Honoring A Great Down Home Chef

 Dolly Parton was incredibly unique.She was a talented songwriter and singer, penning two of the music era's great hits Jolene  and I Will Always Love You in one session.She was also an amazing philanthropist , donating books to children around the world. Yet she was true to her hillbilly roots and was a great cook and baker. She could create some of the best sweet and savory dishes.

In the last few years she created cakes mixes that were part store bought and mostly homemade. There had to be a stick of really butter added for that homemade buttery taste. There were homey flavors like strawberry and caramel, along with chocolate and coconut.There were buttery already made frostings to add too so there was no need to whip up a bowl. Her Tennessee roots shone through with her buttermilk biscuit and cornbread mixes. Try her banana nut muffin and cinnamon swirl crumb cake - perfect for late summer desserts. There is also a pancake mix with maple syrup in a guitar shaped bottle! There are frozen dessert cups too. She created dessert cups in such yummy combos as banana cream cookies and custard,vanilla shortbread in custard and chocolate mud pie cups.There is also an original whipped cheesecake with a bit of buttermilk added and a molasses graham cracker crust. There is also a decadent chocolate pie with a flaky crust and a dusting of confectioner;s sugar on top. Families will love her peach cobbler with its' brown sugar soaking the fruit,.Serve this for holiday desserts to remember this down home baker.

 Dolly also gave her savory recipes too.The single serve dinners are perfect for someone with a busy lifestyle but craves good old fashioned dinners.  You can buy her shrimp and grits along with her chicken fried steak.The first is a perfect blend of spicy seafood and creamy grits. The chicken fried steak is batter dipped and served with green beans and homestyle mashed potatoes. Many love her  fried chicken and baked Mac. This combo has a cheese sauce infused with buttermilk for a nice tang while the chicken is really tender nuggets.There is a following for her  beef pot roast that has equal amounts if beef and veggies in a tasty gravy.Of course you have her chicken and dumplings.This is creamy gravy covering chicken and homemade dumplings for a tasty hot lunch  or dinner. Her beloved DOllywood also featured some of her favorites too.The parks Front Porch Cafe features  breaded pork chops smothered din bacon and served with succotash and mashed potatoes. Aunt Granny's Cafe offers fried catfish and friedn okra along with black eyed peas and turnip greens.

Dolly Parton devoted her whole life to music.Yet she could have easily devoted her life to cooking and baking. Her recipes, like her songs will live forever.

Old Fashioned Foods

 Would our great grandparents eat what we would eat? What would we think of their favorites?Are there any foods that have lasted through the decades and still served today? Yes!

One of the most endearing and tastiest is the simple grahhan cracker. This sweet cracker began in the mid 1800's' by Sylvester Graham, the father of vegetarianism. They were and still are made with graham flour a densely milled whole wheat kind,complete with the hull and the germ. This creates a healthier digestive biscuit.It may have been the first "cookie many American kids ate. Now it's still a sweet snack and was reinvented as the base for s'mores first made in 1927 by the American Girl Scouts. Now home chefs also use it for pie crusts, weather it's for ice cream pie or a cream pie .Crushed graham crackers mixed with butter and sugar are also the base or crust for cheesecake too.is it still a healthy snack. Yes!It's much better than a sleeve of any kind of cookie and perfect for someone on a limited diet.Another sweet snack that  our grandparents loved is tapioca. Every home chef in decades past had her (yes her. It was always women in charge for the family kitchen back in the day ) had her own spin on the recipe. It's made with the exotic cassava root.Ot's been around for millennia  having first been made by indigenous Brazilians.  The pudding itself is made with "pearls" beads filled with the cassava.They;'re cooked with eggs as any custard is.Vanilla is added to bring out the cassava's flavor. Custards are another ls fashioned dessert that's still being eaten today.

Some foods can cause shivers.Pigs knuckles or hocks were a big deal in German family dinners . SOme German clubs like the deutch Club in Clark New Jersey, has it as part of its menu during their summer festivals and Ocktoberfests.They're braised  , depending  on the family oven crisped resulting in a crispy crackly skin.It's served with potato salad or sauerbraten. Brains and livers are other meats that our grandmothers had all sorts of recipes for. These fell out of favor when people preferred just eating different cuts.There are some who still make the classic liver and onions which is calf liver cooked in some kind of oil or fat and then onions are added to it. Some cultures like Moroccan  do still make it as do the Venetians in Italy. It's taken from a much older Roman recipe where the liver is cooked with figs. It serves with white polenta. Are there any brains recipes? Yes, there looks like some tasty ones, mostly fried and heavenly seasoned. Yet just try getting kids and most adults  to eat them . The answer would be a resounding no followed by leaving the table.

Some foods like graham crackers go on. Some like brains and livers don't Tastes change as do the population.

Ovenless Cooking

 warm weather means a warm house. Factor a hot stove into that and you have an unbearably hot and uncomofrtable kitchen. Yet thereare ways to still have a hot fresh meal, Use your air fryer, Insta-Pot or crockpot for cooked or baked meals and treats.

One of the best inventions ever for the kitchen is the air fryer. This is great during those hot steamy days. You don;'t have to light the grill or turn on the stove. Hamburgers and hot dogs can easily be cooked and crisped in this.They're still juicy but with an extra crunchiness that just makes them sing. Use your air fryer for seafood too. You can easily make fried shrimp or even lobster tails in it. This is perfect if you're dying for a summery treat. The air fryer is good for snacks like onion rings and French fries to go with those burgers and dogs. Some also have the room to bake. You can bake anything and everything from pancakes to brownies. You just need parchment papper cut to fit the size of the basket. Another plu is that the  air fryer is an easy clean up, I'ts just the basket that needs to be washed and dried. That's it. No pots or pans. No messy stove top or oven interior to wipe and clean.

Insta-Pots and crock pots are your friends during steamy days too. Everything is basically a "dump and go" , perfect for when you're too hot and tired to cook an elaborate meal. Family can enjoy a tasty baked mac without having to turn on the oven.It's also great for baking lasagna. This winter classic can easily be created during a heat wave.Both Insta-Pots and crockpots are good for simmering scatch soups too. If you're craving a homemade celery or spinach one make it in either ones of these. Freeze the leftovers if you want a quick hot lunch or light supper. Chili is another perfect dish for these cookers and you can use ingredients form your garden like tomatoes , peppers and onions as the summer harvest season progresses.Not surprisingly your Insta-Pot is a bonus for creating desserts too. A  chocolate lava cake is an easy bake in one. Even cheesecake, usually reserved for Christmas or New Year's can be a summery dessert thanks to a bake in one. Add some fresh picked blueberries or strawberries on top. Again  like with the air fryer, these are easy to clean. No hassle. No mess. No worries.

Let your oven rest during this warm days. Use your airfryer, Insta-Pot or crockpot to cook and bake. It' makes for an easier time and a cooler kitchen.

Holiday Desserts Go Big Go Sweet

Forget the cookie board at any holiday party. These are sweet little ornaments but they're 're not as substantial as a cake or trifle. A hearty holiday dinner requires a hearty slice or scoop of dessert. There are some great endings that can top off any turkey or ham dinner.

Alison Roman, a regular Food section contributor wrote about these amazing and toothsome desserts in today's New York Times issue. She gives us four holiday desserts - strangely without the yummy Buche de Noel, the chocolate sponge roll made to look like a decorated forest log. Still , her choices work  - not just finishing a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meal, but also at New Year's Eve party and New Year's Eve buffets. What is great about them is that they're fuss free. No special icings. No fancy decorations or split time baking where you have lower or raise  oven temps. They're kind of old fashioned recipes with an updated twist. Ms. Roman creates a salted chocolate pudding with a whipped sour cream. This is a homemade one with bittersweet chocolate  and cocoa powder, six whole eggs and heavy cream to give it richness and flavor. As with countless other homemade puddings  cornstarch is the thickener. The pudding would be good on it's own , but it's layered with sour cream blended with heavy whipping cream and any kind of snap cookie. You could use plain Christmas sugar cookies, but there are also ginger snaps and those famed chocolate wafers. These are layered to create a memorable trifle. Eat it the day you make it so you get the crunch of the cookies.

The other desserts include a sunny cheesecake with an easy graham cracker or vanilla wafer crust. The cake is enriched with your choice of either full fat  Greek yogurt or sour cream. Juice is added and it can be either grapefruit, lemon, lime or orange. Grapefruit would be a nice original touch.The zest is also used for more zing. There may be some leftover filling so you may want to create mini cheesecakes with it. Citrus slices and flaky sea salt  are scattered on the finished product for a festive look.For a fun  treat, try the Boozy Cherry Walnut Tart. This is a treat topped with bourbon soaked cherries and chopped walnuts. The crust is the classic butter one, that tastes like a spritz cookie. The filling is toasted walnuts, butter and one large egg. Flour binds us so it will have a cookie like quality to it. Top with more walnuts and cherries. It would be great served with vanilla ice cream. Some traditionalists will want gingerbread. Liven up the dessert table with Ms. Roman's Golden Ginger Cake. This is a mix of freshly grated ginger and cinnamon. The cake is made a sunny yellow with the addition of turmeric, It's also very buttery and sweet  thanks to the addition of 3/4 of a cup of butter (!) and molasses.Buttermilk mixed with either coconut or vegetable oil is added for a silkier batter. A cake like this only requires a blob of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream to highlight the spices.

Keep the cookies for tins and holiday teas. Create satisfying puddings, tarts cheesecakes and cakes. These are definitely  great endings to any Christmas ham and turkey, filling and delicious as the main courses themselves..

Your Holiday Cooking Guide

Hard to believe we're entering the start of the holiday cooking season.It's a time when even the most experienced home chefs panic. Don't. There's a guide to help you navigate any big meal fromThanksgiving to Christmas, from New Year's to just a big Sunday dinner with family and friends.

The New York Times put out this special guide in their Wednesday paper today. It's separate from the  Food section but it has some of the best recipes from the Times recipe book plus a day to day guide on getting ready. It is a four-page fold out and the recipes can be cut out if need be. To be honest you'll want to keep this intact.it is very handy.It features the classic turkey, sides, and pies.What I like is the timeline in which to prepare. It makes planning for Thanksgiving a dream and can be altered to fit any prep time before a big meal. It starts with making a guest list which will give an idea of how big a bird to buy.A second and definite must do is deciding whether to have a sit-down dinner or buffet., depending on the number of guests.One of the smartest suggestions is taking stock of kitchenware along with the oven. Are there enough pots and pans for the sides? Is the oven big enough for the bird you want? You may have to get two turkeys or have a diner roast your bird. Two weeks before , check t see if you need tablecloths . extra glasses or even a gravy boat. Also The Times recommends writing up two shopping lists; one for perishable goods and one for non perishables. A week before it's time to make the pie crusts and cranberry sauce along with cleaning out the fridge and freezer to make room.

The recipes come from the best. Julia Moskin, Melissa Clark, Sam Sifton and Kim Severson have contributed as well as the famed Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey. Emily Weinstein and  Amanda Hesser have also given recipes as well. Kim Severson gives us a dry brined turkey that's punched up with white wine.Gravy is a must and Sam Sifton has a good one.It too has a half cup of white wine along with the turkey fat, flourn and turkey or chicken stock.Of course, there has to be stuffing, also coming from Mr. Sifton.It has apples and chestnuts along with a cornucopia of herbs and spices. A dash of hot sauce is added for kick. Every holiday meal needs sides and there are some tasty ones here. Guests and family will flip over the Hassselback potatoes made rich with both Gruyere and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Even the most adamant Brussels sprout haters will think twice about them being served with heavenly pancetta.Thanksgiving is all about the dessert and there are three good recipes to choose from (Or you can make all three).Melissa Clark gives us her double apple pie which is not only spiced with cinnamon but with ginger and nutmeg.She also has a brandied pumpkin pie given a kick with the liqueur and enriched with whole cream and three eggs. There is also Craig Claiborne's cheesecake, a great ending to any meal.

Thanksgiving and any holiday meal should not be a time for panic or fear. Follow The New York Times guide and recipes and watch the big day breeze by.it'll be not only a time of giving Thanks but also for good eating!

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Junior's Home Cooking At Your House

Junior's Restaurant is one of New York's and Brooklyn's best known landmarks/ The restaurant started , over sixty years ago is famed for its' variety of creamy home made cheese cakes and home made comfort foods. Now it's come out with a cookbook, perfect for the restaurant's fans as well as those who appreciate a good old fashioned dish/

The aithors are Alan Rosen, the grandson of the founder Harry Rosen and the third generation of owners and Beth Allen who has written two other cookbooks on Juniors. Those solely concentrated on cheesecakes and desserts. This has the whole menu, from appetizers to breads, from main meals to salads and sweets. The dishes are varied from sophisticated Asian chicken salad to the comfort food homeyness of meat loaf and veal cutlet Parmigiana. What I love about this book is that it even has the recipes for holiday meals like roasted turkey and honey glazed hams. The sides are oozing with pure flavor and comfort, like the creamed spinach and mashed candy sweet potatoes.

Of course Junior's is known for its' cheesecake and treats. Mr.Rosen and Ms.Allen don;t disappoint here. There are truly delicious recipes for a cheesecake tart and Little Fellas, mini cheesecakes with a butter cream / cream cheese frosting. Cupcakes steal the show too, especially the recipes for gluten free peanut butter ones and s'mores, chocolate cupcakes with a marshmallow filling and frosting. Pies are another big deal.Junior's has Key Lime meringue , cherry crumb and chocolate cream. All three would make a nice ending to any holiday dinner. There is also a chocolate babka loaf, a wonderful addition to any weekend brunch.

Junior's Home Cooking is like bringing the famed eatery home. The recipes  are the restaurant's best dishes and desserts that anyone could easily make.It's great for fans and foodies.