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Ginger cream scones are a delicious treat that are a lot easier to prepare than you might think. Learn about making ginger cream scones with help from a trained chef in this free video clip.
Raw vegan banana bread is a great treat that is sure to please the whole family. Find out how to cook raw vegan banana bread with help from a health educator and raw vegan chef in this free video clip.
Homemade biscuits are easy to make and, most importantly, delicious in every way. Learn about a quick and easy homemade biscuit recipe with help from a professional cook in this free video clip.
The key to not burning banana bread lies within a few specific techniques. Learn how to not burn banana bread with help from a therapist and wellness chef in this free video clip.
Just because you took banana bread out of the oven too early doesn't necessarily mean you can't serve it. Find out if you can serve banana bread that you took out of the oven too early with help from a therapist and wellness chef in this free video clip.
Banana bread recipes typically call for butter or some type of other fat. Learn if you can use extra bananas in banana bread instead of butter with help from a therapist and wellness chef in this free video clip.
Banana nut bread is a healthy treat that you can make right in the comfort of your very own kitchen. Get the banana nut bread recipe with help from a therapist and wellness chef in this free video clip.
Tropical banana bread is a lot easier to make than one might think. Make tropical banana bread with help from a therapist and wellness chef in this free video clip.
Flaxseed muffins are high in fiber and low in carbohydrates, making them a healthier alternative to traditional breakfast muffins. You can make the recipe sweet or savory and add your favorite fruit, berries or spices for a different flavored muffin each morning. A hectic lifestyle means you may be tempted to skip breakfast or grab an unhealthy snack, but an all-in-one microwave muffin recipe allows you to enjoy a quick, low-carb breakfast that's ready in under five minutes, including preparation time.
Bananas are harvested green; after harvest they begin to ripen immediately. As the banana ripens, the starch gradually converts to sugar. The banana turns from green to yellow, and eventually to brown. A ripe, brown banana is sweet, smooth and just right for making banana bread. Although the natural ripening process requires several days, you can speed up the process and ripen even the greenest bananas in fewer than two days.
Zucchini bread is a great way to get rid of unwanted zucchini. Find out how you can make your own zucchini bread with help from a professional chef in this free video clip.
Give your classic cornbread a fruity facelift or a pepper-jack punch this holiday season. Louisa shows you how to put your own unique twist on this staple side dish by adding whatever spicy, cheesy or sweet treats fits your fancy.
For much of the country autumn is the time when the weather cools down and the leaves change color. It is also the time when many root vegetables come into season. Farms harvest squash and pumpkins during these cooler fall months. If you think that pumpkin is only good for a pie on Thanksgiving, remember that you can make pumpkin-flavored foods throughout the year using canned product. Try this visual spin on a classic which incorporate both pumpkin and food coloring for a brown pumpkin bread.
High tea is an English social institution, albeit a commonly misunderstood one. High tea time originated as a moment to decompress from daily stresses before the evening meal and, as opposed to serving the tea on the low, or short, table used for noon tea, it was served at the taller, or high, dinner table. Regardless of origin, high tea is commonly associated with a simple, elegant, one or two course meal finished with a light dessert. Whether served at a tall or short table, or at noon or a couple hours before dinner, light desserts work best with high…
Amish friendship bread is a starter bread (meaning made from a live yeast starter) that takes 10 days to make. Even though it is called Amish friendship bread, there is nothing that directly ties the recipe or process to the Amish people. Part of the name is derived from the fact that once the starter is made initially, it is usually shared with other people who can make their own bread or cake from it and pass the starter on to others. Although traditionally made with boxed instant pudding, there are variations of the recipe that can be made as…
Bananas are sometimes maddening to the consumer who is waiting for them to ripen. It seems the bananas ripen just when it's inconvenient to eat them for one reason or another, or else they all ripen at once and turn black before you have a chance to eat them. Bananas, among other fruits, expel ethylene gas, a growth hormone which causes them to grow at a more rapid rate. Trapping the ethylene gas in a small enclosed space amplifies the effect, speeding up the ripening process.
Amish friendship bread requires traditional Amish starter. Similar to a sourdough starter, Amish starter needs nurturing, feeding and regular maintenance to keep it healthy and ready for use. Once you receive an Amish starter or create your own, understanding how to maintain and feed it, ensures that you have starter ready any time you want to bake a loaf of friendship bread.
Bananas taste great blended into smoothies, sliced over cereal, baked into bread or even mixed into pancakes. They are high in potassium and are a naturally fat-free and filling snack. Green bananas have less sugar, but many people do not like the starchy taste of green bananas. Fortunately, you can ripen bananas quickly at home. Since most ripe fruits give off ethylene gas, take advantage of this gas by ripening your green bananas in a paper bag with other ripe fruits.
If you look for manufacturer's coupons and search for grocery store specials, you may be able to buy canned biscuits for almost nothing. When this happens many frugal shoppers buy as many cans of biscuits as possible and freeze them for later use. Place cans of biscuit dough into the coldest part of your freezer to freeze them rock-solid, then store them frozen until a couple of days before you plan to use them.
There's nothing like fresh waffles straight out of a waffle iron. But if you don't have an iron or the time to make waffles from scratch, sometimes a frozen waffle will do the trick. Most people crisp and warm frozen waffles in a toaster. But if you prefer softer waffles, heat them up in the microwave. Just be careful not to leave them in for too long to or they will get tough.
Eating freshly baked muffins is one of the simple pleasures in life. This pleasure can be short-lived if your baked treats have become stuck to the muffin pans. There are techniques that can prevent muffins from sticking, but these are of little assistance if sticking has already occurred. If your muffins are presently not coming out of their pans, all is not lost. Before you throw out the entire batch and start all over, try some simple steps to help salvage all of your hard work.
A green bunch of bananas ripens slowly if left on the counter at room temperature, but you might not be able to wait for them to fully ripen naturally. Bananas produce ethylene gas as they age and become more mature. This gas speeds the ripening process so the bananas are ready to eat sooner. Trapping the ethylene gas around the bananas as they ripen speeds the process so the bananas develop their best flavor and texture more quickly.
Amish friendship bread is a cross between a quick bread and a sourdough bread. It is like quick bread in that it can contain ingredients such as milk, cinnamon and nuts, but the similarity stops there, for there's nothing "quick" about friendship bread---it can take more than a week to make the friendship bread sourdough starter. Luckily, this starter can be halved along with the rest of the recipe. Unlike with halved yeast bread recipes, this ensures that the rising agent is still in proportion with the rest of the bread's ingredients.
When cooking wheat, it is essential to boil it properly to ensure a finished product that is both nutritious and palatable. While all wheat grows as grass and classified as a grain, the various kinds of wheat require different grain to water proportion and cook time. Cooking wheat in a double boiler requires no stirring and will cook evenly throughout.
If you want moist cornbread that doesn't crumble easily, the key is to add a lot of moist ingredients to the batter. Not only do these add moisture to the cornbread, they also impart flavor or help to enhance the natural flavors. Cornbread is an ideal complement to a hearty Southern meal, and no two home recipes are the same.
You try to get fruits into your diet as much as possible, but sometimes all you really want is a decadent dessert. Luckily, frozen bananas can be made into a variety of delicious and healthy treats. Packed with potassium, fiber and vitamin B, bananas are a nutritious ingredient in recipes that everyone will love.
Date palms are believed to have originated in the region around the Persian Gulf, and have been grown by humans for more than 6,000 years. This long history of cultivation has resulted in at least 1,500 different varieties that are now grown in dry climates around the world. Most of the dates ripen fully on the tree, but occasionally some fall off before they reach full maturity. These can be collected and brought to full ripeness so that no fruit goes to waste.
Biting into a moist, fluffy muffin with fresh blueberries baked in adds to the enjoyment of any morning meal or snack. Dry muffins can destroy this joy because the consistency falls flat from the rough texture around the exterior and parts of the inside. A few different factors can affect the quality of your muffins, but thankfully you can prevent dry muffins from destroying your breakfast by following a few simple steps.
Many different recipes for cornbread exist due to personal tastes, but almost all contain cornmeal, which gives it a yellow hue. The addition of baking powder helps the cornbread rise, and adding Bisquick makes it light and fluffy instead of dry and crumbly. Bisquick contains flour, shortening and other baking products that many cooks use to create biscuits, pancakes and dough. Serve your moist cornbread warm with a favorite soup or enjoy it by itself.
Preparing a unique vegetable for a side dish or appetizer adds appeal and imagination to a dish. Okra is indigenous to Africa, was cultivated by ancient Egyptians and then brought to America during slave trade. This pod vegetable is a common ingredient in Cajun, Creole, Caribbean and Southern fare. Add roasted okra to dishes you want to thicken, such as gumbos, stews and soups, or eat it whole.
EKCO is a baking pan company began by Edward Katzringer in 1880. This company and others like it, produce non-stick baking dishes for the home cook and the professional chef. One of the top sellers for baking companies is mini muffin pans. Each of these pans produces 24 smaller muffins as opposed to the typical 12 regular-sized muffins you can make with a standard pan. Using a non-stick muffin pan for baking makes removing your finished muffins effortless. If you've bought a second-hand pan at a bakeware swap or yard sale or simply lost your directions, you'll need a primer.
Okra, scientific name abelmoschus esculentus moench, is a member of the botanical Mallow family, which contains various plants and fruits like the marshmallow and the durian. Most of these species are indigenous to various parts of Africa and are often used for medicinal and culinary purposes. Okra is perhaps best known as an ingredient in gumbo.
Okra is a staple of Southern, Caribbean and West African cooking, but many people are turned off by the slime it secretes. The slime produced by this mucilage is perfectly safe to consume, but the texture is unpleasant to some. There are several methods of cooking okra to reduce the sliminess. Long cooking, like in gumbo, dissolves the mucus. But for quick cooking methods like frying, there are some steps you can take to combat the goo.
You can quickly turn green bananas into overripe bananas, useful for making banana bread and other sweet treats as the ripening process converts starch into sugar and intensifies the flavor. By trapping ethylene gas, naturally emitted during ripening, in a bag containing the green bananas, you speed the process along. Within one day the color changes; by day two you find overripe bananas in the bag.
The Amish are a fundamentalist religious sect prevalent in parts of Pennsylvania that eschew modern conveniences and attempt to live in the same manner as their forebears. The Amish are typically involved in agriculture and chicken raised on Amish farms has become popular with chefs and consumers seeking an alternative to poultry raised on large-scale factory farms.
The Amish movement branched off of the Mennonite faith in Europe around the mid 17th century because they felt the Mennonites had lost discipline. From the 18th century, a number of Amish settled in the United States, predominantly in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. The Amish live simply and preserve the rural culture of late 17th century Europe. This way of life is reflected in the food they eat and the preparations they make for their meals.
Strawberries make a delightful and healthy addition to a wide variety of foods such as salads, juices, desserts and pastries. If you happen to run out of strawberries or do not enjoy adding strawberries to recipes, you can substitute them with blueberries instead. Blueberries are equally succulent, flavorful and nutritious, and add an intense, purple tinge to foods.
Okra is a vegetable that is known for its slimy consistency and hairy external texture. Despite the unappealing sound of it, okra is commonly used in southern cooking and is a delicacy when fried in cornmeal or flour. If you are looking for a way to fry okra without the breading, get your pans ready for a stove-top fry where your main ingredients include okra and canola oil.
More than 5,000 years ago, ancient people cultivated wheat, harvested it, ground it using a pestle and mortar then mixed it into flour. Once in this form, these ancient people would bake loaves of bread to feed their families. Pictorials from every civilization throughout history show people using millstones, harvesting wheat and baking bread. Bread has been a commodity for centuries, feeding the nobles and royalty until the 19th century when people began adding fruit and nuts to their recipes -- creating an onslaught of possibilities for bakers around the world.
Oil is an important ingredient in a recipe. It plays a key role in the food's texture and flavor. For a more healthful version of the recipe with less fat, other ingredients can be used in place of oil, but the final product may have a slightly different taste and texture. Several fruits and vegetables can take the place of oil in your favorite recipes. Yogurt or cottage cheese may also work as a substitute. In some cases, other elements of the recipe will have to be adjusted along with the amount of oil. Be prepared to do some experimenting.
Replacing oil with applesauce shaves calories and fat from baked desserts like muffins, quick breads, brownies and cookies. However, fat plays an integral role in determining the shape, flavor and texture of your baked goods. Leaving it out altogether isn't a good idea because oil helps prevent over stimulation of the gluten in the flour. Though the sugar found in applesauce acts a bit like oil in this regard, it doesn't have quite the same effect. You can experiment to find an applesauce:oil ratio that produces a recipe to suit you.
Mixing a cake can be done according to many recipes, but when you're short on time a quick mix method could be best. Quick mix methods produce cakes that are light and airy, yet still strong enough to be cut into layers for filling. The key for any quick mix cake is to use the proper fats for the recipe to keep it moist.
Tropical mangoes have a succulent orange flesh loaded with vitamin C, potassium and beta carotene. This "super fruit" belongs to the Mangifera family and can be yellow, green, red or even multicolored. This oval-shaped fruit takes a month to three months to ripen on the tree. Once harvested, mangoes continue to ripen unless refrigerated. Ripened fruit smells faintly fruity and feels slightly soft to the touch.
Biscuits are bread made from flour, baking powder, salt, and butter or shortening. They are baked and eaten alongside many types of southern-style dishes. The biscuit mix, however, is very versatile. The mix can be the basis of other dishes from main courses to desserts. You can actually find the dry mix prepared and boxed (or bagged) on store shelves. Some recipes call for the prepared biscuit dough while others begin with the dry mix.
Corn muffins are small, individual servings of cornbread baked in muffin tins and eaten as bread or used as a base or topping for casserole ingredients. Corn muffin mixes contain all but the liquid ingredients, a convenience for any busy cook. Some mixes have a sweet taste, while others are more savory.
Hush puppies, also called corn dodgers, are oblong cornmeal dumplings fried crisp in oil. They are conventionally served as a side dish for fried fish, usually catfish, and have culinary roots in the Southern regions of the United States. Acquiring a crisp, golden crust on the puppy concurrent with thoroughly cooking the interior is the greatest challenge of the frying process.
The Amish are known for living the simple life -- a slower pace than the rest of today's fast-paced, technology-connected world. They're also known for their sense of community and delicious recipes that date back generations. Amish friendship bread captures all those aspects of Amish culture. But be patient. This creation takes 10 days from start to finish.
The earliblue blueberry is a plump, light berry from the high-bush earliblue tree. Earliblue trees are as tall as people in contrast to the shrub-like bushes on which some berry varieties grow. The berry has low seeds compared to most others. Its flavor is sweet but mild, without much sharpness. Its sweetness means that it works well in raw as well as cooked treats. Earliblues come to fruition in late June, earlier than most varieties.
Okra, also called lady's fingers or gumbo, is a small green vegetable featured in cuisines around the world. It is especially popular in South Asia in spicy curry mixes, or made into the rich gumbo stew in the southern USA. Okra is a very nutritious vegetable, high in vitamin C and calcium, but it has one drawback. When cooked improperly, okra becomes a slimy, sticky mess. So if you are going to fry some okra, you've got to know the right way to go about it.
Quick breads are breads that rise quickly due to the inclusion of baking soda or baking powder. Quick breads don't have to be breads. Muffins, pancakes and other bread-like products can also be considered quick breads. The key ingredients in making a moist quick bread are buttermilk, baking soda and applesauce. The baking soda reacts chemically with the acids in the buttermilk and applesauce to help make the quick bread moist, while retaining a sturdy structure.
