2. If you remember to cut the fat in always up to the point that your mix looks akin to small peas or gravel then use it more to mould the dough, you can rest assured your pastry crust will be nice and light.

3. On the occasion that you are making a pie with a double crust to it, you may want to keep aside some dough to use as the bottom crust; dividing this in two portions and keeping one bigger than the other will help you cover the baking needs.

4. Previously chilled pastry is easy to mould and handle than one that has been left out, so do remember to refrigerate your pasty dough for at least half an hour before using the product.

5. The option of chilling the pastry dough in the fridge for 10 minutes extra is all right too, and people are known to freeze it for up to 3 days after wrapping it in air-tight material, For help visit: www.classic-dessert-collection.com which ensures easy handling when needed for shaping or rolling it. Pre-chilled dough should be ideally kept for some time at room temperature to make it more pliable and this one of the best tips for making perfect pastries I know.

6. Lightly dust some flour on the wax paper before rolling out the pastry dough on it; invert it over the pan when ready and peel the wax paper off once the filling is done. It’s an easy way to transfer the pastry without a dent in it!

7. If perchance, the pastry does break while transferring, you can pinch or press the dough back together again smoothly. For other problems that can’t be patched up easily, you can use pieces for trimming for fixing these up.

Overall, you need to remember to resist from stretching the pastry to fit over the pie-dish along the bottom crust and instead try to ease it into the pan, lightly insert it into the bottom crease using gentle finger-tip motion to do so.

On a parting note, for top crusts with a shine, lightly brush these with cream a little before baking them to get a shiny top and evenly sprinkle a generous pinch of sugar over for added sweetness.

Cooking a sumptuous steak meal is not half as hard as the chefs make it look. All you need is time, patience and the right skills that have been used by these expert chefs over time. Experts say that to cook that perfect steak, it goes all the way from the butcher/shops right to your kitchen.

At the butcher

A fair knowledge of the cuts is a must when purchasing steaks. Each cut are best cooked uniquely. It is recommended to always buy the best grade of meat you can afford. Some people think that the deep red meats are better the best color is the light red, cherry color. Also, always choose meats that are thick and have an even distribution of marbling (the white fat).

At home

Put out your steak and allow it to come to room temperature. If you store it in the refrigerator, remove it for about 30-60minutes depending on size before cooking. A cold steak contracts when heated and this toughens the meat. Pat-dry the steak with a paper towel to dry completely before cooking, a wet steak will only be steaming and not cooking.

Seasoning and Cooking

People make the mistake of salting the steak right before cooking. This again causes the steak to precipitate (brings water to the surface) so, this in turn steams the steak instead of cooking it. Salting the steak is best done after the steak is cooked to desired temperature and has settled for the required time – just before serving.

There is an exception to this rule but, we leave that to the professionals.

Care should also be taken to remove the steak from the grill about 5 degrees or a few minutes before it reaches the required doneness and to let it rest for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. The steak continues to cook during this time and allows the added juices to re-distribute. Refer to charts to verify types of cuts, cooking temperatures and degrees of doneness.

These are the basic skills that chefs employ to cook up storms. Now you know the best ways to cook a steak so get your favorite recipe and cook that steak like a pro!

Most of the outdoor chefs I’ve run across are men. It seems that women had rather stay in the kitchen. I think it is just a ploy to get the men out of the house for a while. The ladies give them the idea that cooking on the grill is almost important as breathing, especially if it’s done by him! That will get the guy outside with his chest puffed up, carrying a can of charcoal starter and a match.

First rule! If you’re using charcoal and you’re using a liquid lighter, know what you are dousing on those briquettes! It is really not the volume of the whoooomp that determines whether your coals will burn consistently. Never use gasoline, lacquer thinner, lantern fluid or any of those things that will blow you out of your shoes. Stick with charcoal lighter.

One big tip! Never use kerosene to start your charcoal! No matter how long you let your charcoal burn, no matter how much more briquettes on the coals, your rib eyes will have that subtle aroma and taste of kerosene. Your grill will smell like a piece of construction equipment. It’s best to stay with prescribed fuels that don’t stink.

There are other methods to ignite your charcoal. Use the chimney type device where you put the charcoal in an inverted cone and push a couple of sheets of newspaper in the bottom. Put a match to the paper in the bottom and the draft of the “chimney” will make the coals burn. I have never been able to keep that apparatus around the house for more than a summer due to rust, being stepped on or having the neighbors’ borrow it.

There is also the electric heating iron category of charcoal starters. Just plug it into an outlet, let it get red hot and stick it under the charcoal. It doesn’t take long to get a pile of charcoal glowing and shimmering with heat. You don’t have to worry about the whooomp either! The heating iron works well but it’s just not the same as seeing flames shoot as high as your house. You only get that with a liquid lighter that you’re not supposed to use in the first place.

Let’s talk about charcoal grills versus gas grills. I use both in my back yard barbequing. Cooking with gas is almost like cooking on the gas stove in the kitchen. Boring! Maybe that’s why I prefer charcoal. It’s just manlier to battle the flames and rescue a steak just in the nick of time, from being overly cooked. That’s the way outdoor cooking is supposed to be; a man conquering the elements!

Really, cooking on a gas grill is a nice and comfortable way to grill steaks, chickens, burgers, chops and vegetables. One of the areas in which the gas grills are deficient is smoking meat. As far as I know, you just can’t do that with today’s grills. You have to have a smoker. I prefer charcoal smokers of course, but I’ve had excellent results with electric smokers also.

Smokers, both electric and charcoal, are set up pretty much in the same way. The ones that I use are tall round ones that have a trap door opening on the side so you can add charcoal or water in the water bowl. There are other kinds of course and you can find them at a hardware store or outdoor market place. The costs are going to range from roughly $75 to $500 depending on the one you choose. I think most of them are good, but you can usually get just as much satisfaction from a cheap one instead of the high priced smokers. Of course there is the prestige of getting one of those sleek, black ones with the chrome smoke pipes. Gives you sort of a chill just to think of owning one of those, doesn’t it?

Meat smoked on an electric grill is great if you have some wood smoke flavor to make it tasty. I know you can buy little cans of wood chips to add some character to your cooking. Simply pour a little water in the can, set the can on the lava rocks in the bottom of the smoker, and when starts to simmer, you have hickory, cherry or pecan steam permeating your Boston butt! This is the city folks’ way of making barbeque.

Another big tip! If you’ve left the electric smoker outside uncovered, check to make sure the lava rocks are dry. If it has rained since your last cookout, chances are that the bottom of the smoker is covered in water. If so, don’t plug in the heating iron! It’s not a wise move because you will blow the iron up! Drain the water out of the base first, let the lava rocks dry, then have a safe barbeque.

My personal favorite is the charcoal smoker. It’s really not hard to use, though a lot of people seem to think it’s some kind of a miracle that the meat I smoke tastes so good. Some even think there is a secret to my success when I cook a pork loin or Boston butts and wind up with some of the most delicious barbeque you have ever tasted. Some folks even think there is a secret ingredient that I haven’t shared with anyone!

I usually smoke three or four Boston butts at a time. It’s easy. First I load the coal pan with charcoal, and then use a charcoal lighter fluid to start the coals. You could use one of the instant light charcoals if you wish, but just make sure than when you add charcoal, you use the regular briquettes or your meat will taste funny.

After the coals are lit and the flames have died, fill up the metal water bowl with about a quart of water. This helps keep the meat moist. Next lay the meat on the two racks of the smoker. I salt and pepper the meat liberally, and then put the lid back on the smoker and I’m finished for about an hour.

For three Boston butts, I usually let them cook for about 12 hours, adding charcoal and hickory chunks to the hot coals about every hour and a half. Some chefs soak the hickory in water for thirty minutes or so before adding them to the coals. I prefer to lay the wood chunks on the live coals. The dry wood smoking and burning will give you a mild taste of hickory, not the smell and taste of a burning barn! When the meat reaches 180 degrees on the meat the thermometer, take it off and tear it apart with forks. This way separates the pork easily. You can add barbeque sauce at this time or serve it on the table.

There is one ingredient so unique, so necessary to cooking good barbeque. It’s PATIENCE! From the moment you light the fire until you take the meat off the grill, allow yourself allow yourself enough time to do the job properly. Most people don’t do that. We are a society of instant gratification. If we want something, we want it now! That just won’t work when you’re trying for the best tasting barbeque you can cook.

Tip #1: Only fully replace Splenda in recipes that have low to medium amounts of sugar
When a recipe calls a large amount of sugar, such as with angel food cake or fudge, the sugar has a greater purpose than just making the food sweeter. It is also used to create the texture and structure of the food. Splenda is not the same as sugar in that regard, even though it is just as sweet. So, look for recipes that treat sugar as a sweetening agent. If your recipe calls for a lot of sugar, you can replace 25% to 50% of it with Splenda.
Tip #2: Bring out the flavor with vanilla or honey

When you are baking cookies and other treats that call for both sugar and vanilla, adding an extra teaspoon or half teaspoon can bring out the sweet flavor of the Splenda and the vanilla flavor of the extract. You should not use more than one extra teaspoon per cup of Splenda. For breads and other recipes that do not call for vanilla but are still sweet, you can use a tablespoon of honey instead.

Tip #3: Consider the yeast in your recipe

In order for yeast to work, it needs to be activated with sugar. Splenda does not provide yeast with the proper food it needs to make your bread rise. When you are replacing the sugar with Splenda, make sure that you keep a couple teaspoons as sugar, and for larger recipes, you should use more sugar than Splenda. Yeast recipes are more difficult when you use Splenda, so you may want to do some practice runs to ensure that you have the right sugar-to-Splenda ratio for the yeast to work.

Tip #4: Watch your baking times

When you use Splenda in your recipes, the baking time is going to be different from using sucrose. Until you know how your recipe reacts to the sweetener change, check your baked goods early to see if they are done. Cakes and breads are sometimes done up to 10 minutes earlier if you replace all of the sugar with Splenda. Cookies, muffins, brownies, and other baked goods might be done up to five minutes before their normal time. When you figure out the correct Splenda baking time, write it on your recipe card so that you know for next time.

Tip #5: Flatten your cookies a bit to help them spread

Splenda changes the chemical make up of your cookies, and sugar is one of the ingredients that help a cookie spread as it bakes. Splenda does not do that job as well, so before you put your cookies in the over, press them down a bit to help them flatten. When a cookie spreads, it bakes more evenly.

Tip #6: Help your baked goods rise with smaller pans

Sugar is an ingredient that helps breads, cakes, brownies, and other baked goods rise when baking. If you replace all of the sugar with Splenda, you will not achieve that same fluffy height for the most part. You can help the process by using two smaller pans instead of one larger pan and then following the recipe as normal. If you are still not getting the height you want, try adding an addition teaspoon of baking powder and a cup of nonfat dry milk powder per every two cups of Splenda in your recipe.

Tip #7: Follow the Splenda directions carefully

There are a number of different kinds of Splenda, and before you begin using it to replace sugar in your recipes, read the label to find out exactly how much Splenda to add. For some recipes such as those with regular sugar, you replace the sugar on a one to one ratio. However, other Splenda products, like the Splenda sugar blend, tell you to use only half the amount of blend that you would use with regular sugar. If you do not read the label carefully, your final product could be too sweet or it may not cook correctly.

Tip #8: Test everything first

Finally, if you are going to cook with Splenda, test your recipes before making them for a party or event. Splenda does not always react in recipes the way you would expect. By doing a test run, you can see what needs to be adjusted without having to serve less than perfect baked goods to your guests.

• Before firing up the grill and cooking on it, be sure to spray the grill with a non-stick spray. The last thing you want to have happen is for your chicken to stick to the grill and tear all apart when attempting to turn it over. Another benefit of using a non-stick spray is that it makes clean up so much easier.

• Before you cook your foods on the grill, make sure the grill is properly heated. You want your food cooked throughout. For more details www.thanks-giving-recipes.com .If you are going to be cooking on a gas grill, let it heat up for at least 5 minutes before putting the food on it. For charcoal grills, wait until all of the coals have turned gray before cooking. This usually takes approximately 20-30 minutes.

• Set out your meats on the kitchen counter for 15-20 minutes prior to putting them on the grill. You want the meat to be at room temperature. This allows the meat to cook evenly throughout. One important note though, never leave the meat sitting out for 45 minutes or longer. It can easily spoil.

• When turning your meats over on the grill, never use a fork. Why? If you stick a fork in the meat you’re barbequing, you will be letting all the juices run out. Be sure to use a spatula, or a pair of barbeque tongs. You may also want to wear a glove to keep from getting your hand burned.

• If you are going to be basting your foods with a favorite barbeque sauce, wait until the food is nearly cooked before applying. Never apply a sauce when first cooking your meats on the grill. It can make your food dry out completely. You may want to baste your meats an hour or so before cooking them on the grill. This will help seal in the flavors during grilling.

• Are you cooking kabobs on the grill? Make sure you leave some space between each food item on the kabob. This will help everything cook evenly. For more details www.camping-outdoors-recipes.com .Another tip is to evenly space out a piece of meat, then a vegetable, etc. This allows the different flavors to spread throughout the kabob. Before removing your kabob from the grill, cut open a piece of meat to be sure it has cooked completely. You sure don’t want to be eating any uncooked meat.

• After your cooking is complete on the grill, you’re going to want to clean it up. The best way is to use a grill scraper. Clean up the grilling surface and wipe everything down. Be careful that you don’t burn yourself while cleaning up.Backyard barbequing is a lot of fun. After using some of these tips and experimenting on your own, you’ll discover how to cook some great tasting foods on your grill. Before you know it you’re going to be a barbeque king!

Step one is remembering that you do not start with cooking. You start by selecting the best possible steak, and some people even purchase a whole tenderloin and butcher it themselves to make sure they’re getting great meat.

You will need to look for steaks that are three to five ounces each, whether you cut them yourself or buy them. Consistency is important, since consistent thickness and size mean your steaks will be a lot more reliable when you cook them.

The next step is learning to cook beef on the grill, if you do not already know how. Many people think that grilling takes no skill at all, but they would be wrong. If you do not know what you are doing, you will get meat that is safe to eat, but does not have a lot of taste. Remember that grilling is a fast, intense type of cooking, which makes your mistakes that much more difficult to work around.

Be sure your grill is very hot and your steak is seasoned correctly before you start cooking. Seasoning should be gentle enough to allow you to taste the meat, but strong enough to complement the flavor of the beef. Put the side you would like to show off on the plate down on the grill, and cook it until it is about three quarters of the way done. Then flip it and finish it to your preferences. Grilling beef does not have to be complex if you pay attention.

So, how long to cook a steak, and how hot should it be? Unfortunately, the answers start getting complicated pretty quickly. Usually, all we can say is that you should cook a steak till it is done. However, the process of cooking a steak is something that happens the same way every time, as long as you know what you are looking for. Keep an eye on the changes that happen in the meat to know when your steak is ready for eating.

At a hundred sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, the proteins begin to coagulate, and the steak will shrink and stiffen, with sides that begin to tend toward gray or brown. At three hundred twenty degrees, the grill marks start to show and the sweet smell that says the steak is cooking right begins to appear.

The steak will then begin to bubble, as the juices come up from the bottom. At this point, the steak is half to three quarters done, and it is time to flip it.

The thing about toasting these seeds is that you have to be careful not to burn them. Since browning them will bring out the natural oils inside of the seed, all of this delicious flavor is released once they are thoroughly toasted. You may be tempted to buy your seeds already toasted, but avoid this temptation. You see, those that are already toasted tend to lose their flavor once they hit your kitchen…and they also turn rather rancid after just a few days. Try the methods which are listed below.

Purchase raw seeds at nearly any market (though Asian markets tend to have the best deals), and store them in a tight container. Before you attempt toasting, be sure that you will be able to spend at least four minutes continuously watching the stove. If you turn your back for a moment, your seeds will burn. Place a small skillet (cast iron is best) over medium heat until it is warm – do not place any oil inside of the pan. Then, add the seeds until they create a thin layer over the bottom of the skillet. Give the pan a toss every twenty seconds to ensure that they don’t burn using a wooden spoon.

Watch the seeds carefully until they turn a light golden brown color. When this color has been reached, remove the pan from the heat. Since most pans will continue to cook the seeds, remove the seeds from the skillet and place them on the side. That’s it – that’s all there is to toasting these lovely seeds. Now, you can add them to any sesame chicken recipe that you come across. These can be used to prepare noodles, indian, chinese, etc dishes.

Salads are a great option for party recipes, and many of them are also very quick to prepare. If many of your ingredients are ready for use – for example canned vegetables or leftover meat – it’s easy to prepare a delicious and healthy salad within half an hour. If your salad doesn’t include pasta, rice or potatoes, make sure to serve it with bread, preferably whole grain, to include all major food groups into your meal.

Here are three quick and easy salad recipes which all can be done in 30 minutes. All make four servings. Entree salads may have either fried or grilled chicken fingers as well as seafood like fried or grilled shrimp placed on top of it. Fish steak, commonly tuna, salmon or mahi-mahi, can also be placed on top of the salad. Steaks like Sirloin can be sliced, grilled and placed over the entrée salad.

Salad dressings differ across cultures. Traditional salad dressings in Southern Europe are vinaigrettes; while in Russia and Eastern Europe, it is mayonnaise. In Denmark, salad dressings are based on the traditional recipes. Most of the light edible oil is typically used as salad dressing. These dinner recipes would include lots of oil.

Momma knows the winter months do not offer the better prices on most vegetables, so how to add nutrition to a dinner but still have it affordable?

Momma Explains: Frozen vegetables have come a long way and the new options of organic frozen veggies are awesome. My children did not like vegetables so I had to find creative ways to incorporate them in a meal. This is still a family favorite, only now we can all have wine with it. I like a Marquis Phillips white such as Holly’s Blend.

Momma’s Pasta and Stir Fry: Start by heating up your pasta water and adding a good toss of salt. While the pasta water is heating, take a one pound bag of stir fry or Normandy blend vegetables. In a very large skillet , coat the bottom with olive oil so the oil is about 1/4 inch deep in the pan. Chop a small onion and saute in the oil, when the onion is opaque, add three minced garlic cloves and 4 tablespoons of butter, heat for a few minutes. Then add one can of chicken broth( about 14.5 ounces), and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the sea salt and stir, then taste-without burning yourself-and add more salt as needed. I also put out a bowl of grated Romano cheese for people to bulk up the flavor. After you have cooked the vegetables in the broth and oil mix, making sure they still have some firmness, shut off the stove and cook your pound of pasta. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and toss into the skillet, if large enough, otherwise use a large bowl. Mix all your ingredients and serve. Don’t forget the Romano cheese.

Their delicious buffet contains an array of food choices including hot meat options, pasta, pizza, fresh vegetables, salad bar and a selection of carved meats (their Carving Station is a would-be chef’s delight) at dinner and on Sundays.

During breakfast service, choices range from traditional breakfast items, like omelets made-to-order, scrambled eggs (usually egg product), bacon, and biscuits and gravy; to childhood favorites, like chocolate chip pancakes and French toast with powdered sugar.

Other items include rotisserie chicken, made from scratch mashed potatoes, Bourbon Street chicken, grilled sirloin steak, their popular home-style yeast rolls, fried chicken, their signature “Awesome” pot roast, meatloaf, pizza, seafood salad, and carrot cake.

Restaurant & Institution Magazine’s Consumers’ Choice in Chains Awards recognizes Golden Corral for Best Buffet Restaurant in Customer Satisfaction.

The restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, is famous for its three-year “Frying Pan Man” advertising campaign in which a person is hit on the head with a frying pan resulting in a craving to go to the restaurant.

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill’s most recent restaurant concept, called “Strata,” was rolled out during the early 2000′s in an effort to bring more of the food preparation into view of the guests.

So – here we go again: You’ve met someone special – maybe through friends – maybe on one of those Romance relationship sites like eHarmony or WUVING.com – and you want to whip up a truly romantic dinner!

You’re looking for some great romantic dinner recipes to sweep that special guy or girl off his or her feet.

>>> Here is the recipe for their excellent GOLDEN CORRAL’S SEAFOOD SALAD — and Golden Corral’s BOURBON STREET CHICKEN served with their Brass Bakery Bread Rolls…

–Golden Corral’s Seafood Salad–

1 lb. imitation crab meat, shredded

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sliced green onions (with the green too)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped.

Mix all ingredients. Refrigerate for about an hour to allow flavors to blend. Serve either a salad, on lettuce, or on split croissants.

–Golden Corral’s Bourbon Street Chicken–

1 Pound Chicken leg or thigh meat

Cut in bite size chunks

4 oz Soy sauce

1/2 cup Brown sugar

1/2 tsp. Garlic powder

1 tsp. Powdered ginger

2 tbs. Dried minced onion

1/2 cup Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey

2 tbs. White wine

Mix all the marinade ingredients and pour over chicken pieces in a bowl.

Cover and refrigerate (stirring often) for several hours (best overnight).

Bake chicken at 350 for one hour in a single layer, basting every 10 minutes. Remove chicken. Scrape pan juices with all the brown bits into a frying pan.

Heat, and add 2 Tbs. white wine. Stir and add chicken. Cook for 1 minute and serve.

–Golden Corral’s Brass Bakery Yeast Rolls–

 1 envelope Active dry yeast

1/4 cup Very warm water

1/3 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Butter or margarine

1 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Scalding hot milk

1 Egg — lightly beaten

4 1/2 cups Sifted all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons Melted butter or margarine — for brushing rolls.

Sprinkle the yeast over very warm water in a large bowl (Very warm water should feel comfortably warm when dropped on wrist.)

Stir until yeast dissolves.

Add sugar, the 1/4 cup butter or margarine and salt to hot milk and stir until the sugar dissolves and butter or margarine is melted. Cool mixture to 105 to 115 degrees.

Add milk mixture to yeast, then beat in egg. Beat in 4 cups of the flour, 1 cup at a time, to form a soft dough. Use some of the remaining 1/2 cup of the flour to dust a pastry cloth.

Knead the dough lightly for 5 minutes, working in the remaining flour (use it for flouring the pastry cloth and your hands). Place dough in a warm buttered bowl; turn greased side up.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Punch dough down and knead 4 to 5 minutes on a lightly floured pastry cloth.

Dough will be sticky, but use as little flour as possible for flouring your hands and the pastry cloth, otherwise the rolls will not be as feathery light as they should be.

Pinch off small chunks of dough and shape into round rolls about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Place in neat rows, not quite touching, in a well-buttered 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan.

Cover rolls and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 30 to 40 minutes. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter or margarine, then bake in a 375 degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until nicely browned.

Serve warm with plenty of butter. This recipe yields about 2 dozen rolls.

 Bon Appetit!

- Brian Alan Burhoe brianalanburhoe.com.