What is Easter?

With different customs, beliefs and tradition followed, the Christians believe it as the day the Lord Jesus was raised, 3 days after being put to death on Good Friday. A reason to celebrate the risen Lord. Pagans believe to welcome spring and hence the name has been derived in honor of the Anglo Saxon goddess of spring. With the actual meaning of Easter, there is this much popular Easter Egg which grabs quite an attention.

What is an Easter Egg?

The origin of the egg is again very symbolic as an egg means a new life , new birth, in Christianity also an egg is the sign of resurrection and the tomb in which Jesus was laid to rest and later resurrected (new life). There are so many stories attached to Easter Eggs and Easter Bunnies. As time passed by it became a very decorative egg shared among relatives and friends on Easter Sunday. The rich in those days used to actually dye them and cover them with gold, while the peasants used to cover it in their way with flowers and herbs. But what little children knew was that on Easter, Easter bunnies or rabbits laid eggs and it is for them to hunt these eggs and the one who finds the maximum gets a prize. In the 19th century somehow Easter egg got its new look and that too made of chocolate with little surprise stuffing’s inside and from then on the new tradition of Easter eggs started catching up. Nowadays Easter eggs are made in various forms with chocolate, cashew, and what not.

So let’s for a while leave the stories and just plan to make some wonderful Easter egg. Happy Easter.

Chocolate Easter Eggs

Ingredients:-

• Butter : ½ cup
• Cream cheese : 1tspn
• Confectioners’ sugar : 2.5pounds
• Vanilla essence : 1tspn

Optional

• Peanut butter : 1 cup
• Coconut flaked : 1 cup
• Cocoa powder : 1 cup

(Unsweetened)

• Vegetable oil : if required

For decoration:-

Fondant icing, marshmallows, chocolate chips, satin ribbon, cellophane paper as desired

Method:-

•  In a large bowl add butter, vanilla and cream cheese and mix well.
• Add in confectioners’ sugar and knead to smooth dough.
•  Optional for different flavors divide them into four portions, one of the parts plain, mix peanut butter in the second, coconut in the third and cocoa powder in the last portion.
•  Make them into egg shape, you can use a tablespoon to get the oval shape and keep it in a waxed paper to set and refrigerate for almost an hour or until hard.
•  Meanwhile melt chocolate in a double pan method by placing chocolate in pan and place the pan in a larger pan of boiling water, stir occasionally until a smooth sauce is formed and if required can add a little oil in case it thickens and cool it.
•  Dip each of the frozen eggs in the chocolate sauce and let them set again. Refrigerate for another ½ hour to harden.
•  Decorate as you like with fondant icing, mash mellow flowers, chocolate chips as desired.
• Wrap it with cellophane paper.

Cashew Easter Eggs

Ingredients:-

• Cashew : 500gms
• Sugar (powdered) : 500gms
• Essence (vanilla or almond) : 2-4 drops
• Egg white : 2
• Food colouring (if required)

For decoration:-

Fondant icing, mash mellow, chocolate chips, satin ribbon, cellophane paper as desired

Surprise gift:-

Any small candy, gems, nuts or tiny gift which can fit in the egg as a surprise gift.

Method:-

•  Finely powder the cashews.
•  Add it along with the powdered sugar and mix well.
• Add essence and food color (optional).
• Add egg white and knead into smooth fine dough.
• Divide portions to make eggs
• With the help of 2 medium sized spoons make the oval shape of the egg.
• The surprise gift can be placed in and the two halves can be sealed using with a satin ribbon.
• Decorate with fondant icing, small mash mallow flowers, chocolate chips.
•  Wrap it up neatly with cellophane papers.

Food Network Chopped All Stars is back in action from this month and therefore you can enjoy this kitchen based reality show on Food Network channel. It was in 2009 that Chopped was first premiered on TV and it received some great response from the people. This is why Food Network has now decided to bring in the second season of this kitchen based reality that allows people to enjoy better food recipes while there is so much of drama happening live. This time again it will be Ted Allen that will host the show for Food Networks and it is believed that the competition this time will be twice as tough as the first season.

To make the show more interesting top chefs from various Food Network’s reality show like Iron Chef and other supporting show will battle against each other to be the best and win the episode. There will be five themed episodes this time and each will have a winner. In the final episode all the winners will battle against each other to claim the prize money. To judge these chefs Food Networks have organized judges like Anne Burrell, Scott Conant, Aaron Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian and Amanda Freitag.

Few baking tips which might help you ensure that, your bread is soft, you cookies are fine, and your cake is divine and your pastries are on cloud nine are as listed below. Follow them and baking would be even more delightful and fun.

Baking Tips

•  While baking always follow the recipe and its measurement correctly. Baking mainly depends on its consistency and proportionate measurement.
•  Read the recipe thoroughly before you start and ensure you have all the ingredients in front of you.
•  Wash each ingredient well before cooking the fruits or vegetable, the baking dish, spatula and most important your hands. Hygiene is very important so ensure you have thoroughly washed your hands before everything.
•  Do not overdo anything be it mixes the batter or over bake. Over mix of the batter will reduces the fluffiness and over baking will cause crack and burn the base and sides of the dish, spoiling the taste of the dish.
•  Preheating is a very important task before baking, so please check your oven or microwave and preheat according to the required temperature. Different things like cake, bread, cookies have different times to be set and even pre heated, so follow them.
•  Baking in the right molds. We get molds of all shapes and size for cakes, cup cakes, pies. Buy molds of good quality and preferably bake your dish in metal non stick baking pans instead of the light, disposable aluminum ones. If pies then preferably use Glass Pyrex pans.
• To ensure that a cake, cookie or bread is cooked prick it with a fork or toothpick, if it comes out clean means it is cooked and done, if it comes out sticky or with crumbs it means it needs more cooking.
•  If your recipe requires you to use yeast ensure you check the liquid temperature with a thermometer before adding the yeast.
•  All the pans and mold should always be well dusted before putting in the batter. Simply add a dash of butter on the pan/mold grease it well from all sides and either add some flour/breadcrumbs and dust it all over the pan. By doing this the baked dish will slide out easily from the pan/mold without sticking to the sides or bottom.
•  Always place the pan/mold in the Center of the oven, do not allow or place them in such a way that it scraps through the wall of the oven. Ideally placing it on the rack is safe.

Enjoy your baking and go ahead to bake a wonderful, yummy cake

The International Boston Seafood Show 2012 is just around the corner and if you are passionate about trying new seafood items then you should not miss this one. The Boston Seafood Show is one of the largest seafood events that is happening in North America but is certainly the largest seafood event on the planet where you will come across more than 900 suppliers from around 120 countries. You will enjoy the varieties that you will find here and therefore you have many hours to enjoy different seafood items.

With this seafood event you not only get to know more about different seafood delicacies and cuisines but also get to know more about seafood suppliers. There are many suppliers available here that will provide you with the information about seafood technology. Hence, if you are into seafood business you can visit this event where you get the exposure to the latest seafood technology around the world. The event will bring together top seafood suppliers from around the world with the buyers who are interested in the same.

If you love to grab morning by the biscuits then you can go for BelVita breakfast biscuits that can keep you charged up for the day. These biscuits have already been launched in the United States and therefore you can find it in the nearest stores in your locality. The good thing about this biscuits is that they are made from whole grain which means that you get loads of proteins, vitamins and nutrients that can keep you going actively for the day. BelVita has confirmed that consumers will enjoy the nutrients that they get from this biscuits as well as enjoy the crunchy sweet taste it provides.

BelVita is also working on promoting these biscuits in the United States and therefore they have decided to come up with unique promotional campaign where they have partnered with different individuals from different fields as they could become live examples that the biscuits definitely provide nutrients that are required for active schedule. All the individuals partnered by with BelVita are creative people who have busy lifestyle and need lot of creativity. BelVita has named the panel as Power Up Pros and the panel has provided positive information about the new biscuits out in the market.

Anne Burrell is back again with her top performance in the show as she has remained the undisputed winner in both the earlier seasons. However, this time she will be battling against the superstar chef Bobby Flay that will raise the competition to the next level. As per the rules of the show eight recruits will have to go through eight weeks of kitchen boot camp to transform themselves into competent chefs. The winner of the show will take home $25,000 along with the title.

Anne Burrell will be the highlight of the show and she said that she is really excited about her competition with Bobby Flay which she thinks will be a tough competitor. However, she is really confident about winning the show for the third time as knows the drill very well. On the other hand, Bobby Flay has challenged Anne Burrell and is confident enough that he will break the dominance and take the winning title. The finale of the show will be telecasted on Sunday, April 8 at 9pm ET/PT and the show will be judged by top critics like Susan Feniger and Marcus Samuelsson.

Ingredients:-

•  500gm Fish(any fish)
• 115gm Shrimps
• Anchovy essence (optional few drops if available)
• A pinch of Cayenne powder
•  A pinch of Chilli powder
•  ½ Lime Juice
•  Salt to taste
•  30gm Refined flour
•  150ml Milk
•  30gm Butter
• 1 Egg
• 30 gm Breadcrumbs
•  30 gm Fat to fry

Method:

•  Boil and flake the fish, remove the bones.
•  Clean, boil and chop shrimps.
•  Make a batter with flour, butter and milk.
•  Add fish, shrimp and seasoning.
• Take it on a plate and allow it to cool.
•  Add lime juice.
•  Divide into equal portion.
•  Form into croquette shapes on floured board.
• Coat with egg and toss in breadcrumbs.
•  Deep fry in hot fat.
•  Drain on absorbent paper.
• Serve hot with any tangy sauce.

Many people today look for cooking jobs that can help them to learn more about their culinary skills and a better way to get into it is through The International Culinary School where aspiring chefs test their creative skills in the kitchen. The International Culinary Schools offers Culinary Scholarship competition for both teens and adults that can help them to make the best of their culinary skills. Hence, this is the best opportunity for high school seniors in the United States and Canada to show off their skills in a better way and make some future in the field that they love.

Once the competition is over, The Art Institutes school will name one winner in each category. The winner of the competition will earn tuition scholarships that are worth $4000. The second winner in the high school senior category will win $1000 and the first winner will win $1500. Chef Michael Nenes, Assistant Vice President of Culinary Arts for The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes said that all students need equal parts aspiration and education and every year they continue to inspire great talents and commitments who enter culinary competition and who are passionate about their culinary career.

Lets go through some of them.

• Butter the bottom and sides of a pan in which noodles, spaghetti, rice or milk cooked or boiled top prevent them from boiling over and sticking to the pan.
• When cutting cakes or ice cream, dip knife in hot water to make smoother cut.
• If you chill glasses before preparing the ice-cream in, it will stay stiff longer.
• Use scoops and ladles to portion food as it allows uniform servings.
• Before preparing pumkin, yam and other fuzzy vegetables rub hands with little oil as it prevents irritation of hands and roughness.
•  If refrigerated fish has been freezed for long and it has becomes old then remove it and put in vinegar and water mix to remove the smell.
•  Grease measuring cup slightly before measuring molasses, corn syrup etc to ensure that nothing is wasted.
• After cleaning fish just scrub your hands with lemon juice or lemon halves to remove the persistent smell of the hand and fingers.
•  To retain the freshness and whiteness of cauliflower florets soak them for a few seconds in a mix of lemon juice and water.
•  Wrap meat in foil or waxed paper before storing in freezer or refrigerator. Brown paper or wax paper softens and get stuck to the meat especially mince.
•  A tsp of soda bicarb placed in a small crucible in the refridgerator will keep away smell of food from permeating each other.
•  Pressure cooks a lot of tomatoes in lots of water. Once cool blend them in the blender and make puree. Strain, cool and freeze in ice tray and let it settles, once frozen, remove the cubes and store in polybags and keep in the freezer, use whenever required.
•  Add dry rice while grinding sugar as it avoids it from being lumpy.
• Add a few drops of lemon juice and ghee while steaming long rice (Basmati) to keep it whiter and grains unbroken.
•  Green leafy vegetables like fenugreek, spinach, etc can be blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes then hold under cold running water, press out excess water, and store in freezer for about 2 weeks without spoiling.
•  Salads can be made better and crisp if the cut vegetables have been soaked in chilled water for some time.
•  Soups should never be over boiled as they lose their colour and body volume.

Ingredients:-

For the covering:-

•  1.25 kg Flour
•  Salt (a pinch)
•  ¼ tsp Soda bicarbonate(optional)
• ½ tsp Yeast(optional)

For the filling:-

Mix together all the below mentioned ingredients.

• 1kg Pork mince or beef mince
•  250 gms Onions (chopped)
•  1 cup Oil
• ½ tsp Ajinomoto
•  3 tbsp Soya sauce
•  Salt to taste
•  1 cup Water
•  1 Egg (optional)

Method:-

•  Sieve together salt, maida and soda bicarbonate (optional).
•  Add warm water to the sieved flour and make soft dough.
•  If using yeast then dissolve it in lukewarm water and add while making dough.
•  Leave the dough to rise for 5-6 hours or maybe overnight.
•  Roll into sausage shape, cut into 1 inch pieces.
•  Roll them into keeping the middle thicker and the edges thinner.
•  Put the prepared pork filling and pleat the edges firmly together, sealing as you proceed.
•  You can also make round dumpling.
•  Steam for 30 minutes if pork and 20 minutes if beef is used.
•  Serve hot with chilli sauce or tomato garlic sauce.