Friday, December 18, 2009

Cooking With Gas

A FRIEND OF MINE tells the story of an amazing salesperson who worked with him at a barbeque retailer. Barbeques are usually an emotional purchase for males. A man might struggle in the kitchen, but don't try to tell him that he can't master the barbeque.

If a man was to shop alone in this retail outlet, he might be afraid to come home with a large purchase (it's not easy to hide a barbeque), so he takes his wife along, for purchase approval. The wife's role is to keep the husband's desire to spend in check.

My friend's sales colleague knew how to play the game. He'd wait until a husband and wife approached a barbeque before starting any dialogue. After a minute or two, he'd approach and ask what the couple wanted in a barbeque.

The husband would say something like, "Just to cook sausages and steaks for family and friends". His wife would nod in agreement.
The salesman would then ask deeper questions like, "Have you ever roasted food on a barbeque before?"

"No," the husband would reply, looking at his wife. They were now curious, wondering how on earth you roast food on a barbeque. The salesman would show them where to place the baking tray, how to control the burners so that the heat would cook around the roasting meat; how adding hickory chips could give the meat a smokey flavour and how the hood had a temperature gauge. Next he pointed out a rotisserie, explaining how you could cook chickens just like the take-away shops. The husband was amazed, imagining the banquets he could create.

"Do you cook stir fries?" the salesman asked the wife. "Sure," she said.

Next, while the husband was still dreaming about chicken banquets, the salesman showed the wife how to use a wok in the side burner. When the husband snapped out of his little daydream, the wife was off in her own fantasy, dreaming about stir fries. While this was going on, the familiar smells of summer feasts-sausages, steaks, and onion-filled the air. (The store manager had allowed the local scout group to cook a barbeque in the foyer of the store to raise money.) The dreams became real, aided by the sense of smell and the sounds of a sizzling grill. The husband and wife were sold. They'd come in looking for a basic three burner barbeque, but walked away with four burners and all the extras too, including a roasting hood, rotisserie, side burner, cover and a bag of hickory chips.

It didn't end there. After he'd broken their defensive mechanisms and established their decision to buy, the salesman continued. "How will you clean your barbeque?" he asked.

"With warm soapy water I guess," the husband said.

The salesman stared back as if in shock, explaining, "Mate...cast iron plus soapy water equals rust."

"How can we avoid that?" the husband asked.

"Use a cleaning pack like this one," the salesman said.

Then out came a gas gauge for detecting gas bottle leaks and a bag of fat absorbers to reduce the number of fat fire flare ups.

The final docket read:
Barbeque $399.00
Roasting Hood $150.00
Rotisserie $49.99
Side Burner $149.99
Fat Absorber $7.99
Cleaning Pack $39.99
Gas Bottle $59.99
Gas $4.99
Gas Gauge $19.99
Hickory Chips $12.99
Total $894.92

On average this salesman led each couple to spend more than double the barbeque's base price on added value items.

How did all this come about?

The retailer trained their salespeople to ask deep questions about the total use of the barbeque. Poorly trained salespeople sell only the barbeque, assuming that it's all the customer wants. Most customers have an issue, problem or need they want solved. Asking deeper questions exposes what the customer is really after. In this case the husband wanted to show off a new toy and the wife wanted to be more involved in the barbeque experience. (Instead of being stuck in the kitchen preparing salads, she can now cook roasts and stir fries.)

The retailer packaged a total in-store experience including all the sounds, smells, and accessories of a real barbeque experience. This engages customers so much more than simply seeing a shiny new product.
Your business must find out your customers' needs and develop a package of solutions. At Harvey Norman, our computer store success came when we developed a one-stop shop where customers can buy all their computer hardware, software and peripherals.

If you sell home loans, your customer more than likely has a car loan, so why not offer service in that area as well? As long as it doesn't dilute your main offer, offer your channel additional value.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

NuWave Oven Pro: A Return to Dinnertime

When our family economics dictated that I go back to work, many things changed in our household. The one that bothered me the most was my inability to continue to cook a supper that our family could sit down to and really enjoy. Dinnertime was always special to us. Maybe we’re just old fashioned, but it was a time that we all came together and rehashed the events of the day...good or bad. My new job quickly took the home cooking aspect away from our evening meals, and eventually we all began eat microwaved dinners or fast foods in front of the TV.

When I voiced my loss of family time concerns to my mother, she reminded me of the NuWave Oven Pro she bought years ago after seeing the commercial on an AS SEEN ON TV spot. I located the product on the internet, bought it and want to share a little of my cooking experience.

THE OVEN PRO
In case you’ve not heard of it, the NuWave Oven Pro is a counter top cooking unit that utilizes infrared, conduction and convection to defrost and cook. Because it uses all three cooking methods, foods are cooked in a much shorter time. Meats are more moist and juicy than if cooked in a regular oven, and not only is the meat more tender, but the outside can be made crispy brown as well. Side benefits are lowered energy costs because of less cooking time, less fats and oils because of the built in drip pan and very easy clean up.

FAVORITE DISHES
The Oven Pro comes with some great recipes that are just right for a family on the go. I’ve used it to cook chicken, BBQ ribs, fish and even a turkey this past Thanksgiving. I bought all the attachments including the extender ring that gives it more cooking height, so the 10 lb. turkey fit just fine. I followed the directions, and in 2.5 hours I had a beautiful golden brown turkey that was cooked to perfection. Another favorite is corn on the cob. It’s so much better than the traditionally boiled corn..and quicker too!

TOGETHER AGAIN
So now most days I’m able to gather the family together again at suppertime for a real home cooked meal. The NuWave Oven Pro has been a joy to use; great tasting, healthy meals prepared in very little time. Including shipping, I guess I spent around $185. for everything. It comes with a pizza rack, recipe book, directions, instruction disk, two blenders and I bought the extender ring extra. This little oven has been well worth the dollars in time saved in the kitchen, and its allowed us to regain our togetherness at the supper table for a healthy meal. You really can’t put a price on that!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Tips to enjoy authentic Indian food

Are you planning to enjoy eating authentic Indian food in restaurant? In that case, there are certain aspects of the food and services that you should take into account to avoid embarrassment of ending up eating a wrong food served with unfriendly service.

There are many restaurants in London or in any city to serve you food from the subcontinent. But not all of them are necessarily good enough to serve a cuisine of your choice. They can also be rated differently on their record of service.

Authentic Indian food is the one that is cooked in keeping with the traditional methods of India. Such cuisines are prepared with traditional ingredients like certain vegetables and spices as well as milk and meat based products.

If you are first timer to the Indian food then we suggest that you should not opt for the restaurants that are too experimenting with the cuisines. The chefs in these restaurants tend to corrupt the original taste and aroma of any dish by bringing in some foreign ingredients and cooking method to it. Such cuisines may taste great, but you will miss original taste of the dish.

When sitting across the table in one of the restaurants in London to enjoy authentic Indian food, take your time to go through the menu. The Indian food menu is usually extensive because of varieties of offerings. You will find plenty of choices to make in appetizers, main course vegetable or meat based dishes and deserts. Many of the dishes are known by their main ingredients. So, you can choose the cuisines as per your liking of the ingredients.

It is a common belief that Indian cuisines are prepared in hot spices. While that is true, not all of the cuisines have hot spices. Many of the dishes, in fact, are cooked in lesser amount of spices. You can even order for preparing of the cuisines in fewer spices that are not hot in your mouth and stomach.

Find out all the details about the restaurant of your choice on Internet. You can have a glimpse of the food and services on such restaurant’s website. Do not visit the place without booking the table and knowing about their specialty dishes that you would like to have while enjoying authentic Indian food.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Christmas Dinner Menus: Your Top Four Christmas Dinner Ideas

Are you trying to finalize what you will be making for Christmas dinner, but you can't decide among different Christmas dinner menus? Are you looking to cook something for Christmas that you will enjoy both making and eating? Read this article for our top 3 Christmas dinner ideas, that will help you prepare a Christmas dinner that everyone will enjoy!

Here are the four Christmas dinner ideas to help you cook a great Christmas dinner:

- Christmas Turkey. Turkey is not just for Thanksgiving! Many people cook turkey for Christmas - it is going to make a great part of your Christmas dinner menu and it will look great on your Christmas table!

Make sure to buy a turkey that will feed everyone at the table. Roasting the turkey is usually how everyone prepares it. Once you have decided on using turkey for your Christmas dinner, you will need to decide on your side dishes and dessert, and you will have your Christmas dinner menu ready!

- Other Poultry, Including Chicken, Duck and Goose. What if you don't want to make turkey for Christmas, because you just made a turkey for Thanksgiving? But what if you still want to serve poultry for your Christmas dinner? No problem! You still have lots of poultry choices for your Christmas dinner!

You can choose from chicken, duck or a goose for your dinner. Any one of these items will be great on your Christmas dinner table.

- Christmas Ham. If you have been looking at different Christmas dinner menus, and you do not want to cook a Christmas turkey, then consider making Christmas ham instead. A lot of people have made turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, and they want to cook something different, so they make a Christmas ham instead of the turkey.

A lot of people serve ham for Christmas, because it is fairly easy to make, and the Christmas ham always tastes great. So if you like ham, or if you are just not interested in cooking poultry for your Christmas dinner, a fabulous Christmas ham is going to make a great Christmas dinner!

- Christmas Cookies. Once you have looked at many different Christmas dinner menus, and finally figured out your own, including your main dish, your side dishes and the vegetables that you are going to serve, you will be faced with one more choice. This choice is going to be what to serve for dessert for your Christmas dinner.

How about great tasting Christmas cookies for dessert? Bake Christmas cookies, or ask your guests to bake cookies and bring them to dinner. A great assortment of different Christmas cookies will make a fabulous Christmas dinner dessert!

Monday, December 7, 2009

The Basics Of Cooking BBQ Ribs

To cook up great ribs, first you will need to peel the papery membrane off the back of the rack of ribs. It’s a little tricky if you’re not sure what you are looking for, but all over the surface of the back of the ribs there a this thin membrane. You can use a tine of a fork or something similar to seperate the membrane, and then just peel it off.

Next thing is to rinse the ribs with cold water and dry with a paper towel. Then put the ribs in a large baking dish. Put in enough apple cider to cover the ribs. Let it marinade for at least 3 hours, up to 24 hours.

setup your grill for indirect cooking (if you have charcoal then put 1 small pile of lit coals on one side of the grill, place a 2nd pile of lit coals on the opposite end). If you have a 2+ burner gas grill then just light one of the burners. The goal is to have it so the ribs don’t cook directly over the coals (or burner)

Place the ribs on the grill (not over the coals or burner) Every 1/2 hour or so spray the ribs down with apple cider to keep them nice and moist. The ribs will take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to cook. during the last 1/2 hour baste the ribs heavily with your favorite BBQ sauce.

Once your done do a final basting. (I often see people start out by putting BBQ sauce on the ribs before cooking, then they wonder why the ribs come out burnt really fast. It’s because the sugar in the BBQ burns, not the ribs)

You will know the ribs are done when the meat peels back from the bone about 1/4 inch.

You can also use wood smoke and smoke the ribs while you are grilling. I always use hickory.

The above is pretty darn basic, but should net you some tasty KC style ribs with a good consistancy.

Sometimes during the last 1/2 when I put BBQ sauce on, I then wrap the ribs in aluminum foil and let then finish in there. That will keep the ribs really moist (but not too moist)

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Mumbo Jumbo BBQ Chilli Chicken Wings

3 pounds fresh jumbo chicken wings
2 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 (18-ounce) bottle Teriyaki Barbecue Sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoon Liquid Smoke Seasoning*
6 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch piece fresh ginger root, grated
8 Habanero chile peppers, finely chopped**
4 Serrano chile peppers, finely chopped**
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish

* Liquid Smoke Seasoning can be found near the barbecue sauce section in most grocery stores.

** Always wear gloves when working with hot chile peppers (fresh, dried or roasted chiles). Never touch your eyes when working with chiles. Gloves will protect your hands, but the capsaicin in the chile pepper sticks to all it touches, and if you touch near your eyes it will burn. Rinse well with copious amounts of water.

Cut off the tip of each chicken wing and discard it. Cut the wing in half (cutting at the joint) to make two pieces. Wash and dry the chicken wings (they need to be very dry); Place wings in a large bowl and set aside.

To prepare sauce: In a non-stick saucepan over low heat, add Worcestershire Sauce, Teriyaki Barbecue Sauce, honey, Liquid Smoke, garlic, ginger, habanero and serrano chile peppers, and horseradish. Simmer mixture for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Cover the chicken wings with 3/4 of the hot sauce, gently stirring to coat evenly. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate approximately 12 to 24 hours to marinate them.

When ready to cook, Preheat barbecue grill to LOW (spray grill with vegetable-oil cooking spray).

Remove chicken wings from the sauce an place on the prepared grill. Cover barbecue with lid, open any vents, and cook 45 to 60 minutes over LOW HEAT or until a meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (juices will run clear when cut with the tip of a knife); turning and basting several times.

Serve hot with the remaining sauce on the side.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Jalapeno Garlic BBQ Chicken Wings with Roquefort Dressing

Makes 2/3 cup, or enough marinade for 20 wings.
If you are making more than 20 wings, double the recipe.

Marinade

• 2 tablespoons margarine, milk-free, corn-free; or olive oil
• ½ cup onion, finely chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons canned jalapenos, diced
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions

In skillet, add margarine or olive oil and heat. Add onions and cook 2 minutes or until transparent. Add garlic, and cook 30 more seconds. Add rest of the ingredients, cook for 3 minutes. Cool.

Place mixture into food processor and pulse until smooth.
Make one day ahead for flavors to blend.


Chicken Wings Cooking Instructions

• 20 Prepared Chicken Wings
• Jalapeno Garlicky Marinade


Directions

--- Preheat oven to 400°.
--- Cover with foil one 9 by 13 inch baking dish and one 8 by 8 baking dish. (If you are doubling the recipe, use two 9 by 13 baking dishes). Lightly grease the foil. Place chicken wings in baking dish. Brush one half of marinade on one side of the chicken wings. Place in oven and cook 25 minutes. Take baking dishes out, turn chicken wings over, and brush on remaining marinade. Cook for another 20 minutes or until done. Remove from oven.

---Place on dish that can be kept warm and serve with Roquefort Dressing.


Roquefort Dressing
Makes 1½ cups

• 2 tablespoons Roquefort Cheese, crumbled (sheep cheese)
• ½ cup mayonnaise (contains eggs)
• ½ cup sour cream substitute (contains soy)
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

--- Mix all ingredients together in bowl.
--- Using the back of a spoon, smash the Roquefort Cheese against the side of the bowl. This will remove clumps of cheese.
--- Mix well.
--- Make one to two days ahead.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Caribbean Grilled BBQ Chicken Wings

INGREDIENTS:

Jerk marinade (your favorite) 3 cups
Garlic, chopped 3 Tbsp
Thyme, fresh chopped 1 Tbsp
Allspice, ground 1 tsp
Water 1 cup
Scallions, sliced 1/8" 4 Tbsp
Chicken Wings whole, thawed 5 pounds
Jerk Seasoning Dry* as needed

MARINATING METHOD

Add the jerk marinade, garlic, thyme, allspice, water, and scallions in a large bowl and mix well using a whip to evenly combine the ingredients. Add the chicken wings to the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf.
Tips

* Make sure the chicken wings are fully thawed this helps the chicken to fully absorb the marinade.

* Marinate the chicken wings for 18 to 24 hours before cooking. The longer the marinating time, the more flavorful the wings will become.

Method

After marinating is complete, remove the wings from the marinade and place in a clean bowl. Lightly season the wings with the dry jerk seasoning and lay on a sheet pan with the wing tips face down. Bake the wings at 350ºF for 20 - 25 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove from the oven and place in the refrigerator to chill to 40ºF.
Tips

* Make sure the wings are drained well after being removed from the marinade or the seasoning will not fully adhere to the wings.

* The wings are cooked with the wing tips face down, to allow more even cooking and removal of excess fat from the chicken skin.

* By pre-cooking the wings this prevents flare-ups on the grill during the final grilling procedure

GRILLING PROCEDURE

Heat your gas or charcoal grill to medium heat. Place the chilled wings on the grill and grill for 2 ½ - 3 minutes on each side. The skin of the wings should develop a crisp texture and a mahogany like color. Make sure the wings are fully heated to 165ºF.

Tips:

* Wings can also be placed on the grill directly from the oven to express the cooking process.

* Allspice or pimento leaves can be placed on the grill during the grilling process to give the wings a light smoked flavor.