Author: Carma Spence

Carma Spence has been experimenting in the kitchen since she was four years old and loves trying out new recipe ideas. She is the author of Bonkers for Bundt Cakes and Your Perfect Pie, as well as author and contributor to several more non-food-related books. With Carma's Cookery, she is taking her passion for empowering people and blending it with her passion for cooking, gift-giving and entertaining.

Cooking Techniques

Tips to Make Your Barbecue the Best

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date May 15, 2017

If you love dining outdoors in the sunshine, but you find that your barbecue food isn’t quite as good as you’d like it to be, check out the tips below. They’ll help you improve your technique when cooking over a fire and ensure that your barbecue is the best around.

Source: Flickr

Buy the Right Barbecue

It all starts with the right equipment. If you want to make the best possible barbecue food – charcoal bbq smokers are the best. Gas versions may work fine, but they won’t give you the all important smoky flavor that makes a truly delicious BBQ meal.

You should also aim to buy a barbecue that features a lid. This will help you to maintain a constant cooking temperature and help you do things like melting cheese onto your burgers and smoking ribs, that you just can’t do without a lid. Look at any BBQ vendor worth his/her salt, and they’re using a lidded device.

Choose Better Fuel

If your barbecue food is lacking that smoky, woody taste that you find in BBQ joints, it’s probably because you are using cheap charcoal. Instead, go for hickory, apple or oak wood chips, combined with more expensive charcoal for a taste sensation that’ll get rave reviews from your guests.

Don’t Cook in the Flames

Although barbecue dishes are often referred to as ‘flame-grilled’ that doesn’t mean that you should actually cook your food when the flames are high. To get the best flavor, and meat that is perfectly cooked, wait until the coals are burning white and the flames have died down. The heat will be even then, which will help you to avoid burnt or undercooked food.

Make Your Own

If you really want to wow at the barbecue, instead of cooking pre-made burgers and sausages, make your own. The simplest burgers can be made with just high-quality meat and seasoning, and they will taste much better than the average store-bought products. Just make sure that you buy ground meat that has lots of fat running through it because this will make the juiciest, most flavorsome burgers possible.

When I make my own burgers, I like mix in a variety of flavor boosters such as garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce and A-1 Steak sauce.

Long, Slow Marinade

When you’re barbecuing, it’s even more important than usual that you let your meat marinade overnight. The longer you can leave your meat to marinade, the more moist and delicious it will be when you take that all-important first bite. As well as leaving your meat to marinade, you should also give it an extra brush for every 10 minutes of cooking time, while it’s on the grill.

Don’t have time? You can speed up the marinating process using a vacuum packer. An hour or so vacuum packed with marinade can give you close to the same results as letting sit overnight.

Carefully Grill Vegetables

Although meat is usually the star of the show, expertly grilled vegetables can give them a run for their money and make your barbecue offerings a bit more interesting. To ensure that your veggies are perfectly cooked, slice them thinly and grill them immediately without adding any oil or seasoning of any kind. Aim to gently char them and only add extra flavors once they’ve been removed from the grill.

Kill It with Sides

Once you’ve got the grilling down, you need to create some killer side dishes that will blow your guests away … and ensure that you all eat a more balanced meal that isn’t just meat, meat, meat. Some good side ideas include grilled corn on the cob, potato salad or flatbreads cooked right on the barbecue.

Tags barbecue, bbq

Cooking Techniques

How to Cook Perfect Pasta Every Time

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date May 11, 2017

Chef Bake Spaghetti Noodles Cook Italian Pasta

Pasta is one of those dishes that’s easy to make but can be challenging to master. Italian chefs built up their expertise over the generations. But if you’re relatively new to the stuff or you haven’t been trained by a grand master, then it can be tricky to get right.

Fortunately, cooking up the perfect pasta dish is easy, so long as you’ve got the right tips at your disposal. Take a look at these chef-inspired essentials.

Source: Max Pixel

Add Mountains of Salt to the Water

When you order linguini from a restaurant, you expect it to be seasoned perfectly and taste delicious. And when it arrives, it usually is. However, when you get home and try to recreate the intense flavors yourself, your efforts fall short. Why?

One of the things that chefs do is use a mountain of salt when they cook their pasta. You might think that a couple of grinds of the salt mill in the boiling water will suffice, but very little of that salt will ever make its way into the pasta. Professionals, therefore, use around a tablespoon of salt to flavor the water. Ideally, the water should taste like the sea.

I’ll admit, in my effort to reduce salt in my diet, I stopped using salt in the boiling water. Boy, what a difference it made! I’ve gone back to adding it to the water and reducing salt in other areas of my cooking.

Chop Your Veggies Finely

Source: Pixabay

The perfect pasta recipe is one where the sauce does the majority of the talking. But if you’ve got big chunks of pepper or mushroom sticking out, then it can ruin the appeal of the dish. The first thing you’ll need to chop your veggies finely is the right knife. If you don’t have a decent set of chef’s knives, look out for a Kamikoto giveaway and save yourself a bit of money in the process. Next, proceed to the chopping board and chop your mushrooms, chilis, peppers, onions and garlic as finely as you can using your best knife skills. Saute them in the pan until they are soft before adding your pasta. You should find that when you do it this way around, your veggies stick to your noodles, creating the perfect ensemble.

Add Your Pasta to Your Sauce – Not The Other Way Around

Professional pasta chefs cook the pasta until it is al dente (nearly cooked) and then add it to the sauce to finish it off. The reason they do this is so that the starches in the pasta can become incorporated into the sauce, giving it a richer, more luxurious texture.

Add Pasta Water To The Sauce

Chefs will also add a couple of tablespoons of the starchy pasta water to the sauce itself. Again, this is so that the glutinous starches can bind with the vegetable ingredients to make them more gelatinous, helping them stick to the noodles. The last thing you want is to add the sauce and a large puddle to appear at the bottom of your bowl.

Try Adding A Bit Of Fat

You might think that the idea of adding tahini or cashew paste to your pasta is a little strange. But it turns out that adding some fat is the perfect way to bring starchy noodles and watery vegetable sauces together. Fat helps make the pasta rich and decadent.

So give these tips a try and let me know how you fare in a commment below!

Tags Pasta

Healthy Living

A Healthy Ingredient for Almost Any Dish

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date May 9, 2017

Looking for a way to pump up the nutritional value of your meal? Add in a healthy ingredient! Cooking healthy and great-tasting meals from scratch doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and once you’ve committed a good recipe to memory, there’s usually a temptation, at least for most people, to make the same dish over and over again. We all want to show off our skills at something we know we’re good at, but getting stuck in a pattern like this is not only boring but could wind up being rather unhealthy, as well. To help keep your diet both varied and healthy, here are some tasty ingredients that you can add to almost any dish.

Healthy Ingredient 1: Lima Beans

I’ll admit I’ve been a lima bean hater in the past, but when added sparingly to the right dishes, they can add unique flavor and texture to a dish. If you like to eat a lot of starch-heavy foods such as pasta and potatoes, then why not plan to re-discover the grossly underrated lima bean? These nondescript little beans are bursting with nutrients, such as fiber and protein. You don’t have to get a lot of them in to hit your daily recommended amount of iron, either. Perhaps the best thing about lima beans is how versatile they are. There are some favorites you’ve probably heard of before, but you can really add lima beans to almost any savory dish that you can think of. Any number of soups, salads, and stir-fries can be accented with a handful of these great little beans. Furthermore, the fact that lima beans come canned, frozen and dried means that you can keep your kitchen stocked up on them and only take them out as and when needed.

Healthy Ingredient 2: Kale

Source: Flickr

Kale is a true nutritional powerhouse, and also one of the most versatile greens you can bring into your kitchen. It’s packed with vitamins A, C and K, not to mention heaps of iron and calcium. It’s also completely void of fat, despite being high in fiber for a leafy green. As kale has become increasingly popular with a health-conscious, eco-friendly generation, more sustainable agricultural firms such as Boggiatto Produce are making kale a big part of their operation. Kale makes a fantastic accent to various meat stews, rice dishes, salads, pastas, and so on. Recently, I had the pleasure of trying a potato, sausage and kale soup at The Olive Garden that is just fantastic! Kale’s water-dwelling relatives, kelp and seaweed, are also very nutritious, and for years they’ve been been staples in too many Asian dishes to list here!

Healthy Ingredient 3: Radicchio

Radicchio, if you haven’t heard of it before, is a purple Italian lettuce that can be added to more or less any lettuce dish to add a sharp, distinctive kick, not to mention a number of health benefits. Radicchio is bursting with inulin, which helps to control your blood sugar levels, and it’s also a fantastic source of vitamin K, which is essential for bone health. It’s also worth noting that radicchio contains four times the antioxidants that romaine lettuce has. Anthocyanin is the ingredient that makes this lettuce purple. This nutrient can help to lower a person’s blood pressure, slow down the process of age-related memory loss, and deliver a range of other health benefits.

Healthy Ingredient 4: Bitter Melon

Source: Pixabay

Bitter melon may be pushing the boat out somewhat for you, but this is another highly flexible and healthy food that you can add to range of different dishes. Although bitter melon may look and cook a lot like a zucchini, it has a much stronger flavor, and you can’t really use it as freely as you would its more bland-tasting cousin. Getting some bitter melon in every now and then can be absolutely fantastic for your blood sugar levels, and the case for these amongst diabetics is looking better and better all the time. They can also be a very healthy way to keep a cap on your appetite if you’re looking to lose weight. This is because bitter melon has an incredibly low glycemic index, meaning that when you eat some you’ll feel much fuller for much longer.

Healthy Ingredient 5: Lupini Beans

By Calapito – Own work, Public Domain

If you like chickpeas, which seem to be in pretty much every healthy living recipe these days, then try swapping them out for some lupini beans every once in a while. Their similar taste means that you’re not going to have a massive shock biting into a mouthful, and they’re also bursting with fiber, protein and healthy carbs. They’re also naturally much crunchier than chickpeas, and you may find them more satisfying in salads or just as a snack in between meals. There are also a number of curries, pastas and noodle dishes that lupini beans are delicious in.

If you’re looking to play around with your cooking, but you’re afraid of it getting out of hand, give some of these healthy and delicious ingredients a try.

[divider]

[one_third] [/one_third]
[two_third_last]

Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

This Healthy Eating Worksheet will walk you through the process of creating a healthy eating plan. All you need to do is print it out, set aside some time to complete it, and then fill it out. Then you can create your plan, knowing that you have addressed potential obstacles and came up with some creative ways to handle them.

[/two_third_last]

Tags bitter melon, healthy ingredients, kale, lima beans, lupini beans, radicchio

Creative Cookery The Business of Food

Bright Ideas for an Adventurous Foodie

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date May 5, 2017

Fancy yourself a foodie? Do you like sampling delicious new treats, or do you prefer to stick to 4- and 5-star reviews before you head out to a restaurant? If you’re really adventurous and think you’ve got what it takes, then here are a couple of ideas to help you spread your wings, find great eats, and enjoy the food.

Start a Foodie Blog

Food blogs are all over the Internet, yet even the most obscure ones garner some attention and have a small following that’s large enough for the author to continue updating it. Even if you’re not in it for the viewers and just love to write, starting a blog is a fantastic way to record all of your greatest eats and embrace your inner foodie. Treat it like a diary for your food adventure so you never forget all the sights and sounds you experienced as you bit into something new.

I can tell you that I get a lot of joy out of creating and sharing my posts to the Carma’s Cookery blog. And I know a few people who started off as hobby food bloggers and turned it into a decent side-hustle and eventually a career.

Try Something New

Sticking to your comfort zone isn’t a good way to become a foodie. You need to be experimental and you need to be willing to try new foods. For instance, you could take a trip to a vegetarian cafe and sample something different that isn’t on your regular palette. You could try a new type of cuisine that your friends have been raving about, or you could even go to a food truck instead of a restaurant if you’ve been fine dining for the majority of your life.

Although sometimes I go to a restaurant to order my favorite dish served there, I equally am willing to try something new … something that, perhaps, I might not make at home. If you’ve been following me on social media, then you’ll know that I’ve been experimenting with meal kit delivery services, too. It’s been fun to try new things without having the fuss of buying ingredients I’ll never use up.

Social Eating

When’s the last time you gathered a couple of friends and started a barbeque? Eating with friends really does make food taste better. You can travel with friends to a new restaurant, visit another country together, or doing something unique such as potluck dinner where your guests can bring random ingredients and foods to build up a feast. It’s a fantastic way to see what your friends enjoy while also showcasing your own cooking and treating them to something you love.

Several years ago, I hosted a dinner party where I served a completely Indian meal. Because the foods were new, I supplied a menu for my guests so they’d know what they were eating. Also, when I was in graduate school, I went home with one of my fellow students. Her neighborhood hosted a progressive meal where each course was served at a different person’s home (appetizers at home 1, first course at home 2, etc.). That was really fun!

Do a Food Challenge

If you’re a big eater with a big stomach, then how about taking on a food challenge? There are loads around the world and they’re usually challenging even for a big eater. However, they’re a great way to make friends, sample new foods, and perhaps give you a chance of getting on a wall of fame with your name and a picture. However, it’s worth noting that food challenges are difficult and there are obvious health risks associated with overeating. Don’t force yourself, and don’t do too many food challenges in quick succession.

Of course, you could also do a more healthy option of a food challenge. For example, I did a green smoothie challenge and shared my experience on this blog!

The Opposite Pricing Spectrum

If you’re used to eating fast food, then why not hold onto that cash and get something a little more expensive such as a fine-dining experience? If you’re used to paying a lot for your food, then how about switching it up and eating somewhere cheap for a change? It can be fun getting to know the other side of the food pricing spectrum. Cheap eats can be delicious and filling and it might give you a new look on fast food. Similarly, trying out expensive foods can open up new taste sensations and make you respect the work and time that goes into making unique meals.

Tags food blog, food challenge, foodie

Cooking Techniques Tools of the Trade

Kitchen Safety: How To Stay Safe Among The Chaos

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date April 28, 2017

Credit

Kitchen safety should be one of your top priorities at home. Did you know that the kitchen is considered the most dangerous room in the house? Kitchen accidents that lead to emergency room visits include knife cuts, burns, poisoning and more. How can you be safe in your kitchen and prevent accidents from happening?

Credit

If you spend a lot of time in a kitchen, at a guess, you have scars from knife mishaps. When I was a pre-teen, I was banned from using the serrated knife due to an injury I caused myself! You might be burned in several places from handling roasting pans. Or, thanks to splashing fat, there are parts of you where hair will never grow again. It’s amazing so many people consider cooking to be a job for the gentle. Those of us who do it often know the kitchen can be akin to a war zone. If you want to emerge from it largely unscathed, it helps to know what to avoid. Here are some kitchen safety tips:

Cooking In A Saucepan? Stir Away From Your Body.

Yes, you tend to stir in a circle, so at some point you’re always coming back towards you. However, if using a slotted or serving spoon, or anything with a bowl shape on the end, position that bowl facing away. If your hand jerks – and it happens to us all – you don’t want to be scooping boiling water or hot sauce all over you!

Never Cook In Bare Feet

This kitchen safety tip may seem like a no-brainer, but trust me, people do this. If you have a day off, it’s always nice to get up late and have an indulgent breakfast like waffles with sausage and eggs. If you’ve ambled into the kitchen in your pajamas, chances are you’re not as awake nor as dextrous as you’d usually be. So if you accidentally jar a knife off the worktop, the time between it falling and landing is just long enough to wake up and realize KNIVES + FEET = BAD. By which time it may be too late.

Kitchen Safety Technique: Learn How To Chop Onions

If you don’t have a gadget that chops onions easily for you (like me), here’s a safe technique: You start by chopping off the more stalk-like of the two ends, then place that end on the board and halve it vertically. From this point on, you can freestyle depending on the fineness of cut you want (finer for sauces, rough for a slaw) but always lay an onion flat side down. The Japanese steel of the best kitchen knives will carve through fish, onion, pepper and your hand very easily. Always make sure you’ve got a secure base to work on.

Remember: Pans Get Heavy

I’ve been painfully aware of this since my accident a year ago. It is only in the past few weeks that my left arm has been strong enough to start handling pots! Now, one of the coolest ways to serve an omelet is to slide it from pan to plate (espeically if you’re using a non-stick pan!). Little presentational flourishes like that can make you feel pretty good. That said, if you’re using a cast iron skillet, it might become less flourish and more floor-ish, as they have some serious heft (and aren’t that non-stick).

Yes, that sounds like a joke, but remember that a saucepan full of pasta or indeed anything made of cast iron is fine for cooking, but the longer you’re holding it the more likely you are to drop or spill – both of which can cause even bigger hazards if you slip on them. Set pans down on protective heat pads if you’re not immediately going to pour something from them.

I hope these tips will help keep you safe in the kitchen. If you have any other saftey tips, please share them below in a comment!

Tags kitchen safety

Healthy Living

Killer Healthy Dessert Ideas

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date April 27, 2017

Source

Let’s face it – everyone has a sweet tooth. And, everyone wants to satisfy their sweet tooth because it feels so good! The problem that most people face is that they have a conscience, and that conscience makes them feel guilt when they indulge.

Are you one of these people? If you are, the thought of eating desserts will make your mouth water, yet will also give you a bad feeling inside. After all, you can’t eat whatever you want without dealing with the consequences. Thankfully, though, you can eat more desserts without harming your conscience or your body. The trick is to make healthy options that taste just as good. And, luckily, there are a few tips below that might come in handy. Go on, treat yourself!
 

Healthy Dessert Option #1: Chocolate Pie

 Chocolate pie? Healthy? You might think I’ve gone off my rocker with this one, but don’t judge a book by its cover. For one thing, chocolate isn’t always bad. In fact, it can be a nutritious source of energy that the body uses to function properly. If you don’t believe that, just ask the sports stars that eat a bar of it every morning before they go to work. As long as the cocoa content is over 70%, it won’t do any harm. What’s even better is that you can swap the usual ingredients for this pie for healthy alternatives. Do you need milk? Try low-fat or soy milk instead because you can’t taste the difference once it goes into the blender. What about oil? Coconut or granola oil is fine, as is extra virgin. (See my recipe here.)
 

Source

Healthy Dessert Option #2: Banana & Peanut Butter Ice Cream

 Usually, ice cream is full of dairy and additives which make it unsuitable if you’re watching your weight. This healthy option is anything but traditional, though. Again, it doesn’t use rich and fatty dairy products that are bad for the body. Instead, it uses low-fat or even fat-free alternatives. Then, there are bananas. In general, bananas are pretty healthy anyway, so there is no need to worry about an additional calorie count. If you’re looking to get uber-healthy, you can swap ripe ones for banana chips. Plus, the chips have a crunch which adds an extra element to the dish. Finally, put the mixture in the freezer to firm. As far as ingredients go, there is nothing to this dish, but it’s incredibly tasty. (Try my easy recipe here!)
 

Healthy Dessert Option #3: Rice Pudding

 As the name suggests, this is a pudding that incorporates rice. Because the rice soaks up the ingredients, the result is a creamy masterpiece that no one will be able to resist. To make it healthy, all you have to do is substitute normal white rice for brown rice. The brown option is much healthier because it still has the bran and the germ, whereas as the white version doesn’t. What about the dairy products? Yep, you guessed it – go for almond milk! To make it extra delicious, don’t forget to add vanilla extract, cinnamon, and a small cup of sugar (or Splenda). All of these are tasty, but they hardly add to the calorie content. When you have all of the ingredients at hand, put them into a saucepan and simmer for thirty minutes. After half an hour, it’s ready to serve. Magnifico!
 

Public Domain image via Pexels.com

Healthy Dessert Option #4: Fruits of the Forest and Yogurt

 As a general rule, food is pretty healthy if it grows from the ground. Okay, so almost every food group on the planet needs cultivating. But, if it isn’t in its natural form, there are bound to be additives and unhealthy elements. Fruits of the forest don’t have any nasty surprises because what you see is what you get. (Although some fruits are better for you if they are organic.) All it includes is a blend of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and any other berry you choose! Sprinkle them with a pinch of sugar (or Splenda or Equal or Stevia) and a small spoonful of honey, and you’ve got one healthy and delicious dish. If sugar and honey aren’t your things, use low-fat yogurt instead. Yogurts come in a variety of flavors, so there is no need for blandness. A tip: try the caramel flavor because it goes perfectly with the fruit.

By Patricia (Brownies for Dinner) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Healthy Dessert Option #5: Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is an American dessert that hasn’t caught fire anywhere else in the world. But, it should because it can be very healthy. A pumpkin is a fruit that is ridiculously good for you because it comes from the squash family. In simple terms, it’s almost a superfood like spinach or white fish. Plus, the main pumpkin pie recipes all use evaporated milk which is light and low in fat. The crust can undo all of your good work, but oats, coconut, flour, and water will come to your aid.
 
It might not be Halloween, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in the mood!

[divider]

[one_third] [/one_third]
[two_third_last]

Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

[/two_third_last]

Tags bananas, chocolate, Dessert, peanut butter

Recipes

Crunchy Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date April 27, 2017

Want to make ice cream without the dairy? Try this one made from frozen banana. The peanut butter gives this banana ice cream texture and flavor.

Ingredients for Crunchy Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream

4 large very ripe bananas
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp crushed banana chips
1 Tbsp chopped peanuts
1 Tbsp small dark chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Peel bananas and slice into 1/2 inch discs. Arrange them in a single layer on a large plate or baking sheet. Freeze for 1-2 hours.
Place the banana slices in a food processor or powerful blender. Puree them until the mixture is creamy and smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the peanut butter and puree to combine.
Add in banana chips, peanuts and chocolate chips (if using). Blend until just mixed.
Serve immediately for soft-serve ice cream consistency. If you prefer harder ice cream, place in the freezer for a few hours and then serve.

Note: If you have a hard time creating a creamy consistency, you can add 1-2 Tbsp of almond or coconut milk to help puree the banana slices. Make sure you use a powerful food processor or blender! I recommend the Vitamix.

Don’t like peanut butter, you can make this banana ice cream your own with these suggestions:

Use almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or any other nut or seed butter of your choice instead of the peanut butter.
Use some other type of nuts or seeds instead of the peanuts.
Try different kinds of chips instead of chocolate chips. I suggest peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips.

[divider]

[one_third] [/one_third]
[two_third_last]

Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

[/two_third_last]