The best food processor you can buy

The Insider Pick:

* Food processors make short work of everything from vegetables and herbs to nuts and grains. They're also great for blending ingredients together for dressings and sauces.
* With a generous 14-cup working bowl, wide feed chute, beefy 720-watt motor, and stainless steel blades, the Cuisinart food processor is our top pick for serious home chefs who want the best food processor.

Of all the rooms in our homes, the kitchen has arguably been transformed the most by the advent of electricity, with electric appliances completely taking over virtually every food-related task from chilling and cooking our meals to making our morning coffee.

One of the unsung heroes of this electronic kitchen revolution is the humble food processor. While not as common as electric ranges and microwaves, a food processor is one of those appliances that will leave you wondering how you ever lived without one. If you regularly cook for multiple people, like to concoct your own sauces and dressings, or need to make healthy homemade baby food for a little one, then this often-overlooked tool can greatly simplify your meal prep.

Whether you're prepping basic meals for your family, cooking for one or two, or whipping up gourmet food for a large crowd, a good food processor can save you a lot of time. We've already done the research to help narrow down the best food processors you can buy from small apartment-friendly food processors to heavy-duty professional-grade units for serious cooks.

Here are the best food processors you can buy:

* Best overall: Cuisinart 14-cup food processor
* Best budget option: Hamilton Beach food processor
* Best hybrid food processor and blender: Ninja Master Prep Professional
* Best for small spaces: KitchenAid Mini food processor
* Best high-end option: Breville Sous Chef food processor

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

HOW FOOD FRAUD CAN GET INTO YOUR KITCHEN

There are protections in place to safeguard the U.S. food supply, but as with sham designer purses and knock off watches, there are billions of dollars to be made with counterfeit cuisine.

Those counterfeit foods include milk, some cheeses and even expensive wine.

In June 2016, there was a massive seizure of counterfeit honey in the Chicago suburbs. Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protections seized 60 tons of fake honey, which is now stored in a government warehouse on the Texas/Mexico border. It was the largest food fraud investigation in U.S. history.

"It's a crime in which a lot of people have made a lot of money smuggling it into the United States," Special Agent Matthew Gauder, Homeland Security Investigations - Chicago.

The illegal honey was from China, some tainted with antibiotics prohibited in food. The lost revenue for taxpayers tallies in the hundreds of millions.

"Honey is not that innocent food we all like to think it is," Gauder said.

"It could be 10 percent of the entire U.S. food supply is fraudulent one way or another," said John Spink, Ph.D., director of the Food Fraud Initiative at Michigan State University.

Spink said the range of fraudsters is wide. Figuring out who's to blame can be difficult, but necessary.

"It's a crime of opportunity it's a crime that is complex so definitely organized crime is involved, but also some of those larger groups are affiliated with other types of crimes such as terrorism," he said.

Many food producers are now under assault by well-organized counterfeiters, costing the taxpayers billions and risking consumer health.

"We've cleaned up the industry a lot, but the schemes keep evolving," Gauder said.

The schemes continue to become more sophisticated, even the paperwork for purity is being faked.

"Something that is concerning for me as an investigator and for you as a consumer is that in recent shipments, including a seizure I made a few months ago, we're seeing fake and altered laboratory reports," he said.

Some popular targets according to USP, a scientific nonprofit, are olive oil diluted with cheaper inedible oils, spices such as paprika and chili powder mixed with cheaper materials or industrial dyes, honey mislabeled and spiked with corn syrup and possibly antibiotics, and seafood switched out for cheaper species.

"There's a good chance, Chuck, that if you order red snapper at a restaurant you are really getting tilapia. If you order tuna or cod, you are probably getting escolar," Gauder said.

Escolar is a fish that can cause stomach problems.

Food crime can also involve substitution and tampering with dangerous chemicals and ingredients that could make consumers sick. Finding the frauds can be difficult. It's a constant battle for investigators across the globe.

A massive Interpol-Europol operation recently claimed to have netted counterfeit sugar contaminated with fertilizer, and Italian olives painted with copper sulfate to enhance color.

Chicago restaurateur David Flom of Chicago Cut Steakhouse and Ocean Cut Seafood is aware of the swindlers.

"It happens a significant amount in our industry, no question about it," he said.

Flom said reputable restaurants now have safeguards in place to guarantee what's on the menu is the real deal. That includes making personal visits to suppliers.

"It's very important who you partner with or who your marriages are within the food business, and that they are very strong. And so we spend a lot of time doing that and researching that," Flom said.

The penalties associated with being caught are small compared to drug trafficking.

"Organized criminals to include the Italian mafia have figured that out. These are crimes that are relatively low risk that come with a high reward," Gauder said.

The FDA said it continually monitors food producers for safety. The Grocery Manufacturers of America told the I-Team that product safety and integrity and maintaining consumer confidence are the most important goals of the industry.

Best practice is for consumers to buy less-processed food, buy local and skip foods priced too good to be true.

It's not just the food - it's how you eat it

The magic of the Mediterranean diet is that it manages to satisfy both chefs and nutritionists. With its bounty of vegetables, fruit, nuts and grains, its garlic and herb seasonings, its luxurious use of olive oil and, of course, good wine, it offers plenty of inspiration for any food lover. There is also solid science pointing to its health benefits: It is well established that the diet lowers bad cholesterol and can dramatically reduce the risk of heart disease, and there is emerging evidence that it may protect brain function as we age, among other benefits.

But as I experienced on a family vacation that took us from Rome to Provence to Barcelona this spring, the culinary and health attributes of the Mediterranean diet go beyond what is traditionally eaten in that region — they are also about how food is eaten and approached there. From what I could see, the lifestyle around eating Mediterranean-style is as valuable as the food itself, so I brought back a few pointers to keep in mind as I settled back into my hectic post-holiday reality and to share with you. The goal is to enjoy a little more of “la dolce vita” here and be healthier for it.

Dietitian Ellie Krieger, Nourish Schools co-founder Casey Seidenberg and certified health education specialist Elaine Gordon offer picks for everything from breakfast to dessert.

Make good food a priority
One thing that really stuck with me from the trip was something our Roman guide said as he led us on a tasting journey of the city's Testaccio section: “There is no word for ‘foodie' in Italian. Food is central to everyone's life here. It's normal to care deeply about food.” Quality and taste are held to a high standard in Italy and throughout the Mediterranean. There is a great respect for the craft of food production, and although dishes are often prepared simply, excellent ingredients are valued and shortcuts that compromise quality shunned. It was an important reminder of the wisdom of moving away from low-quality, hyper-processed foods — which are often laden with unhealthy additives, sodium and sugar — in favor of top-notch ingredients, served close to their source and simply prepared.

Eat seasonally
Artichokes were just out of season when we were there, so although they were on the printed menu at a modest trattoria we went in, they were not being served. In a world where people who can afford it can get just about any ingredient any time of year, it is almost startling to hear, “No, the season's over.” But sticking to seasonal produce connects to the previous point about excellent ingredients. Fruit and vegetables taste best at the height of their season, so get them while the getting's good and then move on. This approach offers built-in variety, providing an array of different flavors and nutrients throughout the year, and it means eating more locally, which is better for the environment.

Savor mealtime
With only one afternoon to spend in Aix-en-Provence, we were told that if we sat down at a restaurant for lunch, even at a simple bistro, not to expect the in-and-out service we are used to in the States. In the Mediterranean, a meal is generally a thing to slow down for, to be savored. Not only is the food valued, so are the rituals and the communal pleasure of eating it together. We opted for a sit-down lunch, which, as promised, took a couple of hours, and we relished every minute of it. It was not only memorably delicious but also a welcome break from chasing around; we were able to truly connect with each other and observe, from our outdoor table, the life of the people around us.

Consider how food makes you feel
Another thing that struck me on this journey was how much attention to good digestion was integrally woven into the Mediterranean way of eating. It is the rationale I was given for many of the traditional eating patterns — serving salad after the entree, having cheese at the end of a meal instead of beforehand and never having a big pizza for lunch or a cappuccino after noon (apparently, espresso is okay, though). I have not seen any research on how these patterns impact digestion, but whether the reasons are valid is beside the point. The takeaway is the value of making decisions based on how a food or meal pattern makes you feel after you have eaten. That kind of awareness, which goes hand in hand with slowing down and savoring your food, can go a long way toward preventing overeating and help keep you feeling good in the short and long run.

Introducing You Panzanella Meets Caesar

I often find myself in a situation where I don’t have much choice about what I can eat. I write and test certain recipes, try specific street food, visit particular restaurants. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying that sometimes, it’s a real novelty to be able to cook whatever I ruddy well feel like. The freezer is stuffed with the ragus and dhals I sweated over on a summer’s day, waiting for autumn when they’ll thaw in a pan after a long day at work, and defrost onto the pages they were destined for.

This salad came about because I was desperate to get as much summery food as I could into my body all at once. I needed the refreshment that only a big bowl of different coloured plant bits can bring, and then while making it decided it was nothing without carbs and a creamy dressing. You can take the girl out of winter.

Panzanella meets Caesar

This is –  you’ve probably guessed already – a hybrid of the Italian bread salad panzanella and Caesar Cardini’s crisp classic. I’ve come up with a dressing which is loosely based on the latter in that it contains anchovies, and a splash of buttermilk for creaminess. Yes I was mining the depths of the fridge. I’ve given quantities for the dressing but not so much for the vegetables as I can’t really remember. Come on though, it’s a salad. Just eyeball it.

For the dressing:

2 garlic cloves, smushed with a tiny pinch of sea salt
3 anchovies, also smushed
1 inch square of Grana Padano or Parmesan, grated
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons buttermilk

For the salad ingredients (although it’s good to mix it up with whatever you have, as long as you keep the bread and capers):

Tomatoes, chopped
Cucumbers, chopped
Spring onions, sliced
Green beans, blanched
Stale sourdough bread, torn into pieces
Capers (a tablespoon?)

Mix salad ingredients. Mix dressing ingredients. Combine together. Ta-da!

How to Make Onion Pinwheels in Several Methods

Kid-friendly kitchen fun
Ham rolls, or pinwheels as most people call them, are a steadfast tradition for many families. They are a quintessential dish at family reunions, holiday gatherings and other special occasions. And they are made even more special if kids are involved in the pinwheel making.
Pinwheels are simple to make and have hundreds of variations! If you haven't made them before, just grab a piece of ham and start rolling. Once you get the technique down, have fun teaching your kids how to do the same.
Basic Ham and Onion Pinwheels
Ingredients:
Rectangle shaped deli-sliced ham
Softened cream cheese-room temperature
Green onions with long stalks
Directions:
Spread the softened cream cheese on one side of a ham slice. Place one of the onions vertically at one end of the ham slice. Roll the ham slice and the onion together lengthwise. Chill the rolls in the refrigerator until the cream cheese becomes firm again. Before serving, slice the rolls crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Place on a platter with extra green onions for garnish.
Ranch Ham and Tortilla Pinwheels
Ingredients:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (.4-ounce) package Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing Mix
2 green onions, minced
4 (12-inch) flour tortillas
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles or 2 fresh jalapenos, minced
1 (2.25-ounce) can sliced black olives (optional)
Directions:
Mix cream cheese, dressing mix and green onions. Spread on tortillas. Drain chiles and olives thoroughly. Sprinkle equal amounts of either or both on top of cream cheese. Roll tortillas tightly. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Cut rolls crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Makes three dozen rolls.

Delicious Popiah

Popiah or Popia is a dish which my mum usually cook during Ching Ming Festival (April). I have yet to learn this dish because it is labourous and demanding. I must say that I am quite biased (and with good reasons) with Popiahs because to me, only mum’s Popiah is the best (and many others say so too). Her Popiah is unlike what is sold commercially as it contains more than 10 ingredients and the vegetables are painstakingly cut into fine slivers (just slightly thicker than a toothpick) rather than going through a shredding tool. It is no wonder then that relatives would “book” a few (or quite a lot) rolls of Popiah whenever they hear that she is making some.
When I asked mum for the recipe for this Popiah, I was stuck actually because mum does not use a measuring type of recipe. Rather, just like how cooking is like second nature, the ingredients and seasoning are a matter of estimates or what we Malaysians call “agak-agak”. Hence, I had to help her to make a rough estimate of the ingredients used to make this delicious dish of Popiah. If you are game for a cooking challenge, try this Popiah recipe especially if you can get your hands on the exact ingredients available. You won’t be disappointed.
This is mum’s recipe for Popiah
Ingredients
Filling (A)
1 bowl belly pork (3 layer pork) (boiled for 5 minutes, cooled and shredded finely)
1 bowl shelled prawns (cut into small pieces)
1 bowl turnip (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1 bowl french beans (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1 bowl carrot (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1/2 bowl cabbage (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1 bowl firm bean curd (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick and deep fried)
1 bowl bamboo shoot (cut into fine slivers just thicker than a toothpick)
1/2 bowl shallots (cut finely)
1/4 bowl garlic (cut finely)
5 tablespoons oil
Seasoning (B)
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
1 teaspoon white pepper powder
4 tablespoons light soya sauce
2 tablespoons brandy
4 large eggs (beaten, fried thinly omelette-style in non-stick pan and cut into thin shreds)
1 cup bean sprouts (tailed and blanched)
1 cup finely shredded cucumber
1 cup pork loin (boiled till cooked, allow to cool and shred finely using fingers)
Lettuce and chinese celery
1 cup peanut sugar (toast peanut in wok till brown, remove peanut skin, ground it till almost fine and mix with sugar on 1 peanut:1/2 sugar ratio)
Sweet flour sauce
Chilli spread (optional. Blend red chilli with garlic)
Popiah skin
Method
Separate the following into 5 equal portions:- pork belly, prawns, shallots, garlic and cooking oil.
Heat 1st portion of oil in wok and fry 1st portion of shallots and garlic till aromatic. Add pork belly and prawns and stir well for 2 minutes. Add turnips and stir till turnips slightly limp. Remove from wok and place in a big pot.
Cook the rest of the ingredients (french beans, carrot, cabbage and bamboo shoots) one by one just like how the turnips were cooked above and layer them in the pot.
After the 5 main ingredients were cooked and layered in the pot, heat up the pot and add the fried bean curd. Add seasoning and mix the ingredients thoroughly. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the ingredients warm till required.
To serve the Popiah, place a piece of Popiah skin on a flat round plate. Spread a teaspoon of sweet flour sauce (and chilli spread if desired) in the centre of the skin and sprinkle some peanut sugar on the sauce. Tear a piece of lettuce and place over the peanut sugar. Using a tablespoon and fork, place 2 to 3 spoonfuls of filling ingredients (A) on top of the lettuce after squeezing out excess gravy. Arrange the ingredients like a sausage / roll. Top with a little fried egg, bean sprouts, cucumber, pork loin and chinese celery. Fold the sides, tuck in firmly then roll up tightly.

Cranberry Applesauce Muffins Recipe

We closed on our house in Iowa this week! We are no longer homeowners. It is nice to officially have that done with and move on with life in Colorado. We are working on plans for the house we are going to build, and we found a lot we want. I am excited to see the plans come together. Can’t wait to have my double ovens, and a giant cook top! In the meantime though I will make yummy treats in my little kitchen here.
I told you back when I made this Cranberry Bread that cranberries were new to me, but I thought I liked them. After making these muffins, I am back on the fence. I think the recipe is a good one, I think it is the tartness of the cranberries that might be too much for me. My 6 year old told me to make a sign for this post that said DO NOT MAKE! I think that is a little much. I think if I had sprinkled some sugar on the cranberries, and let them sit, that would have sweetened them up quite a bit. I will keep trying cranberries, I really do want to like them!
Cranberry Muffins
Adapted from Allrecipes
1 1/4 cups applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
2 Tbls sugar (optional)
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (I did not use)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 12 muffin cups. Combine chopped berries with 2 Tbls sugar. Set aside.
Combine applesauce, oil, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl. In a separate bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add applesauce mixture, and stir until just combined. Fold in the cranberries and nuts.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before removing from pan.

Fried Chicken

It was my birthday over the weekend, and instead of some good beef or other food splurge, I made some fried chicken as the anchor dish for my birthday dinner. A weird choice, I know, but I was just in a fried chicken kind of mood. Not a highly battered KFC style chicken (or its wannabe McDonald’s, Jollibee and other fastfood versions), but an Asian style fried chicken with color, flavor and verve. At its simplest, it would be the marinated chicken parts (in soy sauce, of course) simply fried in (usually) used vegetable oil that we used to eat as kids when there weren’t many fast food chains yet. It would be deeply tanned compared to the paler commercial versions. It would be decidedly Asian fried chicken.
A few months ago, while testing recipes for the restaurant, one of our cooks made a wonderful version that I really liked. But I think I was vetoed by the rest of the panel who opted for the heavily battered version, deep-fried in lard. The latter was okay, but it wasn’t a slam dunk, and judging by customer reactions, I think we should have gone with (MY) gut instinct and opted for the more pinoy one, closer to our own roots and vibe. I will fix that in the weeks ahead and revise the fried chicken recipe. So I have been on the hunt for a suitable version, and while this particular one of David Chang takes it a bit North Asian to Japan, I really liked the early test results we did last week (photos here from trial one) at home. It isn’t a complicated method at all, and the flavors of the sauce are everything I really like. But the recipe will be tweaked to take into account local chickens, flavor profiles, etc.The recipe of Mr. Chang starts of by brining the chicken parts in a sugar and salt water bath for a couple of hours. I have always liked the results of brining poultry and shrimp so I am totally on board on this step. Next the chicken parts are steamed to ensure that they are cooked all the way through and remain rather moist. Timing is a bit tricky here, under steam it and you have uncooked chicken, oversteam it and it gets harder and drier. The chicken is then chilled for several hours before using. Essentially, the last step is to dry the surface areas and to let juices settle back inside the pieces. No rocket science so far — season and juice up the meat, steam to keep it moist. The latter step is whispered as being the same thing that Max’s Fried Chicken does prior to frying as well.
Next the chicken pieces are deep-fried in vegetable oil, we would use our wonderful homemade leaf lard, until golden brown and really appetizing looking. The skin gets blistered and crisp in just 5-7 minutes, but the chicken meat is meant to stay rather moist (though on trial one it was a tad dry). The nice color is apparently partially a result of the sugar that was in the brine and has settled on the meat’s surface, only to transform and caramelize once it hits the hot lard.Drain the fried chicken pieces on paper towels and let them rest for a couple of minutes. Then slice into smaller pieces and douse liberally with what Mr. Change refers to as “octo-vin” or octopus vinaigrette, a mixture of ginger, garlic, chilies, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and seasonings. It’s very Japanese, and similar to what is served with bite-sized pieces of fried chicken in many Japanese restaurants. It’s good. And perfect to dunk crisp pieces of chicken into or to add to one’s steaming hot rice.

Chocolate-Glazed Mocha Shortbread

It's only just the end of October, so you might be wondering why this photo looks like it's all gussied up for Christmas. I usually don't start my holiday baking until the beginning of December, but I am submitting this recipe to Jeanine over at The Baking Beauties for a gluten free e-book of holiday recipes that she is compiling. This is a low carb, gluten free makeover of one of my all-time favourites and I am really excited to share it with you.
Back in our pre-marriage, child-free days in Arizona, my husband and I used to host an annual Christmas dessert/cocktail party. It became bigger and more elaborate every year, with increasing numbers of friends and coworkers in attendance, and me baking far more cookies, bars and cakes than anyone could possibly eat. Each year I tried out different recipes, but the Chocolate-Glazed Mocha Fans from Bon Appetit, December 1999, were always on the table, and they were always a hit. When thinking about holiday cookies that I might tackle for a low carb makeover, these were at the top of my list. If I could be successful in recreating these, I would have a very merry Christmas indeed!
My biggest challenge with this recipe was getting the texture right. Traditional shortbread has a rather dry, crumbly texture, a result of the unique interplay between the flour, fat and sugar. Since I have to remove the flour and the sugar from the equation, I wasn't sure I could pull this off. Fortunately, one of the things that makes shortbread so crumbly is that the large amount of butter inhibits the formation of long gluten strands. Mine wasn't going to have any gluten in it to begin with, so that was one thing going for me!
The Results: I honestly did not expect these to turn out as well as they did. At first, they seemed rather soft and cakey, so I pulled out a trick gleened from a Cook's Illustrated shortbread recipe and continued to dry it out in a low heat oven. It worked like a charm! The flavour is much as I remember from the original recipe, a nice chocolately cookie with hint of coffee. I am sure in a blind taste test, I would probably be able to tell the flour and sugar-filled version from these gluten free ones, but it be a challenge to say which one is better. If anything, mine are a little less sweet, but I think that allows the mocha flavour to shine through a bit more. I am delighted with the results, and happy to know that I can have at least one of my favourite cookies this Christmas.
I will confess that my first attempt at the chocolate glaze was an utter failure. I am not quite sure why, but my chocolate siezed and I couldn't recover it, no matter how hard I tried. I scrapped it altogether and started over with a different technique (no cream, just butter), and got a much better result.
Chocolate-Glazed Mocha Shortbread
Note: I recognize that many people who need or choose to go gluten free do not need to be low carb, so I am including instructions on using sugar instead of alternative sweeteners.
Shortbread:
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/4 cocoa powder
1/4 cup erythritol (or 3/4 cup white sugar)
2 tsp instant coffee granules
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cups butter, softened
1 egg
16 drops stevia extract (omit if using sugar)
Chocolate Glaze:
1 tbsp coconut oil or butter
2.5 oz unsweetened chocolate (or semi-sweet chocolate), chopped
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp powdered erythritol (omit if using semi-sweet chocolate)
1/2 tsp vanilla
8 drops stevia extract (omit if using semi-sweet chocolate)
For the shortbread, preheat oven to 325F and spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond meal, cocoa, erythritol or sugar, coffee, xanthan gum and cream of tartar.
In another bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and stevia extract until smooth. Beat in half of almond meal mixture until combined. Beat in remaining almond meal mixture until the dough begins to clump together.Using a rubber spatula, spread dough in prepared pan. It will be very sticky and difficult to spread, so try to just get it to the edges of the pan. Then take a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap to cover the surface and press more evenly into pan using fingertips.
Bake until firm around edges and slightly soft and puffy in the center, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Gently remove pan sides. With a large sharp knife, cut into 16 wedges.
Gently remove wedges to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Reduce oven temperature to 200F and continue to bake shortbread wedges for another 25 minutes. Turn off oven and let shortbread continue to dry out for 1 hour. Do not open oven door, you do not want the heat to escape.
Remove from oven and let cool completely on pan.
For the glaze, melt coconut oil or butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in cocoa powder and erythritol until no clumps remain. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and stevia extract. Let cool until thickened but still pourable (I hurried this up by placing the pan in the refrigerator). Drizzle over cool shortbread on pan. Chill shortbread until chocolate is firm, about 20-30 minutes.

British And Irish Cuisine

Savoury dumplings made from balls of dough are part of traditional British and Irish cuisine. Dumplings are made from twice the weight of self raising flour to suet, bound together by cold water to form a dough and seasoned with salt and pepper. Balls of this dough are dropped into a bubbling pot of stew or soup, or into a casserole. They sit, partly submerged in the stew, and expand as they are half-boiled half-steamed for ten minutes or so. The cooked dumplings are airy on the inside and moist on the outside. The dough may be flavoured with herbs, or it may have cheese pressed into its centre. The Norfolk dumpling is not made with fat, but from flour and a raising agent. Cotswold dumplings call for the addition of breadcrumbs and cheese, and the balls of dough may be rolled in breadcrumbs and fried, rather than cooked in a soup or stew.
These sour-dough dumplings, when sweetened and made with dried fruit and spices, can be boiled in water to make a dessert. In Scotland, this is called a clootie dumpling, after the cloth. In Dorset, dumplings are often called doughboys, perhaps in reference to the buoys that are used to mark lobster pots around the coast locally.
Italian cuisine
Ravioli and tortellini fit the basic definition of a dumpling: these are pockets of pasta enclosing various fillings (cheese, mushrooms, spinach, seafood, or meat). Instead of being made from a ball of dough, the dough is rolled flat, cut into a shape, filled with other ingredients, and then the dough is closed around the filling. Gnocchi (Spanish: ñoquis, widely adopted in Argentina, Portuguese: nhoque, Slovene: Njoki) is a different kind of Italian dumpling. The word gnocchi literally means "lumps", and they are rolled and shaped from a mixture of egg with potato, semolina, flour, or ricotta cheese (with or without spinach). The lumps are boiled in water and served with melted butter, grated cheese, or other pasta sauces.
Scandinavian cuisine
In Norway, dumplings have a vast variety of names, as the dialects differ substantially. Names include potetball, klubb, kløbb, raspeball, komle, kumle, kompe, kumpe, kodla, kudle, klot, kams, ball, baill, komperdøse, kumperdøse, kompadøs, ruter, ruta, raskekako, risk, klotremat, krumme and kromme. They are usually made from potatoes and various types of flour, and then boiled. Occasionally they contain pork meat, such as bacon, in the middle. In some areas it is common to serve the dumplings with syrup.
In Sweden, potato dumplings mainly have two names. In the northern parts they are usually called Palt, or Pitepalt, and are filled with salted pork and eaten with melted butter and lingonberry jam. In southern Sweden, and Öland, the potato dumpling is called Kroppkaka, and is usually filled with smoked pork, raw onions and coarsely ground pepper, usually served with cream and lingonberry jam. On Öland, the south-eastern coast and in the north the dumplings are made mainly from raw potatoes, whereas in the southern mainland boiled potatoes are mainly in use. Flour dumplings for use in soup are called Klimp.

Moroccan Lamb or Beef Kebabs Recipes

The Middle Eastern Food Kitchen (The home of delicious Middle Eastern Food recipes) invites you to try Moroccan Lamb or Beef Kebabs (Brochettes) recipe. Enjoy cooking delicious, tasty, & easy Moroccan food and learn how to make Moroccan Lamb or Beef Kebabs (Brochettes).
Tender, flavorful cuts of meat work best for these easy, tasty kebabs. Try using leg of lamb or beef steak fillets.
Serve Moroccan kebabs as an entrée, as part of a multi-course meal, or as a sandwich filler in crusty Moroccan bread or pita-like batbout. Tomato and Roasted Pepper Salad is a popular accompaniment.
Serves four to six as a main course. Well suited for entertaining or special occasions.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
1 kg (2 lb. 3 oz.) leg of lamb or beef fillet, cut into 3/4" cubes
1 medium onion, finely choppped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover with plastic, and leave the lamb or beef to marinate for several hours in the refrigerator.
Transfer the meat to skewers and grill or broil on medium-high heat about 6 or 7 minutes on each side, or until the meat tests done to your preference. Serve immediately.

Tips For Chinese Roast Pork

My mother-in-law made some chinese roast pork when we were in Kuching for the Chinese New Year. Chinese roast pork here refers to siew yuk (in cantonese) or sio bak (in hokkien). With a crispy crackling roasted skin and semi-tender meat, you can be assured of spoonfuls after spoonfuls of rice to go with it. No wonder I put on weight over Chinese New Year!
In Malaysia, there are many roast pork rice stalls around. It is very popular. A plate of white / fragrant rice with a few cuts of these roast pork and a couple of pieces of sliced cucumbers can cost about USD1.00 on the average depending where you go to. Very cheap, right? Absolutely.
This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Chinese Roast Pork and the measurements are approximate only because she cooks it more by feel than using a strict recipe to follow.
Ingredients
1 piece of pork belly weighing approximately 1 kg
3 tablespoons of coarse / rock salt
2 tablespoons of fine salt
1 tablespoon of five-spice powder
Method
Clean pork belly and pat dry with kitchen towel. Rub fine salt and five-spice powder on meat. Rub coarse salt on skin.
Heat up oven at gas mark 4 (about 180 degrees celcius). Place pork belly on a rack with a tray underneath to catch dripping oil. Roast the pork belly for at least 30 minutes and until the coarse salt crystalises just like in the picture above.
Remove the salt crystals and continue to roast till the skin is crispy. (Alternatively, what my mother-in-law did was to remove the pork belly and fry the pork belly in a wok with skin-downwards and without oil on medium heat till the skin turned crispy)
I have heard of some of the chinese roast pork recipe which called for the pork belly skin to be poked with a sharp knife so as to enable the fat to ooze out faster during roasting. You can try this additional step as well prior to rubbing the coarse salt.