Dessert Recipes

Chef Shelley R. Pogue asked:


will be catering several weddings this spring, so I came up with my own version of Italian wedding cookies, after many trials, and a few errors to produce a delicate buttery cookie that is made with ground nuts. There are several different types of these cookies which include the Mexican Wedding cookies, often coated with a mixture of cinnamon and confectioners’ sugar. The Russian Tea Cakes which can be made with ground hazelnuts, and Italian Wedding cookies which traditionally use ground almonds. All of them are delicious, and each recipe utilizes a different proportion of butter and flour. They are a very good suprise in you mouth, delicate little cookie. I would try all different types, or versions to figure out the one you like best.

These Italian Wedding cookies are buttery, delicate, and have a wonderful flavor. This is a very easy recipe to make, and they are worth the effort put forth for every cookie and crumble left.

Italian Wedding Cookies:

1½ cups unsalted butter

¾ cup confectioners’ sugar

¾ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups finely ground almonds

4 ½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste

3 cups of sifted all purpose flour

1/3 cup confectioners sugar for dipping

First, preheat your oven to 325 degrees if you have an electric oven and about 300 to 315 if you have a gas oven. Gas ovens cook much faster than an electric oven depending on the oven. If you have a convection oven I recomend turning the fan off if you can, it will burn the cookies before they are fully cooked.

First you will soften and mix the butter in a bowl, and you will sift and then add the ¾ cup confectioners sugar and salt to the butter. You will then mix the butter, and sugar with salt mixture until it is light and fluffy. You will now add the ground almonds and the vanilla bean paste. You will then add the sifted flour in until it just mixed, you do not want to overmix, or overwork the dough. The cookies will not be very light in texture if you do.

Take about one teaspoon of dough in your hand at a time, and roll it into a ball. You will then place the rolled cookie dough balls on the parchment paper or an ungreased cookie sheet if you do not have parchment paper. You will then bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes. You will want to watch the first batch fairly closely and turn halfway through baking to ensure even cooking. You want to make sure to get them cooked but not too brown. Once the cookies are done you will remove from the oven, and cool the cookies for about five minutes, and then roll in the left over confectioners sugar.

You will then hold these little delicate cookies until you are ready for service.

Chef Shelley Pogue, a *** Laude, Le Cordon Blue graduate and Executive Research and Development Chef, for Vertical Sales and Marketing, San Ramon, CA. Shelley is also the desserts editor for BellaOnline.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shelley_Pogue



Ivory

John Khu asked:


In this article we will discuss several body detox recipes. But before we get to that it’s important to understand what is detoxification and why do we need to do it?

The pollution your body is exposed to daily, and your consumption of various types of junk food, coffee, aerated drinks, alcohol etc leads to the accumulation of various toxins in your body. These toxins are harmful, some are even poisonous substances that need to be cleaned out of your body at regular intervals, other wise they might prove seriously detrimental to your overall health. Detoxification is the procedure by which you rid your body of toxins. Body detox methods not only improve health but also keep you in shape.

Body detox methods cleanse various internal organs of your body like your liver, kidney, lungs and even your skin. So depending on the organ and depending on your taste and preferences you can choose from a number of body detox recipes. A body detox recipe is a combination of ingredients that make up a healthy diet and cleanse your body, revitalizing your entire system.

Here are the various body detox recipes:

Recipe #1 Lemon Detox Recipe: add two tablespoons of brown rice syrup to two table spoons of lemon juice, add a glass of water. Drink this whenever you suffer from pangs of hunger, this body detox recipe becomes the substitute of all solid food for up to couple of weeks. Even when you are not following a detox regimen you can easily replace a meal each day with this invigorating drink, add a bit of grated ginger to taste if you like.

Recipe #2 Fresh Fruit Detox Recipe: chop fresh fruits like banana, apple and strawberries and toss them into a salad. This is not only a potent body detox recipe but a tasty one as well, add extra soft tofu and honey and voila! You have a delicious dessert.

Recipe #3 Apple Detox Recipe: this one requires you to live on apple drinks, cider, apple and apple sauce for as long as the detox process is on.

These are the easier fruit based detox recites which are great to cleanse your body with. Some other body detox recipes include:

Recipe #4 Gazpacho Soup: this is a Spanish recipe, and it is basically a healthy veggie soup made of cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes and garlic and moistened bread mixed with olive oil, vinegar, ice water. It’s served cold and is excellent for detoxing.

Recipe #5 Alkalizing Raw Soup: it is a nutritious vegetable soup which again is very effective as a body detox recipe. It is similar to the earlier one, it is a soup made of avocados, spinach, cucumbers, red and green pepper with other veggies.

Recipe #6 Mediterranean Diets: Mediterranean diets are low on fat and carbohydrates and they provide us with healthy alternative to the oily food we consume every day. Delicious Turkish and Greek recipes are available online as body detox recipes.

The trick to a body detox is to be on the look out for the perfect body detox recipe which provides you with wholesome food, fresh veggies and fruits, herbal tea, raw nuts etc. before starting your detox always take a week’s break from junk food, caffeine, etc and prepare your body for the detox regimen by eating light but healthy food.



Bishop

Dorrie Ruplinger asked:


In my opinion, any diet that doesn’t allow for desserts, at least once in a while, is a diet that is doomed to fail. I know there are diets out there that are designed to help you get rid of sugar cravings and therefore ban sugar from your diet. But even if you are on a sugar free diet, either because you choose to be or because you need to be because of a health issue such as diabetes which makes avoiding sugar part of your everyday life, I think dessert should be part of every diet plan.

Why do I think that? Although I am not a health care professional or weight loss expert with a degree, I have gone on enough diets myself to know that I am the most successful when a diet has some “wiggle room” in it that allows me to have treats. And, I recently read about one well known fitness trainer who counsels people who are trying to lose weight and she says she builds a couple hundred calories in her daily diet set aside for treats. She says it helps her eat healthy the rest of the day.

Some well respected experts on weight loss understand people’s need for dessert. Weight Watchers has several dessert choices available at the grocery store and if you buy their magazine you will find dessert recipes. Jenny Craig and Nutri-System have desserts. And the South Beach Diet has desserts too.

I have a sweet tooth. There is no doubt I love dessert. Although some people can easily skip dessert, and may actually prefer not to have it, I am not one of those people. I don’t need to have a huge piece of something sweet, but in the evening I enjoy dessert and really feel deprived if I cannot have it.

Some tips to follow about having dessert so you don’t wreck your diet:

• If you are indulging in a decadent dessert, don’t eat the whole thing. You will be surprised how satisfying a few bits are. Share with someone or only take a small piece

• There is some very tasty sugar free candy available. My favorites are York Peppermint patties, Red Vines licorice, Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, and any of the Godiva’s sugar free chocolate bars. Be careful though. Sugar free candy is typically not low calorie, it’s just sugar free. And too much of it can also easily upset your stomach.

• In my opinion, for the most part, a little of something you really want is better than something you are not that hungry for. So if you really want some cheesecake, have a small piece of cheesecake. If you really want ice cream, have a small bowl of your favorite ice cream.

Here are some ideas for delicious desserts that will satisfy your sweet tooth without wrecking your diet.

• Angel food cake is delicious without having a ton of calories. If you have a slice that is 1/12th of the cake, it’s about 160 calories. Add a serving of regular Cool Whip for another 25 calories or sugar free Cool Whip for another 20 calories and you have a delicious dessert under 200 calories.

• Sugar free Jell-O pudding is 60 calories; 80 to 85 calories with a serving or sugar free or regular Cool Whip for an easy anytime dessert treat under 100 calories.

• Fresh raspberries sweetened with Splenda and served over a scoop of vanilla ice cream (you decide if it’s going to be low fat, regular, or the frozen yogurt variety based on the calories you feel you feel comfortable having for the dessert).

• Chocolate dipped strawberries. Dip fresh strawberries in dark, milk, or white chocolate; or use a combination of all three. Unless you go overboard on the chocolate, you should be able to have two chocolate dipped strawberries for around 100 calories.

• Baked apples. Use any baked apple recipe, but try either reducing the amount of sugar a little or substituting the sugar with Splenda for baking.



Jon

chefspencil asked:


Healthier eating habits can also easily begin at home, simply by some of the ways that food is prepared. Healthy food does not ever have to mean that your meals will be boring, either because there are many healthy cooking tips which will actually enhance the flavors while improving your health!

Healthy eating may be much easier at home, when you have control over how your food is prepared, and portion control. When it comes to eating out, keeping your habits healthy does not always appear to be quite as easy for you.

For this you can take this easy steps that eating out at a restaurant in order to both eat a nice meal, and to do it healthily. Making healthy eating choices is a step by step process which will eventually become a routine, and a way of life. Here are some tips for eating healthily while eating out.

Never think about giving dessert up, simply by choosing to eat healthily! There are many wonderful things that you can do with fruit, such as mixing a bowl of berries and low fat or fat free vanilla yogurt for a sweet treat at your home. Another favorite involves sautéed bananas which are sprinkled with a little bit of vanilla extract and cinnamon. There are so many things that you can do with healthy, fresh fruit that you will not even have to think about sugar-packed treats like candies and ice cream to make your life healthy.

CHEF’S PENCIL presents delicious, healthy & tasty recipes just only for you. We have all kind recipes of all seasons. We have a great variety in our delicious food like SUMMER RECIPES, SPRING RECIPES, AUTUMN-FALL RECIPES, WINTER RECIPES, COCKTAIL & DRINK RECIPES and many more things.

Sometimes, the food you eat is unable to provide you the required nutrition. It may happen due to several reasons, which primarily includes the consumption of inorganic food. The fruits and vegetables we consume are not grown organically. Another set of problems, when consumption of fast food becomes a habit. Ingestion of such food does not provide wholesome nourishment to your body. Skipping of meals is also a common practice leading to lack of nutrition. Sol gar supplements are made to meet such deficiencies.

Cooking Techniques



Howell