Nothing beats a pie made with a homemade pie crust. The frozen pie crusts available in stores are usually of decent quality and will do in a pinch, but if you have the time, there’s just something a little bit better about making your own pie crust, isn’t there?

If you decide to make your own dough, we’ve compiled some helpful pointers here for your convenience, along with the simple, basic steps you will need to take to make your most delicious pie crust ever.

1. Choosing Your Ingredients.

The first thing you need to do is find the best pie crust recipe to suit your needs.

A basic recipe for pie crust would be:

• 1¼  cup flour
• ½ cup shortening or butter
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons ice cold water

But there are some decisions to be made about your ingredients, and things you might consider adding or changing, as they can offer your crust different qualities. Such as:

2. Butter or Shortening?

Before you continue, you have an important decision to make. Are you going to use butter or shortening in your pie crust recipes? Your choice of fat will determine the consistency of your crust, with benefits to either choice.

Butter is known for giving pie crust a richer flavor, but shortening is a favorite of flaky pie crust fans. (Butter-flavored shortening is a lovely way to achieve both goals.) If you prefer butter, be sure to keep the butter very cold and get the pie into the oven before the butter warms, or it could make your pie crust overly chewy.

3. Sweet or Savory?

If you are seeking a sweet, tender pie crust, you may want to choose a pie crust recipe that includes sugar. A recipe that calls for egg yolks, buttermilk, or cream can also give your pie crust a rich flavor as well.

If your recipe would be better served with a mildly grainy or more savory pie crust, nuts can be added to give it texture. You can even replace some of the flour with ground almonds if you’d like.

4. Choosing a Liquid.

No matter what you choose for your liquid, you want to make sure to use the minimum you can get away with, as liquids activate the gluten in the flour, which can make your dough chewy or heavy. Acidic liquids can counteract the stickiness of the gluten, making vinegar, citrus juices or yogurt good choices. Most people simply use ice cold water, but some cooks swear by ice cold vodka, claiming it makes the pie crust more pliable and less likely to tear.

5. Mixing the Ingredients.

Whether you’re using a food processor or your hands, the consistency of your pie crust mixture is important. Too much mixing can very quickly turn good ball of dough into a tough, chewy mess. The generally desired consistency to achieve with your mixture seems to be a course meal with pea-sized dots of butter running throughout.

6. Working the Dough.

The final step in making great pie crust is working the dough into a flattened ball you can roll out and settle into your pie pan. The best tip we can give you during this final step is to not overwork the dough. Use your fingertips rather than your palms and try to keep the dough as cold as possible before baking to avoid toughening.

Be sure to roll your dough on a floured surface, and don’t grease the pie plate unless the recipe specifically says to do so. Also, remember to double your recipe if you’re baking a covered pie.

Following these 6 simple tips, you can make pie dough like a pro every time. Pie is a wonderful thing, no matter what, but a perfectly flaky, golden crust can turn a good pie into an amazing one.

Pauline Greenwood is an avid blogger and contributor to JustaPinch.com. She enjoys sharing about cooking experiences and her favorite meal ideas such as chocolate cake recipes.

The post Easy as Pie: 6 Tips for Perfect Pie Crust appeared first on OBVIOUS Magazine — Fashion & Lifestyle for Men and Women.

According to the experts at WebMD, one of the best ways to improve your eyesight is by including foods in your daily diet which are high in nutrients such as:

• Beta carotene
• Lutein and zeaxanthin
• Vitamins A, C and E
• Omega-3 fatty acids

Changing your dietary habits to include foods that encourage eye health is one of the best ways to lower your risk of suffering from impaired vision or even blindness as you age.

Beta Carotene and Vitamin A

Beta carotene rich foods contain a naturally occurring pigment the body can convert into vitamin A. These rich foods, which furnish high levels of vitamin A,  help prevent the risks associated with vitamin A deficiencies. Vitamin A protects the eyes from the damage caused by free radicals; the cornea is especially vulnerable to diseases caused by a vitamin A deficiency. Additionally, adequate levels of vitamin A are essential to keep the eyes moist and encourage tear production.

According to The World’s Healthiest Foods, to get the biggest bang for your nutritional buck for vitamin A, focus on the following foods (percentage of daily value based on a one-cup serving):

• Carrots – 407.6% daily value (DV)
• Collard greens – 308.3% DV
• Kale – 354.1% DV
• Spinach – 377.3 % DV
• Sweet potatoes – 438.1 % DV
• Turnip greens – 219.6% DV
• Winter squash – 214.1% DV

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Juicing has many healthy benefits and promotes a healthy immune system.

Everyone knows that they should eat more fruits and vegetables, but the average person does not eat enough fresh fruit or vegetables to prevent disease or to help the body heal from a variety of common ailments. Fresh juice contains many vitamins and minerals that you cannot adequately get from any other source, even your multivitamin.

Many health professionals say that 50 percent or more of our diet should be raw food if we are to enjoy good health. How can we accomplish this goal and eat all the fruits and vegetables we need?

For many people juicing is a great option.

Detoxing the Body

Drinking fresh juice is a great way to flush all the toxins out of your body. You may be suffering from the effects of toxins without even knowing it. If you have frequent headaches, constipation, trouble sleeping, sinus problems, bloating, hormone problems, or skin problems, just to name a few, you might benefit from drinking fresh juice. Fresh juice is known to be a great cleanser for the body.

People who drink fresh juice also enjoy the benefits of weight loss, increased energy, and increased function of the immune system.

Choosing a Juicer

Prices and qualities of juicers vary widely. If you are going to use a juicer a lot, buy the best one you can afford. Cheaper models will have less horsepower and may not be able to handle some of the harder vegetables, such as carrots. Make sure that the juicer separates the juice from the vegetable or fruit pulp. This is one of the key characteristics that distinguishes a juicer from a blender. A blender will just blend everything together, and a good juicer will separate the juice from the fiber, creating a quality juice product.

When you are looking at juicers, compare models to see which ones have the most parts to clean. Juicers do require cleaning after each use, and you want to spend as little time as possible cleaning it every time. Dishwasher safe parts are also ideal.

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If you are currently trying to lose weight, or you are just interested in living a healthier lifestyle, then you probably have noticed that many recipes are not suited to the health conscious individual.

There are, however, many ways that you can reduce the fat and calorie content of a recipe by substituting or even eliminating the fat, oils, and sugar in the recipe. You will find that recipe alterations will require some trial and error. Here are some tips to help get you started:

Cooking and Frying

Instead of using regular sour cream, cheese, mayonnaise, or yogurt in a recipe, try using reduced fat or nonfat versions. Yogurt is also a healthy alternative to sour cream in many recipes.Keep in mind that fat-free cheeses in particular do not melt as well as reduced fat cheeses. This is where some experimenting comes into play. You may be able to use fat free cheese in a casserole, but it will not stand up as well in a sauce. For recipes that call for sugar, try reducing the amount of sugar by 25 percent. Note: Reducing the amount of sugar in recipes for cakes, breads, and cookies could affect the texture or volume of the final product.

Baking

There are a number of ways you can reduce the fat content in your favorite cookies, breads, and cakes.

In some recipes you can eliminate the butter or oil completely and use applesauce as a substitute. This works well in many muffin and quick bread recipes.  Start by substituting just half the fat with applesauce and see how it turns out. If the recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter or oil, then use 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup butter or oil instead. You can also use mashed banana instead of the applesauce. For something different, in quick breads, try substituting grated zucchini for half the fat in the recipe.

If you are watching your cholesterol, or you just want to reduce the fat in a recipe, then you can substitute two egg whites for each egg called for in the recipe. The fat in an egg is in the yolk, so eliminating the yolk also eliminates the fat. It is possible to replace the sugar in the recipe with a noncalorie sugar substitute like Splenda. In general, sugar substitutes can be used in equal amounts to replace sugar.

When you are using margarine or butter in a recipe, do not substitute light or diet margarines. Diet margarines will cause your baked goods to have less volume. Instead of using reduced fat margarine, try using less regular margarine or butter in your recipe instead.

Meats

Use cooking sprays instead of oil or butter when browning and cooking meats.

When cooking ground beef, there is an easy way to eliminate a lot of the fat that usually remains even after you try to remove it all from the pan. After you have cooked the meat, drain it and place it on a plate. Blot the meat with paper towels and then place it in a colander and rinse it with hot water.

Try replacing ground beef with ground turkey.  Ground turkey contains much less fat than ground beef. If you do not like the taste of the ground turkey, then mix the two meats together half and half of each.

Use turkey bacon rather than pork bacon. Turkey bacon is actually quite good. You will even be able to get your kids to eat it. Because there is a lot less fat in turkey bacon, you will also have much less fat to drain off while cooking.

In a casserole or meat sauce, try replacing 1/4 of the ground meat with chopped beans or lentils or cooked brown rice. You have just lowered the fat content and raised the fiber content of your recipe.

Use tuna packed with water instead of oil.

There are many ways you can alter recipes to change the recipe’s fat or calorie content. Start by experimenting with your favorite recipes, and in no time your old favorite recipes will have new healthy lower calorie alternatives.

Dr Ritu is a qualified doctor, and certified nutritionist with over 13 years of experience in public and private healthcare. She provides diet reviews and helps men and women make the right decisions when it comes to slimming aids. Check out the latest capsiplex consumer feedback on one of her recent product reviews.

The post How to Reduce a Recipe’s Calorie and Fat Content appeared first on OBVIOUS Magazine — Fashion & Lifestyle for Men and Women.

Cafeteria is a restaurant in the heart of the Chelsea area of  New York City in Manhattan.  If you are looking for a socially inviting atmosphere while grabbing a bite to eat, this is the place to be.

Photo courtesy of eatbigapple.com

Cafeteria is a quaint restaurant open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The restaurant is a great hot spot for after hours and there are many menu options available.

Unfortunately, Cafeteria has complaints about customer service such as the restaurant being too loud, having to wait for a table when the restaurant is not busy, and occasionally rude staff.

Business owners should keep in mind that customer service is key. With this being the digital age social media is at everyone’s fingertips. Patrons use Twitter and Facebook as a way to be heard and get the word out about unsatisfactory experiences. I call this customer ‘no’service.

Overall, the full bar and the lounge area, which opens up at night, is a cool spot to relax with a few friends. The food is great.

If you are in the area check out Cafeteria and let us know what you think.

Cafeteria
119 Seventh Ave. at 17th St.
New York, NY 10011
212-414-1717

Full bar. Reservations recommended.

Brunch

Sat.–Sun., 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

www.cafeteriagroup.com

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