royalties as another, many of them prefer all-white restaurant chairs to match their office as a symbol of peace, purity or both. As people who are used to particular furniture brands in their own homes, having exactly a premium furniture type is part of a preference they can’t let go off, when looking for a restaurant room with a design and interior decoration that fits their taste. No matter the cost of a piece of restaurant chair, there is always someone to appreciate them as there are guests who would look for restaurant rooms with such type of furniture to satisfy their taste and preferences.

A little goes a long way and whether you are investing minor/major part of your acquisition for titivating or a complete refurbishing of your eatery; you can locate complete pull of information online.

Eating a red meat-rich diet not only raises cholesterol and blood pressure levels but can also have potentially lethal health risks, according to new research.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, warn that high consumption of red meat, especially processed meats, can dramatically increase heart disease and cancer risks.

During the study, researchers looked at the data of 121,342 men and women over a 20-year period.

Their eating and diet habits were questioned and after two decades, 23,926 deaths were recorded, including 5,910 from heart disease and 9,364 from cancer.

Scientists claim they found a striking link between red meat consumption and premature death. When the deaths were divided into specific causes, researchers discovered that eating any kind of red meat increased the chances of dying from heart disease and cancer by 21%.

Researchers added that a daily serving of unprocessed red meat, for example beef, pork or lamb the size of a deck of cards, raised the risk of death by 13%.

In comparison, processed meats, like a hot dog or bacon, caused death risks soaring by 20%.

“This study provides clear evidence that regular consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, contributes substantially to premature death,” says senior author professor Frank Hu in a statement.

“On the other hand, choosing more healthful source of protein in place of red meat can confer significant health benefits by reducing chronic disease morbidity and mortality.”

The study urges people to cut out red meat from their diet as it can lead to significant health benefits as well as slashing death rates by 7%. Scientists from the study believe that if red meat consumption is reduced, it could prevent 9.3% of deaths in men and 7.6% of deaths in women.

Nuts, for example, are said to reduce mortality rates by 20%, low-fat dairy products lowered it by 10% and whole grains by 14%.

The daily recommended allowance of red meat, as suggested by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), should be stripped down to 500g a week.

Dr Rachel Thompson, from the WCRF, says: “This study strengthens the body of evidence which shows a link between red meat and chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. The research itself seems solid and is based on two large scale cohort studies monitored over a long period of time.

“The study calculates that lives would be saved if people replaced red meat with healthy protein sources such as fish, poultry, nuts and legumes and we would like to see more people replacing red meat with these type of foods.”

However, not everyone agrees with these findings, as Dr Carrie Ruxton from the Meat Advisory Panel (MAP) believes that red meat is essential to our diet.

1. If the artichokes have little thorns on the end of the leaves, take a kitchen scissors and cut of the thorned tips of all of the leaves. This step is mostly for aesthetics as the thorns soften with cooking and pose no threat to the person eating the artichoke.

2. Slice about 3/4 inch to an inch off the tip of the artichoke.

3. Pull off any smaller leaves towards the base and on the stem.

4. Cut excess stem, leaving up to an inch on the artichoke. The stems tend to be more bitter than the rest of the artichoke, but some people like to eat them. Alternatively you can cut off the stems and peel the outside layers which is more fibrous and bitter and cook the stems along with the artichokes.

5. Rinse the artichokes in running cold water.

6. In a large pot, put a couple inches of water, a clove of garlic, a slice of lemon, and a bay leaf (this adds wonderful flavor to the artichokes). Insert a steaming basket. Add the artichokes. Cover. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 25 to 45 minutes or until the outer leaves can easily be pulled off. Note: artichokes can also be cooked in a pressure cooker (about 15-20 minutes cooking time). Cooking time depends on how large the artichoke is, the larger, the longer it takes to cook.

How to Eat an Artichoke

Artichokes may be eaten cold or hot, but I think they are much better hot. They are served with a dip, either melted butter or mayonaise. My favorite dip is mayo with a little bit of balsamic vinegar mixed in.

1. Pull off outer petals, one at a time.

2. Dip white fleshy end in melted butter or sauce. Tightly grip the other end of the petal. Place in mouth, dip side down, and pull through teeth to remove soft, pulpy, delicious portion of the petal. Discard remaining petal.

Continue until all of the petals are removed.

3. With a knife or spoon, scrape out and discard the inedible fuzzy part (called the “choke”) covering the artichoke heart. The remaining bottom of the artichoke is the heart. Cut into pieces and dip into sauce to eat.

I thought the hardest thing about writing a blog while working a full-time job would be finding the timeto post, but I was wrong. My biggest issue over the past couple weeks has been somewhat different… it’s the light, or lack thereof. Barely mid-September, and London has already decided to provide me with dark and gloomy weather come dinnertime. Which, as any photo-snapping food blogger out there knows, makes it next to impossible to get a good photo.

Meaning that I’m limited to weekend eats at the moment. Not that that’s a bad thing: weekends are when I make my regular jaunt to the farmer’s market, so on Sundays at least, my little fridge is full of the good stuff. Of course I don’t by all my food at the market, and in the aisles of my local supermarket, I’ve discovered something…

I like avocados. I know, I’m a little late to the party on this one; many a vegetarian friend of mine loves this mild green fruit. But I’ve always been slightly adverse to them, probably due to their, er – distinctive texture. Call me crazy, but I just didn’t think something that grows on trees had any right to be that creamy! (I have a similar beef with kiwis: anyone else think it’s just wrong for a fruit to have hair?!)

Luckily, I’ve gotten over it. These days, I’m looking to put avocado in anything and everything I can. First up- this panzanella-like salad of chopped veg and dried bread chunks. I’ve called it “Tuscanesque” because certain elements – the cannellini beans, bread chunks, cherry tomatoes and basil – have a certain Tuscan authenticity to them. However, I’m not sure how many Italian Nonnas put avocado and red pepper in their salads, hence the -esque.

But really, I don’t think authenticity matters one whit when food tastes (and looks, in the light of day) this good!

My 5 Step Method for Preparing Professional Quality Brown Sauces

As a home cook, one of the hardest things for me to accomplish when first starting out was making a rich velvety brown sauce to serve on steak, lamb, veal, pork, or even chicken. I could put together a pretty good pan sauce using the dripping after sautéing or roasting a piece of meat but it never quite had that incredible intensity that I experience when dining out at a great restaurant.

It wasn’t until I spent some time reading about sauce making and speaking with a few chef friends that I learned it isn’t so much the “how to” but the “ingredients” that make the difference. Using my 5-step method to making a great brown sauce is easy if you have all the necessary ingredients and I will give you some great resources for find them.

What is a Sauce?

According to Food Lover’s Companion, a sauce is “a thickened, flavored liquid designed to accompany food in order to enhance and bring out its flavor.” Now that can cover a lot of territory. It goes on to say, “In the days before refrigeration, however, sauces were more often used to smother the taste of foods that had begun to go bad.” I’m sure we have all had experiences that have proven this true even in the days of refrigeration……Think back to your high school cafeteria.

But in the 19th century, the French created an intricate process for making sauces that is still being taught in cooking schools all over the world. This process involves numerous steps and if you have the time, I highly recommend James Peterson’s, “Sauces” and Raymond Sokolov’s “The Saucier’s Apprentice”. They are entirely devoted to just this subject.

Why is it so difficult to make great sauces at home?

As Chef Alton Brown says in his cookbook, I’m Just Here For The Food, “By and large, most home cooks don’t do sauce…and that’s too bad. Traditional sauces are indeed scary.”

The process just to prepare the key ingredients that go into a sauce takes a lot of time. It starts by making a stock with roasted beef and/or veal bones, reducing them for at least 12 hours, continuously skimming the pot,straining the liquid to remove the bones, reducing some more, adding a roux (a mixture of flour and butter used as a thickening agent) and you now have a nice brown sauce or sauce espagnole.

A professional chef will then reduce this brown sauce further to make a demi glace, the mother of all sauces. These guys spend a lot of time in cooking school learning how to do this and take great pride in the sauces they can make with it. These stock reductions are the foundation to hundreds of classic sauces being served in fine restaurants.

Why can’t I just use a bouillon cube?

Unless you want to ruin an expensive cut of meat by covering it with a salty, corn syrup reduction, I would stay away from bouillon cubes or any of those cheap packets of instant sauces you see in your local supermarket. Just look at the ingredients to see if what’s inside is real or simply processed. You can’t build a sound house without a strong foundation. The same is true when making sauces.

What’s a home cook to do?

Since making a great sauce at home depends of finding a good stock reduction or demi glace, I would like to offer you the following resources.

• Make it yourself. A great experience but one most of us will not take on.
• Make friends with the chef at your favorite upper end restaurant and see if he or she will share some of their brown gold with you. Be prepared to beg or pay through the nose to get them to part with this stuff. Not likely, but worth a try.
• Hire a personal chef to make it for you. You may end up having to subscribe to years worth of dinners, which isn’t all that bad, but you will have your demi.
• Buy it a high-end gourmet store. If you really search hard, you may be able to find stock reductions in the refrigerator section of some really high end stores. You won’t get much, but you don’t need a lot and it won’t be cheap.
• Williams-Sonoma is now selling their own stock reductions. I have not had that much experience with them but they usually sell high quality items.

What Is Braising?

Braising is a cooking technique in which the main ingredient is seared, or browned in fat, and then simmered in liquid on low heat in a covered pot. The best equipment to use would be a crock pot, pressure cooker or Dutch oven. LeCrueset makes a range of enameled pots and pans that are good for either the stove or the oven. They work well too.

Whether you choose to use the oven or the top of the stove, you will be pleased with the results. Braising is often used as a way to cook less expensive, tough cuts of meat. The end result is tender and flavorful. Other than great taste and economy, there are other reasons to cook this way.

After searing the meat, the remainder of the cooking time (until sauce/gravy preparation) does not require much attention. Once the heat is reduced, you can go about cooking other things, do some chores or take a break. This is also a plus when entertaining: you have more time for your guests.

Yet another plus of cooking with this method is that the meat tastes great and you also get delicious broth, sauce or gravy. It’s one pot cooking at it’s finest. There isn’t much to cleaning up and anything leftover can be reheated or frozen and reheated for later.

This method of cooking is great for tough cuts of meat but also works well with chicken, fish and/or vegetables. You can braise in a crock pot, pressure cooker, large saute pan or the most often used cooking vessel for braises, a Dutch oven.

Some popular dishes you may have heard of that use a braising technique are osso buco, pot roast, braised veal & lamb shanks and braised cabbage. You can braise just about any meat, fish or vegetable you want and be as creative as you like with seasoning, but there are some ingredients that are better for braising and some you want to cook using other techniques like grilling or roasting.

9 Simple Steps to Great Braised Meat

There are 9 basic steps to braising meat:

(1) Season the main ingredient with salt and pepper.

(2) Heat a few tablespoons of oil and/or butter in a heavy pan or Dutch oven.

(3) Saute meat or vegetables in the pan on medium-high heat until the meat browns.

(4) Deglace the pan by pouring broth, beef stock, wine or juice and scrape any pieces of meat that are stuck to the pan and stir.

(5) Add cooking liquid (water, stock, wine, juice or some combination) to the half-way point of the main ingredient.

(6) Cover and place the meat on the middle of a rack in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

(7) Cook until completely tender. This can range from 1 hour to 6 hours, depending on what you are cooking.

(8) Remove the pan from the oven and strain the meat and vegetables out of the liquid.

(9) Remove the excess fat floating in the liquid, and then reduce the sauce to desired thickness by cooking it down over low heat until it thickens. Or, make gravy by adding a mix of equal parts fat and flour (a roux).

On Thursday, before returning to Canada after a lengthy holiday here in the UK, my parents took me out for lunch at my favourite London restaurant. Now I know you’re all sick of us food bloggers harping on about Yotam Ottolenghi, his books, Guardian column and London delis, so I won’t bore you. I will only say that if you live in or occasionally visit London and you haven’t been to his Islington restaurant, you are missing out. Big time.

I always order the three-salad plate. It’s the perfect amount of food; four would be too much (and leave me with no room for dessert), while two salads plus a main just doesn’t tempt me. I’m sure the quiche, fish and meat dishes are lovely if you swing that way, but for me, the whole point of lunch at Ottolenghi is the salads. I think of them not so much as side dishes, but as edible works of art.

My Mum agrees with me, and so on Thursday, while my Dad pronounced his lunch “very good” (he’s a man of few words), she and I engaged in our usual pattern of snacking from each others’ plates, discussing flavour balances, and figuring out how to recreate these works of art ourselves.

The salad I most wanted to recreate from our meal was a butter bean hummus, silky smooth in texture and rich in taste. I’m hardly a hummus connoisseur, but I preferred it, hands-down, to any chickpea version I’ve ever had. Served with some toasted pine nuts and a sprinkling of sumac, it was a perfect complement to whatever else what on my plate. (I honestly don’t remember- that’s how good it was.)

I made my own version for today’s lunch, and though it ended up a little different, it’s no worse off for it. I couldn’t track down any tahini, but the almond butter I substituted lent such a lovely flavour that I wouldn’t want it any other way. Topped with parsley, pine nuts and paprika, and eaten with a hunk of sourdough bread, this could quite possibly become a new favourite lunch. Without the trip to Islington.

• Butterbean and Almond Hummus
• makes approx 1 1/2 cups
• For the hummus:
  1 x 4oog can butter beans, rinsed and drained
  2 Tbs. almond butter
  1 small garlic clove, minced
  juice of half a lemon
  1/4 cup olive oil
  1/4 tsp. sea saltFor the toppings:
  small handful pine nuts, lightly toasted
  1 Tbs. very finely chopped parsley
  1 Tbs. olive oil
  pinch sea salt
  paprika (regular or smoked), for sprinkling
• 1. Combine all ingredients for the hummus in a glass measuring jug and purée using an immersion blender. Conversely, you could blitz them together in a food processor. Taste, and adjust the lemon juice, salt and/or olive oil to your liking. Note: If your hummus seems very dry, you could add a splash of water, too.2. Spread the hummus on a platter or in a shallow bowl, ready for the toppings. Sprinkle over the pine nuts first, then mix the parsley, olive oil and salt together in a small cup, to form a dressing. Drizzle or dollop this over the hummus, then finish by sprinkling some paprika on top. Serve with pita bread, sourdough or somethi

What do you eat for breakfast when you’re truly pushed for time? If I’m completely honest, my answer is “nothing” or (perhaps even worse) “toast made with white bread and topped with processed peanut butter” (yum). Of course, neither of those options fills me up for long. And these days, it’s imperative that I leave the house fuelled and on time.

A couple months ago, I mentioned here that I was in “back to school” mode, and I think it’s about time that I elaborate that. I graduated from university in June 2006, and since then I’ve been a fashion industry drone, unemployed, a blogger, a part-time waitress and a freelancer doing both fantastically fun design and photography work and tiresomely dull web editing work. (Luckily, I’ve never been required to do all at the same time.) But in the last few years, something else has caught my attention, something that I decided I’d like to devote a bit more time to: Interior Design.

So, after four Septembers of watching others sharpen their pencils and gather their foolscap (don’t you just love that word?), I’ve returned to school part-time. I’m studying at a well-known and -respected London college, part of the greater University of the Arts London. Let me tell you, being back at art school is awesome: the smell of rubber cement, the consistently and inexplicably cold classrooms, the creative energy of my classmates, the inspiration I get from the tutors. But what isn’t awesome are the early mornings, the late lunch breaks and the tummy-rumbling time in between.

Which is where the muesli comes in. This breakfast cereal is usually chock full of coconut, fruit, seeds and nuts, making it both filling and delicious. There does seem to be a bit of confusion in the blogosphere about muesli; not to point any fingers, but often I see a post with “muesli” in the title, only to find oil and sugar in the ingredients list, and cooking in the instructions. Um, that’s granola. Muesli is meant to be a pure, raw food; the second you even think about roasting, toasting or cooking those oats, you’ve got yourself granola. But if calling your granola muesli makes you feel better about eating it, then by all means, be my guest. I’m not against granola, myself.

But the point is: muesli is quicker. It’s quick to make, even if you’re throwing together a bowl from scratch in the morning, and it’s quick to eat, because even small portion sizes are disproportionally filling. Heck, this recipe was even quick to write (I don’t think I’ve ever written instructions like “toss all ingredients together in a bowl” before). All this quickness is a good thing for me, since I’m also finding myself loaded with that other student timesuck- homework.