Food Mediterranean

We are delighted to bring you a helpful resource on everything about Mediterranean food. Find articles, recipes, news, discussion and photos on Mediterranean cuisine.
If there is one thing that the Mediterranean is known for around the world, it is its delicious food. Cooking Mediterranean food may look complicated, but with practice, anyone can cook delicious Mediterranean food at home. All they need to do is pickup a little bit of knowledge on what traditional Mediterranean ingredients are used and techniques you need to know.
Mediterranean food originates from the cultures adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea. This includes many countries and cultures including parts of the Middle East, Greece, Spain and Italy. Mediterranean food is famous for its bold flavors, colorful ingredients, and the variety of herbs and ingredients used in the dishes, most of these ingredients are native to area.
Pasta and fresh vegetables, meat and fish are staple base foods of the Mediterranean.
Learning how to cook authentic Mediterranean food is a rewarding experience. The authentic flavors help make any meal exciting and the dishes are true to the area.
Goats, sheep and Fish dishes are all common in the Mediterranean, although today a lot of the fish is imported since the fisheries of the Mediterranean Sea are not able to sustain the demand. Seafood is still prominent in many of the standard recipes.
Olive oil, cheese and garlic are widely used in Mediterranean cuisine. It is widely believed that Mediterranean cuisine is particularly healthy.
Grilled meats, Middle Eastern breads, and falafel are very popular forms of the Mediterranean type of the cuisine. The most important thing though is that the food is known for being fresh, tasty, authentic and healthy.

Hong spicy dried fish

　　Hong spicy dried fish
Diced green onion, ginger, garlic, dried chili is ready, peanuts and drain a little water to rinse

Dried fish into the water soak 1 hour in a little soft, drain water, the pot the amount of oil burned, the fire slowly fry for 2-3 minutes, remove and drain the oil
Fried peanuts into a small fire, remove and drain the oil
Small fire left little base oil pot saute diced green onion, ginger, garlic, dried chili, pour the fried peanuts, dried fish, stir well, add some cooking wine, soy sauce, sugar, and stir-fry for a while you can
1, its not only clean, dry sun-dried fish health, and can mediate their dried fish and dry salinity degree, if it is bought outside the fish dry, salty generally more rigid, slightly under the circumstances before the recommended cooking and cleaning immersion, or the finished product will be very dry and hard.
2, how much will be dried, dried fish smell, good sealing is recommended, safe and reliable crisper, recommendation chart Lock U.S. special music crisper, preserving food water does not evaporate, no odor, suitable for the freezer , refrigeration, microwave use.
3, fried peanuts and dried fish and not too much fire, or easy fried paste.
4, dried fish itself, with some salt, the amount of seasoning, please self-regulation, so as not to salty.

How to make Roti Jala

Roti Jala - aka “net crepe” is a Malaysian delicacy that goes well with various curries. It is not only popular during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but also as an afternoon tea snack.
Roti Jala, an alternative to rice, is an excellent accompaniment to rich gravy dishes
Roti Jala - aka “net crepe” is a Malaysian delicacy that goes well with various curries. It is not only popular during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but also as an afternoon tea snack.
Roti Jala, an alternative to rice, is an excellent accompaniment to rich gravy dishes such as mutton curry, chicken kapitan, kurma.
For those with a sweet tooth, you can also try it with chocolate sauce or condense milk.
Recipe :
2 cups all-purpose flour [preferably unbleached]
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup water
½ tsp salt
½ tsp turmeric powder
cooking oil to grease pan
Method:
1. Sieve the flour and set aside.
2. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients well together (except the oil) and strain the batter.
3. Add in 1/2 tablespoon of oil and set aside.
4. Heat up a pan with medium heat and grease well.
5. Pour some batter into the mold and transfer the mold to the pan.
6. As the batter flows through the holes of the mold, make circular motions around the pan to form the netty patterns. (Refer to the video above.)
7. After the top is set and done or when the bottom turns light brown, fold in the sides and transfer the Roti Jala out onto a pan. Roll it while hot.
8. Serve the Roti Jala with some curry chicken.

Fancy French toast

　　old raisin bread
　　1-2 eggs
　　1 passion fruit (or more considering the size they are in Australia at the moment…)
　　200 g ricotta
　　100 g mascarpone
　　strawberries / raspberries
　　Mix ricotta, mascarpone and possibly the grated zest of a lemon. Add the egg to a bowl and turn the raisin bread only very quickly in the egg mass. The surface of the bread should be covered, but the dry bread should not start absorbing the egg. Fry the bread on both sides in a stick free frying pan – the colour should be golden, not black

　　. Arrange a slice of the fried bred on a plate, spread some passion fruit on top and add a spoon of the mascarpone/ricotta mass. Decorate with strawberries or raspberries.
　　In the meantime I have also tried the dessert, and it was delicious, same as the other two courses. I must say, this gives a very nice meal without much effort! Here’s the picture of the dessert:

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

　　The Soup:
　　1 small head of cauliflower, cut in florets
　　300 g (one medium) sweet potato, peeled and chopped
　　1 onion, chopped

　　5 cloves garlic, sliced
　　1 tablespoon olive oil
　　2 teaspoons garam masala
　　1 and 1/2 dl coconut milk
　　4 dl vegetable stock
　　salt to taste
　　about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
　　I fried the onion and garlic in the oil until soft, then added the sweet potato and cauliflower, and fried for a few more minutes. After frying the veggies, I added the coconut milk, vegetable stock, and garam masala, and let the soup simmer until the vegetables were soft, for about 20 minutes. While it was boiling, I prepared the cashews.
　　Then I puréed the soup with out immersion blender, added a little bit of salt (might not be necessary if the stock is very salty), and stirred in the lemon juice. Before serving, I sprinkled my bowl with cashews.
　　Cashew Nuts:
　　1 dl cashews
　　1 tablespoon agave syrup
　　1 tablespoon water
　　pinch of cinnamon
　　1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
　　pinch of salt
　　First I toasted the cashews lightly on a dry frying pan, and meanwhile mixed the rest of the ingredients together. When the nuts had browned a bit, I lowered the heat to medium, poured the syrup mixture in the pan, and stirred until the cashews were shiny and covered with the syrup, and the water had evaporated. Now, I poured the nuts on a plate covered with aluminium foil and let them cool down until the soup was ready to serve.
　　My cashews came out really sticky, which basically means that I didn’t caramelize them enough. That’s not a problem when sprinkled in a soup, but the leftover cashews were a nuisance to eat…

Nice Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:
5 1/2 slices Italian bread, preferably a little stale, crust removed
2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and juice reserved

4 cups chicken stock
6 garlic cloves, minced
10 fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F/190C only if you are using fresh bread. Bake the bread until it is light golden brown on a baking sheet. If the bread isn’t fresh, just set it aside.
In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 6 minutes or until golden.
Add tomatoes and juices to the pot, bringing to a boil and stirring occasionally.
Add bread and stock and return to boil.
Season with salt and pepper and let simmer.
Cook uncovered for about 40 minutes. After 30 minutes, add the basil leaves.
Serve with extra virgin olive oil drizzled over.
　　

Teochew Pork Porridge

20 years after my father passed away, my sister-in-law still talks fondly about his Teochew (潮州) Pork Porridge (肉糜). That's how good it was. There was a period when he made Pork Porridge every night for supper and my sister-in-law, who lived across the road, would wander over for a bowl, sometimes two. I don't have many food memories of Father because he didn't cook much but this is one that I recall fondly.

The quick way for making Pork Porridge is to add stock to cooked rice, toss in some pork slices and seasoning, and garnish. Father never did it that way, though. In fact, adding stock or soup to steamed rice had some kind of stigma in my family because it was always associated with someone sulking. For instance, if I were late for dinner and there was very little food left, I would slurp down some soup and rice, then go to my room and sulk. Or, if I had a fight with Mum and I wanted to protest by not eating but couldn't because I was starving, I would slurp down some soup and rice, then go to my room and sulk. So, adding stock to cooked rice as a shortcut was unthinkable and a definite no-no in my family. It was something that we looked on with disdain.
Father made Pork Porridge by boiling uncooked rice with dried shrimps. Done this way, the umaminess of the dried shrimps and subtle fragrance of the rice have time to mingle and come together. Some Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked and thinly sliced, could also be added but he rarely bothered. What he did bother with was to leave the TV program he was watching and stir the furiously boiling rice and dried shrimps once every five minutes or so. One day, I will test what difference the stirring makes but for the time being, let's take it that stirring was essential, shall we?
After boiling the porridge for about 15 minutes, Father chucked some pork that had been marinating into the pot, brought everything back to a boil, turned off the heat, tossed in some dried cuttlefish and the water it had been soaking in, garnish generously with scallions and fried shallots, add a dash of white pepper and - voilà! - it was done. My sister-in-law turned up like magic every night for this steaming hot pork porridge that was stirred, not shaken.

Chicken Porridge Cooking

Here we are in 2009! I hope it is not too late to wish everybody a very Happy New Year. We had a wonderful new year's eve, hanging out with friends, eating good food and playing poker. The next thing I know it was like past 2am and time to go home. I hate driving at night especially in an unfamiliar road/freeway. To make matter worst, it was really really foggy that night and that made driving even more difficult. Thank god for gps though!

Anyways, back to cooking. Last week I craved for some good chicken porridge. I have some salted egg and pickled leek at home and the thought of chicken porridge with them was just too much to resist. I remember my favourite porridge joint back in Kuala Lumpur. It was at this place called Kampung Baru (literally translated to New Village) right smack in the city centre. They have a huge display of dishes to go with the rice porridge. All you have to do is pick and put them in provided plates, give it to them and find a table to sit. They will cook your chosen dishes and serve with porridge of your choice, be it plain white porridge or chicken porridge. Since there would always be at least 5 different dishes, I always choose plain white instead of chicken porridge which I think is best enjoyed on its own.

Chicken Porridge

1/2 cup jasmine rice, rinsed
5 cups water
1 chicken leg
1in ginger, julienne
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
Salt
White pepper (optional)
1 star anise (optional)
2-3 cardamom seeds (optional)
1 tbs veggie oil

1. In a pot, heat the oil on medium high. Add star anise and cardamom seeds, stir until fragrant.

2. Add ginger and chicken, continue stirring and flip the chicken once.

3. Add rice and water and let it boil. Turn the heat down to medium and continue boiling.

4. Add salt and white pepper, stir and taste. 30 min.

5. Add in the celery and carrot. Stir occasionally. Continue boiling for another 30 min.

6. Serve hot with pickled leek and salted egg.

Mediterranean Mini Pizza

I made a hummus pizza a few days ago and I felt like recreating a sandwich version of the dish with a bunch of Mediterranean ingredients. The problem was that I only had pita bread at home. I could have created a pocket in the bread and stuffed it, but I decided to place the ingredients on top of the pita bread to create a meal that resembled a pizza.

Following the Mediterranean theme, I made a cannellini bean and roasted red bell pepper hummus-like spread and topped it with Greek feta cheese, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, pickled shallot, black olives and marinated artichoke hearts. For the meat lovers out there, I would add some cubes of lamb kebabs.
I'm sure you've heard of 30-minute meals, but this took me 10 minutes, tops. Try this recipe the next time you're in a hurry. Beat that, Rachael Ray!

How To Make Carrot Cake

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups grated carrot
• 1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple, drained
• Cooking spray
• Frosting:
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Additional grated carrot (optional)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, pecans, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine oil and eggs; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated carrot, and pineapple into flour mixture. Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake. Garnish each serving with grated carrot, if desired.

Sweet Tomatoes Jam

The most important thing to do when you are using, Sweet Tomatoes Coupons is to check out the time limit of your coupons. You won’t be able to get the discount you are expecting, if you don’t have the right coupon with it. But it is clearly very simple to make sure of that. Always remember to check out the expire date and you will be just fine. Even though their delicious meals are not that expensive, you can always use a little help to save money. And having your family, your children with you in such a nice friendly place is priceless.

If you are having trouble finding coupons that can actually work or in the time limit you are looking for, just search “Sweet Tomatoes Coupons” on Google and it will be much more easier to find the ones that will work for you.

Vegetables Stir-fry

Few dishes are as simple as the stir-fry, which just requires some basic chopping, a few seasonings and a hot pan. As Martha Rose Shulman explains in this week’s Recipes for Health, the vegetables on sale at the farmers’ market can inspire variations on the recipes offered here.
At the end of summer, the vegetables that I most love to stir-fry are abundant in farmers’ markets: fresh corn, sweet and hot peppers of every color, green beans and eggplant, among others. I buy on impulse, then bring them home and decide on combinations. I match some vegetables with meats like chicken or shrimp, some with tofu, and others I stir-fry on their own.

Don’t be put off by the number of ingredients in some of this week’s recipes. Measure them out whenever it is convenient: a certain amount of contemplative time goes into preparing stir-fries. Once everything is ready, the cooking is done in minutes, so get the rice cooked before you begin and be ready to eat before you turn on the burner.
As always I turn to the stir-fry guru Grace Young for inspiration. Her book, “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge,” is the best guide to the subject I have seen, whatever your level of experience.

Cashew Chicken Cooking

A Chinese-American dish that is growing in popularity is Cashew Chicken. This dish actually originated in the United States in Springfield, Missouri. Cashew Chicken can be found at many Chinese buffets across the country. This recipe for Cashew chicken consists of fried chicken bits with cashews and vegetables in a delicious oyster sauce. I have been using a lot of oyster sauce lately; it is truly becoming an addiction. It has to be one of my favorites Asian sauces. This recipe differs from others and those at the buffets because the chicken is breaded and then deep fried leaving the chicken pieces nice and crispy. The vegetables I added were green peppers, onions and scallions, but you could also add some sliced mushrooms as well if you want. Cashew Chicken is best served on top of white rice. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
2 cups flour
5 teaspoons cornstarch (divided)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 eggs (beaten)
oil (for frying)
Sauce-
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
1 large green pepper (sliced)
1 large onion  (sliced)
2 cups cashews
1/3 cup green onions (chopped)

Best Chicken Wings

Buffalo, garlic Parmesan, lemon pepper…whatever your wing style, there are plenty to be had near your apartment at Ashton Park. Do you know who has Grand Prairie’s best chicken wings? Take look over our list of the top contenders and tell us which one ranks #1 for you.
Texas Style Burgers & Wings: At 1831 Brown Blvd in Arlington, Texas Style Burgers & Wings offers a lot of bang for your buck. While they are known for their burgers, try the wings. You might just find your new favorites here.
Mason Chicken & Seafood: Mason’s is probably best known for their catfish, but don’t underestimate their chicken. While their chicken tenders are the top contenders, we’ve heard good things about the wings. Taste them at 3950 S Carrier Pkwy in Grand Prairie.

Wingstop: Whether you at the Grand Prairie location at 4116 S Carrier Pkwy, or in Arlington at 915 Rd To Six Flags St E, Wingstop is known for their delicious wings. Stop in and try the different sauces on these extra meaty wings.
Who ranks as your number one wing place?