The key to preventing moldy berries? Vinegar! When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider probably work best) and ten parts water. Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want, (though the mixture is so diluted I find you can’t taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge.
The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit, and voila! Raspberries will last a week or more, and strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft.
Blue cheese is made of cow’s milk and has a distinctive tangy flavor. It is white, with blue streaks and
has a crumbly texture, similar to Roquefort cheese. Blue cheese is believed to have been discovered by accident. The caves in which early cheeses were aged shared the properties of being temperature and moisture controlled environments, as well as being favorable to many varieties of harmless mold.
The Holiday season brings good cheer, lots of fun and laughter–and oh–a bit of weight gain to top it off. With all the sweet potato pies, red velvet cakes, candied yams, cookies and all sorts of candy, who can resist the temptation?! Although its easy to forget about calorie counting until the new year, its much easier to avoid the weight gain altoghter. Find out about how to stay strim during the holidays with these 7 tips: http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/12/02/avoid-holiday-weight-gain/
Spending time with your family is one of the best things doing the holiday season and you want to make a great impression for them when they visit your home. Your table setting is one way that you can show your festive side. A great centerpiece sets the whole mood for the room. You can pull so many ideas from it. READ MORE
THE CHALLENGE: All Chefs have egos but MCCN Editor Crystal Johnson asked Chef Jay Bonillaof MCCN’s En La Cocina Para Mi Amorto put aside his ego to go where no chef really wants to go…work with food prepared by other people for… a Garden Party event. He beautified donated items such as finger sandwiches(cucumber sandwiches), cupcakes, teacakes, fruit and Quiche for a Garden Party. The former executive chef of D’Cache Restaurant in Toluca Lake, CA is a marvel. Make no mistake he found a way to leave his mark with vinaigrette for the apple walnut based salad which left a buzz among the 70 women served and taste for more of what Chef Jay has to offer.
PART TWO: Teach inexperienced young adult males and teen volunteers the art of presentation and serving.
*Chef Jay talks with MCCN Editor while serving.
Look for up coming interview with Chef Jay about the challenge.
Extremely fresh eggs will not peel easily. In fact, an egg that is just a day or two old is almost impossible to peel. As eggs age, the shells will peel more easily. It is advisable that eggs used for hard cooking (including Easter Eggs) be at least 2 weeks old before cooking for easiest peeling. Hard cooked eggs that are cooked slowly over low heat (and not ‘boiled’) will be more difficult to peel. READ MORE
