Supply Chain Holidays

 There is a global supply chain shortage going on right now and it may affect the way we cook for our holidays. what rt do if the store doesn't have what you want? Improvise. It's amazing what you can do with substitutes and innovation.

The news says don't worry. Everything we need will be right there, however there seems to be shortages on the shelves right now. There may be turkey and chicken shortage, but mostly for smaller birds. You could go large or think of a meatless Christmas or New Year's, Unfortunately beef is also going to be in short supply as is bacon. You could try a tofu roast which does come out well of prepared right. If you treat Tofurky like the real thing , using a brush on baste of melted butter followed by a rub of salt and pepper then, you will have a crusty, delicious roast. There is also a plus in serving Tofurky. It comes already stuffed with a wild rice stuffing. There is also a pretty good gravy included in the package. You can flavor this up with a small onion and some butter cooked in with the gravy. Another idea is going to a turkey or chicken farm and buying a free range bird for your holiday meal. Ham isn't going to be affected so you could easily serve that. The leftovers make for great devilled ham and split pea soup.It's also relatively easy to prepare with such glazes as a maple or a ginger-brown sugar one.

What other foodstuffs may be hard to obtain?There is talk of pasta and bread shortages. Luckily there is no flour shortages thanks to the 2020 overage. If you have to make your own. You can get a pasta maker which there are no shortage of (you may even get a discount thanks to holiday sales) or you can even make it by hand alone.It's easy and there are a wide range of types to create. even lasagna noodles can be handmade, giving a holiday meal an extra special touch. Bake bread along with your list of Christmas cookies if there is a bread shortage in your area. You can start with white but add some variety with sourdough and rye. It would be an extra special Christmas treat to make breakfast and dinner rolls for your table. Canned foods may also be disappearing from the shelves.As for veggies, think frozen ones then. You can make some lovely salads and sides using frozen green beans and broccoli. Winter vegetables are another option. You can create amazing sides with carrots, turnips and Swiss chard. Swiss chard is a popular side on Piedmontese tables. Try it cooked with red wine and Parmesan cheese.

Yes, this may be the holiday known for its' food shortages. Yet you can overcome those by ingenuity and innovation. Get creative with substitutes for a memorable Christmas or New Year's dinner.

The State Of Food Now

It's been a little over three months that our lives, and our eating habits have been changed. Not only that our shopping has also been altered. Have we adapted? It's an interesting question.

The Corona virus has  upset everything and definitely changed the whole modern food chain, from how our food is grown and caught to how we eat.  The New York Times Food section this past Wednesday ran an article about the salmon industry and how the virus impacted it. Julia O'Malley wrote about how out of staters come to the Naknek area for the work. They either work fishing or processing. The businesses have to be shut down meaning there's no work and no products going out to the stories and buyers. It has hit hard for Brian Nicolson, a Brooklyn winemaker who returns to his family business in this Alaskan outback. Farms across the country are also affected.Some will prosper. Some will not. Thanks to the restaurants closing down or limiting their services, many farms have suffered. Many crops have had to be destroyed. Now with bans being lifted, the farms can make a comeback. It's just a matter of keeping the workers safe, despite the bad workplace conditions and the lack of medical benefits for them.

Thankfully the shortages have more or less stopped. It was bad, with farmers killing off livestock because they couldn't sell the meat. It seemed they were more catering to the restaurants because home chefs were stockpiling every kind from frozen nuggets to fresh hams.The flour shortage due to people going wild for home baking is also over. We realize that we have the capacity to be hoarders, especially when it comes to such essentials as milk , bread, eggs and cold cuts. Yet we also have the hidden capacity to be fearless home chefs and bakers. Being quarantined has retaught us to read through cookbooks that have been collecting dust for years and use such gadgets as corers and ravioli cutters that have been sitting idle in kitchen drawers. There has also a down side. As people binged watched their favorite shows and movies they also binged ate. Snack sales went up tremendously. People wanted comfort foods, from Oreos, and their counterparts (try the Acme's Tuxedo brand of sandwich cookies) to potato chips and pork rinds. Home bakers indulged on frosting rich cakes and butter laden cookies. Hopefully this is over and we can appreciate the fresh fruit and veggies of the season for a quick bite.

How have we adapted? How has our country adapted? The answer varies depending on who you talk to or what you read. We did relearn to cook and bake which is always good. Yet we also discovered our dark side when it came to hoarding and binging.

Missing My Take Out Food

After their lockdown was lifted New Zealanders were asked what they missed the most. Many said McDonalds's, namely the Chicken McNuggets and malteds. That's true . We're all missing our fast foods. Yet there is take out. We can still support our favorite eateries and the people working in them.

Quarantines are being lifted  slowly  but surely throughout the country and the world. That means you can return to your favorite chains and mom and pop restaurants. Yet, as here in New Jersey our ban will be lifted in less than two weeks. There's still no eating in restaurants or mall food courts. However we  can still order out from our favorite places. Why not? If you're really craving burgers and fries then head to your local McDonald's or Wendy's. Some places only have drive through with the indoor counter and seating area closed. if that's the case then bring the food home.  Some experts recommend taking the food out of the paper bags and Styrofoam containers them microwaving it for thirty seconds. However there are some that say food containers are safe, especially the plastic containers and cups. It's safe  to eat in your car (although always keep a bottle of hand sanitizer and paper towel in your car for a quick wipe down). It's really the staff that has to be watched with a wary eye. Call and speak to the manager and ask if the employees have been sick lately and what are they doing to monitor their employees health.

What about the larger restaurants? You can still order take out and curbside at such places as Texas Roadhouse and B.J.'s Roadhouse. Family owned ones such as Bahr's in the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey will bring a tray with your food and drink to your car.  They still give you their great dinners of steamed lobster or sauerbraten along with a side and favorite cocktail. It's like eating inside. You can also get takeout to bring home  also from them. Diners can also give you those home cooked meals too. If you're craving really well made French toast or chicken salad sandwich then head to your favorite one. It's also a boost to the diners that had to scale back their twenty-four hour around the clock hours to only three or four a day. More orders mean more work and that could bring back sous chefs and assistant cooks now on furlough. What about the meat shortages that are hitting some parts of the US? Order your favorites when you can . Prices for burgers and chicken dishes may go up at national chains like Burger King and Checkers.  You could also switch to vegan alternatives found at Dunkin Donuts and Burger King. Beyond Burger is at such chains as Hardee's and Carl Jr's as well at Subway's.

Fast foods and restaurant fare from our places are sorely missed right now. Yet you can still get the dishes and drinks that make you happy. Take out today. Support your local eatery. Support the workers there too,.

Improvise

Thanks to shortages and limited trips to the grocery store, home chefs may come into some problems. The big one is what happens when you run out or don't have a specific ingredient? One word: improvise. Get creative and smart with recipes and you may come up with a tasty new version.

Two dishes that can be creatively altered are chili and tomato sauce. The basic ingredients never vary , tomato sauce and tomato paste. After that you can be innovative. If you don't have enough chili powder then give it a mole vibe by grating 85 to 95 extra dark chocolate into it early on. You could also add a tiny pinch of cocoa powder too for more or less the same flavor. As for beans you don't have to stick with kidney or pinto ones.Try any white bean like a white pinto or pigeon peas for a milder, sweeter flavor. Also if you don't have any chili or red pepper, a double grind of black pepper will give it the bite needed. As for tomato sauce, again you can get innovative as you want. If there's no beef or chicken, then think fish. Tuna can easily be subbed in. You can use the water based or ones in oil. The last may be better because the oil adds a smoothness to the sauce's texture. Just cut back on adding olive oil to it. As for spices , thyme can replace oregano , while minced scallions can fill in for chopped onions.

Cow's milk is flying off the shelves right now. However you can easily switch to any of the plant based ones, from soy to oat, and cashew to almond.If you're using the milks for baking use the same amount you would for regular milk. For ice cream lovers with a milk and/or cream shortage - not to worry. Again almond milk comes to the rescue. You can even make ice cream with it and create a variety from chocolate mint to peanut butter to pure vanilla. Make this and have the kids toss in some of their favorite salty and sweet snacks from pretzels to chopped Easter candy. As for the chocolate sauce for those scoops or any scoops, melt chocolate in the microwave. You can even melt candy bars down for an addictive sauce that has bits of caramel and nougat. Melt down Nestle Crunch bars for a tasty topping for ice cream and fruit. Out of chocolate sprinkles? Use your grater on chocolate  bars to create fancy patterns on sundaes, cupcakes and cakes. You can do the same with crushed nuts too and cookies crumbs.

Improvise. That's what will keep you going during this difficult time. Use your mind , use your creativity to keep cooking tasty dishes.

Ramps The New Truffle

What exist sin the forest and goes for twelve dollars a pound? What plant is so over harvested that it's considered illegal to pick them in Canada? The humble ramp. This leek cousin is getting a whole lot of fuss because it;s used in locovore dining and it represents a push into foraging. This was the subject of a very interesting article in yesterday's New York Times Dining section. The author,Indrani Sen, even sat down with botanists ad discussed the shortage problem.


Yet why is the ramp considered the new truffle? Probably because it can be used in place of leeks or even onions. Ramps have a sharp, almost garlicky taste. They go well with any pasta dishes because they don't overpower the sauce, just adding just a slight hint of garlic and onion. Ramps can also be sauteed in butter and served with new potatoes alongside a Spring lamb or even roasted chicken. There's even a ramp soup, similar to onion and they can even be added to biscuit recipes to liven them up.

There is one problem however. The ramp is now being over harvested and with that comes the usual shortage. Since they grow in the wild, they're up for grabs so anyone can just walk by and pull them out of the ground. The problem is that everyone had the same idea and there are now shortages in the area . Botanists strongly recommend that harvesters replenish the picked over sections with seeds or avoid taking younger ramps. Ramps can take six to eighteen months to germinate and five to seven years to produce seeds.Over picking them could mean possible extinction in some areas, especially outside of New York City. Manhattan chefs go mad for them, including them in a number of recipes.

Ramps are becoming the new truffle. They're much loved and much wanted by American chefs especially New York ones. However use them sparingly if you like them. There's a shortage going on and one that would mean leading to their extinction.