Healthy Summer Eating

 After a weekend of celebrating - and still some celebrating it;s time to look at good , healthy eating. Tis is the perfect time of year for it. There are so many fruits and veggies to use.It;s impossible NOT to eat nutritiously .

Look to the fruits of the season for dessert. A simple peach or plum is the perfect breakfast on the go.  Slice them into the latest morning craze = overnight oats. Put the oats in a small container with enough milk. These will soak the grains until they;re a pudding like mash. The oats themselves are healthy and using plant, nut or low fat milk also adds toteir nutritional value. Slice any often stone or pitted fruits in them along with berries  such as strawberries,raspberries and blueberries Sweeten with all natural honey or agave. Hot oatmeal can benefit from fresh fruit slices as well along with cold cerial such as Rice Krispies  and Cheerios. Even a meal as decadent as brunch can be made healthy. Think the egg substitute Just Egg with such fresh veggies as spinach and bell peppers in a tasty omelet Whole wheat Crepes can be made and filled with both sauteed veggies for a savory main  course or fresh fruit and Greek yogurt for the dessert. Serve with mocktails for added fun.

Lunches and dinners can be made with the harvests of the season. The Spanish cold soup gazpacho is the perfect lunch or dinner course.It is so delicious that you'll want to put in on your meal rotation two to three times a week.It's a blended mix f tomatoes, green bell peppers, cucumber ,olive oil and red wine vinegar.Chill it for two to three hours in the fridge before serving .I;ts great with a crusty whole wheat bread but also crackers work too. Another favorite veggie dish is ratatouille. This Southern French classic starts with sliced eggplants, tomatoes , onions and garlic. I prefer the stovetop method where the veggies are cooked in a skillet in olive oil plus a tablespoon of the plant butter Melt. I also sub in zucchini - which is in abundance right now for the eggplant since the eggplant sometimes has a bitter taste. Do use fresh picked herbs to flavor this. It goes well with a crusty bread but try a whole wheat boule wit it to sop up the sauces.Any stuffed veggie is a good lunch or dinner. Us brown rice and spicing for fillings for tomatoes , peppers and mushrooms

It;s time to eat healthy again.It;s easy to do in the summer. The harvests are in full force right now and it's time to take advantage of them.

Your Culinary Year Make It Your Best

 With a new year comes new posssibilities and hopes, especially in cooking and baking . Make this the year to try new recipes and ingredients. Be curious.  Be adventurous, but most of all be fun.

One way to try new dishes is to eat out.It's one thing to try recipes you see on the web it's another to experience them at an eatery. You can ask the server or chef what's in it  and how to create it.If the chef is mum with his ro her recipe then carefully look at it. How was it cooked? Broiled? Flambeed? What were the spices used? Did you detect a hint of red wine ro brandy in the sauce? What about the sides? Were they a simple vegetable sauteed in garlic and oil or did they come with their own sauce?Also think about the cuisines you haven't tried yet. Do you want to cook Szechuan? Or French? Do ants climbing a tree or creating scratch crepes appeal to you? if so , then tart cooking. Make sure you have the appropriate gear such as a wok or crepe maker (although a skillet pan can also do the trick for crepes). Do you want to try your hand at creating your own recipes? You can. There's nothing holding you back.

The same philosophy applies to cookbooks. Buy what interests you if you ddin;t receive a book on it for the holidays. I recently picked up The Great British Baking Show  recipe book at the Clark Shop Rite.

 it was intriguing and I thought why not.Hopefully I'll have the time to bake a few treats fromthis little volume.I do want to try Mary Berry's cheese straws as well as her zesty orange filled Jaffa cakes., a British classic. The breads are a must. I like the idea of a warm homemade bread slathered with butter and jam. It's challenging myself along with discovering tasty recipes I can also make for family and friends.

This is the year to have fun and challenge your cooking and baking skills.it could be adding a new spice or trying a new cuisine.It could even be making up a new recipe. Have fun. Be daring this year.

An International Mother's Day

 Tomorrow Mom will probably be greeted with the usual homemade brunch. There may be eggs and bacon. Toast will be there.Maybe it'll be capped off with a mimosa. Yet why not give the lady of the day something extraordinary? Take her on a culinary tour of the world!

Instead of the usual breakfast, look to France and crepes. Think about a simple folded one with some butter and sugar. Some may see this as a chic little pancake, but it's much more. It's a delicate batter made up of eggs,melted  butter whole milk, water and flour. The batter is put into the fridge for an hour or two. This ensures a lighter , crisper crepe. It's then pouring the batter into a lightly oiled pan and cooking for two minutes. It can be served with brandy butter or just lemon juice and granulated sugar. For a savory start to the day look south of the border to Mexico. Huevos rancheros are a hearty way to begin a fun filled day.It's basically a sunny side up egg served on a  warmed tortilla and topped with beans and warmed salsa.  Serve with a big margarita mocktail. Shakshouka, a spicy egg dish from the Middle East and North Africa is another interesting breakfast option. This is poached eggs simmering in a tomato and onion based sauce. Various spices such as paprika, cumin and chili powder are added.Garlic and green peppers also give this flavor. Serve with warmed pita wedges for a truly unique Mother's Day brunch.

Lunch and dinner can also be just as special and just as international. Choley , an Indian chickpea curry that also goes by the name chana masala is an excellent meal choice. One of the best recipes for it comes from the famed Brass sisters, Marilynn and Sheila from their Heirloom Cooking With The Brass Sisters. : Recipes You Remember and Love. Chickpeas, whole tomatoes, chopped onions and potatoes are cooked in a tantalizing sauce of garam masala cumin seeds, curry and chili powder, You can add spinach too if you want and sub in another kind of bean for the potatoes. It's an easy cook that takes less than half an hour. Ethiopian  cooking has given us some savory and memorable dishes. Try the country's vegan lentil stew redolent with berbere spice.It's too late to order this from Amazon but you can easily make it at home. It's blending paprika, cayenne, ground ginger, and fenugreek , along with nutmeg, ginger and ground cloves. The lentils are cooked in spiced butter or oil ( you can use the berbere spice for it) along with tomato paste, chopped onions and a mix of freshly minced ginger and garlic. Cilantro is also added for flavor and color. Once cooked you can serve it with naan or pita. You could also make teff bread,a kind of crepe made with teff flour , to serve with it as the Ethiopians do.

Get away from the traditional Mother's Day fare. Try something other than the typical American dishes. Go to France or India.Visit Mexico, the Middle East or Ethiopia. Make Mom's day a truly international one,

Vegan Food Porn The Best Vegan Cookbook

Mention vegan cuisine and most people will make a face. To them it's a restrictive diet full of blah and bland dishes and desserts.The truth is it really isn't. These days a meatless and dairyless is not only easy to create but downright delicious, thanks to a new cookbook.

Vegan Foodporn :100  Easy and Delicious Recipes (Lotus Publishing 2020) is by vegan Bianca Zapatka who also has a vegan blog has written this entirely delicious book . Vegans will rejoice at the wide and tasty variety along with the new spins and twists on classics. The book starts off with what a vegan kitchen needs.. Ms Zapatka explains why ingredients such as flax and chia seeds are needed and their use There is also an important list of plant based protein sources such as soya and broccoli and lesser known ones as canihua, a cousin of quinoa, and spirulina.There are also list of fresh ingredients with long and short shelf lives. The first chapter is Basics which as recipes for such needed ingredients as vegan mozzarella, vegan mayonnaise along with nut butter and nut milk. (although you could use the commercial brands if you don't have the time to make it yourself). The chapters are divided into Breakfasts Main Meals, Finger Food, Vegan Classics, Light Meals, Cake, and. Dessert. The index contains a grams to cup conversion.

I love this book and plan on making many of the recipes.They truly are amazing!!!! There is a French toast sandwich that looks yummy along with breakfast wraps with vegan egg salad. The French toast rolls made with just white bread , apples and spices is another have to try. There are unusual spins as with the stir fried gnocchis and avocado pasta that is linguine with an avocado sort of pesto. For fun there are the finger foods such as the ever fun potato wedges with guacamole. Pizza lovers will go mad over the pizza toast with vegan mozzarella made just with bread slices. Burrito samosas full of arborio rice, vegan cheese and sweetcorn would be perfect for dinner or a small backyard party.As anyone will tell you go vegan means missing out on the truly tasty such as wings. Yet there's  a good recipe for BBQ cauliflower wings that gets them as crunchy as the real thing with a tangy sweet homemade sauce.  A phenomenal dish would be savory crepes with spinach, guacamole and garlic mushrooms. Dessert lovers will go crazy for such recipes as Black Forest gateau rich with, vegan whipped cream cocoa powder and cherry compote along with strawberry and cream layer cake., made light with mineral water. There is cookie dough  made with the surprising ingredient of chickpeas and Linzer cookies , a take on the classic Linzer torte.

Vegans will rejoice at Vegan Foodporn: 100 Easy and Delicious Recipes. It is packed with great recipes for all sorts of meals from breakfasts to snacks. Get the book and say goodbye to the myth of bland and boring vegan food.

Squash Flowers A Family Classic

This is a sad day - it being my Mom's birthday and the first without her. I was just going to give  one of her great recipes and that was it. This morning I opened up the New York Times Food section as I always do,and was both shocked and surprised. Yottem Ottolenghi had written about squash flowers and there it was - a variation of our family's fried squash flowers.!!!It was the strangest case of coincidence. His call for the squash flowers to be stuffed with cheese and walnuts Our recipe is much simpler.

About the squash flowers if you're growing squash you will have them.They're a bright apricot -orange and kind of resemble orchids Pick them very early (around 7 AM) before they close for the day. Once they're picked wash them thoroughly to get rid of any dirt and bugs and split them open. Leave to dry on a paper towel. Do the same for the ones from your local farmer's market.

The batter
My Mom always said it was the "one"rule", one cup water to one cup flour mixed in with one egg.Just that simple.It's then just whisking everything together and seasoning with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Once that's done add olive or vegetable oil to cover the bottom of a skillet. You can add a knob of butter as we do for a buttery flavor.

Dip  flowers into the batter until they are completely coated Fry until golden and crispy on both sides. Drain and serve with a slice of lemon. The left over batter can be used for crepes which is what we ate after the flowers.

This was one of my Mom's favorite recipes, from her Piedmomtese grandmother. She would want everyone to enjoy eating them as she did.

Dhosas A Tasty Spin On Crepes

Dosas are one of the fun foods in Indian cuisine. They're light and crispy, without the heaviness of say a curry or paneer. These crepes can be filled with anything and make for a perfect dinner or even a snack.

Melissa Clark wrote about them and tested out a recipe in her A Good Appetite Column.They are a variation on the FRench crepe, being made with lmetils and rice. Unlike them, there's no special pan to create them. Any cast iron  skillet or griddle will do. Dosas do require a lot of prep time and devotion.There will be a trip to the local Indian market to purchase white urad dal  - a type of black lentil that's been split and husked along with Ragi flour or malted finger millet flour. Home chefs will also need frozen shredded coconut and curry leaves also available at Indian market. It's then soaking, grinding and fermenting for twenty-four hours.It's basically rinsing the rice and urad dal in cold water and then transferring it to a large bowl or container. Fenugreek is added and then cold filtered water . The grains are left to soak at room temperature for twenty-four hours  before cooking.It's then drained afterwards, then transferred to a powerful blender or food processor and blended with filtered water until a thin runny batter is formed. Rice flour or ragi millet flour is whisked in until the mixture is the consistency of pancake batter. The fermented batter will bubble and rise up..

Making dosas is exactly like making crepes. The first few won't come out perfect. There's an old saying about throwing the first few crepes to the dog. It does take a knack according to Anita Jaisinghani of the famed Indian restaurant Pondicheri in New York City. She recommends not using too much oil to fry them along with setting them on the griddle for a heartbeat before spreading the batter out to the pan's edges.Use a measuring cup's bottom and not a spoon for spreading. This creates, golden, crunchy exteriors. Don't worry if they're not thin,. The thicker they are the better to taste the rich  lentil flavor. Ms. Clark fills her with  a pumpkin seed chutney and flavored mustard greens. The chutney is super easy to make. It's cooking the frozen shredded coconut and onion in coconut oil.. Mustard seeds and curry leaves are also added for intense flavor. Ginger and cayenne are also added for the classic Indian heat we all know so well.Pumpkin seeds are add for crunch .

Dosas are a traditional Indian dish that's tasty and traditional. They are labor intensive but worth it.l Try them for a taste of the fiery yet delicious./

Curry On A Cold Night

This is the time of the Indian festival Holi, the festival where brightly colored powders are gleefully chucked at friends and family. It's also a day of fasting and feasting. You don't have to be Inidan, though to enjoy curry and naan. Indian cooking is the perfect antidote for the blustery March night.

Many home chefs balk at trying the recipes of the Subcontitient. Yet, curry is an easy dish that once tasted will be a family favorite. Try a chicken one that just had chicken strips, diced onions and curry powder. The last can be bought at your local grocery, in the seasonings section. It's just heating the onion first in olive oil and then adding the meat and curry powder. It is a long process, taking about forty-five minutes to fully cook. Another caveat is keeping the burner on a low flame because curry powder burns easily. You can also create a vegan version by subbing the meat with traditional vegetables such as cauliflower and potatoes along with onions and carrots. Turmeric, that health booster is also added for more color and flavor. For a spicier dish, add red pepper flakes. If you like the dish and plan to make it often, then consider creating your own curry powder.It's dried chili blended with the seeds of coriander, fennel and cumin. Dried mace,  white pepper and turmeric round it out. Store in an airtight jar at room temperature. it can be made a week in advance.

Tikka masala is another tasty Indian dish.The chicken is usually roasted in a tandoor oven however a regular one will do. It's a little more involved than a simple curry. You first have to marinate chicken chunks in a mix of yogurt and lemon juice spiced with cinnamon,cumin, cayenne  ginger and black pepper. The chunks should be soaked for a good hour in order for the meat to be perfectly seasoned . They're then threaded on skewers and roasted on a stove top grill.As these are cooking the sauce is made.. Again, it's a blood warming mix of cream, butter and jalapenos blended with tomato sauce, garlic. Cumin and paprika are also added to intensify the color and flavor, A fun weekend meal is a plate of dosa pancakes,These are a blend of plain flour and bicarbonate of soda flavored with mustard seeds. Dosas are like crepes, meant to be filled with all sorts of delicious stuffings.One of the most popular is potato masala. Potatoes are combined with tomatoes and onions  and singed up with turmeric and curry leaves or powder if you can't get the leaves. Cauliflower and shredded cabbage is another tasty combo cooked with chaat masala, a dried spice that also has dried mango in it.

These blustery march nights can be bone chilling. Warm up with tasty Indian dishes that will warm you to your toes. They're tasty and flavorful along with being chock full of good for you spices and ingredients.

My Year To Fly

Every home chef needs to grow. I know I do and that will be one of my many New Year's resolutions . What will I do? What will I try?

Thanks to a new oven, I will be baking a lot. I've already baked Ghiradelli's Double Chocolate Brownies.They came out a little too gooey , so hopefully with more practice I'll be baking much more firmer ones. With baking comes decorating so I am definitely going to be honing my icing - hello again buttercream - along with practicing rose and leaf skills. Savory baking is also going to be high on my list. I want to experiment with strata, and rediscover the luscious leeks on toast ( double yum) and my Swabian zweibelkugen or onion pie (again double yum) a dense quiche like confection, rich with eggs, cream and onions. Homemade pizza will also be making quite a few appearances as well.

Another must is rediscovering roasts, hams, chickens, turkeys and London broils. It's going to be wonderful, with crunchy, crisp skins and slices of tender meat.There will also be sides  that will be cooked ( and all of these will be shown as Foodie Pantry how tos).I want to relearn how to make scalloped potatoes and baked Mac with bacon.As with cuisines, since French and Filipino are going to be big this upcoming year I want to expand into that, especially in creating the perfect crepe.

Every home chef and baker should resolve to expand their culinary arsenal.I know I will.I get to grow which makes for a better cook - or so I hope!

Crepes Celeste A Taste Of France

Food court food is just that , your usual mix of tacos, burgers and pizza.If you're lucky there is more exotic fare like teriyaki or spaghetti. Luckily there's an upstart in the group, Crepes Celeste. It a breath of fresh French air for the palate.

Crepes Celeste brings French crepes to the masses.Forty years ago most malls and downtowns had A Magic Pan Restaurant This chain was great. They offered all sorts of lunch, dinner and dessert crepes. along with Salad Nicoise. They continued until 2005 when they were bought out by a company called Lettuce Entertain You,,They disappeared  and anything even vaguely Gallic disapeared from the landscape. Crepes, both savory and sweet were now hard to find. Luckily Celeste's came in and brought two favorites, crepes and macarons. The creators combined American flavors with artisanal French city and country cooking,For crepe lovers this is a dream come true. There are fresh veggies that can be combined with meats and cheeses.Celeste's even offers a breakfast crepe that you can order at any time.There are also turkey crepes as well along with one based on a roast beef sandwich.There is even one with a Mexican twist to it and one with pesto. The sweet crepes feature the classic Parisian street crepe with sugar and butter topped with a squeeze of lemon.There is also a clever Gallic homage to  s'mores, full of marshmallows, dark chocolate and Graham cracker crumbs.

I have tried both their ham and cheese along with the vegetable one. Both have made me their number one fan. The crepes are made fresh, right in front of the diner, They are the traditional  crepes of Brittany in northwestern France where the dish orginated. They are the perfect bed for the ingredients.I tried their ham and cheese, good and the vegetarian even better. I love this last. A smear of creamy ricotta is slathered on the crepe , then fresh sauted  veggies, such as eggplant, onions and tomatoes isthen laid on top. The crepe is then deftly folded into thirds so that the filling is safely tucked inside. A decorative blob of more ricotta is put on top (the ham had a curl of extra ham on it) with a squiggle of cooked pepper. The flavors are so perfect together, the cheese's creaminess mixes with the tang of all the veggies cooked together. The accompanying slad of just romaine and shredded carrot was also perfect, especially with the sublime French dressing. This week I am adding one of the dessert crepes for dessert.

Celeste Crepes brings back the return of Gallic fare to the malls .It is a breath of l'air fraiche to a landscape  full of burgers and tacos. Try one and enjoy the sophisticated simplicity of it

Girls NIght In

It's Saturday night and you know what that means - a round of drinks, yummy food and even yummier dishing . However the bar and restaurant scene can be a bit too noisy - and you never know who's sitting a booth or table away. That's when it's time to bring the party home for a girl's night in.

Of course there will be drinks (but as the hostess be aware that you'll be to blame if there's any drinking and driving. Set a designated driver before hand or just let them sleep over if they've had too much). Theme the drinks with what you'll be serving. Margeritas are always served with Mexican food but you can also make mojitos too.Chili is the easiest dish to make and serve, perfect for a frosty Saturday night.A more fun idea is to serve tacos or fajitas. This way those on a diet can make them the way they want to , without the sour cream and cheese. Have different toppings as well as a choice of meats and veggies too. A different dessert to serve is chocolate mole cake. This is a typical chocolate cake made with trimoline sugar filled with a mole ganache. Mole is a sauce made from different spices, peppers and unsweetened chocolate. You could even make chocolate  mole cupcakes with a Kahlua icing. Another idea is having a Hawaiian night  with roast pork and pineapple sliders or shrimp kabobs.Serve a big platter of Huli Huli chicken wings . These are wings that have been brushed with a marinade of pineapple juice . white wine, chicken broth along with ketchup and ginger. Worcester and soy sauces balance out the sweetness , tempering it with a savory flavor.With this have frosty pina coladas , complete with those little umbrellas.

A girl's night can easily be classy, sophisticated and French. Think about making dinner crepes.These can be bought in your local supermarket like Stop & Shop or the A&P however they're easy enough to make at home. There are only six ingredients, all purpose flour, eggs milk , water salt and butter for cooking. Crepe batter works best when it is chilled for exactly one hour. The fillings can be as simple as a Provencale ratatouille or as complex as a beef burgundy from Burgundy. Spinach and mushroom crepes are wonderful, especially served with a Gruyere or cheddar sauce. Have the crepes with an appropriate wine or if you haven't celebrated the New Year together, a good bottle of French champagne. If you want, you can save the crepes for dessert, turning them into a magnificent Crepes Suzette or a simple Parisian street crepe with lemon, butter and powdered sugar. Serve a French bistro style dinner first . This could be the delicious steak Diane, small filets of beef in a rich cognac sauce or tasty and diet friendly Salad Nicoise, , loaded with tuna, , hard boiled eggs,garlic and capers. Of course , a  girls night in could be a simple wine and cheese party. Have everyone bring their favorites or set out a cheese table, that also has fruit, cold cuts, sliced French bread and crackers

Nothing beats an evening full of eating and catting. Have a fun girls's night in at home. Make sure there's plenty of good food and drinks to go with all that good gossip..

Quick Elegance Crepes

There’s nothing like the quick elegance of crepes. They’re the easiest to make out of all th sophisticated dishes. There’s no worry about them falling or over broiling. There’s no fear that you’ve; over cooked or over whipped them. They can be made a variety of ways for a variety of moods. They’re just great to serve - especially during this holiday season.

Crepes are as French as the French themselves. The name derives from the Latin word crispa meaning curled. Crepes started out as buckwheat pancakes in the northwest province of Brittany where they ‘re still made today with the original recipe. They’re traditionally served with cider . For main courses their known as galettes or galettes samasine. Nowadays, crepes can be found all over France and you can easily buy them off street vendors from Paris to Lyon, from Toulouse to Marseilles and Nice.

Crepes are more or less easy to make. Take a batter made from flour, eggs, milk and a pinch of salt and spread thinly over a well oiled or buttered (I prefer butter) frying pan fro just a few minutes. Using a spatula , delicately turn the crepe over and cook the other side. How you stuff them is up to you. I like mine with cooked spinach and a simple béchamel sauce. Another way is just with a sprinkle of lemon and granulated sugar Parisian style. .

Crepes may be a snap to make but they’re also the most elegant. You can serve them as a treat for yourself or for an holiday party. Either way they’re just a great touch to everyday eating.

Crepes Light Summer Cooking

Crepes are one of the most wonderful foods tha t the French have given us. They are versatile and can be made for lunch , dinner and dessert. You can make them as decadent or as healthy as you want. Best if all they are easy enough ad quick enough to whip up - a plus for these warm early summer days.

Surprisingly crepes are not just solely French. The Italians have a version of it called crespella,. Tortillas are a variatoin of it and the Asians introduced Europe to their buckwheat ones. These are still a favorite in Brittany where they're washed down with dry cider. White flour was introduced to the recipe at the turn of the 19th Century. They're divided into two type, crepes sucree or sweet crepes or savory gallettes, crepes salee. The batter is an easy one. It's simply milk, eggs ,water and flour beaten together and then cooked for two minutes on a well oiled crepe or frying pan. You can also cook them on a griddle too.

What you stuff into a crepe is your business. I love the versatility of them. Add sugar to the batter and you have the perfect base for any dessert. I usually like mine the street vendor way as they sell them in paris. This is just a slightly sweetened crepe spritzed with a little lemon juice and dusted with confectioners sugar. You can also fill them with jam, fresh fruit or ice cream for a really special dessert and let's not forget crepes Suzettes. For savory crepes now is the time to fill them with fresh veggies , especially ratatouille. This is is one of the best savory stuffings, although spinach and mushroom is a close second. Crepes filled with seafood and then covered in a sherry bechamel sauce is a lovely and elegant summer dinner. You can so have fill them with chicken in a light tarragon sauce too or for heartier fare ham with a cheddar sauce.

Crepes are a wonderful meal to make during the hot weather. The prep and cooking time are next to nothing. The added bonus is you can have them anyway you like. Try them for a light lunch elegant dinner or unique dessert. They are toujours magnifique!!!!