Life Advice

July 14, 2017 by Chris K. Rodriguez

Having the Best Turntable for Your Records

There are several turntables which are selling in the audio shops. You (the users) will not know which one you should buy, which one you consider to buy in the future, and which one you have to avoid. Furthermore, you might not recognize which one is the best turntable for your option. Before buying a turntable, you should find out your needs, your targets, and searching some elements for your decision. In addition, you can take some great method that will keep and improve your turntables as well as your records.

#1- Evaluate Your Budget

How much money will you spend for this product?

Likely many electronic products released in the market, turntables have various price in the shops. If you are a brilliant consumer, before buying a product (especially fancy products), you will decide your budget for the product. After estimating your money, you will research the price range for the product. At the same time, you will discover the best place to buy the product, such as in the audio shop, or in the E – commerce website. The used turntables could be found in the specialty shops or in the internet auctions at low price. And the newest one could be sold in the fancy audio shops with high price. Moreover, there are many price range for turntables that the buyers consider to choose it. Therefore, taking one turntable, you should do your small homework.

#2 – Observe the Features

Did you know these features?

Nowadays, it is essential to study and see the features in a turntable. Because a turntable will have a built – in USB or not. Furthermore, the manufactures produce manual turntables or automatic ones. If you want to convert music album from your records to your smart phone or your computer, you prefer to choose a built – in USB turntable. This is quite comfortable for the buyers to use this feature. However, please keep in mind that the quality of a turntable USB port is not durable. Some people might think that they need a built – in USB turntable to transfer their music album conveniently, but they could review this point again. Today, the manufactures produce latest digital collections (as it also called analog models) which having a download card for the buyers to use it quickly and effectively. On the other hand, they also make manual and automatic turntable in order to meet the buyer’s needs. If you are a beginner to play the records, you should take into account the automatic one. Because you just need to push the button and the turntable will do its job – taking whole sides in the record. If you are a professional DJ, you will chose the manual turntable confidently to control the record.

#3 – Chose a direct drive turntable or a belt drive one?

To rotate a platter in a turntable, this process needed a motor. The manufactures put the motor directly under the platter (as it called direct drive) or they can put the motor outside of the turntable (as it called belt drive). The rubber belt of a belt drive can join the platter and the function of the motor can absorb shock. Moreover, the belt drive will keep the motor’s shacking because of big sound in the electric signal. The beginners and the audiophile prefer using a belt drive type for their turntables. On the other hand, the direct turntables have the platter outside which will protect the turntable. The DJ can control the rotational speed of the motor by using their hands. It will increase the audio quality. Therefore, the professional DJ prefer using the direct drive.

#4 – Do not forget to check the cartridge of the turntable

The cartridge is a small element that connect to the tonearm and keep the stylus. If you decide to buy a new turntable, it will not matter with the cartridge. However, if you buy a vintage or a used turntable, you have to check the cartridge of the turntable carefully. Even though a used turntable have already the cartridge, you should consider to buy and install a new turntable. Bad cartridges could affect premature wear and decrease the sound quality of your records.

#5 – Consider take a built – in phono preamp for the turntable

Normally, the manufactures do not produce a turntable that having a phono input jack because the stylus is quiet. If you want the turntable have improve the volume in an influence level, you could consider to purchase an external phono preamp (if necessary).

#6 – Check the flat surface of the turntable

Some body forgets to pay attention to check this point of the turntable. Your turntable will work effectively if you can set the turntable in the flat surface. You can use bubble level that you can purchase it in a hardware shop in order to stay certain the turntable such as a table, a study stand or a kind of furniture, etc.

#7 – Upgrade an element of turntable (if applicable) to increase the quality of your records in the long – term time.

Even if you do not want to upgrade your turntable immediately, you still need to improve your records in the upcoming time. And the answer is you should upgrade one or more elements for your turntables. It is said that you can update the cartridge, tonearm, slip mats, a belt (if you use belt drive turntable). Unfortunately, changing some components will not easy to take. Some lower turntables produced that you could not upgrade these elements smoothly. Hence, you will not change these components in your turntable. However, you can find some beginner audiophile turntables that it changes the elements easily because of performance packs. Moreover, when buying a new turntable, you have to pay attention about packages of element upgrades which can attached in order to improve the performance of the turntable in the upcoming time.

I get these tips from Trusted Sounds, a website about purchasing more record players. Choosing the best turntable is a difficult process, but when you take into account those above tips, it will become easier to have the best one for your records.

May 10, 2017 by Chris K. Rodriguez

6 Things to Remember for Cooking Better

In our life, the eating and drinking needs are extremely important and indispensable. So, most of the people can cook food. That does not mean that the cooking is very easy with all of us. Actually, there are a lot of elements which they affect your cooking process. You can not deny that cooking is also an art and the cook is an artist. You also need some necessary tips to help the dishes become more attractive.

I will introduce 6 simple things to remember for cooking better. In my opinion, this information will be very useful if you want to become a good cook. Now, let’s discover these great things, right!

Choosing The Correct Cooking Utensils

You should not think that the cooking utensils do not relate to how to cook. In fact, choosing the right kitchen equipment also have the important roles which they will affect the quality of your dishes.

According to the famous chefs, they will ask the essential things to cook a pot of food such as the skillets, ovens, roasting pans, bowl to contain the salad, slow cooker.

In addition, the best rice cooker will support too much in your cooking. Two cutting boards should be enough big. One cutting board will use for meat, fish, and other foods which they are inadequately cooked and one for fruits.

Arranging The Cooking Space

You must ensure that the kitchen area must have enough light. Thus, you will feel safe to cut, wash or cook.
Besides, some knives always close to you because you will often use them whenever necessary;
Also, you must have a waste basket in the kitchen. And it must place within your arm’s reach. This will save a lot of cooking time of you.
On the other hands, the washing area should be in this kitchen. If your kitchen was not big for this arrangement you should arrange everything in the most reasonable. However, it must make sure that you feel comfortable and convenient to cook.

Having Enough Food As Well As Necessary Seasonings

You save a lot of time while cooking if you have enough goods as well as necessary seasonings. To do it, you should make the list all meals before you go to the supermarket. What food you cook, consult its recipe and write down the shopping list.

When you prepare the meal for every day as what you buy I think you do not have to go out to buy more.

Reading The Recipe

Please take some minutes to read the recipe before you start to cook the new food for your family. After reading the recipe, you can guess its result. To be surely successful, you should keep its recipe of each food in your mind.

Cooking like The Professional Chef

Normally, all good chefs who cook in the big restaurants will have the secret or tips to cook very quickly. Of course, their foods are very delicious. Surely, you can apply the great way to cook at home.

After reading the recipe, you should remember of the ingredients and take all of them out. Then, you put near the cooking space.

After cutting completely, you can put the prepared ingredients in the bowl, pan even on the cutting board.

Investing The Good Knives

Your cooking will be very slowly when your knives can chop quickly. After using a long time, your knives can be worn so it is always to have a knife sharpener in the kitchen. You only spend about under 10 dollars to own one.

In the case, your knives can work very well you should consider your chopping skills. You can improve this skill through watching how to chop quickly on TV and copy some techniques. It is not easy to copy 100 percents about this ability. But I believe that you will study the valuable techniques to increase both the level of the chopping skill and the safe.

In conclusion, I just list 6 things to remember if you want to cook better. You will be very surprised that they are not related to how to flavor the food. However, they are the good tips which you must know to cook well and rapidly. You must learn how to cook a meal for your family in a short time but that meal still ensures to have the delicious food and full of nutrients. I hope this writing will help you improve your cooking skills.

January 24, 2017 by Chris K. Rodriguez

Read This Carefully Before You Buy A Toaster Oven

Sometimes you want to toast something for a change in flavor and taste but don’t have enough time to wait for the food to be cooked perfectly or the remaining time is not enough for you to do other stuff? You really need something else to help you out in the kitchen? Maybe the toaster oven is the best answer for your questions. Just like its name, it is the kitchen appliance that helps you in toasting food, but it can do more than that actually as long as you know how to make you of it. However, before choosing any kinds of oven, you should at least read the toaster oven reviews like this one so as to know the basic things should be put into consideration. Now let’s get started!

So if you don’t have any experiences before in choosing and considering any kinds of modern kitchen appliances, this is definitely the post for you! Below are some essential aspects you should know not only for toaster oven selection but also any kinds of electrical equipment for your kitchen.

Choosing The Product From Its Brand

Yet you can recognize that the brands on markets are something good to narrow the range of selection for any kinds of product including toaster oven. It may not be the most important aspect that affects your decision. It’s just like a type of consultancy before making up your mind.

Apparently, a brand isn’t just built up in one day. It’s the result of long – term building in business and manufacturing, so it somehow has some persuasions to customer. In some cases, the reputation has a certain strength that might change your mind and head you to the best product. For example, with 2 different models with the same price and functions, the trusted brand will have a slightly advantage in comparison with the other with less well – known brand.

In most of the situations, well – known brand means better choice with good quality, warranty and customer services. But be careful with the price because they are often over exaggerated by the commercial – a part of marketing and sales. Therefore if you can find an alternation with the same quality (make sure that you’ve checked carefully), the less – known brand perhaps the better choice with a limited budget. Every coin has two sides so make it clear and choose wisely.

Cooking Habit

With people who consider the kitchen as the place to relax and make family values, they would know about their own cooking habit and will have a clear mind about choosing appliances according to their advantages. The way you choose your toaster oven should be based on your cooking habit for the best productivity using this kitchen appliance.

The toaster oven can do much more than just toasting things. It can be used as the regular oven, too. You can use it to roast food like meat and vegetables, and sometimes you can bake cookies or pizza. A whole chicken is not a problem at all if you know how. The question is: “How do you want to use the toaster oven, and how often will you use it?”

If you are a person who excels at cooking and really want a machine for better cooking, I suggest you look for toaster ovens with multi – functions and many presets. This machine can be your best companion in the kitchen whenever you want to make your meal different and mouth – watering. A basic toaster oven can be used for up to three functions: toast, bake and broil while more modern one can contain up to 9 or 10. However, the more functions it contains, the higher the price could be. If you just want to buy the toaster oven with average budget according to your financial condition, a regular one with basic functions would be a nice choice, unless you can find some rare exceptions out there.

So they are 2 main features that I want to show you before going to any electrical stores looking for a toaster oven. But it is not all. There are many more I need to tell you. You just need to visit our blog, all the information is posted there. Now, let’s prepare yourself with the knowledge online to be ready for the most unexpected surprise in your kitchen – the toaster oven!

May 27, 2016 by Chris K. Rodriguez

Enjoying Fun Music with the Vivacious Headphones

With the majority of the people, music is an essential part of their life. A few of the people still consider music as well as the best recreational facility. Even, it is the food of spirit of several ones, who love music. Due to a universal language, music brings to mental value for most of the people do not distinguish the region, race, or social status. Of course, everyone will enjoy music according to their own way. It can say that the headphones are one of the main models so that you can have an appreciation of music better. After the improvement of the iPod and music devices, the headphones with high-quality always come with these appliances. To select the vivacious headphones, it needs to consider a large number of factors.

Nowadays, there are plenty of kinds of headphones that are being released on the market, in case you want to look for the best headphones, you are able to consult several below tips.

Enjoying Fun music with The Vivacious Headphones

The headphones with Bluetooth

Today, the development of technology will bring to more convenience for our life. It can say that every new object is available so as to meet a variety of everyone’s daily needs. The appearance of wireless devices in communication is considered as one of the most important renovation in modern technology. Like a revolutionary of technology, the headphones with Bluetooth have owned the wireless feature. In spite of wireless, you can still carry out calls; even, you are also able to enjoy the high-quality music due to these Bluetooth headphones. It is owned the advancement of technology, but this type of headphones has the price, which is pretty low. Beyond that, the design of these headphones spends for the users, who want to experience the maximum sound quality.

Gaming headphones

Time to time, the industry of video gaming has gradually developed as a significant business after game consoles were widely known. At present, there are countless games, which are equipped and strengthen with a great number of diversified sounds of the clip, which are pretty loud. Consequently, the headphones are necessary that games force having. Today, games require the effect of high-quality sound in order to enjoy. There is a reason why you need to have a right set of vivacious headphones. It will not be too difficult to reach either wireless or wire gaming headphones with the comfort.

The ways to select the best headphones

The first, you have to determine what kinds of headphones you want to use because there are plenty of choices that need to consider on the market. You ought to know that the majority of manufacturers claim their product, which is the best quality. Let’s select a smart way. In addition, you should also find the reliable brands, the models with the good features, and the affordable cost.

Before choosing to buy one, you have to set up a plan of features that you want your headphones to need to have. Of course, you must learn what features your headphones have owned in order to ensure that they entirely satisfy your needs. Due to this, you are going to help you to get the best product.

Furthermore, after you have determined the kind of headphones that you need, you must learn the information about it. Let’s remember that all the glitters are not necessarily the gold. Don’t believe in all features of the manufacturers that provide on the product. If you want to know the exact information, you should look for reading review or comment from the customers. It always reflects the most truthful about the product.

The last one, you should also learn the price of headphones. Finding one suits your budget. It avoids looking for the products, which their price is over or low in comparison with the ability to your paying.

Conclusion

Even though you want to buy the headphones for any purposes, you also need to consider everything carefully. To find the best headphones, it is not difficult because you always have more one choice for yourself. However, if you desire the vivacious headphones with the high quality, you will have to take much time and labor. Therefore, let’s choose seriously before buying. It hopes that this formation will be useful for you in finding the headphones.

May 22, 2016 by Chris K. Rodriguez

The Resurgence of Record Players

Record players might be new to some generations, but it’s still an undeniably important music device as well as perfect furniture for the living room. Recently, the trend of reusing and collecting record players and vinyl records has experienced a surprisingly upward trend. Therefore this article will show some leading models for the best record player that can be bought under $100, so that the collection of vinyl records coming along with the new phonograph you might have in the future…

With mature people at the age of 30 or more, the house can’t be their house if it doesn’t have a record player. Interestingly, you can see that even in modern houses, there would always be a slot for a record player right next to the shelf full of LPs.

GPO Stylo

This model of vinyl record player is one of the most modern ones on market recently. It is designed for small and well – shaped living rooms. It has threes play mode that can modify easily to make some interesting speed changes. In addition, the output is AUX which is not bad according to the price. The record player is quite light and little energy consuming. There is also the LED in blue with small electricity consume.

Crosley Cruiser

This might be one of the most portable record player on market recently. You can take this record player with you anytime, anywhere. This type of record player is usually used in small house parties so that the house owner can show off their record collection to the guests. It can play in three different speeds. In addition, this record player is compatible with other modern devices such as PC or laptop as well as the USB ports. Another strong point of this record player is the style and the color range.

Auna TT-92B Turntable Record Player

The record player base is very unique and elegant because it is made of mahogany, a firm, rare type of wood that is often used to make musical instruments such as guitar or cajon. You can be fully satisfied with the sound from this record player even if your room has some noise. It can play digital music from the USB and AUX inputs as well as catch some radio channels for you. Moreover, you won’t have to take off your seat and switch the records or change the channel because the remote control is right beside you.

iTek i60007 USB turntable

For some collectors that really love a record player but don’t have too much money, this could be the best choice. Unlike other products, this one can play in two different speeds. Moreover, this record player is made of wood by hand so that it can be very unique with limited edition. The outer belt is made of plastic to assure that no physical collapses can harm the device severely. Just like modern product recently, it is USB compatible.

Steepletone Norwich

The first thing has to be mention about this product is the stereo speakers. It’s magnificent! Almost no other music devices in this price range can compare with it according to the sound loudness and quality. There are also sockets that can provide the ability of additional sound support systems. You might see the benefits of having a sub – woofer in the bass quality.

Some of you might think this is only the hobby for wealthy people, who can pay thousands of dollars in a record player from many decades ago, but through this article, you might think again! Just less than $100 then you can have yourself a good one from the appearance to the quality, and maybe a small collection of vinyl records. Just enjoy the true music and relax after hard working hours, it would not waste any single dollar you have paid.

May 15, 2016 by Chris K. Rodriguez

In What Way You Can Protect Your Headphones for Life

You enjoy listening to music, don’t you? And do you often spend the amount of money to purchase the new headphones? Fathers or mothers want to buy suitable earbuds for their kids to save money and protect children’s ears. Even, you are looking for the best wireless earbuds. The most important object is how to protect your headphones for a long time of use. Let’s learn several ways which help you maintain your headphones for life.

In What Way You Can Protect Your Headphones for Life

To keep in good case or bag

There is the greatest way in order to protect your headphones when you do not use them. You are able to choose to purchase a bag or a case if your headphones do not come with one. Easily, you can look for buying on Amazon or EBay. Its price is pretty cheap – about $15 or under. A great number of people apply this way to keep their headphones longer.

As a whole, to hold safely your headphones from the environment, you can hang them an upright position. In case, you do not like a headphone stand. You are able to utilize a hanger as possible. Of course, you should also put them away from little kids and pets.

To clean and maintain your leather pads

Generally, people choose to clean their headphones so as to maintain them. There is also a good way. Simply, you use a sponge or cloth in order to rub into the trick, by the way, you will not have to worry the water that gets into your leather pads. Beyond that, you should not utilize polishes because they are able to harm your headphones.

On the other hand, you only need a soft leather or cloth so as to clean dirty on your headphones. In addition, about twice a year, leather conditioners with $15 per bottle can be used for cleaning your headphones. Inevitably, you should try experiencing on your headphones to ensure that it does not cause the effect.

To avoid wrapping up your ear-buds around the MP3

Nowadays, music has presented everywhere. A large number of young people want to enjoy the music better, so they choose to utilize ear-buds or in-ear canals. If you are also using the same one, you should avoid storing them the wrong way.

To keep your headphones that can be used longer, by the best way, you avoid wrapping up your ear-buds around MP3. In case, if you wrap tightly, the cable will be able to damage. Time to time, it will create the certain folds if you often do this way. Let’s remember that unplug the headphones; then, you put them into a bag or hang them on a hanger.

To clean your ear-buds

Since everyone has wax in their ears, it avoids dirtying your headphones which you ought to clean your ears. Utilizing the towel or even the wax removal kit, you can easily remove wax and dirt into ears. In the best way, you should do this several times a year.

The sound quality can be affected if you do not discover wax in your ear-buds. Gradually, they will make blocked two speakers. Consequently, you need to have to clean them frequently. For instance, you are able to use a needle in order to pull this dirt out.

To wrap your headphones properly

How do you wrap your headphones properly? If you look for an advice, the given number is 8. That’s right! You should only wrap your headphones the maximum at number 8; then, putting them into a bag or a case.

In case, you feel difficult to the wire headphones. Only need to wrap wrong way, they are easy to break down. So, you can consider the wireless headphones which are the newest version during many years.

Conclusion

To purchase the best earbuds for your lovely children or for yourself, this is pretty simple. However, if you want to use them longer, you need to know how to maintain them. Through this article, you are able to protect your headphones better. Even, you not only can avoid applying the wrong way of persevering but also can prevent other damaged elements.

May 12, 2016 by Chris K. Rodriguez

Get Rid Of The Old Kitchen Appliances And Welcome The New Ones!

Sometimes you want to renovate your kitchen, buying some new equipment but still regret of the old ones, so you keep them both. You managed to make you kitchen looks brighter and more modern, but sometimes everything doesn’t look like what it seems. There’re many reasons that would make you fail in making your kitchen better, but mostly because the lack of planning. Sometimes you just feel like you must buy some kinds of kitchen equipment such as the best electric pressure cooker but don’t know for sure why you buy it or do you use it regularly or not. Therefore I write this article to help you overcome the problems with these tips.

Change the materials of your kitchen appliances

Traditional kitchen often has some appliances and maybe some parts that are really out of date, not only about their functions but also their materials. Their materials might be popular at that time, but after all those years, they need to be changed. You should know that the trends are changing everyday with fashion, and so does decoration, you must update your knowledge about style and trend at least once or twice a month if you want to be good in decoration and styling for your house.

Recently, people notice of metal as the trend for kitchen designs. All old appliances should be replaced with metal ones such as stainless steel table, copper kitchen shelf… just try to do it and you can see the differences right away! Wondering which are the best? My pressure cooker and most of other appliances are retrieved from FandBDepartment. Do the same to find excellent reviews about different categories.

Change the upper style and get the lower one

You may notice years ago, the upper trend for the kitchen is very hot. They use many things that can be hung up and keep things inside upper cabinetries. But those days are gone. Now people prefer the lower style. Things are closer to the ground and that make a huge space on walls. This is a chance for designers and architects to design those spaces for decorating purposes.

Change the floor

Kitchen floor plays a very important part in the overall theme of the whole kitchen. The floor could be covered by many materials such as ceramic tiles, stone or even wood. Each type of tiling suits a certain style.

If you are tiling your floor with ceramic tiles, I’m afraid that I have to tell you it’s not in the trend anymore. Maybe you should try using wooden tiles for a change. The combination between wood and metal are awesome, though they have nothing in common.

Painting the kitchen in modern style

If you want to change something, just notice the outer more. The colors of an object mainly decide where it has positive or negative attribute. In general, you should choose light color tone with strong color such as yellow, green… to make peaceful and positive atmosphere for the kitchen.

In addition, if you decide to paint the kitchen wall instead of using wallpaper, make sure that you have some resolutions for the wall decorations such as some fine art paintings the has the suitable size for the wall, or have the wall drawn by some artist with beautiful arts, that’ll be much better than leaving it in a solid color all over the wall.

So as you can see, it’s not too hard to change your traditional kitchen into something more modern and innovative. I can assure that you will love the kitchen’s new appearance and its positive atmosphere. If you have any problems in the process or need someone to check your plans, we’ll be there for you at any time. Thank you for reading this article, see you next time!

May 11, 2016 by Chris K. Rodriguez

Peasant Fare Fit Your Holiday Table

Even though I live mostly on grains and vegetables, sometimes the meaty taste of grilled wild mushrooms or eggplant-tomato casserole isn’t enough. Sometimes I just want meat. If I’m going to treat myself to a succulent piece of red meat, its lamb I choose. Lamb has so much more flavor, bite for bite, than beef that it seems the thriftiest way to spend one’s red-meat allowance. My favorite cuts are thrifty too, and showcase the pleasures of both fast roasting, with no liquid at all, and slow braising, with plentiful liquid.

Most people object strongly to a strong lamb flavor, and fear that anything other than a spring lamb will be mutiny. But a pronounced sleepy flavor is now very rare. Size, the traditional way to identify lambs on the verge of becoming mutton (the official turning point is at twelve months), is today an unreliable guide. New breeds are much fatter at the usual slaughtering age of five to seven months than the old ones were: 80 percent heavier than sheep of the same age were in 1941, according to the American Lamb Council.

“Spring lamb,” in any case, has little culinary meaning. Lamb has always been associated with Easter and Passover, probably both for its symbolism and because of the newborn lambs covering the hillsides when the festivals are celebrated. Although some breeds produce lambs year-round, ewes of standard breeds give birth in the spring in cool climates, and their lambs mature on new grass and fatten on vigorous late-summer grass. Traditional farm-raised lamb, then, is best in the fall and early winter, not in the spring. “Baby lamb,” even if seemingly redundant, does mean something to the cook: low-weight lambs, slaughtered at three to five months, whose meat is especially tender and sweet. Again, the commonest season for these in Europe and America is fall; New Zealand, with its different seasons, can export low-weight lamb in different months.

My Own Path of Discovery

I recently rediscovered the lamb of my childhood, and found that what defined it was not age or season but cut. All of it came from the forequarters only, because I grew up in a kosher house. For years I wondered why the lamb chops I remembered from weekly suppers were so much bigger than the dainty loin ribs at expensive restaurants. They were cut from the shoulder, I learned, not the loin. My lamb cooking as an adult had been confined to the leg. Now that I know how much moister and tastier–and cheaper–the many cuts from lamb shoulder can be, I wonder if I’ll ever bother with leg again, or even with the deluxe loin.

I also found how easy it is to cook falling-off-the-bone, wonderfully flavored lamb shanks, which are always a favorite dish when I travel to Mediterranean countries. Like chops, shanks can be cut from more than one part of the animal–and again the forequarter is best.

Lamb shoulder remains a popular cut in England, where it has been a traditional Sunday joint. Because its bone structure makes it tricky to carve, it long ago fell out of favor here as a roast. Butchers are less willing to bone a shoulder than a leg, because the large amount of bone means a low yield, and the meat is less expensive to begin with. If you ask in advance, your butcher will bone and roll a shoulder. But even with the bone in, the shoulder is both an economical and an excellent roast, and it takes no time to prepare: just rub it with cut garlic, oil, salt and pepper, and chopped rosemary, and stick it in the oven. (The carving will be a challenge, though: aim to do it across the grain, angling the knife to cut parallel to bones rather than straight into them. For a holiday presentation you can bring the roast to the table whole and then whisk it back to the kitchen.) The meat you serve will be as tender as anything from the leg.

Great Memory with the High-heat Method

When roasting all kinds of meat I use the high-heat method practiced by Barbara Kafka, who is writing a book on roasting. The results of straight 500 cooking are so far superior to low-temperature roasting, which is really baking, that I’ve grown accustomed to smoky kitchens and dirty ovens. For a four-pound bone-in shoulder, her technique requires only forty-five minutes in a 500 oven, until the internal temperature just reaches 140. I think lamb is best medium-rare, which is to say between 140 and 150. Roast meat should always wait, covered with aluminum foil, at least twenty minutes before it is carved, so that the muscle can reabsorb liquid and fat; as the meat sits, it will reach the right temperature.

Kafka gave me a recipe from her work in progress for “wintry” lamb stew, which, in a reversal of the usual order, cooks first in the oven and then on the stove. Browning stew meat in a 500 oven for a half hour works remarkably well. You don’t need to flour the meat or keep turning the chunks to get them crusty and brown; the only attention required is a good shake every once in a while. And if you trim as much fat as you can from the pieces, your kitchen won’t even get smoky.

Arm or blade chops–commonly available prepackaged shoulder cuts that are easy to trim and bone–yield superior, if unevenly shaped, stew meat. To make the stew, briefly heat on the stove, in a large roasting pan, three pounds of chunked shoulder meat and a half cup of roughly chopped onions in four tablespoons of butter (you can reduce the fat and substitute oil for the butter) just until the meat and onions are coated with the fat. Transfer the pan to a preheated 500 ovens and cook for half an hour, keeping the chunks as separate as possible and after fifteen minutes shaking them vigorously or turning them with a spoon or tongs. Remove the meat to a pot and roast the onions another fifteen minutes; add them to the pot.

Pour off the fat from the roasting pan, put the pan over a medium flame, and add to it a half cup each of red wine and water. Bring the liquid to a boil, scraping up the browned bits, and then add it to the pot along with three or four cloves of garlic, peeled and halved, a 14-ounce can of chicken stock, an additional cup of red wine, and a quarter cup of veal glaze, if you can find it. (Veal glaze is rich, reduced veal stock–liquid gold, to my mind, and sometimes available in refrigerator and frozen-food cases; substitute chicken or beef stock or a mixture of the two if you can’t find it.) Simmer, covered, for an hour and then skim the liquid carefully. Add a bay leaf and two tablespoons of chopped parsley leaves; a pound of parsnips, peeled and cut into one-inch pieces; a half pound of baby carrots, trimmed and peeled; and a one-pound celery root, trimmed, peeled, and cut into half-inch pieces (omit if you can’t find one). Cover and simmer for twenty minutes more and skim again.

Thicken and finish the stew by whisking a quarter cup of cornstarch into about a cup of the hot liquid until smooth (or, for a cream-sauce consistency rather than that of a thick stew, use only two to three tablespoons of cornstarch). Carefully stir the slurry back into the pot and add to the liquid a tablespoon of anchovy paste and two tablespoons of chopped fresh sage. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes more, until thickened.

Revise to Fit Your Favorite Flavor

Like all stews, this one can be adapted to suit the vegetables you can find and the season you’re in: new potatoes and peas, for instance, will make it spring like. The unusual browning technique, the herbs, and the anchovy paste, which subtly reinforces the flavor, make this stew uncommonly good.

Strong herbs take perfectly to lamb, and cooking from the new Union Square Cafe Cookbook–by Danny Meyer, who opened that popular New York restaurant, and Michael Romano, its gifted chef–uses little more than herbs and stock to show how good and easy lamb shanks are. The long cooking at several heats, both on the stove and in the oven, demonstrates that it’s virtually impossible to cook lamb shanks for too long. (A rival New York restaurant, Campagna, lists on its menu “Overcooked Lamb Shoulder in Red Wine and Herbs.”) Like beef shin, lamb shanks contain sinews and other connective tissue that become soft and gelatinous, adding a buttery texture to the meat and giving sheen to the sauce. I first tasted this dish at Rialto, a new Boston-area restaurant that saluted its New York friends this past winter, and was overwhelmed by how much meat there was on the plate. It looked like half a leg of lamb, and it practically was–the chef, Jody Adams, had used shanks from the hindquarter, which are cut from the lower half of a leg roast. Most restaurants are similarly generous, but at home it’s much better to use forequarter shanks. Each will provide an abundant but not unmanageable serving.

Many Steps for Practicing Cooking

The recipe calls for four lamb shanks; rub each with a cut garlic clove, and set the shanks aside. Sprinkle salt (preferably the sweeter and better-flavored kosher salt) and pepper on the shanks and turn them in two tablespoons of flour spread on a plate. Over a medium flame brown the shanks in two tablespoons of olive oil heated in a wide ovenproof pan that has a cover (you’ll need it later). Or brown the shanks, seasoned and with or without flour, in a 500 oven for twenty to thirty minutes, shaking the pan occasionally. If you’re daring, heat a quarter cup of brandy in a small pan, light it, and pour the flaming liquor over the nearly browned shanks, heating them until all the liquid has evaporated. This dramatic touch will give depth to the sauce.

Remove the shanks from the pan and add one and a half cups of sliced onion and five thinly sliced garlic cloves. Cook the vegetables for about five minutes, until they are softened but not browned. Add two tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary, three tablespoons of chopped fresh mint, and a tablespoon each of fresh thyme leaves and chopped parsley leaves; if you have only dried rosemary, mint, or thyme, use a teaspoon for each tablespoon. Cook for another three or four minutes and then add a cup of white wine, boiling it until it is reduced by half. Add three cups of stock, preferably veal, season with additional salt and pepper, and return the shanks to the pan. Cover and bake in a preheated 325 oven for two hours.

The final step seems merciless, but it makes the dish great: uncover the pan, raise the heat to 500, and brown the shanks for twenty minutes more. They will be crusty and tinged with black. Remove the shanks, cover them, and skim as much fat as possible off the liquid. Boil the liquid hard, scraping the bottom of the pan, until it is reduced by half.

It is indeed possible to undercook shanks, as I discovered when I rushed a dish of shanks braised with a sauce of onion, honey, sherry vinegar, green pepper, saffron, and paprika, from Nancy Harmon Jenkins’s Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, which is full of homey, simple, and appealing recipes from many countries. I didn’t brown the shanks long enough, and braised them in the cooking liquid (wine and Spanish brandy) at a mild simmer for barely two hours instead of the called-for two and a half. They were tough. I should have put them into a 500 oven, either during browning or at the end, to make them meltingly tender. The shanks rallied after lengthy reheating, proving the notion that long-braised dishes just get better when they’re aged for a day or two. In fact, none of the stews I tried suffered from a cooking time that beforehand I would have gauged far too long.

Never Forget the Necessary Points

You can order true baby lamb from Summerfield Farms, a source of the highest-quality meat, in Culpepper, Virginia (telephone 703-547-9600; they sell veal glaze, too). The meat is dry-aged for several weeks, which the owner, Jamie Nicoll, says greatly improves the flavor without changing its basic nature. You can do this with ordinary lamb by leaving it in your refrigerator, wrapped in wax paper or simply unwrapped, for two to four days–a trick to intensify the flavor of supermarket lamb, which is, odd as it sounds, often too fresh.

I once visited Nicoll and his wife, Rachel, during lambing season, when little lambs really do gambol up and down the dales. The couple’s enlightened management of their flock paradoxically made me better disposed toward eating meat than I am at a distance. Their meat is powerfully flavored and in the tradition of farmers who care deeply about what they raise. It will honor your holiday table.

May 8, 2016 by Chris K. Rodriguez

Buying Guide for a Good Headphone

On market these days, there are various types of headphones, both full – sized and in – ears. They have so many shapes, styles and of course prices. Even their functions, they stay from studios to best workout earbuds which are suitable for your exercising. Therefore customers easily feel confused and find it very difficult to choose the best one according to their needs. If you don’t have enough money and want to choose the best headphones, this is the guide you need to get rid of the hesitation. These steps will give you a good influence to purchase a headphone just for you.

Appearance

First of all, you might want to determine clearly the product line that suitable for your budget as well as some features related to your ears. In terms of appearance, headphones have many choices, but in general they are divided into 3 main streams: Earbuds (stand inside your ears), full – sized headphones (large style headphones) and DJ style headphones.

Earbud: they are call earbuds because of their structures. This type of headphone requires users to put the device into the ears. They are quite small and squishy. Earbuds gain popularity among young people especially students. However, there is a weakness of this devices is that they would annoy your ears after a long time using. Moreover, they are tend to fall off the ears if you have to do some works that’s not in stand still positions.
Full – sized headphones: This type will give you an excellent music experience with high ability of noise avoiding. But there is one thing about the price is that it is quite high. In fact, this type of headphone is quite hard to maintain because they don’t often go along with any headphone bags.
DJ style headphones: The headphones that are designed this way usually have strong and big appearance and yet they are quite impressive. They are produced to be used mainly by professional DJs and audiophiles (the ones who interest in headphones and other audio devices). Big design gives this headphone type has the ability of preventing other sounds from the outside come along with excellent sound filtering and therefore minimize the bad influences to the ear drums. Using this type of headphone, music lovers can be relaxed to enjoy the music for hours without worrying for their ears.

Properties:

To select a good headphone, you should carefully notice to its basic features such as sound preventing ability, resistance, frequency…

Some of the users and even some audiophiles don’t actually know about sound preventing ability of the headphones. It is the way headphones emit music to your ears and reduce the noise from surround environment. Preventing noise helps you save your battery of the music player because of the sound volume balance. In fact, earbuds can avoid the sound from the environment mostly because they close your ears completely. Moreover, Dj style headphones can do even better than that because they create a large room without any sound on your ears, so that the music won’t be mixed with other annoying sounds from outside.

Another thing about the headphones is a frequency. A large frequency means that you could hear more sounds. The recommended sound frequency is from 10Hz to 25000 Hz. However, the width of the frequency that most people hear is from 20Hz to 20000 Hz according to the hearing ability of each people. You can hear any sounds in this range unless you have something that you don’t know.

You should see more about the resistance ability of headphones because it involves the productivity of the headphone.

Price

On market nowadays, headphones have so many options that can suit the need of any people. With around $60 to $90, you can buy for yourself a pair of earphones. But if you want to feel the music through an awesome device and you have money, consider the economic potential and choose the most suitable one for you.

Normally, high price headphones are often made by luxurious materials with noble and precisely designs. A headphone can be bought with only $30 can have good sound quality, but it could never be the same as a headphone with has the price of $60. And with the price of $80 – $90, you can have the chance to see the additional features and effects from a song that you might have never seen before. The headphone could make your life be dreams with beautiful strong.

April 25, 2016 by Chris K. Rodriguez

Create Your Better Omelet

A Better Omelet

THERE ARE FEW better tests of a cook’s insecurity than making an omelet. Just as Giotto is said to have impressed a pope in search of an artist by sending him a perfect circle drawn freehand instead of a finished drawing, a chef is said to be able to demonstrate his mastery to a prospective employer by making nothing more than an omelet. As a teenager, I once spent an afternoon, on Julia Child’s devil-may-care instructions, tilting a pan away from me and practicing rolling omelets, throwing out the imperfect ones. After watching clumps of cooked egg land all over the stove and two dozens eggs disappear from the refrigerator, my parents decided that I had experimented enough. I never got it quite right, but I did learn that the easiest way to make a good-looking omelet that will come out of the pan is to use a lot of butter.

Prepared Ingredients

This might have been the beginning of my disenchantment with French food imagine an omelet with all the usual virtues and many undreamed-of ones–the filling dispersed all through instead of bunched in the middle, and more of it, too; less grease; and no technical feats to learn. This describes the Italian frittata, a flat omelet that is cooked through, with none of the runny egg liquid that makes some people ill. A frittata is often served at room temperature or in a sandwich, so it can be made ahead; a cold omelet, all congealed butter and egg goo, is hardly welcome. At its best a frittata, hot or cold, is browned and crisp outside and airy and soft inside.

Frittatas in Italy are family meals, typical last-minute or Sunday suppers that get rid of leftovers. In Italian fare ulna frittata also means “to make a mess of things,” an idiom perhaps inspired by the first attempts of some non-cook–a frittata, along with pasta with tomato sauce, is a meal that every bachelor or hopeless cook is expected to know how to make. Tracing the origins of the disk is probably foolhardy, since some form of omelet has likely been eaten since man first heated eggs.

However, Apicius, who wrote the best-known book of Roman cookery, mentions a sweet frittata; in the sixteenth century frittatas were at once sweet and savory, served with powdered sugar and cinnamon and a sauce of bitter orange, which points to Arab influence by way of Sicily. Frittatas are a favorite dish among Sephardic Jews, because they can be served with either milk or meat menus. Their appearance in both Sephardic and non-Jewish cookbooks from the regions around the Mediterranean where Sephardic Jews settled–Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Turkey, for example–raises the question of whether Jews helped popularize them. Frittatas everywhere were served as light meals or between-meal snacks, either hot or cold; in Spain a tortilla, the Spanish frittatas, usually made with potatoes and onions, is still a typical tapa, or little dish to be served with sherry.

Remarkable Flavor Relating to Unique Skills

Lidia Bastianich, an owner of the restaurant Felidia, in New York City, remembers her grandmother taking fresh sandwiches filled with frittatas to workers in the field as a midmorning marina, or snack. She also remembers hunting for goose eggs in her native Istria, the region to the extreme northeast of Italy, which is now mostly Yugoslavia; her grandmother kept jealous count of chicken and duck eggs but encouraged the hunting of goose eggs, which were laid in random places. All went into frittatas.

Frittata Technique

Even though frittata technique requires no wrist training, it did take me quite a few eggs as to get a frittata I was happy with–four dozen, in fact. The problem was that I tried to make a frittata as fast as an omelet, which I had seen chefs do on a kitchen tour of New York Italian restaurants. My experiments using their techniques led to results that gave credence to Elizabeth David’s dismissal, in Italian Food, of frittatas:

[Italians] are particularly stubborn with regard to the cooking of omelets, insist upon frying them in oil, and use far too much of the filling . . . in proportion to the number of eggs, and in consequence produce a leathery egg pudding rather than an omelet.

Use Your Small Favorite Cooking Technique

I much prefer oil to butter, and I love a lot of filling, even if it does tilt a frittata in the direction of a kind of cake; but I don’t like rubbery eggs, and that’s what I was making. (When there is so much filling that the egg only binds it, the dish becomes a torsion, or little cake, and is usually baked.) The problem, i suspected, was the timing. Italian cookbooks are vague on how long to cook a frittata. One cooking encyclopedia points out that like all simple preparations, frittatas should be given great care. But then it pulls back, like the others, on timing; it’s one of those things you should know. Not everyone does. I have been served my share of leathery frittatas in Italy.

But as I made frittatas, in both senses of the phrase, I remembered the one that had reformed my opinion: a zucchini frittata made by a young woman friend in Italy, in general an unenthusiastic cook, who said she was preparing something very special she had learned from her grandmother. As I watched her fuss over a plain egg dish for what seemed much too long a time, I grew increasingly impatient and skeptical. She finally presented me with something tender and delicate, something different from omelets and equally delicious. I decided to slow down and try to recapture her frittata. (Although slow cooking is today more common in Italy for a torsion than a frittata, Apicius himself called for a very low fire, and Felipe Rojax-Lombardi, who is the owner and chef of The Ballroom, the first and best tapas bar in New York City, and the authors Marcella Hazan and Barbara Kafka cook frittatas a long time.)

Choose the Best Suitable Pan

Which pan to use is of course important? Italians use a light iron pan with rounded sides, of a weight that is rarely available here. Cast iron doesn’t work very well, because after an initial browning of the egg mixture the heat is supposed to be lowered for a long, slow drying; cast iron retains too much heat and cooks the frittata too quickly. I had very good results with an inexpensive light nonstick skillet. The ideal pan is stainless steel with an interior layer of copper in the bottom. A frittata should be a half inch thick, and so the pan should be small: eight inches for three eggs, ten inches for six eggs. It’s unrealistic to recommend keeping a pan solely for frittatas, and unnecessary if you use a nonstick pan. If you don’t, clean the pan by heating it and rubbing it with a generous amount of coarse salt and lots of paper towels.

Fresh herbs are a constant in fillings–for example, minced parsley leaves or chives or sage or basil. In theory, the filling is built around something delicate and rare, like elder flowers or wild mushrooms or truffles; in practices, the filling is what is left over and needs to be extended. Among the most common fillings in Italy–all sliced thin and sautéed in olive oil, with or without onion, according to taste–are zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, chard, thin wedges of trimmed artichoke (preferably young), peas, green tomato, red peppers, leeks, and potatoes. To make the frittata a one-dish meal, Italian sometimes add rice or slices of bread fried in olive oil or even leftover pasta. Meat appears seldom, usually cubes of leftover sausage or ends of salami. Cooked or raw, the filling should be at room temperature when you start cooking, and so should the eggs.

Smaller Meals Preparing for Less People

TO SERVE TWO people, heat two teaspoons of olive oil in an eight-inch pan until the oil just starts to smoke. (A nonstick pan needs no fat. Heat the pan.) If you are using an electric stove, set another burner to very low. While the oil is heating, beat three eggs with a tablespoon of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (the authentic Parmesan) cheese and a few grinds of pepper. Beat the eggs–with a fork, not a whisk–just to mix white and yolk and to break up any lumps of cheese, stirring into the mixture any cheese that sticks to the sides of the bowl. Add a half cup of filling and mix gently, so that the ingredients are well distributed but not broken up. To serve four, double the ingredients and use a ten-inch pan; to serve more, make several frittatas, not bigger ones.

Pour the eggs into the pan. The bottom should set immediately; cook it briefly, shaking the pan gently. Don’t stir the eggs, as you would with scrambled eggs on an omelet. One of the blessings of making a frittata is that you can leave it alone. If you are using a gas stove, turn the flame down very low; if using an electric stove, transfer the pan to the burner set on low. Cook a three-egg frittata, uncovered, for twenty-five minutes, and a six-egg frittata for thirty to thirty-five minutes. You should see little bubbles of simmering oil at the sides of the pan, but the cooking will be very slow. At the end of the cooking time the top should be all but dry–a bit of liquid is fine. Run a spatula around the sides and under the frittata to free it. Set a plate or a pot lid over the pan and with one motion unmold the frittata. Return the pan to high heat, add enough oil to make a film on the pan (unless it is nonstick), wait until it smokes, and brown the other side for a minute.

Some cooks–for example, Andrea Hellrigl, of the refined Palio, in New York City–prefer not to brown the other side. They like the contrast of crisp and soft, and want to show off the filling on the embrowned side. I prefer the appearance and taste of a second browned side and advocate turning as a way of finishing the dish (in Italian the phrase “to turn the frittata” means to correct something you said). I don’t recommend running the pan under a broiler, an escape route well traveled by those fearful that the frittata won’t unmold on one piece. By the time you are ready to turn the frittata there is almost no danger that it will come apart, and broiling toughens the eggs unnecessarily and brings all the fat to the surface.

Trying and Revising to Get the Better Results

I wasn’t pleased with any of the short-cuts I tried. Covering the pan cuts the cooking time in half but results in a soggy bottom and a steamed texture. An acceptable second best is to transfer the frittata to a 375[degrees] oven after setting the bottom. This cuts the time to between ten and fifteen minutes, after which you can unmold the frittata and brown the other side. Nothing makes a frittata as tender, though, hot or cold, as cooking it for the full time uncovered on the burner. You can clean up, slice bread, and make a salad as it cooks.

Room-temperature wedges of frittata make an excellent hour d’oeuvre or picnic food, and as noted, slices of it are very good in a sandwich. Cooks in the Piedmont often put a few drops of balsamic vinegar on cold frittata, according to Bruna Alessandria, one of the first of a revolving cast of Italian women cooks at the new restaurant Le Madri, in New York. Perhaps my favorite way of eating frittata is a dish introduced to me by Sandro Fioriti, the big and exuberant chef of the Roman-style trattoria Sandro’s, in New York. Thin strips of frittata are heated briefly in a tomato sauce with torn leaves of basil and some grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and served as a first course. The sauce seeps into the frittata and makes it even more tender, and sets off the flavors of the filling. The dish is called frittata in trippa or trippata, because the frittata is cut in strips like tripe; it is variously attributed to Rome, Umbria, and Florence (all three places have famous tripe dishes). But whatever the source, the method for making frittata with tomato sauce remains the same, and the dish is enough to persuade anyone to forget about omelets.