There's all sorts of strange stories out there concerning the Corona virus. One odd one is about stockpiling various food stuffs in case there are shortages. That's the strange part - what shortages, especially here in the States. Is this some kind of media made panic or should we be worried? Then there's the other question, if this is true - what do we stockpile?
There's some small buzz in grocery stores in the New York City area. I heard today that water and salt are being grabbed off the shelves at local Wal-marts in the Northern New Jersey area. Storing water is kind of strange. It's not as if our supply or local reservoirs are being threatened with bio-warfare or they're compromised. The salt makes sense, People are being told to gargle, presumably by their healthcare providers. Doing such will kill some of the virus bacteria and it will also bring the bacteria to the surface of gums, tongue and teeth. It's then should be washed out with a strong mouth wash.As far as other foods, milk and eggs are also at the top of the list. It's sort of similar to what people buy before a big blizzard with the exception of bread.The United Kingdom has a bad case of stockpile fever. Brits are clearing the shelves of their local supermarkets, fighting over pasta, rice and long life milk according to the BBC.It is obviously worse in Hong Kong where life - and trade has ground to a halt.
It hopefully isn't that bad here. We may have problems with hand sanitizer and liquid hand soap. Again, that' s understandable. Yet if we do have shortages, what do we buy to survive? The best bet is all canned foods such as canned veggies and fruits. These are versatile to use in a variety of different dishes, from omelets to stews. Despite what you've heard from some natural food advocates canned produce can be just as nutritious and vitamin packed as their fresh versions. However, try to eat as much of the fresh stuff while you can. If you do feel a bit panicky about shortages, then freeze fresh fruit and veggies.Don't worry about it losing its' nutritional value. Fruits and veggies start breaking down after a whole year in the freezer. Your grapes and broccoli are still OK for a week in the deep freeze. Meats are another foodstuff that can be frozen for a year or two. Cereals last six to eight months while oatmeal lasts a year and a half if you want to stockpile on them. If you're in a warm weather zone, then consider starting a veggie garden. You'll always have fresh produce which helps in fighting any illness. Also buy and plant melon seeds and berry plants.
Should we listen to the crazy rumors and start stockpiling? That's up to you. If you feel better then get a few extra cans now and then. Just don't go wild and and into a frenzy of over buying.
Showing posts with label Britain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Britain. Show all posts
Friday, March 6, 2020
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Nigella Returns
Two decades ago Nigella Lawson was the "it" girl of cooking. She was the aristocrat who brought home style cooking to both British and American kitchens. Then she disappeared off the culinary horizon, due to personal problems. Thankfully she is back with the same homeyness as before.
Ms Lawson was the subject of the main article in today's New York Times Food section. Besha Rodell, a James Beard Award winning writer conducted an interview with the woman who coined the phrase "Domestic Goddess". The reissue comes during the twentieth anniversary of her globally successful cookbook "How To Eat." The book is out again in a special anniversary edition along with an audio book, narrated by Ms. Lawson. She is revered like royalty by some in Britain and Australia where she's attending a food festival in the western part of the country.The detractors think she nothing more than a spoiled aristocrat, the daughter of Chancellor of the Exchequer , Nigel Lawson. She came from money, her mother is descended from the family who created J Lyons And Company, the first food conglomerate in the world. She worked at Britain's The Spectator and The Sunday Times before she became a food writer.It's seen in "How To Eat". written in mostly narrative form, in the tone of a newspaper columnist. her voice is intimate warm and chatty .her musings, were unusual at the time as she mentions memories of cooking with other people, including her sister , Thomasina.
Like many food personalities and chefs, she was a revolutionary bringing new products and tastes to ordinary kitchens, Thanks to her,quinoa ,avocados and pomegranates are now kitchen staples. her ideas of cooking and writing about what she was cooking was also ground breaking. It was cooking to please yourself instead of flexing culinary muscles to impress others.(the article comes with a palate pleasing easy to make beef tenderloin with red wine, garlic and anchovy recipe.) She urged home chefs to think how the food tastes to them, and not to the guests. As Bee Wilson, another British food writer, and her friend, Ms Lawson felt that a comforting bowl of stew could be much be better than an elaborate chef creation.It is a constant idea with her. Food should be as much a joy for the cook as it is for the eater. Recipes are malleable and there should be no stress and anxiety when cooking them for it ruins he appetite. Never think you're going to produce the definitive meal like a Sunday lunch..Make a lunch you want to make, she writes in the chapter on weekend lunches. Strange though that she doesn't have a definitive plan for her future. She doesn't know how she comes up with recipe books. There are no plots or plans. It's just anxiety that drives her.
Does it matter what drives Nigella Lawson? No. If anything she can rest on her laurels thanks to her evergreen of a cookbook, How To Eat.It is a brilliant classic that will inspire new generations of home chefs
Ms Lawson was the subject of the main article in today's New York Times Food section. Besha Rodell, a James Beard Award winning writer conducted an interview with the woman who coined the phrase "Domestic Goddess". The reissue comes during the twentieth anniversary of her globally successful cookbook "How To Eat." The book is out again in a special anniversary edition along with an audio book, narrated by Ms. Lawson. She is revered like royalty by some in Britain and Australia where she's attending a food festival in the western part of the country.The detractors think she nothing more than a spoiled aristocrat, the daughter of Chancellor of the Exchequer , Nigel Lawson. She came from money, her mother is descended from the family who created J Lyons And Company, the first food conglomerate in the world. She worked at Britain's The Spectator and The Sunday Times before she became a food writer.It's seen in "How To Eat". written in mostly narrative form, in the tone of a newspaper columnist. her voice is intimate warm and chatty .her musings, were unusual at the time as she mentions memories of cooking with other people, including her sister , Thomasina.
Like many food personalities and chefs, she was a revolutionary bringing new products and tastes to ordinary kitchens, Thanks to her,quinoa ,avocados and pomegranates are now kitchen staples. her ideas of cooking and writing about what she was cooking was also ground breaking. It was cooking to please yourself instead of flexing culinary muscles to impress others.(the article comes with a palate pleasing easy to make beef tenderloin with red wine, garlic and anchovy recipe.) She urged home chefs to think how the food tastes to them, and not to the guests. As Bee Wilson, another British food writer, and her friend, Ms Lawson felt that a comforting bowl of stew could be much be better than an elaborate chef creation.It is a constant idea with her. Food should be as much a joy for the cook as it is for the eater. Recipes are malleable and there should be no stress and anxiety when cooking them for it ruins he appetite. Never think you're going to produce the definitive meal like a Sunday lunch..Make a lunch you want to make, she writes in the chapter on weekend lunches. Strange though that she doesn't have a definitive plan for her future. She doesn't know how she comes up with recipe books. There are no plots or plans. It's just anxiety that drives her.
Does it matter what drives Nigella Lawson? No. If anything she can rest on her laurels thanks to her evergreen of a cookbook, How To Eat.It is a brilliant classic that will inspire new generations of home chefs
Monday, January 14, 2019
Mmmmm M and M's
One of the most classic American candies is M&M's. These little multicolored gems are just good on their own or in a variety of different dishes and treats.What is even more interesting is their history and their impact on the American culinary landscape.
M&M's made their debut in 1941 during the beginning of World War II. Forrest Mars Senior based them on the British candy Smarties when he saw soldiers eat them as a snack during the Spanish Civil War. The British version had only debuted a few years before in 1937. and were possibly based on the Moravian version first made in Holesov Czech Republic as early as 1907.Mars was the father of the famed Milky Ways and Mars Bars introduced in 1923 and 1932. The candy is nothing more than a chocolate pellet coated with hard panning, basically hardened sugar syrup. Those iconic M's? One is for Mars - of course and and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey's chocolate president William F.R. Murrie. They candy was made with Hershey's chocolate which had control of all the rationed chocolate at the time.After receiving a patent for it ,Mars had the candy made in the posh neighborhood of Clinton Hill, in Newark, New Jersey. Their first customer was the US Army who saw the candy as the perfect foodstuff that wouldn't melt in the pockets of soldiers stationed in tropical climates. It was strictly army food until the end of the war when it was finally sold to civilians. The iconic brown package came about in 1950 while the Ms came about in 1949.It was black at first and then changed to white in 1954.
Most of us grew up with the classic milk chocolate or peanut ones that came about in 1954. The eighties saw the candies go global with being introduced all over the world, from Australia to Malaysia. They even hit the UK where they 've been competing with Smarties.Holiday M&M's were introduced then too, with pastel candies imprinted with bunny, chick and egg symbols. The Christmas ones were colored with red, white and green coatings, with the last one being mint flavored. The M's were replaced with fir trees, bells and candles. The Nineties saw the ushering in of M&M Minis sold in plastic cylinders . The new century welcomed such new flavors as dulce de leche, caramel, and peanut butter.Also entering the candy scene was dark chocolate - a nice break from the milk along with white chocolate.There's also chocolate crispy and pumpkin spice that comes out in the fall. Fruit flavors have also crept into the M&M flavor mill as well. There are coconut, orange,cherry cordial raspberry and even candy apple.! Newer flavors are birthday cake and pretzel - the last a nice mix of sweet and salty.Mars also makes pecan pie and caramel which is sooooo addictive.
Everyone has a favorite M&M. What's yours? Mine are caramel and almond for now. That may change when I taste the dark chocolate ones again.
M&M's made their debut in 1941 during the beginning of World War II. Forrest Mars Senior based them on the British candy Smarties when he saw soldiers eat them as a snack during the Spanish Civil War. The British version had only debuted a few years before in 1937. and were possibly based on the Moravian version first made in Holesov Czech Republic as early as 1907.Mars was the father of the famed Milky Ways and Mars Bars introduced in 1923 and 1932. The candy is nothing more than a chocolate pellet coated with hard panning, basically hardened sugar syrup. Those iconic M's? One is for Mars - of course and and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey's chocolate president William F.R. Murrie. They candy was made with Hershey's chocolate which had control of all the rationed chocolate at the time.After receiving a patent for it ,Mars had the candy made in the posh neighborhood of Clinton Hill, in Newark, New Jersey. Their first customer was the US Army who saw the candy as the perfect foodstuff that wouldn't melt in the pockets of soldiers stationed in tropical climates. It was strictly army food until the end of the war when it was finally sold to civilians. The iconic brown package came about in 1950 while the Ms came about in 1949.It was black at first and then changed to white in 1954.
Most of us grew up with the classic milk chocolate or peanut ones that came about in 1954. The eighties saw the candies go global with being introduced all over the world, from Australia to Malaysia. They even hit the UK where they 've been competing with Smarties.Holiday M&M's were introduced then too, with pastel candies imprinted with bunny, chick and egg symbols. The Christmas ones were colored with red, white and green coatings, with the last one being mint flavored. The M's were replaced with fir trees, bells and candles. The Nineties saw the ushering in of M&M Minis sold in plastic cylinders . The new century welcomed such new flavors as dulce de leche, caramel, and peanut butter.Also entering the candy scene was dark chocolate - a nice break from the milk along with white chocolate.There's also chocolate crispy and pumpkin spice that comes out in the fall. Fruit flavors have also crept into the M&M flavor mill as well. There are coconut, orange,cherry cordial raspberry and even candy apple.! Newer flavors are birthday cake and pretzel - the last a nice mix of sweet and salty.Mars also makes pecan pie and caramel which is sooooo addictive.
Everyone has a favorite M&M. What's yours? Mine are caramel and almond for now. That may change when I taste the dark chocolate ones again.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Fish And Chips The Perfect Friday Meal.
One of the benefits of a Lenten diet Is eating more fish.Mostly
many go for the safe and sensible kinds of grilled salmon and seared scallops.
However – there is one dish that defines a fish dinner – fish and chips. That
East End favorite is a great Friday night meal.
Mention fish and chips and images of London come to mind.
Many ,including us Yanks, think it’s the quintessential British food. It
actually isn’t, first arriving in Britain with the Sephardic Jews around the
1600’s. The influence was the Portuguese pescado frito, deep batter fried
fillets which the Jews cooked on Friday night to eat on their Sabbath –
Saturday. Potatoes didn’t come into the mix until the Columbian Exchange of
1492. Fish - mostly cod and sliced spuds
were the food of the working classes throughout coastal Britain. Charles
Dickens was the firs t to mention chips in his 1859 masterpiece A Tale Of Two Cities.
A year later the first fish and chips eatery or chippy opened in London.They
were first sold and still are sold in old newspapers with a good dousing of malt vinegar. The Americans discovered it thanks to the seafood companies of Mrs
Paul’s and Gorton’s, however their offerings are a pale imitation of the real
thing.They have what’s known as fish fingers
- which are fish sticks while the real deal is huge triangular pieces of
plaice a type of North Atlantic fish.
Get your Brit on with homemade fish and chips. It's a tasty and fun meal for a Lenten Friday night supper. Make it and enjoy a taste of the United Kingdom.
Friday, December 26, 2014
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.,
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.,
Monday, May 18, 2009
An English Tea Food Elegance At Its’ Best
There’s nothing like a proper English tea. It has all the feel of a Merchant Ivory or Masterpiece Theater period piece. There’s something inherently elegant about sipping a fine Darjeeling or Earl Gray out of bone china. The sandwiches and sweets are perfect, delicate yet satisfying. It’s not hard to recreate one. Even for us Yank foodies who love fast food and messy dishes.
There are actually three kinds of tea to consider. The first is the cream tea. This is where tea scones and jam are only served. For a more substantial fare there is light tea which has sweets added to the menu and then there is the full tea which adds savories and a dessert (possibly a light trifle or small cakes). Savories usually mean small sandwiches , usually watercress or egg salad. Most English hotels serve the last , and cater to American tastes. The entire tea idea started during the Victorian era when Anna Maria Stanhope, Duchess of Bedford and one of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting felt a “sinking feeling around four in the afternoon. Borrowing from the Continental idea of having tea she arranged for the drink to be served with small sandwiches and cakes. This helped sustain her and her guests until the main meal which was probably served at seven or eight. Hence a British tradition was born.
Creating a full British tea is easy to do in this former colony. You can serve any kind of tea and have with it light sandwiches and scones. Supermarkets sell smaller loaves or what’s known as party loaves . These can be filled with cucumber, watercress, and cream cheese. You could put an American spin on them and use deviled ham or chicken as fillings too. Scones can be bought or made. The question is acquiring the clotted cream to go with them. Luckily it can be bought in any major city or on the Internet. As for having small cakes think cupcakes dusted with powdered sugar as opposed to being topped with a large mound of frosting.
An English tea is an elegant way of getting together with friends. It symbolizes timely elegance with delicate food. It's wonderful to indulge your foodie side while being civilized at the same time.
There are actually three kinds of tea to consider. The first is the cream tea. This is where tea scones and jam are only served. For a more substantial fare there is light tea which has sweets added to the menu and then there is the full tea which adds savories and a dessert (possibly a light trifle or small cakes). Savories usually mean small sandwiches , usually watercress or egg salad. Most English hotels serve the last , and cater to American tastes. The entire tea idea started during the Victorian era when Anna Maria Stanhope, Duchess of Bedford and one of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting felt a “sinking feeling around four in the afternoon. Borrowing from the Continental idea of having tea she arranged for the drink to be served with small sandwiches and cakes. This helped sustain her and her guests until the main meal which was probably served at seven or eight. Hence a British tradition was born.
Creating a full British tea is easy to do in this former colony. You can serve any kind of tea and have with it light sandwiches and scones. Supermarkets sell smaller loaves or what’s known as party loaves . These can be filled with cucumber, watercress, and cream cheese. You could put an American spin on them and use deviled ham or chicken as fillings too. Scones can be bought or made. The question is acquiring the clotted cream to go with them. Luckily it can be bought in any major city or on the Internet. As for having small cakes think cupcakes dusted with powdered sugar as opposed to being topped with a large mound of frosting.
An English tea is an elegant way of getting together with friends. It symbolizes timely elegance with delicate food. It's wonderful to indulge your foodie side while being civilized at the same time.
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