Gwtting To Know Hazelnuts

Nuts are such a big part of holiday baking. Usually its almonds and walnuts that shine. They grace everything from cakes and cookies to brownies. Yet there's another nut that gives baked good a sweet , luxurioous taste - hazelnuts. These little gems can be used to amp up chocolate cookies r give elegance to homemade tortes.

Most people are familiar with the nut through Nutella, that hazelnut - chocolate spread. This has been around since 1964 and was invented by the Ferrero Company of Alba Piemonte, Italy.The hazelnut figures large in Piedmontese baking especially with the baci de damage or lady's kiss, a hazelnut shortbread sandwich with a rich cocoa filling. Coffee lovers know it from it flavoring either coffee or creamer.The nuts are a good addition to any dessert, not just because of their taste but also their health benefits. Hazelnuts are rich in protein , Vitamins E and B and foliate acid. They';re also rich in arginine ,a nutrient that helps prevent heart attack. Yet it's their flavor that secuces everyone and the fact it blends so well with such equally demanding ones such as chocolate.Keep in mind they are delicate and can go rancid very quickly.They have to be stored in the freezer once their container is opened to keep them, You would think this freezes them but thanks to their high oil quality, they 're just as crunchy and tasty as room temperature ones.

Hazelnuts are the perfect oomph for double chocolate chip cookies. This is the recipe that has been on my radar ever since I bought a container from Lidl. Imagine a buttery homemade chocolate cookie with a taste that's been heightened by chopped hazelnuts. They'll be reminiscent of that great Piedmontese candy Baci gianduja from Perugina where it's trifecta of a whole hazelnut atop nocciola- hazelnut and cocoa creme and then enrobed in chocolate.The Baci de damage also are a great cookie to make.They are labor intensive though because the hazelnuts have to be first roasted and ground. They're added to a shortbread like dough that doesn't require any eggs. Once the cookies are baked and cooled , the filling is added.This is just melted chocolate chips (whether it;s milk or dark, that;s up to you)The Labor comes from rolling out the dough in long cords and them cutting it into small rounds for baking. Another holiday idea is a hazelnut torte , the perfect ending for any party. There are some wonderful ones with a dense , fudgey crumb, You could also make a hazelnut cake layered with a chocolate hazelnut frosting and filling.

Hazelnuts should have a seat at the holiday dessert table.They are perfect in cakes and cookies with their war buttery flavor. They'll be a welcome addition to any treat.

Comfort Food A Nocciola Sundae

 This is one of the most stressful elections in recent history.It;s no wonder that many are turning to comfort for  -well - comfort. For some it's large slices of cake or a big bowl of pasta. For others is a fun sundae that can make you forget the world outside. Nothing beats a nocciola sundae

I made one today as not only a good dessert after leftover Lidl gnocchi and sauce but also as a stress reliever for all the anxiety this presidential election is causing.

I couldn't resist the hazelnuts at Lidl. After I brought them home an idea formed in my head. Why not create a sweet similar to the much beloved Northern Italian treat.  It could be layered like a tin roof that famed sundae with a layer of salty Spanish peanuts then smothered in thick gooey fudge. why not create a more sophisitcated version?
One thing about hazelnuts they are little and hard to cut up.It can be done but carefully.

YOu can easily put them in a food processor or food chopper for a finer blend. It was then adding them to Oatly  oat milk vanilla ice cream.Then it's a good pour of Hershey's chocolate syrup.

The flavor of these three are so delicious. They are even better than the candy itself. I'm definitely going to make this again , possibly with chocolate ice cream the next time. I'm also planning on using the hazelnuts in holiday baking too.,

Yes, this is the time for comfort foods. This sundae is the perfect antidote for these stressful times. Make it,. sit back and just enjoy. Tune out the world with every bite.

Squash All Ways

 November is a time for squash dishes. The chill weather calls for hearty yet healthy dinners. Nothing beats a warming pumpkin soup or a stuffed acorn squash. Best of all squash is an ingredient to use. Even novie chefs can create tasty dishes with it.

Even though Halloween is over you can still make tasty pumpkin dishes. The Piedmontese create a tasty pumpkin soup that rich with flavor. Can you use your Halloween pumpkin?Yes! Make sure the inside is scooped out (you can toast and salt the seeds in the oven)  and that the pumpkin is roughly chopped.If you prefer canned then it's a must that you use canned pumpkin puree  and not pumpkin pie filling. The last already has sugar and spices in it. It needs to be just pure pumpkin. it starts with caramelizing a chopped onion (this will give the soup a  lot of flavor) in a mix of olive oil and plant butter - or real butter. It's then adding the pumpkin and about a cup of broth. Add salt and pepper. As it's cooking slowly stir in any kind of milk (unsweetened almond works well) and then simmer for twenty minutes to half an hour. You can still in cooked rice later and serve with a splash of milk for more creaminess. Roasted pumpkin is another tasty way to enjoy it. It's just cubing a sugar pumpkin , one of the smaller ones and then first microwaving it. This softens the flesh and makes it easier to cut apart. Slice into half moons and then cubed.Toss them first in olive oil and then a mix of garlic powder and salt and pepper. Roast about thirty minutes in a 450 degree oven. This is the perfect side for chicken or turkey.

Acorn squash is another great fall vegetable. it's a great side easily microwaved and served with scoops of butter. It;s excellent stuffed and you can have fun with the stuffings. Try a turkey one mixed with ground turkey, baby bella mushrooms and diced apples. Season with fresh rosemary and garlic powder along with salt and pepper. A vegetarian version would be quinoa cooked with mushrooms,sage and a pinch of cinnamon. Stuffed acorn squash is usually roasted for half an hour in a 425 degree Farenheit oven. This is the perfect hearty dish served with a salad and crusty warm bread. Butternut squash is also another fall favorite. It can be the main or a side dish to any autumn Sunday dinner. Roasted butternut squash is usually cubed and then tossed in olive oil before roasting. You could add a variety of different spices but these can mask the earth sweet flavor. Just season with freshly ground pepper and season salt before roasting in a 400 degree Farenheit oven for about twenty-five to thirty five minutes. Keep in mind that any kind of squash makes for a good ravioli stuffing. The sauce can be a simple cream one or a butter and sage mix.

Squash is a delicious main dish or side to be served during these nippy days. It can be a side or a main dish. Try any of the varieties for good fall eating.

Cherished Recipes

 With tomorrow being All Soul's Day, it's a time to remember loved ones that have passed. One of their legacies is food. It coul;d be a stew or a sauce , a holiday cake or cookie recipe. MIne is my one great grandmother's breadcrums soup  - pompeist recipe from the Val Susa in Piedmonte. This simple potage has gotten me through a lot. It's a mix of broth with stirred in eggs and then thickened  with breadcrumbs. It connects me with my past and my heritage.

What is your most cherished family recipe? Do you make it a lot or is it just for special occasions?

Treats For Diwali

 Halloween has its' many treats, from caramel apples to festive cupcakes.Yet Diwali also has it's share of delicious sugary treats. The holiday starts tonight and start it with sweetness to represent good overcoming evil. These are bardem burif and pedi  South Asian confections that are easy to make at home.Try them for a different kind of treat.

Regular contributor Priya Krishna wrote about this sweet  in yesterday's  New York Times Food section.They're known as mithai, sweet usually made with ghee or clarified butter, nuts and dairy. Mithai wasn't always this sweet. Before colonization, the Indians used jaggery , a mix of sugar from sugar cane and the sap of the date palm.The flavor was toasty and not cloyingly sweet .Yet a robust can sugar industry emerged during thi s time according to Arun Kumar Singh, an associate professor of politicla science at Multianimal Modi College in Modimagar,India/,Now many Indian -American chefs are going back to the somewhat original taste. This means adding salt to counter the overpowering sweetness.It even appears in American desserts cooked by Indian chefs.Che Deepa Shrihars at Thali, Omikase, a popup create a pumpkin pie based on Mysore pak,,a fudgey chickpea based sweet that boasts jaggery - and salr.even in India mithai is changing. Flavors such as Bischoff crackers and tiramisu are popping up in sweet shops such as the one inMumba at the Bpmbay Sweet Shop

Creating both Badam barfi and pedi are relatively easy.The first is a blend of ghee, cardamon, almond flour, sugar and salt..It's creating a soft ball stage syrup of sugar and water,The almond flour, cardimon and slated and sifted together  The almond flour and ghee is then added to this and then cooked  until the sides pull away from the pan and becomes slightly puffed. Pour this into a ghee greased pan and pat down with a spatula. The top is a Barbie pink chocolate made from ruby chocolate. This is a kind of chocolate made with red cocoa beans and it has a fruity flavor like strawberry or raspberry. It's melted in the microwave with freeze dried strawberries and then it's poured over the barfi. Cut into diamond shaped squares. You can add edible gold flecks too. Ped is made with either sweet milk ice cream mixed with saffron threads and cardamon. Four cups of whole milk powder is added .Use the ghee for greasing your hands.It's melting the ice cream in a frying pan, then adding the saffron and powdered milk.Its then poured onto parchment paper. Pinch off a goofball size pieces and roll in your hands.Flatten and then make an indentation with your thumb.Andd chopped pistachios in each well and then chill for two hours.

Diwali is full of sweets.Make these to celebrate the festival of light. They're a wonderful way to enjoy the holida

New York's Best Pizza

 Last week the New York Times Food section gave a very good and extensive guide to finding the city's best bagels. Now it's a guide for the best pizza. The city is famous for its' yummy slices , rich with sauce and cheese. WHich is the best? That's a hard answer.

Keep in mind this guide stretches to all the boroughs so you don;t have leave your own to get a tasty pie. Even if you're in New Jersey, it's an easy trip to Staten Island to get a dinner. The same goes for Long Islanders seeking a great pizza in Brooklyn or Queens. Those from Westchester and even Connecticut can visit the Bronx for an out of the world creation too. Yet it's Manhattan pizzerias that attracts the famous and ordinary alike.Greenwich Village was always known for it's excellent Italian restaurants, spillover from Little Italy. Joe's Pizzeria is one of these, located on Carmine Street.They serve a New York style pizza with a slightly chewy cheese and a wealth of pepperoni.A Staten Island favorite Joe And pat's Pizzeria has branched out to the East Village. They also serve Italian American classics liked stuffed manicotti veal alla Milanese and chicken Parmigian. Yet it's the pizzas that shine.Try their vodka sauce topped one.It has a creamy  tomato sauce that is well known throughout the city.Also try their calamari one as well. Coal oven pizza is always desirable. Try Arturos's in Greenwich Village.Their arugula and prosciutto one.It's a cross between a bar pie and a deep dish one/

Of course the boroughs are known for their amazing pizzerias.The Bronx has its' own Little Italy at Arthur Avenue. Yet go to the Morris Park section and have a slice from Emilio's.fans go made for their chicken and vodka sauce pie.For zing try their Partanna pizza which has red onions and a dusting of Calabrian chili along with pecorino cheese,oregano and the surprise drizzle of orange blossom honey. Another borough Brooklyn is also home to some great places. A visit to L & B Spumoni Gardens is well worth it ,especially for fans of the Chuck E. Cheese pies. They kind of mimic it with the fried doughy crust and gooey cheese.They also have thick, satisfying squares of Sicilian pizza and ice cold beer to wash it down. Have a dessert of their almond Spumoni too.  Astoria Queens may be known for Greek food but you can find a decent pizza there too. Go to the sweetly namedMilk flower for the personal pan style ones.Try the unusual stun Dunn which features caramelized onions along with a mix of Gruyere(!) and mozzarella along with scallions and red onions. Jersey it's will love going to Staten Island for Seppe's Pizza Bar 's pies.The place is on the Narrow facing Brooklyn, perfect for warm weather dining. Their pizza  topping has a combo of hot honey, jalapenos and pepperoni. It's a refreshing combo of sweetness and bite.

New York is a pizza city. Visit Manhattan, Take a trip to the outer boroughs for some good pie. This is not only what New Yorker's rave about but the entire world .

A Halloween Fun DInner

 Dinner is important even on a fun day like Halloween.The little ones have to eat a good dinner before trick or treating. The best bet here is make the dinner  fun. They'll want seconds and even thirds.

Hamburgers are always a good meal. They're hot and filling along with being tasty. Make them fun by turning them into jack o'lanterns. This is an easy fix.  Cut out eyes and a grin on cheese slices . Put aside as you grill the burgers.WHen the burgers are almost done layer the cheese on them .The meat's heat will slightly melt the cheese leaving to to cling on the hamburger.This will give it a round pumpkin shape. You could add a small piece of green pepper at the top for the stem.  Another idea is giving the sandwich eyes. Stick two olive "eyes" on the top of the bun. You could have a piece of red pepper sticking out of the middle for the tongue.  Mummy dogs are easy and fun to make.It's taking crescent roll dough and tearing it into strips. Wrap around any kind of hot dog, whether beef or vegan and then wrap the strips around them. You could add cheese or brush the dogs with mustard before wrapping. Bake in a375 Farenheit degree oven for about thirteen to seventeen minutes. After you can add two dots of mustard for eyes. Have different kinds of mustard for dipping.

It's amazing that even pasta can be turned into something scary. You can make spaghetti with meatball "eyes".This is taking meatballs baking them. Add  mozzarella ovals then press olives into the melty cheese. Place on the spaghetti (or whatever the  kids like). Pasta can also take a dark turn with the addition of   mushrooms cut into the shape of skulls. Use button mushrooms for this  and then gouge out two little holes for the eyes. Do two little slits under neat the eyes for the nostrils. The stem can be the teeth,. Carve little lines in them to simulate the skull's mouth. Use a  wooden skewers or small paring knife to do this. For an even spookier look serve  these over black pasta made with squid ink. (although any regular pasta works with this as does any sauce.Pasta can be turned into a brain .It's first cooking spaghetti and then baking it in a rounded pan. A mix of mozzarella and eggs is poured over to as a binder. Leave an end to end well in the middle of the"brain" then cover with breadcrumbs. Bake for thirty to forty minutes in a 450 degree Farenheit oven for half an hour. Pour  marinara sauce in the well for a lovely bloody brains look. You could serve with meat ball eyes if you want.

Make sure the kids eat well before they spend the night trick or treating.It could be jack o lantern burgers r  mummy dogs. It could be a plate of scary pasta. They'll feel better and won;t gobble all their candy if they're well fed.