Meal Planning Ideas for Pairing Food and Wine

Posted on October 15, 2011 by admin

David Lynch, a James Beard Award-winning sommelier and author of Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy is surprisingly cynical about wines for a wine expert. Lynch describes the typical scenario: “You’re in a restaurant that takes wine very seriously, one where a thick, leather-bound, 25-page book arrives with great fanfare–and a thud–at the table.” However, he realizes, the everyday person “[Doesn’t] come to your restaurant to read a book.” The truth is, all we need is a nice wine to go with our meal, not an enormous, daunting wine list handed to us by a pressed waiter with a pair of condescending eyes. And, lucky for us, if we know the secrets of wine pairing we can have that nice wine, and great meal, in the comfort of our own home. All you have to do is learn the basic rules for wine pairing and you can turn a Friday night into a romantic and festive evening. Just hand the kids off to your sister or aunt, set the table, and read up on these meal planning ideas for a wonderful night of food and wine.

Basic Rules of Wine Pairing

Identify the properties and characteristics of the dish and go from there. Look at your grocery list ideas and then start thinking about what wine would best accompany those foods. For example, if you prepare a steak, couple it with a full wine. Both steaks and full wines are hearty and strong.
When in doubt, match regional cuisine with their regional wines or with wines from grapes of a similar soil and climatic condition. A tomato sauce pasta dish, for example, tastes delectable alongside a Tuscan Chianti, however French chablis (the grapes of which grow in a climate that retains their tangy edge) will serve this dish just as nicely.
Keep in mind that palates can be cleansed with either tannins or acids after a rich meal, like a steak or fried chicken dish. Tannins can come from the skins of the grapes used in winemaking or the wood barrels a wine may have been aged in. Tannin tastes similar to the flavor you would get if you sucked on a tea bag and causes a puckering of the gums. It’s this astringent flavor that helps strip the fats from your tongue and cleanses the palate after a fatty meal.
Match acids with acids. Acidic wines and cream don’t mix, unlike acidic wines with shrimp and lemon pasta. Anything sauteed in a lemon-butter such as salmon and shrimp cakes sauce tastes great with a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.

Last but not least, drink what you want and what makes you feel good! Your preferences should always take precedence over others’ recommendations, even if they’re coming from the mouth of a wine connoisseur.

A Meal Planning Chart and Other Organizational Tips for Your Kitchen

Posted on October 6, 2011 by admin

If you do the majority of the cooking in your family, you know how difficult it can be to cook in a disorganized kitchen. However, you don’t necessarily need a top-of-the-line professional kitchen to make delicious meals. Before you invest in space saving appliances and have your cabinetry overhauled to accommodate your kitchen needs, simply un-clutter your counters, organize your pantry, and make a meal planning chart – you’ll feel like you’re cooking in a professional-style kitchen in no time. Here are some meal prep organizational tips for any major cooking event:

The first thing to do when preparing a complex meal is to make a meal planning chart. So, what is a meal planning chart, exactly? This kitchen helper is simply a list or chart that you can make by hand (or computer) that lists the steps to your meal. These steps can be divided up into time and put in chronological order. The chart doesn’t have to be fancy, just something to help you stay focused as you cook and prepare everything in a timely, efficient, and orderly fashion. This will greatly assist your ability to make sure all the dishes are staged correctly and come out of the kitchen at the right time. Tape your chart up on the pantry or cupboard where you’ll be cooking and check off each task as you go.
Before you even boil your water or preheat your oven make sure that you start with a completely cleared dishwasher. The last thing you want is to start cleanup only to realize that you never ran the dirty dishes through the wash cycle. This will result in a major dish pileup in the sink and a stressful after-cooking mess.
Put your trashcan directly under the ledge on which you’re cutting. This will help you cut and clean, simultaneously. Just chop, then throw the remnants into the garbage in one swoop.

Designate a “chop time” in your meal planning chart and do all your cutting at once. While you cut, put a dishtowel under your cutting board to prevent it from shifting under you. Doing all off your cutting at one time will save you time in the long haul. After chopping up all of your ingredients, put them in separate bowls, throw a piece of saran wrap over each bowl, and pop them in the fridge until you’re ready to use each ingredient. This will keep all of your items fresh until their use.
Make sure that you’re cleaning up as you go. This includes keeping surfaces sanitized and disinfected (especially if you’re cooking with raw meats!), throwing pits, ends, stubs, bones, and fats in the trash as you go, or even quickly cleaning knives and soaking pots and pans while the main dish is cooking. Since you have (hopefully) completely cleared your dishwasher before cooking, you can easily throw any bowls, utensils, or pans in the dishwasher while you cook. Find a gap in your meal planning chart in which you can designate a “clean-up time.” This designated clean-up time will allow you to clear counters and cut out some after-cooking cleaning.
After your dish is finally completed, it’s time to store your leftovers. Make sure to label and date all food: a sharpie is a Chef’s best friend! If you have any extra chopped items, store them in individual baggies or in aluminum foil for your next cooking venture.

Overall, a meal planning chart, staging cooking and clean up, and strategic cooking will help you keep your kitchen area clean and tidy. After having a clean, professional-style kitchen, you’ll never be able to go back!

Tapas Party Menu Plan

Posted on September 24, 2011 by admin

The Spanish know better than anyone else that if you’re drinking, you should always eat with your beverage. They also know that eating slowly and in smaller portions can help you metabolize your food more efficiently, digest easily, and simply catch up with your friends and family! Tapas are a great way to serve finger food if you’re throwing a dinner party, but they also make a great meal by themselves if you want to have a tapas dinner with the family. You can even give the kids a little Spanish history or geography lesson as you serve different tapas. The best thing about tapas? These dishes are made to be shared, giving us a great opportunity to taste, sample, and pick our favorite of many small, easy dishes, rather than hovering over one, main dish. If you want to have a tapas night, you can easily make a menu that can help you plan out your meal. Try a menu plan that includes tapas like these:

Patatas Bravas: Make some fried potato chunks for your own version of patatas bravas. Usually spiced with paprika and served with aioli sauce and ketchup on the side, patatas bravas go well with just about anything and are extremely inexpensive to make.
Tortilla Espanola: Unlike the tortilla we’re used to in the states, the tortilla espanola is made out of potatoes and egg, for a quiche-like dish. Cut the tortilla into slivers or cubes and serve as a tapa. If you have leftovers, serve tortilla espanola as a wonderful breakfast treat. This tortilla keeps extremely well and tastes even better the next day.
Croquettes: Cheese. Ham. Fried. These three factors combined give you a wonderful tapa: the croquette. You can make your croquette however you please, but we like ‘em with russet potatoes, ham, and, of course, breadcrumbs for adequate frying.
Anchovies: Served on top of broiled and crunchy slices of baguettes and drizzled with olive oil, anchovies are extremely common in Spain. While some people hate them, this tapa may just change their minds about anchovies.
Cheese and Olives: For a foolproof tapa, serve sliced cheeses, like Machego or Idiazabal cheese. You can also serve a bowl of Spanish olives for another no-brainer tapa.
Chorizo or Jamon Serrano: Sliced meat, much like sliced cheese, makes a wonderfully filling and extremely easy tapa. Sliced chorizo, a spicier Spanish sausage, or jamon serrano, a Spanish ham, could be perfect for the occasion. Slice a baguette and serve it along with your tapas so that your family can make mini sandwiches with jamon serrano and machego cheese, if they please.

With a great tapas meal, you will be surprised at how much family bonding you can do over the right menu plan. Just make sure to plan in advance and find tapas that your family will love, and you’ll surely have a night to remember.

The Perfect Timeline for Family Meal Planners

Posted on September 24, 2011 by admin

Are you the meal planner in your family? It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Being the designated “meal planner” usually means that you’re in charge of dinner parties and big holiday meals: the cooking, the cleaning, the works. There’s a reason why about 90% of Americans feel increased stress during December holidays, according to Consumer Reports. The cooking alone is enough to turn anyone into the Grinch. Whether you’re planning a dinner party or you have to prepare the big Christmas or Thanksgiving meal, the best way to eliminate stress is to make a timeline. Starting early will make even amateur meal planners execute large meals with ease.

A month ahead:

About a month before the big meal, you should be establishing that a meal will be served and taking care of factors that don’t involve much of the cooking. Try cracking down on some of these things four weeks before the meal:

Pick a menu
Prepare pie crusts and cookie dough, vacuum seal, and put them in the freezer
Decide on table decor
Make your guest list and send out invites

A couple of weeks ahead:

The real prep begins just a few weeks ahead of the meal when you should:

Make shopping lists
Find recipes for your menu, print, and make detailed lists for recipes
Make suggestions as to what your guests should bring, if they offer to bring a dish

5 days ahead:

Five days ahead you may be starting to panic. Never fear! Call up your guests and complete these tasks to ease your stress:

Call guests who have not RSVPed and ask them if they will be attending
Make relishes, sauces, and vinaigrettes
Purchase meats if you’re planning on using large cuts of meat and throw them in freezer with pie crusts

3 days ahead:

After confirming guest lists, preparing sauces, and buying meat, you should try to accomplish these tasks:

Thaw meat
Gather equipment
Polish silver, arrange decorations, clean the house

2 days ahead:

It’s almost here! You can do a lot of your perishable grocery shopping days before the big event so that you can rest easy the day before the big meal:

Prepare items that you can make immediately and store accordingly
Do your perishable grocery shopping

Day before:

The day before the event is the time to chop, clean, and do all the prep work for the meal:

Do prep chopping, washing, etc.
Prepare punch
Make plan that indicates what time you should cook each dish
Prepare baked goods

Day of:

Put on your game-face and make it all come to life!

Being a menu planner may not be simple, but if you make a month-long plan ahead of time, you’ll be able to execute your dinner with ease.

Creative Meal Ideas for Dinner: The Italian Feast

Posted on September 17, 2011 by admin

Sometimes we fall into a rut, making the same recipes night after night, week after week. However, part of the fun of cooking dinner at home is getting creative and trying out new recipes. Variety is the spice of life, after all. Instead of having regular ol’ family dinner menus, why not plan a fun night that the whole family can enjoy? Tonight, try having an Italian night, checkered tablecloths, chef hats, and mustaches included. After all, Italian food is the second most preferred cuisine in the U.S. (after American, of course)!

Tips for a Great Italian Dinner

If you want to change things up during dinner time, try a few of these meal ideas for a wonderful Italian feast:

Kick off your Italian dinner with appetizers – some garlic bread or focaccia bread with onions and garlic. Both of these appetizer options are easy to make and dangerously delicious. You can also serve a Caprese salad, with fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella, fresh cracked pepper, and garlic oil to whet your appetite for the big meal. Crostini are another great option for those that want a simple, yet delicious appetizer to kick off the meal. Get creative with your crostini, using anything from salami and fennel, to mushrooms and rosemary.
Next it’s on to the primi piatti, or first courses in Italian. The first course is generally a pasta-based dish, like spaghetti bolognese (spaghetti with ragu sauce), lasagna, ravioli, gnocchi, or simply spaghetti with red pepper flakes, butter, and garlic oil. Buy whole wheat pasta if you’re trying to prepare healthy foods for your Italian dinner party. Trader Joe’s carries a top-rated Organic Whole Wheat Pasta, which tastes great with pesto. Real Simple magazine notes spaghetti with bacon and squash, spaghetti primavera, and spaghetti with ricotta and tomatoes as the top kid-friendly spaghetti recipes, if you are trying to please the young ones.
Next it’s on to the secondi piatti (or second courses). The second course in an Italian meal is usually composed of a protein, like fish, meat, or poultry. If you’re trying to serve a vegetarian meal, you could also serve cheese plates or a salad as the secondi piatti. Second courses include shrimp scampi, roast pork, veal stew, or baked chicken with mushrooms.
Last but certainly not least is the dolci (desserts). Hailing from Venice, tiramisu is great for coffee-lovers and chocolate-lovers alike. Gelato (ice cream), panna cotta, biscotti (Italian cookie that goes well with coffee), granitas (or flavored ice), or cannoli are all great options for an Italian dessert.

After the last dish is served, it’s time to grab a coffee or espresso, kick back, and relax with your family and friends. Ciao!

Menu Planning With Great Cookbooks

Posted on September 15, 2011 by admin

Let’s face it: menu planning is tough. Sometimes we want to experiment, think outside the box, and make something new, but we just can’t think of any specific dishes that the whole family would love. That’s where cookbooks come into play. Cookbooks are wonderful resources that allow you to learn new tactics for cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. Next time you need to menu plan, check out some our favorite cookbooks of all time, as listed here:

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan: Some chefs call this the “only Italian cookbook you need.” Hazan’s cookbook has brought a little bit of Italy into the homes of thousands of Americans, providing classic Italian dishes, like risotto, frittate, and gnocchi, done right.

The Old World Kitchen by Elizabeth Luard: If you love cooking rooted in tradition, this is the cookbook for you. With more than 500 recipes, Luard has collected dishes that are rooted in family tradition and folklore that could become part of your own family traditions.

The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis: Lewis celebrates years of American country cooking, which she presents with the skill of someone who grew up cooking in the deep south. Baked beans, custard cremes, and corn pudding are just some of the many Southern dishes in The Taste of Country Cooking.

The Way to Cook by Julia Child: Child’s cookbook is considered a “must have” by chefs and mothers alike. This cookbook is both creative and instructive, allowing you to learn the right “way to cook” while experimenting with scrumptious delicacies.

The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker: There’s a reason why this is the best-selling cookbook of all time. The Joy of Cooking has everything you need to know in one, enormous cookbook.

If you want to get into the kitchen and start trying out new recipes, purchase a couple of cookbooks and get to it! Once you’ve selected a few recipes (picking easy level recipes if you’re a novice cook), then you can enter them into your menu planner, print your grocery list and prepare for a fantastic menu. All you need is a couple of great cookbooks to help you out with your menu planning.

Family Menu Planning for Movie Nights

Posted on September 14, 2011 by admin

Whether you’re on winter vacation or you’re lazing around the house on a warm summer night, movie nights can really bring the whole family together. Next time you want to spend some extra time with your kids, try hosting a movie night with a special movie night menu to really get everyone in the mood for a good flick and family fun time.

Movie Night Family Menu Plan

Hit the lights, take your seats, and brace yourself for some great foods that are just perfect for family movie night:

Kick off your movie night with the entree (the snacks will come later so go ahead and skip the appetizers for this menu). Main courses should be fun, festive, and preferably something you can handle with your hands. Try panko-crust chicken tenders with honey dill dip. Beef sliders on toasted rolls could also make the perfect movie night entree because of their petite size. Just have one or two each and save your appetites for the snacks and dessert! Mini pizza poppers, made out of puff pastry dough filled with sausages, tomato sauce, and veggies, could also make the perfect entree because they’re not extremely messy, helping you avoid a potential couch mess.
No meal is complete without some veggies. With crudité, you can have raw veggies and a nice dip. Chef Craig Koketsu of New York’s Park Avenue Winter recommends pairing broccoli with Cheetos for a fun side that makes snacking a little bit healthier.
After dinner has been served and Cheeto broccoli has been devoured, it’s time to roll out the snacks. Nothing says “movie” like popcorn, so make sure you have your family’s favorite type of popcorn on hand. Heat popcorn in your Dutch oven on your stovetop with a little bit of vegetable oil and about 1/3 cup popping corn kernels. Caramel popcorn is also the perfect dessert. Make caramel at home by either melting your favorite caramel candies in a double boiler (the easier way) or, for a culinary challenge, make your own caramel from scratch. Include M&Ms over salty popcorn for a melted-chocolate treat.
For dessert, you’ll want to stick to the idea that finger foods are your best bet at keeping the couch in tip top shape. Try double chocolate chunk or macadamia nut cookies, munched over napkins, of course!

Now that you have your movie night menu planning all done, it’s time to scroll through that Pay Per View selection or hit Netflix to find some wonderful flicks that will entertain the whole family.

Budget Meal Planning Tips: Using Coupons

Posted on September 4, 2011 by admin

Eighty-nine percent of Americans regularly use coupons when shopping for groceries according to the Nielsen Company and they are saving big, about $3 billion a year! Coupons are great assets to any family trying to meal plan on a budget. However, it can be tricky to get the most bang for your buck when using coupons. There are plenty of couponing strategies that can help you cut your grocery bills in half.

Tips for Using Coupons When Budget Meal Planning

You may have been using coupons for years, but do know all the tips n’ tricks to getting great deals? Here are some couponing secrets that may help you out in the long haul:

When cutting coupons out of the coupon insert in your newspaper, you will find a tiny date printed on the inside edge (or the side that has the binding on it, usually on the lefthand side of a book or magazine) of the coupon insert (the coupon pages that are inserted into your local newspaper). Instead of squinting and examining this date every time you go back into your coupon archives, write the date on the outside of the coupon with a sharpie to make it more visible.
Clip each group of coupons from the newspaper together to help you keep them compact. Then, store them based on your written date. You can often use these coupons for up to 6 months.
Compile your coupons as you get them by brand or type of food to save time when you need to grab them before shopping. Staple your coupon inserts or internet printouts together and cut when you’re ready to take them to grocery store.
As a general rule, buy the smallest or smaller size. When you’re looking at a bulk deal at the grocery store, do the math. Carry a calculator in your purse or simply do the calculations on your phone’s calculator function to dictate the price per ounce. While the bulk buy may be a better deal without your coupons, with the coupons you are getting more bang for your buck when purchasing the smaller item.
Buy items on rotation, based on your coupons. You’ll never be able to go and get all of your products at the same time if you’re really trying to save. Instead, buy in bulk when you’re purchasing non-perishables if you’re getting the lowest price per ounce.
Know the rules for each supermarket. Some Grocers triple coupons that are less than 50 cents, others accept competitors’ coupons. Get the facts so that you can be informed when you shop and look for coupons.

Once you master these tips, you’ll be a coupon queen in no time. With a little practice and some studying, you’ll be shocked at how much you can save when you’re using a budget grocery list and some sensible meal planning.

Food on the Table

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