It's The Cookie Issue

 Cookies are a part of the Christmas tradition as the Christmas tree and presents. The question is which ones to make. Do you go with something different and fun or classic and comforting? Not to worry. the New York Times Food section has come out with an extensive array of good and delicious cookie recipes.

It was the highlight of today's weekly Food section. Many regular contributors have contributed , giving us some interesting recipes that will sure to be family favorites.There are six pages of great cookies, perfect for a holiday dessert table or any party . There are even savory ones, perfect for charcuterie boards and cocktails. One is a cheddar cheese coin from Kay Chun that is a baked blend of Cheddar, Parmesan, scallions and butter. Imagine this holding bruschetta or devilled ham.  Ali Slagle created a savory mixed nut shortbread rife with mixed salted nuts. There is some sweetness with sugar added but there is also rosemary and cayenne to give it kick. Eric Kim gives us a yummy version of the M&M cookie, perfect with warm milk on a snowy day.Melissa Clark explores butter spritz cookies made richer with the addition of almond extract and almond flour. Nicole Carpino Frasco withe the help of Margeaux Laskey reimagines her nonna's tricolore squares , those multicolor cake like gems that are robed in dark chocolate.Genevieve Ko makes a mean peanut butter cookie, enhanced with peanut butter chips. Jerrelle Guy's creates a homey , tastier version of iced oatmeal cookies zinged up with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.

Of course there are spins on classics. Melissa Clark reimagines melt in your mouth rugelach with a chocolate banka filling with a crumbly fudge. Those holiday classics thumbprint cookies get an redoing thanks to Yossy Arefi's addition of tahini to the cookie dough and filled with dulce de leche. Gingerbread get a rehaul with Sohla El-Waylly's recipe that gets zinged up with freshly ground pepper. It's also rich and buttery thanks to the addition of fourteen tablespoons of butter. Nina Donabian gives us Finnish gingerbread man coated with a crunchy raw sugar. Biscotti and swirl cookies also are here. Jerrelle Guy  creates her biscotti with a dark chocolate coating and a spicy blend of cardamon , cloves, nut meg and cinnamon. The swirl cookies have hibiscus and ginger as the main flavors in Yewande Kemolafe's version. Great pastry chef and baker Dorie Greenspan has a more candy like concoction that 's more candy. There are also fruity treats  such as Samantha Severinetne ;'s fig and cherry pies and Sohla El-Wally's fruity meltaways spiked with freeze dried berries. want pure chocolate instead? Then try Vaughn Vreeland's mint brownie cookies,

These are just some of the cookies from the Food section cookie issue.They are classic and reimagined. Try them and add them to your arsenal of holiday cookie recipes.

A Sous Vide Summer

Is boiled food the way to go in the summer? Surprisingly yes! Using a sous -vide can actually make for tender, butter soft beef cuts. Barbecued steaks will no longer have that chewy "shoe leather" texture.It's a much needed step for the perfect outdoor meal.

Melisa Clark wrote about it in today's New York Times Food section. A sous-vide is now a must have for cooking cuts that will be later seared on an outdoor grill. What is a sous -vide? It's really a method of vacuum sealing food and immersing in warm water with temps ranging anywhere from 120F to 140 F. The actual machine kind of looks like a meat thermometer and turns any large pot into a  hot tub for food.The wand , also called a thermal immersion circulator, heats and circulates the water around.  It's not just for beef,  chicken, pork and fish. Veggies can also receive the sous-vide method. Amazon sells the sous vide wands and the prices vary from $200 to $400 however Ms. Clark has found some that only cost $45. Only a few years ago they were $1000, and used only by food techies and chefs.  She recommends them and assuages home chefs that their kitchens will not heat up with sous-vides the way they would with other appliances. Also special sealer bags don't have to be bought. The food can be put into a plastic or silicone bag and the air squeezed out of them.

The recipes are delicious and perfect for the grill. They just require a quick time on the grill to acquire a nice crust and color. Anyone can make them. Ms. Clark interviews interviews New Orleans cinematographer, Jake Springfield, who is far from being a chef. However when friends come over he treats them to sous vide cooked tenderloins that have a quick sear on his backyard grill. The food comes out perfectly. The recipes are easy . Ms. Clark offers sous-vide steaks with spicy salsa verde, sous- vide ginger pork with celery slaw and a sous-vide salmon with caper-parsley vinaigrette. To be honest the celery slaw would be good with any barbecue meat however it offsets the pork which is marinated in a soy sauce, sriracha, ginger and smooth peanut butter. This is a perfect Saturday night dinner for the family dish as is the salmon with the vinaigrette The fish is basted with an herb paste of dill, parsley and scallions. The vinaigrette has a good dose of scallions and parsley, spiked with capers and cloves. Of course the best dish is the sous-vide rib steaks with a sinus clearing salsa verde. Jalapenos and harissa give this normally mild steak sauce a jolt. The steaks, though, would be good just on their own, thanks to being rubbed with garlic paste and rosemary.

For those barbecue chefs , buy a sous-vide to create the best tasting meats. It's a definite plus to any backyard cookout. Any meat  - and veggie will be at their flavorful best.

Cottage Cheese Rethought

Cottage cheese  has always been considered just a diet food, gracing plates with a minimum of veggies or fruit on the side. That's all changing thanks to a new generation seeing it in a different light. They're discovering the rich curds cloaked in creaminess as well as appreciating its' protein richness.It's not just for dieters anymore.

 Kim Severson wrote about it in today's New York Times Food section. Cottage cheese has been around since our Colonial days, when housewives had to find a use for leftover milk from after skimming off the cream. Unfortunately modern Americans go crazy over its'cousin, yogurt ,despite the fact that this milk byproduct has double the amount of protein which makes it the ideal lunch or even quick dinner.(although it does have double the sodium). Most pair the food with the the drudgery of dieting.It's not yogurt with its' variety of cute and fancy packaging nor does it come with yummy add ins. This was not always the case. It stood in for meat during the two world wars along with filling in for ricotta and was the highlight of many a diet plate. It gave gravity to salad bars and was even on President Nixon's daily lunch plate, served with a side of fruit. The 1970's was the heyday of cottage cheese with producers pumping out more than a billion pounds per year. Yogurt was still considered strange, belonging to the diets of Europeans and health fanatics. The Eighties changed all that. Yogurt became sweetened and frozen. In the 2000's Greek yogurt came and knocked cottage cheese off the table.

Serious cheese makers are trying to get it back on the country's plates again. Another reason it fell out of favor was the taste.It became flt tasting thanks to it being massed produced along with being filled with preservative gums and starches. The problem is that cottage cheese cannot be mass produced.It has to be made in small batches. Cheese makers, Sue Conley and Peggy Smith, the founders of Cowgirl Creamery, in Marin County, California have created an artisanal cottage cheese, using fresh skim milk from a local dairy. Next comes a simple starter culture  (home chefs can use vinegar when making it at home) that feeds on milk sugar to create lactic acid.Curds form overnight.In the morning cheese makers cut them into pea size bites. The curds are them cooked for about an hour and a half to release their acidity. The whey is then drained from it and the curds are washed three times.The last step is the dressing, responsible for that creamy mouth feel.This determines both the fat content and flavor. The Cowgirl Creamery uses creme fraiche, ideal for the curds. This new  breed of cottage cheese is even winning awards.At a 2017 competition, cottage cheeses from Spain and Luxembourg took home silver awards while two others from Spain and Austria took home the bronze.

Cottage cheese is not just for dieters anymore. It's becoming trendy again thanks to artesanal creameries creating it. It may even knock yogurt off the table

Winter Warmer Spaetzle

Now that winter is officially here ,it's time to think of hearty meals. Spaetzles fill the bill nicely.These tender and delicate German noodles can be used in casseroles or with sauerkraut. Not only that, they are the perfect comfort food during these chilly , icy days.

This is what  New York Times Dining regular Melissa Clark wrote about in today's A Good Appetite column. She discovered their charm while perusing an old German cookbook. There she discovered a myriad of recipes,using traditional ingredients such as kielbasa(!) and cabbage. She decided on a casserole with them along with kielbasa , onion and Emmenthaler cheese. This sounds sort of like a Saxony version of baked mac with bacon. I don't know if it's to my traditional tastes however it's tempting enough to try. I am going to make it sans the sausage, although if I were to add meat, it would be the more traditional ham

Ms. Clark also tries making her own spaetzle. This is pretty easy wit being on the same par as making pasta dough, except the dough consistency is that of a thick pancake batter.You can buy a spaetzle board from any gourmet cooking store or online. You can also use a colander to press out the dough (unlike pasta which is basically ribbons, spaetzle vary in length and size). They are then boiled in salted water. After you can do what you like with them.  I prefer mine with string beans or plain with butter however some like them the traditional way, cooked with red cabbage or better  yet, sauerkraut.

Spaetzles are great chill chasers. These hearty little noodles are the perfect canvas for  anything , from a cheesy bake to traditional pickled cabbage. You can create a perfect  and winter meal with them.

Roadie Cooking

Bands and musicians usually have a bad time of it foodwise. There's all those greasy spoons and fast food joints that they have to eat at due to their hectic schedules.If they're lucky they'll be staying at a chain hotel where there's a somewhat decent restaurant. However some bands have it easy. They bring a chef with them and enjoy home cooked, good quality dishes. At times even the fans benefit.

This was chronicled in yesterday's New York Times Dining section. The article, written by Times Dining regular, Jeff Gordinier, dealt with the musical group, the Zac Brown Band, This is a rootsy Georgia based band and their "chef" Rusty Hamlin's cooking reflects it. Mr. Hamlin does all their cooking in a 54 foot 26 wheel silver and blue trailer appropriately named Cookie. He is lucky enough to experience the bounties of the areas where they drive through. It's the best of locavore dining with a twist. he scours local farmer's markets for different area vegetables and fruits to incorporate in his recipes.

What does Mr. Hamlin make? Good Southern cooking that involves fresh instead of deep fried. There is a recipe for a pocketknife cole slaw which is a twist on the traditional. There is cabbage but also bell peppers and tomatoes along with the kick of cayenne and the heat of mustard. There is the traditional Southern ham but with it comes with braised Brussels sprouts and red eye gravy. There is als a meet and greet so fans can not only get to meet the band but also enjoy the Southern hospitality and Mr. Hamlin's all natural creations. Fans were treated to a yummy moonshine vinaigrette and a creamy polenta made with gouda, wild mushrooms and snap beans.
Lucky is the band that has its' own chef. This is true of the Zac Brown Band who has Mr. Hamlin to create amazing food using local produce. Now that rocks!

A Revolutionary Garden

This is the season for fresh veggies and herbs from the garden .It's time to harvest the small age and burnet. These may. Sound strange -even foreign to you however they were a big part of the Colonial diet.Before there were modern greens there were their wild cousins. Even though they were staples back in the 1600s and 1700s, they still can be used in today 's recipes.

This was the subject of a very interesting article in the Thursday Home section of the NewYork Times. Michael Totorello wrote this thought provoking article that deals with plants from the past four centuries. A lot was written about small age ,a precursor of celery.This was used as aside to meats.It still can be used today in salads and even soups. Burnet , a popular and well used herb ofPuritans was used for doctoring wine. it's light cucumber like taste could easily be added to any 21st Century summer dish. There is also skirret which instantly takeover the garden,Unfortunately it takes a lot plants to get enough pulp for dish.

Cooking these greens does take some patience.Purslane, another 18th Century "sallet green, has to be blanched first before cooking.Scozonera, another celery like plant has to be over baked to soften its woody core which can be super tough to eat. the tastes may be a little intense for modern palates however they can be softened with sautes in olive oil or butter. Scallions and garlic can also be added too or even spinach which was a very popular dish in the 1700's.

Travel to the culinary past this summer. Add colonial favorites like small age, purslane and burnet to your cooking.It's a neat way of connecting with our culinary past.

Condensed Milk. The New Cream of The Crop

Condensed milk has always received a bad rap. Foodies with attitude have shunned it for a long time yet condensed milk and its' cousin , evaporated. have been much beloved ingredients in South American and Southeastern Asian cooking. It was recently glorified in one of the better articles in Wednesday's' New York Times Dining section .

The piece written by regular writer, Julia Moskin, gives a pretty good explanation of condensed milk's history and uses. It was on e of the world's early processed foods having been invented by Gail Borden in 1856. Condensed milk was also one of the first processed foods sent to war with Borden supplying the Union Army. Since then it has been embraced by other continents, being made into a coconut fudge in Brazil and a main ingredient in Vietnamese tea. The Taiwanese love to cook with it as well,, using it as a vital part of many dishes.

Americans have a snobby altitude when to comes to condensed milk yet with it, home candy makers can make the best fudge ever. Cook fudge with regular milk and you'll wind up with sugar crystals. Condensed milk doesn't allow for this. Instead you'll get a rich creamy texture similar what's\; found in fudge stores. Also condensed milk one of the main ingredients in Key Lime Pie that keeps the texture silky and smooth.

Don't discount condensed milk. This is a wonderful ingredient , especially for bakers and candy makers It gives a richness and creaminess to dishes and treats. Consider it in a new light. treat as you would any gourmet ingredient - with respect and fascination.