Hearty And Hot Meals

This is the type of weather that requires calorie rich meals to keep you warm. There's something about a soup or pasta that's not only comforting but also fortifying . What's great is when they're homemade with familiar ingredients.

Melissa Clark , and Yotam Ottolenghi know this and made  soup and one pot pastas the theme of their columns in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Ms. Clark devoted her A Good Appetite to lentil soup. This is an easy cook, as most soups are.It's minimal and straightforward yet complex with addition of rosemary and garlic. Onions are  first cooked in olive oil in a medium pot. It's then taking any kind of stock, chicken, beef or vegetable along with the lentils and thyme to simmer. The fun part is pureeing it all with an immersion blender until the desired consistency. It can be thick and chunky or thin and satiny. Another fun part is topping it. Ms. Clark  suggests radicchio tossed with some olive oil and parsley.However if greens aren't your thing, then crumble bacon on top. A dollop or sour cream or Greek yogurt would work well. Into crunch? Then try toasted pumpkin seeds, dried seaweed or anything crisp. You can also have browned veggies such as browned leeks or onions. It can be good just left unadorned, with slices of toasty Italian bread and a small green salad on the side.

Another cold weather must eat is Yotam Ottolenghi's one pot wonder dishes. These are recipes that use a roasting pan in a whole new light. His may not be the easiest to make, Chef Ottolenghi wants to create flavor and texture bombs that add components in different stages.It's playing with temperatures, or scattering a garnish or a salsa at the end to liven it up. The recipe is a one pan pasta with harissa bolognese. This combines both North African and classic Italian. Harissa is a combination of tomato paste married to a variety of spices such as cumin, caraway, coriander and hot chiles, It will give the dish a more arrabiata vibe.Chef Ottolenghi adds more cumin and coriander for a really intense taste. Onion, tomatoes, and carrots are blitzed in a food processor and added to the meat , Pecorino Romano  and Parmesan cheeses harissa and tomato paste. The oven is first set at a scorching 475 degrees F for the meat and then it's dropped to 375 F after the first twenty-five minutes.It's then breaking the meat apart with a spoon and adding both chicken broth and heavy cream. The pasta is added. This is coarsely chopped manicotti or canneloni. Push as much pasta as you can under the surface and bake twenty five minutes more , until the pasta is tender. Stir in parsley and  more Parmesan and Pecorino Romano until the top is crisp about eight minutes more.

These frigid times demand hearty and hot dishes. Warm up with a fragrant lentil soup or a spicy harissa pasta bake. They are perfect for chasing away the effects of this polar vortex.

Outside The Thanksgiving Box

Everyone expects the ususal Thanksgiving main meal and sides. Yet sometimes, it pays to cook outside the proverbial holiday box of recipes. It could mean experimentation. It could be a meatless day. It could be falling back on family recipes and the exotic ingredients that come with them. It could be a welcomed break from the usual , too.

Everybody has turkey on Thanksgiving.Or do they? What do vegans and vegetarians eat? Or those averse to the taste of gamy bird? Many vegans turn to Tofurkey , a soy substitute that sort of tastes like the real thing.A better idea is making the loaf yourself. Try a stuffed seitan loaf which is basically wheat glutens mixed with nutritional yeast to create a kind of meat loaf . Soy sauce is added to give it a nice brown color, similar to turkey.It can be stuffed, usually with a mix of firm tofu blended with cut carrots, onions and celery, Another idea is wild rice and mushroom casserole that was the topic of Melissa Clark's  A Good Appetite column in yesterday's New York Times Food section.It is also chock full of white beans and spinach too.Fennel and leeks are added to give it a sweet ,flavor and it's topped with  a mix of Panko bread crumbs, rosemary, lemon zest and garlic. Parmesan cheese can also be sprinkled on top if wanted. Ms. Clark also suggests variations to suit the crowd. Brown rice can be subbed in for the wild, Cilantro is used for color and taste but home chefs can also use basil. The bread crumbs can be nixed if guests have celiac disease.

What about those sides? Most will insist on having the usual bread stuffing , along with yams turned into candy  and some kind of green veggie. Yet if that's not part of the anyone's  culinary heritage, don't make them. They'd probably just sit there on the table and then just sit there in the fridge.Ask any Southern Italian or  Greek family who has served manicotti or dolmades with the bird.If your family has kim chi at every holiday , then serve it .If your family likes river weed, a popular green used in Vietnamese cuisine, then put that on the table instead of Brussels sprouts.The same goes for spicing. If you're hosting a multicultural dinner, then think outside the usual salt and pepper. Zing up greens and salads with various ones such as garam masala or paprika.  The last adds color to every dish and can make the ordinary extraordinary. As for bread, the usual is a prim, little roll on a plate Serve warm , crusty baguettes instead. French and Italian bread is excellent for soaking up thick turkey gravy and wonderful for creating sandwiches afterwards. If the family is used to naan or pita, then serve that. The same goes for dessert. Not everyone likes pumpkin pie. Serve fresh fruit or puddings if you want.

Think outside the Thanksgiving box. It's not writtten in stone what you have to cook and bake. Be true to your heritage.Or be different. The end result is a different holiday meal everyone will enjoy.

Thanksgiving Plates Of The States

Thanksgiving is truly an American holiday.It's where we gather and be thankful for our freedoms and what we have. It's celebrated in every corner of the country from Maine to Hawaii, from Alaska to Florida. Best of all we are thankful the bounty that comes from these states. Each has their own special crops and dishes that symbolize both themselves and the country.

This was the topic of today's Food issue in the Wednesday New York Times.Literally every state is mentioned with some interesting and unique, sides, mains and desserts.It's the perfect guide for home chefs looking to make the unusual or varying on tradition. Some are a bit tongue in cheek like the Colorado entry which has a reference to the state's recent marijuana laws. The recipe? A stoner's dream T-Day treat , bourbon spiked pecan  pie bites dipped in turkey gravy -no fooling.The reason being is that the high  gravitate towards intense flavors, The combo of salty gravy and uber sweet pecan pie works. For more traditional, go for Oklahoma's green bean casserole.This holiday classic actually was developed in 1955 by the Campbell's Soup Company.It's a mix of green beans,mushrooms and soup, with a bread crumb topping. The Food section jazzes it up with Gruyere cheese and crème fraiche,making it perfectly elegant and even hip for a Manhattan Thanksgiving.New Hampshire gives us the traditional New England roast turkey brined in salt and sugar along with bay leaf.The cavity is filled with a savory mix of onions, carrots and celery, If you want recipes for leftovers then check out Nevada's Eric Klein a Las Vegas restauranteur  who gives his turkey au jus recipe, a take on the roast beef kind.

Many of the recipes reflect the state. There is mofungo from Puerto RIco, a traditional mash of plaintains, pork rinds and garlic, along with peppers and tomatoes. This can be served with turkey but would be excellent with a pork roast for any Christmas or New Year's. party. Louisiana gives us shrimp mirilton, with the mirilton squash indigenous to the area as is the shrimp. New Jersey's recipe  is manicotti, reflecting the state;s large Italian population. This is a great opener to the turkey dinner or better yet served the day after. I would add leftover turkey to it , although the airy light crepes are good just with the manicotti and the day after.Maine, of course, is lobster centric and the recipe is the lushly decadent lobster and mac. Again. like the manicotti would be a great day after dish, thanks to its' rich pairing of lobster and pure Cheddar. For dishes, less luxurious but just as representative of their state is Indian pudding from Rhode Island. This is a combination of both indigenous porridge and British hasty pudding with a blend of cornmeal , molasses , raisins and whole milk. Vermont gives us cheddar mashed potatoes a simple blend of the state's most famous cheese and spuds. California 's dish is its' traditional sourdough as a stuffing with kale, dates and turkey sausage. Georgia  has the ultimate traditional recipe in pecan pie.

We should be grateful that we live in the US. We actually do have a rich culinary tradition and a very good cuisine. It should make us proud - and well stuffed what Thanksgiving is all about,.

Hot Baked Dishes

A cold weekend night demands a hot baked dish.It's a great meal to come home to, especially after shoveling or just sleighing.This kind of dinner is versatile too.You can try a hearty shepherd's pie one week and baked cannelloni the next.Either way, they're a great way to warm up an empty stomach. Lasagna is one of the most popular baked dishes.Kids go mad for it and it 's guaranteed you'll have few leftovers afterwards.The recipe is basic, starting with layers of wide noodles alternating between ricotta cheese and sauce.Some add chopped meat or for a vegetarian spin ,layers of roasted eggplant ,carrots and asparagus.You can also try the Greek version of moussaka.This is made with eggplant ,red wine and a variety of spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg .A béchamel sauce is then poured over it and then it is served.A real crowd pleaser is shepherd"s pie.This really isn't layered so much as it is topped off.A crispy mashed potato covers a rich lamb or beef stew. These are the most popular however there are other baked dishes that are equally delicious. Manicotti or stuffed baked crepes are another perfect oven dish.Like lasagna, this can have variations.Usually stuffed with ricotta cheese, they can also be filled with spinach.You can also fill them with ground beef too.Cannelloni is similar too ,made with roman cheese.A mid century classic is tuna casserole.Not many make it these day,heaven only knows why because it's just as good as any other dish.The ingredients are egg noodles,tuna, mushrooms and mushroom soup?Noodle casseroles don't have to layered like the others.Simply mix in a buttered pan and bake. The weather outside may be frightful but a baked dish inside is delightful.Make any baked dish from lasagna to shepherd's pie ,from moussaka to tuna casserole for a tummy warming dinner.It's the perfect antedate for a chilly weekend dinner.

Baked Pastas Winter Comforters

Cold weather calls for hearty pasta dishes. The problem is that now that  it's February , everyone is kind of tired of th e usual spaghetti or fettucine. Ravioli doesn't cut it anymore either.It's time to step it  up a bit with baked pasta. This is just as fillingand delicous as the boiled but with added texture and flavor.

The most popular and well known baked pasta dish is lasagna. Every southern italain has their own family recipe handed doen for genrations. A true lasagna is made with not a pure tomato sauce but a bechamel one with butter and cream Tomato is added later for flavor and color. It is made usually with chopped beef and spinach along with the creamy ricotta cheese. This last is used a a binder.The dish is then layered with boiled lasagna noodles or sheets and baked.Lasagna can have variations. It can be made with a combo of beef and pork or strictly vegetarian. This  last  can have layers of zucchini and eggplant  interspersed with the noodles and cheese.

Manicotti is another baked pasta that's perfect for a winter's dinner. These are giant shells (not to be confused with lumarche - the snail shaped pasta from Italy) that are filled with a mix of ricotta  and again ,spinach. Chopped onion is also thrown in to give it more dash.For another variation, nix the  spinach and add chopped Italian sausage and herbs such as rosemary and oregano.  For a less troublesome pasta dish consider baked ziti, . This is layered tubular pasta , combined with ground beef  and a mix of beaten egg and ricotta altough some recipes call for sour cream instead. It is then topped with spaghetti sauce and grated Parmesan  cheese before baking for 45 minutes . Ziti is a great covered dish to bring to anyone's house or to a church supper.

Winter calls for hearty pasta dishes. Instead of making the traditional boiled,  take it a step further. Bake a pasta dish that's not only nutritious but satisfying and warm.