Family Food for Moms Podcast I Inspiration for Family Cooking and Dining I How to Enjoy Special Meals Together

#69 Practical Plating - How to Plate Specific Foods and Courses at Home

 Today we’re gonna be continuing our chat about plating techniques and how to make your dishes at home look a little elegant when you want them to.
Episode 66 was about doing a chef's tasting menu for fun at home in a simple, delicious way that’s totally possible. You definitely don't want it to be overwhelming. 
Just to bring a bit of balance and reality, let me say that I'm always inspired by doing fancy meals at home, but most of the time I’ll cook something very simple and then sometimes make it look fancy.

#68 Plating Techniques That You Can Easily Apply at Home To Make your Food Look Elegant and Fancy!

Today we’re going to talk about plating techniques made easy for cooks at home, and I’ll give you some different ideas for dishes - you can serve your courses on unusual things. I’ll tell you how to make it look extra special without a huge amount of hassle, how to elevate your fancy meal or your tasting menu meal if you're having one. I think it's a lot of fun to try elegant plating. You don't have to do it every time, but it's certainly fun to do it some of the time. 
Starting with a plan is very important. Before placing any food on whatever dish you're using, think about what's the star; what's the main ingredient you want to highlight? Think about the balance of colors. Do you have some greens - some bright vegetables, or some sauces for contrasting color to lift it, so that it's not all brown? Also think about portion sizes. Usually less is more - less than we’re accustomed to doing. Leave some empty space on the plate. It adds to the elegance, and somehow it makes it more appetizing, and it doesn't feel overwhelming to the person eating it. 
 

#67 Inspired by South Korea - in Cooking and Dining

Today we’re going to talk about what we can learn from South Korea about cooking and eating. Their cuisine is fascinating and delicious. First, I’m going to mention what they generally eat in a day, and then I’ll talk about things that we can learn from the South Korean people to apply to our own cooking and eating at home.
In traditional Korean cuisine they’ll eat a lot of seasonal produce. They eat with a lot of variety and balance.
Here’s an example of what they may eat for breakfast - seaweed soup with rice and banchan, which are small side dishes served along with cooked rice. For example, maybe these could be soybean sprouts, spicy cucumber salad, pickled garlic, stir fried zucchini, sweet and salty soybeans, stir fried anchovies, noodles, et cetera.
This is light, hydrating, and it's rich in iodine and minerals. They may also have kimchi for probiotics, as well grilled tofu, pan fried egg, steamed spinach with sesame oil, et cetera. Often they'll drink something like barley tea, which has no caffeine, and it's gentle on the stomach 

#66 Chef’s Tasting Menus: Simple and Delicious Ways to Do this at Home. Yes, it's Possible and Tons of Fun!!

Today we’re going to be talking about Chef’s Tasting Menus; how they work, how they’re structured, and how we can try it at home! We don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, but it is such fun to have a fancier meal at home.
Picture a special meal with your husband and children, where they've helped to prepare different courses that are elegant and delicious, but simple, and able to be made in a relatively short amount of time.
The ingredients of the meal are not too fancy, but the meal feels special and elevated. You have time to linger over the meal and enjoy the different flavors, which are tied together by some theme, whether it's a country inspired dish like Italian, or whether it's seafood, or whatever works together well. 
I'm going to give you some suggestions of things you can make to have a tasting menu meal at home - just for fun!

#65 What We Can Learn from Australia about Food, Cooking and Dining

Today we’re going to be talking about what we can learn from Australia about food, cooking and dining! Hopefully it'll inspire something new in our kitchens. So, quite a few of their food traditions originally came from the indigenous or native Australians, often called the Aborigines. Later on there was a large British influence, as it was a British colony. Australia is now a constitutional monarchy with the King of England as its head of state, and it's a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, so you'll find that a lot of the things that are for sale in Australia are similar to what's available in the UK. I'll talk about things like vegemite and marmite - good old British things. If you haven't heard of those, I'm sure it'll be interesting. 
Traditional foods and techniques from the Aborigines are things like using fire pits and earth ovens, smoking food, and eating bush foods like wattle seed, finger lime, kangaroo, of course, and the kakadu plum. These are very powerful flavors, and very recognizable in Australian cuisine.
Being a British colony, colonists brought with them ingredients and food traditions from the UK like flour, sugar, tea, potatoes, and dairy. There's obviously a lot of sheep in Australia - there's sheep farming, so beef and lamb are popular. They have classic British dishes like meat pies, roasts like roast beef and roast chicken, stews, puddings like Christmas pudding, and fish and chips. These are common in Australian households, and the British tradition of tea drinking also remains popular today. 

#64 Let's Talk about Haloumi Cheese

 Today we're going to talk about Haloumi Cheese. Some people have heard of this, and some haven’t. You either know it and use it often because it's delicious, or you haven't really heard about it and are hesitant to try it because it's an unusual cheese. It’s one of the only cheeses that's usually eaten cooked brown on the outside. So, let's talk about haloumi cheese. 
Haloumi has a rich history that goes back several centuries. It’s from the Eastern Mediterranean region - traditionally associated with Cyprus from the Mediterranean, but both Greek and Turkish people claim haloumi as a key part of their culinary heritage. There are early written references from the medieval period to a cheese that sounds similar to it. Some people say haloumi dates back to the 10th century in the Byzantine Empire. 
The name “haloumi” is said to be derived from the Coptic Egyptian word “halom”, meaning “cheese”, so it might even have older connections to Egypt. During the Ottoman Rule of Cyprus in the 1500s to the 1800s, haloumi became widespread throughout the Middle East, and then spread into North Africa.
Traditionally, it's made from goats and sheep's milk combined, but sometimes more modern recipes use cow's milk. It's unique in that it's un-ripened and it's semi hard. It has a very high melting point, so it can be grilled or fried, and it doesn't lose its shape like other cheese does. It's also brined, giving it a salty flavor, and a longer shelf life, which is important in the Mediterranean, especially before refrigeration, as it's very hot there.

#63 Let's Talk about a Fabulous Ingredient - Mozzarella

 Today we're going to be talking about mozzarella as part of our series on amazing ingredients, ones with a rich history and amazing uses in the kitchen. Mozzarella is a unique cheese - it's very different from other cheeses.
Of course, we all love pizza. What would pizza be without mozzarella? When I was growing up, we didn't have mozzarella in our country, and so the pizza was made with yellow cheeses like cheddar, and it wasn't nearly as good. Mozzarella has the amazing properties of being gooey, melty, and stretchy, like a slice of pizza where all the cheese stretches from the middle.
So, mozzarella obviously originated in Italy - in the southern region of Campania, around Naples. It actually came into existence during the Middle Ages, around the 12th century. The legend of mozzarella says that it was an accidental discovery. During the Middle Ages, cheese makers could have dropped curd into hot water, either during the cheese making process or by accident, and then noticed that it began to stretch and form those elastic strands which are the unique characteristic of mozzarella.

#62 Learning From Turkey’s Delicious Cuisine

 Today we’re going to be talking about what we can learn from Türkiye about food, and cooking.  We'll be inspired by the rich culinary heritage of Türkiye, and learn a bit about their cultural eating habits, things they do when cooking, etc.
Firstly, Türkiye generally follows the Mediterranean diet principles. Their cuisine is heavily influenced by the Mediterranean diet, which people say is one of the healthiest dietary patterns. Olive oil is a staple food used both in cooking, and on salads and dishes. Their meals are rich in vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and fresh herbs. They do eat dairy, fish, and poultry, but in moderation, and they don't use a lot of processed foods or refined sugars. Their plates typically include grains like bulgur rice and protein like beans, yogurt, or meat with vegetables. 
Let's get inspired!

#61 Healthy Breakfast Ideas for Busy Moms to Make

 Today we're going to be talking about breakfast ideas, tons of ideas for breakfast on the go, packed breakfast for work, high protein breakfasts without eggs, breakfast for moms, healthy breakfasts, and all those things.
I think that breakfasts are one of the most chaotic parts of the weekday morning if your mornings are anything like mine. The moment I get downstairs, it's chaos. There's just a ton of things to do, and I often forget to have breakfast myself while just saying “I'll quickly do this, I'll quickly do that,” looking after everybody else. So, what do you do?
Hopefully you'll find some solutions in this epsiode!
familyfoodformoms.com
 

#60 Fascinating Breakfasts From Around the World - to Inspire Us!

 Today we're going to be talking about breakfasts from around the world. I wanted to do a couple of episodes this week to help you to think of good ideas for breakfasts, and before we narrow it down to anything, I thought it's a good idea to expand our thinking in terms of breakfast.
We’re going to talk about different things that they eat in different countries - to break out of the mold a little bit so that we can try some new things. 
I'm always looking for more ideas, and perhaps you are too. If you have something you love to eat in the morning, that’s great, but sometimes it's nice to try different things, and you may even find something new that you love - either for you, or for your kids and your family. Today we're going on a global breakfast tour. Then on Wednesday, we’re going to talk about ideas that are specifically for us, ones that you can add to your breakfast meal list.
But for today, let's get inspired by what people eat for breakfast in different countries.