A Savory Babka

By now everyone should be an expert at bread making. Why not step it up a notch and try babka, a savory one that makes for a nice lunch or dinner with salad. It's a fun bake and a different kind of challenge.

Regular contributor Melissa Clark gave us this recipe in her  A Good Appetite Column in yesterday's New York Times Food section. This isn't the traditional cinnamon one or the trendy chocolate laced kind. This is a savory one, with a cheesy herbed filling that takes on a Mediterranean vibe with the addition of prosciutto, salami  or olives.It's the perfect quick meal and you can even bring it along on a picnic. Just remember that babka, like any bread, can be labor intensive. It has to be proofed twice. The first time should be in a cozy, warm place according to Ms. Clark. Think of it like a cat looking for a place to nap, she advises.A bowl of the proofing dough can be placed on top of the fridge, and even in the nook of your couch. It could even be wrapped in a blanket and placed on a sunny spot on the floor. Then there's the second proofing. This is done in the fridge overnight. The long fermentation develop's the bread's flavor however if you;'re strapped for time, then a four hour proof can do the trick.

As for the filling, Ms Clark gives a mixture of ricotta and Parmesan. However if you don't have it she recommends any creamy cheese such as goat, cottage or even cream cheese.It does have to be room temperature for better malleability If you want extra saltiness then add some olives and ham along with alliums such as chopped scallions and minced garlic.Herbs are important in the recipe too, however if you're partial to one or two, then just use your favorites. Try such finely chopped ones as basil mint , parsley thyme leaves or cilantro. Three tablespoons of them should do the trick in flavoring the whole loaf. The one problem with babka is shaping it. There are videos you can watch  but it's just a simple, roll and braid. Ms. Clark assures that the loaf is fine  if the filling is put into the dough, then rolled and baked. Her method is spreading the filling on the rolled out dough. Use an icing scraper for this. Roll it into a tightly coiled log,then bring one end to the other and twist. Baking time is 35 to 45 minutes   375 degree oven. The result is a fragrant , golden brown bread. Serve it warm as a meal with a nice salad.

A savory babka is a nice change up from the regular breads everyone has been making. This is a cheesy , herb rich slice that's perfect for lunch or dinner. Bake it today for a nice break.

Another Thanksgiving Issue

The New York Times Food section  has put out a second Thanksgiving issue. It's different in the than the first, rethinking time-tested recipes and putting new spins on them. There  are traditional veggies done differently along with a new way to cook that bird. It's a refreshing rethink of how to cook and bake for the big day.

All the big guns of the Food section have weighed in and written informative articles.One of the most interesting is Melissa Clark's. Her A Good Appetite  features splaying and searing the turkey as opposed to the traditional roasting. She decided to try the technique she uses on chicken on a much larger bird. Both are similar with the same amount of white and dark meat so the splaying technique that works with the smaller can help the larger. Is it easier than roasting? Yes, and it creates an evenly roasted turkey with silky and juicy white meat and perfectly cooked dark meat.Unlike spatchcocking , which requires intricate deboning, splaying is cutting the skin and then pulling on the thighs until you hear them pop out of their sockets. It's then laying them flat. Ms. Clark also pours wine on  the turkey for braising, although she suggests using any liquid , from cider to beer, diced tomatoes to  even water. What completes this? A platter of vibrant, green Brussels sprouts. Newcomer Alison Roman, a contributor to Bon Appetit magazine gives us them cooked in three tasty recipes. One is sauted with sausage and pickled red onions along ith one for honey roasted ones made exotic by the addition of harissa and lemon relish. More traditional home chefs may like the Brussels sprouts gratin bathed in a lush heavy cream and Gruyere cheese.

 Of course, there is a stuffing recipe. Kim Severson writes about a traditional cornbread one. It's a controversial one, with professional chefs  polarized about what kind of cornmeal - white or yellow - to use. There is a debate - which is sweeter?  She settles on the yellow for color and intense flavor. The recipe also includes  sugar along with buttermilk and butter to give it richness. The stuffing isn't entirely cornbread. There is also white bread used too along with the usual stuffing ingredients like onions,,sage and eggs. She bakes the stuffing separately and gives it extra flavor by pouring the  turkey drippings on it about thirty minutes into the baking time. For extra crunch and taste, there is also the addition of toasted pecans for real Southern flavor. Pecans also figure in David Tanis' A City Kitchen. He makes pecan rolls that have the extra sweetness of golden raisins.Instead of the usually gooey cream cheese frosting, he just dusts them with a mix of sugar and cinnamon. Make these the night before for a Thanksgiving breakfast treat. His other pecan recipes offer savory (!) cookies laden with cheese and sage and a dessert bar . The first is a great side to the first course of soup or a salad. The second is a yummy mix of pecans, dates, spices and rum on top of a buttery shortbread base.These are a nice stand in to the gooier, ultra sweet pecan pie.

Thanksgiving is all about tradition and traditional dishes. Yet , it pays to think outside the box and try new cooking techniques and recipes. It makes for a  more delicious and more memorable holiday meal.

A Good Dish For Good Friday

Tomorrow is Good Friday,a day when most Christians, especially Catholics, forego meat.It's a day usually spent visiting churches and then settling down to pasta or fish for lunch and dinner. Most settle for fish and chips.It's usually a greasy messy affair  however there is a way to get around it..Baking .

Melissa Clark wrote about this as well as experimented with it in her A Good Appetite column in yesterday's New York Times Food section. This British classic is tasty yet loaded with grease. Traditionally both the fish and the potatoes are fried in deep fat . This does lead to a crunchy batter for the fish and a golden fry, however every bite is loaded with grease. It's not only bad for digestion ,it' can be to much. Home chefs want a balance of crunchy and flavorful. Ms. Clark has found that this comes in baking. It eliminates the need for a sometimes dangerous deep fryer along with making the dish relatively healthy.The end result is more or less the same, but without that greasy coating on the tongue and an equally greasy aftertaste. Another plus is that its not a heavy batter but a coating of light, panko breadcrumbs. As for the fish cod is the most traditional, Ms Clark also recommends hake too or any white fish. As for the potatoes russets work well here. These are the brown Idaho  potatoes also used for baking and will give a mealy, substantial chip.The dish can be served with malt vinegar or a homemade tartar sauce.

The first step in making fish and chips is prepping the fish. The oven should be first preheated to 500 degrees Farenheit  and two pans, one for the hake or cod and a second for the potatoes should be placed inside. Then it's browning the breadcrumbs  in olive oil, thyme and garlic first because the crumbs don't brown in the oven. Afterwards dredge the fish fillets  in plain flour , then a mix of eggs and Dijon mustard before getting a final coating of breadcrumbs.Make sure each piece is well coated before baking.This process can be done up to four hours before cooking if you want to do it earlier in the day.Cut the potatoes into 1/4 inch sticks to ensure that they'll be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They should be tossed in oil along with salt and pepper.Olive oil is the preferred oil to use here.Spread both the fish and chips on the two preheated baking pans and reduce the temperature to 425 degrees Farenheit The fish should be flaky and tender when done while the chips should be  a golden brown. Serve with a homemade tartar sauce as Ms. Clark recommends but you can also go traditional and serve with a malt vinegar or just ketchup.

Fish and chips are an appropriate Good Friday meal. It's a healthier spin on the traditional recipe while sticking to religious traditions. People can enjoy a tasty good for you lunch or dinner while observing the holy day.

Egg-Centric Spring Desserts

One of the allures of Spring baking is that it uses basic  ingredients to create ethereal desserts.Gone are the heavy caramel, chocolate or nut laden sweets of winter,Summer is yet to come with it;s' variety of fruits Home bakers must use what's in the cupboard and that means the basic like the egg. It's versatile . and can be used in a variety of different sweets.

Melissa Clark wrote about this kitchen must have in yesterday's New York Times Food section. as she puts it eggs can be whipped into a froth from a liquid.They can be soft and trembly or solidly set.They can also leaven a cake or lighten it up, enrich it or thicken custards. Pastry chef, Thomas Raquel of the famed Manhattan restaurant, Le Bernardin agrees.He uses them , all year round, after all they're crucial in mousses,ice creams and pastries, however it's Springtime that he lets them shine. as the main ingredient.His Spring dessert menu includes an elderflower mousse,a tres leches cake and  appropriately an egg shaped dome filled with goat's milk mousse.The season brings about a longing for lighter desserts that are more fragrant and cleaner on the palate.Adding eggs are also more beneficial to textures too. Beaten ones can add an airy feeling when eating mousses and custards. They also can sharpen other flavors by lessening the need for butter and cream. They don't coat the tongue with a layer of butterfat which can dull flavors.


The recipes given are perfect for any Easter or Spring meal as well as being appropriate .Eggs were a seasonal food  with hens slowing down  or stopping all together to lay eggs when winter came. spring came with lengthened days, signalling to the birds to start laying again. Nowadays hens can lay eggs all year round thanks to the ever glowing electric bulbs in their coops.  Yet Spring and eggs are now forever linked with Easter, Passover and the vernal equinox. They represent the rebirth of the earth and all things green.It's seen in Easter cakes and breads along with Passover 's egg leavened nut tortes. The recipes offered are eggy  and light, great for ending any holiday meal. There is chocolate pavlova with chocolate mousse. If you think this a a bit heavy, don't .The mousse is light  and airy, the cocoa just gives it somewhat of a punch, For a more custardy fare home bakers should try the Portuguese egg custard tarts, a lovely mix of a yolk rich cinnamon laced custard and buttery puff pastry (which can be bought). A great Easter dessert is the lemon angel food cake with the zing of preserved lemon curd. The sweetness is cut by the saltiness of the preserved lemon curd. This last was contributed by Samantha Kinkaid, of High On Hudson, a pastry chef known for infusing her meringues with dried carrots and beets.

Let the eggs star in this holiday season's baking line up. They will add a lightness and richness to any sweet ending, from mousse to custard tarts. It's a perfect way of welcoming Spring, with light , airy desserts

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.

The Summery Harvests Of September

Even though it's September there is still tomatoes and greens to be harvested. With them come delicious recipes that utilize the produce of this still summery season. Have them now while  the weather is still balmy and the gardens are still lush. Enjoy these tastes of late summer.

Melissa Clark and David Tanis realized this and made  the early September harvests the subject of their individual columns in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Ms Clark's A Good Appetite  featured the perennial star of the season, tomatoes. She creates a  mash up of three great tomato sandwiches. She deftly blends a BLT with  teas sandwiches  and throws in a heavy dose of the famed Catalan sandwich pan con tomate.The sandwich's base comes from the last. She takes rustic country bread. toasts it and then rubs it with raw garlic and the tomato's pulpy inside.Drizzle olive oil and lightly sprinkle sea salt on it.The tea sandwich part is when strands of tangy white onion is added. Layers of bacon and mayo are added , this is the BLT part of it.It's a messy , yummy sandwich that's literally finger licking good , according to Ms. Clark.Variations abound  with subbing the onions with cucumber and giving it a more Iberian spin by using thinly sliced Serrano ham instead of the  bacon.

David Tanis devoted his a City Kitchen Column to that flavorful French vegetable soup, pistou..This is a Genovese influenced soup from the French Provencale town of Nice. A kind of pesto is made, called pistou and it's exactly the same as its' Northern Italian cousin. Basil ,garlic and Parmigiano cheese is ground  and the olive oil is added to it. since this is a bean soup, there should be  a good mix of them, Use shelling bean from the vibrantly colored  cranberry to the large  , meaty cannellini These should be cooked independently from the soup base. The base itself is a kind of potato stock that also has sautéed onions and more beans, this time romano and yellow wax beans You can add squash and zucchini too, but you can also vary this   with adding a quartered ripe tomato or two.along with cubes f pumpkin of you have any in early bloom. Rice or pasta can be added but it's not necessarily.Afrter cooking  the soup is ladled into bowls and then a spoonful of pistou is added. Serve with toasted baguette slices dipped in oil, or if you want the pistou itself.

The summer is still giving us bounteous harvests. Take advantage of them by making a delicious tomato sandwich  mashup  or a bright green Provencale. soup. Both are perfect to eat during these still balmy days.

Make Ahead Dishes Easy Summer Recipes

Summer is the time for parties easy cooking and simple dishes. This means salad barbecue and Jello parfaits. Unfortunately this gets olds fast . what to do? Try other premade dishes such as fried chicken and panzanella followed by an easy  to whip up cake. It's a refreshing change on easy warm weather cooking and can be made for a large party or small get togethers.

Melissa Clark realized this and wrote about it in her A Good Appetite column in yesterday's New York Times Food section.She is a hostess who hosts a lot and, like any of us, would rather spend preparty time getting ready. This works with winter foods such as short ribs and lasagna that can be made a day in advance and then reheated. For summer it's having a host of the usual green and pasta salads, with the main dish being either fish or  something that's easily thrown on the grill. She gives us a throwback, fried chicken , but with her stamp on it. The classic recipe is tweaked with more spices such as Tabasco and Old Bay seasoning. Mustard powder and cracked pepper is also added to a buttermilk based marinade.The chicken pieces should be marinated overnight for the best results. Since fried chicken can lose some of its crunch as it cools, Ms. Clark double coats  the pieces namely legs and wings.Also the meat should be room temperature before frying. Doing this helps the center to cook through. Another must is don't overcrowd the pan. Let the pieces have enough space to bob around and get evenly browned in the oil.

As for the side dish  go with that Ms. Clark recommends, Panzanella, the Neapolitan bread salad,while it may seem an unusual partner , it is a better choice than the usual macaroni salad that gets mushy or the green salad that becomes soggy. It's a great way of using any too ripe tomatoes and stale Italian bread. Cucumbers and onions are added for crunch and mozzarella slices are tossed in for creaminess It is a great salad to pair with steaks and ribs also. Dessert should be simple too. She recommends a coconut cream cake with peaches.it can be assembled three days before making it.This is a flourless cake with the coconut being the cake's base, The filling is a heavy vanilla cream with peaches, the fruit of the season. You could sub in strawberries or even blueberries for a variation.Another idea is just making a chocolate cream - go easy on the cocoa powder for a more decadent dessert.

Summer parties should be a snap to throw. These easy pre made recipes help in creating that breezy atmosphere full of good food. Make them before and spend the rest of the day prepping and primping.