Learn Cooking Techniques : Cooking Methods

I'm sure many people think that cooking methods is banal cooking, frying and baking? This is not so. This is a traditional cooking methods and unfortunately not the most useful. There are at least 10 ways of cooking. This section will give you an idea of which ones are the most useful and why.

For convenience, we have reduced the cooking methods into a single visual table. Sorted with all the ways in descending order on such an important criterion as the safety of vitamins and minerals. To affect their safety first processing temperature and then the processing of food. That's what we've got:

click for large image

As we can see from the table cooking methods can be divided into three parts by the degree of safety of vitamins and minerals:

1. Maximum safety

2. Something remains

3. Nothing useful

With raw food all clear: plucked and eaten. Everything of value is received in full safety without loss, because food is not heat treated. Purely vegetarian raw food diet is not shown to all! A healthy diet should be thermally processed foods, especially at dinner, when a weak digestive fire.

Dried foods also do not cause problems. To this type of food are first fruits, as it can be dried vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, etc.)

In the process of steaming preserves the maximum amount of nutrients. Since the steam temperature no higher than 100 degrees, and the destruction of many nutrients occurs at a temperature of 118 degrees.

When cooking on the grill nutrients stored only the first 2-3 minutes, then the food is exposed to high temperatures, with all the ensuing consequences. Tip: if you want fried, first steamed and then tell us the product in roasting.

Cooking, cooking in a pressure cooker, baking and frying - is the traditional cooking methods. Unfortunately, the maximum nutritional value of the products prepared in ways no more than 20%. During prolonged heat treatment destroys many vitamins and nutrients. And when frying foods are added to the carcinogenic effects of oil.

For deep frying in hot oil (for frying), vitamins and nutrients are lost.

Food cooked or reheated in a microwave oven is considered dead. Since microwave frequencies have destructive properties. The entire civilized world gets rid of the microwave.

Cholesterol Information : What Is Cholesterol, And Is It Dangerous?

Cholesterol is a vital substance. It is an essential building block of every cell in your body.

Cholesterol is required in particular to build up and stabilize cell membranes, the surrounding skin to protect all your cells. Cholesterol has the role of all animals. How can a cell membrane look, the purple arrows indicate cholesterol site:

In addition, cholesterol is the building block for all your steroid hormones, such as sex hormones testosterone and estrogen. Maybe that explains why cholesterol-lowering medication, on average, been shown to have significantly poorer sex life . Although vitamin D is a steroid hormone produced by cholesterol.

Cholesterol can be transported in the blood, to access the cells that need it. Transported in special "package", with names such as LDL ("bad cholesterol") and HDL ("good cholesterol"). More on different types of cholesterol soon!

A high cholesterol in the blood may statistically have a slightly increased risk of heart disease. But it depends a lot on. A high level of "good" cholesterol, HDL, on the contrary considerably less risk of heart disease. Do you eat a lot of saturated fat usually rises your HDL cholesterol.

"High" cholesterol is extremely common

Here's the problem today: the pharmaceutical industry does not want to sell lipid medication only to those that have proven useful. They want to sell as much as possible.

Then those on the Pfizer website kolesterol.nu , suggesting that everyone should have the 5 in cholesterol. Otherwise, the medicine, Lipitor, to sell. And sell they do. Lipitor is the world's best-selling drug, and sold for about SEK 90,000,000,000 worldwide in 2007. You read that right: 90 billion a year.

The sale becomes understandable when one examines how common it is with a cholesterol above 5.  Every healthy thirty year old in Sweden has. And 95% of all 60-year olds.

It looks like cholesterol above 5 is normal. The pharmaceutical industry would argue that it is not. It would be ok if there was evidence that the vast majority of healthy Swedish adults with cholesterol over 5 benefit from medication. Such evidence does not exist. More on that later.

Healthy Food, Nutrition: Tips And Recommendations.

Recent conversations and the right or healthy eating is not silent. This became fashionable trend, but not everyone understands the essence of healthy eating. Often there is the belief that good nutrition is a diet, but it is absolutely not true. general rule for the person who decided to practice a healthy diet is to understand that this is not a diet. And if we observe it, it is only on a permanent basis. No time limit, no specific term - for a week, a month, etc., should not be. We can say that a healthy diet - it's a lifestyle, and it must constantly observe . Often thought of healthy eating come when a person decides to engage in a meaningful sports training. In order to fully exercise without damage to the body, a healthy diet is a must. 

Proper nutrition can maintain the necessary balance and has no effect on weight change in either direction. In addition, proper diet can keep fit and lead an active life. But it is provided that the person does not have certain allergies or certain diseases. Otherwise, it is best to change the right food for a healthy and pick up the diet, according to the characteristics of the organism. So, where to start? can not be here so soon abandon the usual diet, as this can be negatively perceived by the human body and have undesirable effects on health. We need to start slowly. To launch a review of your diet, eliminate particularly harmful products, or reduce them to a minimum, if you just give them will not do. 

These products include candies, chocolates, liquor, beer, canned vegetables and fruits, as well as spicy and salty food. Much of the list can be a great substitute - for example, instead of sweets to eat honey and sweet I years and fruits, fried food is replaced by stewed or steamed. Perhaps, at first it will be somewhat familiar, but with a strong desire in the near future you do not want to go back to a diet that has been before. Another important rule of good nutrition - to eat less but more often. Experts advise per meal to eat an amount equal to that which is placed in his hand at the person. Some? Yes, but if you do not use these portions three times a day, and more often, hunger will not exhaust the body and the load on it will then be much lower as a result of the food and learned better. 

Overeating is unacceptable in a healthy approach to eating. Very often, beginners nutrition make a few mistakes, it comes from a false understanding of the approach to a healthy diet. Among these errors are common rejection of fat, too much juice and periodic malnutrition. Undernutrition, we mentioned a little earlier, it is not permissible. Fat - This is a valuable material for the body, and in moderation they do not lead to weight gain, but rather to saturate the body with necessary substances. In addition, they are essential to "construction" of anabolic hormones. And when consuming juices must be very careful, because apart from the fact that they are high in vitamins, they are still quite high in calories. 

As well as excessive use of juices can lead to the rise of blood sugar. And finally, I would like to mention the sports nutrition as a great assistant nutrition. This is especially important for those who engage in physical activity. Nutrition is specially designed for what would be under a heavy load in the body is not just a sport could get the necessary dose of nutrients and trace elements, but also to ensure that the athletes would be able to send up a little bit and work your body to achieve the desired results in a short time. Some people believe that sports nutrition is bad, but to date has shown that absolutely nothing harmful in it. 

Only natural ingredients, the necessary daily dose of vitamins to the body and which keep excellent physical shape. Here is the key to perfect health and nutrition for the athlete. 

Poached Salmon with Tarragon Sauce

Poached Salmon with Tarragon Sauce
This is great for company but you can half the recipe for dinner for the family.

Sauce:

• 2 large bunches of fresh tarragon(that is about 1 oz)
• 1/4 cup fresh chives chopped
• 1 LARGE shallot
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley (flat leafed)
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp. dijon mustard

To poach salmon:

• 2 cups white wine ( dry works better)
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 1/2 to 3 lb salmon fillet with skin

Make the sauce: 

1. Pick off tarragon leaves to measure one cup ( do not pack down).
2. Coarsely chop the shallot. In a food processor or blender put the tarragon, chives, and shallot and puree. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and then salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a deep 10 inch skillet bring the water and wine to a simmer covered. Cut salmon into 6 pieces and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Sub merge 3 pieces skin side down (add some hot water to cover salmon if needed) cover and poach at a bare simmer 8 minutes. 
5. Transfer salmon with a slotted spoon to a platter. (the recipe calls for it to cool, but I like to keep it warm by putting a plate over it). 
6. Cook remaining salmon the same way. Transfer to the platter and top with sauce. Serve with snow peas sautéed with garlic and oil.

Swiss Baked Fish Fillets

Swiss Baked Fish Fillets

• 2 lb. fish fillets
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/4 cup finely chopped scallions or onion
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. prepared mustard

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a 2 1/2 qt. baking pan. Arrange fillets in baking pan. 
2. In small bowl, combine rest of ingredients. Spread over fillets. 
3. Bake for about 20 minutes or until fish is easily flaked with a fork. 
4. To brown surface, place baking pan under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes. 

Serves 6.

Cappucino Shake

Cappucino Shake

• 3 oz heavy cream
• 4 oz cold water (or seltzer water)
• 1-2 T instant decaffeinated coffee
• 2-3 pkts Splenda
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 raw egg (optional)
• 5-6 ice cubes (optional)

Add ingredients to blender and enjoy!