by: Sarah Sandori

Copying restaurant recipes can be easy or hard. It depends on whether a dish is simple, as many side dishes tend to be, or complex, as many main dishes or entrees are–especially the ones that are considered to be a restaurant’s “billboard” or signature menu item.

The key to becoming a skilled restaurant menu copycatter is to sample a wide variety of dishes from many restaurants. Also, you should try to train your taste buds and nose to be able to detect and differentiate between different spices, herbs and other flavorings. Make a list (mental or on paper) of all of the ingredients you think are in the next food item you have in a restaurant, and ask your waitperson to tell you if you pegged them correctly.

If the waiter, cook or manager of your favorite recipe is willing to give you a copy of the actual recipe used to create a particular dish, you are most of the way home to being able to copy it in your own kitchen.

Having the list of ingredients and some instructions for putting them together and preparing them is most of the battle, of course. But even then, you might have to compensate for not having some special cooking utensils or devices that the restaurant uses to make the dish. Or, you might have to scale down the recipe considerably if the recipe you’re given is for making large batches at a time.

There are books available now that have worked out these problems for you. Their authors have spent many hours tracking down or figuring out scores of those secret restaurant recipes, testing them over and over, and then modifying them as needed for the average cook’s kitchen.

Where there’s a will there’s a way. If it is your fondest desire to be able to copy your favorite restaurant’s top recipe at home, know that you can do it … so get to work!

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Sarah Sandori is the food and entertaining columnist for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium. Have you ever wanted to be able to exactly duplicate a favorite dish from a favorite restaurant? Check out Sarah’s article where she reveals her source for the most mouth-watering secret restaurant recipes in America: http://www.solid-gold.info/most-wanted-recipes.html  

by: Sarah Sandori

Green beans are one of those vegetables that are so ubiquitous, most people never give them a second thought. They show up as side dishes in so many restaurants and on so many family dinner tables that they just seem like a ho-hum sort of dish.

I’m a big green-beans fan, though. First, they’re quite low in calories, containing fewer than 45 per cup. Yet they’re full of important nutrients, most notably vitamin C, vitamin A, iron and manganese. Other nutrients include thiamin, riboflavin, copper, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids and niacin. Secondly, although it’s hard to get kids (and some adults) excited about them, with a little creativity green beans can be made into a large variety of quite tasty dishes.

Green beans are also known as string beans. Deep green and crunchy, they’re usually available in the produce section year-round. You can also find them frozen and canned.

Green beans are picked when they are still immature, one of the few types of beans harvested and eaten at this stage. When buying them fresh, try to choose the slenderer beans, making sure they are crisp and free of spots. When you’re ready to cook with them, wash the beans and break off the ends of their stems.

Recipe #1: Green Beans with Red Pepper

Ingredients
1 red bell pepper
1 pound green beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt
Black pepper

Directions
Place a saucepan full of water on medium heat. Bring water to a boil and add the beans. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove beans from heat, drain them and set aside.

With a sharp knife, cut red bell pepper into thin slices. Place pepper slices in a pan or skillet, add olive oil, and sauté over medium heat until pepper is tender. Add green beans, garlic, wine (optional), balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat all ingredients until the beans are quite warm. Remove from heat and serve.

Recipe #2: Green Beans and Mushrooms

Ingredients
8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
2 pounds fresh cut green beans
1 cup water
Salt
Black pepper

Directions
Heat butter in a saucepan. Sauté sliced mushrooms and chopped onion in the butter. Add the green beans, water, salt and black pepper. Bring pan to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, simmering until the beans are tender. Simmer until tender. Remove from heat and serve.

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Sarah Sandori is the food and entertaining columnist for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium. Have you ever wanted to be able to exactly duplicate a favorite dish from a favorite restaurant? Check out Sarah’s article where she reveals her source for the most mouth-watering secret restaurant recipes in America: http://www.solid-gold.info/most-wanted-recipes.html