To Be A Better Cook

 One of the most often New Year's resolutions is be a better cook. Some sign up for classes. Other pore over cookbooks and websites. hoping they'll up their cooking game. Yet it's just as simple as making simple and little improvements. These can elevate a home chef from a novice to an expert.

Newcomer Tanya Sychynsky, a regular editor at the New York Times cooking section created this article and tips in a how to for yesterday's New York Times Food section.She offers a variety of good advice that makes  for more efficient cooking and running a kitchen. She uses another contributor Samin Nosrat's Whatever You Want Soup. I've done this adding leftover sauteed tomatoes to a tomato soup.It's taking butter and or olive oil. Chicken or pork can be added along with any leftover diced veggies. Try cubed celery, fennel, leeks , and winter squash to name a few. You could add corn for a corn chowder or potatoes too.Chef Nosrat also recommends adding one and a half pounds of boneless chicken too for a heartier potage. For leftover herbs and greens, think pasta with a creamy herb sauce. This is like an Alfredo sauce with the addition of kale, mustard greens broccoli rabe and or mature spinach . Add  a sprig of thyme or  oregano along with rosemary to give flavor. Another leftover dish is vegetable pajeon ,a Korean scallion panckae made with whatever veggies you have in the fridge. Add peppers and kale to a pancake made with flour and potato starch, There's also a dipping sauce made from soy  and ginger mixed with garlic and a pinch of granulated sugar.

Breakfast is an important meal too.There are recipes for slow made ones along with quick ones too. A classic one is Sarah DiGregorios' slow cooked oats.It can take six hours but you could do it the night before and microwave it. There is a savory side that adds chili crisp and, shredded cheddar and pickled red onions along with peanuts. There's also crumb;ed cooked microwaved bacon mixed with marmalade or a fun mix of banana chips and honey. There is the classic maple syrup and butter to fall back on. Yeqande Kemolafe supplies the quick breakfast version of breakfast burritos. These are filled with  fried refried beans and six eggs. Cumin and scallions add flavor along with shredded Montery Jack cheese. Add freshly sliced avocados and a drizzle of hot sauce. Serve immediately or wrap in foil to be reheated in a 400 degree Farenheit oven for about eight minutes. A fun addition would be a spicy and hot cup of Mexican hot coca to round it out.

A good cook learns . Anyone can become one by learning how to be efficient in the kitchen. It takes little time and little effort.

The Versatile Shortbread Recipe

 One cookie is a Christmas baking must - shortbread,This Scottish classic is a tasty nibble, full of buttery goodness. What makes it even better is that the recipe is versatile. Yiu can add other ingredients to make it different and even savory. it's an amazing recipe in any home baker's arsenal.

Regular contributor , food stylist and chef Yewande Komolafe wrote about this delcious bite in today's new York Times Food section. She gives the basic recipe and six variations incluiding the hot recipe this season, the savory shortbread. This article is a keeper and perfect for those holiday parties and cookie exchanges. The basic remedy is a blend of two cups of unsalted butter which gives the dough its' rich flavor and deep golden color along with five cups of flour, two cups of sugar , two large egg yolks and two teaspons of kosher salt such as Diamond Crystal. You can double or triple the recipe if you want to make three of the recipes. The first one is a fancy but simple one. It's taking the crumbled shortbread dough and rolling it into logs.each log surface is brush with egg white and then rolled into colored sugar spread out on a sheet of parchment paper. They're then sliced and baked at 350 degrees Farenheit for twenty two minutes. This is a good way of using red and green for a festive, fancy cookie.A different spin is spiced chocolate marbled shortbread. This is a yummy mix of the two flavors enhanced with ginger and citrus zest.

Shortbread can also be the base of bars and rounds. Chef Komolafe has a great recipe for strawberry jam bars with cardamom. This is taking the shortbread dough and first adding cardamon to it. The dough is sep

arated.One half will be pressed into a cookie pan while the other is refrigerated. Any kind of fruit jam  like strawberry or raspberry is layered on to it . It's then topped off lemon zest  chopped nuts like almonds, walnuts or pistacchios. The reserved dough is crumblred on top of this and it's then baked for thirty five minutes. It's then cooled for half an hour and dusted with confectioner's sugar. Another yummy treat peppermint patty shortbreads. This is using the recipe as a base and topping it off with mounds of homemade marshmallow and homemade chocolate ganache. Crushed pepper mint candy decorates it.It's a labor intensive recipe with the mounds resembling that cookie classic Pinwheels, but so worth it. An easier recipe is the shortbread combined with salted caramel and peanut butter. The unicorn in all of this is the savory shortbread.Chives, black pepper and cheddar are added and the dough is cut into strips..They're bent and then baked. Imagine these topped with egg salad or devilled ham.

Shortbread is the most versatile of all the cookie doughs. Try it in it's classic style, savory or mixed with other ingredients. All are delicious.