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needtogetaas
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I want people to know that in the omega program things seen here stay here. This has always been a big thing for both me and omega as well as the members... That being said I will post needto anabolic kitchen updates here some times to let you guys have a free sample...
Getting your kitchen started
I have been cooking for so long. The thought of starting out and building up my own kitchen seems like a distant memory. Growing up my father was quite the chef, so when I left home I took some of his kitchen with me then I built up the rest myself over time.
After talking with many of my readers and fellow athletes I have come to realize that many of you are not like me, most of you are just starting out. Getting your kitchen started is far from a distant memory, it is a real problem and one that you are faced with today. What spices will I need what utensils should I have, what kind, what size, and how many pots and pans I should get. These are just some of the questions that most of you have been asking. To better understand these questions I took a long walk down memory lane, back to when I first started out. I thought about what it was like and the problems I was faced with.
In doing so I came up with everything that you will need to get you started. Keep in mind this is just a general list of items, a check list if you will to let you know what things you should be getting. There is no need to run out and get everything all at once unless you have the money to do so. Go over this list and check off what you already have and see what you can add weekly. Over time your kitchen will look like that of a master chef. Let’s get started with spices, this is a basic list to start with. This list is just one tenth of the spices you will come across in your quest to be the best, but we all have to start some where.
Spices
Salt
Pepper
Garlic (Use fresh whenever you can)
Basil
Low sodium chicken and beef base
Assorted Mrs. Dash (Start with original)
All spice
Old bay
Bay leafs
Cayenne
Chili powder
Cinnamon
Sugar
Curry
Ginger
Dry mustard
Nutmeg
Oregano
Poultry seasoning
Any other spice or rub that you find to like.
Now let’s talk about your kitchen tools which consist of knives, pots, pans, machines, and the likes. I will write out a nice starter list for these and explain some of there basic uses. First I want to start with the most important kitchen tool that you will ever use which is the chef’s knife. No other utensil is as important as your chef’s knife, you will be using it for almost every meal, and it is like a soldier’s m-16. I encourage you to spend the extra money on this one, get the very best that you can afford to get. In fact I feel this is so important I am only going to explain what the very best chef’s knife would be like. I am not even going to bother going into explaining the cheaper models, get the best or don’t bother. A chef’s knife should be around 8 inches long and 1 ½ inches in width. The blade should be hot forged carbon steel. Hot forged means that the blade was made by hand forged under heat, not made by a cut and press machine in a factory. A hot forged blade will go the whole length of the knife, from the tip right down to the handle then to the butt of the knife. The blade is all one piece and the handle is fitted around the blade. Carbon steel is the quality of the blades metal. Carbon steel is easy to sharpen, holds it’s sharp edge for much longer, and if taken good care of it will last a lifetime. The handle of the blade should be steel, you want the handle to last as long as the blade, plastic breaks and wood warps out of place. When shopping for your chef’s knife and the employees at the store cannot tell you what you need to know about the blade than don’t buy it. Ask to hold the knife, it should fit your hands and feel comfortable to hold. If the doesn’t feel perfect in your hand, if holding it does not put a smile on your face and make you want to rush right home to use it right away, than it is not the knife for you. It needs to be perfect and remember never settle for anything less.
Now that I covered the most important tool ever, here is a list of the other basic cook tools and utensils that you should start getting.
Knives
A paring knife
A boning knife
A butcher knife
A serrated knife
A carving knife
Cooking items
Three different size cooking pots with lids
A 10 or 12 inch skillet with lid
A medium size roasting pan
A casserole dish
A 13 X 9 inch cake pan
A loaf pan
An 8 inch square (1 ½ quart) baking pan
One cookie sheet
Other cooking supplies
At least 1 large mixing bowl
A measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Cutting board
Strainer
Can opener
Meat thermometer
Vegetable peeler
Whisk
Rubber spatula
Metal spatula
Slotted spoon
Tongs
Revert back to these lists often. Every week or even every other week think about what you can add. Keep in mind every one has a different cooking stile. Only you know what works best for you. You know the tools that will work best for you and make your life easer. Assess your cooking stile often and think about the tools that will best help you.
Pick up these tools first. This ends my introduction to building getting your kitchen started. I will expand on this topic later on as you all grow with me into master culinary
artists.
With every update I will be adding new cooking tips and all new recipes. Here is this months new tips and recipes.
Tips
#1 Clean as you go.
Seams pretty small and simple right. Most people never get the concept though. As you are cooking a meal or prepping food clean up as much as you can quickly in between steps. During the cooking o prepping process you can always find a few seconds of down time. Take this time to wipe down the table, wash a spoon, dry and pain and put it away. Get used to doing this as you are cooking. Soon it will become second nature.
You will find once you are don you end up with half the mess you would have left over to clean up. If you are anything like me the last thing you want to do is clean for another hour after you have been cooking for and hour. Clean up as much and as fast as you can well you are cooking and prepping and this will not happen as often.
#2 Sodium aluminum sulfate in your backing powder.
Every notice how some backed goods have a bitter after taste. This is often do to the brand of backing powder used in the cooking process. Some brands have (sodium aluminum sulfate). Most backers will tell you this is the reason behind that bitter or metallic after taste.
#3 for the most tender fresh asparagus.
Use a carrot peeler and lightly peel off a thin layer of the skin. This will help it cook faster and more even. It will also make the asparagus much more tender. You save on the cooking time so no time is lost.
Recipe updates
Baby Squid Salad
Ingredients:
2 Lb baby squid
Juice from 1 lemon
1 ¼ Cups or ½ pt. olive oil
6 Medium garlic cloves, Sliced not minced
3 Green Chile peppers, sliced and deseeded
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Directions:
Clean the squid and slice the bodies into rings.
Bring at least 4 times the volume of water as you have squid to a brisk boil, and then add lemon juice.
Plunge the prepared squid into the boiling water and cook until the flesh loses its translucency. This will take no longer than 1 minute. Immediately remove the squid from the pan and plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking process.
In a separate saucepan heat the olive oil until one piece of garlic sizzles fiercely when dropped into it, and then add all of the garlic. Cook at high heat for 30 seconds then remove from the heat.
When the garlic pieces have turned mid-brown add the sliced chile and return the pan to the heat for a further 30 seconds.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the cooking to continue. Both the garlic and the chile should now be dark brown and patently crunchy.
Allow the oil, garlic, and chile to cool before you dress the seasoned squid with it.
Herbed Chicken Strips
Ingredients:
½ Lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 Small onion, halved and sliced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
¼ Cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 Teaspoon minced fresh dill
1 Teaspoon dried oregano
¼ Teaspoon salt
1/8 Teaspoon pepper
Hot cooked rice (optional)
Directions:
Place chicken strips in a greased 1 quart baking dish.
Sauté the onion and garlic in some oil until they become tender.
Stir in the parsley, dill, oregano, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Stir and bake 10-15 Minutes longer or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over rice if desired.
Stir-fried pork and baby spinach salad
Ingredients:
½ Lb Baby spinach, washed and spun dry (8 loosely packed cups)
3 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 ½ Tbs. Soy sauce
1 Tsp Granulated sugar
1 Lb ¼ to ½ inch thick boneless pork chops, trimmed of excess fat and sliced crosswise ¼ inch thick
Kosher salt
1 Tbs. Dry Sherry
1 Tsp cornstarch
½ Cup canola or peanut oil
2 Tsp Asian sesame oil
6 Scallions cut into 2 inch pieces
3 ½ oz. Fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
½ Bell red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 Tbs. Minced fresh ginger
Directions:
Put the spinach in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the rice vinegar with 1 ½ Tbs. of the soy sauce, the sugar, and 3 Tbs. water. Put the pork in a medium bowl and season with ½ Tsp. salt. Toss with the remaining 1 Tbs. soy sauce, the sherry, and the cornstarch. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Heat 1 ½ Tbs. of the canola oil in a heavy 12 inch skillet over medium heat until hot.
Add the pork and cook stirring until it loses its raw color and is just firm, about 2 minutes. Transfer the pork to a clean medium sized bowl.
To the skillet, add 1 ½ Tbs. of the peanut oil and the sesame oil, scallions, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring until the mushrooms and scallions are a golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the pork and toss.
Still over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbs. of the canola oil and the ginger to the skillet and cook, stirring until very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the vinegar-soy mixture, and stir well with a wooden spoon or spatula, scraping the pan to incorporate the browned bits. Whisk in the remaining ¼ cup canola oil; the mixture will remain largely separated. Transfer the vinaigrette to a measuring cup and whisk to emulsify thoroughly (the cornstarch from the browned bits will help).
Toss the spinach with half of the vinaigrette . Portion among four plates, top with the pork and vegetables, and drizzle with some of the remaining vinaigrette . Its ready to serve.
for some people who do not have the book this may seem out of place. I am sorry,.
Getting your kitchen started
I have been cooking for so long. The thought of starting out and building up my own kitchen seems like a distant memory. Growing up my father was quite the chef, so when I left home I took some of his kitchen with me then I built up the rest myself over time.
After talking with many of my readers and fellow athletes I have come to realize that many of you are not like me, most of you are just starting out. Getting your kitchen started is far from a distant memory, it is a real problem and one that you are faced with today. What spices will I need what utensils should I have, what kind, what size, and how many pots and pans I should get. These are just some of the questions that most of you have been asking. To better understand these questions I took a long walk down memory lane, back to when I first started out. I thought about what it was like and the problems I was faced with.
In doing so I came up with everything that you will need to get you started. Keep in mind this is just a general list of items, a check list if you will to let you know what things you should be getting. There is no need to run out and get everything all at once unless you have the money to do so. Go over this list and check off what you already have and see what you can add weekly. Over time your kitchen will look like that of a master chef. Let’s get started with spices, this is a basic list to start with. This list is just one tenth of the spices you will come across in your quest to be the best, but we all have to start some where.
Spices
Salt
Pepper
Garlic (Use fresh whenever you can)
Basil
Low sodium chicken and beef base
Assorted Mrs. Dash (Start with original)
All spice
Old bay
Bay leafs
Cayenne
Chili powder
Cinnamon
Sugar
Curry
Ginger
Dry mustard
Nutmeg
Oregano
Poultry seasoning
Any other spice or rub that you find to like.
Now let’s talk about your kitchen tools which consist of knives, pots, pans, machines, and the likes. I will write out a nice starter list for these and explain some of there basic uses. First I want to start with the most important kitchen tool that you will ever use which is the chef’s knife. No other utensil is as important as your chef’s knife, you will be using it for almost every meal, and it is like a soldier’s m-16. I encourage you to spend the extra money on this one, get the very best that you can afford to get. In fact I feel this is so important I am only going to explain what the very best chef’s knife would be like. I am not even going to bother going into explaining the cheaper models, get the best or don’t bother. A chef’s knife should be around 8 inches long and 1 ½ inches in width. The blade should be hot forged carbon steel. Hot forged means that the blade was made by hand forged under heat, not made by a cut and press machine in a factory. A hot forged blade will go the whole length of the knife, from the tip right down to the handle then to the butt of the knife. The blade is all one piece and the handle is fitted around the blade. Carbon steel is the quality of the blades metal. Carbon steel is easy to sharpen, holds it’s sharp edge for much longer, and if taken good care of it will last a lifetime. The handle of the blade should be steel, you want the handle to last as long as the blade, plastic breaks and wood warps out of place. When shopping for your chef’s knife and the employees at the store cannot tell you what you need to know about the blade than don’t buy it. Ask to hold the knife, it should fit your hands and feel comfortable to hold. If the doesn’t feel perfect in your hand, if holding it does not put a smile on your face and make you want to rush right home to use it right away, than it is not the knife for you. It needs to be perfect and remember never settle for anything less.
Now that I covered the most important tool ever, here is a list of the other basic cook tools and utensils that you should start getting.
Knives
A paring knife
A boning knife
A butcher knife
A serrated knife
A carving knife
Cooking items
Three different size cooking pots with lids
A 10 or 12 inch skillet with lid
A medium size roasting pan
A casserole dish
A 13 X 9 inch cake pan
A loaf pan
An 8 inch square (1 ½ quart) baking pan
One cookie sheet
Other cooking supplies
At least 1 large mixing bowl
A measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Cutting board
Strainer
Can opener
Meat thermometer
Vegetable peeler
Whisk
Rubber spatula
Metal spatula
Slotted spoon
Tongs
Revert back to these lists often. Every week or even every other week think about what you can add. Keep in mind every one has a different cooking stile. Only you know what works best for you. You know the tools that will work best for you and make your life easer. Assess your cooking stile often and think about the tools that will best help you.
Pick up these tools first. This ends my introduction to building getting your kitchen started. I will expand on this topic later on as you all grow with me into master culinary
artists.
With every update I will be adding new cooking tips and all new recipes. Here is this months new tips and recipes.
Tips
#1 Clean as you go.
Seams pretty small and simple right. Most people never get the concept though. As you are cooking a meal or prepping food clean up as much as you can quickly in between steps. During the cooking o prepping process you can always find a few seconds of down time. Take this time to wipe down the table, wash a spoon, dry and pain and put it away. Get used to doing this as you are cooking. Soon it will become second nature.
You will find once you are don you end up with half the mess you would have left over to clean up. If you are anything like me the last thing you want to do is clean for another hour after you have been cooking for and hour. Clean up as much and as fast as you can well you are cooking and prepping and this will not happen as often.
#2 Sodium aluminum sulfate in your backing powder.
Every notice how some backed goods have a bitter after taste. This is often do to the brand of backing powder used in the cooking process. Some brands have (sodium aluminum sulfate). Most backers will tell you this is the reason behind that bitter or metallic after taste.
#3 for the most tender fresh asparagus.
Use a carrot peeler and lightly peel off a thin layer of the skin. This will help it cook faster and more even. It will also make the asparagus much more tender. You save on the cooking time so no time is lost.
Recipe updates
Baby Squid Salad
Ingredients:
2 Lb baby squid
Juice from 1 lemon
1 ¼ Cups or ½ pt. olive oil
6 Medium garlic cloves, Sliced not minced
3 Green Chile peppers, sliced and deseeded
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Directions:
Clean the squid and slice the bodies into rings.
Bring at least 4 times the volume of water as you have squid to a brisk boil, and then add lemon juice.
Plunge the prepared squid into the boiling water and cook until the flesh loses its translucency. This will take no longer than 1 minute. Immediately remove the squid from the pan and plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking process.
In a separate saucepan heat the olive oil until one piece of garlic sizzles fiercely when dropped into it, and then add all of the garlic. Cook at high heat for 30 seconds then remove from the heat.
When the garlic pieces have turned mid-brown add the sliced chile and return the pan to the heat for a further 30 seconds.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the cooking to continue. Both the garlic and the chile should now be dark brown and patently crunchy.
Allow the oil, garlic, and chile to cool before you dress the seasoned squid with it.
Herbed Chicken Strips
Ingredients:
½ Lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
1 Small onion, halved and sliced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
¼ Cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 Teaspoon minced fresh dill
1 Teaspoon dried oregano
¼ Teaspoon salt
1/8 Teaspoon pepper
Hot cooked rice (optional)
Directions:
Place chicken strips in a greased 1 quart baking dish.
Sauté the onion and garlic in some oil until they become tender.
Stir in the parsley, dill, oregano, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Stir and bake 10-15 Minutes longer or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over rice if desired.
Stir-fried pork and baby spinach salad
Ingredients:
½ Lb Baby spinach, washed and spun dry (8 loosely packed cups)
3 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 ½ Tbs. Soy sauce
1 Tsp Granulated sugar
1 Lb ¼ to ½ inch thick boneless pork chops, trimmed of excess fat and sliced crosswise ¼ inch thick
Kosher salt
1 Tbs. Dry Sherry
1 Tsp cornstarch
½ Cup canola or peanut oil
2 Tsp Asian sesame oil
6 Scallions cut into 2 inch pieces
3 ½ oz. Fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
½ Bell red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 Tbs. Minced fresh ginger
Directions:
Put the spinach in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the rice vinegar with 1 ½ Tbs. of the soy sauce, the sugar, and 3 Tbs. water. Put the pork in a medium bowl and season with ½ Tsp. salt. Toss with the remaining 1 Tbs. soy sauce, the sherry, and the cornstarch. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Heat 1 ½ Tbs. of the canola oil in a heavy 12 inch skillet over medium heat until hot.
Add the pork and cook stirring until it loses its raw color and is just firm, about 2 minutes. Transfer the pork to a clean medium sized bowl.
To the skillet, add 1 ½ Tbs. of the peanut oil and the sesame oil, scallions, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring until the mushrooms and scallions are a golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the pork and toss.
Still over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbs. of the canola oil and the ginger to the skillet and cook, stirring until very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the vinegar-soy mixture, and stir well with a wooden spoon or spatula, scraping the pan to incorporate the browned bits. Whisk in the remaining ¼ cup canola oil; the mixture will remain largely separated. Transfer the vinaigrette to a measuring cup and whisk to emulsify thoroughly (the cornstarch from the browned bits will help).
Toss the spinach with half of the vinaigrette . Portion among four plates, top with the pork and vegetables, and drizzle with some of the remaining vinaigrette . Its ready to serve.
for some people who do not have the book this may seem out of place. I am sorry,.
