Benefits Derived From Canning and Preserving Food

There is much that can be said about storing foods and preserving them in the manner used by our ancestors. Traditional methods of food preservation have slowly been fading from our modern life and it is essential to remember that once these routines are gone they will be lost forever. It is left to our own devices to learn and to perpetuate these traditions revolving around canning, freezing, drying or smoking for the benefits of our grandchildren and for their children as well.

Our life would undoubtedly be boring if we were to follow the exact habits of our forefathers and merely consumed that which was currently in season. It is imperative than that we reflect upon the processes of preserving food to allocate some variety into our daily menu selection. We could very easily step out our door and leap into the front seat of our car and hastily make our way to the local grocery store to fetch several cans of corn or to visit the frozen food department for a medium bag of spinach to complete the evening meal but would you not feel better reaching into your home pantry shelf and withdrawing a quart jar of this or of that?

The foods which we can or preserve by any accepted method has specific benefits associated with it. We can rest assured that the efforts which we place into preserving these foods are not wasted but will provide a needed benefit to ourselves and to our families. Let's briefly review several of these benefits at this time.

The first entry which I would like to cover involves the environmental. With increased frequency many of my fellow Americans are becoming truly concerned about the damage placed upon the environment by mankind. These impairments are usually non-reversible and will often bequeath our future generations with a deficit of valuable resources. By employing the principles presented for food preservation we can reduce this undesirable footprint greatly.

Local farmers markets have been springing up all across the nation as more and more city folks are beginning to realize the advantages of purchasing locally produced vegetables and fruits. This return to locally grown produce has evolved into a new name for those who support such a venture, they are affectionately known as "Locavores", and most of these people would now prefer to consume the foods grown in their specific area as opposed to importing them from across the nation. Not only does this policy instill a boast towards environmental concerns but the provisions obtained will retain its flavor and taste much better in the long run.

For many folks keeping the tradition alive is an important step towards leaving something to future generations of a family. Although they could easily rush to the grocery store for their needs, they would prefer the old fashion method of "doing it themselves". These moments provide inspirations of great pride and represent cherished moments for bonding with family members which ultimately generate wonderful memories to look back upon in future years.

Of all the benefits attributed to preserving food at home we can not overlook the benefit of enjoying fresh preserved produce or the associated health benefits which come with fresh foods. Few grocery stores can compare with the taste and the value of fresh picked vegetables or fruits. Canning and preserving permits us all to enjoy these foods while they are at their peak of freshness.

Lastly, we encounter the advantage provided to our dwindling pocketbook. There are certain economic benefits associated with canning and preserving your own foods which are not found in relying upon store-bought provisions. We live in a time of troubled economic periods where every penny counts. Some families have managed to expand these pennies as they preserve and process their own foods.

Make Tomato Sauce Like A Pro Not Like Grandma

If you still make tomato sauce like Mom or Grandma does, you might be missing some of the key elements to take it from fair to fantastic. The difference between a home cook and a professional chef is a focus on the METHOD for sauce making, not the recipe.

You might think this mother sauce is very easy. After all, you just simmer some tomatoes until you have a sauce, right? Perhaps, but the object is to build many levels of flavor more than just tomato. Layering tastes takes more effort than chopping and simmering tomatoes like past generations did.

To make tomato sauce like a pro, you need to start with concasse'. Tomato Concasse is seeded and skinned tomatoes created by poaching the fruit in simmering water and then shocking them in an ice bath to loosen the skins.

I don't consider myself a "snotty" chef, I don't think my way is the only way, and I'm not here to insult your Mom's sauce making skills. However, I do have a few pet-peeves when it comes to cooking. One of these is when home cooks leave the tomato skins in their sauce. Without concasse, tomatoes are just chopped and the skins shrink into rolled up "quills" that stick between your teeth. They are tough, chewy and you don't digest them very well.

"But the recipe doesn't tell me to skin the tomatoes," you might respond. Of course it doesn't! Recipes often leave out important methods in favor of the list of ingredients. A recipe won't teach you to cook anymore than sheet music will teach you to play piano. If you followed the written notes to a famous Beatles song, would it sound exactly like the original? Certainly not, you're not Paul McCartney and your interpretation of the notes on a page will be different from everyone else.

When you make tomato sauce with peeled and seeded tomatoes, vegetables and seasonings, you're starting to build one flavor on top of another. In a truly classic sauce, you'd add a beef bone or ham hock to simmer in the sauce, giving yet another dimension beyond just tomato. However, in a contemporary sauce, flavorful beef or vegetable stock is added instead of the bones.

Keeping in mind that method is more important than a written recipe, the best sauces start with sauté. Using direct heat along with oil or fat will start to build levels of flavor as the onions are sweated, then celery, then carrots for sweetness. Tomatoes should be the last ingredient added to this sauce because they will accept all the flavors that came just before them.

Rather than just simmering tomatoes, what if you started with rendered bacon fat? The meatiness of the bacon will give yet another dimension to the sauce. The Japanese call this "Umami", a sixth sense on the tongue. Achieving a deeper, more savory aspect to the sauce immediately takes it from amateur to professional because of the method used.

If you want to make tomato sauce like a chef, follow this procedure. I didn't call it a recipe because you can use any ingredients you'd like. It's the method that gives you freedom of choice to change onions to hot peppers or ground beef to sausage. The recipe doesn't allow this artistic expression.

First, prepare tomato concasse by removing the core and making an X on the bottom of all the fruit you'll use for the sauce. They should be poached in simmering water until the skin starts to split and recede. Upon seeing this, immediately remove them from the hot water and stop the cooking by plunging in ice water. The object is to remove the skin while NOT cooking the flesh underneath.

Second, choose a fat to begin sauté. Olive oil is usually the best choice but as I stated above, bacon fat, ground beef, or sausage are also excellent choices for a non-vegetarian sauce.

Third, sauté onions, carrot and celery in that order. Always choose the toughest ingredient to sauté first, as it will be in the pan the longest and needs to tenderize. First onions, then carrot, then celery to begin the foundation of flavors in your sauce.

This combination of starchy vegetables will eventually become the thickening agent. Tomato sauce is thickened by pureed vegetables, tomato paste and the process of reduction as moisture evaporates during a long simmering process.

Then, you might decide to use red wine or a broth to deglaze the pan, just like a normal sauté procedure. Reduce this liquid until it is almost all gone, evaporated and absorbed by the ingredients.

Lastly, add the blanched tomatoes, either in a smooth puree or roughly chopped for a chunkier sauce. Don't worry that your sauce looks too dry; all the ingredients will continue to release moisture that will combine flavors into many levels and dimensions that can't be achieved by just simmering one ingredient on its own.

After adding your favorite seasonings, usually basil and oregano, it's a matter of patience. This sauce will be mostly thickened through reduction; the evaporation of moisture so that it sticks to food, has an appealing consistency and doesn't leave a watery puddle on the bottom of the plate.

I challenge you to make tomato sauce like Grandma, and then make it like the chefs in my culinary college class. Compare the two. You'll find that a concentration on the method over the ingredients will result in a tomato sauce that has more depth, more flavor, and compliments more foods than just pasta. You can still love your Grandma, but you'll love my tomato sauce more than hers, I'm sure.

See the video on how to make tomato sauce.

Chef Todd Mohr has a passion for helping people improve their cooking with simple cooking techniques that work! His online cooking classes, transform home cooks into confident home chefs. "Burn Your Recipes" and your cooking will be transformed!.

A Foodie Tour of the North: The Best Dishes Not to Miss

The north of England is notorious for its food: dishes from all over the world have been truly incorporated into the traditions of northern cities, and made firm roots, where they can now call home. From deep-fried Mars Bars in Scotland, or chips with curry sauce in Newcastle, traditional foods in northern cities differ greatly. Different kinds of food in the north are loved by locals and visitors alike - they are now as much a part of the cities themselves as they are reasons to visit each city in their own right.
The city of Manchester is famed the world over for its so-called 'curry mile', thought to be the largest concentration of South Asian restaurants outside of the Indian subcontinent. Here, take-away restaurants, curry houses and kebab outlets specialise in Asian cuisine, from India to Pakistan and back again - more than seventy shops sit side by side in this small stretch of the city.
In recent years, the Middle Eastern influence on the area has increased, with Arabic food now enjoyed alongside alongside the well-loved and popular curries of the stretch. With the Arabic influence have come a number of restaurants embodying the tradition of smoking Shisha pipes, allowing visitors to take a relaxed attitude to eating, spending time relaxing with some Shisha over supper.
Across the city sit more than three hundred different restaurants to choose from, with every kind of food imaginable - as in any other cosmopolitan city in Europe, and incorporating the flavours of many neighbouring countries. At the other end of the scale from the curry houses, Manchester is home to a number of excellent restaurants, where well-known chefs cook outstanding food for their guests.
Dropping south-east to Nottingham, the variety and quality of the food remains. Café culture reigns supreme here, with the local Nottingham people enjoying nothing more than a cup of tea and a slice of cake at one of the city's many cafes - especially when the sun is shining, and tables spill on to the streets, and a convivial atmosphere rules.
Double Michelin-starred Sat Bains sits at the top of the spectrum, the crème-de-la-crème of Nottingham dining, while many other cuisines star in different parts of town. The iconic Lace Market shows visitors the creativity of tapas at Iberico, intricate Chinese creations at Opium, and classic British delicacies at a real mix of restaurants for all occasions.
Dropping slightly further south again - yet still relatively in the north - Birmingham is a further food capital for the UK: Birmingham's history has been intertwined with food and drink for many years.
It was in Birmingham that Thomas Ridgeway first started trading tea in the 1830s at the Bull Ring - today, one of the most important hubs in the city - and William Sumner, founder of Typhoo Tea, also had his earliest business roots in the city.
From this point forward, Birmingham was an important place for food trading throughout the nineteenth century. Limes and cocoa were two of the most significant imports into the city: the influence of the latter can still be seen today as the city is still home to the Cadbury chocolate empire.
You might be having lunch with a group of friends in one part of town, sipping coffee on a sunny pavement in the afternoon, and then donning your glad-rags for a Michelin-starred supper - all within a few hours of each other. Northerners like their food, but most of all they love to share it with their guests - so all that remains to be seen is to pick which city to be whisked away to first...

Savor Every Bite Of Your Frozen Yogurt

There are many different types of frozen desserts available for you to enjoy today. One of the most popular of these is frozen yogurt, which comes in many different flavors and varieties. It is typically made with fermented milk and a combination of other dairy products. It has a more tart flavor than ice cream, since it is made from milk rather than cream.
Frozen yogurt has a fairly short history and first became part of the American culture in New England in the 1970s as a soft serve, known as Frogurt. Then, in 1978, the first packaged one began appearing on shelves by various companies in various forms. These were thought to be great low-calorie alternatives to ice cream. Initially customers did not like its tart flavor, however, so more sugar was added to make it a little sweeter. This resulted in a new decade of business, leading to the re-introduction of it on the market today, usually in small stores inside strip malls.
How is this dessert made? The fermented milk, the sweetener, the bacterial cultures, and the milk solids are mixed together with both the natural and artificial flavors and colors. The milk fat is then added to help add richness to your yogurt as it is right around 10% of the volume. Some manufacturers use cane or beet sugar for the sweetener as well as additives from either plants or animals to allow for crystallization so that it stays smooth.
If the manufacturing company is large enough, it will have an assembly line that performs all the adding and mixing of ingredients. It will need to be homogenized and when it reaches 32 degrees celcius, the probiotic cultures are added, then the yogurt mix is cooled to 0 degrees Celsius and allowed to age for 4 hours. At this time, the preferred sweetener is added to the mix. To get extra volume to it, you will then need to cool it below -5 degrees. Air is then added to the mixture and once the right amount is added, it is quickly frozen to prevent it from growing ice crystals. You can also make it in a soft serve machine. When you are making it this way, you can add as much of any ingredient as you want.
Today, frozen yogurt is often enjoyed on the same scale as ice cream and is available in many different flavors and styles. Some companies allow you to choose from a buffet of toppings to accompany your dessert, while others allow you to choose to enjoy it either in a cup or a cone. While some dessert stores offer yogurt that is more on the tart side, others make it taste more like ice cream. No matter how you like it, there is a delicious dessert for your taste.

Why Companies Organize Corporate Events

There are quite a number of reasons why companies hold corporate events. A lot of companies invest their resources in organizing these events, knowing fully well that they produce positive results in terms of achieving their goals. The work that you and your co-workers do can be exhausting or just downright monotonous, so you need to take a pause every once in a while.

Here are some of the reasons why business organizations put together corporate events:

Celebrate successes and triumphs - It's always good to reward those who go the extra mile to achieve or even surpass their goals. These are the hardworking employees who put in everything they have to deliver the results that are expected from them. Awards and prizes can also be given out to recognize individual or team efforts during this event.

Product-launching - Introducing a new product can be an opportunity for the company to strengthen its relationship with its stakeholders. This is a very crucial corporate event, so it's important that every aspect is carefully planned for and organized - from the corporate catering company you choose down to the choice of venue.

Team-building - Designed to improve the team spirit and performance within the organization, team-building activities facilitate not only the enhancement of the employees' skills, but can also bring out other abilities that may have previously been untapped. It's also a way of reinforcing the company's objectives. Fun games and exercises are certainly good for the weary worker, so be sure to include them in the activities that you're going to conduct.

Conferences and seminars - Of course, a business organization has to organize an event that will focus on specific areas of interest for the employees. Companies usually invite resource speakers who are experts in their own field to share their knowledge and insights. This gives the employees an opportunity to increase and even improve their skill sets via workshops.

Customer appreciation - Certainly, without its customers, a business organization is nothing. Corporate events can be held as a way of thanking them for their support and for patronizing the company's products or services. Prizes are usually raffled off and given to the attendees.

Honoring retirees - When a senior member of the organization who has been with the company for decades decides to retire, it would be a nice gesture on the part of the company to honor him with a special event like a testimonial dinner.

Whatever the nature of your corporate event is, consider it as an opportunity to get yourselves re-acquainted so you can rekindle your personal and professional relationships. It is important then to take time to plan all the aspects of such events - from the corporate catering company you'll hire to the ideal date and venue - so you can put together a successful gathering that will reap excellent results in the end.