A Global Barbecue

 This is the time for that all American past time - barbecuing.Yet sometimes barbecues can be  - well - bland. It time to do the American thing and take from other cultures to create an interesting and tasty cook out,.

Spices can make ordinary meats like chicken and beef sing. One is Berbere spice ,an important ingredient in Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking.It's a fiery blend of chili peppers, fenugreek,garlic ginger basil and nigella to name a few. It gives a flavorful lift to sometimes bland chicken meat. A great recipe is chicken wings or legs with it along with caramelized lemons. It;s just rubbing the legs and thighs with the spice and then grilling for eighteen to twenty minutes  until crisp. Serve it with pita or a slaw , the last a staple in Ethiopian cooking. Hamburgers can also get spiced up with this.Use one to two tablespoons per pound of beef .The flavor is a smoky flavor. Serve on a bun with tomato and red onion slices. Keep in mind that ribs can also benefit from this smoky blend.Rub  the mixture ion the ribs and then cook for two to three hours. Another spice blend is the Indian garam masala. This is a fine blend of cinnamon,mace , star anise and chili along with other ingredients such a as asafetida - a type of dried latex, coming from a rhizome. Garam masala is an excellent rub and marinade for chicken. Use it as a marinade that will also include Greek yogurt and lemon.

Hot dogs come from Germany yet there are other wursts that are just as delicious >Bratwurst is one and can be turned into a curry wust thanks to the addition of a curry sauce . You can do the same with a regular hot dog.The sauce is a m ix of curry paste, coconut milk and tomato paste. The spices that give it zing are ginger root, and chicken broth.Sugar and cinnamon temper the hotness of  the sauce. Slather it on like you would chili sauce. Another German wurst that's out of the box is weisses wurst or white wurst, made of finely ground veal and pork combined.It' seasoned with lemon parsley and various spices> Even though it's traditionally boiled it can be grilled on a low heat. Serve on a pretzel roll with  sweet mustard. Can Italian sausage be grilled on an open flame? Yes! These are great grilled  along with sliced bell peppers. Add the two together on a good hero roll for the ultimate barbecue.Serve with a tomato salad for a tasty side. An international pleaser is a salad Nicoise from Marseille. It might seem like a glamorous meal buts is an easy salad made with not just lettuce but also hard boiled eggs ,tuna fish and boiled potatoes String beans are also added in this vinaigrette drenched salad. 

A barbecue  can be elevated with some international flair. Add spices for a tasty rub or use a different kind of sausage to eat. Think outside of the box for a Provencale salad. it makes for a fun outdoors meal.

Vegan From The Pantry

A pantry can yield a host of different ingredients. You can get tinned cherries for a pie or sundae.There are the basics for making sauce ro chili. You can even go vegan with  all these cans.

New contributor Hetty Lui McKinnon and co author of the great vegetarian cookbook Tenderheart wrote about easy vegan cooking in yesterday's New YorkTimes Food section. As with any vegetarian diet  she recommends eating seasonally but don't stress if you can't find what you need or head to a farmer's market. Go to your pantry, Her recipes are built on te presence if unami or the Japanese word for deliciousness. The veggies themself star in the dishes as opposed to be second string. The first recipe is crispy potato tacos, made with chunks of any kind of potato cut into one and a half sized pieces, They're cooked and then roughly mashed with cheddar cheese (you could sub in Montery Jack for some bite)cilantro, garlic and cumin. The spicy red salsa can be made with fresh or canned tomatoes. It's mixing them with red onions, Serrano chiles.garlic cumin and oregano. A pinch of sugar is added to this as it's placed into a food processor and pureed.It's then poured into a saucepan with vegetable broth and cooked for fifteen to twenty minutes.It'll turn dark and become slightly thickened. Serve it over the warm tortillas for more flavor. Add sliced avocadoes if you want.

The other recipes also from Ms. McKinnon;s cookbook Tenderheart is a tasty soy butter corn ramen and salt and vinegar kale chips with fried chickpeas and avocado. The ramen is a nod to pasta dishes, fusing Japeanese and Italian cooking traditions. This is made with four ears of fresh corn, now in season. strip the cobs of th e kernal and add these to boiling water. Cook until the smell of corn permeates the kitchen. Noodle blocks are then added to this, being boiled until the pasta is loosened up for about two to two and half minutes. Drain and add the soy sauce, corn and butter.Tosss for a few minutes  and then sprinkled some chopped scallions on top. There is the fun kale chips. The kale is tossed with olive oil, either red wine or apple cider vinegar and garlic.The leaves are spread on two sheet pans and roasted for twenty-five to thirty minutes at 275 degrees Farenheit. After remove from the oven and season with salt. The olive oil should be fried in about three to four tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Reuce the heat a bit of the chickpeas pop and bounce out of the skillet. Take them out of the skillet with a slotted spoon,  and drain on paper towels. season the peas with cayenne and  paprika. Add salt and pepper if you like. You can add a  fried egg and sliced avocado if you want. This makes for a nice brunch bit also for a good appetizer  at a barbecue,.

The pantry can yield up all sorts of canned ingredients. Use these treasures to create a tasty vegetarian dinner or even a brunch dish. They three great recipes for bringing more veggies into the diet

Celebrating Our Native Foods

 Thanksgiving is a time of celebrating what the indigenous people have given us. We need to acknowledge their contribution to this great table of ours. We can use these ingredients and recipes in our own holiday dinners as well.

The New York Times Food section touched upon this Wednesday. Brett Anderson wrote about this after witnessing a buffalo hunt on fort Peck Indian reservation Montana. The indigenous tribes always thank what they've killed or picked , making sure others have food as well. That was probably the idea of what we know as the "First Thanksgiving." it was probably more of a harvest festival in 1621 in which the belief of giving back was established. Thanks to the various tribes throughout North and South america, we have a variety of different foods. The Pilgrims probably received the Three Sisters, squash, beans and corn from the Wampanoag tribe. These can easily be incorporated into our modern day dishes. squash is a no brainer. acorn squash is a nice side and can easily be microwaved if you don't have room in the oven.You can add a mix of butter and brown sugar for the hollowed middle. Squash can be easily pan roasted too. Beans can be used as an extra in salad or as a tasty hot side.Baked beans are a no fuss make and can be cooked in a crockpot. Corn is another side that will compliment the turkey. You can easily serve ti hot or cold as a salad, mixed with chopped peppers. Of course it is good , being one of the main ingredients in cornbread.

The indigenous tribes fo Mexico and Central America gave us some of the best and most famous ingredients. Without them we wouldn't have tomatoes or potatoes. Tomatoes have been gracing American salads for generations but they're also good Provencale style, sauteed in a garlicky mix of olive oil and butter and topped with heaping amount of breadcrumbs and herbs. Potatoes are another Thanksgiving veggie that have often been the shining costar. Many have them mashed but they're truly delicious Hasselback style, sliced through to form crispy chips and seasoned with oil, salt and whatever  minced herbs you'd like to flavor them. You can even top them with turkey gravy if you'd like. Sweet potatoes are another indigenous tuber from Central and South America. They  too, are great roasted Hasselback style, especially when they're sprinkled with cinnamon or honey mixed with butter.Many home bakers will also bake them into pies and even tarts.For something a little different and easier, try them in small individual galettes spiked with cinnamon, cardamon and nutmeg. 

Celebrate and use these indigenous North , Central and South American ingredients in your Thanksgiving menu this year. They are delicious but also a reminder of what was given to our ancestors. It was the tribes way of including us on their shores.

The Taste of Tamerind

Tamerind is a comforting and exotic  flavor all at once.It's tangy  and sweet, perfect for all sorts of dishes. It's great as an addition for summer dishes and drinks.

Nik Sharma, creator of the award winning  A Brown Table that highlights Indian cuisine  wrote an interesting piece about this fruit(?) in yesterday's New York Times' Food section. Tamarind is actually a hard wood, not unlike teak and it produces pods. Those pods contain a sticky sweet and sour pulp that's made into a syrup. The Italians mix it with either mineral or even tap water for a refreshing cola like drink. It's also used in Worcester sauce for that unique flavor yet it's the Africans and Indians that have made the most use of it. It grows well in hot climates, originating in Africa and migrating over to India. Tamarind is great for any pantry since it lasts for months. Use it now or use it for baking and cooking in the fall and winter. You can make the extract at home by  boiling the pulp, then steeping  and softening it for a few minutes.  Buy the packaging that says "SOUR" which is the best for cooking and baking. You can get the sweet  as Mr. Sharma does but that's just for eating out of the package.There is also the liquid concentrate. This also can be heated up to reduce its' volume but it will lose its' fruity flavor.

There are several different recipes. Try the roasted new potatoes with garlic and tamarind. It's a sweet and savory side that has new yellow potatoes flavored with the pulp along with date syrup (although you can also use honey or maple syrup). This is a syrup poured over the potatoes after they've been oven roasted with olive oil and salt.  Cumin and serrano chiles are added for fire and bite so it's not too tangy. Seafood can also benefit from tamarind. Mr. Sharma gives us shrimp, cilantro and tamarind soup.The last is only a tablespoon so it doesn't over power the briny seafood taste. There's also a yellow onion and tomato paste added along with green chile and black pepper along with cilantro.A sweeter dish is an almond, black pepper and fig cake  drizzled with a tamarind paste glaze. The cake combines these diverse flavors with the figs being dusted with the black pepper. The batter is made from almond flour which has a delicacy that works with the other intense flavors. The glaze is unusual because it combines olive oil the tamarind paste and confectioners sugar. Usually water is added to make a glaze but the olive oil gives it more heft. Water can be added to thin it out of it is too thick.

Tamarind is a wonderful flavor , perfect in a refreshing drink or interesting dish. Try it in a savory side or soup. Use it  to give more flavor to a homemade almond, black pepper and fig cake. It's a great add in for any savory or sweet recipe.

A New World Of Shopping

It's almost hard to remember what shopping was like back in January. We could go on a whim  just for a pack of cookies  or head out for a last minute ingredient. For the last few months we have to bulk shop and hoard along with figuring out what to do with fifty pounds of something. It's created a new sort of cooking, one we're getting used to now.

Priya Krishna, the author of the popular Indian cookbook  Indian-ish wrote about this new phenomena in yesterday's New York Times Food section.Pantries are overflowing with mostly beans and potatoes these days. People are stress buying, afraid of the shortages appearing and afraid of just heading to their local grocery store. Some, such as Elysia Mann went to the website Nuts.com which sells all sorts of nuts, dried fruit, beans and different flours. She went crazy - although it's hard not to - buying twenty pounds of beans , rice , flour and seeds.She has been living on lupini beans, bitter tasting yellow ones that resemble chickpeas. Some home chefs are even going to restaurant supply stores. Matt Bochneak did just that, buying fifty pounds of potatoes from a local Portland restaurant supply store.He's grilled a few of them and is planning on making gnocchi. Another home chef , Dana Amore , of Honolulu also went to a restaurant supply store where she bought fifty pounds of flour. She had to use an industrial cart to carry it to her car and once home , had to store it in a dog food storage bin.

Buying food in bulk is nothing new. People have been doing it for years at CostCo and Wal-mart. However it hasn't been tinged by hoarding and panic-buying. Consumers did buy twenty-four eggs or a bulk box of cake mixes but that was usually around holiday times. Buying in bulk is cost effective. You do save as Stephanie Ormaeche of Ridgewood New Jersey has found out. It also forces you to cook and not rely so much on restaurant take out food. There's only one problem. Storage, as Ms Ormaeche found out, She and her husband live in a tiny apartment with a tiny kitchen and even tinier pantry. If she opens it, stuff falls out. Certain basics as Ms. Krishna points out have become  coffee, butter beans and canned. goods. Yet others are stockpiling foods not necessarily the basics. Isobella Jade of Houston, has a freezer full of Lean Cuisine fettuccine Alfredo.It's quick to reheat and popular with her and her two sons.There is the worry of waste but many like Manasi Saraswate of Sunnyvale, California developed spreadsheets to help with meals plans and how to use the foods in different meals.

These are strange times for food shopping. Yet there are ways to cook through it. Find fun recipes for all that bulk shopping. It could be hummus for those chickpeas or fresh bread with all that flour. It's a new way of shopping but we can get through it by cooking some delicious recipes.

Missing Your Restaurant Favorites

Everyone is missing their favorite fast foods and restaurants right now. It is tough because we're all sheltered in place . Yet we can make the most of a situation by recreating some of our favorite take outs at home.

One of the most missed is a hamburger. If you can get patties (try shopping early in the morning when the stores first open and supplies are in) then turn them into Whoppers and Big Macs. Add double the amount of meat along with lettuce and tomatoes along with pickles and sliced onions. As for the special sauce, it;s just a mix of mayo , ketchup , horseradish and mustard. Take a half cup of mayo and blend with a third of a cup of ketchup. It's then adding one fourth cup horseradish, and one fourth cup mustard. Also mix in one tablespoon white sugar or honey and a teaspoon of lemon juice. Keep in mind you can use this sauce for leftover cold meat loaf too. As for the fries, many stores have already sold out but you can make your own fries. Try to get Russet potatoes because they're the best and the meatiest. It's first cutting them into one quarter inch discs and then into one quarter inch sticks. Fry them in canola or vegetable oil. If you're using  an air fryer , then soak the uncooked fries in water for a whole hour. Dry them toss them in oil and salt and then put them in a 400 degree F air fryer for twenty minutes.

Of course everyone is missing their tacos and burritos right now. It's so easy to recreate a Taco Bell burrito. The filling is an easy mix of beans, tomato paste and chopped onions cooked together. What gives the filling its' zing is a tablespoon or two of red wine vinegar. Chopped cheddar cheese is added to the mix along with cumin and chili powder. Tacos are an easy make and you can fill them with a variety of different add ins. Use beans or chicken or any leftover meat or fish. Cook these fillings up with some sliced jalapenos and chili powder, top with homemade guacamole or sour cream along with sliced cherry tomatoes and shredded lettuce. You can even make a healthy one with such veggies as broccoli and cauliflower mixed with sliced carrots and green beans. Many love teriyaki and the sauce is easy to make. The base is soy sauce with a variety of different ingredients blended in. There's water , honey and brown sugar beaten into the soy sauce along with rice vinegar , sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Cornstarch is also added for thickening. Keep in mind any meat or veggie can be cooked with this flavorful sauce. Try tofu one night and salmon on another. serve with scallion rice which is an easy mix of chopped scallions cooked with rice boiled in either chicken or vegetable broth.

Everyone is missing their favorite restaurant and take out dishes right now. Try to recreate them with tasty replicas from your kitchen. You may just make them as regular dishes in the future.

Holiday Breakfast Treats

Holiday breakfasts should be just as grand as the main meals. They should be flavorful and fun, the perfect meal to start the day, especially with relatives or friends staying over. They could be sweet, savory or both.

Yottam Ottolenghi wrote about breakfasts today in the Wednesday section of the New York Times. It's basically an article about finding the right foods for his young sons. It can be frustrating , especially when trying to create a nutritious and flavorful first meal. In order to do such, Chef Ottolenghi has to use the weekends which offer the luxury of time. An extra hour can let anyone create a well thought out breakfast and give one  time to really concentrate on the meal. His first recipe is maple-cardamon saffron sticky buns. These are yeast based and that may scare some home bakers. The buns are the standard saffron ones and the kick comes from the icing made from maple syrup and cardamon.It is made in a monkey bread formation of eight dough balls stuck together to form a ring.They're pulled apart later. The syrup is made by crushing the cardamon and discarding their pods.. This  is mixed with a vanilla bean paste, melted butter and maple syrup.It's cooked into a thick syrup and then brushed over the newly baked buns. Chef Ottolenghi suggests serving them with clotted cream, but try them with butter and fleur de sel.

The other dish is potato hot cakes with cheddar cream and salsa verde. This is a perfect Christmas or New Year's Day breakfast. The hotcakes are like latkes or potato pancakes.He recommends using Yukon Golds, slicing them and first crisping them in a 450 degrees Farenheit oven . After baking ,the skins are then discarded and the meat is mashed. Lemon juice, two eggs and seasonings are added. They're then fried in olive oil , again, similar to latkes.They're topped with sunnyside up eggs and a cheddar sauce. This is made by mixing the cheese with sour cream. It's finished off with a salsa verde, a green sauce made with chopped parsley and tarragon. Capers are added for saltiness and tang  and garlic is added for more flavor. It's then ladled onto the eggs and hotcakes, giving them color. I don't see why some leftover Christmas ham can be slipped in between the eggs and hotcakes It would definitely make them more substantial. Chef Ottolenghi also suggests scattering mustard seeds on top too. If not, try a slight dusting of some sea salt and freshly ground pepper. If you want to  make it a tad healthier, use egg whites instead of the whole egg and use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

These are perfect breakfasts for any holiday brunch or breakfast.  Try them for a tasty and substantial first meal. They are a great way to start a winter's day.

Your Fall Dinner Guide

One of the blessings of fall is that it's perfect weather for creating lavish dinners. It's time for roasting  and  creating good old fashioned sides that are filling. It's the season for the kitchen to be filled with mouth watering aromas and tastes.

Roasts are always a great fall dish. Not only are they satisfying, but they also provide the family with leftovers. A Sunday favorite is London Broil, a top round steak that is usually marinated. It doesn't have to be , it can just be liberally sprinkled with pepper and then put into an oven  or broiler. A simple marinade is using olive oil, garlic and maybe a splash of lemon. Roast beef is another great fall main course. It can be made on its own or with gravy.It's an easy cook, Just  dust with salt and pepper. Remember cooking time is one pound times twenty minutes, so a six pound roast can take two hours. Cooler weather also means tasty pork dishes. A pork roast can be cooked in a broiler, oven or slow cooker, however if you want a nice crust go for the oven method of cooking.It can be made Italian style with garlic cloves and rosemary or German with a side of cooked, spiced apples. Tired of the usual roasts? Then go for lamb. It can be with made exotic with the addition of  tarragon, paprika and cumin or simple with only lemon , garlic and rosemary. Want  lighter fare? Then go for chicken or Cornish hens. These are more delicate in flavor and calories, a different spin on the traditional roasts. Of course there is turkey which  should not be reserved for just the holidays. Roast a smaller one for a Sunday dinner.

Traditional roasts demand traditional sides. Mashed potatoes are always a crowd pleaser. Think of the age old recipe that's just a simple mix of Golden potatoes, butter and cream. You can sub in milk for the cream. Variations include add garlic, chives and even the skins themselves. Scalloped potatoes are a nice alternative and easy to make. It's just potato slices layered with a kind of Bechamel sauce, dots of butter  and then baking for an hour. Sweet potatoes are another great side that can compliment any roast. Nix the overly sweet casserole and go with baked kind. They can be roasted with your roast on a separate foil lined cookie sheet. Because of their intense flavor, just serve with butter and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt. Don't forget the greens. Steamed broccoli is  the perfect palate cleanser for all the other sides. Add  some lemon juice to bring out the fresh "Spring-y" flavor. Another great green is Brussels sprouts.. It's just boiling them and then giving them a topping of butter knobs and grated Parmesan cheese. It's then broiled so the sprouts are covered in buttery and cheesy goodness. For color throw some corn into the mix. Use canned since the corn season is well past. Try fiesta corn ,a marriage of the kernals cooked with chopped red and green peppers. Creamed corn is another nice alternative.

The temps are dropping That means it's the season for cooking hearty roasts and sides. It's a nice way to warm up against the nip in the air.

Another Round Of The Gallbladder Diet

The last few days have not been the best. Thanks to stress and a rich holiday diet, the old gb kicked ad created problems from intense pain  to sorry - vomiting. If you're new to gallbladder problems, don't despair - and don't be pushed into THE operation. A good diet will save you -literally,

One of the foodstuffs that did me in was butter, namely my favorite the Irish Kerrygold. A few days ago, on Tuesday, I wrote all about icings and cakes. Not anymore. Butter is off the table as is any product made with it, including homemade frosting. I have to return to I Can't Believe It's Not Butter which can be used a great butter substitute. Yet this I will use sparingly, namely on baked potatoes.Luckily I was not one for milk or cheese but I do have to cut out those subs such as soy milk and tofu.Almond milk is fine.Baked goods, whether home baked or store bought are on the taboo list.The good part of this is I will be eating more fruit such as tangerines and oranges along with strawberries and apples.These are not only better for me but they're also much more refreshing than a snack of cookies or cupcakes.Fresh fruits work for drinking too. Colas and any carbonated drinks are definitely off the table as is any alcoholic beverages.  Bottled juices are very good too but choose ones that are lower in sugar. Coffee and hot cocoa are not to be consumed either. Herbal teas are your best bet.

The gallbladder diet allows me and anyone the chance to eat leaner meats. We can eat red meat such as flank steaks that don't have fat. Those lush marbled cuts are no more,but it's better for us. Another plus is that we can have turkey and chicken breasts minus the skins. There are some great recipes out there that accentuate the fowl's flavors.Try grilled turkey with herbs such as parsley and tarragon or grilled chicken with lemon, sea salt and pepper. If you want a sandwich then have it on any toasted whole wheat or dark bread such as pumpernickel. Nix the mayo, but try bruschetta on top of it or sliced tomatoes. Salmon is a must. It's not only perfect for soothing an irritated gallbladder it's full  of Omega 3.s It's also easy to cook and grill. Think of one grilled with herbs, lemon and garlic for a satisfying and healthy dinner. Sides are always important and a gallbladder diet demands them. Think fresh salads with simple vinaigrette of just olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Add some raw cherry tomatoes, along with broccoli  and cauliflowers florets. Walnuts are the only nut we can eat so think about adding a few freshly shelled ones to your salad. Steamed broccoli and baked potatoes also make good sides. Just keep embellishment simple,Just toss on some margarine and chives for both .


Going back on a gallbladder diet is always annoying at first. Yet a simple, paleo diet will be worth it,It means a healthy gallbladder and no surgery. There's nothing better than that.

A Tasty Holiday Issue

The New York Times has given us some great holiday recipes and today is yet another issue of yummy Christmas and Hannukah dishes. It's a wide variety of different flavors and textures. along with a vast array of diverse ingredients. Best of all any of these can be a holiday tradition made year after year.

One of the best articles is by Food regular , Julia Moskin, She wrote about that rich , eggy dense pudding - flan. Her recipe is the perfect recipe.It is a smooth textured one  with the zing of lemon added. Cinnamon can be subbed in for the lemon, for a Northern Spanish twist. One of the most disconcerting aspects of the dessert is the caramel topping. This is usually a burnt sugar ,made with just sugar melted in a heavy saucepan. Home chefs attempting this should try a "wet" caramel, with water mixed in with the sugar.It will finish off the flan with that burnt umber syrup.What can go before the flan is Dave Tanis of A City Kitchen 's column.It is a classic French dish that also has bouquet garni and carrots.Horseradish can be slathered on them for a sharp contrast.

Hannukah is also celebrated, thanks to Melissa Clark's olive oil challah recipe. along with Joan Nathan's article on latkes..The first celebrates the miracle of the oil thanks to the addition of this classic ingredient.It is a braided bread that can also be repurposed for French toast and bread puddings. Challah dough is one of the easiest doughs to work with for home chefs. If you want the most traditional dish, then think latkes.Joan Nathan wrote about them in her article. These are not exactly the classic ones, thanks to Chef Daniel Rose.They're made with clarified butter along with being transformed into one big , crispy pancake as opposed to a slew of tiny little pancakes.Onions are also added for an earthy sweetness.It's fried in grapeseed oil and served with creme fraiche and an apple compote instead of the usual sour cream and apple sauce.It can also be used a a based for Eggs Benedict too.

These recipes will make Christmas and Hannukah more memorable. They're classics updated for a better , more enhanced taste. Make anyone part of the holiday cooking tradition.

A Basket of Apple Recipes

Apples are one of the most nutritious and tastiest fruits around. There are some man different kids, from the custardy fleshed Macintosh to the crisp Granny Smith with a dozen other varieties in between. There are also dozens of recipes, both savory and sweet that feature  them in a brand new cookbook.

How D'ya Like Them Apples? (Gibbs Smith Publishers) is the cheekily named new cookbook written , by Madge Baird, a seasoned food editor and cooking instructor. She has previously written about chicken and soup, and brings the same enthusiasm and good recipes to this apple-centric cookbook, Her many and varied ones are a great way of introducing and sneaking nutrition into everyday dishes, from stuffing to even chocolate chip cookies. There are chapters on salads and soups along with meat and poultry. The best one are on the pies and pastries, where the fruit shines along with one on cakes cobblers , breads and sweet treats.I have to admit I was a little bummed when there were no caramel or candy apple recipes but there are enough sweet ones to fill that gap. There is a section on interesting facts and helpful hints which will make working with apples easier.The fruit comes in 7,500 varieties worldwide while there's 2,500 varieties alone in just the US and Canada. She also suggest what kinds make for better baking such as those crunchy Granny Smith, Pink Lady Jonathan, Golden Delicious and their hybrid Jonagold. Then there is the question of peels or no peels.Ms. Baird points out there there a lot of antioxidants in the skin and the vitamin C is located right under them skin.

The recipes are wonderful and can take home chefs from the summer right into the winter. There is the snappy apple salad blending Granny Smith chunks with snap beans and almonds with a lemon and honey dressing,,Two unusual ones  are an apple , spinach and brown sausage link one and a potato salad laced with crisp red apples in a honey mustard dressing.Picnic lovers will enjoy the apple slaw, a marriage of the fruit with crisp green salad. The soups are homey , blending apples and apple juice with everything from squash to pimento. Apples always go well with pork and there are a few recipes that feature the happy pairing.There are dressed up pork medallions cooked with apple slices and sweet onions. Home chefs will love making the Sunday Dutch Oven pork that features pork chops, apples and potatoes spiked with a Southwestern or Mexican spice blend that has a kick of smoked paprika,The sides are great too, from the spinach-apple curry to the Parmesan roasted apple vegetable menu. Apples shine in dessert recipes especially pie and these do too. Apple lovers will love the rustic pie  that's in the shape of a gallette.and the yummy wonton apples pockets a la mode,a take on the classic fritter recipe.Kids will enjoy the apple spice cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Try the classic Apple Dutch Baby for brunch or make the applesauce chocolate chip cookies. Purists will love the recipes for apple butter and apple sauce. two classics that are a must in any kitchen pantry.

How D'Ya Like Them Apples is a joyous salute to all dishes apples. Apple lovers have to add this cookbook to their library and to experience the sweet and savory recipes. They are wonderful to make and delicious to eat.

The books comes out in August but you can preorder it and others on Amazon.

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How D'ya Like Them Apples?

Stuffed: From Empenadas To Pasties

Stuffed foods are always fun foods. How many times have we bit into a pasty and enjoyed the savory  middle.Or sunk our teeth into a Jamaican patty, relishing the mixture of spices and beef. They're a wonderful marriage of crusty shell with flavorful stuffing.

Meat and vegetable pastries are nothing new. They have been around since the 1200,s and were even given a Royal Charter from Henry III of England, The recipe was part of an early cookbook, LeViander while another cookbook from 1393 offered a recipe for meat pies or pastes stuffed with venison, veal, beef or mutton.Pasties are part of the Cornish culture in southwest England, where miners used to take them for their lunches as they descended into the surrounding tin mines. These mini meat pies are known for their flaky crusts, made of a short crust dough and delicious fillings of skirt steak  and lamb, using mixed with mashed potatoes and onions. There are also vegetable ones stuffed with swede or turnip along with potatoes or onions. It spawned the Jamaican beef patty when the English took over the island. There it got a redoing thanks to the inclusion of  cumin and curry along with the ultra fiery taste of the Scotch bonnet pepper. The crust, still in the traditional "D" shape color became a rich golden hue thanks to adding either egg yolk or turmeric.Jamaican home and professional chefs expanded the variety by including seafood such as lobster and shrimp along with pork and soy.

Latin and South Americans have their own version , the empenada first made in the Galacia region of northern Spain and Portugal around the time of the spice trade .The name comes from the Spanish word empanar to wrap or coat with bread.It is the Argentinians who elevated the recipe to a high art. The crust is a mix of wheat flour and beef drippings,similar to Yorkshire pudding while the fillings vary from province to province. Fillings range from typical such as chicken and beef to raisins, boiled eggs and olives. Some also have ham or sweet corn inside too and they can be either baked or fried..There are special ones for Lent and Easter filled with tuna and fish. The Arabs have something similar in fatayer.,Its' spinach and onion filling is spiked with cumin. Arab cuisine is also responsible for the Indian samosas. These delights were introduced to the Indian subcontinent around the 1300' to 1400s. from traders. They are also called shingaras in East India and are fried to a crunchy, golden crisp. Both pies are filled with peas,potatoes,onions and almonds along with chutney and yogurt.

Whether it's pastie or empenada or samosa,  a meat or vegetable pie s a great treat. Have it for a snack or as a light meal with a salad. They're flavorful and fun.

Those Perfect Magazine Pics

Pictures of delicately frosted cakes.Stew sthat are golden brwon and laced with perfectly julienned carrots and browned onion squares. Hot cocoas topped with creamy swirls of whipped cream and sprinkled with chocolate shavings. Yes we;ve all seen them and been seducded by what;s known as food porn.These are those perfect pictures that we see in magazines and on the web. These are the photographs that seduce us into cooking and baking. We think we can recreate the same thing.Guess again.

There are usually armies helping to decorate every little rose and pearl onion. Some magazines even have thier own  decorators on call. As for those perfect dinners some of that food is plastic ,and the gravy is sugar water with coloring. Don't get me wrong .There are some magazines like the quaint TAste of Home hat actually uses real pictures submitted by real cooks.Thes ame can be said for real life blogs sich as Pioneer Woman. These are the ones I would trust the most.

What happens when your perfect dinner doesn't; live up to its' picture?If it;s for a group or party, just imrpovise. Cook extra rice or mashed potatoes along with making extra gravy ot hide the disaster. also if the taste isn;t too hit, then add an extra dash of salt.  The best idea is make a trial run and adjust the taste t the way you want it. The same for desserts. A fun idea is getting the kids to help you make the squiggles and rosesfor the cake.You can also try it on cupckes too..

Yeah, we all fall for food porn. Who wouldn't ?The problem is that what we fall for and what we try to make are two different things. If you want to make a perfect picture of the food , just practice, You may get it right,

Turkey Day Check List

These next few days are going to be crucial shopping days for any home chef. You have to be prepared for not only Thursday's Thanksgiving feast but also for whatever disaster (and there will be some) that coes your way. How to handle all of this? Organize! It helps to have plans along with fall back solutions that will see you through the day.

The first step is to write an extensive list of what you'll need. Always include the basics such as turkey , potatoes, both Idaho and sweet, , bread for stuffing, vegetables and the makings of dessert. From there add the secondary foodstuffs, such as frozen rolls, seasonings , non alcoholic drinks and after dinner mints or nuts. Make sure your list also has foil roasting pans and disposable containers for leftovers and extras on it . Keep in mind your guests 'dietary restrictions and also what kids may like as well (such as chicken nuggets for fussy eaters and chocolate turkeys and cookies for dessert).

Once you have everything home, it's time to get out the recipes. Hopefully you've tried out the new ones at least once. If you haven't you have three days to do so. Also make sure you have all the necessary spices and other ingredients like flour and nuts for baking. Doing a trial run on your electric carving knife and meat slicer won't go amiss either. Check coffee urns too,not that they go on the fritz in the middle of dessert . Now is also a good time to air table linens or buy new ones if the old ones are ratty or torn.

Make sure your Thanksgiving runs smoothly without any glitches or mistakes. Be prepared when you shop and when you cook. It makes for a calm, stress free and enjoyable holiday cooking and dining experience.

A Good Old Fashioned Clambake

Summer and seafood go together. There's nothing like gathering friends on a beach with a campfire and freshly caught clams and lobsters. It's a fun way of celebrating a good day of swimming and sunning. The best part is that it's fun. Everybody chips in and helps in making a tasty dinner.

A clambake should take place on the beach however if your local one has restrictions you can easily have It in your backyard. As with a fire pit,dig a large hole in the sand or dirt. Cover the whole bottom with large stones or rocks. These can be found in the woods near the beach.(pick up anything that has some heft)Add branches, brushand then charcoal to build a large fire along with seaweed (although no sweat if you don't; have it on hand). If you're cooking lobsters, have a pot ready to boil them and with these you can use sea water hauled in from the beach.

Of course any clambake should have clams, but you can also have lobsters, mussels and potatoes. A good recipe is a kind of stew that involves clams, (any kind),mussels onions, celery,potatoes and corn.Cook these together in a pot along with melted butter and some fresh water. Of course you can just cook clams and have a baked potato with melted butter on it along with simply roasted ear of corn. This also goes for lobster too. because th emeat is so flavorful, just add butter that was melted in an old can over the flames.

A clambake is the best summer memory ever. There's nothing like enjoying freshly cooked clams and lobsters under a warm starry night . It's just good and simple eating

An Early Thanksgiving Greeting

For all my readers wherever you are,


This is an early Thanksgiving greeting. I'm not botheringtowrite a column today. I know for the most part Amertica will be elbow deep in pie making and brining today. There will be no time to read this (and if you are - stop , there's gotta be some potatoes that need peeling r dinnerware that needs polishing)

Remember not just to enjoy your feast wherever you are - be it under the tree lined streets of the American Midwest or the dry deserts of Afghan and Iraq. Be thankful for what you have. hard won freedom as an American, the right to vote whomever you please into office, and the choice to enjoy wither dark or white meat, scalloped or mashed potatoes. be thankful for family , that drives you crazy and friends who need you for the rough times. be thankful for the things that make you happy,

Above all be thankful for a good holiday meal. There are so many people worldwide that don't have food. Think of them this day and remember them in your holiday donations.


It's a day for food and fort the celebration of it. Just remind yourselves to give thanks that you're lucky enough to have it.

I Came I Saw I Tried

Yesterday's entry was devoted to this stand in my local mall. All it sold was corn and potatoes. As a foodie I was intrigued so I went up. Mind you the mall was already crowded because the kid who plays Draco Malfoy (that snotty blonde teen from Hogwarts) was also at the mall promoting the new Harry Potter movie. it was chaos getting to the stand which was well out of the food court.

Was it worth it?

Well, to be honest I don't really know. The stand is called Cup It and it features food in - you guessed it - a cup! it was created by a Turkish immigrant to the States and the concept is really really new. there's another one at the Palisades Mall in Nyack, New York, not far from here. I checked the reviews on that one and like me, diners were a bit confused. The concept is food in a cup but it's corn niblets not popcorn or fries. It cost me four bucks for niblets mixed with butter and salt. There are other flavors such as Mumbai which I guess is curry and then there's a barbecue one. I like corn and especially buttered corn but I don't feel a cup of it is a substantial dinner with a diet Coke. Also the idea of paying four bucks for it is a little pricey. I can go to my neighborhood A&P and just buy up a whole slew of canned corn fo r that price


The potatoes were little waffle fries , not balls and they were flavored as well. I didn't get that but tried my Mom's waffle in a cup. It a medium sized round waffle squished in a cup. Nutella is added to it along with fruit or nuts. She chose fruit and whipped cream. It wasn't so bad , kind of tasting like a warm brown derby cake. Still not what I would get at my local mall for dinner though.

So I tried Cup It. I think it would have more potential if it served a variety of fries or maybe even soups. Eating niblet corn , even as a snack is just too outre. Maybe it could work , with some tweaking. It just leaves me puzzled.