To Bake Or Not To Bake

The problem with August birthdays is that they're well in August. Like July birthday's they're in some of the hottest weeks of the year. The question is do you bake a lovely homemade cake or do something else? There are alternatives, yet are they the best choice?

Many will say the heck with baking,It's just too hot and humid to pop a cake into the oven. Keep in mind that a good size cake can range from as low as $25 for one that serves six to one at $39 for half a sheet cake. Yes it's easy but it's also expensive, especially when you factor in decorating costs. Cupcakes are a better way to go , depending on the bakery or grocery store. You can easily get   a six pack of fresh made ones from Stop & Shop for $3.99 providing it's a small get together. Vegan cakes and cupcakes are a bit more expensive. Vegan bakeries such as Sweet Avenue in Rutherford, New Jersey charges $4 for one single cupcake. Granted they are OK and there's a wide array of different kinds from simple vanilla and chocolate to S'mores cupcakes and strawberry shortcake ones. Their cakes are $35 for a six serving cake and $95 for a larger one that can serve twenty-four. If you can stand the heat, then bake. You don't have to create an elaborate scratch although it's a great way of using up all that flour you bought. The birthday boy or girl would surely appreciate a Duncan Hines,Pillsbury. or Betty Crocker one. All of these companies have frosting if you don't feel like making your own.

What about microwave cakes? They're all over You Tube and they look easy. It's just a five or six minute pop into the microwave. The ingredients are the same from the flour, and milk to the baking and cocoa powders. There are even no egg and no dairy versions that only require vegetable oil or melted butter.  You can bake two layers and then frost how you want. If you feel that butter cream is still too involved then use Cool Whip.It's a great icing and filling. To jazz it up, add a few drops of mint flavoring if it's frosting a chocolate cake. A layer of strawberries, blueberries or peaches work for a vanilla one. Another idea is an ice cream cake. It's just filling a silicon mold with ice cream and making the crunchy filling. This is taking those Nabisco chocolate wafers or any similar kind and grinding them down in a food processor or chopper. Mix these with microwaved melted butter or margarine and spooning it onto the first layer of ice cream. Then add the second and finish with Magic Shell, If not decorate with whipped cream, cherries and sprinkles. Freeze for a couple of hours before serving.

Do you bake or not bake for an August birthday? There are alternatives from buying to microwave to ice cream cakes. Pick what works for you during these warm days. The birthday boy or girl will enjoy it.

Hurricane Hampers

Bad enough we still have a pandemic to deal with, we now have hurricanes. What makes it worse is that we can't really rely on friends, family and neighbors now for food or supplies. We have to build our own stores , with whatever we have around.

One of the worse things about any bad storm is that the electricity is usually cut off. That means all that frozen food you stocked up on may go bad. Keep in mind that those burgers can be grilled on your barbecue (which may be your only way of cooking for a few days).Frozen veggies can be thawed out and boiled for sides or then cooled for salads.Also have a hurricane hamper or cooler where you can put any of the frozen packages for a few days. Store your milk and dairy here as well as your eggs. Nearby streams can also be used for refrigeration. Just make sure the wildlife doesn't get to the food first. Eggs  should be used first, whether in dishes or as scrambled and omelets. Refrigerated eggs can easily turn bad and the yolks and whites become breeding ground for bacteria. The shell doesn't even have to be broken. Try also, to cook the leftovers first. They too can turn bad quickly. Repurpose them into different dishes with different spins. Again these can be reheated on your outdoor grill. Just put them into foil packets and roast for fifteen to twenty minutes.

As for your hurricane hamper. make sure you have enough for three meals. Think beef , chicken,pork or turkey jerky for lunch or dinner. They provides protein as well as something filling. There are several different brands such as Jack Links and Oberto's, the last features turkey.  Some cold cuts such as pepperoni will keep too and make great fillings for sandwiches.Cheeses will keep without refrigeration and, are again excellent sources of protein. The kids will love any kind of cheddar but adults will appreciate Gouda and Edam. Have crackers and bread for the slices and squares. Veggies will keep for a few days and should be added to the hurricane hamper.Salad dressings don't have to be refrigerated and you can buy a few to liven up the  produce. You can also make your own with using olive oil, any kind of vinegar and different herbs and spices. Try a garlic infused one with red wine vinegar or a honey one with apple cider vinegar.Veggies can be grilled too. Stock up on grillables like eggplant, tomatoes, cauliflower and onions These can be turned into tasty sheet pan meals or spins on ratatouille. Ice cream is off the table but you can satisfy sweet tooths with fresh fruit such as cherries, blueberries and peaches. These will keep. Another treats are cookies and for a healthier bite graham crackers. Get marshmallows and chocolate to make a special treat s'mores. These will be a welcome bite.

Hurricane hampers are a must during these strange days. Be prepared. Be stocked up and ready for whatever the weather brings you.

Time For Summer Treats

It has been a strange summer with restrictions on both coasts along with shark sightings off of New York's Long Island. Yet we can still celebrate summer with the foods and treats we love so well.

August is the time of so many harvests.Tomatoes are still in abundance. Nothing says summer than a tomato and mayo sandwich on white bread. You could give this classic a Mediterranean twist by replacing the mayonnaise with olive oil and a good sprinkle of oregano. Of course this calls for a heartier bread such as Italian or French.Another summer favorite is Neopolitan bread salad  or panzanella which calls for tomatoes , cucumbers and onions. Another summer favorite is corn. Grilled corn with seasoned butter is a summer staple and one of the best sides. Lemon or herbed butter works as does honey butter. Add some flaky seas salt and fresh ground pepper for bite. Unfortunately most of the peach orchards are closed to families right now. You can still buy baskets of them at local farms and your supermarket. A plain one is good just on it's own but you can also slice and peel them for crumbles and pies. You could also make a peach sundae by splitting one in half and pitting it.Add vanilla ice cream and top with honey and toasted oats.

Boardwalk foods have always been a summer must.Some are open and take advantage of what they have to offer. A typical favorite is fried clams. You can make these at home using corn flour and cayenne pepper.Sausage and pepper sandwiches are another seaside must eat, especially in New Jersey. Use fresh green peppers and any kind of sausage from sage to vegan and fry up together. Core and julienne the peppers and then saute in oil. Add the sausages along with salt and pepper. Generously heap onto hoagie rolls. Cotton candy and candy apples are what really make those Boardwalk trips memorable.If you can go just for those however you can easily get them at home. Amazon has the best array of them , ranging from $57.00 to $400 in price. Get the most affordable along with the flavored sugars and cones. If you have qualms about making it, watch the many YouTube how tos on how to use the machine and swirl the floss onto the cones. Candy apples can be bought on line at Nandy's Candy's  of Jacksonville ,Mississippi if you can't make it to your favorite boardwalk. You can also make the coating at home using light corn syrup, granulated sugar and red food coloring.It's boiling  all three into a syrup and then dipping the apples into them. You could add coconut flakes the way the boardwalk stands do.

It's the summer and despite it all , it's a time to enjoy hot weather favorites. Grab that buttery ear of corn or chomp into that candy apple. It's all part of the fun that's the season.

Salad Spins

We're probably all sick of salads right now. They were fresh and exciting a few weeks ago, a welcome relief from heavier meals. Now they're becoming a bit pedestrian - with the same ingredients.It's times to change things up a bit with this classic summer dish.

One of the basics of any salad is the right kind of green. Most home chefs settle for iceberg or Romaine. These are fine but you could liven them up with dandelion greens foraged from your backyard or curly endive also known as frisee. Some grocery stores have lamb's lettuce or mache. This can even be grown in your garden. Another garden grown rarity is speckled lettuce that has red tips and a buttery taste. You could add the burgundy colored red lettuce for flair and flavor. This would be good with other lettuces and red cabbage for a truly colorful bite. if you want something tart but interesting then try tatsoi, a popular Asian green with a mustardy taste. A really different variation came from the New York Times Food section on Wednesday.  Angela DiMayuga, the executive chef at Mission Chinese Food New York came up with this cherry salad that has charred scallions and pistachios in it. For another spin the issue also had a cucumber salad from Chef Yewande Komolafe. It has mint and dill in it yogurt dressing

Unusual dressings also give a salad zing. Chef Komolafe's dressing has fried coriander and cumin which is sure to give any bowl of greens zing. There's also Greek yogurt  included - always the perfect base  - mixed with other herbs such as mint dill and parsley. Another must add in is the Middle Eastern za-atar. This on it's own, mixed with olive oil is a great dips for veggies and pita crisps.It has a lemony, herbal flavor  and a crunchy texture. Add some to a cucumber or a baby greens salad. A tablespoon or two should infuse the oil quite well. Fruits have always been a component of dressings. Try raspberries with honey and Greek yogurt. The raspberries are cooked first. then strained to eliminate the pulp and seeds. The syrup can also be used for topping. ice cream too. Balsamic vinegar and blueberries are usually not paired however they do work in a dressing. Honey is also added for sweetness to counteract the vinegar's tanginess.Lemon juice , salt and pepper balance it out. An elegant one with a twist is lavender. Combine dried lavender blossoms with grain mustard, honey, lime olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Add garlic for more flavor. Serve this with fresh  field greens , sprinkled with edible. nasturtium petals,

It's time to give salads a fresh redoing. Either go with unusual greens or dressings with zing.It'll make for a tasty meal or side.

A Sweet Breakfast Treat

French toast is one of those special breakfast treats.Imagine amping it up wit fruit, sour dough and a variety of spices. It turns into a perfect breakfast or brunch treat that's easy to make and wonderful to eat - even on a hot day.

Great chef and baker Yotam Ottolenghi created this for yesterday's New York Times Food section. French toast in Britain is called eggy bread and its savory instead of sweet. Chef Ottolenghi creates a fruity version with the addition of Braeburn or Gala apples and mixed berries. You could even add fresh peaches, this being peach season. He uses star anise and cinnamon but you can just use cinnamon if that's all you have. (star anise can be found in your grocery's spice section). As for the bread. Chef Ottolenghi uses crustless sourdough which produced a wonderfully chewy and tangy mouthfeel. As a sub try a boule of French bread or even a loaf of Italian as long as it equals two cups. There's also rolled oats for texture  and vanilla bean paste or extract for flavor. You will need superfine or caster sugar. However if  you can't find it, then grind granulated sugar in a food processor.It's topped with refrigerated cream with vanilla flavoring but again you could use Greek yogurt for some bite.

As far ass assembling and cooking, it's peeling and coring the apples.They're then baked to soften but not baked enough that they're mush. The butter is also browned at this time in a skillet , then placed in a heat proof bowl. Use the skillet to toast the sour dough. Add it to the butter. Then add the oats to the skillet until they're lightly basted. The flavorings are then added, the sugar, star anise and  flaky sea salt. The oats mixture is then added to the bread.It's then adding in the cooked apples, berries and two tablespoons of water evenly over the sourdough pieces and oats. All this is then baked in a 350 F degree oven for thirty minutes until it's golden and bubbling. Leave it to cool for ten to fifteen minutes. Add the cold cream and remaining three quarters teaspoon of vanilla in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Serve this crumbly French toast with the cream on top. You could easily turn it into a bread pudding dessert with the addition of vanilla or strawberry ice cream.

There's nothing like French toast. Try this version whether for breakfast, brunch or even dessert. It sweet, crumbly eggy and butteryv- all the best flavors rolled into one.

The Perfect Rib Guide

One of the joys of summer is barbecued ribs. There's nothing like sinking your teeth into juicy, well seasoned meat. Yet prepping and grilling them takes some skill. Luckily there's a quick guide for rib lovers.

Steven Rajchlen , the famed PBS chef of such shows as Project Smoke, Project Fire, Primal Grill and Barbecue Grill wrote this must keep article in today's New York Times Food section. He gives six steps in which even the novice griller can produce juicy, flavorful ribs. The first step is selecting the right ribs. Keep in mind that one pig provides four different kinds of ribs. There are baby backs, sometimes referred to as top loin, spare ribs, rib tips and country style. Chef, Rajchlen recommends using the baby backs. They have the most marbling and the tenderest meat making them the quickest to cook.If possible buy them  from a heritage pork breed like Berkshire or Kurobuta or Mangalitsa. They do cost more but they have the best and most intense pork taste  For more bite it's then layering flavors.Start with a slather of Dijon mustard brushed on both sides. Next comes a rub. Chef Rajchlen uses a blend of brown sugar, celery seed, salt, pepper and chile powder. The third layer comes from apple cider which is spritzed on halfway through cooking., (Get a spray bottle for this). This keeps the meat moist. For the fourth layer or varnish, use a chipotle bourbon sauce. All these layers are featured in the article.

The third step is grilling over indirect heat.It's cooking the meat over charcoal. Chef Rajchlen gives the how to for different kinds of grills. Most home chefs have the basic barbecue where you put the meat in tin foil to catch the fat. Step four is applying the smoke. wood smoke is the unami of barbecue. What wood to use? There are several that would impart a good flavor. Think cherry,apple or hickory. Many go for mesquite because it has a strong earthy flavor that goes well with the pork. Soak the chips in water first to slow down the rate of combustion so the chips smolder and smoke. This prevents them from catching fire. if you have a pellet grill, the flavor and smoke are already built into the pellets. You can smoke ribs in your oven and they will turn out fine. As this is going on it's time to cook the sauce. Namely it's slathering on a homemade one on the meat the last twenty minutes of cooking. Move the ribs right over the fire so the brown sugar in the sauce caramelizes and sears it into the meat. The last step is knowing when the ribs are done. The sign is when the meat shrinks from the bone. A quarter to half inch of bone should be showing at the end of the rib. You should be able to pull the meat apart but there should be some resistance.

This is rib season. Make a delicious flavorful rack that chewy and tasty. It's easy with this simple and helpful guide.

The Vegan Explosion

If you haven't noticed there's a vegan movement out there that's taking hold on the way we shop and eat. More and more people are going meatless, dairyless and eggless. Why is this phenomenon happening?Are people getting smarter?Or are companies jumping on the bandwagon.

Eating vegan has never been easier. Some of the most beloved fast food chains are going meatless, Burger King introduced its' Impossible Burger to rave reviews and it's still one of the best selling. KFC also has Beyond Fried Chicken  which has all the herbs and spices of the original recipe. It's selling and becoming just as popular as a bucket of real chicken and the company's famed pot pie. The taste for all of these are the same as actual meat. The only complaint about Burger King's Impossible Whopper is that it's too big to eat and can be shared.It wasn't always this way . Years ago vegan burgers and hot dogs were vile tasting, vile colored soy chunks. The only way they were appetizing was if a lot of mustard and ketchup was poured on them. The taste was a strange taste  reminiscent of the smell of rubber. The texture for the hot dogs was slimy. Even splitting them and frying in margarine or butter didn't help. There's still a lot of room for improvement but they have come a long way since thirty years ago.

Luckily the hamburgers fared much better. Boca was the gold standard of veggie burgers back in the day. They were OK, being filled with mostly peas and carrots. Morningstar Farms came along and they improved them along with satisfying vegetarians' needs for bacon and chicken nuggets. The burgers were now coming in flavors like pizza with basil and tomato added and the Tex-Mex burger, spiked with chiles and jalapenos. The company now has breakfast sandwiches, with vegan patties however with real eggs and cheese. Gardein's Burgers come the closest in taste and texture and the ones I recommend for both air frying and outdoor grilling. Now the company has come out with their own version of the Beyond and Impossible Burger with their Ultimate Burger, a doubly "meaty" patty that's just great on its' own. They also have their fried "fish" fillets which again, taste like the real thing and pasta bowls filled with faux chicken or Italian sausage. Vegans and vegetarians are also getting their day with vegan only bakeries and cafes. Vegan cakes are just coming into their own and they and vegan cupcakes  are usually hits or misses. Some have a dense crumb and a heavy frosting. In a few years,they'll be bound to be improvements too.

The vegan movement is truly picking up steam. Don't be surprised if there is no more need for meat, dairy or eggs. Things are changing and changing fast.