Alaska The NEw Culinary Frontier

Saying Alaska is known for its culinary innovations is like saying it's known for its beaches.Yet this rugged state is starting to be recognized for delicate cuisine and innovative dishes.What is even more interesting is that most of the ingredients are locally grown. The chef who is changing this is Alaskan native , MArian Beck and the restaurant was her the Saltry.Julia Moskin was granted an interview with Chef Beck at the restaurant located on the wildly beautiful Kachemak Bay, across the water from Homer.The nearest town is Anchorage, located 220 miles to the northeast.This is not usually an area for gourmet restaurants however Chef Beck is from the area.She is shattering the concept of Alaskan cuisine being nothing more than salmon burgers and corned beef.Her list of ingredients are salmon halibut and cod, all fresh caught by herself as well as fresh picked rhubarb that grows during the area's short summer season. luckily Homer does have a farmers market and here she can buy other cooking staples.There are big leafed vegetables such as kale as well as multicolored root vegetables, cabbage and broccoli(basically what we call fall or winter veggies in these parts).There are also mushrooms and for fruit raspberries and huckleberries.She can also get Thai dumplings and Japanese noodles, along with halibut poke ,thanks to a surprisingly Hawaiian population.Her garden yields edible flowers, herbs and salad greens. She no longer cooks at it but hires chefs who can live up to her legacy. Chef Beck's restaurant maybe in a rustic area but her dishes were certainly not.She took the smaller. Sweeter halibut and turns them into seared filets.Their broth is a herbed affair, punched up with salsa verde.Risotto ,flecked with root vegetables is the side.Chef Adam Walker is the current chef at Saltry.He is following in Chef Beck's footsteps, using the local fish as the stars of the menu.Halibut is the star, it being the go to food for the population up there.It is a treat when it is air dried and then slathered in butter or dipped in seal oil.There is also the pickled salmon,another recipe from the Beck family.It is made from a local strain of China Poot.The flesh is a deep reddish orange.There are also vegetable nori rolls, a nod to the elder Beck's trips to Japan when he was the chairman of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.While most of Saltry's desserts have locally grown fruits, the restaurant's crown dessert is a mile high chocolate cheesecake with imported European chocolate. Thanks to both Chef Marian Beck and Adam Walker, Alaskan cuisine is turning into a foodie must have.Gone are the salmon burgers and in their place, interesting ,locavore cuisine.It is changing ,being red hot in a cold climate.

A Good Healthy. Start

With the mornings turning cooler, it's vital to have a hearty yet healthy breakfast.This sets the tone for the rest of the day,A good breakfast mean better concentration at school or at work along with not having the need for an 11 AM snack.The quandary is what constitutes a good breakfast? Most people agree that a good breakfast starts with eggs and bacon.That is true ,flavor wise however health wise, it's not that great.The meal is high not only in calories, but in cholesterol.Add buttered toast and it goes up.You can make it better for you by creating a tofu scramble.This is relatively easy to make.Take tofu cubes and crumble.You can add turmeric or cumin to give it that yellow eggy color .Add mushrooms, tomatoes or spinach for more nutrition as well as flavor.You can serve it with turkey bacon or the even healthier soy bacon.People balk at this last but it really is good and tastes like the real thing.You could also serve it with some breakfast sausages or patties. As for the side of toast and jam, nix the white bread and definitely go for the whole wheat .Serve with margarine and a fruit confit.This last is a tad more healthier thanks to the small amount of sugar being used.Frog Hollow Farms of Brentwood CA has excellent confits.They can be made at homeas well especially with pears and apples. Another rib sticking day starter is a stack of pancakes.We all love them,dripping with syrup and melted butter.Again this is the perfect fall breakfast but it can be tweaked for less calories and more benefits.Start with the pancakes themselves.First of all use buckwheat or whole wheat flour.As far as the liquid use soy, rice or almond milk instead of regular.You can also use buttermilk for zing.Skip the recipe need for melted butter and use canola oil.Also have aside of berries or cooked apples as opposed to the maple syrup and butter.French toast is another great breakfast yet it is rich.This usually fried dish can be baked instead of fried.Also use whole wheat bread or even a baguette would work.You do need eggs however for any kind of French toast however you can just use the whites.For sweetening it's brown sugar,which is much better than the refined white.For flavoring think nutmeg and cinnamon with a pecan topping.As for a cup of hot something, think a Droste hot cocoa where you can add the sugar or just a coffee with almond milk and stevia added.Herbal teas are soothing go withs, and perfect. For any intensely flavored breakfasts. A hot breakfast is the best way to start off a cool late summer morning.Make it not only a hearty one bit a healthy one too.It'll be good for you soul and body too.

Your Own French Bistro

French food is amazing.It's flavorful and only has the best and freshest ingredients.It's also intimidating to many home chefs.Yet French cuisine isn't as hard to make as most people think.Bistro food is easy.It's what most Parisian restaurant s make, and it's simple enough for any Yank to cook. One of the easiest bistro foods to make the croque monsieur.This is nothing more than a grilled cheese sandwich fried in butter.It is usually made with white bread(you can also use rye too for an earthier flavor) along with Emmental or Gruyere cheese.Again it can be varied with Swiss cheese..What makes it so delicious is frying it in butter which is also spread on the bread before assembling the sandwich.Some croquen recipes recommend a béchamel sauce poured over it.This isna simple white sauce spoked with nutmeg and bay leaf.The sandwich doesn't need this.Another variation is a croque Madame, which is the addition of a poached egg on top(the shape reminded cooks of a ladies hat, hence the name)Serve your croques with a glass of sparkling hard cider,the perfect foil for this hearty sandwich.If you want a tad healthier then whip up simple ratatouille, a cooked mélange of tomatoes, eggplants and onions,It's cooked in olive oil with minced garlic.It can be used as a side but 's it's better as a main meal.Make sure you have a large, crusty baguette to sop up the juices. Some bistro dishes are a little more elaborate but still easy to create.Try a carbonade which is nothing more than a beef stew with the addition of beer and onions,Use a light or blonde beer, like a PIlsner .You want the beery taste but not the bitterness that a darker one will impart.it also requires a bouquet garni, ,a mix of dried herbs in a small cheesecloth pouch ( think a culinary potpourri)"The stew is usually ladled on thick slices of French bread but yip can also serve it on rice or better yet buttery egg noodles.For non meat eaters there is a cabbage casserole or gratin au Chou.The ingredients are the super tasty Savoy cabbage chopped and parboiled.This is then layered in a casserole dish with quick sauteed rice and tomatoes.Béchamel sauce and cheese is the spread on top.This is a great fall dish, perfect on a Sunday night after apple picking.For something easier, try steak au poivre.It is a nothing more than a simple filet mignon coated with with loosely cracker peppercorns and served with a cognac sauce,made from cognac, the meat's juices and cream.The traditional side dish is crispy shoestring potatoes French bistro food is easy to make and delicious to eat.Home chefs can easily make it.There's is nothing elaborate about it.It's simple food with good ingredients.

President Butter Fantastique

Nothing beats the taste of a good butter.it should have a smooth tangy flavor and silky texture along with a deep yellow color, like new daffodils.Now imagine a French butter like that which is far superior to any good American one and you have President Beurre from France.This is the perfect butter.Truly. President Brand comes from the notable dairy cows of Normandy and is famously known for it's and Brie along with other soft cheeses.The company was started in 1967 by Andre Besnier who humorously named it that because there are prsidentsof this and that all over France.It could also be an homage to Charles De Gaulle governed the country at the time. The company is in the heart of the beautiful Loire region of France, not far from Norman dairy farms.The beurre or butter is made in true French style.It is churned with a slightly soured or cultured cream which gives it a deeper color than American butters.There is also mo added vegetable oils, sometimes seen in our butters.It also has less water too, making for a denser product.French butter has more fat, 82 per cent more than the American kind which can squeak by with only 80 per cent.President sells theirs in three styles.There are sticks used for baking and cooking.the sea salt one, perfect for slathering on baguettes and the spreadable , softer beurre sold in tubs.This last is perfect for both cooking and enhancing sandwiches. By far President is the best butter I have ever tasted.I love the sea salt spread the best with it's tang punctuated by the sharp briny bursts of the sea salt(which I also imagine comes from Normandy as well).It is good on bread but also on biscotti(this is how they're eaten in Piedmonte,the pairing of the beurre and anise flavor is amazing)This is the butter that would justify eating lobster (forget that cup of yellow stuff that restaurants serve with it)and bring out the flavor of a good filet mignon.It is hearty and earthy, and definitely would complement any piece of beef's flavor.I am also in love with their spreadable butter.It too has that rich tang, but with a more sweeter flavor than the sea salt one.This is perfect for any veggie dish.I can see it enhancing creamed spinach or steamed carrots.I would also add a table spoon or two into any cream soup.To be honest I would probably only use President for baking croissants,brioches or any fruit tat in.I think it's too good to waste on ordinary butter cookies and cakes.Even butter cream icing is not worthy of this fine spread.Butter lovers will understand this next confession: I just love eating plain and letting it just melt on my tongue. If you want a taste of heaven then buy President butter.It will enhance your meals tenfold. It's tang and richness add to everything from a simple slice of bread to the most expensive cut of beef.

Chilee And Dips

You would think that chili's and dips wouldn't have anything to do with the late summer season.Yet they do.This is chili season when the peppers are coming into ripeness.As for the dips ,well you could use them in dips too, as they make their way into backpacks across the nation. Both David Tanis and Melissa Clark discussed this in their weekly columns in Wednesday s New York Times Dining section the other day.Mr.Tanis covered the peppers.These are ubiquitous in his old stomping ground of Santa Fe.The most famous and desirable are the Hatch peppers which come from the Hatch Valley.They're roasted to perfection while green.The process is done in a barrel , basically a perforated metal drum rigged to rotate over intense flames.The skins get blisters, the chilies themselves get cooked a bit.There is a sauce(but you can also use it as a dip).It starts off with a chicken broth base and you can make with rich with the addition of butter or healthy by using olive oil instead.Spices abound in it,from cumin to oregano.Mr Tanis serves it up with a breakfast quesadilla but it can also go in fajitas or tacos or as a condiment with any grilled meat from chicken to steak. Milder dips come from Melissa Clark's A Good Appetite column.The reason is not chiles but her daughter.Unfortunately at the younger's Clark's school, her favorite sandwich , peanut butter and jelly is banned due to the abundance of nut allergies. Her mother goes with dips as an enticement to eat a healthy dip.Dips are a better lunch time meal than sandwiches?Kids like the idea of dipping and any dippable fits perfectly in little hands.This theory can also work for adult lunches too.The dip"s base should be a protein such as yogurt, beans tofu and cream cheese.Add ins can be cheddar and scallions in a cream cheese and mayo dip.There's also an avocado basil one made smooth with olive oil and Greek yogurt.This is actually a good receptor for the green chile sauce.Add a tablespoon or two for a spicy appetizer at a grown up dip.Serve either with warmed tortilla chips,Ms Clark throws in an edamame tofu one zinged up with Ginger and soy sauce.You can serve this with cucumbers or rice Crackers.Luckily dips can e made fresh or the night before and they also work as good after school snacks too. Chiles and dips actually work. With the last days of summer.It's the time for them as both head to the office or school.Combine them too, for an end of summer party.

Fall Foodies Guide Of Manhattan

There is nothing like Manhattan in the fall.It's the start of the theater and opera season.It's a time to wear all those yummy clothes from oversized sweaters during the day to fancy sparkly evening duds for those parties?It's also the start of the foodie fall season as well.New restaurants and trends are coming faster than falling leaves.It's definitely going to be a unique few months. The New York Times Dining section covered it.All the contributors, from Eric Asimov to Florence Fabricant weighed in on everything from new wines to innovative techniques.One of the most interesting stories comes from Jeff Gordinier interviewing chef Enrique Olvera.Chef Olvera has been visiting other eateries , studying their methods for his highly anticipated restaurant Cosme.His won't be the typical Mexican menu, redolent woth tacos and bowls of nachos.He is creating his own spin using traditional , little heard of recipes while stealing from New York City's finest.His place may have the trendy buzzy vibe of Del Posto but with his own spin on traditional Mexican recipes.He even sampled many different guacamoles to see what he could do different.He found it, in the form of room temperature avocados. Doing this creates a tastier, more flavorful dip,The Dining section has also included his avocado taco recipe? This is a combo of buttery and hot, thanks to the addition of a generous portion of tomatillo. Of course there are other restaurants to try. Some even have the new addition of take out.This was Florence Fabricant's piece. New Yorkers and even visitors to the city can enjoy everything from fried chicken from the hot spot Le Bilboquet to the sinful chocolate velvet cake from the famed Four Seasons.There're even nibbles from Chef Gregory Zakarias from his famed Lamb Club.These are sesame rolls served with marscapone cheese.However it's the season for eating out too.One of the more fun ones is Birds and Bubbles on Forsythe Street.Chef Sarah Simmons combines that new culinary adage of serving champagne with fried chicken, a seriously perfect combo with both food and drink greatly complementing each other.Vegans will adore Dirt Candy, the trendy vegan hangout run by Amanda Cohen.Eric Asimov, who helms the issue's weekly The Pour column offers up some restaurantns with really good cocktails and wine lists.The Chinese restaurant Fung Tu not only has interesting dishes but interesting wines from Frnace and Italy.M.Wells Steakhouse has one of the most expensive ,ranging from retsina, to the pricy Laurent Tribut to go with their variety of steaks and chops. The fall season will soon be here.Enjoy it foodie wise with all the new eateries and dishes of the season.it's going to be a fun one, complete with new flavors and spins on classics.

Happiness Is A Hahn's Crumbcake

Nothing beats a good old fashioned crumb cake. There's something about the marriage of buttery ,crunchy crumbs and a yeasty not so sweet cake.Hahn's Crumb Cakes of ,Farmingdale New York fills that need.This Long Island bakery is known for their delicious coffee cakes.They offer the traditional along with different variations.Best of all, crumb lovers ,they even sell a bucket of just crumbs.What bakery does that? Hahn's is located in Farmingdale, smack in the center of New York"s Long Island.It's a great stop not just for locals but for those going to and coming from the island's posh South Fork.It was started thirty years ago by Regina Hahn.She not only bakes crumb cakes but also brownies and a mocha cappuccino cake.As for the crumb cakes, Ms Hahn has given different twists to the classic cake.There are fruit kinds, with raspberry and apple, along with a chocolate one.Anyone of these would be great ending any holiday dinner or party, whether at home or at the office.The bakery goes one step further and offers a bucket, literally a small paint can, filled with rock sized crumbs.This alone would make a neat birthday or holiday gift for the extreme crumb cake lover.There is also the variety pack that has the traditional, raspberry and chocolate packaged together. I sampled the variety pack and now am a fan for life.Hahn's has created the perfect crumb cake.There is a perfect ratio of base to topping.The cake itself is a wonderful, moist, buttery yeasty kind that's not too sweet.The crumb topping is a nice mix of cinnamon and butter that doesn't over power the cake.The raspberry kind is laced with swirls of the fruit, but again, the raspberry is not overpowering.There's only a taste of it that meshes well with the other ingredients.Hahn's chocolate is the best.It's a dense, dark cocoa ,not cloying as most chocolate cakes are.The topping is the same as for the others,and it works here too.Of course I also got the bucket of crumbs.They"re great snacks ,bursting with nothing but cinnamon and butter.These would be great on plain vanilla ice cream for a different kind of dessert.They would even make a neat crumb parfait ,layering them with hot caramel sauce and ice cream. Hahn's is the perfect place for finding the best crumb cake.They are moist and flavorful, harking back to those home baked kind we all grew up loving.Try their classic ,fruit or chocolate for a true treat.