Hot Sauces For A Cold Sundae

 It seems strange to want ice cream when there's a foot of snow on the ground, yet when you have a craving you have a craving. Ironically ice cream and gelati can be warmed up. It just takes a good hot sauce that elevates the treat's flavor and takes away that icy edge/

Hot fudge sauce is the most popular and easiest to create. It can be made in five minutes prior to creating a sundae.To get the best flavor use grade A chocolate like Ghiradelli chopped semi sweet baking bar. Baker 's chocolate tends to work better than a regular bar or a bag of chocolate chips.Granualted wote sugar is used to make the chocolate flavor shine through. To prevent this from crystallizing a light corn syrup is added to give the sauce a glossy texture and sheen. Butter and heavy cream are added for that fudge- flavor and vanilla is also added t enhance all the flavors. The chocolate chips or shards are melted first in a saucepan, then the mix of  butter cream  and vanilla are whisked in.Should you add salt? Only if the butter used is sweet butter instead of salted.You could add a pinch of hot pepper for a Mexican type one or a tiny drop of min extract for a minty twist. Keep in mind that his is also good on waffles and French toast.Just store in the fridge when you;re done with it.

Caramel sauce is another sundae classic. How is caramel made? With butter, cream and sugar. Granulated white sugar produces the best consistency however brown  sugar makes the sauce darker and richer.Use unsalted butter in the recipe. (you can add a teeny pinch of salt at the end of the cooking. what gives caramel it's creaminess is either heavy cream or heavy whipping cream.It's high fat content help balance the sugar's sweetness and also the butter for a glossier, silkier sauce.  There are two methods to making caramel, wet and dry. The wet method involves using water to dissolve the sugar faster. There is a drawback however, It can create sugar crystals on the side=Des of pan which make for a laborious cleaning up afterwards. It;'s just melting everything and stirring until a glossy sauce arises.Another yummy sauce for ice cream is cherries jublilee. You can use frozen cherries for this right now.Conrstarch and white sugar give it body. You'll also need orange zest and a quarter of a cup orange juice. You can add brandy to make it adult friendly or just omit it.It's first combining the sugar and cornstarch and adding in the water  and orange juice. Then the cherries and the zest go in, Tis is good over both chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

Yes, you can eat ice cream on a cold day in February. Just put a hot gooey sauce over it. It'll make for a blissfully warm yet frosty treat.

A Tasty Addition Homemade Croutons

 What's a good addition to a hot steamy soup or cool and creamy salad? Croutons! Yes you can buy them but homemade are so much better. They're buttery, zingy and flavorful and have that fun familiar crunch.

I thought they would be a good addition to Lidl's pea soup. The soup is 

a tough  can be a tough one to make hence the canned version.Yet it did need something homemade to elevate it. Homemade air fryer croutons would do the trick. It starts with three slices of sourdough bread.

This was Lidl's brand and I cut it into cubes. Slicing three slices at once does  the trick.However once sliced  it's then cubed.

Its then melting two heaping tablespoons of I Cna;t Believe It's Not Butter in the microwave for a minute(you can use any plant or dairy based butter,Just have enough to soak the bred cubes)

You can leave this plain but I like flavor so I added freshly ground pepper and garlic powder. You can add oregano flakes or onion powder too.

Let the bread soak two or three minutes, stick the cubes around in the bowl to absorb all the melted butter.

As for the cooking.air fry for seven minutes for extra crunch at 400 degrees Farenheit.

These are the crisped version

Then there's them and the soup.

They are so much better than the sore bought ones and easy to make. I plan on making them for my next salad too. It may be a vegan Caesar which scream for croutons. The garlic flavor added a nice extra oomph to them too.

Don't buy already made croutons. Homemade ones are tastiers and crisper. They're a snap to make and fun to add to soups and salads

Changing Up The Recipe

 The same old recipes can be boring. Luckily you can ease some for the mid winter blues by changing up your recipes. Add new ingredients. Switch up the spicing. Create something that s equally delicious and different.

One of the most intriguing switch ups is a fusion of Indian and Italian  - curried pasta. This is taking curry powder and cream instead of the usual tomatoes and tomato paste and coming up with a totally disparate take on traditional spaghetti or penne. There is still onion, garlic and olive oil for the sauce's body but curry powder and heavy cream give it a bright yellow color and creaminess. You could also add turmeric for more color brightness along for a boost of flavor.Curried meatballs is another switch up made with either ground turkey or chicken. This is served ina rich curry sauce as well,  redolent with tomatoes , onions garlic and ginger.Instead of pasta serve it with fragrant steaming basmati rice. Another idea for a different kind of pasta sauce is combining mushrooms and spinach in a hot oil sauce Add garlic and hot pepper flakes for some zing,Keep in mind this also would be great over chicken breasts or steak too. Berbere spice is usually reserved for Ethiopian dishes . Imagine using it in the most English of dishes  - shepherd's pie. You can easily spice up a beef or lamb filling with it and also do a light dusting of it over the mashed potato topping.

Stuffed veggies are always a good winter's dish whether on a week night or a week end. Most go for peppers stuffed with everything from ground beef and turkey to more veggies. Have you considered stuffing onions instead? This Piedmontese specialty varies from household to household in the frigid Alps northwest of Torino. Some add raisins to the mix of chopped meat and breadcrumbs. I usually made my own vegan version, using Impossible ground meat and a mix of oregano , salt pepper and just teeny pinches of both onion and garlic powders.Keep in mind that the onions should be parboiled first for a few minutes. This is just boiling the onions for a few minutes, letting them cool and then stuffing them. They're topped with breadcrumbs for a crispy finish and then placed into an air fryer for thirty minutes at four hundred degrees Farehneit.Can you do this with turnips? Yes! This winter root veggie is perfect for filling with the same tasty stuffing.It's the same method as with the onions with the eparboiling before stuffing. They do have to be peeled and hollowed out though. YOu can fill with with lamb too along with pomengranate molasses for a Middle Eastern flair.

Think outside the recipe with you cook. This provides a fun spin on classic dishes.It makes for a yummy new take and an exciting meal.

Fridge Foraging

 There is a time in most home chef's careers where they don;t want to go shopping and relay on fridge foraging. This is finding anything and turning it into a tasty meal or even snack. It can also apply to the pantry and fridge as well.

What sorts of food should you forage? It pays to have a bag of any frozen veggies around. These can be turned into a quick pasta sauce with the addition of olive oil and garlic or garlic powder. Add sliced Italian cold cuts such as salami or capicola. Even leftover London broil cut into small strips can be part of this .You can create a sort of Alfredo sauce using butter and flour too along with any kind of milk and Parmesan cheese. I usually add cut up and already cooked vegan bacon strips from Morningstar Farms to  veggie medleys from Acme or Lidl. The blend proved to be a tasty and filling hot meal on a cold night. Keep in mind these can also go into a stew or soup if you want to make a good minestrone. Raid the pantry for beans  and throw in whatever pasta is there. Keep in mind that pasta based soups don't have to have smaller pasta. Spaghetti or angel hair also work well in a minestrone or chicken broth.

Leftovers are a gold mine for fridge foragers.Any leftover  rotisserie chicken can be used for soups or even salads. Think about cutting up the chicken and mixing with mayo and tarragon for a yummy salute to a classic AU Bon Pain sandwich. This is good on a croissant but also works well on any toasted bread, sourdough or a baguette. You could create a mole by using cocoa powder, tomato paste. veggie stock and whatever Chile powder you have. There are also spice rack add ins of cinnamon , cumin and oregano.If you have garlic add it too. The entire dish is good over rice or polenta if you have that in your culinary arsenal.Leftover steaks can be added to sauces or even topping pizzas and paninis.Grind it to creak a luxe salad or the German Frikadellen which also uses milk eggs and breadcrumbs. This is a cross between a hamburger and meat loaf. A dash of mustard gives it zing. 

Foraging in the wild is tough. Foraging in your kitchen is easy. Go though what you have and create some different and delicious.

Turning Dishes Into Soup

 Can a favorite dish enjoyed as a snack or a summer favorite be turned into a hearty winter soup? Surprisingly yes. Hummus, bean salad and pasta pesto can be transformed form forkfuls to spoonfuls. It 's an easy change and perfect for the weather right now.

Regular contributor Melissa Clark created these dishes and wrote about them in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section. All are great on their own. Hummus makes and excellent lunch or snack while the other two are usually summer barbecue favorites.Ms Clakrs inspiraration,. for using these were favorite dishes with big flavors. These are not usual soup ingredients(well, may be the pesto is) but have great potential to be made into them. Ms Clark takes the pesto which can be homemade or s tore bought has pasta and turkey in it,.There is also garlic in it for pungency. Like regular soups the base can either be vegetable or chicken stock. Orzo or macaroni CNA be used a long with five ounces of baby spinach. Ground turkey is used for heartiness. Lemon gives it brightness and a summery sunny taste while the addition of ricotta gives it a creaminess.

Three bean salad , the perfect summer dish is now a delicious soup for a frigid day. Yes there are beans.Ms. Clark uses white, chickpeas or kidney ones and green beans.It give a more veggie flavor thanks to an onion chopped up into it along with chopped celery , carrot  and tomato paste. Again the stock CNA be veggie or chicken (stick with veggie this time Coriander and ground pepper give it a spikiness that's perfect for a cold day soup. The hummus soup is a fun one, combining the same ingredients as the dip with three to four cups of veggie or chicken stock (for a truer hummus flavor go with the vegetable stock).Unlike the dip Ms Clark uses a teaspoon of whole cumin seeds along with cilantro or dill. A large pinch of crushed red pepper gives it the heat to make it perfect for a chilly mid winter day.  Home chefs can add pan fired chickpeas for crunch on top as well as extra tahini to drizzle in.Lemon is added for zing and the dish can be served with , hot toasted pita chips.

These dishes are perfect as for full of goodness. They're even better as a good spoonful or a frosty day. Try them for a different spin on winter soups.

A Chef With A DAsh Of Courage

 Cooking and baking are not easy despite what chefs and recipes say. Those with physical disabilities have a harder time with both. Yet one chef managed to conquer these and she's a brilliant writer for the Wednesday New York Times Food section. 

The writer is the great Nigerian born chef and author Yewande Komolafe who detailed her story in today's issue.It started with her sickle cell anemia that flared out of control. Sickle cell is a genetic blood disorder striking mostly those of African , Mediterranean ,Middle Eastern ,Indian and Caribbean ancestry. It's when the hemoglobin ,usually round compresses into a sickle or semi circle shape,It is a blood disorder that cause Ms. Lemonade to have severe pain.This lead to her being in a coma and being intubated for several months. It also led to her legs being amputated below the knee and both hands losing fingers. She had the good fortune f being able to eat her beloved Nigerian food thanks their mother and having Nikita Richardson, her editor and friend bring her treats from pastry shops all over the city. One was a brown butter cornmeal cake that was bought at Radio Bakery in Brooklyn. It became her favorite and Ms. Komolafe longed for the day when she could bake it,recreating its's crunch exterior and pillow soft crumb.

Maybe the cake was a hidden incentive to sally forth. Ms. Komolafe did get better . As of this date she is getting around on artificial legs and has prosthetic hands, She did returned to cooking and waiting for the paper.She has a small rotating army of assistants who help her .like Stasia de Tilly Together they go over recipes step by step. They''re in charge of prep, from slicing to chopping. They;re the ones who bring, Ms. Komolafe;es wonderful recipes come to life and flavorless. The creator herself is present during all steps. She listens ,she tastes she smells to see how the dish is coming along.It is frustrating though because its not her going through all the process. She gets impatient because the kitchen, like many chef;s is their domain and she feels possessive about it. She will also have to rely on how to reuse her prosthetics as she relearns how to whisk a bowl of cream from liquid to soft white peaks,.It will take time but she will get there.She has managed to recreate that brown butter cake (and she includes the recipe). taken from pastry chef Kelly Mencin. Ms. Komolafe's recipe varies a bit She adds dark cherries but keeps the other ingredients to give it crunch and flavor to create this buttery, fruity treat

There is triumph in getting over a tough physical problem. There is triumph in creating a good dish. Ms. Kamolafe has managed to do both with admirable grit and determination.

A Passion For Produce Produce Pete

 The culinary world lost a true gem yesterday when Pete Napolitano died. Although he lived a good life , he will still be missed- namely by foodies around the world,

It's amazing how a green grocer from Bergenfield, New Jersey received such claim and media attention. Yet everyone fell in love with the gravelly voiced expert . He was born in the thriving New Jersey town of Bergenfield New Jersey in February of 1945. His family more or less always had a green grocer or fruit and veg stand. It was his mother,however that fornly planted the roots of the business when she sold watermelons that her husband, Pete's father found for he on a gas station property.It became a success and Napolitano Farms was born.They sold seasonal things, like fir trees at CHristmas, lilies at Easter and pumpkins for Halloween. Of course there were veggies and fruit, perfect for new young families moving in from the cities  and looking for a taste of farm fresh  The Napolitanos provided them with all that. They grew and Pete Senior became so successful he bought summer and winter homes.

Yet it was the son who became famous, taking over the business in the 1970's. By then there were a few farms left in busy and rapidly growing Bergenc county but none were really in the center of a town. People had to drive towards Montvale and Upper Saddle River to get a taste of freshly grown anything.Not so for the people for Bergenfield and the neighboring towns of Teaneck, Dumont and New Milford,Pete could also be seen at the Hunts; Point Market in the Bronx where he was a regular feature for many years.Local new station NBC New York took notice of this man and gave him a weekly spot on their Saturday morning news show. His advice was priceless even when he was on the Italian American network too (check out his videos for them on You Tube. There is info and recipes every home chef should have). He acquired a fan base that included Tina Fey of Saturday night and Thirty Rock Fame. She loved his advice too as did everyone.

It is tough to lose a person as valuable and loved as Produce Pete. Yet his advice will live on with every recipe and visit to the store. He was one of a kind.