Chilly Summer Days

 Those days will come - those chilly Summer Days when you;d prefer a hot chocolate to a chocolate gelato. Yet you can still enjoy picnics and days around the barbecue and campfire.The key is eating warming foods,They'll keep you toasty until the summer sun comes back,.

How do you stay the day on a cold summer morning? The same as you wound on a fall or winter day - oatmeal or farina. despite  the temps  berry harvests still thrive. Add some strawberry or any bertry butter with maple syrups. Also a good dose for cream with blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. Also warmed croissants with fresh made jam is another good way to start a below average temperature June or July morning.You could also make a hot sandwich with scrambled eggs, pork roll (Or Taylor ham) and and English muffin.A  hot sandwich is the  perfect way to chase off a chilly day especially if it's the first day of driving.Have a side for fruit to go with it.Omelets make for a good breakfast or even lunch. have them with peppers or cheese along with julienned ham r bacon bits. Shakshuka, the spicy Tunisian egg dish is a great family breakfast on a frosty Sunday. It's taking eggs and poaching them in a spicy tomato sauce that also has bell peppers onions and garlic. Omit these if they're too much for breakfast. Also it makes for a good brunch dish, especially with crusty bread.

What if your camping trips turns into a frost festival? You can still make hearty meals over a camp fire. Take already cooked spaghetti and already made meatballs. Add a sauce and you;re good to go.Surprisingly enough  garlic bread can be made over an open fire. You can buy a grill and and placed oiled and spiced slices of Italian bread on it and evenly toast both sides.The loaf can be cut into chunks , dipped in a garlicky oil and the toasted over the flames.Everyone knows you can cook hot dogs over a campfire but you can also cook hamburgers too. Patties are put into foil packets and then put over the flames for twelve to fifteen minutes. what about the beach? You can always bring hot soup in thermoses for a nice hot lunch.  Also instead of a cool drink, ring a thermos of coffee or hot tea to go with  sandwiches.Luckily there are  so many seafood restaurants that border seaside parks. Visit one for a good hot mug of chowder or a fresh  from the fryer fish and chips.As for a chilly evening at home,you can make a grilled steak but also have a jar of warmed gravy to go with it. Baked potatoes are a nice side on a chilly night. Serve with hot cheese sauce for an added treat.

Yes, there will be chilly summer days and nights. A hot meal would not go amiss during these days. Make a warming breakfast, lunch and dinner to chase anyway these cold days.

An International Mother's Day

 Tomorrow Mom will probably be greeted with the usual homemade brunch. There may be eggs and bacon. Toast will be there.Maybe it'll be capped off with a mimosa. Yet why not give the lady of the day something extraordinary? Take her on a culinary tour of the world!

Instead of the usual breakfast, look to France and crepes. Think about a simple folded one with some butter and sugar. Some may see this as a chic little pancake, but it's much more. It's a delicate batter made up of eggs,melted  butter whole milk, water and flour. The batter is put into the fridge for an hour or two. This ensures a lighter , crisper crepe. It's then pouring the batter into a lightly oiled pan and cooking for two minutes. It can be served with brandy butter or just lemon juice and granulated sugar. For a savory start to the day look south of the border to Mexico. Huevos rancheros are a hearty way to begin a fun filled day.It's basically a sunny side up egg served on a  warmed tortilla and topped with beans and warmed salsa.  Serve with a big margarita mocktail. Shakshouka, a spicy egg dish from the Middle East and North Africa is another interesting breakfast option. This is poached eggs simmering in a tomato and onion based sauce. Various spices such as paprika, cumin and chili powder are added.Garlic and green peppers also give this flavor. Serve with warmed pita wedges for a truly unique Mother's Day brunch.

Lunch and dinner can also be just as special and just as international. Choley , an Indian chickpea curry that also goes by the name chana masala is an excellent meal choice. One of the best recipes for it comes from the famed Brass sisters, Marilynn and Sheila from their Heirloom Cooking With The Brass Sisters. : Recipes You Remember and Love. Chickpeas, whole tomatoes, chopped onions and potatoes are cooked in a tantalizing sauce of garam masala cumin seeds, curry and chili powder, You can add spinach too if you want and sub in another kind of bean for the potatoes. It's an easy cook that takes less than half an hour. Ethiopian  cooking has given us some savory and memorable dishes. Try the country's vegan lentil stew redolent with berbere spice.It's too late to order this from Amazon but you can easily make it at home. It's blending paprika, cayenne, ground ginger, and fenugreek , along with nutmeg, ginger and ground cloves. The lentils are cooked in spiced butter or oil ( you can use the berbere spice for it) along with tomato paste, chopped onions and a mix of freshly minced ginger and garlic. Cilantro is also added for flavor and color. Once cooked you can serve it with naan or pita. You could also make teff bread,a kind of crepe made with teff flour , to serve with it as the Ethiopians do.

Get away from the traditional Mother's Day fare. Try something other than the typical American dishes. Go to France or India.Visit Mexico, the Middle East or Ethiopia. Make Mom's day a truly international one,

International Heat.

There's nothing like a spicy dish, spiked with heat to warm you up on a winter's night . Most cuisines have different spices to warm up any kind of main course and sides.what's great is that you can easily replicate these fire crackers or even create variations of them.

One of the hottest spice mix going these days is harissa. This  sauce took off a few years ago and it's still going strong. It's an easy make that involves a variety of different chilies from the New Mexico kind to chili de arbol to a tomato paste spiked with lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and garlic.Coriander and cumin are also added. Spoon in a dollop to hummus to zing it up or spread on grilled veggies .You could also add it to eggs like the North African recipe shakshouka. This is a tongue zinging poached eggs in a mix of vegetable broth,harissa and feta cheese. This is the perfect brunch dish on a cold wintry Sunday, washed down with a soothing mint tea. A fiery tomato sauce can also be used for a pasta dinner. Pasta arrabiata or angry sauce is another way to warm the palate.It's a rich tomato sauce that can either have oil or butter as its' base and a good dose of red pepper flakes.Most home chefs use a tablespoon of them but you could add a teaspoon more for an angrier sauce. Don't just use it for pasta. It can add an exciting bite to pizza and dipping sauce. Try it with wings and drumsticks too.

The Sichuan province in China has given the world some of the best - and most hottest dishes. This south central province is known for its many tear inducing recipes. It may clear your sinuses but it will also delight your palate.Many home chefs are a bit scared of the recipes, fearing they may be too complicated but they're actually not. Try the tasty ants climbing a tree. This nature sounding recipe is a cellophane noodle stir fry with vermicelli noodles and freshly grated ginger for heat. For more tingliness try the mix called mala wei. This is a combination of Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilies. Ginger garlic and chopped scallions are also added to round out the blend. The cuisine is really not all fire , but a combination of it along with sweet, sour and salty although many of the dishes are eye watering. Closer to home there is Mexican cuisine.Fajitas are a snap to make at home. Bring the fire by adding a spicy mix of different peppers, from jalapenos to Ahaheims to steak and chicken ones. End with the sweet flames of Mexican hot chocolate.It's the classic drink with an added kick of both cinnamon and cayenne pepper. It's the perfect way to end a fiery meal.

It's cold outside. Time to warm the palate up with different spices from different countries. They're a tasty way to bring on the heat during a frosty season.

The Mediterranean Influence

In the last few years Eastern Mediterranean foods are becoming part of the American culinary landscape. It's easy to see why - with the melange of flavors and textures They can be spicy or mellow , simple or complex. The combination is a refreshing breeze of warm, fragrant air.

I discovered this at King Falafel,down the road from me in Elmwood Park, New Jersey.It's a place on the highway - Route 46 West, that I usually pass by.I went there for lunch  and had the one spice mix I've wanted to try for the last few years - za'atar.. It was served, heavily layered on warm, puffy pita.The taste was pure heaven, a dark green spread rich with olive oil and such spices as sumac(yes sumac  which also give Greek gyros their earthy flavor) along with fresh oregano, cumin, and  sesame seeds along with Kosher salt. Unfortunately King Falafel doesn't sell the mix so I will be making it at home (along with providing a how to for home chefs sometime soon. We also had this

an incredible chopped salad, rife with parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions. It is a refreshing bite on a hot October day. This is my new favorite - I even took a container home for dinner.

Mediterranean cooking has been around for millennia. Some recipes such as za'atar have been around since Biblical times yet we're just discovering it now, thanks to Instagram. I'm looking forward to making my own blend and plan on using it on everything from scrambled eggs to Gardein's beef tips. It would even be great sprinkled on fries or mixed with olive oil to be used as a dip. Hummus is another Middle Eastern food that is now so common. It's also easy to make as is falafel - fried chickpeas balls. This is another recipe on my radar.It can be a labor intensive one because the chickpeas have to be soaked overnight.Another dish that's on America's culinary must try list is the hugely popular shakshouka. This is a Tunisian and Israeli version of huevos rancheros. Fried eggs simmer in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, peppers and spices. It's usually a breakfast or lunch dish, but can be made for a vegetarian dinner too.Cumin, cayenne, garlic and paprika, give it spark and color.It's an easy cook.

Mediterranean food is part of our American landscape. discover it, cook it, enjoy the variety of flavors and textures. It's as refreshing as a warm, fragrant breeze ,