Warm Green Dishes

This is the time of year for hearty plates,steaming with delicious ridicule.Some may argue that it's the perfect season for venison stew or roast chicken with stuffing.Hold those thoughts.A meatless winter dish, rife with veggies is just as good - and filling.It's just how that's re cooked that makes the difference.

Both Melissa Clark and David Tanks contributed completely plant based recipes in their respective New York Times Food section columns yesterday.Ms.Clark had written about grain bowls which are an easy make.What is great about them is that you can even use leftovers to create them.Last night's rice can be mixed with onions from two days ago ,freshened up with just sliced tomatoes and ground herbs.Ms.Clark starts with farro, an ancient grain that can be cooked like pasta.The next lingredient is egg.This provides the protein.The recipe also calls for broccoli.Turnips and freshly cut radishes add crunch, A lemony tahini  sauce tops it.Hot sauce is added for more bite and heat.What:s good about grain bowls, is that you can get creative as possible with them.Sub in rice or orzo for the farro .Tofu chicken strips or ground soy crumbles can be the protein.Green beans or Brussels sprouts cam be the Green and for texture,almonds or pecans.Try a hot sauce or an aquafaba Hollandaise.

For a definitely more heartier and more filling dish, think about David bank's garden pie recipe.His City Kitchen column features a meatless version of the English classic.The original dish is made with minced lamb and vegetables ,topped with a baked mash potato crust.If it was made with beef, it was called a cottage pie.There are even variations made with fish.Mr, Tanis ' version draws attention to mushrooms and leeks. He uses two kinds of mushrooms ,shiitake caps and brown or white mushrooms. Leeks give it a nice onion flavor too.Garlic,thyme and parsley add zing to the recipe and if you want add two tablespoons of white miso for the unami  flavor.There are two cups of whole milk added.If you want to go truly vegan, then sub in almond milk which tastes the closest to the real thing.Cornstarch is also added for thickening. It's topped with a homemade mash and breadcrumbs which gives it a lovely golden crust.If both are too much to make, use instant mashed and store bought crumbs.

There's no need to rely on heavy meat dishes this winter.Try a hearty and healthy veggie laden dish.A grain bowl or garden pie is just as delicious and filling.

Mooning Over Mezzelune

Mezzalune are ravioli's more elegant cousins. These delicate, stuffed pastas are just as delicious as their heartier cousins and are just easy to make.It's a great change of pace from the usual pastas and a chance for home chefs to get creative.

David Tanis knows this and wrote about them in his A City Kitchen column in yesterday's New York Times Food section.Both ravioli and mezzalune are easy to make, especially if casings and fillings are made a few hours ahead. Home chefs don't need a fancy pasta machine to make it (although there are some who swear by the more elaborate machines). Mr. Tanis recommends a simple hand cranked one which is even easier than doing the original way - with a rolling pin.The dough is a basic egg based one, made golden with two large eggs plus two extra yolks. Home chefs could try it with a whole wheat version but the dough's texture  may be too dense,Making the dough ahead of time actually benefits it.Afterwards it should be well wrapped and kept at room temperature.Doing this  helps it to hydrate properly and allows it to be stretched more easily into a silky, tender consistency..Another plus is that once the mezzelune have been assembled they can be refrigerated for up to three hours before cooking.This gives home chefs plenty of time to make a dessert or salad. The pasta can be cooked up in only a few minutes , another boon for a busy home chef.

Mr. Tanis fills his mezzalune with, seasoned ricotta which  is always the base of the stuffed pasta .Nutmeg and lemon zest flavor it, along with blanched chopped spinach for taste and color.Some mezzalune fillings include chopped chicken if home chefs want something a bit heartier.Once the filling is made then its time to concentrate on making the pasta rounds. Use a sharp cookie cutter to punch out three inch rounds. There should be enough for thirty-six ravioli, -figure six servings of six mezzalune each. Dust the rounds with a light coating of semolina and keep covered with a damp towel to prevent drying. Once they 're all cut out then, put a tablespoon of filling on top of each round. Using a pastry brush or even a finger sparingly moisten the edge with water and fold over to create a half moon. The mezzalune will resemble mini  empenadas. Continue until all the rounds have been filled and place them on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment and dusted with more semolina. He uses fresh spring peas and shiitake mushrooms in a butter olive oil blend for the sauce. A more traditional version is a butter and sage sauce. Home chefs can also sub in morels or porcini mushrooms for the shiitake.

Mezzalune are a light,delcate alternative to ravioli, Make them with the produce of the season for a wonderful airy meal on a warm, Spring night, They are a lovely , elegant change of pace.

The Exotic Side of Game Hens

Cornish or game hens sometimes have the reputation of being boring. They're usually served with a side of stuffing and maybe some green beans for a dash of colors. However ,like any fowl , they can be livened up with exotic spices. The result is a tasty spin on a traditional recipe.

David Tanis  experimented with the chickens and wrote about them in today's New York Times Food section.His City Kitchen column offers advice about them  Remember these are expensive birds , being slightly a few dollars more than the average capon or even turkey. Cornish or game hens are worth it. The meat is extraordinarily tender. That's really their selling point. this tenderness is a plus, because the meat quickly absorbs any marinade from spicy to lemony.They're about a pound each, with some reaching two pounds so figure one each for hearty eaters. Both butchers and grocery stores sell them.

Mr Tanis decided to give them a Middle Eastern spin. He spices them with sumac, the main ingredient in tend of the moment, za'atar along with pepper and cinnamon. Pomegranate molasses is added for color and sweetness  however be warned.It can slip to the bottom of the roasting pan and burn quickly.Mr. Tanis' solution is keep half an inch of water at the bottom. when this mixes with the pan juices, then baste the birds to keep them moist.It's served with basmati rice flecked with raisins, currents and pine nuts/ There's also a sprinkling of bright jewel red pomegranate seeds for extra zest and zing. Mr. Tanis garnishes it with fresh mint for color  but you can omit it if you like.

Cornish hens are a great dinner . Their tender meat is perfect for absorbing such exotic spices as sumac and cinnamon.Give it a Mediterranean flair with these and the lush pomegranate.

Healthy Spaetzles

Spaeztles are one of those tasty and German foods that go with everything. This versatile homemade noodle is a great side and can be turned into  a great main dish too. Now there's a new twist to this classic - spinach . Spaetzles are going green.

David Tanis is the one behind their colorful transformation.His City Kitchen in Wednesday's New York Times Food section is devoted to them. He learned how to make then when he was a restaurant cook, form the place's chef, an Austrian who could make these in his sleep. These batter noodles are one of the easiest things to made for any  beginning home chef. They're just a simple mix of flour, water and egg, similar to pasta but without the drama of making sheets and then cutting them in even strips. Spaetzles should have a wetter consistency than pasta dough. Mr.Tanis suggests think porridge with its' gooey, runny batter. They can be made with a soup spoon and a cutting board with the noodles being flicked into a pot of salted boiling water. You can buy a spaeztle maker at Amazon for as low as eleven dollars and it's recommended if you make them a lot(using one is actually much easier and much less messier, plus you'll get a batch of evenly sized spaetzles).

Mr Tanis tweaks the recipe with a spark of green, He adds pureed fresh baby spinach for the best taste.to the egg and water. A dash of nutmeg, always recommended, is also use to temper the taste.He then sautes them in butter and sage with lardons or cubes of bacon or pancetta. Parmesan is then added and the whole dish has a decidedly Italian vibe to it. If you want a more Germanic one, then think of cooking it with sauerkraut or string beans. This last would go well with the spinach, a nice marriage of that fresh veggie flavor. Unusually the noodles accompany veal and pork  however these can be the perfect side to roast chicken or even turkey for the holidays.If these spaetzles are too bland for you , then try Martha Stewart's which have the added zing of thyme ,rosemary and parsley. Milk is also added for body.

A dish of spaetzles is always a good idea. Give them some spark by adding pureed baby spinach to the recipe.It'll be a nice new spin on an classic.

Chicken And Jam

A good meal should have one simple classic dish and one complex highly flavored one. The new York Times Food section delivered this yesterday in two recipes from two of their star writers. Melissa Clark gives us hints and instructions on how to create the perfect roast chicken while David Tanis has a great recipe for Moroccan herbed jelly. Bring them together for a dinner party for a widely varied meal, full of flavors and textures.

Novice home chefs would do well by reading  A Good Appetite in yesterday's New York Times' food section.Melissa Clark show how to easily roast a chicken. It starts with a trip to your local supermarket or butcher's shop and try to get the best, usually a free range , antibiotic bird is the best choice. Once you bring it home, then salt it.It should b brined about a day before the actual roasting. Also leave it uncovered  in the fridge so the skin can dry out a it Doing this gives the finished roast a nce golden, burnished look.For flavoring, salt and pepper  = that goes without saying - but also herbs. Try the "twiggy" ones like rosemary, bay leaves and thyme. These will release less moisture than other herbs.If you prefer a lemony flavor , then use curls of lemon rind as opposed to lemon wedges.You can truss or tie up  the legs if you want but it really doesn't male a difference. Ms. Clark recommends using a sauce such as chimichurri or Béarnaise, but personally I'd go with just the plain  chicken. A roast chicken is flavorful on it's own.

You could make David Tanis. herbed Moroccan jam to go with the roast. The recipe was taken from Paula Wolfert's 1973 cookbook, "Couscous And Other Good Food From Morocco."It's not a jam in the traditional sense, it refers to the slow cooking down of ingredients. It's a favorite dish of acclaimed chef Russell, Moore of Camino Restaurant in Oakland, California and he has put it in his newly released cookbook "This Is Camino" He has tweaked the recipe  so that instead of using foraged greens it uses the more domesticated ones such as lettuce along with parsley and carrots. Kale and broccoli rabe are also added along with celery tops and cilantro. Spice and heat come in the form of cumin and hot chiles.The jam method begins with first steaming the greens, completely drying them out and then cooking the down in  pepper infused olive oil.The process only takes ten to fifteen minutes and then you can be served. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Mr. Tanis recommends serving it with pita but if you want try it as a sauce with Ms. Clark's roast chicken if you want.

Try  Melissa Clark's roasted chicken recipe for an  elegant dish. Serve it or have it follow Dave Tanis' exotic herbed jelly .They're a perfect blend of simple and complex, great for dinner or even supper.

Middle Eastern Spins

Nothing is exotic or as tasty as Middle Eastern cooking. It is a mélange  of different spices and cooking techniques, all marrying to create a wonderful , flavor packed meal. Mediterranean cooking is also easy. Any novice home chef can make it with ease and confidence, producing a perfect meal.

The cuisine featured prominently in both Melissa Clark's A Good Appetite and David Tanis' A City Kitchen in yesterday's New York Times Food section.Ms Clark made shallots grilled on a warm or indirect heat grill. Shallots are part of the onion family and they have a very sweet taste, intensified by the grilling. Ms. Clark recommends cutting them into chunks, This will vary
the textures of the shallot .Some will have creamy smooth interiors while others will be chunky and chewy which works.The key is moving the shallots around so they can get the optimum warmth.If they're not browning, then move them to the hotter side of the grill..They  are then chopped and mixed with herbs and lemon and turned into a kind of relish to be served with labneh, a richly creamy middle Eastern yogurt. You can use Greek yogurt instead and pile on a pita. Ms. Clark recommends serving the relish with meats and fish, but personally I would have chicken and beef layered with the relish and yogurt as a kind of gyro.

It would also go well with David Tanis' recipe this week, Moroccan steamed lamb shoulder. It one of the favorite Moroccan ways to cook it besides spit roasting and simmered in tangines,it's an easy technique with first starting off with putting the seasoned shoulder in the basket of  large steamer(you can use the steamer part of your spaghetti pot for this). Keep the water at the steamer's bottom at a brisk boil for two and a half to three hours. This will make the meat incredibly tender and succulent. Serve with typical Moroccan veggies such as carrots, turnips and zucchini but you can also have a dish with chickpeas drenched in lemon or spices. Moroccan cooks and home chefs slather saffron butter on the shoulder before cooking but Mr. Tanis recommends dabbing it on the meat and veggies before serving. The shoulder is usually accompanied by wildly spiked red pepper oil that's rich with cayenne. For something much more tamer serve it the charred shallots with it as  side on  top, along with pita to sop up any juices.

Mediterranean cooking is a tasty mélange of different spices and flavors. Try an easy relish of grilled shallots for an easy lunch or served with a steamed lamb shoulder for a dinner. These make wonderfully fragrant dishes that are a snap to make.

Lush Succotash

Succotash used to be considered that blah dish served in high school cafeterias. However this indigenous American dish can be delicious if made properly. It's also a great way of taking advantage of summer's harvests too by adding a cornucopia of fresh veggies and beans..

David Tanis wrote about it and improved on the classic recipe in yesterday's New York Times Food section. The dish originally was made by a branch of  Narragansett Indians in Massachusetts. Their msickquatash was Anglicized into succotash and contained the basics or Three Sisters of indigenous cooking. These were corns , beans and squash which was cultivated in three separate mounds and grown in copious amounts.. There were summer and winter versions. The summer featured fresh sweet corn, shelling beans or fresh green beans and tender summer squash. Fresh or dried meat and fish were also added to give it more weight The winter version consisted of dried corn, dried beans and pumpkin,Both recipes were a boon to early settlers who struggled with crops and food supplies. Succotash gave them both the needed nutrition and food to survive.

Sadly the dish suffered in the centuries after that.School cafeterias across the country vilified it,It's usually a blah mix of corn, beans and lima beans. Once in a while pearl onions  were added while  home made versions had ample amounts of butter or margarine added to  give it some zip (as I have done). Mr. Tanis throws August's bounty into the mix. He puts in zucchini, green peppers and tomatoes for color and zing. While traditional succotash has salt pork or bacon for extra flavor. Mr. Tanis amp it up by adding lobster chunks, He also tosses in a dollop of crème fraiche .Okra is another new ingredient that is thrown into the mix. It is great for thickening the stew as well as it giving it flavor. It can be omitted if  no one likes it There are the traditional ingredients too,There is the original corn , shelling beans along with any choice of lima, cranberry or  even black eye peas.

Succotash is a great way to enjoy the summer's bounty and celebrate indigenous cooking. Make it today with lobster for a lush feast. It's not that yucky side anymore but an elegant stew, featuring the best of land and sea.

Boxing Day Treats

Today is Boxing Day in the United Kingdom and it's a way to continue on with the Christmas festivities. How better to celebrate with one of England's best recipes, the sausage roll.It's a fun snack, perfect for when friends pile over with gifts and appetites. It's also a great way to repurpose leftover holiday meats too.

David Tanis wrote about them in Wednesday's New York Times Food section.His A City Kitchen is dedicated to  sausage rolls, as British, as well, the queen.(and I'm sure that Elizabeth likes them as much as this one writing this  does). They are easy to make, using only puff pastry and sausage meat. Pastry can be homemade or bought  and even pie dough can be used. The dough is first rolled out into an oblong shape and then filled with the sausage mix. The dough is then wrapped around it and it's cut into six  pieces(it pays to make four or five logs because the rolls will go fst) Brush each sausage roll with an egg wash (just a beaten egg ) to give it a shiny finish.Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets for twenty to twenty five minutes. You can serve them hot or preferably partially cooled. Doing this allows the meat's juices to sink into the crust. Serve with a good ale or even champagne,

The filling can be varied. Mr. Tanis suggests a traditional pork one, taken from the pork shoulder. It is spiced with the usual spices of coriander,nutmeg, mace and sage along with thyme, If this is too savory, you can cut down on the stronger spices and just use sage. If you want to make a variation, a Cornish pasty, use chuck that has been chopped finely. Nix the spices, using only salt and pepper for seasoning. another idea is using turkey or chicken sausage, The taste won't be so intense but it is still good. You can also fill the dough with chicken or leftover turkey too, along with potatoes and peas.Again nix the spices .The poultry taste can stand on its own.Of course you can also make vegan rolls, using crumbled soy bits that mimic chopped beef. Another is filling the dough with onions and potatoes along with rutabagas or turnips for a variation on the Cornish vegetable pasty.

Nothing beats a good , fresh made sausage roll on Boxing Day, the day that downstairs staff had off. Their food may have been simple but the roll is fit for a king or queen.This golden treat is rich in taste , a perfect way of crowning the Christmas holiday.,