Posts Tagged apple

Pan Fried Pork Chops with Apple

“Great pork dish with the taste of apples”

  • 1/2 stick (4 Tbsp) 50 g unsalted butter
  • 4 prime pork loins
  • 2 apples, peeled, cored and diced into 1 cm pieces
  • 1 spring onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp brandy
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter in a large frying pan over a moderate heat, add the pork chops and cook for 16-18 minutes turning occasionally. Put to one side to keep warm.

Add the apple and onion and cook until softened, this will take approximately 5 minutes. Add the brandy and cook until absorbed. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Use to top the pork loins and serve with rice.

Notes : Would use a less sweeter apple next time.

Source : Julian Borg Barthet

Servings/Yield : Serves 4

Difficulty : Easy

Course : Main

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Pumpkin and Apple Risotto

“Pumpkin and other winter squash are very popular in italy and appear in many classic recipes.  If pumpkins are out of season, use butternut or onion squash – the flavours will be slightly different, but they both work well.”

  • 225 g butternut squash or pumpkin flesh
  • 1 cooking apple
  • 120 ml water
  • 25 g (2 tbsp) butter
  • 25 ml olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 275 g risotto rice (aborio)
  • 175 ml fruity white wine
  • 900ml – 1000ml simmering vegetable stock
  • 75 g parmesan, freshly grated
  • salt and freshly ground pepper

Cut the squash into small pieces.  Peel, core and roughly chop the apple.  Place in a pan and pour in the water.  Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the squash is very tender.  Drain, return the squash mixture to the pan and add half the butter.  Mash the mixture roughly with a fork to break up any large pieces, but leave the mixture chunky.

Heat the oil and remaining butter in a pan and fry the onion and garlic until the onion is soft.  Tip in the rice.  Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 2 minutes until it is coated and the grains are slightly translucent.

Add the wine and stir into the rice.  When all the liquid has been absorbed, begin to add the stock a ladleful at a time, making sure each addition has been absorbed before adding the next.  This should take around 20 minutes.

When roughly two ladlefuls of stock are left, add the squash and apple mixture together with another addition of stock.  Continue to cook, stirring well and adding the rest of the stock, until the risotto is very creamy.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese, adjust the seasoning and serve immediately.

Source : RICE by Christine Ingram

Servings/Yield : 3-4 servings

Rating : 4 out of 5 (Would use a sweeter apple next time)

Difficulty : Easy

Cuisine : European : Mediterranean : Italian

Course : Main

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7 Things You Should Know About Upgrading to Windows 7

Thursday is a big day for Windows users. Microsoft is finally making Windows 7 publicly available, and the number of pre-orders for the operating system on Amazon.com has already surpassed orders for Harry Potter in the U.K.

Not bad for an operating system that costs $120 and doesn’t even have any magic wands or dragons in it.

That’s a good indicator that a lot of people are upgrading, and we’re sure there will be even more that follow after consumers spread the word about the vast improvements in Windows 7 over its predecessors. Here’s a simple guideline of what you should know to ensure your upgrade process is smooth — from purchase to install.

1. The upgrade is worth it

We’ve written about Windows 7’s strong points as well as the its weaker points. On balance, we’re confident saying his is the best Microsoft operating system yet. If you’re running any earlier version of Windows, you’ll almost certainly want to upgrade — and you should feel no hesitation about buying new computers preloaded with Windows 7.

2. It will cost you

Apple offers an upgrade to its latest operating system, Snow Leopard, for $30 — and you can even take advantage of it if you don’t have the previous version, Leopard. Not so with Microsoft: You’ll need to pay $120 for the upgrade — or even more, depending on which version you get. (Unless you’re a smart shopper and can find a discounted price. See tips 6 and 7 below for details on which version to buy and how to find discounts.) As with previous versions of Windows, Microsoft has created a bewildering array of variations.

3. Double-check compatibility with your hardware

Paranoid about losing access to some of your third-party accessories and software after upgrading? You should be, at least a little bit. Microsoft claims Windows 7 will work smoothly with most third-party gadgets and software, but to be on the safe side, you should check out the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. The tool automatically scans your system and provides a report of any potential issues, as well as steps to resolve them.

4. Scout for computers shipping with Windows 7

If you’ve been shopping for a new computer — but waiting for Windows 7 to come out first — there’s a Microsoft tool to help search for new computers that ship with Windows 7. It’s called PC Scout, and it searches for computers based on your preferences. As of this writing, the results don’t bring up Windows 7 systems (since Windows 7 isn’t officially released yet), but the website clarifies all the computers listed in the database are eligible for a Windows 7 upgrade. That means if you purchase one of those computers today, all you have to pay is $10 for shipping, and you get the Windows 7 upgrade free. By the time Windows 7 ships, the PC Scout should be showing results for computers that include Windows 7.

Amazon customers shopping for Windows 7 computers: There’s a web page just for you<. Amazon breaks down a list of netbooks, notebooks and desktops shipping with Windows 7, so definitely check those out.

5. Upgrading from XP? Back up your data, wipe and migrate

Windows XP users cannot do a straight upgrade; they’ll have to back up their files, format their hard drive and perform a clean install. After your fresh copy of Windows 7 is on your computer, Microsoft offers a tool called Easy Transfer to migrate your files.

(If you’re a Vista user, you’ll be able to upgrade without doing a clean install — though fresh installations are generally recommended for optimal performance anyway whenever you switch to a new operating system.)

6. Know what you want

Disregard the awful, intimidating Windows 7 upgrade chart when you’re picking a version to buy. Choosing the right version really isn’t as complicated as Microsoft has made it sound in the past. Consumers: The vast majority of you should go with Windows 7 Home Premium. Business users: Most of you will want to go with Windows 7 Professional. (There’s a Windows 7 Ultimate edition, but that’s aimed at a very niche audience of ultra geeks who want to do everything they could possibly imagine doing with their computers.) Again, if you want to be safe, use the Upgrade Advisor to check your hardware and software compatibility.

7. Look for limited-time discounts

If you’re buying Windows 7 while it’s brand new, you shouldn’t be paying the full price. Microsoft and its partners are holding a weeklong sale called “7 Days of Windows 7.” Companies offering Windows 7 discounts with Microsoft include Best Buy, Dell and Acer. You can sign up to hear about daily offers on Windows.com. Also, you can check discount-aggregation sites such as PriceGrabber.com or Froogle.com to find the cheapest Windows 7 deals.

via 7 Things You Should Know About Upgrading to Windows 7 | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.

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Apple’s Tablet Could Be Print Industry’s Lifeboat

The more you think about it, the more obvious it is that an Apple tablet would specialize in reviving dead-tree media (i.e., newspapers, magazines and books). All the rumors suggest the device would be a larger iPod Touch/iPhone with a 10-inch screen. Previously Wired.com argued that redefining print would would be a logical purpose for a gadget this size, and Gizmodo today has even more details to prove that this is Apple’s goal with the tablet.

Gizmodo’s Brian Lam cites two people related to The New York Times, who claim Apple approached them to talk about repurposing the newspaper onto a “new device.” Lam notes that Jobs has called the Times the “best newspaper in the world” in past keynotes. (I recall him saying that when introducing the iPhone’s web browser at Macworld Expo 2007.)

Lam proceeds to cite a vice president in textbook publishing who claims publishers McGraw-Hill and Oberlin Press are collaborating with Apple to move textbooks to the iTunes Store. The possible distribution model would involve a DRM’ed “one-time-use” book, which could spell out to lots of money for publishers while reducing pricing of e-books for consumers.

Lastly, Lam claims several executives from magazines met at Apple’s Cupertino campus to demonstrate their ideas on the future of publishing, where they presented mockups of magazines in interactive form.

Those are all strong data points, and we agree with the overall argument. Wired.com in July speculated that an Apple tablet, in addition to an e-book section in iTunes, would be a killer combination to compete against Amazon’s Kindle and e-book store. We suggested an à-la-carte purchase model for textbooks so students could download single chapters as opposed to purchasing entire books. The suggestion from Lam’s sources about a DRM’ed “one-time-use” book would probably be a more attractive model for publishers.

Meanwhile, Amazon recently launched a pilot program with some universities to determine how to sell Kindle-compatible textbooks in the Amazon.com e-book store. It doesn’t appear to be going well: Princeton students are complaining the Kindle DX is disappointing and difficult to use, according to a Fox News report. We’re not surprised: In May, Wired.com polled students on their impression of the Kindle DX as a replacement for textbooks, and most of them dismissed the idea. Apple has a clear opportunity to seize the e-publishing market, and it appears the company has that precisely in mind.

via Apple’s Tablet Could Be Print Industry’s Lifeboat | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.

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How to Hackintosh, or Not to Hackintosh

Theoretically, Apple’s Mac OS X can be installed on nearly any machine running an Intel processor, and even AMD-based machines–including netbooks, laptops and desktops. But the process of installing OS X on these devices gets complicated quickly, with the least difficult involving detailed changes to relatively obscure system settings.

But it can be a rewarding project for more advanced users. While the MacBook Air is small, Apple doesn’t offer anything in a true netbook form factor or price point; and a home-built desktop running OS X can be nearly as powerful and much cheaper than Apple’s heavy iron. “My current Hackintosh build has been completely stable, and everything works just as it should,” says Lifehacker editor Adam Pash of his homebrew Hackintosh desktop. Costing less than half what a comparable Apple machine retails for, it runs the latest version of the operating system, Snow Leopard. And the user experience is “virtually indistinguishable” from OS X running on an Apple machine–he even has the benchmarks to prove it.

Yet its a netbook running OS X that really captures the geek imagination: smaller than the smallest Apple computer, cheaper, and with better battery life thanks to the efficient (if underpowered) Intel Atom processor. The Dell Mini 9 is generally considered the best machine from which to create a “Hackbook,” and BoingBoing Gadgets assembled a handy list of which hardware features are supported by OS X on a variety of netbooks.

However, even after the difficult installation, the long-term stability can be a problem, possibly leaving it in the realm of a neat trick to impress the likes of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak or befuddle support techs, but not ultimately practical. “It was a nice project for a weekend,” said BoingBoing Gadgets editor Joel Johnson of his experiences with OS X on a Mini 9. “But after paying $500 or so to get the upgraded RAM and SSD and all that noise, part of me still wondered if I’d have been better off springing for a used MBP or a little more for an Air.” Users who’ve relied on Hackbooks long-term have also found that ongoing maintenance and hardware support issues prove problematic.

Still ready to take the plunge?

The most compatible desktop and laptop systems are based on the Intel Core 2 chips–single, duo or quad. These are called “vanilla” systems in the Hackintosh community. However, it is possible to run OS X on other Intel chips and on chips from AMD. For netbooks, the Mini 9 mentioned earlier and the even cheaper MSI Wind seem popular choices, but plenty others will work with some effort. Hardware guides from InsanelyMac and PCWiz can help you check off which bits will, and won’t, work on a given machine.

Once you have a likely candidate, you’ll need to download some software. And this is where things start to get really tricky–in the legal sense. Downloading a modified copy of Mac OS X runs afoul of intellectual property laws like the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and Apple’s end-user license agreement. Neither of which seem to be stopping anyone, but it would be irresponsible not to mention it here. The latest stable build of Leopard from PCWiz is 10.5.6, which can also be downloaded using a BitTorrent client. You’ll also need a copy of PC EFI, bootloaders which mimic the boot hardware in Apple machines.

For complete guides, check out Pash’s installation of Snow Leopard 10.6 onto a custom PC, with more guides to choose from, including hardware-specific installation instructions, from Hackintosh.com, iHackintosh and the OSx86 Project wiki. Other sites with guides and forums for community support include Hackintosh.org.

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If you have an extra machine (or $300-800) laying around and some free time, and you like to get under the hood of your computer, it certainly can be a fun project. But why not spend the time customizing your netbook’s Linux-based operating system or installing PureDyne on a hand-me down PC desktop or laptop to turn your machine into a multimedia dream without the legal liability?

[Photos by Eliot Phillips and Travis Isaacs; Infographic from Lifehacker.]

via How to Hackintosh, or Not to Hackintosh | Pixel Junkie | Fast Company.

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Charge Your iPhone with Pedal Power : TreeHugger

by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California on 09. 4.09

Apple devices are getting quite a bit of attention when it comes to renewable energy lately. Just yesterday we showed you the new solar power skin that is coming out later this month. But if you’re needing a charge on a cloudy day, there’s a solution coming out in a few months – you’ll be able to hook your phone up to your bike and pedal your way to a full battery.

Bike Hugger (um..we *really* like that name for a blog) pointed out this great charger coming out next March. It’s the BioLogic FreeCharge from Dahon and it can charge iPhones, GPS units or other gadgets with USB connections.

The device is fairly standard from what we’ve seen on bike chargers before. There’s a generator hub, and a high-capacity battery, and a USB dock for your device. Three hours of pedaling will get you a full battery, or you can run the device as you pedal, perfect for plugging in and using GPS to find your way around town.

Dahon will have the device come standard on two bike models, but by next March, you’ll be able to pick up a unit for about $99.

via Charge Your iPhone with Pedal Power : TreeHugger.

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My Snow Leopard Upgrade Experience

Snow_Leopard_6211

I picked up my copy of Snow Leopard and did a time machine backup. After everything was safely tucked away on my 1TB Iomega Drive that I use as my Time Machine Disk, I popped in the shiny new Snow Leopard disc. ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. I got the dreaded Blue Screen that seems to be popping up on certain installations. So I restarted and was confronted with the disk menu. I’m going to give everyone some words of advice right now… Use Time Machine, and do a Clean Install, I mean Wipe the Disk and start from scratch. Time Machine is fantastic, it migrated all my settings, files, and did everything it said it would; it did take over an hour and a half, but it did the job cleanly.

Don’t let the screensaver confuse you on certain configurations. Since I have a MacMini hooked up to a 42inch Philips LCDTV, when the screensaver kicked in during clean install, my TV went blue, but a little wiggle of the mouse corrects this problem; so wiggle the mouse before freaking out. On that note, I had no problems with my Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse.

It’s all true certain applications are faster, a LOT faster. So get ready to be impressed.

In conclusion I’d like to say that the cost of this upgrade is like paying for Quicktime PRO if you don’t already have it (It’s included FREE with this upgrade), so it’s almost like getting a freebee for upgrading.

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Rumor: Apple May Be Working on XL Tablets Running Full Mac OS X – Apple – Gizmodo

Rumor: Apple May Be Working on XL Tablets Running Full Mac OS X

By Jesus Diaz, 8:00 AM on Fri Aug 28 2009, 27,672 views

This one caught us by surprise, but it comes from a source that has always been 100% reliable: Not only Apple may be working on a 10-inch tablet, but also in 13″ and 15″ models, one running Mac OS X.

This source claims that the two touchscreen prototypes—made of aluminum, but on the shape of big iPhones—were in a factory in Shenzuen, China. One of them “was running Mac OS X 10.5.” When I asked, the source didn’t know if these were built for demonstration purposes, or if they were preproduction units. The company has a tight relation with Apple but “it’s not FoxConn.”

As I said before, with everyone focused on the 10-inch tablet with iPhone OS, this sighting is quite surprising. It is possible that Apple may be just exploring other form factors, and these two models may or may not end being future products.

According to rumors, Apple is in the final stages of developing the Apple wet dream, a 10-inch tablet allegedly running the iPhone OS. Several sources claim that Steve Jobs—back in Campus—is now personally driving this project. However, until now there has been no reliable rumors on 13″ and 15″ models, much less one running full Mac OS X.

via Rumor: Apple May Be Working on XL Tablets Running Full Mac OS X – Apple – Gizmodo.

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