Little Pop Ups Of Sweetness

 All it takes is creativity and flour. It seems out of work pastry chefs are making their dreams come true during these rough days by starting their own pop up bakeries. It's a great way not only to make money but get your product out to a sweet tooth hungry crowd.

Food section veteran Pete Wells wrote about this phenomena in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Pastry chefs have experienced hard times in the past few years. Restaurants have concentrated on serving a plethora of appetizers and main dishes on smaller plates. Diners are not enthusiastic when dessert comes, , ordering something simple like a shared panna cotta. It also doesn't help that these eateries are not creative or enthusiastic anymore either when it comes to desserts.Instagram is also to to blame here. It's lured talented pastry artists to create the next meme , like the Cronut. Yet there is still a need for pastry chefs and bakers to create interesting and delicious treats.Joy Cho realized this when a miniature Bundt cake pan caught her eye during a shopping trip with her mom to Williams -Sonoma. She bought it and the next day she was busy making up a sour cream batter . By February first she was taking orders for the mini Bundts. The initial batch of gem cakes sold out. People were picking them up at her home in Clinton Hill Brooklyn,

Other pop ups are arising.Kelly Miao who worked in the pastry departments at such top restaurants as Bar Boulud and Dominque Ansel Kitchen now gets creative. She bakes snack sized pound cake cubes called Kemi Cubes. These are about the size of an iced cube and are cloaked in vanilla and chocolate icings similar to black and white cookies. Boy Blue Coffee and Goods , run by Michael Davis offers mostly savory baked good like sourdough pretzels and everything but the bagel focaccia, which is a focaccis dotted with an everything bagel seasonings like poppy and sesame seeds , along with garlic and onion bits. He also sells sour dough bread kits with flour and starter included. Shuna Lydon runs Seabird bakery out of her Flatbush Brooklyn apartment. Here she creates kits of sourdough English muffins with preserves and salted butter. along with Rice Krispie treats made with browned butter and matcha powder . Two pastry chefs, Marissa Sanders and David Yang started Wrightwood and Sawyer give the element of surprise . Each week two boxes , one savory , one sweet and one mostly savory arrive with a dozen different treats. Every  pop up is legit thanks to a state licensing exemption that allows home processors to sell baked goods with minimal oversight. All they need is consumer grade ovens and fridges for storage, supplemented by a utility shelf and sawhorses to work.

Pop up bakeries may be a new facet of pandemic life. They'll introduce to the talents of many bakers and pastry chefs, allowing us to sample their creations. It's a way of becoming New York favorites.

Waste Not For Lent

 Today is Ash Wednesday and it's the start of the Christian Lenten season. It's the time before easter when everyone gives up a favorite food for forty day. Instead of that,  why not give up waste. It may even lead to a good all year round habit of conserving.

Home chefs waste a lot, especially foodwise. One of the best ways to be efficient is to write a thorough list before food shopping. Stick to it. Don;t buy excess. If a recipe calls for one pepper or onion then get it. Don;t buy the three packs or bags of the veggie unless you plan on using them all. Keep in mind that some veggies such as spinach are extremely versatile. Any leftover leaves can be turned into that delicious Italian classic soup, stracciatella. They can also be cooked with garlic and oil for a different sauce for penne or rotelli.It can also be used in salads too as as a dub in for lettuce in any recipe. Potatoes are also in the same category. Leftover ones can be used in soups to thicken the texture instead of a flour based roux. Mashed potatoes can be turned into croquettes for a tasty leftover. Even those peels can be turned into crunchy and crispy chips, perfect for snacking or as a side for burgers or wings.

What about meat? Ham can be ground into deviled ham which tastes much better than any of the commercial ones. The bone should not be thrown away. Use it in pea soup. It adds an incredible earthy sweet flavor .You can also boil it into ham stock which is a great base for corn chowder and lentil soup. Leftover chicken can easily be made into a tasty chicken salad. Just add mayo and tarragon to make it pop. It can also be added to noodle soup or just added to any white pasta sauce for a heartier bite. Leftover ham and chicken chunks can also be put on homemade pizza too for a more flavorful topping. This also applies to roast beef and London Broil. it too can be put into sauces and on top of pizza however you may want to try it as a hash for breakfast or lunch. Cut the meat into small cubes and use it with leftover potatoes and diced onions.It's fried up slowly so every piece is browned and caramelized. Serve with eggs sunny side up or scrambled ones. 

Waste is a sin. Learn how to make the most of your leftovers. Don't buy overage. Change your habits for Lent and a better future for your kitchen.

Potato Croquettes - Celebrating Mardi Gras

 Today is Mardi Gras, a different one from years past. We can still celebrate  - at home with fun foods. For me it's potato puffs or  croquettes. I used last week's homemade mash potatoes to make a family favorite.

My recipe is a hybrid of two , one from Airfry Guide and the other from Fork To Spoon. Fork To Spoon suggests first rolling the croquettes in flour then egg and breadcrumbs. I nixed the first and just had the vegan egg mix Vegg and regular breadcrumbs. I used about two tablespoons of the egg mix and a cup of water to get it to the desired yolk thickness.  The recipe calls for a cup of breadcrumbs. As for the potatoes , use anywhere from two to three cups (I used the last because the croquettes are popular in my house)

It was a quick dunk, then roll in these.   They look like cauliflower florets.

 They were fried for five minutes at 400 degrees F in the air fryer. 

They were then taken out  flipped and air fried for five minutes more at 400 degrees F.

  These were a tasty bite, with a crunchy exterior and a tender interior. I added some parsley and salt to the breadcrumbs for more flavor.

                                   The whole batch was around sixteen croquettes but they were quickly gobbled up. That's how good they are. You can vary the recipe by adding ham or cheese in the middle. Add a dash of garlic or onion powder to the bread crumbs along with oregano.

This is a fun Mardi gras dish. It's a lots of messy work but worth it. Celebrate any event with homemade potato croquettes.

Eat Like A President

 Everyone wonders what it's like to live in the White House , no matter what the era. You can experience one aspect of it on this President's Day - the dining.  White House recipes have been varied but attainable. Anyone now can eat like the Commander-In-Chief.

One of the most popular (and it was Abe Lincoln's favorite) was cornbread. Rutherford B Hayes, the nineteenth president also served it at the White House and it's easy to see why. Who doesn't love a square of the freshly made bread, drizzled with honey the way Lincoln loved it or warm from the oven slathered with salted butter. Cornbread is a great bake , either as a snack or with dinner. Yet it also is a great bed for chili - a popular favorite with both George W Bush and family and Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson. Bake up a batch and then cut into squares. Ladle chili on top for a hearty winter dish. If you want something hardier, then look no further than William Howard  Taft and Teddy Roosevelt. Both men loved a good steak and potatoes dinner. This can be easily replicated with a good filet mignon and a baked potato. This would have suited them but you do need a little green in there to balance the meal's heaviness. Add a simple green salad with a few grape tomatoes , carrots and broccoli florets tossed in, Another spin on the presidential favorites is a grilled flank steak with French fries . You could add a simple au jus sauce to dip the fries into. 

Some of our leaders loved chicken instead of red meat. Woodrow Wilson loved his wife , Lou's, chicken salad. This dish is a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken. It's cubing the meat and combining it with mayo and chopped celery, Some add grapes for sweetness and color , other's add a dash of paprika for kick. A tastier add in would be green olives. It's good on white toast but also great on sliced French bread.Warren G. Harding was true to his Midwestern roots and loved chicken pot pie. Many home chefs shy away from it because they feel it's too complicated a recipe. You can easily simplify it by using frozen veggies, and canned cut chicken. The crust  can be Pilsbury pie crust or biscuits arranged om top. More recent presidents like Obama loved nachos. These are always a fun make. You can make them with just melted cheddar and salsa on top or try something more elaborate with guacamole, sour cream and chopped meat.  Our presidents weren't exactly ones for dessert yet some, like Calvin Coolidge loved a good apple pie. This is a great bake, and a refreshing break from all that bread and cake.  You can vary the recipe by adding walnuts or caramel. Dwight EIsenhower loved his wife's fudge and this is definitely a fun make. Add walnuts and marshmallows the way Mamie Eisenhower did. 

You can eat like a president. Make a recipe that was a White House favorite. It 'll be one of yours too.

A Romantic Alpine Meal

 Unfortunately a ski week in the Alps is off the table for some of us. However  you can still have romantic food of the Alpine villages.The recipes can easily be made in your kitchen.

One of the most romantic dinners for two is fondue. It's nice to have the set, complete with the forks but you really don't need to. This classic Swiss dish  can be cooked on the stove top. Just use a heavy bottomed pan.  Set up a trivet or tile with tea lights underneath when you bring it to the table. (or just place a heavy pot holder on the table and then set the pot on top of it). Fondue is a cooked mix of Emmenthaler and  Gruyere cheeses flavored with white wine and a splash of  kirsch, the cherry liqueur.  You could add a clove of garlic for more flavor.  Once melted the fun starts with dipping  in chunks of French bread. You can also put in boiled and cut fingerling potatoes. A fun Valentine's Day meal comes from the Bavarian Alps. Think air fried wursts with mustard and pretzel bites with a good yeasty beer. A great dessert is kratizika or Kaiserschmarnn or scrambled pancake. It's making the pancake without baking powder. Whisked egg whites lift the batter into an airiness. The pancakes are cooked , then shredded. They can be be served with apple sauce but since it's Valentine's Day, sprinkle some apple jack on top.

The Italian Alps give us an array of romantic dishes perfect for the day. One of the lushest is bagna cauda. This can be made in a fondue pot on on  the stove. It literally means hot bath and is a tasty bubbling sauce of anchovies, melted with olive oil, butter and garlic. Savoy cabbage is usually one of the veggies cooked in it but you can also cook rare London broil cut into bite size pieces. Squares of Italian bread are a must here , especially after you've cooked the meat in it. The bread can sop up the flavorful mix of juices and bagna cauda - which is just a heavenly taste. How can you top this off? With chocolate cups filled with the Alpine city of Torino's signature candy  gianduja. It may have a fancy name but gianduja is easy to whip up. It';s a forerunner of Nutella and probably influenced the inventors.It's been around since the mid 1800's and the recipe hasn't changed. It's combining skinned hazelnuts, dark chocolate, sugar, butter and heavy cream. The hazelnuts are roasted and then pulsed with sugar. The chocolate is melted in the microwave and then blended with the butter, cream and hazelnut mixture. iIll chocolate cups with this or even use as a filling for cakes or cupcakes.

You don;t; have to go to the Alps for a romantic, snowy dinner. You can easily make the food of any of the Alps, Italian, German Swiss or French for a sweet Valentine's Day meal. It's a fun getaway in your kitchen or dining room.

A Homemade Mash

 One of the best comfort foods is a plate of home made mashed potatoes. There's something soothing about a plate of them with a side  puddle of butter or gravy. It's home cooking at its' best.

I decided to try the old school method of making mashed potatoes but with a few tweaks. It's starts off traditionally  - with Russet potatoes.I used a whopping five pound bag of them.

There's a method to my madness. Leftover mashed potatoes make excellent puffs  -a kind of home made Tater Tot  - with the addition of eggs and chopped onions, then fried.

I soaked them first because this ensures a fluffy texture.

They were then drained and put to cook into a pot of boiling salted water. They have to be cooked for about twenty - to  twenty-five minutes. 

I like Russets. They are delicious with an earthy flavor  however, they're hard to cook.

The next step was draining them and adding the mix of hot milk and butter. 

I made this vegan with two cups of almond milk and six tablespoons of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. You're supposed to heat it on the stove top but the microwave does a good job too.

This was added to the drained Russets and then it was mashed with an electric mixer. Doing this will ensure a light fluffy texture. Again it was hard because Russets are really dense in texture.

The end result was pretty good.

The mash also got a good sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. You could add parsley or garlic if you wanted to. 

Homemade mashed potatoes is the ultimate comfort food. They can be as easy cook, albeit labor intensive. Yet all that work is worth it for a side of creamy goodness.

A Special Home COoked Valentine's Day

 Yes, it will be a different Valentine's Day this year but it's bound to be a special one. Why? Because it will be a home cooked one, from appetizers to dessert. Nothing says "I  love you" more than something from the oven - or stove for that matter. Forget the candy and flowers. Time and effort are the true gifts here.

David Tanis knows this and he gave a full Valentine's Day menu in yesterday's New York Times Food section.  It's the type that can be served in one meal or the courses broken up with the appetizer served on Saturday and the main meal on Sunday. The first course is a mouth watering wild mushroom tart baked in a homemade buttery crust. You can use store bought puff pastry but this is an easy recipe. Just make ti the day or night before. The recipe leaves you with enough dough for two tarts so you can easily make another one midweek. He suggests using chanterelle mushrooms but you can also try a mix of sliced shiitake,  white button , oyster or king trumpet. Portobellos and cremini are also acceptable but would yield a darker , yet still delicious filling. The mushrooms are cooked with onions and garlic and them spread upon the crust which has been slathered with creme fraiche. Parmesan cheese is then sprinkled over the tart's top.It can be sliced into wedges or spices and served warm.

The main course is seared sea scallops with a spicy carrot coulis. This may sound lux but it's actually a simple cook. Mr. Tanis recommends getting what's known as day boat scallions and searing them in a pan or cast iron skillet. To offset the scallops sweetness there is a carrot coulis, a thin sauce made from young carrots cooked in chicken broth. Vinegar and sugar give it an interesting zing and flavor along with cilantro and serrano, Fresno or jalapeno chiles. The sauce is ladled into plates, and the scallops placed on top of it.Add lime wedges for color and flavor. Of course the piece de resistance is dessert. Mr. Tanis doesn't disappoint here. He offers a dark chocolate mousse with candied ginger. It's the classic French one with the egg whites whipped in for that frothiness the dessert is known for. He uses dark chocolate like the 80 to 90 per cent  Ghiradelli and Lindt bars (DO NOT use regular baker's chocolate for this) along with two table spoons orange liqueur such as Gran Marnier. The mousse is then  topped off with fresh made whipped cream and candied ginger, the last for some heat and bite.

Forget the flowers and box of drugstore candy,Make this delicious meal your gift to your sweetie. They will appreciate the time and effort not to mention memory of a fantastic home cooked dinner.