Anna Olsen's truffle tip

The cocoa beans have 2 elements: cocoa liquor and cocoa butter.
When these 2 elements are processed an blended at a particular temperature with sugar, milk and vanilla, you get chocolate!
Cocoa butter melts at a lower temperature than chocolate, so candy makers sometimes use it to soften the fillings of their chocolate truffles. Adding more cocoa butter to a recipe will impact its consistency, flavour and set, but if you like playing in the kitchen, I say give it a try! It makes the perfect sweet gift for your loved ones, and nothing says Valentine quite like chocolate.

Note: Truffles can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days or frozen for several weeks.

How to determine a fresh egg?

Sunny side up in onion ring

Interesting right?

Nigella’s kitchen wisdom

Mimic Nigella’s kitchen wizardry with these simple tips:

• Bring fridge-cold eggs to room temperature by soaking them in warm water for 10 mins
• Sea salt is less salty than table salt so if you’re replacing sea salt with table salt, use half the amount
• After roasting meat in the oven, let it rest for at least 15 mins. The meat will be juicier and easier to carve

Taken from Astroview August 2009

Revolutionary thoughts from Astroview Oct 2010

Before they became objects that changed our world, items such as the telephone and light bulb existed as mere ideas in someone's head. Here's a look at some of the best ideas that have become indispensable everyday things:

Ice-cream cone:

More than a century ago, ice cream was food for the rich and was only served in cups or plates. It wasn't until a St Louis' fair in 1904 that the ice cream cone was born. Ice cream vendor Arnold Fornachou ran out of dishes to serve his ice cream. Neighbouring vendor Ernest Hamwi, who was selling Zalabia,  a wafer-like pastry, decided to help him out by rolling the Zalabias into cones and placing the ice cream on top

Potato chips:

Before there were potato chips, there were only potato fries. Then one day in 1853, in a New York restaurant, a fussy diner complained that the fries were too thick and soggy and rejected them. Irritated, chef George Crum decided to get back at the customer by slicing the potatoes extremely thin and frying them until they were so crispy they cannot be skewered by a fork. But instead of getting angry, the diner loved them and chips quickly became a hit at the restaurant!

Microwave oven:

It was 1945. Engineer Percy Spencer was experimenting on a magnetron, a device that can fire high intensity of radiation, when he realised that the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. Intrigued by the discovery, he tried placing popcorn and an egg near the magnetron. Sure enough, the popcorn popped and the egg exploded. Two years later, the radiation was fed into a metal box and it became the world's first microwave oven.

Note: Pictures googled

Chinese made easy

Whipping up a Chinese meal at home is not rocket science as Kylie Kwong will have you know. Here's a simple, invaluable advice to achieving success in the kitchen every time!

According to Kylie...
"There are no tricks to Chinese food. You need to use the freshest ingredients and only take on recipes that you feel confident with" she says. Follow her advice and you'll soon be able to impress with Chinese cuisine!

1. Follow the recipe instructions carefully and find yourself a wok that suits your stove
2. If you don't have a gas cooker, I recommend an electric wok. They're rather powerful when it comes to stir-frying and work well with a steamer basket too
3. Bear in mind that dishes generally take some time to prepare but little time to cook. So it's important to have all ingredients prepared - washed, trimmed, sliced and diced - before you start cooking, because when you crank up that wok, or put that fish into the boiling steamer, or lower that prawn into the deep-frying oil, it all happens very, very quickly!

Stock up on these:
Make sure your pantry is well-stocked with these utensils and ingredients which Kylie swears will give your cooking the greatest chance of being a delicious success!

1. A good wok
2. Bamboo or aluminium steamer
3. Good-quality soya sauce
4. Chinese black vinegar
5. Peanut oil
6. Chicken stock (home-made) in the freezer
7. Spring onions
8. Ginger
9. Chillies
10. Coriander
11. Sesame oil

Taken from Astrolife July 2010

French Ingredients and their alternatives

Can't find some of those tongue-twisting French ingredients? Here are some alternatives available at any supermarket or grocer.

Extracted from Astroview June 2009

Fleur de Sel
What:
The top layer of hand-harvested sea salt, this grayish or pink salt is one of the more expensive types
Alternative:
Regular salt that is used in everyday cooking

Creme Fraiche
What:
Thick cream with a slightly sour taste
Alternative:
Mix a small amount of sour cream with normal heavy cream and leave it aside for several hours in room temperature

Mirepoix
What:
The holy trinity of French cooking, Mirepoix acts as a flavor base
Alternative:
Mirepoix is a combination of onions, celery and carrots (ratio 2:1:1) that are either raw, roasted or sauteed

Harissa
What:
Spicy hot sauce made of smoked chilli peppers, garlic and spices
Alternative:
Sambal or chilli sauce

Herbes de Provence
What:
A mixture of different cooking herbs native to the Provence region, South of France
Alternative:
Make your own mix using Thyme, Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Basil, Bay Leaves and Fennel