A Culinary Winter Vacation

 even though it's a tough time to travel you can stil travel around the globe. Cooking and baking make it easy to have a tast eof the alps or the caribbean. It's a fun trip all within the confines of your kitchen.

Many regret not heading to the slopes this season. You can definitely bring a taste of the Alps to your dining room this January. Piedmonte in Northwestern Italy is known not just for its' challenging and fun slopes but also for it's robust foods, perfect at any chalet.One of the best dishes is bagna calda, literally a hot bath of anchoviies, olive oil, a little butter and garlic.It's usually made in a fondue pot and doners are encouraged to dip their forks in. savoy cabbage, native to this province is what's usually dipped in but you can also serve cubed and semi roasted London Broil or steak with it.Have loaves of crusty Italian bread with it to catch the savory drips of sauce. Another tasty winter dish that can be served is pescoi meaning "not fish" in dialect. This is polenta and butter cooked in savoy cabbage leaves and then pickled ina vinegar and savoia (a type of herb) brine. across the Alps in switzerland there is fondue. This a a perfect date night  supper, made with white wine,  a mix  of Gruyere and Emmenthaler cheeses , nutmeg and lemon juice. You could add a splash of kirsch for kick. Cubes of French bread or boiled potatoes are dipped in. Even heartier fare is German  which can be a good bratwurst grilled indoors and served on a dark rye with plenty of mustard or sauerbraten, a rump roast brined in vinegar, water, bay leaves and sugar and sprinkled with flour. The drippings are strained with gingerbread cookies to make a tangy , sweet sauce,

If you;re dying for heat and the Caribbean then think of jerk. The heat alone will get rid of that winter chill. Try the chicken one which is a Jamaican classic.It's a fiery sweet mix of two Scotch bonnet peppers, cayenne pepper, onions, scallions,nutmeg and allspice berries.A pinch of brown sugar is added to temper all this heat.Serve with another Jamaican recipe, the side dish of rice and peas.This is a  of the two made sweet with the addition of full fat coconut milk and fiery with more of the famed Scotch bonnet peppers.There is also thyme in it and to round it out scallions and onions.Puerto Rico may be known for warm , sunny beaches and turquoise waters but it's also known for its' variety of tasty dishes and drinks.Mofongo is a national dish and is as comforting as mashed potatoes.Everyone has their own recipe for it but the basic one is ripe plantains mashed with garlic.It can be served with meat or just veggies.Empanadas are also found 9n this lush island.8tss sorts of like a Cornish pasties stuffed with chicken,  beef or mixed veggies,Finish with a Coquitlam, akind of rummy nog, made with egg yolks ,rum and condensed and coconut milks.

Your kitchen can be your gateway to international travel.Try any of these dishes to fell like you're on a trip,It's a great trip to a fun destination

A Warm Winter Soup

 It is winter and that means good hot dinners that warms you to the toes.One of the best dishes for this is a simple minestrone that's easy to cook up and tasty to eat. It's perfect for these frosty days.

I wanted to create a vegan soup with plenty of flavor and protein. A hearty minestrone checks these boxes. Although it doesn't have the tomatoes like a traditional one it's still has veggies and beans.

Mine started off with these 

This is a mixed package of soup veggies from my local Acme. I love the mix of carrots, onions, parsnips and leeks. These are the base.

The beans were a three can (18 ounces each) mix of  two cans of kidney and one can of white cannelini beans.  You can use any mix from black to kidney beans 

to vary it

Of course you need pasta for this too. Acme's Signature shells were the best  fit for this.

These are tiny, like ditilini and perfect for soup. Then the extras, .I used a mix of olive oil and Melt plant butter to saute the veggies. Pepper and a garlic herb mix were used to flavor it.Acme's Signature  brand low sodium broth was the liquid.

It was first sauteing the veggies in a mix of Melt plant butter and olive oil

Cook the veggies for about five to seven minutes until the onions and celery turn translucent. This is now the time to add the beans , broth and spicings, then the pasta. Cook until the pasta is tender.

 You can add a cup of water for a thinner , more broth like soup.  You can also half the pasta so it's not so thick as well.

The  soup was the perfect winter supper. Be sure to have some warm crusty rolls and salad to round it out. This minestrone was a good blend of beans, shells and veggies.Best of all this vegan dish can provide enough leftovers for a few days. You many want to freeze half or serve the leftovers for lunch  the next day.

It is  winter and that means a hot, satisfying  homemade soup. Create a minestrone that will warm you  as well as providing a delicious bowl. It's an easy make  to be enjoyed all season long.

LA A Veritable Sushi Bar

 Los Angeles is known for many things. Sunny weather. Laid back lifestyle. Now it's known for its' wide range of sushi. This is just ordinary rolls but ones that transcend artistry and taste.

Chef herself and regular contributor Tejal Rao wrote about the city's thriving sushi scene in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Not surprisingly Los Angeles has had this type of cuisine since the early 1900's. It stopped in the 1949's when Japanese Americans were bused off to internment camps. It was only until 1966 when Noritashi Kanai opened the country's first modern sushi bar, Kawafuku in the city's Little Tokyo section.It not only offered Japanese fish but tuna bellies from Boston which chefs at the time looked down on. he also offered sea urchin which only Italian immigrant ate. Not far away  the California  roll was born at Ichiro Matsura's counter . He subbed in avocado for tuna for those who wanted  a fishless bite. Osho followed in 1970,in the shadow of 20th century Fox studios. It not only attracted actors and producers but also more ambitious sushi chefs to LA. It went from immigrant status to a novelty in the 1980's along with being a culinary accessory to a certain kind of lifestyle. Now's it's everywhere. Even drugstores sell it now. There are caviar laced omakases and cream cheese buffered hand rolls coming from ghost kitchens. There are pop up and home kitchens selling the rolls.

Another interesting thing is that Los Angeles sushi is varied, unlike what's being served to the rest of the country. Most of us are eating salmon and tuna filets. A great Angeleno sushi chef will offer up a buffet if shrimp, crab, clams, abalone and scallop along with such unusual choices as mackerel and trout, There's also snapper and liver, eggs and milt, the reproductive gland of male fish. A really good sushi chef is known for his range and skill. stylish local chefs at Nobu Matsuhisa' restaurants also employ citrus juices, herbs, oils , and vegetables. Nobu Matsuhisa also fine tunes techniques that he learned in Peru for a different vibe. Other sushi chefs do the same.Morihiro Onodera who runs a restaurant of the same name hand polishes his rice every mroning in his restaurant's dining room. This is done through a small mill. He also opens his meals with a gelatinous cube, whether it's a  custardy tofu or  tomatoes set in jelly. There's also cubes of okra and salmon eggs. he torches fish so that they simmer with char and bubbles of fat.Then there's take out sushi, made luxurious by chef Yoshiyuki Inoue. These are varied and look like a box of chocolate bonbons. These are delicate pieces of various fish like squid and eel or halibut and eel on tiny perfect beds of rice.

Sushi is everywhere now. Yet it's  Los Angeles that's offers a variety of delicious  pieces skillfully made.It is a place to go to , jsut for it alone.

A King Cake For Twelth Night

 Believe i or not it's still the Christmas season. it ends with Twelfth Night or Three Kings Day. It's still a time to celebrate especially with sweets. One that's held true for millennia is King's Cake, a delicious marriage of a sweet bread like cake and icing. It's served up until Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday.

Kayla Stewart , a regular contributor to the New York Times Food section and The Bittman Project explored this New Orleans classic in today's section. King Cake is most associated with Epiphany, or January 6th the day the Wise Men arrived in Bethlehem with gifts for the Christ Child.In heavily Catholic New Orleans it is also the start of the pre-Lenten festivities leading up to the wild Carnivale season. However according to author and culinary pod caster Poppy Tooker, the treat's roots go way back to ancient Rome.It looks to the Saturnalia festival that was held in what is now mid December. Cakes were baked to honor Saturn the god of agriculture. A bean was baked into it, much like a King Cake.  when paganism died , the Church adapted a lot of the customs.The cake is so revered in the city that it's  a sacrllege to eat it before January 6th. Until the 18th century the cake was eaten only on that day , then it expanded to the days before ash Wednesday. In the early 1900's carnival krewes began to host balls where the  cake was being served. The recipe was heavily influenced by 18th century French and Spanish colonists. They were oval shaped brioches with a topping of sugary crystals.

Today they resemble Danishes, and Ms. Stewart supplies the recipe for Dominick Lee's caramelized apple one. Imagine a brioche crossed with an apple pie and topped with a rich cream cheese frosting. This is a flavorful treat  to be enjoyed until March 2nd  - Ash Wednesday. You can make it with guava which is what Jose Castillo makes at his Norma's Sweets Bakery. His family came from Honduras where the fruit was as common as strawberries. He fell in love with the cake as a five year old first tasting it in his class. His version has a layer of guava and cream cheese along with a light layer of frosting. This creates a cake with a subtle sweetness and a crisp fruity bite. Then there's Dong Phuong Bakery  , opened and run by Linh Garza. Her mother Huong Tran uses a brioche recipe, a possible holdover from the French rule on the country.It makes for a fluffy bite topped with the traditional icing. You can order from them if you don;t feel like baking. Brennan's Restaurant also sells them. Theirs has a hot of cinnamon and butter . You can also go to King Cake Hub to find a bakery. This was started by Jennifer Samuels and her late husband Will to cut down on the confusion finding the best bakery.

Celebrate Three King's day and the days leading up to Ash Wednesday with this rich treat. Enjoy its' lush icing and buttery breadlike cake. It's the perfect way to enjoy a sweet and extend the holiday.

Reducing Your Kitchen's Footprint

A new year starts with resolutions. Many are going to do their best to reduce their carbon footprint. This could mean adding solar panels to their homes, shorter showers or subbing in public transportation for driving their cars to work. You can make a small difference , just by making your kitchen eco friendly.

First of all think about all the wasted food in your kitchen during the holidays.This happened to me when I discovered a half can of opened peaches covered in mold. I used half the peaches a few weeks ago to test out a peach melba recipe for CHristmas. Yet I didn;t use the rest of the can. The peaches went moldy and I had to throw them out.It was a waste. I  should have bought a smaller amount. or smaller can. I also realized that peach Melba is best made during the peach season which is the summer months. Use only fruit in season. That way you only have to buy one or two pieces if you're experimenting with a recipe.The same is true with veggies. Some veggies can give you a pass. You can easily turn any into part of a salad or full salad as well as part of of an omelet.Use every part of your chicken or turkey. The meat can be turned into sandwiches and hash while the bones can be used for soup.Stale bread can be ground into breadcrumbs. stale Cookies can be ground into crumbs for topping ice cream and parfaits.

What about with cleaning the kitchen? One of the best eco friendly cleaning devices is Casabella Infuse All Purpose cleaner. Target sells all the Infuse cleaners and tools. The mop is the best with a mop pad that can be used over and over again.It just has to be put into the washing machine every so often to clean it. The soap which again is all natural and non toxic is put into a tube in the handle. Then it's just squirt and mop. There are several green dish soaps that work well.One of the most popular is Mrs. Meyers, that's also sold at Target. It comes in nine different scents like Sea Salt Neroli and Lavender Cedar Leaf.What about those tough hard to get rid of grease stains and burnt parts that stick like glue onto pots and pans. Try the age old solution of apple cider and baking soda. It gets rid of any cooking debris and dirt. This combo also makes an excellent oven and range cleaner. Distilled vinegar is also a good cleaner , especially for the fridge and windows. You can also use it for cleaning out the microwave too.

This year resolve to make your kitchen an eco friendly one one. Think about what you're buying and if you;re going to waste it. Clean with all natural products.You'll be shrinking your kitchen and your house's carbon footprint for a greener ,cleaner planet

New Year New Foods

 It;s a brand new year and that means rethinking the way we eat. It was fun indulging over the holidays but it's now time to look to the healthier -healthy foods - healthy cooking habits - even healthy treats evey now and then.

For me it's more apple based products.These have helped tremendously in the past with my gall bladder issues/

I bought Acme's brand of unfiltered apple juice which is the best kind for softening gall stones. I just mix it with a shot of water to soften the taste a bit.Then there's the store's apple cider vinegar which I can take with warm water to also soften the stones and alleviate the pains. It;s also great in salad dressings. I definitely plan to mane more salads using beneficial greens this year.

 Any form of salmon will be included in my diet since I was recently diagnosed with high cholesterol. Omega 3 in the fish lowers it without the aid of statins.I'm not a big fan of this fish preferring tuna more. Yet it can be a  blank canvas, and I'm going to experiment with adding spices and herbs to it.

This is the wild caught kind from Chicken of the Sea. Go with the wild caught version if you are switching to a  full or semi pescatarian diet. The salmon caught in the wild has less contaminants than the farmed fish. I'm trying a packet first before going over to the cans. Keep in mind that this along with sardines and mackerel are high in much needed omega 3s too. You may want to vary your diet with these and chicken this year.

It's a new year and that's incentive to eat healthy,Start with small changes and then work your way up. Every little bit helps and will add up to a better lifestyle.

Gold Coins For The New Year

 It's important to start the New Year with good food and good luck. One is eating lentils which represents coins. The same can be said of polenta cut into rounds. They too can mean prosperity in 2022.  They're also just great tasting with a good sauce.

I decided to make them along in a sauce, which is also a perfect winter dish.  You can buy the polenta logs at any grocery.

Cut them thin and then fry them in either olive oil or I used Melt  vegan butter which imparts a lovely buttery flavor. Since it was the holiday I used Acme's already made sauce. I didn;t feel like making a pot of sauce from scratch so I used the in house tomato and basil one.it was just doctored with some water a a good dash of oregano. I added Fieldhouse smoked hot dogs which do taste like sausages (they are fantastic on their own, on rye bread). They were cut into one inch pieces.

                                     It was then cooking the sauce with the dogs  for  few minutes.

The sauce was ladled onto the polenta rounds for a warming welcoming the New Year's lunch.

It was a tasty dish, that can easily be reheated. It was also a bowl of comfort after all of last night's party foods.The flavors were rich without being too strong. You could also use any kind of short pasta like rotelli or penne for this.It;s also good with a good loaf of Italian bread too.

Celebrate the new Year with any kind of food representing gold coins.THis dish is also a great way of welcoming in winter. It's warm and comforting like a hug from 2022.