Brewing Coffee with Coffee Machines

by: Cameroon Taylor

The process of brewing coffee is considered by many to be an art form. As such, the equipment that is used at every stage of the process is imperative in determining the final result. Coffee can be made using any one of many methods; coffee can be boiled, steeped, or pressured.

Percolators or automatic coffee-makers utilise the effect of gravity in order to brew coffee. In these machines, hot water is allowed to drip onto coffee grounds that are held in a coffee filter. This filter is either made of paper or perforated metal and allows the water to pass through the ground coffee, thereby creating a liquid infused with the aromas and taste of the ground coffee beans.

Coffee may also be brewed using other methods. One such example is to brew coffee by using a device known as a French press. In this method, ground coffee and hot water are combined in a coffee press and left to brew for a set period of time. A plunger is then used to remove the coffee from the container, leaving the ground coffee at the bottom of the device.

An espresso machine forces hot, pressurised water through ground coffee. This method of brewing under high pressure means that the final product has as much as 10 to 15 times the amount of coffee to water ratio as coffee brewed using other methods.

All of these coffee brewing products are available at Witham’s Coffee. To find out more about coffee machines and coffee machine related equipment, visit http://withams.com.au/.



About The Author
Most of us spend a fair portion of our time in office drinking coffee. Cameroon Taylor is one of those few lucky ones who gets to drink coffee for work. He has been a coffee enthusiast for as long as he can remember and after having a sip of most of the major types of coffee from around the world, he started to write about the first love of his life; coffee. The love affair continues…

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The Many Ways to Cook Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

by: Ralph Serpe

Boneless skinless chicken breast is the most popular cut of poultry in the United States and with good reason: they are low in fat, quick and easy to prepare and extremely versatile. This wonderful cut of poultry can be grilled, sauteed, broiled, poached, fried and baked. There is a downside however to this cut of meat: they are rather low in fat. You may be asking: "What is wrong with that? That makes them healthy right?" Yes, they are a healthier way to eat, but because they are low in fat, they are also low in moisture and that makes them very susceptible to over cooking. Nothing is less appetizing than a dry and overcooked piece of meat.

There are two ways to make certain your chicken is not overcooked. The first way, and the most accurate in my opinion, is to use an instant read thermometer. I own a handy little electronic thermometer with a voice alert feature. It is extremely accurate and has never let me down. The other method for checking doneness is by pricking the meat with a fork. If the juices run clear, then it is done. I think the first option is much safer, but you can be the judge.

There are literally hundreds of combined recipes and methods for cooking chicken breast, far too many to cover in this article, so I will talk about two very popular methods.

One of the easiest and tastiest ways is to marinate and grill them.

Below is a great marinade recipe:

GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST WITH CITRUS HERB MARINADE

INGREDIENTS:

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons of Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

2 Tablespoons of Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

1/3 Cup of Freshly Chopped Parsley

1/3 Cup of Freshly Chopped Basil

1 Clove of Garlic Minced

1 Teaspoon of Salt

1/4 Teaspoon of Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1: Mix together everything, accept the chicken breasts, in a large bowl.

Step 2: Add chicken to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for several hours.

Step 3: Get you grill nice and hot and oil the grates to prevent the chicken from sticking.

Step 4: Grill chicken about 4 minutes per side or until done.

Another fantastic way to cook chicken breasts is by baking them in foil in the oven. The foil helps keep the meat nice and moist while cooking. What you put inside the foil is only limited by your imagination, but to make things easier, I have included a great recipe below.

CHICKEN WITH SUN DRIED TOMATOES AND KALAMATA OLIVES

INGREDIENTS:

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

10 - 15 Kalamata Olives Pitted and Chopped

8 - 10 Sun Dried Tomatoes Cut Into Thin Strips

4 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons of Freshly Chopped Basil

2 Tablespoons of Freshly Chopped Parsley

Salt and Pepper to Taste

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1: Preheat Oven to 450 Degrees F

Step 2: In a bowl, combine the olives, tomatoes, basil, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Step 3: Cut 8 Squares of Aluminum Foil (Cut them large, about 18 inches square)

Step 4: Grab 2 squares of foil and place one on top of the other.

Step 5: Grease the foil with some olive oil

Step 6: Place a chicken breast in the center of the foil and spoon some of the tomato and olive mixture on top

Step 7: Loosely fold the foil over the chicken forming a tent and seal tightly

Step 8: Repeat this process for the remaining chicken breasts

Step 9 : Place the wrapped chicken breasts on a baking sheet and place in the pre-heated oven

Step 10: Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until done. To check for doneness, cut a small slit in the foil to allow the steam to escape and then carefully unfold the foil. Check for doneness with an instant read thermometer. The internal temperature should read 160 degrees F.

Step 11: Let the chicken breasts stand for about five minutes before serving.



About The Author
Ralph Serpe is a passionate home cook and webmaster for http://www.chefability.com: free cooking recipes and tips. Click here for more ways to cook boneless skinless chicken breast.

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Tips On Making A Low Fat Pizza

by: Peter Suhm


Everyone loves pizza, especially kids. This is great and pizza is a great thing, but there is one single problem that parents can’t ignore: Pizzas tends to be very unhealthy, made by very fat cheese, bad meat etc. But it is possible to make a pizza that doesn’t contain that much fat. Here are some tips:

1.Use a low carb flour

Don’t only use normal flour, but look in your supermarket for special coarse pizza flour, it exist!

2.Don’t use normal salami/pepperoni

The standard salami/pepperoni that many pizza restaurants use is very unhealthy. Often it has nothing to do with meat at all and is almost only fat. Find a good Spanish chorizo sausage, but don’t put too much on, because it contains fat as well, but the quality is much higher.

3.Use the right cheese

A pizza isn’t a pizza without cheese, but cheese is the one thing that really makes a pizza unhealthy. When using grated mozzarella, find the low fat one in your supermarket. Always remember that the cheese is the evil bastard.

4.Vegetables, vegetables and vegetables

Teach your children (or yourself) to eat vegetables. For pizza topping I can recommend using red pepper (it’s so good on pizza!), mushrooms, onions and chilli (chilli helps you loose weight!).

5.Combine the pizza with salad

Nothing is more delicious than a newly baked pizza served with a green salad consisting of rucola, tomatoes and red onions on top of it.

6,7,8,9 and 10

Use your head! I bet you know what isn’t healthy. Just use your imagination and come up with great low fat pizza ideas!



About The Author
See and example on a low fat pizza at my blog:
http://peterscooking.com/2009/05/12/thick-low-fat-pizza-with-vegetables-and-pepperoni/

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