Cold Days, Sunny Meals

The temps are dipping. There's more night than light and the pressure of the holidays are coming  at full speed. It would be nice to escape this, take a trip to a warm happy go lucky island or exciting , exotic country. However that ' s impossible - or is it? Cooking sunny bright meals, from sunny bright places is a mini escape from  dull, chilly days.It's an exciting way to enjoy winter cooking.

One sunny bright place that has so many tasty recipes is Morocco. This corner of northwestern Africa has some yummy dishes that are easy to make. Cooking Moroccan may also be the perfect time to add a tajine pot to your kitchen arsenal. Everyone from Williams-Sonoma to J.C. Penney's now sell  them.  If you don't have one, no worry. A pressure cooker can sub for it. Slow cook a chicken with an array  of such spices as cumin and ginger.Saffron colors it to a blazing sun yellow  while raisins temper the spices kick. A plus is that it takes an hour which allows you to work around cooking it. A second  plus is that the recipe is bendable.You can use lamb or veggies instead of fowl.. Couscous is another dish that will bring to mind colorful bazaars and rainbow sunsets. Squash and chickpeas are added to this wheat semolina along with dried fruit and spices such as turmeric and cinnamon. For a light weekend supper try bagels with za'atar, an easy to make dip. This is a mix of sumac,thyme and roasted sesame seeds along with marjoram, oregano and coarse salt. Dip the bagel(it should be hand rolled , not those big puffy kinds) first in  a small bowl of olive oil and then the spice mix. Za'atar can also be sprinkled on eggs,, salads and veggies to zing them up.

Everyone love the Caribbean , with it's warm seas and balmy nights. To capture some of that heat , try making a few of the dishes of the area. Jamaica gives us the fiery jerk - which can be translated into a pork , chicken or chicken wing dish. You can buy jerk seasoning or better yet make it yourself. It's a blend of onion powder, chives, allspice and cinnamon. Cayenne gives it its' color and fire while nutmeg and cinnamon gives it a tinge of sweetness. It can be rubbed on the wings a few hours before.  Serve it with a tangy pineapple infused sauce. Jerk pork is another fiery dish, guaranteed to satisfy that longing for Kingston. It's taking pork loin, marinating it with a heady mix of Scotch Bonnet peppers, a mix of orange and lime juices along with  a blend of soy sauce and olive oil and then grilling it over an open flame (hopefully the grill hasn't been put away yet) Serve with a plate of hot festivals, a fried zeppoli like fritter that tempers the jerk's spiciness. Plaintains can also be served. These are a type of banana that are excellent prepared the sweet way with brown sugar and butter. Vanilla and cinnamon are also added to accentuate the taste.Plaintains can also be fried into a fun crispy chip too.

Let your kitchen take you to those exotic, sunny places. It's easy to make a tangine or jerk chicken and pretend you're in Morocco or Jamaica. Consider these exotic dishes a vacation for your palate.

Black Friday Kitchen Deals

Even though Black Friday is almost done with , home chefs can still cash in on the day's deals. This is the time to replace those iffy smaller appliances along with buying new pans and tins.The deals are amazing  right now. so take advantage of them. This is the time to invest in good quality kitchen ware at bargain basement prices.

One of the best places to get good bargains is Sur La Table both on line and at their many stores. They offer free shipping for $59.00 and over orders.They have a Sansaire Sous Vide Immersion Circulator for $149.00 , fifty dollars less than the usual price.Sur La Table has a great bargain on the Staub Cocotte cookware, $99.00 for a set of four cast iron Dutch ovens. Pick these up if you're planning to make a lot of chili or stewed chicken for the holidays. The store also has good bargains on carving knives sets, .along with special offers on chef's knives.  Williams-Sonoma isn't normally known for lowering their prices but they now are offering some good sales items. They're offering their name brand Thermo clad stainless steel fry pan set for half price at $150.Their Calaphon eleven piece elite non stick cookware set usually goes for a whopping $1,000 and it's on sale for $599.00 This will last a long time and the suggestion is buy it.Another boon is that all of their copper cookware is being sold for 20  percent off. Again this is a good buy because of the quality  and workmanship put in them. Williams -Sonoma also have good deals on all sorts of knives as well as cutting boards and wood containers.

The big box stores such as Target and K-Mart can offer even better bargains.If you need fancy dinnerware then head over to the bull's eye store. Target has excellent prices on Corelleware Strawberry Street, Gorham Willow Creek and Threshold. The best part is that there is a huge variety of colors and patterns so you're not limited. They're also having a sale on toaster ovens as well along with Calaphon  cookware starting at $99.00. Even if there's no sale , Target Red card holders (the store credit card) always receives 5% off all purchases. For even lesser prices try K-Mart. They are offering a BOGO - buy one get one free on all their kitchen utensils and gadgets. Scarf up their balloon whisks and choppers for yourself and your favorite home chef.K-Mart has the amazingly low price of $15 for mandolins.These are usually quadruple or quintuple the price so get them while they're hot.It's great for slicing potatoes for scalloped potatoes and home made potato chips.It can also be used for shredding and grating other veggies like cabbage and carrots. Eighteen dollars will get homes chefs an entirely new twelve piece utensil set with a decorative tub. to store them. This has everything from  a pasta fork to tongs to various blending paddles to a spatula. They will get anyone through the busiest baking and cooking season of the year with ease.

Black Friday is a home chef's dream. It's time to stock up on what you and what you want to create the perfect holiday kitchen. Get out the credit card and shop, shop, shop!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers here and abroad. Be thankful for all your freedoms and liberties , including choosing anything you want to eat.Remember those less fortunate and even put a few leftovers out for the wildlife in your neighborhood.

Most of all, enjoy all the tastes and flavors of the day. Nothing beats turkey and gravy  followed by a slice of homemade pie. Enjoy!

Times Thankgiving Issue Part Three

Once again Thanksgiving is the focal point of the New York Times Food section. This week though, focuses on table manners. Both, surprisingly are vital to the season. Good manners will take you anywhere while leftovers will take you through the weekend and into the work week.

Times regular contributor Kim Severson got to sit through a formal dinner in Hartsville South Carolina's high school, in particular in teacher's Wardie Sanders' history class. Here they're properly instructed in the fine art of what knives to use and how to use a napkin. It's throwback to Emily Post's days of fine etiquette and proper behavior when eating at a formal or holiday table. While teens and adults may balk at these little quirks, there a reasons behind them, dating s far back as the Middle Ages. We chew with our mouths closed because we don't want to gross out those around us. Napkins are placed on the lap to protect clothing and the chair.Placing a knife to the right with the blade facing the plate is a throwback to when people brought their own knives to a table.If a fight broke out it was then easy to grab your weapon and fight.Of course the biggest etiquette bugaboo is the ever present cell phone. No,it   shouldn't take top priority while eating but are allowed when backing up a fact or question. They can also be used for Face Time for a relative or friend who couldn't make it.However good manners also extends to making eye contact with those around you and engaging them in conversation.In other words, nix the technology just until dessert is over.

Of course, it's a free for all the next day. Formality is shed as leftovers come out. David Tanis gives many different recipes for what to do with the bird and sides.He plays with a classic chicken ala king subbing in turkey in a creamy gravy  on top of sweet potato biscuits. Another idea is a meat pie. He chooses the more flavorful dark meat, mashed potatoes along with roasted squash and chard for a yummy spin on shepherd's pie. American cheddar is added for some zing . He suggests     these but you may want to try other variations, like white meat and leftover peas and corn.Use store bought puff pastry if you're too tired to make a scratch dough. You can serve the finished pie or torta Americana with leftover gravy or a side of cranberry jelly. It could also just be served with a simple salad if you want lighter fare. Turkey can also be pulled and this can be stuffed into a pita along with cabbage, cucumbers and tahini dressing for a more refreshing rehash of leftovers.Of course home chefs could fall back on the traditional  second day dishes such as turkey tetrazzini and turkey fried rice.


Save this issue  as you;ve saved the other two special Thanksgiving issues. Table manners are always good to have in this holiday season. They ill elevate and civilize you. Leftovers are also good to have, simply     because they can let you go wild making all sorts of dishes - and eating them without a care for manners and civility.

Crazy For Cranberries

Cranberries may not be the star of the Thanksgiving meal but they certainly steal the show. Their brilliant ruby color commands attention and their tart taste is a palate cleanser. They're  good for not just holiday meals but for healthier eating and drinking. Another aspect is that they're extremely versatile. They can jazz up chutneys or be turned into fun mocktails.

Cranberries have a lot in common with Christmas trees and blueberries. Both  cranberries and firs are evergreens,.It shares a woody stem and bell shaped flower with the blueberry along with similar berries, the huckleberry and the bilberry. Cranberries are classified into two categories, the North American and Northern European. They were originally called craneberries by early English settlers to America,  due to their flowers resembling cranes and their long necks..They grow in sandy wet soil,namely Massachusetts and south western New Jersey where Ocean Spray cranberry juice is manufactured. Anything with cranberries is a good thing. They're high in manganese, an essential mineral used in metabolism, growth and cancer fighting. They also have moderate amounts of vitamin C and fiber. .Cranberry juice  can also aid in healing urinary tract infections. Since they have a bitter taste , they do have to be processed with a lot of sugar. The berries have been made into juice since the late 1680's and were even served at a Harvard commencement dinner as early as 1803.Cranberries were bought and fresh until the 1930's.Ocean Spray and Cranberries Cooperatives came together to form the main distributor of cranberry products in the United  States.

Cranberries are not just relegated to Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can have them all year long. Fresh ones can be made into cranberry jelly. This is just a simple mix of them, sugar and water. The skins and pulp are then strained and the juice is reboiled with sugar . Its' then poured into sterilized jelly jars and sealed airtight with paraffin wax. For something a little less labor intensive try cranberry relish. This is a mix of fresh cranberries, tart green apples and orange slicesThese are ground with two cups of white, refined sugar. The relish  could be a great condiment after Thanksgiving, adding some zest to not only turkey but also chicken sandwiches too. Use the berries in an exotic chutney. This is like the relish but has allspice  cinnamon, clove and ginger added for zing. Brown sugar is used instead of regular for an earthier flavor.  Dried cranberries such Craisins are used in desserts too. They liven up regular oatmeal cookies and bring color to chocolate chip ones.Cranberry juice is the main ingredient in the tasty classic The Cape Codder, where it's mixed with vodka. Yet there are some yummy mocktails out there that work at any party. Blend it with sparkling grape juice and a few drops of maple syrup for a cranberry fizz. Start off your holiday parties with a cranberry lemonade punch . This is mixing the juice with freshly made lemonade and then adding seltzer for froth and bubble.

As traditional as they are cranberries can also be a fin addition to any meal or party. They're zingy and zesty, perfect for drinks and sides. Try them in relishes and chutnies , or use them in a fun toast to the holidays.

Amy's Fast Food- The Healthy Mickey D's

Many people, especially parents , have been protesting about the ill effects of fast foods. Let's face it a greasy burger plus fires is not exactly a good lunch or even dinner. Yet  we all crave it from time to  time. Luckily health food giant Amy's has begun it's first relatively healthy fast food stand. Now foodies can have their burger and fries - without any guilt.

Vegans and vegetarians , along with conscientious eaters, already know Amy's ,a brand started in 1987 by Rachel and Andy Berliner with the birth of their daughter , Amy. Rachel Berliner came from a family that was growing their own food and eating organic as early as the 1950's. She wanted to give other mothers the chance to feed healthy food to their families hence the company. Their first frozen dinner was a broccoli pot pie in 1987. It was also the first of many all natural frozen dinners made without any genetically modified foods.There are no meats, poultry, eggs or dairy. Most are made with tofu  along with veggies and spices. The company literally has every meal covered , from breakfast with tofu scrambles and toaster tarts to dessert with coconut milk ice cream. They have a variety of veggie burgers from bistro to quarter pounders so it's an easy leap to fast food.Amy's also sells other fun foods such as pizza and burritos.

These fun foods translate well in their new fast food menu. Amy's Drive Thru is also going to have fries made from locally grown potatoes along with both non dairy and dairy shakes. Baked mac and broccoli are also on the menu. There's going to be salad and chili too. What probably won't be on their menu - those huge soda's and sweet teas. Amy's Drive Thru is not all that clean, as both Berliners will attest, there will be salt and fried food. However there will be no added sugars or preservatives. The food will be fresh. The potatoes are coming from a farm near the first location in Rohnert Park California, a farming community fifty miles north of San Francisco. The concept is nothing new there. Loco'l, a kind of all natural Shake Shack has been serving fresh organic no hormones added burgers and chicken nuggets. Hopefully Amy's will go nationwide, but this may be hard for those cities located a ways from farmland growing the necessary ingredients. It may be a wise move to set up their own farms. as they did with their frozen and microwave products.

Amy's Drive Thru is a breakthrough in many ways. Hopefully it will be seen in all fifty states , dispensing good food and fun food to people craving healthy meals and snacks. They're creating a movement that cannot be stopped.

Bulletproofing Your Diet

Everyone thinks that the start of the holiday season means extra pounds and tight clothes. Not necessarily.You can actually eat tons of butter and red meat between now and the New Year's and actually lose weight. There's a new cookbook showing how with  the bulletproof way of eating. It's a great way of keeping healthy and satisfied during the weeks ahead.

Bulletproof, The Cookbook (Rodale Press) was written by David Asprey who also wrote The Bulletproof Diet, and developed the discipline of the same name. Mr.Asprey was a Silicon Valley tech magnate when he discovered a way to improve his life and shed pounds His famed  bulletproof coffee, a mix of high energy coffee beans, oil and grassfed butter, has a following that includes Jimmy Fallon.Mr. Asprey  recommends using grassfed butter in almost all of his recipes (more on that later). The book is an instrumental guide in how to cook as well as how to live .He recommends very rarely using microwaves because of the radiation leakage as well as not cooking food in metal pots and pans. Dieters following his advice should be buying a sous vide- and also gentle baking or baking at the moderate temperature of 325 degrees Farenheit.  In a way the bulletproof diet is one of extremes Mr Asprey recommends eating grass fed beef but looks down on eating certain fruits like cantaloupes and plums He is big on avocados along with Brussels sprouts and olives. One of the best aspects of the book is that he values spices, and their benefits. The diet is rich in cancer fighting turmeric and cinnamon, along with cloves , the last not normally used a lot in every day cooking.

The recipes are tantalizing, despite the many restrictions. Mr/ Asprey used grassfed butter along with the Indian clarified butter or ghee  in many main and side dishes. He also uses a lot of coconut oil and a concoction you can buy on his website called Bulletproof Brain Octane Oil. Unlike some diet recipe books, there is a wide variety of recipes that will appeal to all ages.He has an interesting spin on Salad Nicoise, which uses trout and sweet potatoes as opposed to the usual tuna and yellow potatoes.He gives a nod to the Paleo diet with  recipes for bone broth and an Asian version of it. The sides are pretty tasty too,His buttered kale and buttered Brussels sprouts would be good gracing a Thanksgiving turkey as would his spice roasted fennel. There are recipes for smoothies and lattes with one for the famed Bulletproof coffee. Surprisingly there are also dessert recipes in here as well such as bulletproof cupcakes made with the chocolate and vanilla bulletproof powders (that can be bought on the website) along with recipes for pineapple granita and blueberry gelato.The back of the book is devoted to home made condiments like mayo and herbed butters. Newbies may want to try these out before embarking on the whole lifestyle

Bulletproof The Cookbook, along with the actual diet is a great way of losing weight and gaining energy for the busy holiday season ahead. It's full of yummy dishes that cater to everyone. It's flavor plus goodness .