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  • The Perfectly Grilled Lamb Chops

    lamb chops

    Lamb chops this Memorial Day weekend

    Lamb chops are not the most often barbecued meat, but surely enough it’s strong flavors and ease of cooking make them a perfect barbecue meat for this Memorial Day weekend. If you choose the right lamb cuts and cook them quick and well, the lamb chops turn out to be tender and succulent.

    There are various cuts available for lamb chops:

    • Lamb Shoulder Blade Chops
    • Lamb Shoulder Arm Chops
    • Lamb Rib Chops
    • Lamb Loin Chops
    • Lamb Loin Double Chops
    • Lamb Leg Sirloin Chops

    The loin, legs and ribs are the best cuts for grilling. It’s also important that the meat is at room temperature before it’s ready for grilling.

    Steps to grilling perfect lamb chops

    Grilling lamb chops is a simple process and requires only the lamb chops, marinade of your choice, or even just some kosher salt and pepper for seasoning.

    Steps to grilling perfect lamb chops:

    1. Trim the excess fats from the edges of the lamb chops. The fat will not add any flavor to the meat, and it’ll only cause oily flare ups.
    2. Rinse and dry the lamb chops.
    3. Brush oil on both sides. Alternately if you are using a marinade, then marinate the lamb chops for about an hour at least.
    4. Season with some salt and pepper.
    5. Prepare your grill.
    6. Make sure the meat is at room temperature before grilling.
    7. Grill the lamb chops on the grill with the lid open on high heat. Typically an inch thick lamb chops need to be cooked about 3-4 minutes each side. This can also vary if you like the chops to be a bit rare.
    8. After this, let the meat rest for about 5 minutes before eating.
    9. Serve with your choice of sauce, salsa or enjoy as it is.

    Grilled veggies and grains like bulgur wheat salad, quinoa or couscous, or rice pilafs go extremely well as sides with lamb chops. Lollipop lamb chops also make for delicious finger foods.

    Find more recipes for grilled lamb chops on Recipebridge.

  • Heart Healthy Breakfast On The Go

    Yogurt and berries for breakfast

    Continuing our series with Dr. Beckerman demonstrating how to prepare easy heart healthy recipes, in this video he shows his recipe for breakfast on the go. This dish is not only easy but also compliments the Flex Diet, which is so popular for introducing heart healthy recipes into our daily diets. The berries add fiber and yogurt adds the protein, and good bacteria for your day to get started.

    Find more recipes for on the go breakfast on Recipebridge.

  • 12 Recipes To Kick Off The Memorial Day Weekend

    Memorial Day bbq

    The Memorial Day cookout

    Memorial Day in the US often marks the beginning of summer, and kicks off the grilling season. The three day long weekend sees numerous community events but also many barbeque get-togethers and cook outs.

    Whether you are cooking classic American dishes or you’d like to try out some interesting twists on these classics, here’s our list of some favourite dishes to try this Memorial Day.

    How are you celebrating this Memorial Day weekend?

    As always, we love to hear from you. Post your favorite Memorial Day recipes and expericences on our Facebook page or Tweet us!

     

  • El Pinto Shares Guacamole Recipe

    Guacamole to suit your taste buds

    El Pinto Director of Marketing and Promotions, Jim Garcia, makes their famous guacamole. El Pinto is a family owned restaurant in New Mexico, one of the very first ones to differentiate their cuisine as “new mexican.” Made out of avocados, chili peppers, garlic, tomatoes and various seasonings, the great thing about guacamole is the fact that it can be made to suit different tastes – for a more cooling and mild taste, chilies can be left out and this dip tastes great with tortilla chips, crackers, bread sticks or carrot sticks.

    Find more guacamole recipes on Recipebridge.

  • Seasonings for Grilling Steak

    Seasonings for Grilling Steak

    Enhancing Steak Flavor with Seasonings

    Some people wonder why we season our food, but when it comes to seasonings steaks, seasoning is one of the most important things you must add if you want to enhance the flavor of the meat. The idea of seasoning is to not only add great flavor and texture, but to also bring out the existing flavor of the steak and complement its taste. Grilled steak is a great way to enjoy your cut whilst having a slightly less fattening meal.

    Salt and Pepper – The most basic seasoning you can add to a steak, but it works beautifully if you really are happy with the cut of meat you have. Rather than overpowering the steak with rich marinades and too many spices, salt and pepper can bring out the flavour of a top grade, prime cut steak but doesn’t detract from its fabulous flavour.

    Chimichurri – A South American condiment, this is a great sauce for use on grilled or barbequed steak, it’s made up of olive oil, garlic, parsley, oregano, chilli pepper and vinegar. Ideal for pasting over a steak before grilling, it adds a beautifully tasty and slightly spicy flavour to the meat without overpowering it.

    Garlic Rub – Garlic beautifully complements the juicy flavours of a good steak cut. A basic garlic rub recipe is made of approx 8 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 ½ tsp salt, ½ pepper, ½ tsp lemon zest, 2 tsp stone ground mustard. Salt and pepper ratios can be adjusted to suit taste. The nature of this sauce/rub means that it adds an element of moisture to the steak when applied as well.

    Dry Rub – The dry rub is made up of dry ingredients which can coat the steak. When grilled, the dry rub can turn into a crust which adds a slightly crisp texture to the outside of the meat. A basic rub can be made up of salt, pepper, a dash of brown sugar and garlic powder. The salt has the ability to draw out the juices from the steak and the sugar will caramelise when grilled to add a slightly sweeter and stickier outer layer.

    Popular spices and seasonings to use on steak fillets

    There are a variety of popular spices to use on steaks

    • Peppercorn – more intense than just ground pepper, using peppercorns in a dry rub (even a little crushed up in a pestle and mortar) will add a crunchy, tasty crust.
    • Chile Pepper – great for a spicy kick to your steak – only if you can handle your spice though. Otherwise, this may overtake the flavour of the meat too much.
    • Cayenne Pepper – not too spicy yet enough to add a little extra flavour and just enough sweet-spice to make your taste buds tingle whilst sinking your teeth into a juicy steak.
    • Garlic – great when mixed with other ingredients, garlic is a great accompaniment to steak but also stands well on its own as a marinade, sauce or rub. Garlic powder is easier to use as seasoning and is easier to apply to the steak in the quantities you need.

     

  • A Costa Rican Treat – Gallo Pinto

    The colorful Gallo Pinto

    Dr. Beckerman demonstrates how to prepare easy heart healthy recipes, and this video shows his recipe for Gallo Pinto. It’s a colorful recipe from Costa Rica, Gallo Pinto literally means ‘speckled hen’. Watch this video to get  a heart healthy version of this popular dish.

    Find more recipes for Gallo Pinto on Recipebridge.

  • Memorial Day Lemonades

    Lemonades

    Lemonades to celebrate

    Memorial Day is a day of celebration in the US to commemorate those that have served in protecting their country. Due to its celebratory status, it is the ideal day to make homemade food and drinks and share the time with family and friends.

    Lemonades are great beverages of choice for the occasion and can be easily made with:

    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 cup lemon juice
    • 3 to 4 extra cups cold water

    1. Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved.

    2. While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

    3. Add the lemon juice and the sugared water to a pitcher. Add the extra 3 to 4 cups of cold water, and dilute to desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add some more lemon juice to it.

    Mixing techniques for lemonades

    Some people like to shake their lemonade in order to properly mix the ingredients together. However, you may also like to blend your mixture. If you like the authenticity of hand mixing the ingredients then this method will probably suit you best. However, a blended mixture is better for those who like smoother textures to their drinks.

    For pink lemonade, add 1 or 2 tsp dried hibiscus and mint leaves for garnishing. Or you can swap your lemons for limes if you want to make limeade instead!

    Find more interesting twists and recipes for lemonades on Recipebridge.

  • Drunken Shrimp From Jason Lera

    Delectable shrimp recipe

    Continuing on our series from Jason Lera, the executive chef from Iguana Macks in Chandler, he’s preparing great  recipes for the summer. Here’s one of his recipes for drunken shrimp.

    Include this delicious recipe this Memorial Day weekend or any weeknight.

    Find more recipes for drunken shrimp on Recipebridge.

     

  • Top 12 Foods In The World

    Top12 foods

     World foods and cuisines

    We found this very interesting infograph from visual.ly. It shows most popular foods around the world. As you can see, pasta defeats all. A worldwide staple food, pasta originally came from Italy. Mainly a wheat based product, many recipes for pasta have been created over the years and this basic yet filling food is a great addition to many dishes and sauces.
    Rice closely follows and in many parts of the world, rice is a staple food, finding way in every day meals. Also, the Chinese cuisine seems to be a leading cuisine in the culinary world.

    Find recipes for various foods on Recipebridge

     

    Find recipes for this foods on Recipebridge. Click on the links below to find recipes to cook throughout the week.

    Find more recipes for all these foods on Recipebridge.

     

  • Chicken Sliders From Iguana Macks

    Grilled chicken sliders

    Jason Lera, the executive chef from Iguana Macks in Chandler has great grilling recipes for summer barbecues. Here’s one of his recipes for chicken sliders.

    Include this delicious summer barbecue recipe this Memorial Day weekend or any weeknight.

    Find more recipes for chicken sliders on Recipebridge.