How to make Vacuum Cooking a Roller-Coaster Ride

CHEFTALK

How to make vacuum cooking a roller-coaster ride

 Many of us love to be thrilled in life; I don’t mean thrilled like buying something new or getting a present. I mean the thrill of raising your stress levels to the max.

The thrill

I have never figured out why people spend money on an amusement park to get that thrill. Riding a roller-coaster that takes you up and down a hill to scare the, I do not know what out of you, just to beat death in a little cart dropping that turns your stomach inside out.

The stress

On the other hand when some stress comes into our lives, something we did not pay for, the world seems to come to a standstill. Life’s stress gets us down so easily, because we do not expect it, it comes out of the blue and therefore we cannot handle it. Stress at work because we are under pressure, financial stress because we have difficulties making ends meet.

How come we can be so brave when we pay for a scary ride and are so whimsy, whinny when we need to get the job done we get paid for?

Well, smart people have studied the subject at length and found that we love, “not me, but many of us” predictable stress (coming down a steep hill in an amusement park) but we cannot handle unpredictable stress. Meaning that when you are on top of the roller coaster ride you can predict that you stomach gets turned in-side out, but when the boss shouts we panic and get stressed out.

How to de-stress

We go home stressed, forget about important things in life, our family, health, having a healthy dinner, a good night’s sleep and start afresh the next day, life goes on after all.

So, what can we do to intercept that kind of unnecessary stress, one thing you can do to release that kind of stress is having a good dinner with loved ones. Talk about different things than issues that cause stress, divert and set focus on the moment.

Food unites, a dinner with close relatives makes you feel warm and unstressed, if you do not feel like cooking after a stressful day at work make use of pre- prepared meals you made at a quieter moment.

Once you sit around the table facing a bunch of happy faces you know that investing in a quality vacuum sealer was a good and wise decision.

All you need to do is grab one of your (and your families) favorite meals that you pre-cooked, vacuumed and stored in your freezer and heat it up, maybe with a small addition of some pasta or another staple, but you are done in a whimsy.

My story may sound a bit philosophical, but we all have issues in life, feel stressed and somewhat in limbo maybe. I truly believe that a united meal brings you happiness and releases some of the stress you may encounter.

Here are a few ideas for meals to make in advance and freeze: 

Chicken Cacciatore:

All you need is cubed chicken breast, mushrooms, onion, garlic, canned (or your own tomatoes), oregano, salt and pepper.

Heat a few tbsp of olive oil in a skillet, season the chicken cubes with salt, pepper and oregano and fry until golden brown, add the chopped onions, chopped garlic and the mushrooms (sliced or quartered) and fry for a few minutes, stirring regularly. Add the tomatoes and bring the mix to boil, check for taste and you are done.

Allow cooling, place the mix in a vacuum bag, vacuum and freeze. 

When you are ready to use this homemade delicious concoction, microwave the whole bag for 2 minutes to get the defrosting started.

Place the bag in a pot with boiling water, boil your favorite pasta and top with the Cacciatore, sprinkle some grated cheese.

Pre-preparing this meal takes around 10 minutes, making it ready to serve 15 minutes.

Crispy Pork Belly:

Ingredients:

10 oz                                                   Pork belly (cut in 1 cm pieces)

1 Tbsp                                                 Oyster sauce

2 Tbsp                                                 Light soya sauce

1 Tsp                                                    Crushed black pepper

½ Tsp                                                   Salt

Dash                                                    Chinese rice wine

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Marinate the pork slices with the rest of the ingredients and leave to marinade for 2 hours or so

Drain excessive marinade from the meat

Heat oil to 180 C and deep fry marinated meat for a minute, drain on kitchen paper

Deep fry a second time just before serving, about 2 minutes until crisp

Serve with steamed rice and braised Chinese Nappa Cabbage

Simplicity is the key to good home cooked food. The first and second recipe freeze very well, are a roller-coaster to make and delicious.

Your vacuum sealer helps, if you do not have one, find one here:

 www.vacupack.com  for USA and www.vacupack.ca for Canada. 

By: Marinus Hoogendoorn

Make the Ultimate Halloween Candy Stash with Vacuum Sealing

As a parent, you may have mixed feelings about leftover Halloween candy. You don’t want your kids to eat it all at once—but there’s only so much you can do with all that sugar, and after a while the candy can start to go bad and create sticky, melted messes in unexpected places.

Conventional storage methods can only preserve Halloween candy for so long. But with vacuum packing, you can keep candy fresh until next Halloween, and even beyond.

Why should you vacuum pack Halloween candy?

When your kids bring home a big haul on Halloween, you need a safe place to store all those sweets. Vacuum sealing keeps Halloween candy from going stale over time, so it’s just as tasty as the day it arrived even months later.

Another great reason to use vacuum packaging is to save money for your own Halloween candy-giving. You can hit stores in the days after Halloween and buy discounted candy, which is often up to 90 percent off as stores clear out for Christmas, and keep it vacuum sealed for next year. You’ll have fresh candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters, and you won’t have to fight through the crowds to buy it.

How vacuum sealing preserves Halloween candy

High sugar foods keep best when they’re kept cool and dry, but ordinary packaging and conventional storage lets in air, moisture, and even insects. The vacuum packing process removes oxygen from the packaging, keeping candy from becoming dry, brittle, or stale and maintaining the natural moisture balance.

This is especially important for chocolate candy, which contains cocoa butter. Removing the oxygen prevents the cocoa butter from becoming rancid and spoiling the candy.

What kind of candy can you vacuum pack?

Pressed sugar candies such as Smarties, lollipops, hard candies, and candy sticks (including candy canes) perform best with vacuum sealing. These types of candies can stay fresh, edible, and tasty for years in vacuum packages, even when stored at room temperatures.

Chocolate is also a great candidate for vacuum packing. When prepared properly, you can vacuum seal and store chocolate for a year or longer without losing any flavor or moisture. You may choose to store vacuum packed chocolate in the fridge or freezer for an even more extended shelf life.

Candies with cream or liquid centers or filling are the toughest to store using any method. The process of vacuum sealing this type of candy in vacuum bags can crush them, leaving you with a mess in a bag, and they also may not stay fresh as long as other types of candies. However, you can store cream or liquid filled candies for a limited time by freezing them before vacuum packing, or by vacuum sealing them in canning jars with a vacuum jar attachment.

Vacuum sealing is a great way to extend the life of your Halloween candy stash, and start saving lots of money on your Halloween candy purchases. You can even buy family favorite treats while they’re on sale after Halloween, and enjoy them all year round without having them go stale.

Image courtesy of Rochelle Hartman
Written by wordsbymelissa.com

CHEF TALK, Learn How to Save Money with Bulk Buying and Long Term Food Storage.

CHEF TALK

Learn How to $ave Money with Bulk Buying and Long Term Food Storage

We all like to save money, to some of us the ‘Buck Thrill’ is a way of life. Couponing is one favorite, takes a lot of time and being organized but it pays off. The fact is we do not all have the time to cut coupons and go to stores where the coupons are on offer at that particular time.

How to buy in bulk

Another good one is buying in bulk. This can be the ultimate bang for you. The warehouse type of stores are getting more and more “small” customer friendly and better still, they have quality stuff. Problem arises, what should I do with a 10 pound jar of pickles, there are only two of us in my house hold.

Well, you just have to be smart about ‘bulk’ buying and then these warehouse stores will work for you.

                                                                                   

First of all make a decent shopping list, if possible plan a weekly menu (or at least have some recipes on hand before you walk through those doors). Discipline yourself when you shop. With that, you do not overbuy and come home with all sorts of stuff you do not need.

       Buddy shop, go Dutch with a friend, family member, neighbor or colleague and share things that are too much to handle for your family.  

This works definitely for dry goods like toilet paper and multi packed smaller packaging (24 small packets of nuts in a big plastic bag). But how about large meat cuts you would normally avoid buying. Best 'to be vacuumed' money saver. The 7 or 8 Lbs strip loin below can be transformed into 24 or 25 great steaks in no time. Vacuum share, freeze and save money!  

Before

After

       

Make sure to shop with an ordinary shopping cart, these flat bed carts cheat your eyes, even the biggest packaging looks small on those things.

Go with the treasure hunt idea in mind. This is what I like and this is what I am going to cook with. Share your ideas with your buddy shopper and share the purchase. 

It works for him.....

Learn about new ingredients and how they can work for you. This is a great way to explore new foods, healthy and nutritious produce that you would normally stay away from.

There was a time that the thought of buying meats in a warehouse store would make ones stomach coil. Not anymore, times change and these bulk stores are an excellent place to buy top quality meats. If you do not see what you are looking for, ask. Bulk stores are realizing that people are interested in cooking with local and seasonal ingredients.

Money savers

And then there is another great money saver. It is your vacuum sealer. Why? You just read the answer, your bulk buying pays of even more with the help of your vacuum sealer.

Studies reveal that that you may save up to $ 2.700.00 per year with the help of your vacuum sealer. 
Find them here: www.vacupack.com  www.vacupack.ca

One of the best aspects of storing vacuum sealed foods is that it is extremely economical. Vacuum sealed foods last 3 to 5 times longer than ordinary packet fresh foods.  As a result the food maintains its color texture and appearance longer. Further, because vacuum sealed foods can last longer, you can buy in bulk, ‘save money’ and re-pack in the portion size that suits you.

Bring this to your advantage and make menu planning, buddy shopping and idea exchange a fun thing. Larger packing sizes are no concern anymore, vacuum and freeze perishables. Freezer burn is eliminated because vacuum packed food does not come in direct contact with the cold air in the freezer.

Advantages of vacuuming                                                                    

No more issues

Dry foods, such as brown sugar that you do not use on a daily basis, do not become hard because there is no air to absorb the moisture.    

Insect infestation is eliminated in the flour and sugar you bought in bulk.

The pores in fresh protein foods, meats and fish, open up when vacuumed. This allows better marinating and faster marinating times.

Less air in packaging will give you better organized storage options.

Some problems may arise when vacuuming liquids. Here are two tips to avoid that.

• 1      Freeze the product in a vacuum bag, then seal. The seal will prevent air from entering the bag.
• 2      Leave products like ready cooked meals and sauces to chill overnight. They will get a much firmer consistency. Many sauces will even gel up. When you vacuum the chilled products you will get the desired result.

Conclusion                                                                  

Your money saver

                                     www.vacupack.com  www.vacupack.ca

                                      

To conclude: Vacuum sealing your food and non-food preps is an economical and extremely effective way to save money and maintain a varied pantry. If you plan to use this method of saving money, prolonging the shelf –life of products and buddy shopping, I assure you a fast return of investment in a good quality vacuum sealer.   

By: Marinus Hoogendoorn

CHEF TALK, How to Cook Easy, Great Meals on a Camping Trip.

CHEF TALK 

  

  How to cook easy, great meals on a camping trip 

Camping is a great popular outdoor recreational activity for the whole family. The time of the year is approaching to check your camping gear and look for an exciting destination to explore and conquer. Outdoor activities while camping are fun and can be electrifying, the kids will talk about swimming in creeks and lakes, hiking and watching bears for weeks prior to departure.

One of the most exhilarating experiences must be a meal around an open campfire, away from the regular dinner table and the everyday plate’s forks and spoons. Making a campfire is already an elating thought but what do you cook on it, easy yet tasty and filling. Outdoor life makes you hungry. Preparing food for the outdoors is a skill on itself and really something to think about. You need to bring foods with you and that require some planning. Any perishables need a reasonable shelf life to keep you going for a couple of days. Likely you will not be able to pick something up easily. Preparing food in the outdoors is fun when you are well prepared.

Cooking Tools

Tools and Utensils: 

When you go for a weekend trip with a two nights sleep over, a few items plus forks and spoons are sufficient for an exciting open fire dinner experience. Obviously you need some help to light a fire, a cigarette lighter and a few old newspapers will do that trick. Imagine an open fire in front of you and you need to cook on it. Sounds like a challenge? It is. Here are a few useful items to look for:

Hand Made Fire Pit

1.       A rack on legs. This is a tool you will really need, look for a wire meshed one, if possible with foldable legs for easy transport while traveling. Place the rack over the fire and your barbecue is ready. 

2.       Long handle utensils help to keep your hands away from intense heat. 

3.       A cooler box to store and transport your food. 

4.       A pair of scissors. 

5.       Well prepared food.

Vacuumed BBQ Ribs

 Preparing food: 

Packing your food in aluminum foil and vacuuming is a way to go when preparing food for camping trips. Vacuuming will ensure that your food lasts for a few days. The aluminum foil packaging is a great tool for open fire cooking. Just remove the vacuum pouch and place the whole foil packet on your wire mesh rack. By vacuuming your food packs you can rest assure all the food is still where you put it in the first place just in case you had a bit of a bumpy ride to your camping destination.

Tin Foil Food Packets

Raw foods are a good choice for use in tin foil packets but bear in mind that food items like potatoes and carrots take a long time to cook. Pre-cook these items. Season the vegetables with herbs like rosemary and thyme, toss in oil and then pack in tin foil and vacuum. Sweet potatoes cook well on open fire when raw, so do zucchinis, tomatoes and corn. Tin foil packs are great for vegetables and potatoes. Meats work best barbeque style. Skewer your meats on steel barbeque skewers, vacuum pack separately. Ensure to cover the sharp tip with a piece of meat to avoid puncturing the vacuum pouch. Bananas and marshmallows on skewers will be well received by your kids. Do not vacuum those with full pressure or else they will be squashed.

Barbequed Ribs

                                

Burgers, ribs and sausages are ‘super’ barbeque foods. Freeze your burgers before vacuuming, works superb to keep them in shape. Chicken pieces are also well appreciated barbeque items, use drumsticks, wings and thighs. Season with salt pepper, oil and spices or herbs and bring them vacuum packed in the cooler box. You will have plenty of time for all the fun activities, spend time with the kids and truly enjoy a memorable weekend. So be prepared and have fun!


Written by: Professional Chef Marinus Hoogendoorn

www.vacupack.com   www.vacupack.ca

VALENTINES DAY and VACUUM PACKING

Valentine’s Day, a day for romance and surprising loved ones with something special. I did a bit of research about the history of Valentine’s Day and found that a certain Roman Emperor by the name of Claudius II,  who lived in the 3^rd century decided that single men make better soldiers than married men. He came up with the idea to outlaw marriage for young men. That sounds like a pretty unreasonable idea to me but in these kinds of unfair sounding measures there is always help on the way.

Luckily for those poor young soldiers there was a priest by the name of Valentine who dared to take the risk and married young couples in secret. The Emperor figured out that this was happening and decided that the priest should be executed. A true sad story, but romantic also in a way, the priest was later given Sainthood and February 14 was declared St Valentine’s day by Pope Gelasius at the end of the fifth century. Many other romantic sounding stories have been written about Valentine’s Day but I could not find anything of interest about food becoming a part of the Valentine’s Day celebrations. Many stories about all the cards we send each other and how that all started, but where did the romantic dinner come from? I honestly do not know. What I do know is that organizing a romantic dinner for two is a great idea. I like the whole dinner idea a lot better than a bunch of roses. Stick to the roses but do not make them the centre piece of your Valentine celebrations. A romantic dinner for two should however be for two, not the two of you at a small table in a crowded restaurant. Dinner for two is dinner for two. February 14 falls on a Friday this year and if you are a hard working person, that can be just the most inconvenient day of the week to prepare a nice dinner for two. So I thought, let me help you a little bit.  If there is one thing that you do not want to happen on a day like Valentine’s Day it must be that something goes wrong with your planned dinner. I mean, you are all set, getting in a romantic mood and just when you are about to turn on the soft music …. you got it, that burned smell from the kitchen.    How do you avoid this from happening? First of all, make sure that all your cooking preparations are ready. Second, avoid a menu that requires you to spend half of the evening in the kitchen. You may end up with a dinner for one that way. A warm salad with smoked meat, e.g. duck breast, sounds like a nice starter. Then pan seared salmon with a fine type of pasta, e.g. linguine, cherry tomatoes, olives and broccoli florets and for dessert, Panna Cotta. Nice dinner. Now the execution:  You can make this whole recipe in advance. You just need to heat it up for a few minutes, except for the dessert of course.   

For the salad you will need: ½ Nos Green Bell Pepper, ½ Nos Yellow Bell Pepper, ½ Nos Red Bell Pepper, 1 Nos Shallot, ½ Nos Green Courgette (Zucchini), 100 Gr Smoked Duck breast (sliced), 100 Gr Soft goats cheese (Chèvre), Bunch Alfalfa sprouts, Dressing: 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, ½ Tsp Dijon mustard. Method: Mix the dressing ingredients, season with salt and pepper. Store in a container until use. Slice the bell peppers in strips. Cut the shallot in half and then into thin slices. Cut the zucchini lengthwise and then into half round slices. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a skillet, add the shallots and fry a few seconds, add the bell peppers and zucchini. Fry for half a minute. Add a little salt and pepper and remove from the pan onto a piece of kitchen paper towel. Leave to cool. When the mix has cooled the ingredients should be crunchy. Place the mix in a vacuum bag and vacuum seal. Keep chilled. Slice the duck breast thinly at a 45 degrees angle, vacuum seal in a separate vacuum bag and keep chilled.

For the main course you need:200 Gr Dry linguine1 Small bunch broccoli (cut into small florets)1 Nos shallot (cut into slices)8 Nos black olives (de-seeded)5 Nos cherry tomatoes (halved)2 Nos bone-less, skin-less, salmon steak (170 Gr each)1 Small bunch basil leaves (half chopped and the other half for garnish)Salt, pepper, olive oil

Method:Bring 2 liters of water to a boil in a 4 liter sized pot. Add some salt and cook the pasta as per the cooking instruction on the packing. Rinse cold, drain, sprinkle a bit of olive oil and mix, this is to stop the pasta from sticking together. You have about 400 gr of cooked pasta now.   Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a skillet, add shallots and the broccoli and fry at medium heat for 2 minutes.Add the olives and cherry tomatoes and mix.Add enough of the pasta for 2 portions, add the chopped basil leaves and mix well, season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.When the pasta has cooled, place it in a vacuum bag, vacuum and keep chilled.Heat 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil in a skillet.Season the salmon steaks with salt and pepper and fry the steaks for 2 to 3 minutes on each side.Remove from the pan, drain the steaks on a paper towel and cool.When the steaks have cooled down, place them in a vacuum bag and vacuum seal without squashing them. Keep chilled.

For the dessert you need:2 cups (1/2 l) heavy cream (or half-and-half)1/4 cup (50g) sugar1 teaspoons vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise1 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)3 tablespoons cold water250 gr frozen mixed berries100 gr sugar¼ cup rum

1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan.  Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.(If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean into the cream and add the bean pod. Cover, and let infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the bean then reheat the mixture before continuing.)2. Lightly oil four custard cups with neutral-tasting oil.3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.4. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm, which will take at least two hours (but I let them stand at least four hours).  You can also pour the Panna Cotta mixture into wine goblets so you can serve them in the glasses, without unmolding. Step 6 is then also not necessary. 6. Run a sharp knife around the edge of each Panna Cotta and unmold each onto a serving plate, and garnish as desired.Boil the mixed berries with a few tablespoons of water, 100 gr sugar and the rum for 5 minutes. Leave to cool.So, everything is all done and ready to go.The only thing left to do is to make a pot of hot water on Valentine’s Day.Make sure your water is not boiling but in the region of 190 F or 90 CelsiusAdd the vegetables for the salad to the water for 4 to 5 minutes.Remove from the bag, divide them over two plates, crumble the cheese over the vegetables, top with the duck breast slices and garnish with the alfalva sprouts. Sprinkle some dressing over the dish and serve.  Do the same with the main course. Heat both bags 4 to 5 minutes in the hot water. Divide the pasta over two plates, top each plate with a salmon steak and garnish with a few basil leaves.

And your dessert, well that should not be a big thing anymore I think.Enjoy your Valentines Day.  

Written for PMG by: 

(Professional Chef) 

Marinus Hoogendoorn

Culinary expert in recipe development

www.vacupack.com

1-800-227-3769

CHEF TALK, CHINESE NEW YEAR!

CHEF TALK

CHINESE NEW YEAR

 On the 31^st of January, our Chinese friends celebrate the most auspicious festival of their calendar year. The Lunar year, as the Chinese New year is called, follows the cycle of the moon and the New Year date changes therefore every year. Every Chinese New Year is named after an animal from their Zodiac signs. This year they celebrate the year of the horse, bringing extra excitement for those born in the years, 1918, 30, 42, 54, 66, 78, 90, 2002 and 2014, the previous years of the horse.

Besides the Chinese, not many people celebrate Chinese New Year, I remember from my youth days seeing some Chinese lighting fire crackers just out of the blue, making me question why they were doing that, only to find out later that it was Chinese New Year.

I want to highlight this festival because the Chinese have a very interesting food culture. I admire their approach to life when it comes to food. The Chinese, as far as I know them, are very particular about their food, fresh is their key word. Chinese can be spotted in supermarkets or in any other fresh market, selecting vegetables like beans, piece by piece, the same goes for meats and seafood. If prawns are not fully intact and do not have a firm head, they will not buy. Any irregular spot on a squash and the fellow is rejected. It makes me wonder if anybody around the table will complain if one bean is longer than the other or if one prawn is bigger than the other but it is their way of approaching food.

Offering food in a small prayer house in front of their premises is a daily routine. Food signifies wealth, good luck, prosperity and fortune in Chinese belief. I must say that Chinese believe in practically everything, but food tops the lot.

An orange symbolizes the sun and the sun symbolizes gold, pointing to wealth. Cantonese Chinese compare many beliefs to the sound of certain words in their dialect. Wong means money in Cantonese, lai means come, so wong lai means, money comes. A pineapple is called ong lai, sounds like wong lai right?. You will then also see pineapples being offered, especially during Chinese New Year.        

Chinese New Year lasts for 15 days. It ends with Chap Go Mai. Most businesses will close on the first three days of the New Year. It is considered to be bad luck when you open your business back up on an odd numbered day. The first day of Chinese New Year is traditionally a vegetarian day. On the seventh day a meal with seven different vegetables is prepared, each one of the seven signifies a meaning of luck and wealth. A sweet dessert with three colored round glutinous rice balls soaked in syrup represents togetherness in a family.    

There are two ‘must have’ delights the Chinese cannot do without during Chinese New Year. First is ‘Bak Kwa’, finely minced pork meat is marinated, spread thinly on bamboo mats and smoked for 2 hours over charcoal. It is then sliced into squares, Bak Kwa is grilled over charcoal again, mainly on the roadside before consumption, turning whole neighborhoods into one big smoking BBQ. It tasted somewhat sweet like five spice but is loved by all. Bak Kwa is traditionally made from pork but there are also chicken, duck and beef varieties. A small round version is considered golden coins and every time one eats a piece it means money in the pocket.

Secondly is Yee Sang, a raw fish salad with a wide selection of pickled and colored vegetables and sesame seeds to top it off. Yee Sang is served as the starter dish when the Chinese have their, must have, family reunion dinner on their New Year eve. All ingredients are tossed together with chopsticks by everybody in the family, at the table. The higher it is tossed the more luck and longevity for the coming year. Yee Sang is a great symbol of togetherness and harmony.

Have you ever noticed, by the way, that Chinese are generally very slim. I find it hard to find an overweight Chinese. Being overweight and obesity was only introduced in China when fast food was introduced. I have not mastered the Mandarin language but doubt if there is a character to describe obesity.

So if fresh is the key word to the Chinese approach to food or better their eating habits, then fresh must have some effect on our body weight. Chinese are known to work hard, from young age to old and have quite a bit of exercise doing so. They eat four times a day, not always the healthiest stuff also, lots of soya sauce, oyster sauce, flavoring salt and sugar in the dishes but it does not seem to hurt a lot when it comes to their body weight.

They eat a lot of soupy dishes. Noodle soups are popular in their diet but they also eat a fair bit of rice, protein and vegetables. What is the key for them not being overweight by the masses? Portioning, yes, the portions are moderate, eat when you are hungry, maybe. Fresh, yes.   

The Chinese approach to food is very similar to my definition of healthy eating. Steamed fish, stir fried crunchy vegetables, cooked at high heat, no overcooked stuff, quick and simple seasoned meats and poultry, tofu to complement some extra protein. Many of these dishes are very easy to prepare and lovely to eat. Great thing of this style of cooking is that you can apply it to Western cooking as well so you do not have to eat Chinese food every day.

When you use the pre prepared and vacuum sealing method to keep your vegetables and meats in optimum condition you are ready to go.

Try this simple recipe that can be used for both the Chinese and Western style of cooking.

Stir fried beef with mixed vegetables.

Ingredients:

500 Gr Lean beef (thinly sliced)

12 Pcs Spring onion (sliced 1 inch long)

12 Slices Young ginger

1 Tbsp Chinese rice wine

Oil for deep frying, Cilantro for garnish

Marinade:

2 Tbsp Soya sauce

1 Tbsp Chinese rice wine

½ Tsp Baking powder

1 Tsp Sugar

5 Tbsp Water

1 Dessert spoon Corn starch

Seasoning:

2 Tbsp Oyster sauce

½ Tbsp Soya sauce

1 Tsp Sugar

Black pepper

Method:

Marinate the beef slices with the marinade ingredients. Set aside for one hour. Or vacuum seal and keep until needed. 

Heat oil and deep fry the beef slices for 20 seconds. Remove from the oil

Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the oil and reheat.

Add spring onions and the ginger slices, stir fry 2 minutes.

Add beef slices and the rest of the seasoning ingredients.

If you like it with a bit more sauce, add a bit of water and thicken with cornstarch mixed with water.

Dish up and garnish with Cilantro sprigs.

Vegetables: 

½ Nos Medium onion (sliced)

2 Cloves Garlic (chopped)    

1 Bunch Broccoli (cut into small florets)

½ Nos Carrot (cut into wedges)

5 Nos Shi-Take Mushrooms (quartered)

1 Tbsp Oyster sauce

Black pepper

Method:

Steam the carrot wedges for 3 minutes and the broccoli florets for 2 minutes.  

Heat  2 to 3 tablespoons oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and garlic, fry for a minute.

Add the broccoli, carrots and mushrooms. Fry for another minute, add the oyster sauce and black pepper. Mix well.

Dish out and serve with the stir fried beef and rice. 

If you like this recipe Western style, simply omit the marinade and seasoning ingredients and cut the beef into steak size. Grill the steaks and treat the vegetables the same way but season with salt and pepper.

Great healthy dinner two ways, full use of vacuum sealing opportunities and last but not least, very tasty and you can use other meats as well.

http://vacupack.com/vacuum-sealers-home-style/vacupack-vacuum-sealer/vacupack-elite-vacuum-sealer-home-unit.html

Written for PMG by:

Professional Chef
Marinus Hoogendoorn
Culinary expert in recipe development   


www.vacupack.com
1-800-227-3769