French Appetizers A Book Of Treats

Appetizers are usually the best part of a party or a meal. They're fun bites full of flavor. Even better are French ones, ripe with sophisticated flavors and ingredients. Now there's a new cookbook chock full of amuse bouches that will make any gathering a special event.

French Appetizers (Gibbs Smith Publishing 2019) was written by Marie Asselin, a famous food writer from Quebec who created the multi award winning  blogger Food Nouveau and author of Simply Citrus. In this latest book, she devotes all the recipes to apero,  a kind of gathering where bites and aperitifs are served.It's a French and French  Canadian gathering that translates into cocktails here in the States.It is an amazing book, with beautiful photographs by award winning food photographer Catherine Cote.It is divided into seven sections  such as Basics and Condiments , Breads, Sandwiches and Toasts and ends with Drinks. The book starts out with menu ideas.Ms. Asselin  has them listed from quick and easy which is a mix of homemade and store bought to the luxurious which can be made for birthdays, anniversaries and New Year's Eve. There's also a vegetarian version and dairy free one.There's even one for a park or beach apero as well as one for a large crowd. There is also good advice for planning a stress free apero with ideas as making recipes before hand and then freezing them, along with asking guests to help and always keeping staples on hand. The most important is planning and prepping ahead to allow for the most minimum work in the kitchen. After all, an apero is all about not just enjoying the food but also time spent with guests.

The recipes are amazing. Readers , especially Francophiles, will feel like kids in a candy store with this book. I love it. There's about two dozen recipes I am longing to try. There is a recipe for three kinds of tapenade, one with za'atar and green olives, along with black olive and lemon and sun dried tomato and basil. This is an easy recipe that anyone can make and serve on rounds of toasted French bread.The chicken and olive meatballs are another must try, as they would make excellent bites.She also takes traditionally sweet recipes and turns them into savory ones. Sweet buttery madeleines turn into a cheesy treat when Parmesan cheese and Tapenade replaces sugar. Another cookie  turned into a cracker is palmieres, those puffy puff pastry treats. Herbs, cheese and classic pistou, a tomato-y pesto.
Ms. Asselin's recipes aren't all French. There are also hummus and falafel recipes too,perfect with her savory shortbread sable cookies. A well rounded apero also has vegetables too and there are some mouth watering ones.Radish lovers will adore the veggie sauteed in bourbon and butter while vegans will go wild for eggplant caviar. There are also soup recipe such as the velvety cauliflower and apple veloute - a nice break from the nibbles. All aperos have a sweet ending and there are recipes for clafoutis bars and salted butter caramels. The drink recipes are for simple syrup and a kir cocktail.

French Appetizers is the must have book for hosts wanting to have this kind of get together. The recipes are delicious and varied. Perfect for the perfect apero.

The Charm of New Mexican Cooking

Every state has foods that define it. New York  has apple pie and turnovers, a nod to the many orchards  upstate . The cuisine of Georgia has grits and peaches. Then there's New Mexico with its' variety of corn - masa- jalapenos and chiles. An eight-eight year old cookbook is making a comeback with time tested recipes that highlight the area.

Historic Cookery: Authentic New Mexican Food (Gibbs Smith Publishing, reprinted 2019) was written in 1932 by Fabiola Cabeza de Baca Gilbert. Ms. Gilbert would still be known if she had never created  the cookbook. She was daring and headstrong from a culture that raised women to be meek housewives and a country that dismissed her because of her heritage and her sex.Ms. Gilbert was born in 1894 to a prominent and centuries old New Mexican  family with strong ties to Spain.As with other strong minded women of her generation, she persisted. She started off in education and then delved into spreading the New Mexican culture to the mostly Anglo American population of the time.. The cookbook is a compilation of basic New Mexican dishes which for the first time were written down with measurements.A second printing in 1959 updated the recipes and a copy was sent to every governor in the union. It was the brainchild of  Thomas J .Mabry, a New Mexican senator  alsowho sent a bag of pinto beans with every cookbook. This reintroduced America to chile, making it one of the country's top dishes.

I like this book. It's a tiny one, without the pretense of modern cookbooks riddled with the author's history and chatty stories about the recipes.The writing is vintage, reminiscent of our mothers' and grandmothers' cookbooks.There are only eight small sections with the back offering luncheon and dinner menus - again a harking back to a more elegant time.Many of the recipes can easily be made today however be warned about the baking. Years ago ovens didn't have temperature regulators. Baking recipes have the the instructions as "bake in a moderate oven". (figure 350 -375 degrees Farenheit - I'd go with 350 just to be on the safe side). Another aspect is that New Mexican cooking uses a snout to tail philosophy with recipes for tripe ,menudo , homemade blood pudding - morcilla and kidneys -rinones. There are other meat recipes such as stuffed fowl (which could be chicken, turkey or even pheasant) stuffed with a mix of beef, raisins , pinon nuts and dark chocolate). Of course there are quesadillas recipes along with homemade tacos and tortillas,Beans are big in the diet and there are many, with variations involving chickpeas. I love the hot chocolate recipe along with the one for emmeladas, fried cakes in syrup. The book ends with a curious chapter on gruel, made with water and cornmeal. It's a thick soup made for young children the elderly and the sick, good for those who can't handle solids.

Historic Cookery - Authentic New Mexican Food is a timeless classic that fits in perfectly with today's recipes and tastes. It brings the first fusion cooking of  Spanish and indigenous into the public eye. Classic dishes, like classic styles and cars never goes out of fashion.

The Lamb Experiment Part Two Icing Is Coming

This is part two of the Lamb Experiment. Yesterday I baked the Wilton lamb using my Mom's mold. It came out pretty OK. Now was the time  to ice and decorate it.

This is the original instruction booklet that came with the mold. I used the original icing recipe with one difference.I made it vegan.

I used Country Crock's baking stick along with Crisco's vegetable shortening. I wasn't a big fan of shortening until I saw what it can do to icing. It gave it a creamy texture and a lovely white color.

Confectioner's sugar was Domino's - what else. I used only four and a half cups instead of the recommended five.

It really is the perfect white icing. 

The Wilton recipe recommended a 1/4 cup of milk, except that  milk can make the icing spoil if it's left out.I went vegan and used Blue Diamond Almond milk instead.

It was perfect. I'm still amazed at how creamy the icing is.

The decorating requires a bit of the icing to be colored for the eyes,nose mouth and ears. I used Wilton's, putting two blobs of frosting in coffee cups. They were decorated with Wilton's gel dyes.

I stole a trick from The Great British Baking Show and put the dye on a toothpick for the right amount of color. It was then twirled into the icing..It produced cotton candy pink for the mouth nose and ears.

And a sweet cotton candy blue for the eyes

This is Lambie. The white spots are the flour left from baking. It can be gently scraped off with a butter knife.

Remember, to give any cake a crumb coating or a first layer of icing before the actual frosting and decorating.

Then it was onto the fluffy fleece.

Again I used Wilton's plastic and disposable decorating bags and tips. These are neat because they're printed with a line telling you where to end filling it.

Don't make the mistake I did. Please chill the icing before using. It gets messy and gooey as all get out when it's warm.

Here she is. pretty as ever.

I added tart blackberries for some fun and to offset all that sweet icing.

Miss Lambie is just the first in a series of lambs.I plan on making a vegan one , along with a chocolate one with coffee icing. It should be fun. 

Ewe'll find making an Easter lamb enjoyable. (sorry, I could not resist.)It's a great family and friends project.

The Lamb Experiment Part One

I decided to do a tester lamb,just to see if I can do it. First there was the form.

Then it was greasing the two sides. I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter to grease it. If you're planning on making this lamb, then use big gobs of margarine or Baker's Joy,. Every dent and indentation has to be greased.

Onto flouring. I used my tried and true Stop and Shop flour. Again, I think I was a little too generous with it.Both sides do need to be coated but don't go overboard -like I did. Once that's done then it's time to prepare a tray or pan to catch any drippy batter.I lined a cookie sheet with tin foil.

                             Now it's time to mix. The Dream Whip recipe calls for four eggs

             Plus one package of cake mix. I used Duncan Hynes French vanilla along with one packet of Dream Whip. The liquid was just one cup of cold tap water - that's it. The Dream Whip is the sugary looking mix on the right

This is the batter , mixed with an electric mixer for four minutes.

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It takes five cups of batter to fill the pan. Make sure it's filled in evenly,especially around the head and ears.

You have to put four to five toothpicks in the neck area to make sure the head stays on. You can use skewers too, but it may look like Frankenlamb.Just be careful when it's sliced.

Now it's tying the neck and body to make sure that the batter doesn't outgrow the pan. You can use both foil and twine. I used both.

                                      Keep in mind that when baking the front of the lamb is the back. The       backside has a steam hole in it as indicated by the circles around it. Use it when you have to insert a cake thermometer (recommended) or a toothpick to check the cake's doneness.

There was enough extra batter to make four cupcakes.

The cupcakes took only twenty minutes. The lamb a good fifty , both in a 350 degree oven.

These were the best cupcakes I've ever made.I am definitely going to add Dream Whip to box mixes from now on (and maybe nix all that icing too)

This is the back side baked. The white is the flour which I now know I added too much. It can be scraped off with a butter knife or even a spoon.

This is the front. You can see the indentations for the eyes, mouth and nose.

It does have to be wrapped up for the night before frosting.Use Saran wrap to retain the moisture.

Tomorrow - the icing.

I don't know how my Mom did it, baking these for family, neighbors and friends. Hopefully mine will be just as loved. We'll see.

Celebrating With Kevin Belton

New Orleans has always been known for their amazing dishes, cooked by amazing chefs. One is Kevin Belton, star of the PBS show. "Kevin Belton's New Orleans Kitchen". He is a bright star on the American culinary scene, creating recipes whose names make the mouth water. Good news for his fans and affectionados of NOLA cooking. He has a new  cookbook out and it is a home library must have.

 Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations With Rhonda K .Findley (Gibbs Smith Publishing 2019) is a valentine to the city that raised him and celebrates his talent. He is a true child of New Orleans. Its' multicultural and centuries diverse population have influenced three generations of family and it comes through in all the book's recipes. For those who think this is just a cookbook revolving around Cajun and Creole recipes, think again. New Orleans has always been home to various immigrants and Chef Belton has their recipes incorporated between beignets and etouffee. I was surprised to see one of my Greek favorites, dolmades featured in it along with sauerkraut. Yet the Greeks and Germans have contributed to the wealth and culture of southern Louisiana for decades. Chef Belton also has many Sicilian recipes too, from calzone to calamari. The ethnic recipes are kind of sectioned together in  loose chapters but there are also sections celebrating tomatoes, , and cat fish, important ingredients in New Orleans' cooking. There are even fusion recipes like the classic boudin, a kind of sausage topping pizza.

I really like  this book because I really like watching Chef Belton on PBS. His is a fun show, full of humor and learning. The book is an absolute treat much like the show.. The cookbook starts off with his reminisces of his food experiences , from Mardi Gras to the famed NOLA Jazzfest. Another neat thing is Kevin's Take at the bottom of each introduction. They're nuggets of information that will help the home chef as well as enhance the cooking experience. The recipes are manageable and it's fun to see the international influence on the cuisine. The main influence , of course is the Cajun and Creole, and their recipes don't disappoint,The beignets with chocolate sauce is definitely on my must make list What I like is that Chef Belton has both sweet and savory recipes.There are lobster stuffed beignets as well as herbed ham and cheese ones, perfect hors d'ouevres.The gumbo z'herbes is a wonderful melange of different kinds of greens , from spinach to kale simmered with file powder, a New Orleans kitchen must have and cayenne.. Of course there are Po'Boys, from shrimp remoulade to cheesesteak, with a meatball one too, that's also on my to try list. Jambalaya is also here and there's even a breakfast one that has a sunnyside egg topping it. New Orleans is a port  so seafood abounds. Chef Belton has an assortment  of seafood recipes from garlic oysters and oyster chowder to shrimp and grits.

Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations with Rhonda K. Findley is a phenomenal book , celebrating every aspect of NOLA. The recipes are diverse, like the city itself. They're also full of the love and exuberance that Kevin Belton has for his city.

Puerto Rico Rebounds

Puerto Rico has always been known for its' locally farmed ingredients. Two violent hurricanes changed all that two years ago, leaving the island to rely on canned and frozen goods from the US mainland. Thankfully , that's all changing and fresh produce and spices are coming back to centuries old recipes.

Julia Moskin wrote about this brave island endurance in today's New York Times Food section. Hurricanes Irma and Maria destroyed the farmland and the local food movement on Puerto Rico. Everything was wiped out from restaurants to greenhouses. fish farms to food trucks.The mega storms surprisingly stirred up patriotism  of young chefs who had left the island for success
. Mario Juan is  one of them.He was trained at the CIA and worked at the famed Momofuku Noodle Bar and Blanca. Yet he felt the storms were a portent of a career on his native island. Now he is proudly making pernil sandwiches in a permanently parked Airstream trailer. Thirty year old university trained botanist Gabriel Meja Lugo had his farm destroyed thanks to Hurricane Maria. He had to retreat to his extended family in Brooklyn where he sometimes worked , helping farmers at the Union Square Greenmarket. He is back in Puerto Rico. dedicated to his farm. Older farmers aren't that loyal, just taking their insurance checks and retiring. Before the destruction, farms had a lot of restrictions thanks to the Jones Act which gave islanders all the rights of US citizens along with privileges and limitations.Only American shipping companies can legally transport goods from one  US port to another.That meant chefs sometimes had to go to Costco for their ingredients.

Some of that changed with Hurricane Maria. Food supply chains were snapped in the urgency of feeding people. Mobile kitchens were pressed into service to make sandwiches and sancocho, the island's comfort food, a stew like soup made with chicken and ham.A huge help came from Chef Jose Andres who mobilized an army of cooks, farmers and volunteers days after the storm. His top "lieutenant " Erin Shrode from World Central Kitchen has not left the island. She coordinated the relief effort long after the news crews had left, moving food, cooks and trucks as sections were cleared and power resumed. Two months after the hurricanes, she began alloting grand money from World Central Kitchen to help replant farmland, rebuild bakeries and reopen restaurants. The grant program, Plow To Plate has now garnered almost $600,000 to farmers and other food producers. The farms now are all geared to the side effects of climate change .Greenhouses can be quickly dismantled before a storm and crops saved.This means also bringing back indigenous plants that are the backbone of Puerto Rican cooking.It's sparked an interest from a new generation interested in using heirloom recipes and practicing veganism. The last is thriving on the island, thanks to the news farms and produce.

The hurricanes may have destroyed Puerto Rico but they didn't decimate its' spirit. It is thriving, especially in the  culinary arts. The food culture has come back with a vengeance that even nature can't obliterate.

The Egg Controversy

Yet again eggs and their effects are in the news. Now they're considered bad for us, despite their pluses. New studies find that they can shorten a person's life if eaten every day. What do we do? How do concerned home chefs handle this?

There was an interesting article in today's New York Times Science section. Writer, Nicholas Bakalar , the author of eleven books about health wrote this in depth piece along with conducting interviews with doctors and professors.Keep in mind that the findings are observational and cannot establish cause and effect. Yet it is noticeable that the more eggs a person consumes, the higher their cholesterol will be, despite the fact that their overall eating habits are quite healthy. The problem is without eggs , there might be some disadvantages. They are rich in Vitamin D and calcium, which are necessary for the body to absorb calcium. The ovals are chock full of other vitamins , especially the Bs -  B12,B5, and B2, It's also good for expectant mothers, with its' dose of folic acid. The yolks themselves slow down macular degeneration, an eye disease where the retina and macula are damaged due to UV exposure or age.. Eggs also contain large amounts of choline which the body uses to build cell membranes and also creates signaling molecules in the brain. Surprisingly eggs can also be good for cholesterol.It can raise the good kind, HDL which helps in reducing the risk of stroke and heart attacks,

So, what should you do, especially with Spring and Easter coming with their eggy dishes? You could cut down and maybe have them three or four days a week. If you're going to have them as a topping for Spring asparagus, then think about having something else like oatmeal for breakfast. Quiches are rich in eggs, giving the savory tarts their characteristic silkiness and flavor. I wouldn't give them up but I wouldn't go wild with second and third helpings either. What about rich holiday breads and cakes that call for them.Do you give these up or just modify the recipe? Don't give them up if they're a family tradition.Instead try vegan versions.Eggs can easily be replaced with applesauce and tofu.It's not like they lend a distinctive flavor to any baked good. They won't be missed.What about omelets? Consider letting the other  ingredients shine. The eggs should be secondary.A  veggie omelet should be filled with different colored peppers, tomatoes and broccoli.Also think of adding asparagus and kale for more flavor. What about cheese and bacon ones? Try soy cheese and bacon for something a bit more healthier. Also consider making a frittata which is just a flattened omelet that's served to the entire family. Eat one slice , supplementing the rest of the meal with salad.

Eat eggs - just not so many.  Have those poached or scrambled ones  but not on a daily basis. As with everything  moderation is the key. Keep the egg intake at a healthy minimum. You'll feel better.