Time for some recipes

Sloppy Joes and Cheese Fries

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1 cup chopped onions
6 ounce can tomato paste
15 ounce can tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 hamburger buns

1. Saute the onions until they turn translucent.

2. Add the meat and brown

3. In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste, tomato sauce, lemon juice, sugar and garlic powder.

4. Pour over the browned meat and let simmer for 25 minutes.

5. Spoon the sloppy joes onto the hamburger buns

Options - Some people like to add a slice of provolone or American cheese to their sandwich.
Instead of making the sauce, some people like to use a bottle of chili sauce. How much you use depends in how sloppy you want your sloppy joes to be.I read somewhere about instead of sloppy joes, you can hollow out the inside of a hard roll, fill the roll with the sloppy joe mixture and top with shredded mozzarella cheese - these are called “Tidy Josephs”.

On to the Cheese Fries...

1 package of frozen steak fries
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 cup (or more) ranch dressing

1. Prepare the steak fries according to package directions.

2. Cook the steak fries until golden brown.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

4. Arrange the fries on an oven-safe plate.

5. Sprinkle on the Cheddar cheese, then the Monterey Jack cheese.

6. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon over the cheese.

7. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Serve with ranch dressing.

Kitchen Skills, Tips and Hints

Safety Tips

1. Always turn the handles on your pots and pans towards the center of your stove top. It's possible to catch the handle of your pan on your clothing as you walk by. If you have small children you don't even want to imagine what could happen.

2. Tip the lid of a pan away from you when you take the lid off a hot pan. This keeps you from having hot steam in your face.

3. If food or grease should catch on fire.Smother the flames with the pan lid or a cookie sheet. You want to shut off the oxygen supply to the fire.You can also throw flour on the fire.
NEVER pick or carry a pan of grease that has caught fire.


BASIC KITCHEN SKILLS


Bake - To cook by dry heat, usually in oven

Baste - To moisten surface of food during cooking with melted fat or liquid

Beat - To combine ingredients by rapidly lifting over and over with a spoon

Blend - To mix two or more ingredients until well combined
Boil - To cook in liquid (usually water) in which bubbles constantly rise to the surface and break

Braise - To cook meat in moist heat in a covered pan

Broil - To cook foods in the oven broiler

Brown - To cook over low to medium heat in a skillet on stove or under a broiler

Chop - To cut up into small pieces with a knife

Cream - To mix or work with a spoon into a smooth, soft mass

Fold In - To combine ingredients by cutting down through the mixture with a spoon or rubber spatula across the bottom of the bowl and bringing it up the side — a down, under, up and over motion

Fry - To cook in a skillet in hot fat that covers the food partially or completely

Grate - To rub on a grater and separate into small pieces

Knead - To work and press dough with the palms of the hands, turning a small amount after each push

Marinate - To soak food in seasoned liquid before cooking

Mince - To chop or cut very fine

Poach - To cook in a hot liquid (often water) that is kept just below the boiling point

Preheat - To heat oven to desired temperature 5 to 10 minutes before putting food in the oven

Roast - To cook in a dry heat in an open pan in the oven

Sauté - To cook in a pan that has been coated with a small amount of fat

Shred - To tear or slice into long, narrow pieces

Sift - To put dry ingredients through a sifter or a sieve

Simmer - To cook slowly over very low heat with liquid moving slowly

Toast -To brown directly under the broiler

Whisk - To beat into a froth



FOOD WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

dash, speck, a few grains = less than 1/8 teaspoon

3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon

16 tablespoons = 1 cup

8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup

4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup

5 1/3 tablespoons = 1/3 cup

8 ounces = 1 cup (liquid)

2 cups = 1 pint

1 cup = 1/2 pint

2 pints = 1 quart

4 cups = 1 quart

4 quarts = 1 gallon

8 quarts = 1 peck (dry)

4 pecks = 1 bushel

16 ounces = 1 pound

1 pound butter = 2 cups or 4 sticks

1/2 pound butter = 1 cup or 2 sticks

1/4 pound butter = 1/2 cup or 1 stick

1 pound granulated sugar = 2 1/4 cups sugar

1 square chocolate = 1 ounce chocolate

1 square chocolate = 3 Tbs. cocoa + 1 T. fat

10 miniature marshmallows = 1 standard size marshmallow

4 1/2 cups of min. marshmallows = 1/2 pound marshmallow


OVEN TEMPERATURES

Very Slow 250° to 300°

Slow 300° to 325°

Moderate 350° to 375°

Hot 400° to 425°

Very Hot 450° to 475°



Tips and Hints


Brown Sugar - Add a slice of soft bread to a package of rock-hard brown sugar. Close the bag tightly, and in a few hours the sugar will be soft again.

Crackers - To crisp soggy crackers, put them on a cookie sheet and heat in the oven for a few minutes.

Fat - Lettuce leaves absorb fat. Place a few into the pot and watch the fat cling to them.To remove fat from stew, soup or pot roast, wrap an ice cube or two in white paper toweling and skim the surface. Fat will cling to the toweling.

Glasses - When one glass is stuck inside another, do not force them apart. Fill the top glass with cold water and dip the lower one in hot water. They will come apart without breaking.

A small nick in the rim of a glass can be smoothed out by using an emery board.

Use a wet paper towel to pick up broken glass slivers. Simply blot them and they will stick to the paper.

Scratches on glassware will disappear if polished with toothpaste.

Make glasses extra shiny by adding lemon peels to the water in which they are rinsed. The lemon acid released gives glasses a clear shine.

What's the #1 kitchen issue?

Food Safety is such an important issue today. Why go to the trouble of preparing a wonderful meal, if you are going to give everyone food poisoning! Your meal should be memorable, but not for the wrong reasons.

The BBC offers an exam with certification. Check out your knowledge. You might be surprised!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/masterchef/modules_index.shtml

Converting Centigrade to Fahrenheit degrees.

Centigrade degrees times 9/5 plus 32 = Fahrenheit

Also check out the Master Chef program. It’s very good.

Warning!

Meat recall expands again on E. coli fears

Up to 5.7 million pounds of beef in 11 states may be contaminated
MSNBC News ServicesUpdated: 1 hour, 47 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - A meat supplier has again expanded a voluntary recall of beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli.The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement Saturday that United Food Group LLC had expanded an earlier recall to include approximately 5.7 million pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef after a person in Arizona tested positive for E. coli. In all, 14 people in six states have been sickened by beef from the California-based firm. All patients have recovered, the government said in a statement.The ground beef products subject to recall were produced between April 6 and April 20 and were shipped to retail stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. They were sold under brand names Moran's All Natural, Miller Meat Company, Stater Bros., Inter-American Products, Inc., and Basha's.The grocery stores affected included Albertson's, Basha's, Grocery Outlet, Fry's, "R" Ranch Markets, Save-A-Lot, Save-Mart, Scolari's Wholesale Markets, Smart and Final, Smith's, Stater Bros., Superior Warehouse and Trader Joe's.

The products had sell-by dates from April 15-May 7, and product labels carried the establishment number "EST. 1241" inside the USDA mark of inspection or printed on the package. The frozen ground beef patty products bear a sell-by date between July 6 and Jan. 20, 2008.

Even though the sell-by dates are past, did you freeze any of this meat?

Another meat recall
On Friday, Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. recalled more than 40,000 pounds of ground beef shipped to Wal-Mart stores in 12 states after samples tested at a Sherman, Texas, plant showed signs of E. coli contamination. No illnesses had been tied to the Tyson products. Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. said the recall was not related to contaminated ground beef distributed by United Food Group LLC.The recalled Tyson products were sent to Wal-Mart stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, Tyson said.

The United Food Group recall, which was first announced June 3 and expanded on June 6, was expanded again when a test for E. coli came back positive for a person in Arizona, the Department of Agriculture said.

Symptoms of E. coli include stomach cramps that may be severe and diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days. E. coli sometimes can lead to complications including kidney failure.

Customers with questions about the recall can call United Food Group's hot line at 1-800-325-4164. Those with recalled products should either throw the product away or return to point of purchase for a refund.

Stocking Your Pantry

If you are just starting out, you need to stock your pantry.
These are the basics. As time goes on, your pantry will grow to include itemsthat you just can't live without. But for now...

Bread
All Purpose Flour
Granulated Sugar
Brown Sugar
Salt & Pepper
Sea or Kosher Salt
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Vinegar (white vinegar for starters)
Pasta
Tomato sauce
Tomato paste
Spaghetti Sauce
Syrup
Jam or Jelly
Potatoes (red)
Onions
Ketchup
Mustard
Mayonnaise
Crackers
Tuna Fish
Soy Sauce
Worchestershire Sauce
Oregano
Basil
Garlic Powder
Cinnamon
Peanut Butter
Soup

For the Refrigerator
milk
eggs
butter
cheese
fresh vegetables
fresh meat

HOW TO BUY CHICKEN

Chicken is one of the most versatile meats around. It can be prepared in a multitude of different way, all of them good. But what do you look for in the store?

Types of Chicken

Broiler-fryers - These are young chickens that weigh from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds. They are 7-10 weeks old. They are tender with mildly flavored meat.
Roasters - These chickens weigh 4-9 pounds and are 16 weeks old.
Capons - These are young castrated roosters that weigh between 5-7 pounds. They have a rich flavor but are high in fat.
Stewing Hens - These are 1 - 1 1/2 years old. Their meat is very tough and stringy. Only use them in soup or stew.
The packages of cut up chicken that you usually find in the store are broiler-fryers.

What to check for

1. Make sure that the package does not have any tears in it

2. Check the 'sell-by date'

3. Physically inspect the chicken . Its skin should be creamy white to deep yellow; meat should never look gray or pasty. Odors could signal spoilage.

4. Buy enough chicken for your family.
One broiler-fryer (2 to 3 pounds), cut up, yields 3 to 5 servings;
one roaster (3 to 6 pounds) yields 4 to 8 servings.
One whole chicken breast or two chicken breast halves (about 12 ounces total) yields 2 servings;
one pound of chicken thighs or drumsticks yields about 2 servings.
As a rule, two whole chicken breasts (about 12 ounces each) yield about 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken;
one broiler-fryer (about 3 pounds) yields about 2-1/2 cups chopped, cooked chicken.

5. Check the package for the U.S.D.A. Grade A rating.

How to Store Chicken
Chicken can keep in the coldest part of the refrigerator for up to two days in its original package. If you are not going to cook it right away - freeze it. (Always thaw frozen chicken in the refrigerator, allow 5 hours per pound)

Safe Handling
When you handle raw chicken, wash everything - your cuttingboard, knives, the counter and your hands. Why? Raw chicken can harbor harmful salmonella bacteria. If bacteria are transferred to work surfaces, utensils or hands, they could contaminate other foods, as well as the cooked chicken, and cause food poisoning.
Chicken should always be cooked completely before eating. You should never cook chicken partially and then store it to be finished later.

Bread Tips

Have you ever wondered which is the freshest, so you "squeeze" for freshness or softness? Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Each day has a different color twist tie. They are:

Monday - Blue
Tuesday - Green
Thursday - Red
Friday - White
Saturday - Yellow