Gutte Pretzels

There was a great article in today's Dining section of the New York Times. It was about pretzels stores in New York. Most of Manhattan's salty treats are covered in salt with really little or no taste. This frustrates me because I love good old fashioned homemade pretzels. I know two place here in Jersey thatt make them. In New York it;s a desert. Luckily the writer Julia Moskin has found a great one in the East Village.

The store featured is Sigmund and it's owned not by a German but a Russian born pastry chef, Lina Kulchinsky. She makes the traditional mahogany ones that are first dipped in a lye water solution to make the salt stick. There is another variation by Sue Torres the pastry chef at Manhattan;s Rusty Knot that makes a pretzel covered hot dog. This is not new The Germans have been eating big pretzels and sausages for breakfast for years. They don't have pretzels with mustard like they have here.

There is even a pretzel recipe that looks good. It seems like a simple recipe that involves lard and yeast along with barley malt syrup.Think I'd like to make homemade ones however it probably would require a lot of practice. There's also the alchemy of ingredients that work , probably the yeast is the magic component in all if it.Even though I'm mostly German I have yet to make these. We have no family recipes for them and none were handed down.
Big pretzels are wonderful. Homemade ones even better if they're done right. I'm looking forward to trying the East Village ones. I bet they're gutte!

Progresso's Hearty Soups

I think I've embraced Sandra Lee's philosophy of using prepared foods to create yummy but quick meals. I've recently discovered Progresso's Hearty Soups. These are comprised of thick broths filled with chunks of chicken , pot roast and steak. Paired with a salad they make a good dinner during those busy week nights.

Tonight I heated up the pot roast one. This was pretty thick and smelled exactly like the pot roasts my Mom used to make. It was a good soup with large slices of potatoes and carrots. The meat was in little chunks and nuggets. The soup itself was big on taste. I paired it with last night's Caesar salad and Target's Archer Farms cheese straws. It was a filling and satisfying dinner. I'm looking forward to trying the steak and noodles one. I may pair it with a tomato or a green bean salad and Parker House rolls.

Even though we're heading into summer there will still be busy days ahead. Finish off the day with a Progresso Hearty soup. You'll have a good dinner without a lot of fuss and bother.

Salad Kits- Really?

Do you really need a salad kit to make a good salad? I mean it's the simplest thing in the world to make., All it takes is a good head of good lettuce, tomatoes and oil and vinegar. If you want some variation then add some rosemary or thyme. For more sophisticated salads then add tunas or a variety of meals, grilled or cold cuts along with hard boiled eggs, artichoke hearts and broccoli.
However I saw a salad kit at the A&P today and thought , well why not. It had everything I needed to make a good Casesar . I couldn't wait to try it.

The company who made the kit was called Et Tu, a humorous reference to Caesar 's murder at the forum. However there was nothing that funny about it. The dressing was a little bit too thick.It came out like toothpaste , too thick to even be poured. I even had to mist in some oil to make it a little more smoother.I then added the bacon bits and croutons and topped it off with the added packet of Parmesan cheese. These last three were fine and they added a lot to simple romaine. I don't know if I'll try this brand again however. I think in the future I'll make my own.

I'll take salad kits with a big grain of salt in the future. I thought it would be a fun and easier way to make a simple dinner. I realize that a great bowl of greens , doesn't start with a kit.It starts with an imaginative cook.

Dinner With A Movie

For the first time in two years I went to see a movie yesterday. I usually wait until a film goes to DVD but the movie was "Shrek, Ever After" and I had to see a corpulent but still cute Puss in Boots. I went around dinner , all the time wondering what t eat. After all theaters aren't exactly known for their meals. Yet I was pleasantly surprised.

The AMC snack bar has a variety to choose from. I settled on a just a hot dog and soda. It was expensive but good.The hot dog rivaled that of Trget's for juiciness and flavor plus it was the width of an industrial pipe. The soda lasted me for two and a half hours thanks to it coming in an almost industrial vat sized cup. Iwould have liked to have tried the pretzel bits in cheese or th epizza butagain these are really for two people. ANy AMC snackbar fare is huge and can be shared. The popcorn alone comes in a small pillow sized sack.

The candy also caught my eye however I didn't buy a mammoth box of anything. There would probably be enough Sno Caps and Jujubes to last me a month. Maybe the next time I go (although I have no idea when that will be)

There's nothing like dinner with a movie. There's enough to choose from and I can see the AMC chain adding more stuff like egg rolls and tacos to their menu. It's kind of like being at home , eating dinner while watching a Blockbuster rental, Well,except the screen is bigger.

Putting Your Mark On Classic Recipes

I love my family's recipes. They've been handed down to me from generations and centuries of good cooks. yesterday ,as you may recall I wrote about having a slight case of food poisoning from eating at my favorite buffet. It was pompeist ,the Piedmontese version of egg drop soup that came to my rescue .I made a pot of it to satisfy what hunger I had and to soothe a still troubled tummy.

Pompeist, taken from the Italian zuppa di pane pesto or breadcrumb soup is a relative simple affair. It;s just chicken, beef or vegetable broth as a base with a half cup of plain bread crumbs and two beaten eggs tossed in. Cook it until it resembles Chinese egg drop soup (it's kind of a variation really). Sometimes the ingredients work against you. The crumbs turn into sodden lumps with powdery dry interiors while the cooked eggs form floss like strings that get stuck between the teeth. That has happened to me for most of the times I've made it. Not yesterday. The texture was perfect and creamy. I added a cup of breadcrumbs to four and a half cups of vegetable broth. Instead of two eggs I increased to three. My pompeist has a reputation for being bland so I added freshly ground sea salt and pepper .Again this was a great idea It has the right amount of saltiness and bite.

It was also good reheated today. My stomach is still recovering and I just wanted something bland for it. Reheated the pompeist was still perfect.its' texture still was thick and creamy as if I had added milk. The taste was even better, as all reheated dishes usually are.

I' m proud of myself for putting my own spin on this family classic. I can't wait to start on other family recipes. Have I got plans for them!!!!

Careful What You Eat

Today was not a good day foodwise.I wound up with a mild case of food poisoning at one of my favorite buffets.I think the ice cream was slightly sour and the machine was not up to par.I could have also been a case of the cream used being old. I should have guessed when the taste was slightly off. Should have paid more attention to that.

This brings me to the topic of spoiled food in general. When in doubt throw it out. I can't tell you how many times I've tossed out milk because it just wen t bad on me. Or tomatoes that turned rotty overnight.Or bananas that just went black and mushy. Sometimes it's the stores fault for selling old food, sometimes it's ours for hanging on to it to long. That has happened to me with puddings and cheeses. I've kept them well after their expiration date. Not a good thing. My mom's cousin always dates her food and throws it out after a week. Maybe this is a bit excessive but at leas she doesn't have to worry about food poisoning.Bacteria builds up on anything organic and can cause all sorts of problems with a foodies innards.

This has taught me a lesson.Stick to the fruit in your favorite buffet. Hopefully you won't go through the mess I just experienced. Also if it's unnaturally sour spit it out.

Foodie High

I just read a disturbing article in the Dining section of today's New York Times. it was all about how chefs get high in their kitchen. Yes stoners are everywhere, including our favorite restaurant's kitchens. Luckily I know most of the chefs where I eat. I trust them. I know they're not going to get toasted when slicing onions for my soup or grilling chicken for my Caesar salad. However I may now be leery of new places.

The article written by Dining regular, Kim Severson, tells about the chefs who do create dishes when they ;re baked.Some like the chef from the great new York eatery, Momofuku Milk Bar isn't but creates dishes that appeal to the more baked than hungry.The dish in point is the signature dessert - one that involves the milk that's left over from a bowl of cereal. This is served with iced cream and probably does make a good ending. It's probably also reminiscent of a munchie orgy after a few good ones.However there are chefs who relax(fine) and create(not so fine) after rolling joints. Marijuana is supposed to heighten the taste buds . OK, whatever but doesn't salt do the same thing?

Baked chefs? I'm not comfortable with that idea.I want mine to be lucid and clear headed. I don't like the idea of a stoned chef anymore than I like the idea of a drunk one. Cooking is like any other job.It requires responsibility and alertness at all times.