Cooking Tips

A nice cup of coffee can make your morning–while a cup that doesn’t quite satisfy you can make the rest of your day look a little bleak. There are many mistakes that can be made while brewing your coffee, ranging from what beans you use to how you actually brew your cup of morning Joe. The following are 4 common mistakes you’re making–and how to avoid them.

Mistake #1: Using old pre-ground beans

When you’re showing for coffee bags at the store, the most common product you’ll find are pre-ground beans in coffee pouches. Pre-ground beans are usually packaged along with additional flavorings, making them a tempting choice when you are looking for something besides a cup of ordinary black coffee. Unfortunately, pre-ground beans are not a great choice for brewing, because once the beans are ground, they begin to lose their complexity, flavor and richness. You should choose whole coffee beans whenever possible and grind them yourself to ensure the best flavor.

Mistake #2: Grinding your coffee too finely or not enough

You need to be careful when grinding your coffee beans–grinding them too much or too little will result in a poor flavor. If you don’t grind your coffee beans enough, then the resulting flavor when you brew them will be weak and generally poor. If you grind your coffee beans too much, resulting in them being too small and fine, then this will release the bitterness in the beans; naturally, this results in an overall bitter flavor. You may need to test out the grind on new brands you purchase to double check the “sweet spot” for the beans.

Mistake #3: Using stale coffee beans

No matter what kind of coffee bags you buy, you should always make sure you’re using fresh coffee beans and not beans that have expired and gone stale. Stale coffee beans will either taste bitter or flavorless, and in either case they won’t be satisfying to drink. If you have trouble finishing coffee bags before the beans expire, you should consider splitting the bag with a coffee-drinking friend or choosing brands that offer smaller portions.

Mistake #4: Using unfiltered tap water

It can be tempting to use unfiltered tap water because it’s free and easy to access. However, unfiltered tap water has minerals that don’t always work well with the coffee beans you’re using, and the resulting taste can be unpleasant at best. You should try to use filtered tap water or, if you can, purified bottled water for the freshest and “purest” taste.

Mistake #5: Not using measuring spoons

Most people simply scoop their ground coffee beans into the machine without a second thought, but using measuring spoons gives you much greater control over the strength of your coffee cup. Unless you don’t care how strong or mild your coffee is, make sure you take the time to measure properly.

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Cajun Food

Cajun food originates from the deepest part of Southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Like the area it originated from, Cajun food have very rich and spicy flavor which makes it delicious. Many people do not know that the Cajun food was evolved by extremely poor people who are the descendants of Acadians and French Catholic inhabitants and they move to New Orleans when they were expelled from Canada by the British.

Cajun people are very close to the Mexico Gulf, so seafood is a big thing in their dishes. Cajuns living in rural areas made hearty dishes like jambalaya and gumbo that mostly consists of seafood, rice, vegetables and spices. Cajun cooking uses whatever foods are nearby and available, like crawfish, alligator, duck, okra, tomatoes or corn.

According to Ms.Bienvenu: “When Cajun people planning a meal, he or she simply opens the door of kitchen and whatever is swimming, flying, walking or growingin their gardens may well end up in the pot.

Cajun spices

Cajun spices comprises of three main things:

• Bell pepper
• Onions
• Celery

These three are the favorite vegetables which add flavor for the Cajun food. It is known as the ‘Holy Trinity’. A couple of other ingredients include cayenne pepper and garlic. Cajuns are fond of their spice, and add it to most dishes that they prepare.

Alligator in Cajun food

Southern parts of Louisiana are full of marshy coastal regions and swamplands. It is known as the best home for Alligators and they rapidly became part of the regular dining options. Taste of Alligator is like chicken or rabbit. Tail, ribs, tenderloin and other different parts of Alligator are used to prepare variety of dishes like:

• Alligator Cajun spiced ribs
• Alligator stew
• Fried alligator tail
• Alligator pie
• Alligator Sauce Piquante

Alligator meat is rich in vitamins, potassium, phosphorus, niacinand fatty acids which make it a healthy alternative to pork, chicken and beef. The majority of people are well known with eating alligator meat that has been seasoned, southern style and presented with a sauce. This meat basically comes from the tail portion of the alligator. A large number of folks like to take meat and grind it for making sausages and other applications that require blending the wild gator with pork.

Uses

There are a lot of ways to use Alligator in Cajun cooking:

• Gator Ballswhich is ground gator meat (into a meatball, of course) with some other things then breaded and deep fried.
• Alligator Etouffee, a specialty of Robert St. Thomas where the alligator meat is substituted for the crawfish meat.
• Pistolettes, stuffed with savory Cajun alligator filling and sized for individual portions. They can be baked or fried to a deliciously golden brown.
• Boudin is another type of Louisiana delicacy which offers a seamless blend of select alligator, seasonings, cooked rice and the holy trinity of Cajun cuisine like onions, celery, and bell pepper.
• It can be used as a substitute for both chicken and crawfish, as it is heavier in texture than crawfish (closer to chicken) but keeps a seafood quality.

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Ice machines can be used at home or in a commercial environment such as a restaurant or a bar. Ice is a common requirement for people during the summer months as they put it in their beverages to cool them. However, without an ice machine, freezing the ice and using it properly can be a bit more difficult than you might think. First of all, the ice trays are going to take up a great deal of space in the freezer. In a commercial environment, having adequate freezer space is very important since you have to store other food items and raw materials in there as well. If a considerable amount of the space is being taken up by the ice trays, you are not going to be able to maximise efficiency in the freezer.

This is one of the main reasons why you should consider buying an ice maker in Perth. An ice maker is a machine that freezes the water instantly in particular shapes so that you are able to quickly dispense the ice cubes. Ice machines are available in different sizes, ranging from larger-sized machines that must be kept on the floor to smaller tabletop variants that are easier to move around. All in all, buying a portable ice maker is a worthwhile investment. Here are a few reasons why.

Quick Ice Supply

The biggest benefit that you get when buying an ice maker is that it allows you to dispense ice very quickly. If you keep the water in the freezer, it will take at least two or three hours to freeze into ice. That’s because conventional freezers use convection in order to cool the water. However, portable ice makers have electrical coils that can instantly cool the water and turn it into ice. At the touch of a button, the ice maker will be able to dispense ice immediately. The instant freezing makes it ideal because you can deal with greater customer traffic without having to free up more space in the freezers.

No Drainage Lines

Tabletop ice makers don’t require you to connect them to a drainage line or a water line in order to get rid of the water. There are no drainage lines needed; you just have to connect the ice maker to the electrical line and that’s it. It’s a very efficient solution that can allow you to make and store ice very easily.

Ice Storage

Despite their diminutive size, you might be surprised to know that the ice maker is capable of storing much more ice than you might think, going as high as 55 kilograms. That’s a great option, especially for use in commercial environments.

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