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Exploring into the aroma and taste of fried fish, I would like to share with you the recipe of fried pomfrets. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

Pomfrets (gutted and slitted on top)
Ginger-Garlic Paste
Red Chili Paste
Chopped Tomatoes
Turmeric Powder
Coriander Powder
Cumin Powder
Salt
Oil

Method

1. In oil fry the ginger-garlic pastes, tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chili paste, coriander powder, a pinch of salt and cumin powder.

2. Stir the spices constantly over slow fire for 15 minutes.

3. Smear the fish pieces with salt and the cooked mixture in step2.

4. Marinade the fishes with the mixture in step 3 for one hour.

5. Shallow fry in oil until golden brown.

6. Garnish with lemon juice and coriander leaves.

The Indian perspective of cooking fishes has created a space for its own in the Asian cuisine and Nigel Slater reports his fish-eating experiences from one of his trips to India.

Facts provided by him brings out the spicy-fried versions all over India, especially the Bengali cuisine that masters the art of cooking fish in an array of spice mixtures constituting turmeric, chili, cumin and mustard through the softly-seasoned batter-fried fishes. The only thing that probably takes a twist in agreement is the addition of vegetables like eggplants, squash, and cauliflower and green chilies to fish curries.

While addition of vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes might be common in the fish stew cooked in the UK, what might fancy the diners in UK is the addition of boldly flavored spices to casseroles. The idea of shallow-fried haddock with a spice-rub of coriander, red chili, turmeric and cumin powder and a garnish of lemon juice and coriander leaves is bound to claim taste buds of diners in the US and UK for fried fish as an appetizer.

Via: Guardian

An earlier post recommended on dining smart on fast foods to avoid getting piled-up with calories everyday, as an application of dieting smart on fast foods is the claim by Heart doctor Stephen Sinatra’s The Fast Food Diet.

Facts provided by the book claims that dining options in tucks like Burger King’s French toast sticks; McDonald’s fruit and yogurt parfait; KFC’s roast chicken sandwich with sauce; Boston Market’s angus meatloaf with two healthy sides provide for a 1600-caloried breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner of the day. Apparently, the strategy calculated shows a fair shedding of 52 pounds in a whole year, with walking as an exercise attached to the diet.

Though it will be difficult for the nutritional advocates to endorse with the fast food diet, but considering the content of food in fruits, yogurt, walnuts, roasted chicken and tuna it makes all the same as having it cooked at home, sans the hygiene.

In other words dispelling the word ‘junk’ attached to the concept of fast foods, if taken literally fast food are foods prepared fast for making dining convenient for the busy diners and to make good or bad of it needs the diners to decode beyond the whole grain bread.

The distinction between organic and inorganic ‘eat’ is easier when it comes to locally grown vegetables, beef, pork and chicken, but food from sea is reported to make distinction between organic and inorganic a bit difficult. New York Times has elaborated the confusion that has somehow zeroed down to feeding fish with 100 percent organic feed and judging the organic nature by the virtue of its marine surroundings. Facts provided by the article shows that there are strings attached to the feed of organic fish and more so to the feed of carnivorous fishes rather than the tailor-made feed for the farm fishes.

Though consumers prefer farm fishes to wild fishes, there are claims that sea being free from chemical and antibodies gives the best organic fish. However, owing to the lack of evidence about the extent of seawater pollution, the origin of fish and the non-certification of fish-feed as ‘organic’, consumers can consider the claim as infringement of organic standards set-up by the USDA. Earlier studies clearly shows that organic feeds qualify standards only when they are not genetically modified, partially replaced by vegetables, assure ecological sustainability and have a balance between natural and organic ingredients.

So far said and done what remains of prime importance to the consumers is whether their fishes are organic or not? Whatever the criteria might be it is all in the hands of authentic certification of a fish to be organic. However certified, there are reports that shows that many organic fishes travel from stores to consumers without any regulation and therefore organic labels on fishes like many other foodstuff has begun to be a marketing tool. It is high time that the USDA after having developed agencies and methods to evaluate organic quality for ‘organic’ farm-fish, assure consumers on its taste, texture and authenticity of ‘organic’ labels.

Red beans and round potatoes can be very warm in the winter season. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

Boiled Round Potatoes
Boiled Red Beans
Beaten Yogurt
Chopped Tomatoes
Garlic Paste
Coriander Leaves Paste
Green Chilies Paste
Cinnamon Powder
Clove Powder
Salt
Water (1 Cup)
Oil

Method

1. Heat oil in a wok and add chopped tomatoes, green chilies paste, coriander leaves and garlic paste. Cook stirring constantly for 20 minutes.

2. Add potatoes and red beans and cook on slow fire for 10 minutes.

3. Add powdered cinnamon, clove and salt.

4. Add a cup of water, yogurt and simmer the gravy for 5 minutes. Serve with rice.

Turkey alone might not pep-up the leftover sandwich, but a suggested combination of grilled vegetables might create enough magic. An article in the Chicago Tribune tips on the usage of grilled vegetables with leftover turkey to add a twist to your sandwiches. The tips are as follows:

1. Roast vegetables for the charred look.

2. Pair vegetables with a spread of dip and then assemble with turkey.

3. You can dress or marinade the vegetables before roasting for the sandwich.

4. Carrots, bell pepper, pumpkin, yams are some vegetables that you can roast for turkey sandwich.

5. You can assort roasted vegetables with butter mushrooms for stuffing into sandwich.

6. You can serve roasted vegetables and turkey sandwich with salads, white wine, fruits and cakes.

Cereals are fast becoming a substitute to bacon and eggs as consumers find their cravings in chocolate laden cereals instead of the fibrous ones. An article points out the importance of cereals letting be cereals by opting for the ones labeled with a high fiber content instead of the ones which claim to have added flavors and sugars but less of fibers. Facts provide that the purpose of eating cereals at the break of the day is to ensure that the body gets enough fiber to last until afternoon.

Therefore, it is important for consumers to see to it that the cereals that they opt for must be high in fibers and sugar should be substituted with fresh fruits for adding flavor and accommodating bioavailability of nutrients. There is no point eating a bowlful of flavored cereal and top calories with sugar in lieu of satisfying craving with a whole grain diet smeared with fruit purees and dunked into sugar-free milk.

Organic vegetables and meats are not the only ones that appeal the consumers, but even junk snacks labeled as ‘organic’ are reported to have appealed the American eating trends. Facts provided claim that the sales of organic snacks has reached $677 million, weighing heavier on the pockets of the health-conscious buyers. Contrary to the claims, the revelation for organic snacks is that they might be a percentage low in fats and sodium.

Facts from taquito.net provides that the substitution of artificial flavors with the natural flavors keeping fats and sodium constant is what makes the organic snacks sell at premium prices. The masking of guilt attached to junk snacks with the label organic does not affect the nutritional system of consumers in any ways, except for fooling them on the factor that they can have their favorite snacks without any indulgence.

Previously it were chefs queuing up for getting their recipes patented, but now McDonald is reported to have filed-up for patenting the method and apparatus used for making sandwiches. The reason for claiming a 55-page IPR as claimed by McDonald is to rollout sandwiched of the same look and taste in the restaurants worldwide. Consumers can very well wonder whether McDonalds wants to patent a chicken patty with normal sandwich garnishes and ordinary sandwich bun or is it that McDonald is not sure of the authenticity of products served at its restaurants worldwide.

McDonald with its guilt-ridden past has perhaps gone for an attempt in proving its brand for a foodstuff that has a rich culinary flexibility. Briefly, McDonald cannot claim that it makes out-of-the-box sandwiches having the stamp of KFC and Taco Bell and people at Subway and Wendy, might not be least interested in following the tainted sandwiches of McDonald.

Prawns taste great when cooked with cauliflowers and peas. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

Prawns (Shelled and Veined)
Cauliflower florets
Shelled Peas
Garlic Paste
Ginger Paste
Chopped Green Chilies
Chopped Tomatoes
Chopped Coriander Leaves
Nutmeg Powder
Cinnamon Powder
Olive Oil
2 Cups of water
Salt

Method

1. In a wok heat oil and fry prawns. After the prawns are brown set them aside.

2. In the same wok add some more oil and fry ginger and garlic paste, green chilies, tomatoes, spices and salt. Fry this mixture stirring constantly for 10 minutes.

3. Add vegetables and cook covered, until tender.

4. Add prawns and water. Simmer the gravy for 15 minutes.

5. Serve with boiled rice.