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A good cook knows what ingredients to integrate into a delicious meal. This short report in the "Ingredients" series focuses on the humble and ubiquitous onion. Virtually every cuisine uses the onion or onion variant as a basic flavoring. In fact, Julia Child once said, "It is hard to imagine a civilization without onions."
Here we'll take a look at what kinds of onions there are, their dissimilar tastes and qualities, and the dissimilar uses to which onions can be put. When you're done reading you'll feel a lot more positive going to the shop and choosing onions, cooking with onions and creating recipes with onions as an ingredient.
What's an onion?
The Latin name for onion is "Allium cepa." It's related to other edible Allium species: leeks (Allium ampeloprasum or porrum); shallots (Allium ascalonicum); garlic (Allium sativum); and, chives (Allium schoenoprasum), among others. You may immediately identify some tasteless characteristics: they all have bulbs, are layered, and taste quite strongly. If you're a gardener, you know that they grow tall and thin, that there is one flower to a stalk, and that they reproduce by budding off the bulb.
When you go to the shop you may consideration that there are some types of onion available. In North America the most tasteless are the yellow onion, the white onion, and the red onion. You may also find small white pearl onions or Walla Walla sweet onions. Because onions are a foundation spice in many areas of the world, people have cultivated sub-species of the tasteless organery onion, often named for where they come from. These dissimilar species have dissimilar flavors and uses and we'll cover those below.
You can find an excellent reserved supply on the history of onions in general and sweet onions in particular at Peggy Trowbridge's About.com site, "Sweet Onion History." The history of the onion is fascinating, but not the subject of this article. Here we're more implicated with choosing, storing and cooking with onions.
How to pick and store an onion
Onions should be firm and solid, heavy to the hand. There should be no soft or mushy parts. The "parchment" layer of thin skin should cover the whole onion, but not descend through more than one or two thin layers towards the heart. It's said that the excellent onion has 13 rings, but of policy you can't count them in the grocery store.
Onions keep for a very long time if they are stored in cool, dark, dry places. If they are stored wet, however, they are prone to come to be moldy. Don't buy onions that have mold on them (the mold can be dry and powdery, or, if the onion is very wet, it can be smeary like algae. If you find mold on an onion you store at home, fast take off it from other onions and check them for mold. If it's a small spot of mold you can cut it away, but if there is a large area of mold or if the onion is soft you should dispose of it in the compost heap or the garbage. When onions begin to sprout they are still edible, but they lose some of their flavor. When the sprouts grow large they suck moisture from the bulb and the onion changes texture and taste for the worse. The drier you keep them, the less likely they will sprout.
Onions labeled "Sweet" do not store as well as other onions, and are usually only available seasonally. They are mild and, as their name suggests, taste sweeter than more tasteless onions. Use these soon after you buy them.
Onions come in sizes from small to large. I propose that you consider how much onion you will honestly use at a time. If you need small amounts of onion to flavor dishes, buy smaller onions. If you're development sauce and need a lot of onion, go big. Just remember that cut and peeled onions are difficult to store properly. They can dry out, get mouldy and, if not kept in air-tight containers, make your whole refrigerator and/or kitchen smell like onion. An onion is considered "super-colossal" if it is 4.5" in diameter or larger.
Raw onions
The best onions for eating raw are Sweet Onions. Varieties of Sweet Onion are usually only available April-August, depending on the region you live in.
Raw onions are primarily used as flavoring and to add crunchy texture to cold or hot foods. They can be chopped for salads, sliced for sandwiches, and pureed for dressings or sauces. They can also be eaten plain: Russians love to eat raw white onion with their black rye bread; a favorite compound is to take a shot of good vodka, bite into an onion, and result it with a piece of the bread. (Repeat as necessary.) Onions can also be marinated and pickled in a range of ways.
When using raw onions, it is particularly foremost to pay attention to the flavor and compel of the particular onion you are using. Peeling them under running water can help to cut the fumes, but the best method I've found for very sensitive people is to wear a pair of swimming goggles. Really; I'm not kidding.
How strong is your onion?
Though you might buy the same brand of onion from the shop again and again, one time the flavor will be strong and the fumes so distinguished they burn your eyes, and someone else time they will be mild and practically fume-free. Onion compel within the same species vary depending upon the time of year they are grown, the conditions under which they are grown, their age at the time of harvesting, how long they have been stored, the quality of the soil, and the amount of water they receive. It's foremost to remember this when you are cooking and to taste the particular onions you have chosen for your meal. "A cup of chopped onion" is simply a bulk measurement and doesn't tell you anyone about flavor. If your onions are very strong, use fewer. If they are weak and mild, you can use more. Except when you are baking, regard recipes as guidelines to use in your cooking: amounts and proportions are rarely absolute.
Different kinds of onions
Yellow Onions consist of about 70 percent of the onions available in supermarkets. They are easier to grow than red or white onions, have tougher skin and are not prone to showing the green streaks (from late harvest rains) or the sunburn that white onions can suffer. Yellow Onions can be strong or mild depending on the factors discussed above.
White onions grow very large and are more tender than Yellow Onions. Like yellow onions, they vary a great deal in strength, pungency and fume emission. They are very favorite for Mexican and Latin American cooking as they tend to be tangier and more crisp tasting than Yellow Onions. They are very susceptible to mold, but store for a long time if kept very dry.
Red Onions grow to a smaller size than Yellow Onions. They are also often milder and sweeter, with a distinctive taste and texture. One range of red onion is the Bermuda, which usually shows up in supermarkets in the spring.
Yellow Granax (sweet onions, called Vidalia when grown around Vidalia, Georgia and called Maui Onion when grown on that island in Hawaii). The Cippolini is an Italian sweet onion. Other varieties consist of Sweet Imperial, Carzalia Sweet, Oso, Arizona, and the strangely named Texas 1015Y. Remember these are hard to store.
Walla Walla Onion (called Walla Walla Sweets when grown around Walla Walla, Washington). This onion originated in Corsica and was brought to Washington by immigrants.
Pearl Onions (also called Boiling Onions) are small white onions under 2" in diameter. They are difficult to peel, but they are a lovely addition to soups and stews, and they are a joy to pickle. They are rarely eaten raw.
Dried Onions and Preserved Fried Onions
Dried onions are never as good as fresh. Use dried minced onion as a substitute for fresh only when honestly necessary. Personally, I stay away from onion powder entirely.
Preserved fried (crispy) onions are often used to decoration finished dishes and can be purchased in many Asian food markets.
Cooking With Onions
Onions should all the time be cooked at medium or lower heat because they turn their taste and come to be bitter if cooked too hot. Onions can be cooked into six dissimilar forms:
1) Transparent:
If you cook an onion for a medium- to long-period of time over a low heat they will turn soft and transparent. The longer you cook them at this temperature, the softer and less descriptive they will become. Sauteing onions to transparency is the method often used for introducing them into sauces and stews. Many sauces begin with the schooling to "melt" your onions into some sort of oil, often combined with garlic and tomatoes. When you put raw onions into liquid (like soups and stews) and boil them, you also achieve the state of transparency. In the first case you suffuse the oil with the onion taste. In the second, the onion taste diffuses through the boiling or simmering liquid.
2) Browned:
The taste of browning onions is honestly delectable and can be smelled throughout the house (and even sometimes out onto the street), especially when combined with garlic. Browned onions are sauted over a medium heat just to the point of achieving a golden brown color around the edges. If you overcook the onions and burn them, the smooth, mellow flavor will be replaced by a sharp, bitter, burnt taste, so it is very foremost to keep a close watch on onions if you are cooking them over a medium heat. Never cook them higher than medium. Browned onions are also used as the basis for sauces or stews, but they retell a very dissimilar flavor than transparent onions. The best report I can give is that they have a "toasted" flavor. The flavor suffuses the oil medium in which they are browned and thus anyone cooked in that oil will also taste of browned onions.
3) Fried:
If you dip onions in a batter and then drop them hot oil they will fry quickly. Properly fried onions have a crispy batter and reach a soft transparent or semi-transparent state. They must never burn on the outside. You can fry cut up onions (as in Onion Rings) or the whole onion (a favorite dish in many steak houses). Fried onions are usually served as garnishes or side dishes.
4) Baked or roasted:
Onions can be put in an oven and baked, whether on their own with some sort of sauce (balsamic vinegar and garlic, for example), or as a part of a roasted dish (pot roast, tandoori, roast beef, etc.). Roasted onions may toast lightly on the face and be soft in the middle, or they may come to be thoroughly soft and transparent. The end state depends on the amount of moisture in which the dish is cooked.
5) Grilled:
Onions grill very well, but since they burn fast at high temperatures it's best to add them late to the barbecue grill or skewer. Watch grilled onions considered to ensure that they brown but do not burn. Grilled onions usually do not cook long adequate to be soft in the middle, so they are often toasted and soft on the outer layers, and retain some crunch and bite on the inside. This makes them a particularly captivating and tasty accompaniment to strongly flavored dishes like shishkebob.
6) Pickled or marinated:
The most commonly pickled onions are boilers, but large onions can also be pickled if they are cut up. The best pickled onions retain freshness and crunch while merging their flavors with strong pickling spices. Most pickled onions are lightly boiled (less than three minutes) before being put in the preserving liquid. This liquid combines vinegar with other pickling spices. If you arepickling for storage make sure to result safe canning rules. Unlike most of the recipes I discuss, pickling is a delicate policy and proportions of preserving liquid need to be part carefully. For a great guide see Clemson Universities "Pickle Basics."
Marinated onion dishes should be used within a week. Often the same spices are used for marination as for pickling, but the proportions and policy are not so foremost since the pickled will not be canned and stored.
Summary
Most good cooks have onions on hand since they use them in many dishes and storage onions (non-sweet) keep for long periods of time. Learn to distinguish varieties of onion by tasting them and using them in your cooking experiments. A properly-used onion can ring flavor and taste out of scant ingredients. If you don't feel like cooking, you can simply peruse the onion. It inspires deep thoughts, or at least it did in Carl Sandburg, the illustrious American poet. Sandburg wrote: "Life is like an onion: you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep."
The Humble Onion: A Guide for Creative CooksIf you add these 12 power foods into your daily diet, your body will work effectively to build lean muscle mass and burn fat more efficiently.
Not only will these super foods build muscle and promote weight loss - it will develop your bones, lower blood pressure, fight cancer, enhance your immune function and fight against heart disease.
No matter what age you are, here are the 12 power foods to build muscle and burn fat (and keep you healthy for life)-
1) Non salted or smoked Almonds and other nuts
- Also great for controlling carvings
- Eat with skin intact
2) Beans and other legumes (including soybeans, chickpeas, pinot beans, navy beans, kidney beans and lima beans)
- Also helps to regulate digestion
- Avoid refried beans (high in saturated fats) and baked beans (high in sugar)
3) Spinach and other green vegetables
- Also helps to fight the molecules that accelerates the aging process
- Avoid frying vegetables and adding fatty cheese sauces
4) Fat free or low fat milk, yogurt, cheese, bungalow cheese
- Also build strong bones
- Avoid whole milk and frosty yogurt
5) unflavored, unsweetened oatmeal
- Great for energy, and fights against cholesterol and maintaining blood sugar levels
- Avoid flavored cereals
6) Eggs
- Eggs has the top levels of protein of any food
- Protein in eggs are more productive for construction muscle than any other protein from other sources, including milk and beef
- Contains vitamin B12, which helps to breakdown fat
7) Turkey and lean steak, chicken, fish
- Also improves the immune system
- No sausage, bacon, cured meats, ham, fatty cuts of steak like T-bone and rib eye
8) All natural, sugar free peanut butter
- Also boosts testosterone
9) Olive Oil
- Lowers cholesterol and boosts your immune system
- Avoid vegetable and hydrogenated vegetable oils, trans fatty acids, margarine
10) Whole Grain Breads and Cereals
- Stops the body from storing fat
- Avoid processed or refined carbs such as white bread, bagels, doughnuts and pasta made from white flour
11) Extra Protein Whey powder
- No soy protein
12) Raspberries and Other Berries
- Great for protecting your heart, enhancing your eye sight and memory, preventing cravings
- No sweetened jellies
Each of these healthy foods and weight loss boosters will keep you full longer on less calories.
And the best part is they all taste in effect good.
As a guideline, think eating 3 acceptable meals and 3 smaller meals - add two or three of these foods into your three major meals and at least one of the foods into your snacks.
Do this along with exercise, you will build muscle and burn fat to keep you healthy!
12 overwhelming Power Foods to Build Muscle and Burn Fat to Keep You salutary For LifeKansas City Strip Steaks by Kansas City Steak Company Tube. Duration : 3.02 Mins.Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. Madonna and Guy Ritchie. Your old high school English instructor and... Your best buddy?! Hey, it could happen. These days, if an older woman wants a baby, she can have one.
There will always be the customary Tina, scoping out an older fella who's "on her maturity level" as she likes to think- and who's willing to play provider. But what of the ever-growing citizen of footloose women with their crazy cradle-robbing ways? Is this other Maggie May, who, as Rod Stewart tells it, will "wreck your bed, and in the morning kick you in the head?" Or is she some lonely desperado, hoping to latch on to a kinder, gentler generation of men? Here are some insights as to why some women prefer to date younger guys.
Not every girl wants a father figure. Often, a man who's older than you assumes a protective and paternal role; and to many women, this is a real turn-off. Why? Well, for starters, we already have a daddy! Not to mention, the woman who holds a high-paying exec job Monday through Friday may have some problem playing Helpless Heather on the weekends. She's used to taking care of herself, speaking on her own behalf, and yes, even paying her own way without the help of Daddy Warbucks.
Younger men are often best in bed. Ahh, the cruel irony of life. Remember sex with your college girlfriend? That 21-year-old 'fraidy cat is now a tigress of temptation. Something funny happens to women as they age. Their testosterone levels increase; oddly enough, nearby the same time that men's are plummeting. The hormone surge gives ladies a libido lift, which is why women in their 30s and 40s just want to get busy. Meanwhile, our same-age male counterparts are busy learning the inside of their eyelids. Need I say more?
Younger guys look up to an older, victorious woman. Let's talk about those corporate power babes again. Sometimes, it's lonely at the top... But not when there's a starry-eyed cutie-pie smiling up at you! There's something to be said for having a younger guy who admires you for your accomplishments. It makes you feel great, and the sad fact is, you can't always get that kind of respect from an older man. Baby Boomers may love Donna Reed, but guys born later can understand and best appreciate women who go after their dreams.
The metrosexual male is our cup of tea. Nothing like having your boy over for some afternoon delight and looking out he borrowed your loofah in the shower. The New Generation of open-minded guys is A-Ok in our book! This guy can whip up a Thai stir-fry using organic ingredients, grooms his fingernails and his toenails, is politically-correct to a fault, and won't eat Starkist if it might harm the baby dolphins. To the 40-something who grew up with Archie Bunker, he's a breath of fresh air.
Girls just want to have fun. Some of us are downright immature, and we're not afraid to say it! perhaps "young at heart" is the best term, but the point is this: some old gals unquestionably do just want to have fun. Lots of broads who are pushing fifty still rock out at concerts, drive 70 mph with the top down, stay out all night, flip citizen off when necessary, and generally wreak havoc. That's not to say we can't find a man of Any age to engage in youthful antics with us... But, well, the younger ones just seem more willing to join in the fun.
Some women are late bloomers. Embarrassing as it may be, plentifulness of chicks spend the best part of their 20s mired in self-doubt and confusion. Instead of kicking back like they should have, the rainclouds of pessimism hung nearby to dampen their fun and turn them into neurotic freaks. Ten years later, some of those very same basketcases have mellowed into chill ladies who are just now ready to embrace life to the fullest. If this involves cavorting with young fellas in ways they never belief possible, all the better! best late than never, right girls?
Guys in their prime are ohhhh, so fine. If you had to select between a thick, juicy steak and some shriveled up beef jerky, which one would you pick? In the same way that men can't help looking at supple young girls, we ladies find ourselves drawn to guys under thirty. Younger men have tight bodies, curious eyes, great smiles, and normally a crowd of buddies to keep them laughing and pumped for excitement. What's the alternative? The balding bachelor with a beer gut who sits home smoking stogies and listening to Springsteen's Glory Days on repeat mode? No, thanks!
In all seriousness, it shouldn't matter the age of two citizen who mutually respect and enjoy each other's company. We love who we love, not matter what their age or what they look like. If an older woman and a younger man feel comfortable having a relationship, then no one has the right to criticize them. To the lady who plainly likes a quick fling with a hot young stallion? Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.
Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.
Dating guidance for Men: Why Some Women Like 'Em YoungerBRAAI Restaurant & Lounge | Beirut, Lebanon Video Clips. Duration : 2.77 Mins.