Pantry Ingredients Equal Good Eating

 It's important to have a well stocked pantry. It's amazing what those cans and tins can yield as far as ingredients. They can be tossed together to create  hot, delicious meals.It;s just knowing what to use and what.

Regular contributor Melissa Clark wrote about this as well as giving recipes in yesterday's New York Times Food section.She also offers several tips on different pantry Staples. Be creative . Chili crisp can be used in everything from scrambled eggs to ramen. Mustards such as Dijon cans also add color and flavor .Salsa is great for punching up stews and sauces >USe tapenades in veggie sautes for brightness and to liven up tomatoes and peppers. Make dips for dinner using curry paste and Greek yogurt. Serve with veggies as a nice appetizer . Miso just doesn't;t have to be for Oriental dishes. Try it mixed with honey in Ali Slagel's pasta Alfredo. Pasta can also get a lift from some tapanade or chili crisp. Mix it with olive oil and toos whatever pasta you have with it. The popular Colo Henry recipe for her bed white beans can be varied with just the addition of jarred pesto. An instant sauce is a blend of olive oil, flaky sea salt and whatever spice is there.Tru a mix of hot red pepper flakes with cumin for a different take.

Ms Clark has three interesting recipes that anyone can make. For a quick  meal try one pot spiced turkey and rice. This can be made on the weekend and also reheated for week night meals.It's a marriage of garam masala with tomato paste , chopped serrano chiles and ground turkey. Cinnamon added sweetness to this Indian inspired meal.A nother good dish is the cheesy chili crisp white beans. On their own white beans  can be bland but add chlili crisp, scallions and  white Cheddar cheese and they're elevated to something new and exciting.There is also pasta with spinach , yogurt and feta. The yogurt used is the Greek kind and that will add a creaminess similar to an Alfredo sauce. You can go into your freezer for the spinach along with adding freshly chopped mint, basli and cilantro.To make sure that the sauce clings , use a chunky kind of pasta like  rigatoni shells or camanelle. Red pepper flakes are also part of the recipe but if they're too spicy or hot for you they can be omitted.

Use your pantry to create tasty , flavorful dishes. Be creative. Have fun.it;s a great way to use up what you have.

Deconstructing Carbone

 Carbone is a popular New York City restaurant. It has branches all over the world and their food has a reputation. Yet is the overly expensive restaurant worth all the hype and money? 

Regular contributor Priya Krishna answered the question in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section. She toured all of them and discerned if they 're worth the good press.The chain is sort of like a Disneyland or another splashy New York eatery of long ago - Mama Leone's. Like MamaLeone's that closed in 1984, Carbone's attracts celebrities like Kim Kardashion and has the cache of expensive saucy dishes.Ms Krishna wanted to examine the mystique behind this chain. People either love it or hate it.s he wanted to know why and went on an American tour of the branches.The restaurant goes for fanfare, presenting diners with salami, bread, cauliflower salad and even a hunk of Parmesan cheese. Yet the food at the New York Carbone is just so so with some dishes, How was the MIami one. It seems only the desserts stood out, including the chilled rainbow cookies that every table receives/ The main meals were horrible / The shrimp was too rubbery and buttery tasting.The linguini vungole was  too oily to eat.

The Dallas Carbone had some bright spots. The crisp top on the lasagna Verde gave way to flavorful pesto and bechamel sauce. Their Negronis were well made Yet it stops there. The veal Parmigian crust, like its' Manhattan counterpart was tasteless. The broccoli was flaccid .The waiters were so schmaltzy that Ms Kirshna and her family has t  leave(after a waiter joked was her father on the cover of GQ) It did appeal to the rich tony types of the city but that was it. The Las Vegas one fared much better due in part to the owner Mario Carbone being in the kitchen. The shrimp cocktail had been upgraded to a lobster one.It was delicious. The sauces tasted homemade , as if they had been simmered on a stove all day .The vonglole was finally briny tasting. The best part it seems was the complimentary hunk of cheese. This Parmesan actually came from Parma and not Wisconsin. It seemed the Las Vegas Carbone was the best and miost authemticto Italian cooking.

Should you go to Carbone/s if one is nearby? If you want expensive so so Italain food ,yes. Keep in  mind that there are better restaurant to eat at in any of these cities.

Everyone's Fave's

 The New York Times put out a fantastic guide of reader's favorite recipes this past Sunday. This is a please save because it will come in handy for the holidays. There is everything in here from the famed actress Kate Hepburn's brownies to Southern macaroni and cheese. These will be perfect for family dinners or every night and weekend dinners and snacks too.

The kind of cookbook is divided into five sections - The Icons, The Super Stars, The Chart Toppers, The Influencers and The Talkers. No matter what recipe you choose they;re all good.Some are extremely popular like the red lentil soup that has a pinch of red pepper to give it zing A quick dinner is the crisp gnocchi , fried in olive oil.Brussels sprouts or broccoli is first fried then the two are combined for  a tasty twist on a Northern Italian classic.

Yes, there are full meals as well.Try a caramelized shallot pasta for a Sunday dinner. This is a kind of puttanesca  with anchovies added but has a extra layer of flavor added, thanks to the caramelized shallot. A good Sunday supper is caramelized French onion grilled cheese.This is not the greasy diner version but an elevated salute. Gruyere cheese is used and blended with caramelized onions . This is then put on slices of bread - use artesanal here and then fried in butter. Finish with Kate Hepburn;s super fudgey brownies or a plum tart There are also drink recipes too from the Brazilian limoada to the heady  Tinto de verano,a mix of red wine vermouth and surprisingly Sprite.

This guide put out by the New York Times Cooking is a definite keeper. Use ot for fall Sunday dinners or for holiday get togethers. The recipes are not only popular but perfect

The Meeting House Princeton NJ

 Princeton ,New Jersey is lovely in the fall. The town has an academic charm similar to Britain's Oxford and Cambridge yet also has a distinctly American vibe.The main part of town around the University is full of all sorts of different restaurants .Yet there is one that's a few block away in the picturesque section of Princeton that stands out>It's The meeting Place on Witherspoon (yes, named after Reese Witherspoon's  ancestor  John Witherspoon who signed the Declaration of Independence and was Princeton's sixth president)

I liked the Meeting Place. It has Manhattan vibe even though it's deep in the country. The dcord is a sophisticated blend of farmhouse shingles and modern fixttures. The food is tasty and farm fresh.It's great to start with their flaky biscuits that come with a bitter blackberry jam and butter.

Their Sunday brunch is a wonderful mix of egg dishes. From a fiery huevo ranchereo to a creamy  Eggs Benedict diners cna enjoy these ample plates.

There is , of course, the traditional breakfast of  fluffy pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon

for a lighter nrucnh Meeting Pace offers a rich mushroom soup that's full of flavor. This is the perfect chill chaser for a fall day.It is even topped with fried scallions and croutons, with a swirl of truffle oil.

It may be brunch but there's always room for dessert. The eatery offers four only but they're excellent. Try their S'mores tart on a coulis of raspberry jam.

The tart jam rescued it from being too sweet as did the dark chocolate ganache.

There's also a light carrot cake with an even lighter than air cream cheese frosting. This was a perfect end to a lovely meal.

The Meeting Place is the place to go to if you're in Princeton.It's a wonderful escape into good food, especially after a fall day out. Try it when you're visiting the school and town.

Fall Finds

 All grocery stores are in full fall mode. THis is so true of Lidl where they put out a wide variety of sweet and savory fall themed foods and treats. They have maple drizzled kettle corn, home brewed pumpkin soda and a great find their Autumn Harvest pasta sauce.e

This was too good to pass up.It's a marriage of tomatoes, bell peppers , butternut squash and zucchini. It's the perfect cold weather sauce for any pasta and I cannot wait to try it/

What is great about this sauce is that , yes you can use it with everyday pasta but it will be great over gnocchi which I also bought.

Lidl gnocchi's,like their, spaghetti and rotelli, re always good, tasting like they've just been made and rolled out in your kitchen. They and the sauce will make a lovely autumn supper.I 'm also adding rolls to stop up the sauce. If you want to vary it, then sub in chicken or vegan chicken strips and serve over polenta for an equally hardy meal. This is perfect on a chil October night or brisk Sunday afternoon,.

It's fall and that means stores are going to be offering delicious harvest themed foods. Head to Lidl or your favorite store and see what's on display. You'll be amazed at the bounty of all sorts of autumn treasures.

The Perfect Fall Dinner

 It's fall and its a time for lush Sunday dinners/ What is your ideal dinner for crisp weather? Do you prepare pork chops stuffed with onions and apples. A family platter of pasta loaded with marinara and homemade meatballs. A juicy London Broil served with a buttery Yorkshire pudding? A plump capon roasted with new potatoes?

Here's the question - what is your ideal fall Sunday dinner? Let us know.

Emergency Eating

 Sadly more and more people are suffering severe weather thanks to climate change. it affects every aspect of life, especially how we cook and eat. Yet many don;t know what to do when a hurricane ,flood or fire hits. Luckily there is a how to to get through those tough times.

Regular contributor and cookbook author Kristen Migliore gave this handy and important guide in yesterday's New York Times Food section. First of all how much food and water should be kept? For water there should be a minimum of one gallon per person. There should be at least twelve gallons for a family of four. This will keep them hydrated for three to four days if you have space go bigger. Try to have enough water for two weeks. WHat about an emergency go bag? Store both together in a cool, dark place in your house. You may wind up in a place that will supply you with the basics. The more important is what foods should be stocked up - nut butters like almond and peanut along with rimmed fish - salmon and tuna.Tinned veggies and fruit long with beans can go a long way Canned potatoes are perfect because they can be drained and pan roasted with olive oil and salt for a tasty quick comfort food. Also get boil in bag Indian curries and Japanese just add water miso and ramen soups. pasta and rice are also musts because they last for a long time and make for filling meals wien cooked.

Hot drinks are a must. They can soothe and comfort. Store instant coffee and coffee drinks, tea bags and packets of hot cocoa. It's not mentioned but Gator Ade can also be good especially for kids if they need energy. Another must is some kind of cooking apparatus like a backyard grill, camp stove or chafing dish.what's the best way to make canned and tinned foods taste better? Also have shelf stable  flavorings to make that cooked food better.Like any powdered drink, spices like cinnamon , garlic and onion powder stay dry . Soy sauce and sesame oil are also stable and won't go bad. Sesame oil can last for up to two years once opened.Japanese furikake seasoning which is ground sesame, mixed with sugar,noei salt and sugar helps tinned veggies and tuna become tastier. Also try any kind of vinegar which can almost last forever and smoked paprika which can elevate food to another level are also good.Keep in mind all these foodstuffs have experitation dates. If you haven't used them already  then cook them before they expire.

These days are sadly filled with all sorts of disasters. Be ready .Be food prepared so your family can eat well. A hot comforting one goes a long way.