Fun Fish Dishes

 Lenten fridays mean no meat. It does give home chefs a chance to experiment with seafood dishes. There are so many to choose from along with different kinds of fish. The recipes will make you forget steak and poultry for sure.

Melissa Clark's A Good Appetite columnin wednesday's New York Times Food section inspired me to think of other fish dishes. Her take on trout almondine was inspiring and easy to create. It's an easy cook with any white fish filet.The sauce is just a blend of lemon and butter with chives added in . serve ith wth smashed potatoes and white wine for a sophisticated intro to the weekend, The little ones may not like this so ther'es always fish and chips. You can easily buy already made filets along with Ore-Ida crinkle fries. However you  cna also make them in your air fryer. It's just creating a tasty batter out of breadcrumbs egg and flour. They could even help out in dredging the filets. . The fries cna be home made and air fried too. Use russet potatoes and give them an hout long cold water bath. This is to remove the starch and get them nice and crispy. They're then tossed in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.The kids will love these with ketchup but the folks can have it with a garlicky aioli sauce.

Of course a hot brothy chowder is a great Friday  night dinner. Clam chowder comes in three variations., Manhattan, New England and Rhode Island. This is the red chowder , livened up with tomato paste. A Spanish onion is added as are chopped celery stalks. Yet ti's the melange of spices that give this soup its' distinctive flavor.There are seven cloves of galric , a pinch of red pepper and the all important thyme. This last is what imparts an earthy herby flavor to the chowder.Bay leaf can be added as well. The New England variety still has the minced clams but the chowder is It has onions too but potatoes are added (some Manhattan clam chowders also have these ) along with bacon for extra flavor ,there is also celery and butter added as well. It's usually also made with chicken broth but you can sub in vegetable broth for a truly meatless soup. The Rhode Island variety is not a blend of the Manhattan and New England but rather its' own rich mxiture of quahog clams , celery , onion and bacon cooked with a splash of Worcester sauce and white pepper for zing.

A friday night fish dinner cna be just as exciting as a weeknight meat dinner. Try any of these for a great way to bring in the weekend. They're tasty and flavorful for a great supper in,

Community Gardens A Must Have

if anything this dark period in world history has taught us that we are , indeed a village, We reach out to others as they have reached out to help us. People are taking it further by creating communal gardens - with social distancing. It means produce for all in the community - a blessing in these times. It is definitely an inspiration .

C,J, Chivers, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and staff writer for The New York Times Magazine wrote this interesting and inspiring article in yesterday's New York Times Food section,. The subject is dear to Mr. Chivers heart because he and his family are practicing this with their neighbors in their Rhode Island neighborhood. Their Wakefield neighborhood, a mill town, located on the state's southern coast. now has vegetable gardens, not unlike the many Victory Gardens that were planted during World War II.Mr. Chivers and his neighbors discussed planting plans at a safe distance of three to six feet apart. His neighbors' kids , the Ackroyd family,turned over the soil while he and his sons seeded potatoes in their yard. All this comes naturally to him. His father was an expert garden and fruit tree tender in upstate New York. The Chivers had abundant bounties of tomatoes and beans along with thick bouquets of dill and basil. He raised seedlings in  their kitchen then transferred them to cold frames, bottomless boxes that are set over plants to protect them from adverse weather.His plants were fertilized with still warm horse manure , brought in garbage cans in the family's Volkwagon squareback.  He even grew lush cantaloupes which  attracted a local melon thief.

This  gardening is not new to Mr. Chivers and his family. Since they 've returned from Moscow and settled in the US, they too have followed the elder Chivers' example. They have not only coaxed food from the ground but also raised and hunted turkeys sea bass,porgies and even ducks and goats. They even butchered them on butcher's table set up in their basement. They now can also harvest clams on their riverside home (they're not far from the Atlantic) along with eggs from the hens they have.Anyone can be like the Chivers family. They started with ordering seeds from catalogs, beginning with arugula and spinach, hardy greens that can withstand cool New England Springs.They also bought cilantro,parsley , turnips , radishes and peas. Neighbors bought  seed potatoes, peas and greens, Yards were sectioned off and dirt turned over.The topsoil and compost was added. Their neighborhood even had their own nurse, Dena Ackroyd, a physician's assistant who tended to kids cuts and scrapes along with worrying about her father who had the Covid 19 virus. Any neighborhood can have community gardens. Just do it with distanced coordination and Zoom meetings between the neighbors. Don't plant double crops. Have variety so there can be a healthy cornucopia of  veggies and fruits.Remember to share with your food pantry if there's overage.

This is the time for sharing. What better way than to start a garden with their neighbors. It's a sense of giving and growing, much needed in these times.

Majoring in Food

It's that time of the year when kids are gearing up to go back to school, talking about hopes and dreams, and possibly careers and futures. Maybe some of those projections may revolve around food. Anything to do with it can be not only interesting , but fun  A career in it could lead to bigger and better things, wh.ether in cooking or management

Mention a career in food and most people automatically think restaurants.It is a good career but remember it's not just cooking,It's also having a sharp business acumen. Even small family owned pizzerias are more business oriented than food centered. It can be rewarding and fun. Many chefs, such as the famed Brit , Jamie Oliver, was born into it as was famed French chef, Jacques Pepin. Some, such as Gordon Ramsay, chose it, rising to phenomenal heights of celebrity. It does pay to go to a culinary school where you can also have other courses such as business and advertising, along with getting a bachelor's degree. One of the most famous is the CIA  - Culinary Institute of America.It's main base is New Hyde Park, the Hudson River town of FDR fame, about  a ninety minute drive north of New York City. The school has branched out to Napa Valley, California and San Antonio, Texas. There is also the New England Culinary School located in Montpelier , Vermont. If you want something a tad less intense then look into pastry schools. Some may also have a cooking curriculum as well. They aren't as expensive along with being quicker to finish. These are great for those in their thirties and even forties and looking to start a second or new career.

Universities such as Johnson and Wales, along with my alma mater, Fairleigh Dickinson University offered courses in restaurant management and hospitality. The first even offers a Bachelor's in Culinary Arts, with classes in world cuisine with an emphasis on Szechuan, French , Northern Italian and Thai cuisines, along with pastry courses. There are even wine and spirit courses too. They also have hospitality courses too at their campuses located throughout the country. Johnson and Wales has campuses in Providence, Rhode Island,North Miami, Denver and Charlotte , North Carolina. FDU,offers one of the oldest hospitality studies in the country. The very beautiful Madison campus (and, yes,I am prejudiced here - although I went to and teach at the Teaneck campus) houses the Chaine des Rotisseurs the oldest and largest food and wine society.dedicated to and promoting the culinary and hospitality arts.The school also has a 2000 foot demonstration lab as well, The famed Cornell University , alma mater of Bill Maher, is also known for its' extensive hospitality program also .On the West Coast there is Washington State University in Spokane and Everett , Washington and the  University of Nevada at Las Vegas the William H. Harrah School of Hospitlaity,, another four year school that has a very  good hospitality school. They also have student run restaurants on campus as well.

Majoring in food , namely the culinary arts and hospitality can be fun and rewarding. It's something to think about whether you're a high school senior or looking for a second career. The end result is a career that you'll love.