Chickpeas For Fall

 Is there anything more versatile than the simple chickpea?  Ir and its brine can be used in a number of differnt dishes from savory to sweet.This simple bean can be the star of the autumn table,

Mostly chickpeas are used in hummus with such summery flavors as basil and lemon.It can be remade for fall with the addition of sage or paprika. To have a pumpkin vibe sprinkle some toasted pumpkin or pepita seeds for decoration.It s usual for the spread to be served on pita bread but it can be toasted in an air fryer or grilled on a barbecue.Another great dish is falafel, fried chickpeas .Its usually made with yellow or white onions but chopped scallions also work. Use the last of th e summer s fresh herbs like cilantro or parsley for flavoring. You can add garlic if you want.If you're making  it for your tailgati g party, add a good pinch of cayenne pepper for some zing.Serve it with a minty tahini  dipping .sauce.

Chickpeas can have a sweet side too. Save their brine or aquafaba to make vegan meringues.These make for wonderful desserts, especially for brunches or get togethers.The cool fall weather is perfect for bak7ng meringues.They need chilly and no humidity to bake into crispy crackly rounds.Summer humidity turns the sweets into an icky taffy like goo.Keep in mind that the average bean also makes for some interesting treats. You can sub in chick pea flour for white,It has  more minerals and vitamins than the other.Like white flour it has a mild flavor that makes it more blendable with strong flavors as vanilla and chocolate.It can also be turned into a fudge popular in India and Pakestan.Cardomon adds spice to the sweet.

Chickpeas are usually consider a summer ingredient.However its perfect for fall  too.Try them in both savory and sweet dishes.

The Best Gift Homemade Food Baskets

 What do you gift foodies and gourmands for the holiday season? Try a homemade food basket. These are not only fun to give but fun to make. Even better is that they can be tailored to the person's likes.

The first thing to do is figure out how many you;re going to make and what each recipient's tastes are.ONce these are established then head to your local dollar or craft sote and pick up wicker baskets. Buy ribbon to wrap around the baskets and if you want buy some fake holly and berries or put a candy cane or two in front for a more restive look. As for wrapping the entire basket, consider buying holiday Saran wrap that comes in red and green tints.(if you can;t find itat your local grocery store, Amazon has the rolls for fifteen dollars). Now it's time to think about what to put in. Pizza lovers would probably like a bag of bread flour, olive oil , pizza sauce and a pizza cutter. You can add a pack of pepperoni along with a tin of olives or even anchovies. Include a shaker jar of red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese if they like their pizzas extra cheesy. pasta lovers would appreciate a similar basket, but with different kinds of pasta to try a long with a couple of jars of different flavored sauces. Include a pasta measurer and pasta tongs (again Amazon and Target sell these). Add a jar of Parmesan too along with bottles of thyme and oregano for flavoring. A garlic press would be a great addition too.

Barbecuers would love a basket filled with different hot sauces . Get then in varying degrees of heat so the griller can experiment. A pack of homemade or purchased dry rubs would be appreciated. A good dry rub recipe has a blend of brown sugar, mustard powder, ground pepper and onion powder. You can put this in  a mason jar and tied a festive bow around it.Add barbecue mitt too which can be bought at either Home Depot or Sur la Table. Ice cream fanatics would love a basket filled of  extras to make the perfect cone or sundae. Include a package of waffle cone bowls and cones along with both hot fudge and salted caramel syrups. Wet walnuts and a container of maraschino cherries complete it along with a variety of colored sprinkled. Add a bottle of hard magic shell sauce for those perfect Dairy Queen dipped cones.You can  also put in a set of sundae spoons and metal straws for those who loved ice cream sodas. Bakers would love a basket full of different flours along with dry yeast, cinnamon and other spices like nutmeg and cardamon,Add festive cookie cutters along with powdered sugar, food coloring gels and different decorations like dragees and sprinkles. Target has cute Christmas tree spatulas that would go well in this kind of basket.

Creating a holiday food basket is fun. It could be for the barbecuer or the baker in your life. It could be a treat for a pasta and pizza lover or an ice cream fan. Whatever you make will be most appreciated by any food lover.

Your Favorite Fall Treat

 This is the time of year when everyone gets back into the kitchen to either cook or bake. What's your fall favorite? Will you be air frying spicy wings for your tail gating party? IS artichoke spinach dip on your radar?Or I it sweets you'r thinking of? Are you buying flour for your apple cider doughnuts or spice cupcakes?

What treat do you want to make as this season changes? Let us know

Rouxing The Day

 One of the bases of  a good thick soup is roux. This is a mix of flour cooked into a kind fo sauce with butter.It may sound fancy but it's pretty easy to make.

I wanted it as the base for my celery soup.It's cold weather here and a good thick, soup is just the thing for a frosty  day. I used half a cup or eight tablespoons of Acme's Signature all  purpose flour.

It was cooked with eight tablespoons of Melt plant based butter.

It was lumpy at first and I had to add another tablespoon of Melt. After several figure eight stirs it became a nut brown sauce. It was time to add the veggie broth and mix of celery and potatoes.I also sliced up a clove of garlic and added salt and pepper to enhance the soup's flavor.

It took three cups of celery and a can (around sixteen ounces or about two cups) of sliced potatoes.I also added half a cup of almond milk.

Keep in mind you can also use cow's milk or even cream for a richer flavor along with using real butter.

 

It was simmered over a medium flame until the celery turned a bright, vibrant green. This took about twenty to thirty minutes.

The soup was thick and creamy although you don't really need roux to make it thick.It  did add a lovely flavor to the bowl and I may use it in making a vegan chicken bisque.

Roux is a great way of adding body and flavor to any soup. Try it when you want tomake a thick potage for a cold day.It makes for a wonderful and easy to create base.

Your Cookie Guide

 It's that time of year again. Cookie time. Every one wants to make a huge range during these weeks. Yet the question is what to make? Sugar? Sprtiz? Chocolate chip? What's the best and what's the easiest?

Of course the easiest is Pilsbury's Slice and Bake. This classic dough log is easy to bake and decorate. It's perfect if you have very little time  for the kitchen. Just scatter red and green sprinkles on them before baking  for a simple decoration. If you want an easy scratcvh cookie then go for a sugar cookie. It's an easy one that doesn't require a lot of ingredients. They're just sugar , butter and flour mixed together. They can be sprinkled with anything from  chopped nuts to candies. If you wanted you could add a drop of any flavoring from coffee(!) to lemon or almond. Many novice bakers get sugar cookies confused with the butter ones. There is a difference. The sugar ones are often rolled thin and then cut out ousing cookie cutters. Butter cookies are softer in texture when raw and the dough has to be put into a cookie gun or shooter. The taste is also more buttery. The famed holiday cookie, spritz falls in this catagory. They're also a cousin to shortbread except the dough requires an egg. Eggs. help the cookies keep their shape. The dough is usually dyed red and green for the holidays.These are perfect for a fancy dessert party.

What about traditional cookies? Shortbread is one and is also easy. Like sugar cookies it's made with only a few ingredients. A basic recipe has only one part sugar, two parts butter and three to four parts wheat flour.It's an ancient recipe that came from Auld Alliance with France in the 1500's. The texture is lovely and crumbly .It can be baked on a cookie sheet or in  the more traditional pie plate. A design is usually pricked in it, usually  it's the baker's initials Baked shortbread can be dipped in dark chocolate for an extra taste of luxury. Another classic is chocolate chips. People love these and every family has their own spin on them. The unique flavor cones form the addition of brown sugar which acts as the perfect foil  to the dark chocolate chips. Nuts such as walnuts can also be added. A variation is the tasty oatmeal chocolate chip.They 're made exactly the same way as chocolate chips except sub in rolled oats for the flour. Chocolate chip cookies can also be made with whole wheat flour too. If you're making oatmeal chococlate chip you cna also make oatmeal raisin cookies too. These also require brown sugar as well. Craisins can be used isntead of raisins for a tarter flavor.

These are some of the cookies you can bake for your holiday table. They're all relatively easy to make. even better they're easy to eat.

The Surprisingly Easy Baguette

Mention baguettes to home bakers and they flinch. Most think it's a compliicated loaf to create but it really isn't. It has a scant number of ingredients and is not bad to whip up. Once created then it becomes a must bake on any list.

You Tube personalityand regular contributor Claire saffitz  wrote about this delicious bread in today's New York Times food section.french bread is well suited for home baking because they're made with commercial yeast instead of a sourdough starter. This means that there's no task of maintaining a starter and then feeding it as it advances before you can start. The entire ingredient list is simple, It's just flour water, yeast and salt. However the flour quality is important. She recommends the  King Arthur brand which has a ten to twelve protein level (check th elabel for this) King arthir has 11.7Other pluses is that it's widely available and has a bit of barley. This enhances fermentation and flavor. The protein rich flour also facilitates gluten development to trap gas and create those various sized holes. You don't want too many interior holes because they can cause the baguette's shape to misshapen. Apart from the flour  you do need a baking stone and a four by twenty inch wooden baking peel and a thirteen by twenty inch wooden board for sliding them into the oven. You can get these onlien ro have your local plywood store custom cut them for you.

After you have all the equipment start planning your time line. The dough has to rest overnight in the fridge which will improve its' flavor and quality of the crust. doing this gives you some flexibiluty in baking it the next day. Start by making the poolish a type of preferment much like a sourdough starter but made with store bought yeast the morning of the first day. Let it ferment. Then mix the dough in the evening pop in the fridge the next morning and bake. Ms. Saffiz' recipes will yield three loaves. If this is too mch , then refrigerate the dough and bake later. Keep in mind that french bread dough can be sticky and a little soft. This can make for tricky kneading. Ms. Saffitz recommneds using minimal flour and a light touch during shaping. The first  dozen or so baugettes that you'll make may not be bakery perfect but they'll still have that great taste and deliciously chewy texture not to mention that crackly crust. They'll be gone in an instant being sliced and slathered with butter or being turned into yummy sandwiches.

A tasty baguette is easy to create. It's just four ingredients mixed together and baked into a loaf of deicliousness. Try it for a flavorful bite.

 

Christmas Cookies Part OneThe Making

 What is Christmas without festive cookies? That's what many are thinking as bakers of all levels pursue th tradition of making a plate. I went into the cookie fray  -

I wanted to use my new cookie cutters from Wilton . And what better than using them on WIlton cookie dough.

This is not a dough for the faint hearted.

Since I also bake vegan I had to sub in Melt for butter and used Lucerne egg whites for the egg. The rest is basic cookie dough. It does have to be mixed in two bowls. First i'ts reaming two sticks of butter with a cup of granulated sugar and one egg. Also three and a quarter cups of flour is sifted with a teaspoon of baking powder and a quarter teaspoon of salt.The flour is added to the mix one cup at a time until a sticky ball is formed. It's then dividing it into two rectangular loaves

Here comes the fun part  - rolling it out. This was a dough to be reckoned with. The rolling pin and table had to be floured over a few times

It's rolling it out to a twleve inch circle, (More square in my case) and 1/8th of an inch thick (more like half an inch in my case). It's then using the floured cutters to cut out the shapes

This is the first batch, before baking

Thye look anemic and it took twenty minutes to bake as opposed to the usual eight to ten minutes

 This is them baked. The yield is around thirty. The dough became flaky and crumbly after four or five rolling out and it was impossible to cut shapes.

You can see how it got crumbly and how it sticks to the rolling pin despite all the flour used.

                                 This is the entire batch , waiting to be iced .I did do a taste test and it is a very pleasant almond flavor

Tomorrow will be the finishing touches to turn them into holiday gems. They will be transformed into multicolored holiday treats. There are Santas, snowmen and lights waiting to be decorated.

Different Kinds Of Bakers

 There's no doubt that this is baking season. There are many sorts of home bakers out there. The traditional, the health conscious and the vegan. The question is what kind are you.

A traditional baker will use  traditional ingredients. They're not going to worry about gluten, fat or aninal products. They're full on going to use  refined flours and sugar along with a rich amount of butter and eggs to make the best cakes and cookies. If your;'e this kind of baker then think of fun cupcakes. Start with a basic cake recipe and then go from there. Tint a buttercream icing green and pipe it into triangles on top of each cupcake for a Christmas tree. Add mini M&M's and holiday sprinkles. You can also try fruitcake in the form of cupcakes. This is riff on the tradtional recipe.It's made with basically the same ingredients, especially the different spices , rum and fruits. Theicing is an almond marzipan one. Keep in mind this is a boozy treat reserved for only adults. As for cookies traditonal bakers go for one loaded with sugar. The prettiest ones are the spritzes , made with a cookie gun. The recipe is a whole cup of butter which gives them that shortbread taste and feel.  They can be decorated with everything from sanding sugar to sprinkles. Of course chocolate chip cookies are on the must bake list. Make them even more lush with giant chocolate chips.

What happens if you want to be a healthy baker? This is where healthy and vegan intercept. The two sorts won't use real dairy. This is where plant butters like Melt come in. This tastes like the real thing and is great for cookies. Melt is good for baking only and not for creating fluffy frostings.. It can come off as runny, with the icing slipping off the cake's surface. Use Miyokos Plant Butter or Earth Balance for a stiffer , firmer topping instead.Many home bakers are flummoxed when it comes to omitting eggs. Not to worry.Many vegan home bakers incorporate Just Egg in their cooking and baking. This egg substitute is primarily made from mung beans and canola oil. Three tablespoons equal one egg and can easily be subbed in. You can also use the powdered Vegg egg substitute. This also works OK in baking. Other egg replacements are applesauce and flaxseed. Nut milks are usd too, to replace dairy . Almond milk works the best because it has the best consistency. what about that all important ingredient sugar? Stevia and agave syrup work just as well as the refined white stuff. Also try maple syrup or honey too. Both give  a warm earthy flavor  to baked goods.

You cna create tasty treats whether your a traditional, healthy ot vegan baker. There are all sorts of recipes out there. Use them for a fun holiday table full of delicious cookies and cakes.

Breaded Or Battered Which Is Better

 There's nothing like a crunchy nibble. There's something satisfying about hearing that crispy sound and that mouthfeel of a crumbly bite. Yet here's the question - produces that feeling? Battered or breaded?

Many people love their food battered. It can proiduce a loud snap when bitten into along with adding extra flavor to the food it's covering. Battering can range from tempura which produces the ultimate battering experience as far as crunch and taste to beer battered which can be slightly soggy.Seafood and chicken do well with a good coating of batter;It produces a tender  juicy meat and a nice golden and sometimes flaky exterior. what makes for the best batter? One that has the basic ingredients of flour water. Milk and cornstarch are added for silkiness and a dash of baking powder for rise and puffiness. Sugar and salt is added for flavor too. You coul;d add a good heaping amount of  groundpepper as home and commercial chefs do in southern Indiana. This gives the entire piece of chicken that spicy taste. Chinese five spice mix would give the batter a whole new taste level.Anything can be battered fried. The Scots love their Milky Ways with a coating thats fried almost a deep brown. Onion rings and shrimp are also good with a batter coating.

The much more healthier choice is breading, Bread crumbed fish doesn't soak up as much oil as its' battered counter part.it's because it's consdiered a "dry" coating while batter is considered a "wet". Breading takes an extra step The food is first dipped ina beaten egg and then dredged in either regular or panko breadcrumbs. The main problem with the technique is that breading can easily come off. There can be "bald" spots where the meat or veggie is exposed. The coating should be thick to ensure a nice crunchy exterior. What's a good breading recipe? A simple one combines one cup of flour with one cup of breadcrumbs along with teaspoons of paprika, salt and pepper. You could add tumeric ro chili peppers for more color and flavor. Another choice is panko which is lightly baked coarsely ground crumbs. Keep in mind that you can also get breadcrumbs Italian style which have garlic powder and oregano added. Veggies, like cauliflower are excellent with a bread crumb coating. You can also do the same with broccoli and shrimp.It gives both a nice crunch. 

What's better? Battered or breaded? That 's up to you. If you're going for healthy , then breaded.If you want more crunch and taste, then battered.

Brownie Basics

 It's baking season. It's a good time for brownies , those chewy squares of chocolate=y goodness. They are one of the basics of home cooking - easy to make and easy to eat. Many have had box brownies for years but they can be made from scratch too.

Brownies have been around for a long time on the American table. They were created in 1893 by prominent socialite Bertha Palmer, wife of the owner of Chicago's famed Parker House Hotel. She needed a cake like confection suitable for ladies visiting Chicago's World Columbian Exposition. The results was a Parker House brownie with walnuts and an apricot glaze.It went through a series of changes thanks to a housewife in Bangor Maine who added a square of extra chocolate and extra eggs for a richier , fudgier treat. There was also a mention of them in the Machias cookbook created by another home baker Marie Kelley of Whitewater Wisconsin in 1899. No matter what their origin is, scratch ones are delicious. The basic brownie recipe is an alchemy of cocoa powder or unsweetened baker's chocolate , sugar, eggs, salt and vanilla.Many home bakers and bloggers strongly recommend using cocoa powder instead of using a mix of melted butter and chocolate. This ensures a soft moist middle and a  shiny , almost candy like top. You can add a small amount of chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips. To get that perfect crinkly top, melt the butter with the cocoa and sugar in a saucepan over a stovetop. Doing this allows the sugar to rise to the top in baking, creaking that perfect crackly crust.

What about vegan brownie?. Yes you can make them from scratch. All the ingredients are the same save for omitting the eggs and butter. You can use ground flax seeds for binding  along with mashed pumpkin or bananas or applesauce. I've used Vegg Uncaged Mix and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter when I've baked regular brownies. No one could tell the difference between the vegan and the regular ones. Can you bake them with whole wheat flour? Yes,and it;s to the brownie's benefit. The flour leaves the texture extra chewy and richly textured. What's the best pan to bake brownies in? Always stick with metal. Don't use a glass or ceramic one. Metal will allow them to bake evenly,prevent over browning and yield straight edges. Remember to always grease the tin with either butter, margarine or cooking spray to prevent sticking. I always use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and generously grease the pan's bottom and corners for an extra buttery flavor. Can you vary the recipe? Yes , Cinnamon can be added for a Mexican hot chocolate vibe. It just takes a pinch to give them that zing. Coconut is another fun change up , giving the brownies a Mounds Bar flavor. You can even make them Rocky Road m with teaspoons of mini marshmallows , peanuts and chocolate chips.

Scratch brownies are the perfect fall baking project. You can make them tradional or vegan, plain or loaded with extras. Ant way, they're a bite of chocolate-y goodness.

Easy Fall Baking

As with fall cooking, fall baking should be an easy transition into more complex and complicated recipes leading up to the holiday baking extravaganza. After months of not stirring and whisking and staying away from the oven it's now time to head back into creating sweet treats.

Apples are big right now. Home bakers are probably itching to use those apples picked over the weekend. One simple recipe is apple crisp . This does require a tart apple like Granny Smith.It counterbalances the sweetness of the crisp made with just flour oats, sugar cinnamon and butter. The only labor intensive work is cutting the apples into wedges and then coating them with flour and cinnamon for the filling. Apple crumble is similar and can be quickly made for a same day dessert. This is also pie season however you can cheat at this by using already made crusts. These cut down on time and labor, producing a tender crusted pie that's just as delicious as one with a scratch crust.Baked apples are another easy dessert that just requires apple , cinnamon and some kind of nut. It's just coring the apple and filling it with a mix of spices, ground walnuts or pecans and butter. You can also sub in half a caramel for the butter for an inside out caramel apple. Pop these in the microwave for three minutes or until tender

Nothing beats a warm cinnamon roll on a frosty autumn morning,  You can easily makes these thanks to Pilsbury Grands Cinnamon rolls.These are an easy bake and perfect for mornings or an early afternoon snack. Not surprisingly you can make these from scratch too. This does require yeast but it's not as scary as it sounds. Use Fleischmann's fast rising yeast for this.  Once you've made yeast rolls you can graduate to easy yeast breads or rolls. The recipe only has a handful of ingredients such as the yeast, flour,, sugar salt and water. The bread can be the perfect accompaniment to dinner but it can also be toasted for breakfast and used for sandwiches for lunch or in a nice fall picnic.Once you've gotten in the swing of fall baking you can attempt cookies. Of course the easiest would be the Pillsbury slice and bake kind but there are some scratch recipes that are simple to whip up. Try a maple oatmeal one that combines chewy oatmeal with the earthy taste of another fall flavor. a maple cake with frosting is another simple dessert , perfect for  ending a Sunday dinner.

Ease into fall baking. start with easy to mix and easy to bake treats. Try  rolls or an apple crisp. experiment with baked apples or a maple cake. Jump into simple recipes that will sweeten your season.

A Schnitzel With Kick

 Everyone loves Weiner schnitzel and who wouldn't? It's a a delicately flavored veal coated in bread crumbs and then fried. Yet imagine it with a kick - a splash of vodka that makes it even better. Yes, this is not the traditional staple of Vienna anymore. It's been elevated to another level.

Chef J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the one behind this transformation and he wrote about it in yesterday's New York Times Food section.He developed this recipe for his San Mateo California beer garden Wursthall. This is more of a fusion restaurant than a truly German one. Chef Lopez Alt also serves chorizo and Korean hot chicken sandwiches. Yet he shines at the Teutonic dishes. He cooks the schnitzel in the same way that Harold Dieterle did at his late and much lamented restaurant Manhattan restaurant Marrow. Chef Dieterle cooked pounded duck breasts in a puffed crust, a German method known as soufflieren that coaxes the breading away from the meat. The meats then becomes well insulated by a layer of air while the extremely hot fat cooks the crust to a delicate crispness that's also rich in flavor. Yet Chef Lopez-Alt adds vodka - about a quarter of a cup of the eighty proof kind. It's brushed on both sides of the meat before breading. Doing such evaporates any water making for the puffiest crust ever. It's not unlike British chef  Heston Blumenthal's recipe for his fish and chips which also has a lighter crust. Chef Lopez-Alt also does this for his tempura recipe.

Yet the other ingredients in schnitzel should also be top notch. You can use veal but also consider center loin pork chops too. Just keep pounding them until smooth and then whack with the back of a knife after pounding for more texture. The next ingredient is the flour. Chef Lopez-Alt says stick with regular flour used for baking. It's the eggs that are added that can be controversial.Some say they should be lightly beaten.Other  like You Tuber Kein Stress Kochen recommends beating the eggs until they're completely smooth. You can also add oil to them as the editors at Cooks Illustrated, Keith Dresser and Steven Dunn do. There should be four to five in the batter. Then there are the crumbs that make up the crust. They should be finely milled to hold in the moisture. The canned ones should do fine. You can use panko but they have to be ground to produce a finer, more floury type texture. What should the schnitzel be fried in? Oil and plenty of it.The pieces have to swim because it can be bad if they touch the pan.The crust will stick and burn onto it. You can use clarified butter but peanut,canola and even rice bran work. Just swirl the meat constantly in it for evenly cooked and browned pieces.

The perfect schnitzel has the perfect kick - vodka. This ensures a puffy crust that is the dish's signature along with an even more delicious flavor. Try it for a truly tasty Viennese delight.

Leftover Fun

Most Americans are probably staring at all the leftovers in their fridges right now. What to do with all that turkey, stuffing and sides? Create some tasty sides and fun new dishes with the old ones.

Most have what's left of a small to midsize turkey right now. Of course you've been through all the sandwiches right now , from hot with gravy and bread to cold with tomatoes and mayo. You could take a tip from The New York Times Food section and make turkey tamales. A variety of chiles are used to make the meat more flavorful (although turkey doesn't need this) along with tomatillos and cilantro. The tamales have the classic corn and husk coverings, softened with either chicken or turkey broth. You could also make tacos with the meat using cold shredded turkey and the usual taco fillings such as sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce. Add a dab of mayo to moisten the meat too, eliminating some of its' dryness. A hot soup is great for right now and again leftover turkey fills that bill. Think a rich cream of turkey soup, made heartier and creamier with the addition of half and half. Rice or orzo can be added too along with carrots and peas. Turkey pho is a different spin. The meat's earthiness will work well with the five spices, brown sugar and fish sauce.

What about the stuffing and sides? Again the New York Times suggests turning the stuffing into dumplings. It's mixing your leftover stuffing with eggs, flour and baking powder and then dropping them into a turkey soup, complete with repurposed sweet potatoes. Yet , what about just cooking the dumplings in turkey stock and have them swim in left over gravy as a delicious side. They can also be turned into cups, filled with turkey, peas and sliced carrots along with gravy for an instant version of turkey pot pie.  You could also flatten the stuffing , frying it into two circles and make a stuffing panini with it. Fill with turkey and gravy. As for those leftover sweet potatoes,, turn them into puffs. It's mashing them with eggs , flour and salt and then frying or air frying them. These make for a tasty lunch or fun dinner. Sweet potato mash can also be used for waffles too.They'd be a great side with fried chicken or even turkey. Greens such broccoli and green beans can be repurposed into tasty salads , dressed with a simple vinaigrette.

Thanksgiving leftovers provide such a wide variety of tasty new dishes. Get creative with that bird and sweet potatoes. Make something exciting with that stuffing and broccoli. It's a whole new table of delicious dishes.

The State Of Food Now

It's been a little over three months that our lives, and our eating habits have been changed. Not only that our shopping has also been altered. Have we adapted? It's an interesting question.

The Corona virus has  upset everything and definitely changed the whole modern food chain, from how our food is grown and caught to how we eat.  The New York Times Food section this past Wednesday ran an article about the salmon industry and how the virus impacted it. Julia O'Malley wrote about how out of staters come to the Naknek area for the work. They either work fishing or processing. The businesses have to be shut down meaning there's no work and no products going out to the stories and buyers. It has hit hard for Brian Nicolson, a Brooklyn winemaker who returns to his family business in this Alaskan outback. Farms across the country are also affected.Some will prosper. Some will not. Thanks to the restaurants closing down or limiting their services, many farms have suffered. Many crops have had to be destroyed. Now with bans being lifted, the farms can make a comeback. It's just a matter of keeping the workers safe, despite the bad workplace conditions and the lack of medical benefits for them.

Thankfully the shortages have more or less stopped. It was bad, with farmers killing off livestock because they couldn't sell the meat. It seemed they were more catering to the restaurants because home chefs were stockpiling every kind from frozen nuggets to fresh hams.The flour shortage due to people going wild for home baking is also over. We realize that we have the capacity to be hoarders, especially when it comes to such essentials as milk , bread, eggs and cold cuts. Yet we also have the hidden capacity to be fearless home chefs and bakers. Being quarantined has retaught us to read through cookbooks that have been collecting dust for years and use such gadgets as corers and ravioli cutters that have been sitting idle in kitchen drawers. There has also a down side. As people binged watched their favorite shows and movies they also binged ate. Snack sales went up tremendously. People wanted comfort foods, from Oreos, and their counterparts (try the Acme's Tuxedo brand of sandwich cookies) to potato chips and pork rinds. Home bakers indulged on frosting rich cakes and butter laden cookies. Hopefully this is over and we can appreciate the fresh fruit and veggies of the season for a quick bite.

How have we adapted? How has our country adapted? The answer varies depending on who you talk to or what you read. We did relearn to cook and bake which is always good. Yet we also discovered our dark side when it came to hoarding and binging.

A Spoonful Of Strawberry

This is strawberry season and although we can't pick them like we used to, we can still make yummy and comforting desserts with them. Add to the classic dessert spoon cake and you have a wonderful dessert.

Jerrelle Guy, creator of the blog Chocolate For Basil gave this delicious recipe in Wednesday's New York Times Food section. She takes spoon bread, a classic Southern dish and pairs it with the fruit of the moment, strawberries. The name comes from spooning it up, especially the crusty edges and the soft, squishy middle. Anyone can make it , including beginner bakers. It's a quick batter pushed into a buttered dish and then covered with muddled strawberries. You could use any fresh fruit from now, subbing in blueberries or peaches for a different spin. The liquid from the muddled fruit keeps the cake steaming as it bakes. Ms. Guy also recommends a dusting of ginger or cardamon for a warmer, spicy taste or  add ribboned basil and a drizzled balsamic vinegar. The strawberries are muddled with brown sugar for an earthy flavor, Of course it's also good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, perfect after a dinner of barbecued chicken or steak,

Again this is an easy bake and novice bakers will appreciate that. Muddle the strawberries first. This is done either with your hands or the back of the fork. Brown sugar is stirred in for sweetening and then the mixture is set aside.It is a buttery dish with one stick melted with brown sugar , milk and salt. Flour and baking powder are whisked in  and then spread into a buttered baking dish. It doesn't matter whether it's a round or square one.Make sure the batter is  smooth and spread into the corners. The muddled strawberries and their juices are then spooned over it. Place in a preheated 350 degree F oven and bake for twenty to twenty-five minutes or  until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. Remove from the oven  and allow to cool for three to five minutes before spooning into bowls. Serve with vanilla ice cream but if you want to gild the lily, then freshly whipped cream. A sprinkle of more brown sugar wouldn't go amiss here. It would add some crunch.

This is strawberry season. Use them to make this delicious and comforting spoon cake. It's a perfect dessert for a summery night.

Easy Bread For The Holidays

There's nothing as comforting or as steady as tradition. That includes matzoh for Passover and breads for Easter. We need them to complete seders and dinners. what better way to carry on tradition than to bake them ourselves. It'sa way to calm ourselves and connect with our pasts.

Melissa Clark knows this and offered a matzoh recipe in her A Good Appetite column in yesterday's New York Times. You can still buy matzoh in the stores, There are boxes of it but you can also make it at home if you don't want to go out or there are shortages in your area. Matzoh is an easy bake because it's just water and flour. Ms. Clark suggests also adding whole wheat flour for an earthier taste along with sprinkling the tops with flaky sea salt. You can also add cracked pepper or other spices.One important ingredient is olive oil  which give a richness in both flavor and body. You'll need about two cup of flour, kosher salt and only a quarter cup of whole wheat flour. A scant quarter cup of olive oil is also blended in along with a half of cup of water. The dough is rolled out to the thinnest possible thickness. You can aim for rounds but if they're too hard, then settle for oblongs. Transfer each to a cookie sheet and prick with a fork.  Sprinkle with the flaky sea salt.The matzohs only take seven to twelve minutes to bake, until they're golden and lightly browned in spots. Roll out  following batches as the first are baking.

An Easter dinner, no matter, how small , can also have a loaf of bread. Krysten Chambrot, a senior staff editor at the Food section wrote about these also in yesterday's issue. There are different recipes beginning with one for novices, and working all the way up to seasoned bread bakers. Beginners can try their hand at Mark Bittman's no knead bread. It's a simple recipe of bread flour and instant yeast . It's just takes a long while to proof  - about twelve hours or more. If you have trouble with yeast, then try the non yeast type. Food section regular  contributor, Florence Fabricant gives a beer bread one, that's sweet, thanks to the addition of sugar and beer. Make a loaf or two for the holiday and serve with sliced Easter ham. From there go for the enriched breads. These are the loaves that have egg and honey in them, which are the basis of many traditional Easter breads. A good holiday bread is an enriched savory focaccia recipe taken from the famed Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. Olive oil and minced rosemary flavor it.  It's cut into squares - perfect for a family Easter brunch and for the leftovers the next day. You will need a stand mixer and a dough hook to knead the dough.

Baking matzoh and bread is a soothing holiday tradition. Bake some in these stressful times for comfort and to relieve the uneasiness of these uncertain times.

A Good Old Fashioned Celery Soup

What do you do with a bunch of celery? Use it in salad? or as a crunchy snack. However it's winter and that calls for soup. I decided to try an update of my Mom's recipe.

Unfortunately I didn't have it. Mine is a mashup of improvising on a recipe I found on The Daring Gourmet blog. I varied it and add whatever I could remember of the family recipe.
It starts with celery which I had in abundance from making lobster salad with the lobster balls I made last Monday.

I sliced the stalks and the heart into chunks the way my Mom did.

It was sauteed in organic butter (I know I shouldn't have this on a cirrhosis diet. but I felt it would add a rich flavor to the potage)

Half went in, (about  a quarter cup)

A third of a cup of a flour was added to create a roux with the celery. This thickens it. The Daring Gourmet called for a whole onion and garlic to also be sauteed. I nixed these and added a heaping tablespoon of onion powder by McCormick.

I let all this cook down for about ten minutes before adding an entire container of vegetable stock.

This is Acme's Signature line and it's a rich broth. Then it was Almond Coconut milk

And three cups of Almond Breeze's almond coconut blend. 

It was cooked down for another ten minutes as another dash of onion powder was added for more flavor and an extra three teaspoons of flour was added to thicken it. I didn't add salt but freshly ground pepper for more flavoring and bite.

It was a delicious hot bowl. The celery chunks cooked down for still crunchy on the inside , soft on the outside texture. There was also a lovely buttery aftertaste and a smoothness to the soup.

This celery soup, a mashup of recipes, is the perfect dish for a cold February night. Make it for dinner to ward off the chill. It's lovely and green, a reminder of Spring and summer to come.

Sharing The Pantry

Americans, like myself, have the tendency to overbuy. That's especially true with food. We wind up with too many boxes or packets,bags and containers. Will we eat all of it? No? Should we share it? Yes.

If you have overage in your pantry , then consider donating it to food drives. Of course cans are preferable. One they're easy to store and two, they do last a usual four or five years. There's also a lot that can be done with canned veggies and fruit. The first can be used as a side or mixed with rice or pasta for a more filling main course. Canned fruit is just good on its' own and the perfect snack instead of cookies and cakes, However there are other foodstuffs you can donate as well. Flour can be donated, even if you opened it back in June or July. Opened flour has a shelf life of eight months so even half a bag is good to give away. Just give it a sniff before donating. Toss if you smell any mustiness. One of the most sturdiest foods to donate is rice. It has an indefinite shelf life, meaning you can still use it two or three years from purchasing. One sign that is is bad is the appearance of the rice weevil. It's a tiny reddish-brown bug that can show up in the box or canister. Chuck the rice if those start showing up.

Many of us have those Keurig machines that use pods. That's great but there's also a dearth of leftover teabags and hot chocolate packets. Any tea bag will last between a year to two years. If you have a variety left over then put them in Mason jars, decorated with  pretty homespun bows and ribbons. Food pantries and senior centers would love to have these.Hot chocolate lasts for only six months but if you have extra that's under that time period , donate. Regular cocoa powder can last up to two years and can still be used for cooking and baking. Instant coffee has a shelf life of a whopping twenty years!!! This depends on the packaging  yet you can still donate it. Even longer lived than instant coffee is sugar. Both granulated and confectioner's can last forever as can brown sugar. White and brown sugar can turn hard and crunchy To restore them  put the crystals in a baggie and smash with a rolling pin to get rid of the hardness. Any of these will be much appreciated by bakers who want to create treats for their kids.Another baking necessity you may have over stocked is a bag of chocolate chips. Again, real chocolate is considered dry, meaning it 's not encumbered by any bacteria so it can last as long as the sugars. If your chips are hanging around donate them with your other foods.

A pantry cleaning is always necessary. Yet instead of throwing out your overage , just donate. it'll help not only declutter your kitchen but add to someone else's.

Your Pie Guide

Fall is definitely the time for pies. Yet pie isn't just pie anymore. It's crostatas, tarts and tarltets too, Anything fruit or custard filled goes these days and what you make of them is up to you.  Pies could be for the week, save the fancier stuff for the weekend. They're all good.

Pie is more or less the most basic. You can bake a crust and fill it with anything or have the crust cook with the filling which is the better choice.  Basic pie dough  hasn't really changed since the 1500's when royal pie lover , Elizabeth I made cherry and apple pie popular. It's a mix of flour, ice water salt and shortening. This last is always the subject of controversy. Should you use straight out lard or vegetable shortening? Some home bakers insist on butter. Go with Crisco, which is basically solidified soy bean oil. It has produced flaky crusts for generations. You can go with coconut or even vegetable oil but you will not have a tender, melt in your mouth crust. Another option is bought pie crusts which simply can be popped in the freezer when you need them. Can you use pie crust for crostata? I suppose you could but keep in mind that actual recipe does have sugar and butter in it. You may have to decrease the amount of sugar used in the pie filling. Now can the pie crust do triple duty for tarts and tartlets? No. Tarts and their little ones have a crust that requires egg yolks, sugar and vanilla along with butter.  As for handheld pies, the best option is a simple pie crust. This is the sturdiest and won't open, causing a filling spill out.

Since this is the time for apples, then make an apple pie.  What are the best for filling? A good bet is Granny Smith. These bright green, tart tasting gems make the best filling and are not overly sweet.it also has a firm flesh which holds up well in baking. It also won't get mushy either. Another sturdy pome is the Winesap.It's a tart and spicy taste with  solid white flesh.  Can you use the same apples in crostatas? Not really. These open faced pastries require smaller sized apples like Galas but you could use the bigger ones if you're in a pinch. As for tarts, use the same as for the pies. Tarts are another intense bake so a good sturdy fleshed fruit is required. As for the extras, yes use the cinnamon but also have freshly ground nutmeg too. It adds more oomph to the pie. There's also brown sugar and lemon juice , the last added as a preservative. The crostata has a slightly different recipe. Some call for the addition of flour, usually a quarter of a cup. Also orange zest is used to give it some zing. As for the tarts, you can use the same filling recipe for the pie.

It's apple pie, crostata, tart and tartlet season. Make whichever appeals to you.Any one is great on a cool fall day, whether to make or to eat.

The Vegan Lamb Part One

Today I tried the vegan lamb cake recipe taken from the blog ,Vegan Cooking In Colorado (which was taken from  Issa Chandra Moskowicz's great book,Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World). It was kind of scary because I kept thinking the cake wouldn't bake or rise. Yet, this animal friendly pound cake did.

Baking a scratch cake is always a leap of faith.It could go wrong even though leavening has been added. Of course it starts with a greased and floured pan.

It's the same as with the regular (non-vegan?) cake, generously grease with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and then a generous coating of flour.

These are the liquid ingredients. The  1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt and 2/3rd cups canola oil make up for the lack of eggs.The recipe calls for soy milk but I've had good luck with the almond kind so I went with Almond Breeze's.It just takes 1 and 1/3 cup.

I also had to add vanilla and almond extracts too. It's 2 tsps vanilla and 4 tsps almond . It'll give the cake a lovely almond aroma and flavor.

These are the wet ingredients mixed with 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar

This is the almond meal. It looks like polenta and taste like what else - ground almonds. Use 2/3 cup of it. The dry ingredients are the meal, two cups plus 4 tablespoons of flour, 3 tsps baking powder, 1 tsp salt (I used the coarser, grittier Celine's gray  sea salt) and 2 tblspns cornstarch which lends more cohesion to the batter.

 This is the batter thoroughly mixed. You can see why I was nervous. It  looks really thin, doesn't it?

It was easily poured into the mold and all the batter went into it so no extra cupcakes like the other recipe. The mold was tied together with twine. I was so ansty about the recipe that I forgot to put the five toothpicks in the neck area. (the recipe didn't stress adding the toothpicks so maybe it'll be all right and the lamb's head won't fall off 😲😲)

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 50 to 60 minutes. I took it out at 55 minutes and let cool. You can see it's a pound cake because of the splits in the surface.

It's paler than the first box mix one , probably because there's no artificial colors used. I plan on checking out the cupcake recipes and other ones in Ms. Moskowicz's recipe book. This is definitely the recipe for vegan birthdays and for inclusive holiday sweets. 

Tomorrow is the icing - with some interesting twists. Stay tuned.