Hello everyone, for my last article I'll present you a great and famous recipe of Morocco, the couscous.

For to do this recipe we need some ingredients.
500g couscous
1 vegetable stock cube
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100g dried apricots, chopped
3 red onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp caster sugar
about 500ml vegetable or sunflower oil
zest and juice 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
small bunch coriander, chopped
small handful mint, chopped, a few leaves reserved

How to cook your couscous:


Boil a kettle. Put the couscous into a large bowl and put the stock cube in this water, then add the turmeric, cinnamon and apricots, and season well. Pour over 500ml boiling water, give everything a quick stir and leave for 5 mins.
Put half the sliced onions in a bowl with a good pinch of salt and the sugar, pour over enough boiling water to cover and leave to steep for 10 mins.
Heat enough oil to come about 5cm up the side of a deep saucepan. Once hot, fry the remaining onions in batches for 1-2 mins until golden and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt.
Drain the steeped onions and stir through the couscous with the lemon zest and juice, olive oil and herbs. Tip onto a serving platter or bowl and scatter with the crispy onions and mint leaves.

شهية جيدة الآن (Now good appetite)

So this is my last article and I hope that this website was a source of inspiration for your meal.
Good bye everyone.

A traditionnal dish from Quebec : the Poutine !

The poutine is a dish from Quebec made with ​​fries and cheese curds (fresh cheddar) which is usually covered with a brown sauce !
The poutine originated in rural Quebec in the 1950s, it has since become popular throughout Quebec.

INGREDIENTS

1L of beef, chicken or veal stock
1 red onion
2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup AP flour
¼ cup butter
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dark balsamic
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt

In a pot bring the stock to a boil. In a sauce pan sautee the onions until caramelized than sautee the garlic until brown. Then combine the fat and flour and stir to form a pale roux. Then slowly whisk in the roux in to the stock and add the remainder of the ingredients. Reduce until consistency of gravy is reached, up to an hour if necessary.

FRIES

5 large Yukon gold potatoes. Use a French fry cutter to process them or cut them to your desired size, I also leave the peel on however you can remove if you prefer. Store cut fries in cold water for an hour up to 24 hrs to achieve very crispy fries. Drain water and pat dry fries, deep fry them for 3-4 minutes and remove onto paper towel to absorb excess oil. After they are rested for 5-10 minutes, deep fry until golden brown.

To plate poutine place hot fries in a a shallow bowl, top with a ¼ cup of cheese curds followed by a generous lade of thick gravy. To add an extra flare top with crisp bacon, sprinkled blue cheese and fresh chives.

The starter which is the most famous in the Chinese food : nems !

These small crispy rolls can be made in different flavours: chicken, crab, pork, etc. Making your own is not very complicated, the only difficulty is in the rolling stage. You will find in this recipe full details on how to successfully make chicken nems :

1 carrot
1 leek
1 shallot
1 garlic clove
1 chicken breast
1 bunch coriander
100 g dried chinese black mushrooms (shiitake)
100 g fine soya noodles
40 rices sheets
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons vinegar
 salt
 pepper
1 chicken stock cube
 lettuce
 fresh mint leaves

METHOD

Cut the chicken breast into small dice.
Sauté the chicken, vegetables and bean sprouts in a little oil; add the sugar and soy sauce and mix well.

MAKING THE NEMS

On a work surface, lay out two kitchen towels and a bowl of lightly sweetened warm water. Dip the rice papers (two at a time) into the water. Once they are softened, place them on the towels.
Slightly fold in the edge of the rice paper, place a little filling on top, and roll up, folding in the sides and sealing tightly.
Repeat until all the ingredients are used.

COOKING

Heat the frying oil.
Fry the nems in small batches. When they are well-browned, drain and place on paper towels.

Prepare the nems one hour before cooking so that they will hold together better when fried.Serve with lettuce leaves, fresh mint and nem dipping sauce.

Article about honeybees

Today I am going to talk of an article about the death of honeybees and the impact it has on food production.
http://www.naturalnews.com/040347_honeybees_Colony_Collapse_Disorder_pollinators.html
 The Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) studies every year the decline of honeybee colonies and has detected that there are more honeybee deaths every year. Their last study showed a decrease of 31.3% of the colonies from 2012 to 2013, a third of the whole colonies in the USA. These numbers show a rising of 42% in deaths from one year to the other. Experts say that these deaths are caused by dangerous neonicotinoids and hundreds of other pesticides found in hives. The BIP's goal is to make a deeper research about the pesticides that produce the death on bees and to find a solution to this problem. BIP projects that, if these loss of colonies continue, American food production could not bear the demand. Less honeybees implies less capacity to pollinate food plantations. This is dangerous if we have into account that a third of all food produced in USA is directly or indirectly pollinated by honeybees.

My point of view: 
 I think this article shows us the importance of bees and we are all concerned.
Beekeepers as well as some companies that are around the hives and are suceptible to cause death colonies abeiles because of different pesticides should find a way to remedy that before the disappearance of bees increase further.


Talking about something else...This article give me a recipe idea. Indeed, who says bee imply honey:

Sweet-'n'-Salty Honey Cheese Spread.

Transform a simple log of goat cheese into an impressive party appetizer by rolling the log of cheese in sunflower seeds and drizzling with honey.  Serve with fresh berries and crackers.

Ingredients:

-1 (10.5-oz.) goat cheese log -1/2 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds 
-1/3 cup honey 
-1 pt. fresh raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries 
-Garnish: fresh mint leaves 
-Assorted crackers 

Preparation: 

Press or roll goat cheese log in sunflower seeds, thoroughly covering cheese, including ends. Arrange cheese on a serving platter with any remaining sunflower seeds. Drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with berries. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately with assorted crackers.

Hello my loyal readers,

Today I will introduce you exotic cook came of Asia : jellyfish.

You can see the article on the website:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10698899

Exotic food : Jellyfish

I found this article very interesting because we discover a new culinary culture.

Indeed, in China , people eat jellyfish. 

In Europe , jellyfish are not consumed . Jellyfish are often connotes than "dangerous" animals that bite. For a western, it is difficult to imagine eating them.

In China, eating jellyfish is frequent . You can found them in supermarkets and restaurants . Jellyfish are consumed during events such as Chinese New Year and weddings. They are flavored with sesame seeds and accompanied by boiled rice or noodles. They have a crunchy texture and are very tasty.

Furthermore , the jellyfish is composed of 80% collagen . This is a great meal to treat arthritis problems, bronchitis and low blood pressure.

In addition to being good for health, they would be good for the environment too. In fact, eating more jellyfish could reduce overfishing and global warming.

But before we get to there, we must succeed in changing eating habits of many cultures.

This is very difficult to do because it takes a lot of time.

So talk around, be curious to discover new flavors , and if Chinese like jellyfish, why not us?

Dzenita

Bacalhau a Bràs (Cod Portuguese)

Today I will introduce you to a southern dish, a Portuguese recipe: Bacalhau a Bràs ( cod portuguese) which owes its name to the cook who invented it

Indeed we all know, cod is the specialty of Portugal. 
I personally don't want to eat cod but after having tasted a Portuguese dish of cod, I've changed my mind.
I hope you enjoy this dish
This recipe is simple so don't panic and let's go!!!
 

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 6):

 - 3 pavers cod (about 600 g)
- 6 eggs
- 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- parsley
- 12 potatoes

Recipe Preparation:

-Firstly leave desalinate cod in water ( you renew regularly) about 24 hours before starting the preparation. 
 It is essential for the successful completion of this dish because otherwise it would be inedible       because too salty !

Next, begin preparation:
-Cut the cod into small pieces , removing the meticulously bones.
-Cook onions and garlic chopped in sunflower oil and olive oil.-Cook for 5 minutes the cod pieces with onion and garlic.
Next, Cut potatoes into thin fries. Dip it in the fryer they are precooked (not cooked !) .-Blend chips , cod , onion and garlic together in the pan. Repeat heat during 5 minutes.- Beat egg omelet, salt and pepper anf put this mixture with cod 1 minute before the end of cooking. Let it warm a few minutes while stirring ( be careful not to cook the eggs).Sprinkle with parsley and mix.

Garnish with black olives and cherry tomatoes.

It's ready!!! MMMmmm

A taste of Portugal that makes you want to go! It is simply delicious! 
An advice: Serve this dish with vegetables (sliced ​​tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber.) 

 

This video is a little report created by IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute), which summarizes the states of food security and access to food in the poor countries and the developing countries.
This organize fight against many factors as food prices, violent conflict about food, policy failings...
In this videos we can see that 870 million people going hungry in the world and 2 billion people suffering of micronutrient deficient.

Indeed in the poor countries and develoing countries the food and agriculture are a big problem of these population.
The IFPRI propose to help this countries with many way, as to give a money to help to develope the agriculture, develop agricultural technologies, increase plantations of this countries and improve the distribution and access to food at more effective and accountable governments.

I think that this organize have  really good ideas to help this countries and develop their economy.

In 2013 it's really importante that everybody can normaly eat, and do not be hungry or not be sick because of malnutrition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOVropO3KfM