temp rb_blog

Blog

  • Skinny Margaritas This Cinco de Mayo

    Margaritas

    Slimmed-down margaritas

    ‘Cinco de Mayo’ which is Spanish for the 5th May and it is celebrated in Mexico and other parts of the US. As it celebrates Mexican heritage, it is the perfect time of year to drink mid-week skinny margaritas.

    The standard components of a margarita are tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice. As alcoholic drinks can be quite fattening and very ‘calorific’, creating a Skinny Margarita can be a waist line saver. For a Skinny Margarita which is no more than 180 calories, you will need the standard ingredients and ensure that you don’t go over the measurements by free pouring.

    • 2 oz of tequila = 128 calories
    • ½ oz orange liqueur = 40 calories
    • 1 lime = 8 calories

    To make the cocktail, cut up the lime and juice it. Then add to the rest of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake well. Strain into a glass and add an extra lime wedge (3 calories!) to garnish.

    Recipes for margaritas

    Here’s our pick of margaritas, some low calorie, some not so, to celebrate this Cinco de Mayo:

    Find many recipes of Margaritas with different ingredient combination on Recipebridge.

    As always, we love to hear from you. Post your favorite tips for mixing margaritas on our Facebook page or Tweet us!

     

  • Delectable Chocolate Truffles

    Chocolate Truffles

    National Chocolate Truffles Day

    It’s the National Truffles Day today, and what better day to celebrate this delectable French tradition than today. Chocolate truffles have been said to be invented by Louis and Antoine Dufour in Chambery, France in 1895. Many historians believe that the Prestat Chocolate Shop in London was the first to popularize the chocolate truffles beyond France and to the world. Well, either way, chocolate truffles are now as popular as ever and devoured all over the world.

    Essentially chocolate truffles are bite-sized round petit fours that are made from a mixture of dark chocolate and cream. They have a creamy ganache filling, and are covered with a topping like cocoa, coconut or drizzled chocolate. Though there are many variations of truffles now, basically ttechnique for making truffles can categorize them in three main varieties:

    1. American Truffles which are a mixture of dark or milk chocolates with butterfat.

    2. European Truffles which are made with syrup and a base made up of cocoa powder, milk powder, fats, and other such ingredients to create an oil-in-water type emulsion.

    3. Swiss Truffles which are made by combining melted chocolate into a boiling mixture of dairy cream and butter, which is poured into molds to set before sprinkling with cocoa powder.

    Homemade Chocolate Truffles

    Homemade truffles are fairly easy to make and you can add a variety of flavors and ingredients to add a twist to the traditional chocolate truffles. Here’s our pick of chocolate truffles recipes to try at home:

    As delicious as they are, chocolate truffles also make the perfect personalized gifts with Cinco de Mayo coming up this week, add these to your Mexican holiday chocolate menu. Or wait till next week, and these chocolate truffles will be a perfect homemade gift for Mother’s Day!

  • Incredible Eggs

    Eggs

    Celebrating eggs this month

    Eggs are a wonderfully diverse food and are not only used as an ingredient in many meals but are also a great addition for many meals in their own right. With many uses and health benefits, eggs are both delicious and nutritious. And this month is the National Egg Month, celebrating eggs.

    There are many different types of eggs and the most popular types used in cooking are:

    • White or brown chickens eggs
    • Quail eggs
    • Pheasant eggs
    • Duck eggs
    • Goose eggs

    The parts of the eggs used in cooking are the yolk (the yellow centre) and the egg white. Egg whites are a fat burner and are popular with fitness of fanatics for this nutritional value. Mainly associated with Easter and spring, the great thing about eggs is that they can be eaten throughout the year in sauces, on their own or as a binding ingredient in cookery.

    Packed full of lean protein, they are great for fat loss and muscular growth, and because of their choline content, eggs are also great at regulating metabolism and promoting brain health. Due to their high vitamin B content as well, they are great for helping with weight loss, promote a healthy heart and also reduce cholesterol levels and prevent blood clots.

    Eggs can be scrambled, fried, hard boiled, poached, and can made into many egg based dishes such as omelettes. May is National Egg Month and is the perfect time of year to clelebrate eggs,their nutritional value and their fantastic diversity when it ocmes to cooking.

    Scrumptious recipes using eggs

    If you want to try some great egg recipes this National Egg Month, try your hand at:

    As always, we love to hear from you. Find more egg recipes on Recipebridge and post how you like your eggs on our Facebook page or Tweet us!

     

  • The Exquisite Pomegranates

    The Exquisite Pomegranates

    The wonderful world of Pomegranates

    Pomegranates are one of the oldest cultivated fruits, cherished for their exquisite appearance and immense flavor. They are thought to have first grown in Persia, and but their history can be traced back to Romans and Egyptians. Nevertheless pomegranates have a huge fan following, these being referred to into the category of Superfoods.

    Our infographic on pomegranates today highlights the unique properties of pomegranates and it’s health benefits in the shortest possible way.  At no fat, low sugar and only 80 calories per 100-gram serving, these delicious fruits supply a healthy dose of Vitamin C. Besides various other B vitamins, zinc and potassium, pomegranates are a very rich source of antioxidants.

    Recipes with Pomegranates

    Pomegranates are delicious raw, but can be added to many recipes. Their vivid color makes the pomegranate seeds a lovely garnish to many desserts, salads, and yogurts. Dried and crushed pomegranate seeds are also used as a spice in many dishes. Find more  recipes with pomegranates on Recipebridge.

  • 6 Delicious Ways to Enjoy Red Snapper

    Red Snapper

    The nutty flavor of red snapper

    The red snapper is a medium sized fish (about 20 inches long) that, although it is generally caught just off the south eastern coast of the US in the Atlantic, it is commercially sold all over the world and is a fantastic ingredient for all the fish lovers out there. Red snapper season is usually around the summer months, and this year it seems like it will be June when the season is likely to be at its peak i.e. when a fisherman’s catch is most likely to be at its most successful.

    When it comes to cooking the red snapper, fillets can be bought fresh or frozen and make a healthy and colourful addition to a main course. Baking, frying and grilling red snapper are the most popular methods of snapper preparation and each have their each unique outcome. Grilling is arguably the tastiest method however, and can also be the healthiest as they don’t need to be cooked in oil.

    To grill your red snapper, all you need are the snapper fillets, seasoning, a wedge of lime or lemon, and a marinade of your choice.

    1. First, wash your snapper and then cut 3 one inch slits down each fillet (this allows marinade to seep in).
    2. Pour marinade over your fillets on both sides, ensuring fillets are covered. Leave to marinate for half an hour.
    3. After marinating, mix some garlic powder, salt and pepper together then rub the mixture into the fillets.
    4. Slice a lime or lemon and either squeeze the juice over the fillet or place thin slices over each fillet.
    5. Place red snapper fillets on grill on a medium heat and leave to grill for about 12-15 minutes or until the skin begins to flake.

    Popular marinades that go really well with the red snapper’s distinctive taste are: soy sauce, lemon parsley or different mixtures altogether. For Hunan Style marinade collect together

    • 3 tbsp soy sauce
    • 3 tbsp dry sherry (or vinegar)
    • 1 tbsp crushed ginger
    • 1 tbsp crushed garlic
    • 2 tbsp green onion

    Mix ingredients together, and leave the fish to marinate for between 30 and 40 minutes.

     6 scrumptious ways to cook red snapper:

    1. Baked Red Snapper Recipes
    2. Roasted Red Snapper Recipes
    3. Grilled Red Snapper Recipes
    4. Pan Seared Red Snapper Recipes
    5. Cajun Red Snapper Recipes
    6. Fried Red Snapper Recipes

    Alternatively, you might like to try Red Snapper Cancato Style with Chorizo- Tomato Salsa – it only takes 15 minutes to prepare, 45 minutes to cook and the mixture of textures and flavours is truly delightful! Other great tasting toppings for this beautifully light fish include: Thyme Pesto, Couscous, Green Salad and Honey Grapefruit Dressing or you might like to try Red Snapper in a Sesame Crust, Ginger Veggies, Curry Couscous and almonds – a mixture of flavours and texture which complement each other perfectly.

  • Cooking with Jelly Beans

    Jelly beans

    16 billion jelly beans produced every year

    We just passed the National Jelly Bean Day on April 22nd, and mid week is a great time to celebrate this sweet little candy! This 1860s candy has evolved over the years, and in the 1930s, jelly beans started to get given new flavourings, and also started to become associated with Easter (probably for their egg-like shape). 16 billion of these sweet treats are produced every year and are just as popular as they ever were.

    In the 1980s different flavours were added to jelly beans, and this is what made people everywhere, both young and old, fall in love with them – they each had their own unique flavour and its fruity tastes are what made Ronald Reagan (the president of the US at the time) famous for keeping some on his desk at the White House in the Oval Office.

    Different jelly bean flavours and colours are now associated with different occasions, such as the festive Mint, Marshmallow, Christmas Coconut or Vanilla Ice in the winter months or Mixed Berry Smoothie, Pomegranate, and Sunkist Lemon for refreshing summer flavours.

    Recipes that use jelly beans can include muffins, cookies, cakes, bars, or fudge – a massive array of sweet desserts which are both colourful and fun. For an Eater treat, why not give the Jelly Bean Pizza a try? Basically a huge cookie with lots of frosting and decoration, this is a perfect dessert for kids and adults alike, and creating it with younger children is a great afternoon activity too.

    Making cookies with jelly beans

    Cookie Ingredients

    • 7 tbsp butter, softened
    • 3/4 cup sugar
    • 1 tsp. vanilla
    • 1 large egg
    • 1 1/4 cup flour
    • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp. salt

    Frosting Ingredients

    • 1 tbsp. cream cheese, softened
    • 2 tbsp. milk
    • 1.5 cup powdered sugar
    • Jelly beans

    First, cream together the butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg then blend together. Gradually add flour, baking soda and salt then roll the dough into a 12 inch pizza shape.

    Heat the oven to 350F then place pizza in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

    For the frosting, whisk the milk, cream cheese, sugar and food colouring (if you choose to use it) and evenly spread it across the top of your pizza-cookie. Decorate with chocolate drops, sprinkles, and most importantly, jelly beans!

    For another Easter, Summer, or any-time-of-the-year treat, try hot chocolate with whipped cream topped with jelly beans, jelly bean brittle, jelly bean Bundt cakes, mallow bars or biscotti – the jelly beans can be used to add colours, textures, and different flavours to each of your creations, and you are sure to want to try as many of these colourful recipes as you can! Find more recipes for jelly beans on Recipebridge.

     

     

  • Food Brands on Pinterest

    Food Brands on Pinterest

    How food brands are using Pinterest?

    Pinterest is a site which features a virtual pinboard which you can personalise with your own interests. Similar to your own corkboard you may have hanging in your kitchen with various recipes attached to it, Pinterest is a new interactive version of this idea. Rather than spending time finding magazine cuttings of some new recipes, Pinterest is the ideal site if you want to have all your favourite foods and recipes in one place.

    You can find Recipebridge on Pinterest and “pin” some of the recipes to your own virtual, personalised boards to show the online community your interests. As well as Recipebridge, many other brands and food companies have a presence on Pinterest:

    Chobani – This famous American yoghurt brand offers nutritional tips, healthy recipes using Chobani yoghurt, plus tips and slogans about how to stay healthy. As the official sponsor of the US team for the London 2012 Olympics, health and fitness is this brand’s top priority. See Chobani on Pinterest.

    Cabot Cheese – An award winning cheese brand, Cabot is based in the hills of Vermont. The brand’s presence on Pinterest is helpful, inspiring and fun, with plenty of pin boards to choose from including Appetizers and Snacks, Main Dishes and Lactose Free, cheese lovers will always find creative cheese recipes on Recipebridge. The Pinterest page of Cabot Cheese is equally creative.

    Panera Bread – With chain stores dotted across the United States and Canada, Panera Bread is a bakery cafe with a decent following on Pinterest. With tips on how to make healthier sandwiches and ways to get active, Panera are yet another company with nutrition at the forefront of their minds.

    Starbucks – With over 1000 followers, Starbucks needs little introduction. The biggest coffee house company in the world, its Pinterest pages are ideal for coffee lovers, students and office workers alike.

    Tyson Recipes – With its headquarters in Arkansas, the Tyson brand is well known across the US and beyond as one of the largest food manufacturers of processed meats and poultry. Its recipes on Pinterest allow Tyson lovers to bond over their favourite meat creations.

    Mrs Dash Recipes – A seasoning company, this brand is loved by professional and amateur chefs everywhere. With its emphasis on low fat and low calorie products, they offer tips, tricks and recipes for you to try. Browse Mrs Dash’s Pinterest page.

    Kraft Recipes – Kraft foods sell products from all varieties of foods to beverages to confectionery. Their Pinterest page has a huge following, and their pins are packed full of new dessert recipes, gadgets, or special occasion recipes to name a few!

    Jennie-O Recipes – The popular turkey manufacturer has some great pins on Pinterest. Ideal for turkey lovers, Jennie-O offers low fat, grilled and burger recipes for its fans to try among many other things. Find Jennie-O pins on Pinterest.

    Whole Foods – This inclusive company covers a whole range of foods and has a phenomenal 22,600+ followers. With artistic food creations to share with you, tips for how to celebrate various occasions and many more pins, Whole Foods has many popular Pinterest pins!

    Pin Recipebridge on Pinterest

    If you love Recipebridge and Pinterest sounds like your kind of thing, then show the love by pinning Recipebridge on Pinterest, you’ll find plenty of recipes from baked to seafood to salads – ideal for food lovers!

     

  • How to Make Pasta at Home

    Pasta

    Delicious Homemade Pasta

    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 and other ingredients are usually added to pasta to create a delicious meal.

    Making homemade pasta is a simple process and requires only three ingredients: 2 cups unbleached flour, 3 eggs and ½ tsp salt.

    1. Put the flour on your work surface in a pile and make a well in the middle break the eggs into the well then add the salt. Stir the eggs without mixing in the surrounding flour.
    2. When the eggs are well mixed, begin to gradually combine with the flour.
    3. Use your fingertips to blend in the mixture.
    4. Form a ball with the mixture using your hands  – add a little more egg if the mixture seems dry, and add a little more flour if it seems too moist.#
    5. Knead the pasta dough using the heel of your hand and rolling it away from you, then turning and doing the same again – do this for about 5-10 minutes.
    6. Break the dough into three equal pieces and roll into 3 balls. Cover with a towel and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
    7. Flatten one ball with the palm of your hand then use a rolling pin or pasta machine to make an even layer of pasta.
    8. Rolling the dough through your pasta machine on gradually thinner settings will ensure it gets to the right texture and is about 1-2mm thick.
    9. Feed the dough through your pasta machine so that it evenly slices the pasta strands.
    10. Hang the pasta on a drying rack so that it doesn’t stick together.

    Pasta machines make the job of making your own homemade pasta a lot easier – and hand operated or motorised machines are the two types which can make your pasta-making experience a whole lot easier. If you want to make coloured pasta, different ingredients can be incorporated into the mixture to add more colour and flavour to your dish!

    Share your favorite pasta recipes with us!

    As always, we love to hear from you. Find more pasta recipes on Recipebridge and post your favorite ones on our Facebook page or Tweet us!

  • Florida Fresh Tomatoes

    Tomato

    April is the Fresh Florida Tomato Month

    April is Fresh Florida Tomato Month, and tomatoes are said to originally have come from Peru and have been in the past widely considered as an aphrodisiac! Technically a fruit, it is versatile, fleshy and juicy and can be used in many dishes from sweet to savoury, hot to cold.

    Benefits of Fresh Tomatoes

    Although tomatoes can be cooked, grilled, roasted etc, fresh tomatoes hold incredible nutritional value.

    Cardiovascular Health – Antioxidants which make up a lot of the tomatoes’ goodness, is what supports your system, leading to healthy hearts and cardiovascular systems. As well as this, they also help regulate fat in the blood stream, ensuring there is no fatty-deposit build up.

    Good Bones – Packed full of great antioxidants such as lycopene, stronger bones can be helped by nutrient-rich tomatoes.

    Cancer Prevention – Those magical antioxidants once again work to prevent many illnesses, including cancer – this is mainly due to their anti inflammatory ingredients.

    Planting, growing and harvesting your tomatoes can depend on where you live in the world, but tomato gardening is most popular at this time of year for people in the northern hemisphere. Sowing seeds should take place in fairly warm temperatures (ideally above 10 degrees C) and should be ready to pick about 60 – 80 days after planting.

    April 6th is Fresh Tomato Day and it is a great day to celebrate this fantastically nutritious fruit which is rich in Vitamin C plus many other vitamins and minerals. A great snack and recipe ingredient, tomatoes are one of the most widely used fruits in contemporary and old time cooking.

    The classic tomato sauce

    From the very simple tomato pasta sauce to frittatas to exotic tomato salsas, the tomato can be used in practically anything! For a delicious appetiser, why not try a Tomato, Basil and Feta Tart? It’s light and delicious and a great warm-up for your main course. All you need is:

    • 1/4 cup olive oil
    • 1kg brown onions, thinly sliced
    • 2 tbsp brown sugar
    • 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
    • 250g sliced gourmet tomatoes
    • 1/2 cup small basil leaves
    • 2/3 cup feta

    Preheat oven to 200C. Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Fry onions for 15 minutes  then add sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes then allow to cool.

    Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Cut each sheet in half and layer 2 pastry halves together, pushing gently to keep them in place. Repeat with the rest of the pastry. Place pastry rectangles on prepared trays. Lightly score a 2cm border in pastry rectangles.

    Divide caramelised onions between pastry rectangles and spread to the border. Top with tomatoes, feta and basil. Bake for half an hour or until golden.

    For a great tasting main course try a Pancetta, Chicken and Semi Dried Tomato Roll, a Sweet Baked Tomato as a dessert and maybe even have a tomato based Bloody Mary to top it all off!

    Find more tomato recipes on Recipebridge.

  • April is the Soft Pretzel Month

    Soft Pretzel

    Celebrating the Pretzel

    A traditional German food, a pretzel is a soft doughy creation, usually twisted into a knot shape or a loop. A symbol of good luck and coming in both sweet and savoury varieties, pretzels are an increasingly popular snack all over the world. The pretzels are said to have originated in Italy or France from as far back as 610 AD and is a multimillion dollar a year franchise – and it’s no wonder – they’re delicious.

    April is National Soft Pretzel Month and this is a great time of year for celebrating soft pretzels, trying out some new recipes and enjoying them! As pretzels are associated with Lent and the ‘knot’ shape was supposed to symbolise the shape of the arms a person in prayer creates, pretzels are generally associated with the Easter period too. The 4th Sunday in Lent is another day celebrating pretzels, where boys can give girls pretzels to represent their interest in their new beau!

    How to make a plain pretzel?

    If you’ve never heard of or tried a soft pretzel – you are missing out, so get baking and see what you can make… you are sure to become a huge fan of these lovely doughy treats. The ingredients you will need are: 2-3 cups plain flour, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp instant yeast, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup warm milk.

    Pour two cups of the flour into a mixing bowl then add each of the other ingredients until the mixture becomes thick. After this, then add the rest of the flour until you have a ball of dough. Preheat the oven to 425F and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes then break it into 6 even pieces.

    Roll each piece of dough into a stick and cover with a towel. Let the dough sticks sit for 10 minutes and then repeat the “roll and stretch” process again. Again, roll them into a stick about 15 inches long and ½ inch wide. Put the strand of dough in front of you, hold each end and loop the ends out away from you then back towards your body, then crossing them. Gently push the ends together so they stick.

    To bake your pretzels, you need to decide on your topping of choice – if you want to make simple, salted pretzels, just spray a little water over the outside of the dough, then sprinkle the salt on top. Place the pretzels on a baking tray and place in the oven for about 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can egg wash or boil your pretzels before baking to get different textures – it’s totally down to personal preference.

    Eat them warm and buttery, or try them dipped in melted chocolate if you want a mixture of sweet and savoury together. Pretzel dips such as cheese or honey mustard are also delicious and are a different take on the traditional pretzel recipe – ideal for Soft Pretzel Month.