Monday 25 May 2009


Orange and Black Chicken Breasts

Ingredients
2 boneless chicken beasts
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup Jim Beam Black® Bourbon

Cooking Instructions
Melt butter in a frying pan. Sprinkle basil in both sides of chicken breasts and sauté on medium until chicken is done and slightly browned. De-glaze the pan with orange juice and Jim Beam Black® Bourbon, simmering until sauce is reduced slightly. Place chicken on rice and top with the orange-bourbon sauce. Serves 2.






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Barista

This article is about bartenders. For lawyers, see Barrister. For the chain of espresso bars in India, see Barista Coffee.

When using the term in English jargon, "barista" refers to one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks. Within certain circles, its meaning is expanding to include what might be called a "coffee sommelier;" a professional who is highly skilled in coffee preparation, with a comprehensive understanding of coffee, coffee blends, espresso, quality, coffee varieties, roast degree, espresso equipment, maintenance, latte art, etc. James Hoffmann of Britain is the current World Barista Champion.

The word barista (plural: baristi [masculine or mixed sex] or bariste [feminine]) is of Italian origin. In Italy, a barista is a "bartender," who typically works behind a counter, serving both hot (such as espresso) and cold alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.


Espresso

Popularity



Espresso is the main type of coffee in most of southern Europe, notably Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain. It is also popular throughout much of the rest of Europe and in Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba, and urban centers in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. In Australia and New Zealand, espresso accounts for nearly all of the commercial cafe, coffeehouse and restaurant coffee business.

In the United States, South Florida’s influx of Cuban refugees brought their love of espresso with them although espresso consumption was limited largely to the Cuban community. With the rise of coffee chains such as Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, Dunn Bros Coffee, Caribou Coffee, and others, espresso-based drinks rose in popularity in the 1990s in the United States, with the city of Seattle being generally viewed as the fount of the modern interest. In addition to the Italian style of coffee, these chains typically offer variations and innovations by adding syrups, whipped cream, flavour extracts, soy milk, and different spices to their drinks. Cities like San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Chicago have long traditions of espresso drinking, with the North Beach area in San Francisco being perhaps the most well known.

Espresso have become increasingly popular in recent years, in regions where "American Coffee" has been the main coffee for centuries. In northern Europe (Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark), specialty coffee chains have emerged, selling various sorts of espresso from street corners and high streets. Europeans have embraced espresso as one of their favorite drinks. Many companies now have espresso machines, to be used free of charge by their employees.

Home espresso machines have increased in popularity with the general rise of interest in espresso, and with the Internet and its use as a tool to spread information about this beverage around the world. Today, a wide range of high-quality home espresso equipment can be found in specialist kitchen and appliance stores, online vendors, and department stores. The Internet has facilitated the spread of information about a wide range of espresso-based drinks, and can dispel (or promote) many myths on how to properly brew espresso.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino is an Italian coffee-based drink prepared with espresso, hot milk, and milk foam. A cappuccino differs from a caffè latte in that it is prepared with much less steamed or textured milk than the caffè latte with the total of espresso and milk/foam making up between approximately 150 ml and 180 ml (5 and 6 fluid ounces). A cappuccino is traditionally served in a porcelain cup, which has far better heat retention characteristics than glass or paper. The foam on top of the cappuccino acts as an insulator and helps retain the heat of the liquid, allowing it to stay hotter longer.

Origin

Cappuccino takes its name from the order of Franciscan Minor friars, named "Cappuccini" from their custom of wearing a hood with their habit ("cappuccio" means hood in Italian). However, it is highly unlikely that the name of the drink derives from the color of the monks' robes, because it is quite a different shade of brown, although some dictionaries have mentioned this hypothesis.

The drink has always been known by this Italian name. The Espresso coffee machine used to make cappuccino was invented in Italy, with the first patent being filed by Luigi Bezzera in 1901.

The beverage was used in Italy by the early 1900s, and grew in popularity as the large espresso machines in cafés and restaurants were improved during and after World War Two. By the 1950s, the Italian cappuccino had found its form.

Typically regarded as myth, some believe that a 17th century Capuchin monk, Marco d'Aviano, invented Cappuccino after the Battle of Vienna in 1683, or that it was named after him. No mention of this occurs in any of his biographies, nor in any other contemporary historical source or account. The rumor first appeared in the Austrian popular press toward the end of the 20th century, more specifically, after the 1983 celebration in Vienna of the third centennial of the Turkish siege, and soon joined the ranks of other contemporary legends, happily circulating without any basis in fact. For these reasons, no historical credibility can be attributed to it; and it has been rebutted by scholars and ecclesiastical authorities, such as Cardinal José Saraiva Martins.http://www.ratemyrosetta.com/showimage.php?2481_77zoC7Tm.jpg

Ingredients

Besides a shot of espresso, the most important element in preparing a cappuccino is the texture and temperature of the milk. When a barista steams the milk for a cappuccino, microfoam is created by introducing very tiny bubbles of air into the milk, giving the milk a velvety texture and sweetness. The traditional cappuccino consists of an espresso, on which the barista pours the hot foamed milk, resulting in a 2 cm (¾ inch) thick milk foam on top. Variations of the mixtures are usually called cappuccino chiaro (light cappuccino, also known as a wet cappuccino) with more milk than normal, and cappuccino scuro (dark cappuccino, also known as a dry cappuccino) with less milk than normal.

Attaining the correct ratio of foam requires close attention be paid while steaming the milk, thus making the cappuccino one of the most difficult espresso-based beverages to make properly. Moreover, a skilled barista may obtain artistic shapes while pouring the milk on the top of the espresso coffee.

Popularity

Cappuccino was a taste largely confined to Europe, Australia, South Africa, South America and the more cosmopolitan regions of North America, until the mid-1990s when cappuccino was made much more widely available to North Americans, as upscale coffee bars sprang up.

In Italy, cappuccino is generally consumed early in the day as part of the breakfast, with a croissant, better known to Italians as cornetto, or a pastry. Generally, Italians do not drink cappuccino with meals other than breakfast. In many countries, but not in France or Belgium, it is often consumed throughout the day or after dinner.

In the United States, the term "iced cappuccino" (or cappuccino "Freddo") is something of a misnomer since the characteristic frothed milk is generally omitted in the iced variation. Without the frothed milk, the drink is called an iced latte. The term has nevertheless spread in some Mediterranean countries where foam is added to an iced latte just before serving. International coffee houses' standards prohibit the preparation of hot milk foam over ice, since it is conducive to the rapid buildup of bacteria. It is possible to froth cold milk using various methods and such preparation avoids the safety issues associated with hot foam and ice.

By the start of the 21st century, a modified version of cappuccino was being served by fast-food chains. In recent years leading independent cafés have begun offering the traditional cappuccino in its proper size (150-180 ml, 5-6 ounces) only - distinguishing them from other cafés and larger chains, such as Starbucks, offering sizes up to 600 ml (20 ounces).

Convenience store cappuccino

The widespread acceptance in the United States of what was once regarded as a taste of coastal urbanites and older Italian-Americans led to many establishments, such as convenience stores, offering what they present as cappuccino to their patrons. However, that product is usually an ersatz cappuccino produced by machines similar to those that mix cocoa drinks. The drink that comes out is usually produced either from a manufactured mix or double-brewed coffee and bears little relation to the real thing. Similar products result from home use of store-bought mixes usually advertised, more accurately, as producing "frothed coffee."

Convenience store cappuccino is typically produced in a high-speed cyclonic mixing chamber, using preheated water stored in the machine. When activated the whipping impeller begins spinning, and dry powder mix and water are introduced into the chamber, with the strength of the final product controlled by how quickly the powder is fed into the mix chamber. Foam is a natural byproduct of the process. Some machines also inject a liquid flavor concentrate stored in small disposable pouches, allowing a single mix chamber to produce flavor variations such as mocha or vanilla. Because all supplies are either dry powder or in aseptic disposable packaging, these systems are very low maintenance, requiring only cleaning of the mix chamber and impeller. To further reduce maintenance, when the operator releases the fill button, most machines continue to run without powder for a few moments to flush the mix chamber with clear water.



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River Shannon

River Shannon

Clonmacnoise, Offaly
Clonmacnoise, Offaly
Carrick on Shannon Bridge
Carrick on Shannon Bridge

The River Shannon (Sionainn or Sionna in Irish) is, at 386 km (240 miles), the longest river in Ireland, and indeed the whole of the British Isles.[1][2] It divides the west of the island of Ireland (principally the province of Connacht) from the east and south (Leinster and most of Munster). County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception. The river represents a major physical barrier between east and west, with fewer than twenty crossing-points between Limerick city in the south and the town of Carrick on Shannon in the north.

The Shannon has been an important waterway since antiquity, having first been mapped by the Graeco-Egyptian geographer Ptolemy. The river flows generally southward from the Shannon Pot in County Cavan before turning west and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean through the 113 km (70 mi) long Shannon Estuary. Limerick city stands at the point where the river water meets the sea water of the estuary. The Shannon is unaffected by sea tides east of Limerick.

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