Food and Beverage Blog

It is obvious to anyone who loves seafood at dinnertime what a great piece of fish looks like. If you love wild Alaska salmon or Cod, you look for the healthiest, clearest skin and texture. Wild shrimp and scallops are also without imperfections if they are frozen and stored properly. However, most people aren’t aware of the tasty and inexpensive seafood option of Alaska Surimi.

What is Alaska Surimi? First of all, contrary to some erroneous reports circulating around the rumor mill, Surimi is definitely real seafood. The main ingredient is Alaska Pollock, the white fish known for its clean flavor and excellent texture. When making Surimi, this Pollock serves as a base, to which is added shellfish from Alaska. Pieces of shrimp, scallops and even lobster or crab give the true flavor of the finished product. It is packaged and sold in a few different forms – as chunk meat or as legs – and can be stored and used whenever the mood strikes you.

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Bordered with Mexico has made Texas has many Mexican restaurants established by Mexican who crossed the border and became American. With the cooking skill that they have, some Mexican gain success from their restaurants. Mexican foods are well known to the world with its spicy and colorful foods. Mexican foods are also well known because they are full of protein, vitamin, and mineral. One area in Texas where there are many Mexican restaurants is Frisco. There are two kinds of Mexican foods that are sold in Mexican restaurant Frisco, original Mexican food and Tex-Mex food.

Tex-Mex food is Mexican food that is already combined with food from South West America especially Texas. One of famous Mexican restaurants in Frisco is Mattitos. This restaurant provides you with delicious Mexican food and Mexico atmosphere. Among other areas in America, Mexican food Frisco has the best taste. Customers can order tens of original Mexican food, Tex-Mex food, and award winning Mexican food at Mattitos and get ready with the spicy taste.

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Are you in Santa Fe, New Mexico? If you do, you should try the pizza there. It is very tasty and made from old generation. The story begins in the late of 1950 or early 1960. That time, there was Il Primo Pizza. This pizzeria was born in Chicago and the founder was opened Chicago style pizzeria. Chicago style pizza is a famous kind of pizza because the thickness of the crust and choice and quantity of the sauce and cheeses. Chicago style pizza then becomes the famous pizza in the neighborhood and the people who want to try this pizza are getting more and more. Not only have that, Chicago styled pizza now still very famous among the people. Then, the founder of Il Primo had a son that time and the son was grown up in the pizzeria. Then he learns about the tricks also secret to make a Chicago style pizza and then he moved to Santa Fe.

The son of the pizzeria was able to make a good and tasty pizza. He came to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and he opened a Chicago style pizzeria there. After the pizzeria was introduced to the people at Santa Fe, it becomes the famous Pizza Santa Fe . This pizzeria then hired a 15 years old boy, John Martinez, as the delivery boy. He then worked there in his high school and college time and then he also grown up in the pizzeria. This boy then learned how to make a great pizza and in 1999 he purchased the pizzeria. After John purchased Il Primo, this pizzeria then named Primo. John had a son then and his son called Josh. Just like the previous Son of the Il Primo pizzeria, Josh grown up in the pizzeria, Pizza world then fulfilling him with dream of continuing his father pizzeria. Josh watched his father working in the pizzeria day and night and he always learn how to make a tasty pizza. But there was misfortune that happens to this famous pizzeria. The owner of the building sold the building housing Primo Pizza, and the pizzeria was closed in 2004.

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Pitmasters are just as competitive as they are secretive of their barbecue. So of course there are competitions to prove who is the best of the best. Every year competitions bring pitmasters and attendees from everywhere a chance to show off what they can do, share information, maybe take some classes, sample foods and usually listen to some great live music. So here are some of the country’s best Barbeque festivals.

Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue

This is the big times. Everyone who competes here has already beaten at least 50 other teams in a barbecue competition or state championship competition. This two day competition is held each fall at the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

But the real winners are the visitors cause they get to sample all the teams entries.

Memphis in May World Championship

One full mile of barbecue competition, vending, music, and more, now this is a long mile Id love to walk through, twice. This three days competition of takes place right on the bank of the Mississippi River and next to Beale Street.

Besides trying out the food you also have a change to judge in the People’s Choice contest and there is even a Cooker’s Caravan giving you a behind-the-scenes looks at competition cooking and a chance to talk with the pitmasters.

National BBQ Festival

In Georgia they do more than just peaches. They know BBQ. Each year the best of the best from all the counties competitions are invited to Douglas, Georgia’s Two day National BBQ Festival Best of the Best Competition, but there are more cook-offs in other categories for backyard cooks, kids, and masters of sweet potato pie. You can also visit different food vendors, antiques auctions, listen to some great music each fall.

American Royal Barbecue

Since 1980, The American Royal Barbecue brings in 500+ competitors to both the invitational and open competition. At this fair you’ll find a Texas Hold’em tournament, a rodeo event, a concerts, and of course all the BBQ goodness you can stand. So if you find yourself in Kansas City, Kansas during the fall, stop on by.

Big Pig Jig

If you like pig you need to check out the Big Pig Jig in Vienna, Georgia. Originally it was a whole-hog cooking contest, it has now expanded to include stew, ribs, sauce, etc. More than 20,000 people come and enjoy a week long festival of meats, arts-and-crafts fair, concerts, golf tournament, hog show, hog call contest, and a 5K run ( you gotta burn off those calories so you can go back and eat more!

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

To show that the south aren’t the only ones who can BBQ, In 2003 for two summer days at New York’s Madison Square Park, some of the biggest names in Barbecue come together to show off their skills, do seminars on all things barbecue.

Our snow this morning was only a dusting but the temperature has hovered around in the 30s trying to reach 40 degrees. I have been cold all day, especially every time I looked out a window and saw the grey skies and bare trees. So I have been thinking of something to make a good hot evening meal. The day has also made me lazy and I have an aggravating headache so I wanted something that would be easy. I came up with a skillet concoction of Sweet and Sour Beef and Cabbage to go with the leftover pinto beans I cooked the other day. If this dish sounds good to you, check it out in the Beef Recipes section of this site. My German heritage really comes through in my love of cabbage. If you don’t like cabbage, I’m sure you can find something else to suit your tastes in the vast array of recipes we offer here. Stay warm!

SWEET AND SOUR BEEF AND CABBAGE

1 1/2 lbs lean ground chuck

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 tbsp dried parsley flakes

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 medium head of cabbage, cored, cut into 6 wedges

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tbsp Splenda brown sugar blend

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the ground chuck, onion, celery, and bell pepper until the meat is browned and the veggies are tender. Drain in a colander and rinse with hot water. Wipe the skillet with paper toweling to remove excess grease. Return the mixture to the skillet. Sprinkle the parsley flakes, salt, pepper and garlic powder over the mixture. Arrange the cabbage wedges over the mixture. Combine the tomato sauce, vinegar, and Splenda brown sugar blend; stir until well blended. Pour the sauce over the cabbage and meat mixture. Cover and bring the ingredients to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately while hot.

There are lots of types of pizza. You can have a thin, crispy crust or a thick, bread crust. There are various pizza sauces, including traditional tomato sauce, spicy sauce or even a parsley infused creamy white sauce. Pizza toppings vary enormously. Pepperoni pizza is the most popular pizza variety but this is only one type.

Some people like to stick with a theme when making pizza recipes. They like to use various types of meat for a meat feast pizza, white and green ingredients only for a “white pizza recipe” or the most colorful ingredients they can find for a grilled vegetable pizza. Other people enjoy mixing and matching their pizza toppings or using up anything in the refrigerator that needs to be used up.

Tips for a Nutritious Pizza

If you want to make a healthy pizza, there are a few things you can do. Choose a thin pizza crust rather than a calorific deep dish one. Use a tomato sauce rather than a cream sauce and choose your pizza toppings with care.

Vegetables are great for topping your homemade pizza recipes because they are colorful, flavorful and they suit any meat, poultry or fish toppings. You can add raw vegetables, grilled vegetables or thawed vegetables to your pizza.

Use reduced fat cheese instead of full fat cheese as a healthier topping for your pizza recipes. Goat’s cheese and reduced fat mozzarella are a good combination. Hard cheeses like parmesan are also good, firstly because the strong flavor means you will not need to use much and secondly because hard cheeses are lower in fat than soft cheeses.

How to Roast Bell Peppers

Roasted bell pepper is one of the tastiest toppings you can use on a healthy pizza recipe. Roasting your own peppers is very easy and you can roast red, yellow, orange or green bell peppers. Roasting them makes them succulent, juicy and bursting with flavor.

There are various ways to roast a bell pepper. The easiest way is to put a bell pepper over the burner of a gas stove or on your grill. Turn the pepper using tongs and keep cooking it until the skin is black and charred.

Alternatively you can broil a bell pepper. Rub vegetable oil all over it first, and then put it on a baking sheet. Use tongs to turn it when the top starts to go black. You can either broil a whole bell pepper or slice it into wedges and broil those. Another method is to cook the bell pepper wedges or strips in a skillet in olive oil. When they are tender, they are done.

The easiest way to get the skin off a roasted bell pepper is to put it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. This traps the steam. Leave the bell pepper for twenty minutes then you should find the skin comes off easily. Pull the stem out before you take off the skin. Roasted peppers make a delicious topping for homemade pizza recipes.