Published on: 16 May 2020
Last Updated on: 18 February 2023
Wine is the key to a perfect dinner. A glass of wine will decorate any dish and make it play with brand new gastronomic overtones. In general, sometimes it is possible and even necessary to pamper yourself.
Unfortunately, when we come to a supermarket or wine boutique (which gives a lot more bonuses to wine karma), the perfect bottle of wine does not begin to flicker with lights and shine in the rays of designer lamps. You have to look for it yourself, the perfect bottle of wine. It is not an easy task for beginners.
Here are How to Choose the Right Wine:
First of all, you need to understand what you are buying wine for. For dinner, for a picnic, to have a drink with light snacks or as a gift. And of course, it is best to buy wine where there is a specialist who will help you make a choice, especially if you want to pick up the wine for a particular dish or as a gift.
What to look for if you choose the wine in a supermarket? First of all, it’s worth dropping the prejudices about “powdery” or fake wines, screw plugs, and counterfeit labels. All wine is real: just eat high-quality wines and eat low. As a rule, it is a question of price and place of origin of the wine. Also, many mistakenly believe that if the wine is sold at a special price, it means that something is wrong with it, and it is trying to “drain”. If the wine is sold at a special price, it means that the shop has just bought a large volume of wine at a very favorable price. It’s in their interest just to sell it quickly.
The origin of the wine is very important. To choose, for example, French or Italian wine, you need at least a little understanding of the regions, as very often the label indicates only the place of origin, where the wine is produced in a particular style and from specific grape varieties. If you do not yet have such knowledge, make a more confident purchase easier by focusing on mono wines from the New World. The label almost always indicates the grape variety and place of origin.
If you like light white wines, try the Chilean or New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Denser wines are torontes from Argentina and Chen Blanc from South Africa, while the dense California chardonnay aged in oak can even go well with white meat (chicken, pork) in cream sauce. Break the stereotype of combining red with meat, and white with fish: oily redfish (tuna, salmon), along with dense white wines are well suited to light red wines from grape varieties “Pinot Noir”, “Gamet” or light “Cabernet France” from Nice (France).
If you like rich red wines, try the Chilean Carmenaire, the Argentinean Malbec, the South African Pinottage, or the Australian Shiraz. These wines are juicy and bright, they are easy to understand and pleasant to drink for nothing, they are also suitable for a picnic or a feast, where it is impossible to choose a wine for a huge variety of dishes. Cabernet Sauvignon is another popular red grape variety that will fit well with red meat. It is grown in many countries, as it is not very whimsical, so its character may vary from light and fragrant to complex and requires long aging in the bottle.
By the way, about aging. A year is important for good wines from regions with an unstable climate, and it is better to contact specialists. Different varieties behave differently over time. In general, it is better to drink white wines as young as possible, and red wines need some time, during which certain chemical processes take place, due to which wine changes and tastes more pleasant.
However, one should not forget that wine is a living product. After some time, it ceases to acquire and begins to lose its good qualities. So it is not always useful to keep an expensive bottle of wine for a long time in the hope that over time it will only get better. New World wines (both white and red) can mostly be drunk by the young.
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A cold winter night with a delicious dish of chili is all you need to enjoy your moment. But wait, Are you left with too much liquid in your chili? Ah! No need to worry at all. There are numerous ways on "how to thicken chili".
Honestly, you don’t want a thin chili because there is nothing better than a cheerful bowl of thick chili as your winter dish. Many times, just to thicken the chili, people cook it more than it is necessary. Later, other ingredients in it fall apart and turn to mush.
Don’t panic. There are effective and easy ways to thicken chili at your home, and all of these methods are tried and tested. Just be sure to use at least some of these methods to thicken chili before your precious moment turns into sour.
How To Thicken Chili - Tried and Tested
You may be wondering that cooking your dish for a little longer will make your chili thick. But do you know that you are mushing other ingredients in it? So, you must know other effective ways about how to thicken chili. Below listed are the perfect ways to thicken chili for the perfect night.
1. Flour - Standard Thickening Method:
Wheat flour is composed of proteins, sugars, lipids, starch, and enzymes. It is used for making different types of foods. Flour is widely used for thickening chili in most of the kitchens. It really works great. Now its time to try for yourself as well.
Ingredients:
30ml or two tablespoons of flour and 60ml or ¼ cup of cold water.
How to Use?
Take a separate bowl. Mix flour and water thoroughly in it.
Make sure that the resulting mixture has no lumps and is smooth.
Then add the flour mixture in your thin chili while cooking it in medium-high heat.
Stir constantly. Let the mixture boil and thicken well. It will hardly take few minutes.
Make sure to continue stirring an additional few seconds to see if you are able to detect flour in your chili flavor.
So, here is your hearty chili dish! Now, it is much thicker and tastier than before. You can even serve this to your guests.
2. Arrowroot- Best Thickening Agent:
Arrowroot contains Vitamin B, Iron, Potassium, low-protein, starch, etc. It is widely used as a thickening agent in all household kitchens. It is a starch that is extracted from the arrowroot plant. When you will use arrowroot in your dish, then it will give an amazing surface gloss to your liquid chili.
Ingredients:
5ml or 1 tablespoon of Arrowroot and 5ml or 1 tablespoon of cold water.
How to Use?
Take a separate bowl. Mix thoroughly water and arrowroot to turn it into a smooth paste.
Make sure that you add only a small amount of arrowroot as it is potent and flavorless.
Then add slurry into your thin chili cooking it in medium heat.
Stir constantly below the boiling point.
Then after 1 to 2 minutes, your thin chili will thicken instantly.
Arrowroot adds gloss like appearance to your chili dish making your dish thicker and delicious. I have used this method and got the result, so now it’s your time!
3. Cornstarch- Anti-sticking Agent:
Cornstarch is also known as Maize starch which is extracted from the maize grain. It is a food ingredient that is used in thickening soups and sauces. Cornstarch gives a moderate glossy appearance and when mixed with liquid, it rearranges itself.
Ingredients:
15ml or 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 15ml or 1 tablespoon of cold water.
How to Use?
Take a separate bowl. Mix thoroughly cornstarch and water before mixing it to chili.
After adding cornstarch paste to chili, heat it in a medium to high flame.
Stir it well until the bubbles start appearing.
Wait for few minutes to see the results.
If you still feel that your chili should be thicker then you can add more cornstarch and water on it.
Then let it cook for an additional few minutes.
You can use cornstarch to thicken your chili because it will not alter the taste of your dish of chili as cornstarch is flavorless.
Other Simple Ways to Thicken Your Thin Chili:
4. Mix it in Tomato Paste
Now, no need to worry about how to thicken chili. If you want your chili only a little thick then you can use this method. Tomato is one of the main elements in chili. So adding it to your mixture won’t alter its taste and makes your chili thicker.
Ingredients:
170 grams of tomato paste.
How to Use?
I am suggesting that you should use fresh handmade tomato paste.
Since tomato paste is recognized as bitter in taste, so you can add a pinch of sugar in it.
Sugar will add a mild sweetness to your dish by removing tomato’s bitterness.
During the final thirty minutes of cooking add 170 grams of tomato paste into your thin chili.
Slowly add tomato paste to your thin chili. You can also add it after every ten minutes if you wish (⅓ of the tomato paste).
Stir constantly to combine it well.
You can use tomato paste to thicken your thin chili dish. But keep all the instructions in mind so as not to make any mistakes while preparing it.
5. Use More Beans to Thicken Your Thin Chili:
A bean is a seed of numerous genera of the flowering plant. They have the ability to curl up on any medium. Beans can be use to thicken your thin chili. Do you know that India is the largest producer of dry beans in the world? Yes, it is.
Ingredients:
125ml or a half-cup beans.
How to Use?
If your chili contains beans then strain half cup of beans. Then refry and blend it.
Then again mix this mixture to your chili and cook for a few minutes.
Stir occasionally to warm it well.
You can use canned or home-cooked beans as per your wish.
If you still feel that your chili is thin, you can add extra beans in it but make sure you blend it well.
Here you go! Your thick chili dish is ready now to serve your family. If you don’t like beans then no need to worry. You can add meats to make your chili thicker.
Wrapping it Up
"How to thicken chili" is one of the major problems for all the cook masters. Even I have used many methods to thicken my thin chili but all went in vain!
Therefore, all the above methods are tried and tested about how to thicken chili. So, you can use it to thicken your thin chili. I know nobody likes to serve thin chili to their family or guests. Even I don’t like it. Do you?
Image source: wikihow
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Have you ever heard about black coffee for weight loss? Well, it helps in weight loss because it contains natural antioxidants that help in the reduction of excess fat cells. This means you don’t have to invest in fat-burning supplements.
Besides, it has many other health benefits, especially for those who are suffering from osteoporosis. So, here are some benefits of consuming black coffee.
May prevent cancer & enhance liver function
The major health benefits of coffee include the prevention of cancer, helping in preventing heart disease, slowing down the aging process, and preventing dementia. However, the most outstanding side effect of Black coffee is its ability to increase the normal functioning of the liver.
In simple words, if your liver functions properly, it will help in burning fats and calories which results in a decrease in weight loss. So, drinking two cups of Black coffee a day can help in enhancing liver functions which significantly helps in weight loss.
Improves digestive health
Another great benefit of black coffee is that it aids in digestion. When making black coffee, the caffeine content increases the speed of the metabolism in our body which consequently enables our body to burn more fats faster. If you prefer drinking a cup of black coffee with some hot milk, you can add a dash of natural sugar to taste and enjoy the healthy benefits of caffeine.
Good source of antioxidants
Black coffee is loaded with antioxidants. The antioxidant content of black coffee is 20 times higher than that of green or decaffeinated coffee. Including a cup of hot black coffee in your diet can do wonders for your health. It also works as a detoxifier and speeds up the metabolism which aids in losing weight.
Burns excess calories
When you are dieting, you should reduce the number of calories you take in a day. The main benefit of drinking coffee is it burns off excess calories quickly. Thus, the consumption of black coffee can help you in reducing your calorie intake while you are following a diet regimen.
However, you should ensure that you do not increase the number of calories you take in when you switch over to black coffee. This will result in increasing the number of calories you consume later in the day resulting in gaining weight.
Detoxifies digestive system
In addition, black coffee helps in detoxifying the digestive system. As a result of its healthy and natural ingredients, it helps in cleansing the digestive tract. It cleanses the stomach of toxins which eventually results in improving your digestion and decreasing the risk of digestive diseases.
Constipation and indigestion are common problems that affect millions of people across the globe. Black coffee provides an effective solution to both of these problems by helping you to relieve the symptoms and prevent future indigestion.
May elevate mood
Apart from the healthy properties, drinking black coffee may also be good for your mental health. The caffeine content in this beverage acts as a mood elevator and provides a pleasant state of relaxation. However, excessive use of this beverage may lead to insomnia and may adversely affect your mental health.
Conclusion
Black coffee beans without adding any sugar help in retaining the flavor of the original blend. You will get a delicious and rich taste by drinking black coffee. However, it should be noted that too much use of black coffee may result in a sour taste in your mouth.
It has been seen that excessive use of caffeine leads to the weakening of the teeth' enamel. Therefore, people with weak teeth should avoid drinking this beverage or consult their dentist before they start using this product. So, make sure to have coffee at the recommended dosage.
How do you prefer to have your black coffee? Feel free to share with us in the comments section below.
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Are you that lucky cocktail party host this weekend among your friends? If you are, then you must be wondering what exception you can make this time that people will love.
We know that you can manage the ‘cocktail’ part. So, we have gathered seven delicious & exotic snacks for your next cocktail party that will win the hearts of your guests and makes you the star host of the month!
However, these snack ideas are so overwhelmingly good that people may request you to make them again and again. Here, you will find quick and easy dishes to prepare, although you may need to visit the supermarket to get the ingredients.
Without further ado, let’s get started with the recipes so that you can pick which snacks you want to prepare and make the list of ingredients.
1. Salmon Tartines for Fish Lovers
Recipes with Salmon and avocado are always a delicacy; when you prepare it with wasabi, it will deliver a heavenly feel with your fast bite. And guess what, you need only 15 minutes to make it.
Ingredients:
To prepare this dish, you have to gather the following ingredients:
Puff pastry,
Sashimi-quality salmon,
Mirin,
One avocado,
Low-sodium soy sauce
Ginger,
Lime juice,
Caster sugar,
Rice vinegar, and
Wasabi paste.
Cooking Method:
To prepare the recipe, follow the steps below:
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius and cut the pastry according to your preferred shape; place them on a lined tray over the baking paper and bake for 10-12 minutes till golden in color and allow them to cool down. Your tartine base is ready.
While baking, process the avocado with wasabi. To do that, take a small pan and dissolve sugar in water over low heat. When it cools down, take an avocado, wasabi, lime, and sugar in a blender, add salt or any other seasoning if you want, and set aside.
Prepare a dressing by mixing mirin, vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger in a small pot.
After you have prepared everything, take a pastry base and place avocado, salmon, and cress. Serve with a drizzle of dressing.
2. Elk Jerky Cheeseboard for Slow Eaters
How about serving an Elk Jerky cheeseboard at your cocktail party? This cheeseboard is a great addition to the food you can serve because it not only has a posh vibe but also serves a unique version of your regular charcuterie board due to the gamey elk.
Elk goes well with many reds including Cabernet Sauvignon, which can complement this strong-flavored jerky with its earthy notes. You can also pair it with lighter-style cocktails made from scotch, gin, or tequila, as they go well with these types of dried meat.
You can add a variety of cheese to such a board, including emmental, brie, gouda, and blue cheese.
3. Carrot Muffin for Sweet Tooths
If you want to prepare a carrot muffin for your cocktail party ahead of time and you love baking, then this dish is a must for you to try.
Ingredients:
This dish is easy to prepare and only needs eight ingredients.
They are:
Yogurt (Greek style),
Ready mixture for making carrot cake,
Carrots,
Pecans,
Eggs,
Aperol,
Pure cane sugar, and
Vegetable oil.
Cooking Method:
To prepare the recipe, follow the steps below:
First, you will make a labneh. Take a bowl and set a fine sieve over it. Put the yogurt inside, wrap it with the sieve, and hang it over the bowl in the refrigerator overnight.
Preheat the oven to make muffins at 170 degrees Celsius.
Grate the carrot coarsely and mix it with the cake baking mix. You can add pecans to the mix.
Take the muffin glasses, and bake them for at least 35 minutes. To make sure they are evenly baked, insert a skewer in the center, and if it comes out clean, your muffins are ready.
If you want to soak the muffins with Aperol syrup, place water, sugar, and Aperol on a small pan and keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved over medium heat.
Place the muffins in a line and pour syrup over them. Let the muffins soak in the syrup for 5 minutes.
Add the icing mix with labneh to make frost, and use your creative ideas to décor the muffins.
4. Four Crispy Buffalo Wings for Savory Hunters
Nothing can beat the taste of chicken wings. And the crowd will devour it within a minute if you can make it extra crispy outside and juicy inside. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
To make Buffalo wings, you’ll need the following:
Chicken wings (defrost if frozen),
Baking powder,
Salt,
Butter,
Franks hot sauce,
Sugar.
Cooking Method:
To prepare the recipe, follow the steps below:
Tap the wings with tissue paper to absorb the extra water after washing. Toss the wings with baking powder and salt; it will absorb the extra moisture from the chicken's skin, making it crispier.
We are not using hot oil in this recipe as we are going to bake the wings. The science behind baking the wings and making them crispy is to start baking using low temp at first and increasing the temp after a few minutes. Set the tray on the lower shelf of the oven at 250F/120C.
Low temperature will melt the fat first, and high temperature will make the skin super crispy when you place the wings on a higher oven shelf at 425F/220C.
5. Sausage Rolls for Meat lovers
You know that your friends love meat. But you don’t want to worry about arranging a bbq in the backyard. So, prepare these bite-size sausage rolls to calm the meat cravings of your guests.
Ingredients:
To make sausage rolls, you’ll need:
Pork,
Onion & Garlic,
Breadcrumbs,
Puff Pastry,
Bacon,
Fennel Seeds,
Salt & Pepper.
Cooking Methods:
Follow the easy-peasy steps below to cook off sausage rolls:
Take a pan and cook bacon, onion, garlic, and celery,
Mix with the pork,
Place the puff pastry, put the mix on it, roll it over, and cut it into small portions.
Place them on a baking tray and brush with egg.
Bake them for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown.
This snack serves its best when you are keeping the option of exciting games at your party. Whether it’s a two-player board game or a multiplayer one, people can have more fun when they have something delicious to eat.
6. Coconut Shrimp for Peaky Eaters
Every party has those guests who will not eat anything that’s too oily or too sweet. To tackle those peaky eaters, you can cook coconut shrimp, which will go well with whiskey cocktails.
If you are not hiring any bartenders and decided to become one for the day, check out these whiskey cocktail recipes for home bartenders!
Ingredients:
You will need the following items for this quick bite.
Jumbo Shrimp,
Flour,
Shredded coconut,
Beaten egg,
Pepper,
Pranko breadcrumbs,
Garlic powder,
Oil and salt to taste.
Cooking Method:
Follow the steps below to have the best shrimp dish of your life.
Wash the shrimp and season them in a bowl with pepper and salt,
Take two flat dishes. Mix flour and garlic powder in one of them; in the other, mix coconut and breadcrumbs.
Take one shrimp and dredge it in the flour mixture; after that, dip it in the beaten egg and dredge again in the coconut mix. Follow the steps for each shrimp.
Refrigerate for an hour (or overnight if you want to prepare the night before and serve hot the next day).
Deep fry in a pan full of oil till golden brown color and season with salt and pepper after the whole batch is done. Place them on a baking sheet with a cooling rack so that they can absorb the dripping oil.
Serve it with sauce or mango salsa.
7. Salsa for Lazy Hosts
When it comes to cocktail parties, you need easy, quick recipes that will take less time to prepare so that you don’t get stuck in the kitchen while others are enjoying the evening, and this salsa will take only two minutes.
Ingredients:
Here goes the items you need to get together:
Crushed tomato,
Coriander leaves,
Green chiles,
Garlic,
Lime,
Jalapeno,
Cumin, and
Sugar.
Serve with tacos, fajitas, burritos, nachos, or quesadillas. You can buy them at any store.
Cooking Method:
All you need to do is blend all the ingredients mentioned above. However, make sure to use good quality canned tomatoes, if not fresh ones. You need to blend for a few seconds and see the consistency. Keep blending if you like it smoother.
But don’t blend too much if you like it chunky.
Conclusion:
With this list of seven delicious & exotic snacks for your next cocktail party, you will be able to welcome your guests with warm hearts and warm food on the counter.
Even though cocktails are the main stars of your party, these bite-size, easy-to-prepare snacks will make your evening even better alongside the drinks. Prepare the snacks while ensuring the recipes have variety, such as spicy, sweet, savory, vegetarian, and non-veg options.
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