Summer Go To Recipes

 It's no secret every home chef wants to easy dishes to prepare in the summer. There's always one go to dish that works.It's a snap to prepare and tasty, made with fresh ingredients.

I feel this way about Gustavo's Gazpacho, a dish I first made four years ago.I had just reviewed Susan Lewis Solomont's autopbiography  about her time in Spain. Her husband was the American ambassador to Spain. I was curious about the gazpacho recipe and asked for it.

It ;s become one of my favorite summer go to recipes. It's cubing four tomatoes, one green pepper, one cucumber and mincing one clove of garlic. A cup of olive oil is added along with three tablespoons of red wine vinegar and and a tablespoons of onion powder.It's all pureed together with the tomatoes and cucumbers providing the water for the soup.   Then chill for a couple of hours before serving.

It's a cool, creamy fresh tasting bowl of veggies. I can taste each indiviual vegetable and taste theri blended flavors as well. Another plus is that there's no oven to heat or burner to use. I don't even have to use the air fryer. Another filling go to is panzanella , Neopolitan bread salad , made  heartier with the addition of Italian cold cuts like julienned salame and mortadella.Heroes loaded with all sorts of meats , cheeses and veggies are also great hot weather go tos. The kids will love a supper of a custom made hoagie and a bag of chips.

Have a good list of  easy go to recipes when the temperature rises. THey'll make for easy prep and easy eating.It's what you meed during these steamy hot days.

The Best Sandwich Ever.

 What makes a sandwich good? is it the bread? The filling ? Or a dash of mayo or mustard? That's a question many ask.The best way to find out is to ask the experts. These are the ones who can create great taste from just a few ingredients.

Chef and regular contributor Eric KIm asked this in yesterday's New York Times Food section.He spoke with several sandwich shop owners across the country and received some interesting advice on the fillings and construction He looked to Matt Cahn , owner of Philadelphia;s Middle Child. Chef Cahn using a very unusual ingredient blueberry jam in his Surfer sandwich. The idea came from his vacations in Maine wuth an ex girlfriend. This is really a spicy chutney layered on a split ciabatta roll with sliced turkey, arugula and either two slices of Gruyere or Swiss cheese. The arugula s dressed with olive oil, vinegar and chopped onions and placed on top of the turkey. The cheese is baked onto the ciabatta in a toaster oven.Yet' it's the blueberry jam that's the standout. This could be used for leftover turkey sandwiches at Thanksgiving or even to boost up a chicken salad sandwich.It cooking the fruit and garam masala along with granulated sugar, raisins , cinnamon sticks and a pinch of cloves to a boil.  Freshly squeezed lemon juice is also added. Add the spices last as the mixture comes to a boil.Cool the jam to room temperature and add more garma masala, ,lemon juice and salt if needed.

You could also try a roast pork hoagie done in the style of San Francisco's Palm City, a fancy sandwich shop that also sells wine and beer. Fried provolone chips provide crunch amongst the otherwise soft meaty textures. They amp up the flavor by replacing iceberg lettuce with arugula. They also have vegetarian options with roasted cauliflower, avocadoes and pickled veggies.Use a blend of Chinese spices for some zing. of course you could also match the bread to the fillings as they do at Cleveland's Bake Shop & Cafe. Curry chicken or turkey club is paied with either a croissant or pain de mie  a kind of sourdough honey bread.Housemade naan, a flat Indian bread like pita is stuffed with grilled vegetables.However your best option for a really good sandwich is a homemade biscuit. Shawnda Moye created some hearty and flavorful  biscuit sandwiches when she moved back to her native Ohio and opened up the pop up The Roaming Biscuit in 2019. She elevates the breakfast sandwich (which can also be made for lunch or dinner) It's adding egg, namely scrambled and layering ot with a slice of cheddar and brisket. Yoy could sub in any kind of ham, from Taylor to cured along with changing up the cheddar toMonetery Jack or a slice of  Gouda  or Edam.

The perfect sandwich is easy to create.It just takes a good bread along with tasty condiments to ramp up the meat and veggies inside. Then enjoy a juge bite.

A New Breed Of Texas Barbecue

 Reecipes evolve to fit the taste of a younger generation. Thisi is true of tradtional Texas barbecue which isnt that traditional anymore. There are new flavors and alternative dishes that are livening up this classic fare.

Regular contributor Brett Anderson wrote about Texas barbecue in today's New YorkTimes Food section.The best of it comes from Lockhart,a town southwest of Austen.It's changing. No longer is is the domain of white male pitmasters or central European immigrants who brought a different form  -brisket - ot the States. The new Texas barbecue gives vouce to a population that have been diversified by other states and countries. There's also a cultural dialogue between urban and rural artesans as well. Much of it nods to American barbecue orgins in the live fire cooking of the Indigenous and enslaved Africans. yet it also derives from Texans  sharing their hom e cooking with the public at large. The foot print for the recipe comes from the state's ranching industry. The quantity and quality of the "trinity", sausage, ribs and especially brisket.

Barbecue is taking on new flavors .Pitmasters are incorporating such international flavors as lemongrass, gochujang,turmeric and fenugreek.There's also kimchi and slasa negra .Lamb chops and tuna collar have also made their way int o the barbecue menu as the spicy Ethiopian chicken stew doro wat. There is also brisket curry, enchiladas', shawarma ans ramen.Texans with a Mexican background have always made batbece their way with guacamole  and charro beansalong with pico di gallo. There was also barbecue made with goat, a Mexican staple.The whole idea of white men running barbecue joints is also being challenged. Barbs B-Q,a Lockhart favorite is run by women, an unusual feat in the industry. Alexis Tovlas Morales, HaleyConlin and Chuck Chanichart are changing the landscape but also follow the othodoxy of barbecue by cooking brisket, beef and pork. Then there are Phong and Hong Tran, representative of the  large Vietnamese community who gives the recipe a South Asian spin. It; served over rice with a drizzle of tomato based sauce.

Barbecue is the backbone of Texas cooking. However it;s catching up with the times and changing. There are new flavors coming in , changing this classic dish.

Happy Fourth

For all the American readrers wherever you are. 

Happy Fourth!!!!!🎇🎇

Enjoy the rest of the day with cold drinks and ice cream, hot dogs and hamburgers! Have  a summery slice of watermelon or enjoy a frosty icy slurp.

The French Influence

It's hard not to think of the french on the Fourth of July.after all they supported us during hte American Revolution and gave is their best the Marquise  de Lafayette to help fight the war. Yet it's their cuisine that's had a lasting mark on the American table.

Our founding fathers from Ben Franklin to Thomas Jefferson spent time in the country namely Paris. Franklin was a notorious oenophile and had many good french vintages in his Passy home outside of Paris. Tom Jefferson was a farmer at heart and brought a variety of plants to cultivate here on his Virginia estate. He also had a French chef and made sure that Gallic fare was served during White House banquets. He introduced crepes, French fries (orignally Belgian but adopred by the French), meringues, ice cream and macaroons.By 1824 la cuisine francaise  or haute cuisine was de rigeur in the better kitchens. During America's Gilded Age  the wealthy would bring their chefs to Paris to pick up recipes and tips. They brought home such dishes as Hollandaise sauce,potatoes Lyonnaise ,omelettes souffle';s bisques and sweetbreads. it wasn't unusual to see omelets being served in South Carolina buffets or have a Mississippi paddle wheeler cooking up potatoes Lyonnaise for hungry gamblers.

We still adoreFrench cooking. Croissants are part of our lives, being sold everywhere from Dunkin Donuts to fancy patisseries. Macarons are such a part of our dessert table, being a standard now at brunches and showers. Then there are those frothy  sweet bites meringues which are fun to make. Brioche, once hard to get is everywhere. There are brioche hamburger buns and even bread companies like Sara Lee are selling brioche loaves.Of course there is Cajun  cooking coming from the Acadian area of Nova Scotia. These were from the French Canadians who were displaced after the French and Indian War and settled in Lousiana. then French owned. Cajun cooking has influenced many cooking emthods. They'r e big on barbecuing and injecting eats with liquod for fall off the bone tenderness. This was also the cuisine that gave us mirepoix or the holy trinity of Cajun cooking, bell peppers, onions and celery. Thanks to its' marriage with African cooking and ingredients its' give the Amercan table gumbo and boudin, a sausage made with sausage onion and green pepper.

The French have long been a facvtor in the American experiment. However it's their cooking that is a big part of our lives. It has been a strong influence for over three centuries.

Ice Cream, Cold ,Creamy Goodness

 It's July and that means one thing - it's ice cream season.It's time to enjoy this treat a variety of ways There are sundaes and sodas, cakes and cupcakes made with it to savor and refresh. 

What is the best ice cream to use ? That actually depends on you. Some love Blue Bunny. It' is the most flavroful and creamiest. Other's prefer Breyer's which has a less dense texture and lighter taste. What about vegan ice cream. Surprisingly there's just as creamy as the dairy however they do need to thaw out a bit before scooping. Try Oatley and Ben and Jerry;s for the best flavor. You can get everything from plain vanilla and chocolate to chocolate chip mint and fudge brownie. Now onto the syrups, Homemade is the best . The taste is the purest and it even makes for a yummy egg cream.It's just taking unsweetened cocoa powder  and sugar whisked together in a cold saucepan. Just boiled water and  salt are added along with a teaspoon if vanilla extract. Keep whisking th e sauce as the heat is reduced  to a low flame. wait ten minutes before serving. You cna also use Hershey's which is the gold standard of syrups. Smuckers has a good varoety of sauces too, ranging from butterscotch to raspberry. You could also try their Hot Fudge one too. As for the whipped cream topping nothing beats Reddi-Whip. It's light and airy with that milky taste we all love. They also have coconut and almond milk versions too.

What can you make with these? Melissa Clark gave three recipes in Wednesday's New York Times Food section. You can try her banana split, ice cream soda or ice cream sandwich ones. Her hot fudge recipe is for a think gooey one that turns to taffy when it hit the ice cream's coldness. She also includes the recipe for a sundae staple wet walnuts , hers made with honey and maple syrup. You cna also make it like the Dairy Queen classic with strawberries and strawberry sauce. Her ice cream sodas are fruity with homemade fruit syrups made with fresh strawberries or blueberries. Of course nothing beats a chocolate one, with two or three scoops plopped in sletzer and topped with a good shoot of Reddi-Whip. Her ice cream sandwiches are made with a giant chocolate chip cookie layered with vanilla ice cream. Try something different by using vanilla wafers stuffed with a fruity ice cream like peach or strawberry for a kind of macaron. Ice cream cakes and ice cream cup cakes are snaps to make. The only hard part is the cookie layer. Take Nabisco chocolate wafers crush in either a blender or in a plastic baggie with a rolling pin. Mix with melted butter and press half of the cookie layer on the bottom of the mold. Add one layer of ice cream  and one layer of topping. Repeat and frreze for an hour. Serve topped with Reddi-whip. You cna do the same wiith ice cream cup cakes. Use a silicone muffin tin to make a mini version. Decorate with candy confetti or sprinkles.

It's ice cream season. Have fun creating a sweet cold treat. Pick an ice cream and have fun making your favorite recipe.

New Air Fryer Treats

 Air fryers are dominating the American culinary landscape. The more popular they are, the more products that may be out there.  There some some great new ones that can make for any easy dinner. 

I recently discovered both Simulate Nuggs plant based chicken nuggets and an entirely new product Hanover Seasoned Air Fryer Veggies which is a twist on those bags of miicrowavable ones.

The Nuggs were super spicy reminding me of the original chicken wings. They cooked up very nicely, crisping in the air fryer for 400 degrees Farenheit for eight minutes. They're supposed to be baked in the oven for thirteen minutes. Yet air frying them is easier, especially in these hot temps. I'm looking forward to trying their tenders and regular Nuggs.

The second, the Hanover Air Fried vegetables proved to be a quick and tasty side dish.

I cooked up the lemon balsamic broccoli cauliflower mix. This was a more lemony flavored taste with a subtle garlic , Italian  herb mix blend. I'd make it again.It was easy to put into the air fryer with about first  four minutes  at around 400 degrees Farenheit. I lowered the temp to 390 for the next three There was a nice crispness to them. I would like to try the root vegetable blend which has carrots, beet s, sweet potatoes and the rarely used parsmip. Their  carrots in brown sugar , Southwestern style broccoli and Flavors of India spiced cauliflower, look good. The last is a tasty mix of cumin and cumin, Another must try is the rosemary and cracked pepper Brussels sprouts.

Both Simulate Nuggs and Hanover's Air Fryer vegetables are mist have for a quick dinner without the fuss. They are flavorful bites made in a few minutes. Try them fo r a quick , tasty meal