Feast of The Assumption

 Today is the Feast of the Assumption when the Virgin mary ascended into Heaven.It is a holiday throughout Catholic Europe, South America and here in Norht America. It's also a time of feasting and celebration.

Each country celebrates differently. The Germans bless herbs anf then put them in both sweet and savory dishes. Lavender is one of the plants blessed and it can be used in shortbread dough. Other savory herbs such as rosemary and oregano can be used in salad. Chives or schnitlau cn be chopped and mixed with sour cream or butter for barbecued baked potatoes or steak. This was also popular in pre-Reformation England where people brought their curative herbs to be blessed by the parish priest. The Italians take this day seriously foodwise.It is the start of holidays throughout the contry and many people celebrate at seaside resorts. They usually have a seafood lunch or dinner to commerorate Our Lady's Rising. Since its' also the beginning of the early harvest season so fruits and vegetables are blessed and eaten as well. Many start with a simple summer carpaccio of either meat or fish with burata and freshly picked basil. Chicken with peppers is also a popular Ferragosto dish.Some celebrate the day with an outdoor picnic of good cold cuts , bread and cheese.

Both Muslims who recognize the Virgin and Christians in Syria celebrate the day as well. The have wheat and small triangular cakes. These are made with semolina , a popular cake ingredient in the Middle East. At the Monastery of the Virgin near Damascus , there is merry making ,feasting and even horse racing. All this is heald in the Monastery courtyard where The Virgin first appeared to Justinian. The Greek Orthodox also celebrate it, The Dormition of Theotokos is when they make the meat dish yiorti. This is a mix of goat meat, onion and wheat eaten to break the fast before. The goat meat is cut up and tossed into a cauldron where the meat is boiled for two hours. Dirt and fat are then skimmed off. Chopped onions and wheat are added to this, creating a porridge.The bones are discarded when they float to the top and a priest blesses the dish. It's then spinkled with pepper and served to the entire parish. If you want to celebrate, then think of it as a fruit harvest celebration. Have strawberries or bluebrries, the color of the Virgin's robe. You could also try peaches or nectarines with a splash of white wine.

The Feast of the Assumption can be celebrated in a variety of ways. You can have it as a harvest of summer fruit or special dishes as yiorti or semolina cakes. It's honoring The Virgin in your way.

From Home Chefs To Culinary Stars

 It's amazing how You Tube can raise the profile of anybody, especially the home chef. Now women in Arab countries are discovering the power of this platform as they share their recipes and heritage with the world.It's a chance to shine and expand the world's palate.

Food and culture writer, Reem Kassis wrote about this phenomena in today's New York Times Food section.Middle Eastern and North African women are generating extra income for their families as they show their recipes to the world. The kitchen has always been the heart of domesticity in their world.It's kept women tethered to it for millennia. Only twenty-five per cent of women actually work outside the . You Tube os changing that .It's changing the power dynamic for Arab women and turning their kitchens into a source of income and influence. Women like Heba Abo Elkheir started a YOuTube channel after her husband suggested it. She featured such classic dishes as basbousa - a sweet semolina cake and macarona bil bechamel a kind of baked mac and cheese.In less than three years she has amassed three million viewers becoming a top wage earner as well as being one of the top three women leading food channels on YouTube across the Middle East and Africa or MENA.

Ms. Abo Elkheir isn't the only one.Katrina Boukar is raking in money too. Her dessert videos are legendary with tons of viewers. They're simple and economical.  Her most popular video has more than sixteen million viewers. It was about a  three ingredient coconut macaroon inspired dessert. It was followed by a chocoflan and a cold brewed(!) pudding. She was going to give it up when she had her first born son but the child was diagnosed with autism., Her revenue from YouTube paid for his medications.Another successful home chef is Ola Tashman. A native Jordanian created her You Tube channel in 2018 when she was living in Saudi Arabia. She missed the traditional Eid cookies of ma'amoul (a date filled cookie) and her mother's recipe of shushbarak, a lamb dumpling cooked in yogurt sauce. The Syrian refugee situation has helped another You Tube chef,Muna Al - Amsha who fled the Syrian Civil War with her husband, They and their five children relocated to Kurdistan where she started a channel featuring all the recipes that Syrians around the world missed. It became wildly popular.

You TUbe is not only a great platform for chefs to show off  their recipes, it;s also a great way to earn a sizable income. For women of the Arab World ,it's a way to be successful and have a satisfying career.It combines the love of food with the need for recognition.

A Good Vegan Cookbook

 A good vegan cookbook is just the thing for those longing for a dietary change in the New Year. Luckily there's a new cookbook that can make meatless, eggless and dairyless eating a snap. It's the perfect Christmas gift for those who want a healthier lifestyle.

The Complete Plant Based Cookbook :500 Inspired, Flexible Recipes for Eating Well Without Meat  ( America's Test Kitchen Publishers 2020) written by the experts at America's Test Kitchen. This is a must have for vegans, vegetarians and those seriously thinking about embracing the meatless lifestyle. This is chock full of advice. The first chapter is a plant based primer with tips on how to store fruits and veggies along with what to do about preserving any ingredient's unami, that special oomph of of flavor. There are pages dedicated to the veg-centric plate and the importance of aqua faba - that all important and versatile chickpea brine or water. The books also shows how to make a vegan meal more filling, usually with the addition of grains and good crusty bread.There are recipe suggestions about pasta dishes and grain dishes. There are also recipes for what's known as building block recipes such as vegetable broth , fish sauce substitute along with creating home versions of rice, soy , almond and oat milk. Vegan home chefs will also love the aquafaba mayo and cashew ricotta. There is also a basic almond milk yogurt, perfect on its' own or mixed with fruit. Some  basics can even be made ina slow cooker like the vegetable broth. Those with celiac allergies will appreciate the section on gluten free dishes. Do the chefs approve of the whole Impossible Meat or Beyond Beef movement? Yes. They even show you how to cook the perfect burger

The recipes are great , with the chapters being divided into eleven chapters.Every kind of dish is represented here, from brunch to pizza to main courses and even dairy  and egg free desserts.Breakfast lovers will enjoy the millet porridge with maple syrup or the hash browns omelet with kimchi, Soups and salads are well represented here too, Chickpea Salad sandwiches are the perfect lunch full of tang and textures thanks to the beans with the addition of scallions and celery.A fiery Caribbean style Swiss chard and butternut squash stew is the perfect winter lunch or dinner bowl. warmer days will warrant the Summer Vegetable Gratin a casserole of different squashes onions and tomatoes, baked with breadcrumbs and olive oil. There's international dishes of cauliflower biryani and vegetable fried rice. There are also fun dishes like Thin Crust Pizza with Mushrooms and Cashew Ricotta and plant based meat Beef Tacos.Bean lovers will enjoy the many bean recipes like red beans and rice with okra and tomatoes. Dessert lovers will enjoy the richly flavorful peach crumble with the crumble enriched with coconut oil (although you can also try I Can't Believe It's Not Butter) and the Chocolate  Espresso tart made with water based ganache instead of a cream one. There's a yummy recipe for Coconut Ice Cream too and semolina pudding with almonds and dates.

The Complete  Plant Based Cookbook 500 Inspired Flexible Recipes For Eating Well Without Meat is the perfect vegan and vegetarian cookbook. it has a plethora of recipes that are delicious and filling. It's a good addition to any home chef's library.

A "Sweet" Taste of Cake

If you want a perfectly made cake look no further than Yotam  Ottolenghi. This famed British chef and baker can create the ideal one, rich with flavor and moist with texture. Now fans and home bakers can whip up exact copies, thanks to his and Helen Goh's new recipe book, Sweet  based solely on treats from the oven.

Chef Ottolenghi and fellow baker, Australian , Helen Goh, give the world their best recipes. Chef Ottolenghi wrote about  two of them in yesterday's New York Times Food section. He and Ms. Goh have been together as fellow bakers and partners since 2006. She started in the savory side of Ottolenghi's vast food empire and later graduated to the sweet side.It was at this point that he recognized that saw his own restlessness and insatiable drive for perfection. They made the perfect team.  They share a passion for precise measuring and timing along with weighing the right amounts to create the perfect sweet. She also brings her Australian and Malaysian heritage to the table as well. The site sells the famed Aussie cookie yo-yos, a crunchy sandwich cookie filled with  passion fruit buttercream while the pastry shop offers  billowy powder puff cakes and her famed chocolate one that an Australian newspaper once called the "world' best" Her Malaysian influence is seen in Chef Ottolenghi's bakery , especially in her chiffon cakes and pandain infused pineapple tarts. She has also brought her cupcakes, scones madeleines and cheesecakes too, that also features cakes from his childhood..

Chef Ottolenghi and Ms. Goh gave two of their recipes from the new book. One is that famous chocolate cake, the other is a pistachio and rose water semolina one.The chocolate one is deep in flavor and rich,It is also a buttery one, using a cup plus one and a half tablespoons of the unsalted kind.To offset the cocoa's intensity,  a teaspoon and a half of instant coffee granules.As for the chocolate itself, both dark chocolate pieces and a half cup of Dutch processed cocoa. The flavor is magnified by the addition of a choice of icings. -a rich  chocolate ganache or an espresso cinnamon marscapone topping. If this is too intense there is pistachio and rose water semolina cake, This relies on pistachio and cardamon for a mellow blend of taste along with almond meal. There is a lot of butter needed too, namely a cup of it plus one tablespoon. That and four large eggs create the golden crumb.It can be served plain with just rose water syrup drizzled on top but it can be made lusher with a rose cream made with both creme fraiche and Greek yogurt. More rose water and confectioners sugar sweeten it. The cake is decorated with candied rose petals,easy to make just pesticide free rose petals, egg whites and granulated sugar.

Chef Ottolenghi and Ms Goh have created the ultimate baking  cookbook. The recipes are richly satisfying. Get it and bake!

The ABCs Of Pasta

One of the most basic kitchen needs is pasta.It is versatile as a main dish or as a side. Yet many home chefs have qualms about making their own.Yet this basic is so basic to make.

The mechanics of pasta making was featured in today's New York Times Food section.Samin Nosrat walked readers and pasta lovers through the ABCs. It's pretty easy and can be made with or without a pasta machine. The ingredients are basic, having been used by the best pasta makers for centuries.It's all purpose flour , two large eggs and three egg yolks along with the semolina for dusting on afterwards.It is a matter of mixing and needing to make a manageable dough.You can make it with herbs. This requires a half cup of finely chopped herbs such as parsley, chives chervil, tarragon a d basil in any combination or just use one such as basil. Whole grain pasta is a tasty and healthy alternative.Use spelt, whole wheat or farro sifted in the white flour (match a cup for a cup).Saffron .s big right now and it would be amazing with a sauce of chicken livers, similar to risotto Milanese.It does require a large pinch of saffron ground into hot water to make a saffron tea. The tea then has to be cooled and the eggs whisked in.The flour is then added into make a paste. Green pasta can also be created , simply by adding spinach leaves.They needed to be wilted first and then pureed.

Creating the sheets is super easy and fun if you have a pasta machine.Yet it's also easy if you have to use a rolling pin.It's first lining three baking sheets with parchment paper and semolina. Cut off a quarter of it, rewrapping the remaining dough.Use the heel of your hand to flatten the dough into a circle.Now use a rolling pin to stretch it.Continue rolling it, moving the rolling pin a quarter of an inch after every roll out.The finished sheets can be stacked on top of each other.Just dust each one with the semolina flour before layering. Cutting the sheets is easy and fun, with all the possibilities ahead of you.Invest in a pasta roller if you are planning on making a lot of it.It's just a matter of slicing the sheets The next step is separating and fluffing the noodles and then seprating them into nests.You can also use a very sharp knife. Just remember to cut in half inch increments for tagliatelle and fettucine and three quarters of an inch for papperdelle. Homemade pasta can be refrigerated and even frozen. Store pasta in single layer sheets on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap/ For freezing, do the same, with putting nests of pasta on a parchment line baking sheet until rock hard. Then transfer to freezer bags . They can be cooked in boiling salted water for four to seven minutes.

Homemade pasta is not that daunting to make.It's fun an a snap to create.Try it and enjoy.

Mooning Over Mezzelune

Mezzalune are ravioli's more elegant cousins. These delicate, stuffed pastas are just as delicious as their heartier cousins and are just easy to make.It's a great change of pace from the usual pastas and a chance for home chefs to get creative.

David Tanis knows this and wrote about them in his A City Kitchen column in yesterday's New York Times Food section.Both ravioli and mezzalune are easy to make, especially if casings and fillings are made a few hours ahead. Home chefs don't need a fancy pasta machine to make it (although there are some who swear by the more elaborate machines). Mr. Tanis recommends a simple hand cranked one which is even easier than doing the original way - with a rolling pin.The dough is a basic egg based one, made golden with two large eggs plus two extra yolks. Home chefs could try it with a whole wheat version but the dough's texture  may be too dense,Making the dough ahead of time actually benefits it.Afterwards it should be well wrapped and kept at room temperature.Doing this  helps it to hydrate properly and allows it to be stretched more easily into a silky, tender consistency..Another plus is that once the mezzelune have been assembled they can be refrigerated for up to three hours before cooking.This gives home chefs plenty of time to make a dessert or salad. The pasta can be cooked up in only a few minutes , another boon for a busy home chef.

Mr. Tanis fills his mezzalune with, seasoned ricotta which  is always the base of the stuffed pasta .Nutmeg and lemon zest flavor it, along with blanched chopped spinach for taste and color.Some mezzalune fillings include chopped chicken if home chefs want something a bit heartier.Once the filling is made then its time to concentrate on making the pasta rounds. Use a sharp cookie cutter to punch out three inch rounds. There should be enough for thirty-six ravioli, -figure six servings of six mezzalune each. Dust the rounds with a light coating of semolina and keep covered with a damp towel to prevent drying. Once they 're all cut out then, put a tablespoon of filling on top of each round. Using a pastry brush or even a finger sparingly moisten the edge with water and fold over to create a half moon. The mezzalune will resemble mini  empenadas. Continue until all the rounds have been filled and place them on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment and dusted with more semolina. He uses fresh spring peas and shiitake mushrooms in a butter olive oil blend for the sauce. A more traditional version is a butter and sage sauce. Home chefs can also sub in morels or porcini mushrooms for the shiitake.

Mezzalune are a light,delcate alternative to ravioli, Make them with the produce of the season for a wonderful airy meal on a warm, Spring night, They are a lovely , elegant change of pace.

Turkish Treats

Turkish cuisine is usually full of savory exotic dishes, laden with spices and nuts. There is also the sweet side of it,, influenced by the variety of different people who lived there from the Greeks to the Turkic tribes. The end result is an array of delicious desserts that can be recreated in home kitchens.

Melissa Clark not only wrote about Turkish delights for today's New York Times Food section she went to Istanbul to sample the many different treats.Their pastries are just as sublime and complex as any French pastry yet are little known here in the US. Their origins, in part, come from the Muslims ban on alcohol. Syrupy fruit juices called sherbets along with other confections subbed in for wine used in various ceremonies. There is the actual Turkish delight, a citrussy gelatin square that's dusted with powdered sugar. Baklava ,  a favorite throughout the Eastern Mediterranean area is much more delicate than the traditional Greek one.Instead of using honey , bakers pour a simple syrup over the layers of pistachio and baklava. This highlights the nuttiness . another difference is the pastry too. Turkish baklava is made with yufka, a hybrid of strudel dough and phyllo. The layers are brushed with ewe's milk butter instead of cow's milk butter to give it a richer, fuller taste.Ms. Clark gives the recipe but it's more like the Greek with using regular butter and phyllo dough.

The Turks are also known for their fruit desserts that are loaded with poached or candied apricots, pears,cherries mulberries, quince and melon.Pumpkin is also candied, made with calcium hydroxide or slaked lime.One of the most popular in Turkey and worldwide is helweh or halwah. These range from the sesame seed variety to buttery flour and semolina homemade kinds.One of the oldest of the desserts is milk puddings. , A variation is ,tavuk, gogsu, actually has shredded chicken breast in it. The meat, usually from a fresh killed capon, is ground into a fine powder and mixed with milk, sugar and cracked rice.There is also a burned kind, kazandibi, that Ms. Clark makes. The flavor is similar to  a burnt marshmallow with a crusty smoky caramelized shell surrounding a mellow, creamy middle Cooking it involves using mastic, a tree resin used in  Middle Eastern and Greek cooking and baking. The recipe is tricky but easily learned. Bakers must put a metal 9 by 13 pan directly over an open flame  to burn the bottom of the pudding. The blackened side is then flipped over when it is served.

Turkey has an interesting array of sweets. The recipes are ancient and exotic, yer fit right in with modern Turkish cuisine. They are delicate and subtle, a perfect ending for dishes  rich with spice and flavor.

Extrending The Holiday With Ukranian Cuisine

Even though the holidays are over with and Epiphany was done with on January 6th you can still extend the taste of the season with Ukrainian food. Yesterday's Times Dining section gave an an entire page to this ancient and varied cuisine. These dishes are also wonderful chill chasers, flavorful and hearty. They are perfect for the snowy day and nights that come with this month.

The article written by Dining section regular Julia Moskin write about the dishes and the people who preserve this taste s of one of Russia's oldest provinces. She also wrote about the bastion of this cooking- the East Village where Ukrainian restaurants abound. It is hearty fare with the popular beet soup or borscht along with vuska , tortellini like dumplings filled with mushrooms or onions. These are a standard and and are usually added to the soup.Another popular food is stuffed cabbage. Usually these are meatless for Christmas Eve . Mos t of the time they are stuffed with pork or lamb.

The Ukraine isn't really associated with sweets. Yet there is the holidays meals end with a dried fruit compote called uzvar. Dried apples, pears prunes and raisins, basically the fall harvest is cooked with water, honey and lemon and then spiced with cinnamon and clove. The article doesn't mention the jam and semolina treats called povidlyanka. This is a type of custard made with whole eggs, semolina flour and jam of choice along with chopped nuts. The Ukrainians have several other pastries that they make and I suspect they have a few Easter treats that are really y something too since Russian Orthodox Easter is a huge holiday with them.

Ukrainian food reflects the people who make it - no nonsense and hardy .It is a great cuisine not just for holidays but for chilly winter nights to warm the body and the soul. Ukrainian food is the ultimate comfort food especially on a cold January night.