Difficult Days Easy Meals

 Fall is one of the craziest seasons. After the lazy day of summer it;'s getting back into a whirlwind of school activities and at times increased office work. Add to that cooking along with other chores.At least there are recipes that make life easier.

Cheif editor Emily Weinstein gives some interesting and varied recipes for easy week night and even weekend cooking in today's New York Times Food section. Keep in mind that they could be doubled  and served two days of the week too. All the recipes are straightforward and can be made in thirty minutes or less. She created these recipes with kids in mind but they're perfect for adult families or just busy couples looking for a good and easy meal. One is the simplest. Kay CHun lent her recipe for meatballs which follows the classic Italian recipe.It's mixing ground beef and pork(or strictly beef if you prefer. ) and mixing it with egg and panko crumbs. Italian seasonings such as dried oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme or oregano can be added.Keep in mind you can do the same with Impossible Meat too for a vegan option. A vegetarian option is red curry lentils with sweet potatoes and spinach . This is a perfect dish for a cool autumn night because of th eheat from, serrano chiles, and red curry paste being added to a wonderful array of veggies. Another meatless dinner is chile fettucini with baby spinach. Chili crisp is what gives it it's zing.

There are meat and fishes dishes here too. Think crispy gnocchi with sausage and peas for an easy midweek supper. This is an easy mix of store bought sausage and gnocchi cooked with frozen peas. Another snap dinner is lemony shrimp and bean stew made with leeks and white or cannellini beans.  You could serve this over pasta or just dip Italian bread into it.Instread of take out make Grace Lee's kimchi fried rice which you can use leftover rice and Spam  along woth a vaoriety of spices and soy sauce. Chicken katsu  is another choice . This is like a Japanese schnitxel, with breaded chicken breasts  , first coated in eggs, flour and then bread crumbs and ten fried in oil. The sauce is tonkatsu a mix of kethcup, Worcester sauce sauce and molasses, Sugar, soy sauce and cloves are also added to this along with fresh ginger for bite. baked cod with Ritz cracker topping is another chocie and it's comfort food one. The Ritz crackers are mixed with melted butter, chive ,parsley, lemon zest and a mix of onion and garlic powders. The fish can be any white fish  from cod , haddock or halibut. The crackers are put on top of the roasted fish and baked for an extra ten to sixteen minutes. It's served with asqueeze of lemon.

Weekday meals don't have to be a hassle. Use any of these for worry free cooking. They can be the easiest thing to make during a hard and difficult week. 

The Perfect Stew

 January is a notoriously cold month. What better than to chase that chill than with a good, well made stew. There's something about the blend of veggies and meat with a good gravy. It's the perfect meal for these bone numbing days.

What makes a good stew? It starts with the meat if you're making a meaty one. Get cuts that are very tender and flavorful.If you can't, use a meat mallet to tenderize the beef. The end result is a tender forkful of melt in your mouth goodness. Chuck meat makes the best stew meat which comes from the cow's shoulder. You could use rump meat too even though it's not as tender. It is flavorful though which is a plus for any stew. Some home chefs prefer a good chicken stew during these frosty days. Use only thighs and breasts because they're the most meatiest. Fish stew is a bit different. Several different kinds of fish make for the most flavorful blend. Think a firm white fish like cod or halibut. if you can;t get these, then use tilapia or  red snapper. Steer clear of delicate fish such as sole and oily fish like tuna. You can also throw in some shrimp, clams and scallops for a brinier flavor.  All good stews need vegetables to round out the mix. Try different amounts of onion, chopped celery, carrots and waxy or boiling potatoes. Peas can be added for color and more nutrition. Herbs and spices can also bring out the flavors of veggies and meat. Oregano and bay leave are the most popular but you can also use parsley , basil and rosemary. It's up to you.

There are two ways to cook stew - with a reduction of  gravy  - sort of like au jus or thick like turkey or roast beef gravy, You can add red wine such as with the fancy beef bourguignon. A thin sauce starts with water and beef broth. A thicker one begins with a slurry made from a teaspoon of flour with a little cold water. How to cook the stew is another matter. The old fashioned way is on the stove top for about one and a half hours for beef and only half an hour for chicken. Fish stew is the quickest for only ten to twelve minutes and three to five for a really quick dish. Beef and chicken stews lend themselves to crockpots and Instapots and you can easily cook them in them as you can with another traditional stew  - lamb. What to serve with stew? A  simple green salad with a few grape tomatoes thrown is your best bet. It's a nice side and doesn't take away from the stew.A must is either a crusty bread like a baguette or sourdough. These are perfect for sopping up the gravies. Another idea is making dumplings to cook on top of the stew. These are a mix of flour baking, powder , sugar and butter or margarine. You can add herbs for a more flavorful one. They're cooked on top of the veggies, meat and gravy, producing a tender and fluffy bite.

This is the coldest time of the year. Warm it up with a good hearty stew. Enjoy the savory blend of meat , veggies and hebs.It will warm your heart as well as your stomach.

Your New Go To Sauce Lemon Curry Butter Sauce

Sauces add to any dish, whether it's chicken or broccoli. Unfortunately, what usually works for meat may not work for veggies and vice versa. Yet there is one sauce - and a simple one, too, that can go well with any kind of main or side dish.

Melissa Clark wrote about  and experimented with lemon curry butter in her A Good Appetite column in yesterday's New York Times Food section.It's a simple recipe consisting of butter, minced garlic, herbs, spices and a squirt of lemon. The herbs and spices are not scary.It's ground curry and grated ginger melded with minced thyme leaves.Four tablespoons of butter will do it. Too much more will make it too rich. The amount of garlic used is also up to the cook. Ms. Clark likes a lot which is obvious in the amount - four. This can be winnowed down to one or two if the taste is too intense. The same philosophy applies to the spices.It doesn't have to be curry.Anything from the spice cabinet will do. The curry does lend a smoky flavor but cumin, paprika and coriander would work just as well. The same goes for the thyme. Try dill or dried instead. The only ingredients that really can't be changed are the lemon zest and the butter.Margarine wouldn;t work, nor would olive oil. Get a good butter like Kerrygold or Plusgras unsalted butter.

What would the sauce go with? Ms. Clark recommends such fish as blackfish , or hake. These are very mild in flavor which works well with the sauce's robust taste. Hake is the cheaper of the two but
 it has a less refined texture. The meat is very flaky and it is delicious, however,  Ms. Clark warns not to overcook it. Home chefs could also try flounder too. The sauce isn't just for fish. It would be good with chicken breasts and egg noodles. Serve it over leftover chicken to jazz it up. Unlike sauces that only  work for poultry and seafood , this one can do wonders for any steak. Think about drizzling it over skirt steak before broiling it.Veggies, especially the root ones, benefit from this bold sauce. It works well with the milder tasting ones such as turnips and beets, although the sauce  would be excellent with carrots. It could even work with asparagus and red, fingerling potatoes.Just go light on the garlic and curry so that the veggies shine through,

Lemon curry butter is snap to make and is versatile for any kind of main and side dish. Try it with fish or serve it with carrots. Liven up chicken breasts or turnips. It's the perfect go to for any meal.

Fish Fears: Getting Over Them

One of the biggest fears and trepidations home cooks have is cooking fish, from buying it to storing it Then comes the hard choice of how to pan cook it .However there is one way of conquering this phobia. Treat it like any other meat. Handle it the way you would beef, chicken or pork.

This is Julia Moskin's advice in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Her Recipe Lab article give great advice and a simple to follow recipe on pan seared fish, Despite her vast and experienced background, Ms. Moskin has admitted she has qualms about cooking fish,  Most restaurants , especially in New York City, tend to cook any fillet in broth, juice or nage - a white wine herb infused broth (returning fish to water, Ms. Moskin muses).Other chefs prefer oil poaching, a costly way of cooking involving a slow simmer in tons of oil. A less expensive way is en papillote, folding up individual fillets in parchment paper with butter and herbs. It steams the fish and produces a thin broth. The problem is cooking this way is not exciting or that tasty. Searing in oil to try to produce the Maillard reaction is also dismal.The result is overcooked and flavorless fish.

Ms. Moskin sought advice from Chef Mark Usewicz of The Mermaid's Garden in Brooklyn. HIs secret to the perfect home cooked fillet? Butter.However the first step is getting a good , heavy skillet and constant attention. Not bad because the whole process only takes five minutes, The initial seas should be done in either grapeseed, canola or extra extra virgin olive oil because these will not burn at a very high heat.Only a few teaspoons will do the trick. Then add a nut of butter, flip the fillet and baste furiously. You can toss in a few fresh herbs like thyme or tarragon. What is the best fish for this? Try black bass, haddock, fluke for something different. For tradition stick with salmon, striped bass, tilefish or snapper. As far as it stinking up your fridge? Don't worry. If it's been properly prepped from the dock to the supermarket freezer, then there should be no odor or rot. It should last a few days  as would any piece of protein.

A good piece of fish is truly a treat. Cook it simply to bring out its' sweet briny flavor.It will be the best thing ever to  come out of a home kitchen